O then let his patience and all his goodness at last have this happy effect upon us let it lead us to true Repentance and ever hereafter engage us to diligence and constancy in his service Rom. 2. 4. 2 Pet. 3. 9. 2 To which purpose consider again that this was the end for which God sent his Son Jesus into the World even to seek and save us lost and miserable sinners to bring us to Repentance and newness of life that so we might be restored to the love and favour of God which we had lost by sinning against him Our first Parents Adam and Eve were created in a very holy and happy Estate but they fell from it by sinning against God and so came all misery into the World And then did our Heavenly Father take pity on us and sent his own Son out of his bosom to be our Saviour and Redeemer to reform us from our Sins and so to deliver us from misery First he will make us Holy and then we shall be made Happy For as man lost his happiness by disobeying Gods command so he must recover it by becoming obedient to his will in all things To this end hath the Lord Jesus fully revealed Gods will to us when we were in ignorance and darkness He hath given us holy precepts for the rule of our Life And made most rich and precious promises to perswade us to our duty and denounced dreadful threatnings to affright us from Wickedness And when we had deserved the Wrath of God for our sins then did Jesus Christ shed his most precious Blood to make Atonement for us and to obtain our pardon and forgiveness He dyed for our offences and rose again for our justification Rom. 4. 25. And in his Gospel he has given full assurance of Gods good will to mankind that he will be merciful to us and pardon us if we truly repent of our sins and forsake them Thus hath Christ opened a door of hope for us to encourage us to return to God For if there had been no hopes of mercy we should never have been drawn to Repentance but even like the Devils themselves should have remained full of hatred and malice against God utterly despairing of relief from him But whilst the death of Christ does so much engage and encourage us to forsake our sins it gives not the least encouragement to our continuance in them Let us not think that Christ dyed for our sins that we might have liberty to live in them and yet be saved at the last No but he came to save us from our sins not in them He makes us blessed by turning us from our iniquities He dyed to redeem us from a vain and evil Conversation to purify our Hearts and reform our Lives and make us a peculiar People zealous of good works Matt. 1. 21. Act. 3. 26. Tit. 2. 14. 1 Pet. 1. 18. The death of Christ for us vile sinners shews the infinite love of God in finding out this way for our Salvation But then it shews also what an evil thing sin is and how hateful to God since he would not pardon us without the suffering of his own dear Son on our account And therefore if the consideration of all this does not bring us to hate and abhor our sins and to love and serve our God and Saviour we are never like to have any benefit by Christs death All our professions of loving him and believing in him will stand us in no stead without obeying him True saving Faith in Christ is that which works by love both to God and our Neighbour Christ accounts none to be his friends but those that keep his Commandments and to such only will he grant pardon and Salvation Gal. 5. 6. Joh. 15. 14. Heb. 5. 9. 1 Joh. 3. 8. Since then the ever-blessed Jesus the Son of God came down from Heaven became a Man and dyed a most painful death upon the Cross that he might save us from sin and misery shall we not accept of him as our Lord and Saviour who comes to deliver us from the power of the Devil and our own Lusts to make us the Children of God and heirs of Glory which is a thousand times greater deliverance than that of the Israelites from the Aegyptian bondage Will you not be moved by all that Christ has done and suffered for you Shall not his love constrain you to love him and to hate all sin which was the cause of his sufferings Will you tread under foot his most precious Blood and even crucifie him afresh and again put him to open shame Thus in some sort do wicked men use their Saviour whilst they go on in their sins which are so displeasing to him They that lie and cozen for a little gain what do they but with Judas sell away Christ for Money They that live in hatred and malice and do mischief to their Neighbours do in effect run the Spear into Christs side and drive Nails into his hands and feet And they that give themselves to Riot and Drunkenness do even mingle Gall and Vinegar for him to drink They do all that in them lies by their sinful pleasures to put him again into Agonies and Pains But on the other hand it is a delight to our Saviour to see us humbled for our sins and resolved to forsake them He will readily and effectually interceed for us with our heavenly Father who is most willing to receive returning Prodigals There is joy in Heaven when sinners on Earth repent Even this our return to God by true repentance is the best recompence we can make to our Blessed Saviour for all his pains and sufferings When the pleasure of the Lord prospers in his hand by the conversion of sinners he then sees the travel of his Soul and is satisfied Isa. 63. 10 11. And shall we not afford this satisfaction to our Redeemer who hath undergone so much for our sakes and still out of his tender love to our Souls follows us with such earnest invitations to come to him for life and happiness Could we deny him this most reasonable request if we saw him now in person standing before us beseeching us to turn and live And this he now does by his Spirit and by his Ministers But that leads me to the next 3 Consider therefore that this also was the end for which the Holy Ghost is given and all the means of grace afforded even to sanctifie our hearts and make us an holy and obedient People God knows the weakness and corruption of our Natures and therefore in great mercy he affords the assistance of his holy Spirit to enlighten our minds and purifie our hearts to renew and change our natures and guide us in ways of holiness here that so we may be fitted for eternal happiness with the most holy God in the life to come Joh. 3. 3 5. Rom. 8. 9. And for this end were the holy Scriptures written by men assisted
THE Christian Monitor Containing an Earnest EXHORTATION TO AN Holy Life With some DIRECTIONS in order thereto Written in a plain and easie Style for all sorts of People Follow Peace with all men and Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Heb. 12. 14. Imprimatur C. Alston R. P. D. Hen. Episc Lond. Ã Sacris Domesticis The Second Edition LONDON Printed for Samuel Tidmarsh at the King's Head in Cornhill near the Royal Exchange 1686. Price 3 d. THE Christian Monitor c. CHAP. I. Exhortation to an Holy Life with Motives thereto IT 's very sad to consider not only how few Nations there are in the World which profess Christianity but also of those who do profess it how few there are comparatively that live according to their Profession Wherefore it well beseems all Christ's faithful servants especially the Ministers of his Gospel to use their utmost endeavours by Life and Doctrine by publick and private Exhortations by preaching and writing and by all the ways they are capable to promote true Piety and Holiness amongst all sorts of Men whether high or low rich or poor without which no Man can be happy either in this World or that to come And though I well know that thanks be to God we abound with multitudes of excellent Books written to this end yet are not such short Instructions as these that follow to be condemned as useless since they will it 's like he more generally dispersed and that amongst the very meanest of the People and may more easily be read and remembred by such as have neither time to read large Books nor Money to buy them With such as these I have occasion often to meet and for their sakes chiefly it is that I publish this little Paper being encouraged thereto by some pious Persons both of City and Countrey who intend to give some of them away to poor people about them and thought others might do the like And may it please God to give a Blessing to such a mean Undertaking as this and succeed it to the good of Souls I shall little regard the Censures of the curious Remembring the saying I have somewhere met with of a devout Writer to this purpose That he was desirous his Books should be scattered abroad upon Pedlers Stalls and thence come into the hands of common People for the encreasing of Knowledge and Piety rather than be solemnly laid up and buried in the Libraries of the Learned Wherefore without any more Preface I shall address my self to you for whose sake I write these Lines as a Perswasive to an Holy and Religious Life Now in order thereto let me beseech you to look back upon your Lives past and call your selves to account whether it has been your care and study to live in such a godly manner as becomes those who are baptized into the Name of Christ and after him are called Christians Have you well considered what is the meaning of this Name and what Engagement you lie under to an Holy Life by taking it upon you in Baptism And do you keep well in mind your Baptismal Vow wherein you renounced the Devil the World and the Flesh and promised to be Christ's faithful Souldiers and Servants and so to continue all the days of your Life Have you so far understood and considered these things that you have made it your chief business to walk accordingly Do you watch carefully and fight manfully against your spiritual Enemies Do you live as those that believe the Gospel sincerely endeavouring in all things to know the Will of God and do it Since you take Christ's Name into your mouth are you careful to depart from all iniquity In a word is this your greatest study and design to please and glorifie God and to work out your own salvation If your Conscience can truly witness for you that it is indeed so and that wherein at any time you fall short or do amiss you are heartily grieved for it and do daily labour to amend and grow better If it be thus with you I say then bless God for his grace and mercy hold on and prosper and fear not but God will be with you He will own you as his Children and for his Son Jesus sake will both pardon your sins and assist you by his Grace he will guide you by his Counsel and at length receive you to Glory But pray deal faithfully with your own Souls and tell me Has it not been quite otherwise with you Have you not contented your selves with the bare Name and Profession of Christianity and in the mean time led an ill course of Life directly contrary to your Profession Have you not lived in wilful ignorance of your Duty or in gross sins against your Knowledge Do not the temptations of the Devil the allurements of the World and the Flesh many times prevail more with you than the Commands of Almighty God and the voice of your own Conscience Are you not wont to neglect God's worship and service both in the Church and at home yea do you not profane his holy Name by swearing and cursing Are you not often guilty of lying and slandering of cozening and cheating if not of downright stealing Do you not in your anger use railing and reviling Language Or do you not live in Envy and Malice seeking for revenge of those that have done you any injury Do you not allow your selves in Drunkenness or Whoredom or some other known and wilful sin To be short Is there not something or other in this World that you love more than you do God himself and his Son Jesus Are you not much more concerned for your Bodies than for your precious Souls And do you not more earnestly seek after Food and Raiment and the good things of this Life than after that eternal Kingdom of Glory which God hath promised to his faithful Servants in the World to come If this indeed be your Case I beseech you make a stand and consider well what you have been doing what a sad and dangerous condition you have brought your selves into and what the end of it will be if you hold on in such evil courses Humbly beg of God to make you duly sensible of your sin and danger and to keep the sense thereof so close to your minds that you may be brought not only to mourn for your sins but to loath and abhor them and utterly to forsake the same henceforth resolving by the grace of God wholly to give up your selves to his service and to walk stedfastly in those holy and good ways which he has appointed you This is that to which I do most earnestly desire to perswade you And that I may do my utmost to prevail with you I shall lay before you some very weighty Arguments which I request you seriously to ponder of as you read them and God grant they may have due effect upon the heart of every Reader Amen 1 That you may
be prevailed with to become God's faithful servants consider first That this was the great end for which God made you and keeps you alive and gives you so many mercies of all sorts You can tell I hope that God made you and that he made you to serve him by living according to his Commandments These are some of those first things which Children learn and it were well if when they are grown up to be Men and Women they would use seriously to think of them and practise accordingly The wise God has made all Creatures for some good end or other and he has fitted them all for those ends and purposes for which he made them To Man therefore has he given the use of Reason chiefly to fit him for Religion and to render him capable of knowing loving and serving his great Creator and Benefactor And it is Religion which makes the great difference betwixt a Man and a Beast for bruit Creatures have no knowledge of God no regard to him but are wholly led by their senses and mind nothing else but what is before them here in this World But the poorest Man on Earth who has the use of his Reason is near akin to the very Angels themselves his nature is like theirs and but a little below them so that he may be much taken up in the same holy Works that they are employed in even in loving and praising and adoring the great and good God To this end he may study both the Works and the Word of God which reveal him to us and should continually put us in mind of him And all the good things we enjoy should still make us sensible of the goodness of God from whom they come and fill our hearts with love and thankfulness and our mouths with blessing and praise This is the most proper use of our Reason and this God most justly expects from us Reasonable Creatures and this even the poor man may render without any hindrance to his daily labours and may still keep such an awful sense of God upon his mind as may restrain him from wilful sin and make him careful always to please his Maker And so our Reason was given us to bridle and govern our Appetites our Lusts and Passions that we should not be led away into gluttony and drunkenness into wantonness and uncleanness nor into rage and fury like bruit Beasts that have no understanding but should live soberly and chastly quietly and peaceably with all Men doing them all the good we can For such holy purposes as these chiefly was our Reason bestow'd on us and therefore in this manner ought it to be employ'd Certainly since God hath made us of a nature so much better than Birds or Beasts he expects from us other works and services than he does from them They know nothing of God that made them nor have they any knowledge of another Life after this but when they die there 's an end of them But to us hath God given immortal Souls of more value than the whole World and for this end hath he created us that we might serve and honour him here in this Life and so may live with him and enjoy him for ever in the World to come Now if this be the end of our Creation ought we not to live up to it Do we not see all other things answer the end for which they were made The Sun gives Light by day and the Moon by night The Earth brings forth Corn and Grass and the Trees bear Fruit. The Horse the Cow and the Sheep with many other Creatures afford us much service and benefit And shall Man alone be useless and unfruitful and live to no good purpose When they are all so ready to serve us shall not we chearfully serve him that made us for his own service Surely we cannot think that the wise God sent us into the World only to eat and drink to sleep and play or to work hard for a poor Livelihood If this were all we had better have been made bruit Creatures or never have been made at all Much less can we think that the Holy God made us on purpose to sin against him to dishonour his Name and provoke him to anger He did not give us Reason to make us crafty and cunning for the World that we might know how to cozen and cheat our Neighbours He did not give us Tongues to swear and curse with or to talk foolishly and filthily let us not then use them to any such ill purposes Since God has given us precious immortal Souls let us not live like Beasts that perish wallowing in the mire of base sensual Lusts and Pleasures By this means we become worse than Bruits themselves for we debase our own Natures we abuse our Reason to our own shame and hurt and to God's displeasure Thus we cross the end of our Creation and are more stupid and ungrateful than the very Ox or Ass for they know their owner and do good service to those that keep and feed them Isa. 1. 2 3. O let us not give God cause to complain of us as he there does of the Jews that he nourished and brought up Children and they rebelled against him Think how grievous it is to you that have Children after all your care and kindness after all your cost and labour to have them pâ—ove stubborn and disobedient loose and idle Prodigals O see then that you be not such toward your heavenly Father who made you and preserves you and every day renews his mercies upon you He keeps us alive and makes our lives comfortable He gives and continues to us our Reason and Senses our Health and Strength Food and Raiment and all the good things we enjoy He supplies our wants and helps us in all our distresses He gives us light by day and rest in the night He enables us to follow our callings and gives a blessing to our labours that we may provide for our selves and Families And does not this good God well deserve all the love and service which we can possibly render him O how can we find in our hearts wilfully to offend him who thus delights in doing us good Foolish and unthankful Wretches we are thus ill to require the Lord for all his loving kindness We could not deal so with any Friend or Neighbour on Earth that had been always kind and loving to us Are not Servants bound to work for them who maintain them and pay them Wages And ought not Children to obey their Parents who begot them and brought them up How much more then ought we to obey God our Father who gave us life at first and still prolongs it from one day to another when he could in a moment cut us off in our sins and throw us into Hell But in much mercy he spares us and gives us space to Repent and is very unwilling to destroy us and therefore waits long to be gracious to us