rubbish he fasted often deprecating Gods Wrath and indignation against his People Dan. 10. 3. and on the same account S t Cyprian applied himself to this Exercise when the Church was grievously afflicted by the Pagans and good reason that he who is a Member of the Church should make the Churches concern his own and burn as it were when that burns and be weak when that is weak and be afflicted when that is afflicted So much the relation every private Christian hath to that mystical Body doth import without which he is no Member but an excrement of that body as Warts and Wens are in Bodies natural deformities rather than ornaments and which merit resection more than conservation VII When a Sinner first turns from his evil ways Nothing can beautifie his Soul more than this Abstinence whereby he confesses his demerit that God might justly take away his holy Spirit for ever from him the true Food of his Soul and that which must preserve him unto Salvation So much the Prophet Joel intimates when he bids such men as in good earnest turn to God make fasting part of that mortification Joel 2. 12. Turning to God is giving what demonstration we can of the sincerity of our repentance and hatred of sin and abhorrency of our selves So that fasting being part of that demonstration it must not be left out Ahab himself though a notorious Hypocrite yet was sensible that there could be no turning to God without this Exercise which made him when he heard the Words of Elijah apply himself to repentance and to give some demonstrations of its being extraordinary and as he thought sincere He rent his Cloaths and put sackcloth upon his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went softly 1 Kings 21. 27. VIII Where a man hath been guilty of some notorious Sin as Murder Adultery Fornication Oppression Blasphemy Atheism c. and repents it 's fit he should keep a Fast now and then to represent unto himself the dreadfulness of his sin and the infinite patience of God and what a mercy it is that God hath turned him from darkness unto light and from the power of Satan unto God Such sins eat deep into the Soul and they had need be remembred often and our detestation of them had need be expressed frequently by holy Abstinence They are enough to damp all hopes of comfort enough to deprive us of Gods Presence by Grace and of his presence by Glory They are sins that let in all the Host of Hell and the Soul must fall very low before the Devil can have such mastery over her The horror of such sins requires frequent compunctions frequent compunctions are caused by frequent Abstinence and that makes fasting necessary on such occasions In all probability David's Fasts were more frequent than ordinary after his commission of Murder and Adultery and when we hear him complain My knees are weak through fasting Ps. 109. 24. and I wept and chasten'd my Soul with fasting Ps. 69. 10. We may justly conclude that these Exercises had relation to the sins we have mentioned 2. And having said so much of the time when this Exercise may be most proper I must in the next place let you see how it must be managed And 1. As I said in the beginning In such Fasts there must be a forbearing of all Meat and Drink To forbear Flesh and to eat Fish is no Fast at all for this is but changing one delicacy for another and the same may be said of Wine and Sweetmeats which the Papists make use of in their Fasts while they will taste no Broath no Eggs nor any thing that hath relation to Flesh. These at the best are Mock-fasts and are so far from serving to elevate the mind that the fumes of such dainties oppress it as much as flesh will do The antient Christians indeed used their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes in their Fasts especially in the week before Easter which consisted in eating those things which had little or no juice in them but that was but just to support nature from fainting there being little nourishment in them and in imitation of those Christians a man may in his Fasts make use of Bread and Water or Small-beer if nature will bear no emptiness and yet may be truly said to Fast because it is an Abstinence from all pleasant Food but to fast in Wine and Fish is to play the Epicure not the Hermit 2. These Fasts must not be broke till the evening The Grecians and Coptite Christians at this day seldom extend their Fasts beyond three or four of the clock in the afternoon and usually break them when evening Prayer is ended and though the Primitive Christians used to do so on their weekly Fasts i. e. on Wednesdays and Fridays yet in other Fasts they protracted and prolonged them even to Sun-set and some to a much longer time as I shew'd before Those that did heretofore fast only till three of the clock in the afternoon it 's like might take that custom from Cornelius Act. 10. 30. who seems to say that he was fasting till the ninth hour which is the time we speak of though others think that he fasted four days together But the usual measure of such Abstinence is the evening or when the Artificial day is at an end 3. In such Fasts our particular sins and neglects must be thought upon confessed lamented aggravated and deplored for such days are true humiliation days and nothing is like to make us so humble as the consideration of our offences and demerits and the wrath of God which is due to us thereupon sin if seriously viewed in all its consequences will certainly appear very dreadful odious and intolerable and will shew us what monstrous Creatures we are and that 's enough to humble us even into hatred of our selves and accordingly this was the custom of old Neh. 9. 1. 16 17. Dan. 9. 3. 4. 5. and that 's the reason why such Fasts are sometimes express'd by mourning and weeping only because mourning for sin which hath provok'd the Almighty must be one principal part in this Exercise Zach. 7. 3. 4. In such Fasts deprecations must be made for the Nation we live in and indeed for all Mankind for such humiliations must infuse tenderness and compassion into us if they do not they are not of the right stamp If I am truly sensible of mine own sins I cannot but pity my Neighbours my Relations my Acquaintance and other men who are involv'd in the same misery and are as liable to the anger of God as my self and if I have any pity any compassion for my self I cannot but have pity for others too but how doth my pity shew it self but by becoming an intercessour for them as well as for my self and though I am the principal person that want mercy on such occasions yet my fellow Christians must not be left out except I can see men drowning
had so well deserved at the hands of God by his Righteousness and severity of Life that if he had been so minded he could have Redeemed all the Men and Women that should be born after him from the everlasting Wrath of God and if his Son Eleazer should but join the Merits of his Righteousness with his they might go near to save the whole World from being condemned in the last day This is Bedlam-talk and yet it were to be wish'd that the Church of Rome did not participate of this madness when they talk of the Treasury of their Church the Merits of their Saints and their Works of Super-errogation whereby they free many Souls out of Purgatory and how such a wicked Man wrapt up in a Monks Habit at his death hath been immediately transported into Heaven c. One would admire how men in their Wits can talk at this Rate but that I see even David could feign himself mad at the Court of Achish for his Interest and then no marvel if these Men finding what grist this Doctrine of Merits brings to their Mill venture to be extravagant in their expressions concerning it II. Whenever these severities are used they must not be used to give God satisfaction for the sins we have committed To give God satisfaction by any thing but the Cross and death of Christ is an expression which should sound harsh in a Christian Ear and be banish'd from the confines of Divinity Here the Church of Rome exceeds and deviates again from the Primitive Rule and while they look upon these severities as satisfactions given to God for the guilt of the temporal punishment that remains after remission of sins they seem to follow no Rule but that of their own fancy for the Scripture is a Stranger to this notion of satisfaction and though David and other Saints have used these severities yet we never read that they intended them as satisfactions to God whom they had offended but had other ends in them such as we shall name as we go along It 's not to be denied but that the Fathers use the word satisfaction often when they discourse of such mortifications but by those satisfactions they do not mean satisfactions given to an offended God but to the Church and the People of God as signs whereby our fellow-Christians may conclude that our Repentance is real and free from Hypocrisie Nor III. Must they be used in hopes that God will dispence with our sins for the future much less that he will pass by those that we have committed without sincere repentance meerly for these severities Alas it's easier to punish the Body than to leave a sin and while the Sinner can enjoy his Lusts what need he care if for a day or two he is a little rigid and unkind to his Flesh that unkindness will quickly wear out again and the body fitted for commission of new offences God doth not value these severities at this rate a penitent heart is more pleasing to him than a thousand Lashes and a Soul that grieves for offending a Gracious God looks lovelier in his eyes than a bloody Side or the imaginary Wounds of S t Francis He that thinks that God will let him sin because he whipt himself on such a day takes God for some Heathen Deity and indeed to lay a greater stress upon afflicting the Body then upon forsaking of sin is to contradict that notion the Holy Ghost delivers of God that he must be worship'd in spirit and in truth Nor IV. Must they be used with an unwilling mind where the inward repentance of the Soul makes the Will resolute in the use of them they may pass for excellent Offerings but being performed by force or meerly because a Superiour commands them this evacuates the virtue of the affliction Hence those among the Papists that either suffer themselves to be hired to perform the Ceremony of Self-affliction on Good-Friday or being once engaged in such an Order use them not out of any sense of Sin within but because the Rule of their Order doth oblige them to it whatever Conceits they may entertain of the Opus operatum or Work it self God still looking to the spring from which all these mortifications flow they prevail no more than the Indians going to Church meerly because their Masters force them prevail with him to send his Spirit into their Hearts crying Abba Father Nor V. Is it fit that weak or sickly persons should use them Though many Christians in the Primitive times would thus afflict themselves notwithstanding their bodily infirmities yet we find 1 Tim. 5. 23. that in these cases men must use moderation The Body being disabled I do not see how the Soul can perform those noble Operations she is other wise capable of no more than a Workman whose tools are nought can promise you an excellent piece of Manufacture The Body is a Servant of the Soul and we know if our Servants be out of order our Work must be left undone Strong and healthy Bodies will bear it better and if they loose something of their florid complexion there is no great hurt done Mortification to some Bodies would be a preservative of health and such voluntary afflictions would spend many of those superfluous humours that disorder them In all these severities men must be their own Physitians and consider what their Bodies are able to bear and what they are not And yet lazmess and softness of life and love to Carnal ease must not make us pretend that our Bodies will not bear them This is best known after we have had experience and when we foresee a signal danger it will then be time to forbear them Our Bodies are able to endure a great deal more than we are willing to believe and the reason why people are weary of any thing that 's irksome to Flesh and Blood is because they lie buried in Lust and Sensuality He that is weak already had not need make himself weaker than he is and Sickness is for the present severity enough to subdue in us all disorderly Affections and in these Cases it 's infallibly true what the Apostle saith that bodily exercise prosits little 1 Tim. 4. 8. And as these severities are not fit to be used by sickly and weakly persons so neither must they be used by the Strong to the distervice of their Souls In a word the Body must not be used so coursly as to make it useless to the Soul and therefore the Saints of old observ'd most truly that our Bodies are like Garments if you take care of them they will last a great while but if they be totally neglected they will wear out in a very short time To mortifie the Body is one thing to kill it is another and he that would not be guilty of Self-murder must not be too lavish in these severities It was a good answer of S t Anthony the Hermit to a Huntsman that had
place where Wickedness and Malice must never look in where Want and Poverty must for ever cease where Quarrelling and Accusing and Impleading one another will all have done where all Violence and Discord dies and all Grief and Pain and Anguish is swallow'd up in an Eternal Jubilee We read of Men as of Diocletian of Spartacus of Aeneas of Rustan of Mahomet that from Shepheards and mean Men have come to be great Lords and Emperors but this is nothing to the happiness that he can be confident of that seriously exercises himself in the Task I have laid down the time will come I see the joyful day approaching I see it by the Eyes of Faith when this humble Soul this laborious Saint this Self-denying Christian this contemptible Man shall change his Rags into Purple Robes and be translated from a momentary Sorrow to an Eternity of Rest and Satisfaction where the Lamb that is in the mid'st of the Throne shall feed him and shall lead him unto living Fountains of Waters and God shall wipe all Tears from his Eyes Then shall be fulfilled the saying that is written they that Sow in Tears shall Reap in Joy he that goeth forth and Weepeth bearing pretious Seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his Sheaves with him While young Hercules saith the Apologue was doubting within himself which way he should take whether that of Vice or the other of Virtue behold there appeared to him two Women one gloriously apparell'd with tempting Looks and gay Attire and a flowing Mantle that wanton'd in the Air promising him present satisfaction and whatever his sensual Appetite could desire but saying nothing of what would be the exit or consequence of all this the other stood aloof with a meager Face in a ragged Garb and torn Cloaths promising nothing but Sweat and Labour and danger at first but behind her was a Scene of Triumph and at the end of her Swords and Daggers hung Pearls and Rubies and the richest Stones The valiant man soon smelt out the Cheat of the former and resolutely chose to become a Disciple of the other Thus acts the Man that exercises himself unto Godliness he slights Pleasure and embraces Labour for he knows that bitter beginnings will have a glorious end and as Jason fought his way through Serpents and Wild Bulls to get the Golden Fleece and became Master of it so he swims contentedly through a Sea of Wormwood to find a new World of sweetness and satisfaction and the years during which he serves for this Rachel seem to him but as so many days for he loves what he sees not and believes what he cannot grasp yet believing he rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of Glory Hitherto I have discoursed of the ordinary constant and daily Exercises of a Christian. The extraordinary follow in order and they are 1. Vowing 2. Fasting 3. Watching and 4. Self-Revenge I call them Extraordinary because they are to be used but now and then when either some great corruption is to be subdued or our Devotion wants quickning or when God's Glory requires it or when our Neighbours welfare and edification is to be signally promoted To make these Exercises daily and constant were the way to ruine the body and to obstruct the Soul in her flights to heaven and instead of honouring God to render our selves incapable of his Service They are in the nature of Salt and Vinegar to give a rellish to our Spiritual Food but they would be but ill Meat were they made our Dyet Some that have attempted to make them their daily Employment have exposed themselves to the Devils Tyranny and by going farther than God design'd or requir'd have been suffer'd to fall into unspeakable inconveniences That using severities upon our selves is sometimes necessary is evident from hence because our Bodies naturally are enemies to our Souls and nothing is so great a clog to our Spirits as our sensual Appetite The more the Body is denied the freer is the Soul in her Motions and the less the Flesh is reguarded the more the Spirit soares and mounts up to its Center It is certainly our indulging our carnal ease so much that makes us dull and lazie in God's Service and had we the art of crossing Flesh and Blood our Duties would be perform'd with greater life and fervency But here the Golden mean must be used and to avoid extremes is without doubt the safest way we can walk in As a man by a total neglect of these Exercises will make but a very slow progress in Religion so he that uses them too much may fall into divers Snares and Temptations Discretion must be the Rule and Prudence the Guide in things of this nature Those that want this compass must suffer themselves to be entirely guided by wiser Men and Laymen whose occasions will not permit them to consider of every step of the way must here resign themselves to the guidance and conduct of serious and able Ministers who if they have any sense of the power of Godliness will be ready to rejoice at the Work and readily direct them that they may get safe to Heaven I do not deny but that these Exercises have been and are abused in the Church of Rome but shall their perverting the Primitive Institution make us regardless of the Duty and because they go beyond the just bounds of these Severities must they therefore be quite laid aside and despised as useless Whoever rejected Wine because Men make themselves drunk with it Or did ever any man forswear eating Meat because the Glutton eats till he makes himself sick with it I shall speak distinctly of these Extraordinary Exercises and in each of them lay down certain Rules that must be observed in the practice to free them from the brand of Will-worship Superstition or sinful voluntary Humility I. Extraordinary Exercise And this is Making Vows An Exercise used and practised by the Saints before the Law Gen. 28. 20. under the Law Psal. 116. 14. 18. and under the Gospel Act. 18. 18. Act. 21. 23. 24. and commanded Psal. 76. 11. That a Vow is a deliberate voluntary solemn Promise made to Almighty God of things Lawful and Possible is so known a thing that I need not insist much upon the definition Every purpose is no Vow nor is a bare intention to do such a thing to be reckoned among these greater obligations of the Soul A Vow made in drink is a Sin but no Vow because a Vow requires the presence of Reason and deliberation and the same may be said of a Vow made in the heighth of Anger and Passion To oblige my self by a Vow to do a thing that is forbid by the Law of God is Impiety or to Vow a thing which lies not in my power to perform is Folly and Distraction Not to repent of such Vows is to continue in Sin and the longer the repentance is deferred the more we aggravate our condemnation Of
your more frequent Exercise and to this purpose it will be conveient to speak something of the time and occasion when this Exercise is most proper 2. how it must be managed and 3. what it is that makes it necessary 1. Of the time and occasion when this Exercise may be most proper and here the best Rule to go by is the Scripture and the Examples of Saints and these will inform us that it is proper at any time and the oftner the better but particularly I. When we lie under some Temporal Afflictions whether that Affliction consist in losses or in the malice hatred or ill-will of Men or in some other crosses and disappointments that may befal us in this World In such cases David ever had recourse to this Exercise as we see Ps. 69. 10. 11. and acknowledged the justice of God confessed God did him no wrong in suffering such troubles to seize upon him pray'd for mitigation of his misery or for deliverance and he fasted on purpose that his Prayers might be more piercing The same thing he did when his Child lay sick 2 Sam. 12. 16. He besought God for the Child and fasted and lay all night upon the Earth Fasting is an acknowledgement of our vileness and he that abstains from Meat and Drink upon a Religious account confesses that he hath deserved to be starved to death and it is natural for Mankind to believe that such humiliations and abasements are prevalent with the Deity II. When any of our Friends or Relations or Neighbours fall into more than ordinary trouble our compassion and tenderness to their disconsolate estate is best expressed by fasting and supplications and in this also David's example is remarkable who went so far in his charity as to fast even for seeming friends but real enemies Psal. 35. 13. But as for me when they were sick my cloathing was Sackcloth I humbled my Soul with fasting and my Prayer returned into my own Bosom i. e. was answered and heard and they were deliver'd Selfishness hath so prevailed in the age we live in that we think it scarce worth the trouble of a Fast to procure God's mercy for our selves much less for others Good Lord What an unbelieving World is this Men believe not that God will work any mighty work upon their fasting and therefore slight it Heretofore men believ'd it and saw wonders and God blessed them and was entreated not only for them but for their Neighbours and Relations too III. When we would be rid of any inordinate Lust or Affection Fasting in these cases weakning the Body weakens such Lusts and Affections too which have too great dependence upon the body and are more vigorous as the Body is pamper'd and gratified and what Christ says of that evil spirit Matt. 17. 21. may be most truly applied to such Lusts This kind goes not out but by Fasting and Prayer These Lusts are certainly enemies to our Souls for they war against them in S t Peter's Phrase 1 Pet. 2. 11. and as a General that means to take a strong Town cuts off their Provision and will not suffer any Corn or other Commodities to be carried thither whence it comes to pass that the enemy must necessarily at last yield himself so inordinate Lusts must be starved out and if you bring a famine upon them you take away their strength and deprive them of their courage and briskness said Moses in Ruffinus for what is stronger than a Lion yet let him want his Food and he becomes as weak as the feeblest Animal IV. When we stand in need of Grace or of some Virtuous Habit or of Conquest of some particular temptation In this case Abstinence is exceeding profitable not that our empty stomacks do in their own nature contribute towards it but the Abstinence fits us for seriousness that seriousness for earnestness that earnestness for Gods favour And therefore it was that the Angel told Daniel Dan. 10. 12. From the first day that thou didst set thy heart to understand and to chasten thy self before thy God thy words were heard to shew that fasting fits the Soul for fervent Prayer and God denies nothing to such intercessions Jam. 5. 16. and indeed where men can so esteem the Grace of God as to take pains for it Gods arms are ever open to them for what the Heathens observed long ago holds true still To the industrious God denies nothing Nothing discovers our esteem of a thing so much as our contentedness to undergo some hardship for it and while we deny our Bodies often the satisfaction they crave they learn by degrees to be more obedient to Faith and Reason and consequently are less impediments to those Graces which require a Soul that can live above sence and sublunary objects Hence David to learn contentedness in adversity though exceeding dry yet would not drink the water that his Grandees fetcht for him from the Well of Bethlehem 2 Sam. 23. 16. and in imitation of him some in the Primitive Church to learn chearfulness in want when they have almost longed for a certain sort of Food and have got it yet have been unwilling to taste of it though their appetite was eager after it and for this very reason I think it was that the Pythagoreans used to sit down at a Table full of the greatest dainties and varieties and with coming stomacks too and in the mid'st of their hunger and greediness after Meat rise from Table and forbear eating or cause all to be taken away and continue fasting and all to learn self-conquest and to get their Souls more raised above the World V. When we undertake any great Work or Office it 's very fit to consecrate it with a Fast. So Christ entered upon his Office of Prophet with Fasting Mat. 4. 1 2. and S t Paul and Barnabas when ordain'd to be Preachers of the Word began that tremendous Work with Fasting and prayer Act. 13. 3. a thing so decent that the very Heathens have seen the necessity of it which was the reason why those that were going to consult the Oracle were obliged to fast and those that were to be admitted to Sacrifice or Minister to the Aegyptian Isis were commanded to fast ten days and those that were to be Priests of Jupiter were ordered to abstain from all Flesh and things that were heated by fire and they among the Indian Philosophers that were initiated into the Service or Worship of the Sun durst drink neither Wine nor eat any Flesh and Amphiaraus laid it down as a Rule that those that came to receive and give the true and clear meaning of the Oracles must debar themselves of all Food one whole day and three days besides of Wine VI. When the Church of God is groaning under persecution or some other grievous oppression This obliged the man of desires the Prophet Daniel to retire frequently seeing the Temple and City of Jerusalem lie desolate and in
without being concern'd whether they have a deliverer or no. 5. In such Fasts the Word of God must be diligently read and read with great attention especially such portions of Scripture as contain some of the severest threatnings of God and his Commands which we have been most negligent of and upon such passages reflections must be made and those Threatnings and Commands applied to our selves and our hearts asked how they feel themselves under these comminations and whether they are sensible of their Errors as the Eunuch of the Queen of Aethiopia said to Philip Of whom doth the Prophet speak of himself or of another man Act. 8. 34. so when these threatnings occur the interrogation must be Of whom doth God speak of me or of another Am not I guilty of the same sin and may not I justly think he speaks of me as well as of another 6. With these Devotions in such Fasts praises of God may be mingled now and then and Gods various Blessings laid open to our view that we may learn to admire his goodness and our strange ingratitude and in this the Israelites in Nehemiah are our Precedents of whose Fast we read that they divided the day of their Fast into four parts one part they consecrated to confessions of Sin the second to reading the Word of God the third to thanksgiving and praising God the fourth it 's like to begging Blessings Spiritual and Temporal for themselves and for their brethren Nehem. 9. 1 2 3. An excellent pattern and which if follow'd may keep us from being tired with devotion on such occasions 7. In such Fasts holy serious and gracious thoughts are absolutely necessary thoughts suitable to that mortification and the great concern we are about for as we need not lie upon our faces all day but may lawfully rise sometimes and walk so in that walk or while we are not reading or praying our minds must be busie with contemplations of our spiritual wants and the ways and means how they may be supplied our eyes must be fixed upon Heaven and God's justice and vengeance survey'd with an impartial eye till it makes us wish with Jeremy O that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for the iniquities of my sins Jerem. 9. 1. 8. Alms and Works of Charity must accompany such Fasts for thus we are taught Es. 58. 6. 7. Is not this the Fast that I have chosen To undo the heavy Burdens to deal thy Bread to the hungry and that thou bring the Poor that are cast out to thy house In such Fasts we come to beg a considerable Alms of God and God is resolv'd to observe his own Rule With what measure you mete with the same it shall be measured to you again and that the merciful shall obtain mercy What pity can we expect from God at such times while we shut up our bowels of compassion to the needy Though we our selves fast yet that 's no Rule for them that are in distress and want daily Food and we then fast with some comfort while we make them eat that are destitute of necessaries and conveniences 9. In such Fasts we must have no ill designs He that with Jezehel fasts to circumvent an innocent Naboth fasts not to God but to the Devil and he who hath some interest or intrigue to carry on and can effect it by nothing so easily as by a Fast and Humiliation to bring people into a good opinion of him takes strange pains to make God his implacable enemy To provoke God by downright works of darkness is all one would think that wickedness can aim at but to convert Religion into sin and by a Fast to hold a Candle to the Devil is a Villany which hath no name and therefore the punishment due to it can have no bounds no measure He that Fasts upon the account of the great injustice and oppression he hath been guilty of in hopes that God will let him enjoy the estate or means he hath wrongfully gotten without restitution observes a lesser Command and breaks a greater The design in such Fasts must be no other but to cloath our Souls with greater righteousness and to get our hearts fill'd with greater zeal to Gods glory To think that a Fast will excuse my sin or Abstinence serve for a cloak to cover my unlawful desires or make my Lusts and wilful Follies pass for Peccadillo's in Heaven are thoughts which require no other confutation but God's thunder and where people can think so ill of God and Religion there is no other way to convince them but by Viols of wrath and cups of trembling and astonishment 10. In these Fasts new Resolutions must be made against those sins we find our selves very prone and inclined too without this our Fasts are but cold services and our Abstinence but a formality It 's therefore well observed by the Jewish Doctors that it is not said â—â— the Ninevites that God saw their Faâ—â—ng and their Sackcloth but their Worâ—â— and that they turned from their evil ways Without such Resolutions we only fast for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness as it is said Es. 58. 4. but do not fast to God If we have been defective in any duty new resolutions must be made against the neglect new resolutions to be more careful in the performance new resolutions to watch more and to overcome our selves This is to renew our Covenant with God and when we do so God will be found of us 2 Chron. 15. 12. 15. To weaken our Bodies in fasting while our sins continue vigorous and strong is only a seeming imitation of a Nation that doth righteousness and forsakes not the Ordinances of God but no real following after righteousness as God complains of the Jews Es. 58. 2. XI Our intent in such Fasts must be to fit our selves for the influences of God's Spirit One great reason why the Christians of old had so plentiful a Portion of God's Spirit vouchsafed to them was without doubt their great Temperance and Abstinence which makes the Soul more agile and lively and consequently quickens her understanding and prepares her for those communications of the Deity I can lay no very great stress upon the place because it concerns a particular person yet it is remarkable however that the Evangelist speaking of S t John the Baptist's Abstinence immediately subjoins the priviledge we speak of Luke 1. 15. He shall be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost as if Abstinence attracted that invisible in-influence and God loved to converse more with persons that are enemies to pampering of their Bodies than with those that delight in corporal Food and choicer Diet. Indeed the more the Body is cherish'd the more sleepy will the Soul be and the less it is cocker'd and pleased the
health but these examples we may justly look upon as Miracles rather then effects of use and custom by use a man may much abridge himself in his sleep but cannot ordinarily attain to a perpetual vigilancy and as to be always waking is to be Immortal so to sleep more than is needful is like death rather than life 2. And to this use we shall arrive the sooner if we eat very moderately for it 's the fumes of a full stomach that cause immoderate sleep Eating little will support nature better than plentiful Meals We first corrupt nature and teach it to crave more than it wants and the ill custom brings a necessity upon us to keep up our intemperance By this moderate eating Maercellus Strategus in Commodus his time brought himself to that vigilance that he was the object of all mens admiration It was S t Anthony the Hermits slender and simple diet that enabled him to observe those laborious Vigils we read of and hence it was that he used to quarrel with the Sun when he saw him rise for disturbing the joy and sweet communion he had with God all night so true was that saying of Scopelianus of old That the night is the best friend of the Soul and participates of the Wisdom and Glory of the Deity 3. Nothing will facilitate this watchfulness at night more than frequent contemplations of what others do and have done before us They were men and so are we they carried flesh and blood about them and so do we they had infirmities of the flesh as well as we we have Souls as well as they and may have courage as well as they if we will take the same reasons they did into consideration A shadow of this Virtue is to be seen in the Cock and Lion the former of which Pliny justly calls a Creature born to call People out of their Beds and the latter therefore was made by the Antients the Symbol of vigilance The Dragon that kept the Golden Fleece was always awake and the Hundred-ey'd Shepherd then ceased to live when he ceased to watch Emblems these are of the Exercise before us and the Lord Jesus therefore continued in Prayer all night to shew that if the Master could watch for the Servants the Servants have reason to watch for their Master saith the eloquent Chrysologus Of the Pantarba or Shining-stone they report that in the middle of the night it sends forth a grateful splendour and seems to turn night into day Whether there be such a Stone or no I dispute not but the Moral of it are these nocturnal Praises and Hallelujahs these make it day at midnight and whatever darkness may be on the face of the Earth I am sure in a Soul that uses them the Sun shines and a glorious charming Light arises The night they say is a time that Spirits walk abroad It 's true enough where men use this Exercise for an Infinite Spirit the God of Grace and Peace walks forth to meet them and the Soul makes her Chamber another Mahanaim a walk for the Host of God I conclude this Subject with the words of Nestor in mer to Diomedes and the rest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which I thus Paraphrase What Sleep all night and th' Enemy so near When from the Camp you may their Voices hear Is it not time unto our Arms to fly When but a Hill 'twixt them and us doth lye Up stand upon your guard my Children watch Lest the bold foe you unawares do catch And in your slaughter triumph and do scorn Your braver Souls like Men to ruine born IV. Extraordinary Exercise Self-Revenge An Exercise insisted on 2 Cor. 7. 11. and practised by S t Paul 1 Cor. 9. 27. and by Timothy 1. Tim 5. 23. I distinguish this Exercise from the rest not because Fasting and Vowing or Watching have nothing of Self-revenge in them but because the word is more general and includes all other lawful severities which holy men have used upon themselves so that this Exercise takes in all other acts of Self-denial undertaken on purpose that the Soul may learn to die to the World and to have her conversation in Heaven an Exercise as antient as Christianity nay as antient as the Law of Moses for it began as early as the Nazarites who neither cut their Hair nor 〈…〉 heads nor drank any Wine or strong Dâ—â—â—k nor tasted of any Liquor of the Grapes â—â— eat any dried Grapes nor any thing 〈◊〉 was made of the Liquor of the Grapes 〈◊〉 of any strong Drink severities used on purpose and by Gods approbation that they might more entirely dedicate themselves to God s service And these austerities we find afterwards used by Elijah the Prophet of whom we read that he was a hairy man and girt with a Girdle of Leather about his Loins I know some understand the expression a Hairy man of a hairy Garment but this sense seems not to agree with the Hebrew Language which doth not use to express a mans Garment by such words but the nature or external shape and form of his Body so that he seemed liker Onuphrius who met Paphnutius in the Wilderness hairy all over insomuch that little else could be seen about him a piece of austerity the Prophet made use of that he might learn to despise the World and that no temptations might make any impression upon him which usually insinuate into our Hearts and Affections where the body is used delicately and men take care to dress up themselves curiously to please the eyes of the Spectator and though it 's true that Elijah was a fore-runner of S t John the Baptist as S t John Baptist was of Christ and S t John is said to have had his Raiment of Camels hair which seems to make it probable that this hairiness of Elijah was only in his Cloaths because his Antitype or Successors was so yet the Prophesie that God would send Elijah before the great day of the Lord Jesus his appearing in the World imported not that he would be exactly like him in his way of living and the form of his body but that he should come in the Spirit and Power of Elias to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the Wisdom of the Just as the Angel said to Zacharias Luc. 1. 17. These severities were afterwards practised by the Rechabites Jer. 35. 6 7. for they neither drank Wine neither they nor their Sons for ever neither did they build Houses nor sow Seed nor plant Vineyards nor possess any Land but dwelt in Tents all their days poor and mean and minding the Salvation of their Souls When they ceased the Essenes and the Pharisees took up that discipline The Essenes lived retired from the World avoided Cities and Crowds of People as temptations
There is no dallying with such objects To see whether I am able to resist the Temptation is to sin for Tryals sake and he is certainly safer that looks another way Our greatest wisdom is to suspect our own frailty and the best way to keep Sin out of the Mind is to keep it out of the Eyes What sin we have formerly fallen into we may fall into again and he that knows not but he may had best put himself out of all danger and that is by not looking upon the enticing object and though it is not necessary to run away from it in great fury as Paulus in Cassian did from the sight of a Woman yet it 's expedient to get as fast as we can from the confines of that Fire which is so apt to put our passions into a Fever 3. In checking the least disorder which our Seeing may cause in our Minds and Passions It 's possible we may be surpriz'd and the object we behold unawares may dart a covetous or envious or lascivious thought into our minds and that spark may fall upon the passions but here the poison must be presently vomited up again and the seed of evil dissipated and our Souls clear'd of the dangerous guest the sudden thought drown'd in the waters of Repentance and greater cautiousness for the future must be used and the Child thus burnt must learn to dread the fire where this is neglected and men are careless of this Exercise their Souls are in danger of being consumed for those sparks if let alone will soon put all into a doleful conflagration so necessary is it to resist the beginnings of these impurer steams and exhalations and the Vipers bite can do no great harm if something be applyed presently to stop the inflammation The first disorder is soon check'd when the greater tumult cannot be quell'd or allay'd but with very great pains and difficulty 4. In making greater use of the eyes of our Minds than those of our Bodies Matth 6. 22. When St. Anthony the Hermit had a mind to comfort the Excellent but blind Dydimus of Alexandria he thus addressed himself to him Let it not trouble thee that thou hast lost thy outward or carnal eyes for in being deprived of them thou wantest only such eyes as Mice and Flies and Lizzards have but rejoyce that thou hast Eyes of Angels whereby God is seen and a vast light of knowledge is kindled in thy Soul Indeed were these Eyes but exercised more those of the Body would have no such evil influence upon the Soul The intellectual Eye looks beyond the Clouds transcends the Sky and sees through all the Mists and Foggs of this present World into Eternity This beholds the satisfactions of another World and surveys the Treasure God hath laid up for them that fear him This sees the goodness of God and causes otherguise Delights than the Butterflies and Glow-worms of earthly Glories do This looks up to the everlasting Hills and as the Eyes of Servants look unto the hands of their Masters and as the Eyes of a Maiden look unto the hand of her Mistriss so this waites upon the King of Heaven till he is pleased to answer in the still voice of Love and Mercy This scorns to stoop so low as to see what Swine and Moles do here on earth and takes a view of Gods Paradise and of the blessed Shades under which the Heirs of Glory rest without Disturbance or Molestation and he that sees with this eye opens this often and delights to behold objects suitable and agreeable to its sublime and wonderful Fabrick doth stupifie the pleasures his corporal eyes suggest and so qualifies them that they make no more impression than Arrows shot against a brazen Wall or Fortress made of Iron In these particulars this Exercise consists and this is it we press upon you this is it we exhort you to and intreat you to employ your selves in as you would not bear the name of Christians in vain We do not bid you with Eusebius in Theodoret to shut your eyes against the Flowers of the Field or against the Stars of Heaven and to put weights of Iron about your Necks to keep your Eyes fixed upon the ground we do not perswade you with Pachomius so to tye your selves up from the sight of all Mankind as not to look upon so near a Relation as a Sister Simeon Stylita and Theodorus would not see their own Mothers John the Hermit for Fifty years together saw none of the Female Sex one Sarah lived Threescore years by a River and never look'd upon it one Marcus saluted his Mother and one Pior his Sister with their eyes shut Sylvanus on Mount Sinai was so afraid of having his mind distracted with vain thoughts that he would not so much as look upon the Trees that grew in a Garden before him but such superstitious doings we do not set before you as patterns to imitate but the thing we would have you learn to be masters of is that modesty of the eyes that serious Look that care of your Senses that you may not look upon any thing that 's like to breed vain thoughts in your understanding your Eyes are Sacred things The Egyptians represented God by them and the Type should ever answer to the Antitype As God therefore is Holy so should the Eye be that represents him Would you know what makes your Mind so frothy and your Souls so weary of Gods Service Why your Eye is never weary of seeing objects that feed your sensuality What is it makes you so averse from reading Books that Treat of God and Happiness Why your eyes delighting so much in reading Romances and Play-Books What damps or dulls your admiration of Gods providences Why your eyes being so much taken with vain shews and representations What makes you that you are no more enamour'd with him that 's altogether lovely Why your eyes are so entirely fix'd on the Flesh and on the World How should you love that which you see but seldom How should you hunger and thirst after that which you care not how rarely you cast your eyes upon you fancy Religion doth not reach so far as the eyes and think that God hath given you eyes on purpose to look on all things that are visible you are not aware of the Serpent that lies in the Grass you look upon and all is harmless to you that comes within the verge of sight but these are not thoughts of Men that have learn'd Christ these are not reasonings of Men that have laid up their portion in another world this is the sense of Men that grovel in the Dust and know not what it means to walk after the Spirit your God that knows your frame would never have made a Law to regulate the Sight but that he knew that was the hole at which the Scorpions creep in that prey upon the Soul Stop up this Fountain and you need not fear
us How can we deal worse with a man that hates us than by not looking on him when he meets us Is God our enemy that we care not for beholding him in secret when he stands before us in our Closets The Glory of God surrounds us penetrates our Souls and Bodies more than the Sunbeam doth the Chrystal stone and shall not we tremble when we are alone at so great a Majesty The Presence of Gods Wisdom provides for us and sees that we may want nothing is always busie about us either to direct or to rewards us nay God doth not trust his Angels with this Province but himself watches over us every moment every hour like a Nurse he carries us in his everlasting Arms. Have we such a constant Benefactor continually about us and are not we concerned more at his Presence Behold Christian when thou art alone that God is with thee and in thee and stands by thee before whom all Angels vail their Faces at whose Presence Divels tremble who fills Heaven and Earth with his Glory that God is with thee who is altogether lovely the Center of Happiness before whom all Nations are as Grashoppers as the small Dust of the Ballance and as a drop at the bottom of a Bucket who by his Providence maintains thy Soul in life charges the Divel not to drag thee into Hell commands the Powers of darkness not to molest thee or murther thee takes care of thy Self thy Wife and Children and watches day and night over all that thou hast that preserves thy House from being burnt thy Children from being drowned thy Cattle from rotting thy Barns from being consumed by Lightning that Commands and thou takest thy Rest speaks the Word and no danger must come nigh keeps thee as the Apple of thine own Eye and bids his Angels to carry thee in their hands This God this Beneficial God This Immense This Infinite This Bountiful This Gracious This Munificent This Liberal This Charitable God is with thee and about thee every where especially when thou art by thy self for then there is none with thee but he and wilt not thou be conscientious in his Presence Was ever Ingratitude like this The most ungrateful slave however he rails against his Benefactor behind his back yet is afraid to do it in his Presence and will you revile God to his Face What is your sinning against him but reviling of him What is your acting contrary to his Will but abusing of him 〈…〉 he be in the room with you looks you in the Face when you do so do not you reproach him to his Face Ay but Man would be angry with us say you if we should abuse him when he is present with us and bring us into trouble God never punishes us when we sin against him in private and none but he with us Disingenuous Wretches Is your Eye therefore evil because God is good Must you be vain because God is patient Foolish because he suffers long Must you sin because he doth not punish or transgress his Laws because by his Mercies he would oblige you to Repentance Will you slight him because he is kind or undervalue him because he caresses you to your happiness Sinner Did the Lord Jesus appear to thee in a visible shape while thou art alone in thy Closet Wouldst not thou behave thy self humbly modestly and seriously and sute thy thoughts and actions to the Presence of so Glorious a Being Why Christs Divinity is with thee now and cannot his Divinity have the same influence upon thy Spirit that his Humanity would have Is not his Divine above his Humane Nature and is not the Deity more excellent than the most Glorious Image or representation Inconsiderate man If thou art minded to offend God get Curtains that can hide his sight for if he see what madness is it to conspire against him before him Go get where God sees not and then do what thou wilt God stands with infinite Ears and Eyes and Understanding about thee and with as strong application of Spirit as if he left contemplation of himself to pierce thee with all his beams and for him to see thy Disloyalties is a greater shame than if they were represented on all the Theaters of the World The Soul that lives in the thoughts of Gods Presence prepares for her richest Comforts for how can he want Joy that is sensible the Fountain of Joy is with him How can he want Support that is sensible that the God of all Consolation is with him How can he want a refuge or hiding place that is sensible he hath the rock of ages in the room with him The Palm-tree bears Fruit when another Tree of the same nature is set by it how much more will a Soul bear Fruit that 's sensible the Great Husbandman that hath planted Heaven and Earth and gives Sap and Nourishment to all his Creatures is with her and within her and that that Sun of Righteousness is continually warming her with his lively beams Have not you seen a stone thrown into the Air make all the haste it can to return to its Center so whenever such a Soul is justled out of her Orb either by the World or the Divel the God that lives in her forces her to return presently to her Center even to that God in whom she hath all that heart can wish or reason can desire Fear the Lord all ye his Saints for there is no want to them that fear him saith David Psal. 34. 9. The Soul that fears him from a sense of his Omnipresence is that Soul that can lack nothing for it can lack no strength to arrive to the highest degrees of Holiness for this sense will call it away from all absurd and undecent actions will not suffer her to fall into sin and like the Hands of Angels preserve her Foot from running against a stone as a large spreading Oak deeply rooted in the Earth mocks the rage of winds so a Soul in whom this Sense is fixed can sing securely under all the outrages of hellish Furies My Flesh trembles for fear of thee so we read Psal. 119. 120. The Septuagint render it Fix or nail my flesh with thy fear because the Hebrew Word signifies both and the Word thus taken is very emphatical for as the Man whose Hands and Feet and Body are nailed to a Tree can stir no where so he that lives in a mighty Sense of the Almighties Presence dares not stir from the strait way or from the paths of Righteousness Such a man thinks himself obliged to work out his Salvation with fear and trembling and when Flesh and Bloud would have him be angry or laugh at a sin or defile himself in secret he dares not how can I commit this wickedness and sin against God saith he for God sees me Where this Sense is there Envy must be gone love of Money must take its leave and depart Wrath and Malice dares not stay
to give to them that need Do I respect Gods Ministers Do I love them Do I communicate to them that teach in all Good things Do I forbear with their infirmities Do I obey them in things that tend to my Salvation Do I give them that which is due to them Am I kind as well as just to them especially to those who faithfully labour in Gods Vinyard As to the Fifth Commandment Have I acted this day as a Father as a Mother as a Master as a Mistress as a Magistrate as a Tutor as a Son as a Daughter as a Servant as a Subject as a Pupil as an old Man as a young Man as a Husband as a Wife as a Minister as a Hearer as a Maid as a Widdow as a rich Man as a poor Man ought to act and as they are commanded by the Holy Ghost to act in their several Stations Have I been thankful for Kindnesses shew'd me Have I kept my due distance to my Superiours Have I been officious to my Equals kind to my Inferiours Have I studied gravity in Words Actions Gestures and Postures and Behaviour Have not I spoke Evil of Dignities Have not I been a Respector of Persons Have not I connived at Sins in my Children or Friends which I have reprov'd in a Servant or one in a low Condition Have not I been negligent in providing for my Family Have not I spent that time in idleness which should have been spent in working in my Calling As for the Sixth Commandment Have I been just in all my Dealings this day Have I hurt no body in Word or Deed Have I moderated mine Anger Have I been easily reconciled to persons that did offend me Have not I studied Revenge Have I look'd up to Heaven when I have been reproach'd and minded the Supreme Cause that suffered this reproach to fall on me for my Sins more than the Instrument or Person that abused me Have I been willing to decede from mine own right for peace and quietness sake Have not I been Cruel Harsh Morose Ill-natur'd to Men Have not I begun a Quarrel or encouraged it when it was begun Have I been sorry and troubled for any injury that hath been offer'd to my Neighbour Have I been compassionate tender-hearted Have I discharged the Duty of a Friend to those whom I have made believe that I was their Friend Have not I pretended Friendship when I had no love for them Have not I dissembled with men flatter'd them given them fair words when in my Heart I hated or despised or undervalued them As for the Seventh Commandment Have I maintained Chastity this day Have I watched over my Thoughts Inclinations and Desires Have I abhorr'd all obscene filthy and impure Communications and Actions Have I been very moderate in my Eating Drinking Recreation Cloathing and Desires after these outward Comforts Have I dash'd all evil Concupiscence in my Soul in its Birth and when first I felt it stirring Have I been troubled when I have heard of the Adulteries Fornications and Lasciviousness of other men If I met with any immodest or undecent Sight did I turn away mine Eyes and impregnate my Mind with Arguments and Reasons against any sinful complacency As for the Eighth Commandment Have I come justly by those things I have gain'd this day Do I possess nothing that hath been got by Deceit or Oppression Have I been faithful to my Trust Have not I suffer'd my Neighbour to be wronged when I might have prevented it Have not I been guilty of Covetousness Or have not I been guilty of another Extreme which is Prodigality Have not I thought much of giving something to the Poor while I have spared no cost to adorn my Back and feed my Belly considering the Plenty God hath given me Have I been Hospitable and glad to feed some Stranger or poor House-keeper at my Table Have I not spent Money upon my Sin and Pride or Wantonness Have not I consented to another Mans Injustice If I have wronged or deceived my Neighbour am I willing and ready to make restitution As for the Ninth Commandment Have I spoke nothing but Truth to day Have I kept my word to day Have I perform'd what I promis'd either to God or Man Have not I by Equivocations Palliations of Sins and Mental Reservations sought to put a Cheat upon my Neighbour Have not I been voluntarily ignorant of such Deceptions Have not I reported things for certain which at the best have been but doubtful Have not I been peremptory in accusing my Neighbour of an Error when nothing but a conjecture or surmise rais'd the Accusation Have I been candid and open-hearted in my Dealings Have not I betray'd the Secret of my Friend Have not I been wavering in asserting the Truth Have not I been very forward to censure others Have I been silent when I have had no certain knowledge of things and have I been willing to be better inform'd by others Have I patiently heard what men could say for themselves And have not I given Judgment before I have heard the Cause As for the Tenth Commandment Have I been contented this day with that condition God hath allotted me in this World Have not I grumbled and repined that God hath not provided so well for me as he hath done for others Have not I been wishing that I were in such a rich mans Case or that I had such a Estate as my Neighbour hath or that I had such a House such Means such Accommodations as he is Master of that I had as little to do and had as plentiful a Table and as prosperous a Life as he is blessed withal Have my Desires kept within their bounds and have not I been ready to determine what State and Condition is fittest for me And have not I thought my self wiser than God in fancying I might have done better in another State of Life than that he thought fit to place me in 3. In the same manner Christ's Sermon upon the Mount may be laid before us and our Hearts called to an account by such Queries as these Have I this day exercised any Poverty of Spirit Have I entertained low and humble Conceits of my self Hath my Heart been very indifferent as to these outward Conveniences and unconcern'd whether I have much of this Worlds Goods or no Have my Sins been a grief or trouble to my Soul Have they made me take on and mourn because I have offended a tender Father a gracious God a merciful Redeemer Have I studied Meekness and Gentleness in my Answers and Actions Have I felt a mighty hunger and thirst after Righteousness in my Soul Have I had an opportunity to shew myself Merciful and have I embraced the opportunity Have I look'd to my inward man and indeavour'd to purifie my Thoughts Desires and Inclinations Hath my Heart gone along with my Prayer Have I studied sincerity in Devotion sincerity in my Dealings and sincerity in all my Speeches
with Bathsheba while Solomon was busie in building the Temple his Women could not seduce his Heart while Sampson was fighting with the Philistines Dalilah could not entice him so here while you are busie in these Exercises you cannot be taken Captive by the Devil There are indeed men that are worthy of their Hire but then they are Labourers not Loiterers and though Christ promised refreshment yet it is to those alone who have tired themselves with Working and take their Masters Yoak upon them and learn to exercise themselves as he did Mat. 11. 28. These Exercises will make you capable of being admitted to a very great intimacy and friendship with the Infinite Majesty of Heaven The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him saith the Man that had found it by experience Psal. 25. 14. Through these Exercises the Soul comes to be defecated from her dross from carnal Lusts and Affections and is made fit company for the Deity for so enamoured is God with these Exercises that the Soul that runs in this Race is in a capacity of drinking of the Rivers of Gods Pleasures O how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee Ps. 31. 19. Gods Goodness is a Treasure inexhaustible a Subject so full of Charms that the more a man thinks of it the more he may the thoughts of it put the Soul into a kind of Fever for the more she drinks of this living water of life the more she may other Arts and Sciences a man may bring to perfection and see the utmost of them but Gods Goodness there is no coming to the top of it the Soul that contemplates it this hour sees in it new Mysteries the next and he that is ravished with the contemplation of it to day is ready to loose his Reason in the admiration of it to morrow It is a Fountain of Life which sends forth a thousand Streams and yet is as full as ever It is the hiding place of a Holy Soul and the Scripture means nothing else by Gods Banquetting-House but his Goodness This enriches the Soul beyond all the Wealth that the World boasts of and I know not what name to give to its Influences for like the heat of Fire they can only be felt but cannot be painted It is the sweetest Labyrinth for a Man of Thoughts to loose himself in and the more a man is lost in it the greater pleasure he feels and lies softer than the Sybarite upon his Bed of Roses Humane Tongue is not able to describe it and the safest way is to stand amazed at it and to say nothing silence being the truest sign of admiration Not one in an hundred knows what it means and nothing but a Beam of Heaven let into the Mind can give the Soul any lively apprehensions of it It is a thing that affects the whole Body as well as the Soul and if the Soul feels what it is its ready to wish for more Souls and Bodies to participate of the satisfaction Thousands feed upon this goodness yet have no sense of it and were all men sensible of it there is not one would go to Hell or turn Proctor for the Devil If it be seen clearly it charms and the Understanding that beholds it without a Glass and with open face must protest it is the sweetest and most reviving Cordial imaginable This lively sense of his Goodness the Almighty vouchsafes to those that thus exercise themselves unto Godliness for these are the men that fear him The Lord is their Shepherd and they shall not want they shall not want a friend in adversity when Lovers and Friends are put far from them and their acquaintance into darkness God will be their Friend when they have no person to advise or to consult with or to make their complaints to he will guide them by his Counsel when their Flesh and their Heart faileth and all Creatures fail them God will be their Strength and their Portion for ever He 'll hear their cry they shall unbosome themselves unto him and he 'll bow down his Ears to them tell their wandrings put their tears in his Bottle and write all their sighs and groans in his Book What a comfort is it to have a Bosom-friend here on Earth to whom we can speak our Minds who'll bear the Burthen with us and compassionate and pity us and to whom we can unlock and open the very inside of our Hearts But then what a comfort must it be to have God for my Friend whom I can have recourse too in all my Necessities make my moan to and tell him how my Heart is griev'd who will not laugh at my Calamity nor mock when my fear comes whose Bowels yearn over me who will advise me for the best bid me lay my wearied head in his Bosom direct me to the breasts of consolation from which I may suck life and vigour deal sincerely with me act for me speak for me and contrive my good and be concerned for me as if my Necessities were his own Such honour have all his Saints so kind so good so wonderfully kind is God to all such as exercise themselves unto Godliness they shall want nothing that 's necessary either for Soul or Body Their Souls shall be fed with the Promises of the Gospel guided by the Eternal Spirit provided for from the Store-house of Grace and Mercy nay their Bodies shall never want and God will either bless their Industry and Labours of their Callings as he did S t Paul's diligence 2 Thess. 3 8. or turn the Hearts of other men towards them who shall relieve them assist them receive them and redress their Grievances as he did in the Case of Onesimus Philem. v. 12. or send an Angel from Heaven to feed them as he did Elijah 1 Reg. 19. 5. Nay suppose that it should be expedient for Gods Glory that they suffer want of Necessaries yet even then they shall not want Grace to support them Courage to bear up under it Joy to keep their Heads above Water and Resolution to trust in him though the Lord should kill them as we see 2 Cor. 12. 9 Alas What can they want while God supports them God! that Horn of Plenty that Ocean of Goodness that Sea of Kindness that Perfection of Beauty that comprehensive Light that inexhaustible Fountain of Bliss that Centre of Happiness that Rock of Ages that Spring of Comfort that Treasure of Beatitude that Store-house of Provision whose Years do not fail whose Munificence never decays who can never be Poor whose Liberality is infinite who Gives before Men Ask who is Present when he seems to be Absent whose Love no Rhetorick can explain whose Riches the Tongues of Angels cannot reach and you may as well say that Solomon in all his Glory was in Want as think that they whose Shepheard God is can be in Want They want no other Shepheard but him no other Comforter
this nature were those Vows the Jews made to the prejudice of their Parents whereof Christ speaks Mat. 15 4. 5. It is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me i. e. a Vow whereby Children that had any ill will to their Parents Vow'd their Goods and Monies to the use of the Church and by that means pretended they could not break their Vow and relieve their Parents To make Vows is as lawful now as it was in the days of Moses nor doth any command of the Gospel forbid us to enter into such Engagements Vowing is not an Appendix of the Ceremonial Worship but a dictate of the Law of Nature and who knows not how that the Gentiles by the instinct of this have made such Vows in time of danger and Necessity As we are Christians we are to give all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure and to make use of all wholesome things that may promote salvation and since these Vows do as much promote Religion as any other means it 's but reason we should think of them and not neglect such useful Obligations And to direct my Reader in this Exercise I shall shew him 1. when and upon what occasions such Vows may and must be made and 2. what Rules must be observ'd in the making 3. Incourage him to the making of them And 4. Enforce the Obligation to keep them after they are made 1. When and upon what occasions such Vows may and must be made And to this I answer I. In Time of great Trouble and Necessity I will go into thy House with Burnt-Offerings I will pay thee my Vows which my lips have utter'd and my mouth hath spoken when I was in trouble saith the Royal Psalmist Psal. 66. 13. 14. It was a time of fear and danger when Jacob enter'd into a Vow to consecrate the Tenth part of his Income unto God and Pious uses Gen. 28. 20. And it 's like it was in imitation of him that Alban the British King Vow'd the Tenth part of all his Goods to God when he was assaulted by the Normans And such Vows are ordinarily made upon condition that God do actually grant the Blessing we expect So the Children of Israel Numb 21. 2. If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hands then I will utterly destroy their Cities and so Clodoveus the French King justly Vowed when oppressed by the Almaines that if God would give him the Victory he would certainly become a Christian. And in the same manner a Christian may lawfully Vow in sickness that if God will restore him he will keep the day of his deliverance holy unto the Lord or if in a Storm at Sea that if God shall be pleased to bring him safe to Shoar he will give an hundred or two hundred Pounds or more to some Hospital And though God is no Merchant that sells his Gifts or Blessings yet in these Cases like an indulgent Master he is willing to encourage us to our Duty and to bring us to a sense of his Mercy and he is so far from taking these conditions in our Vows ill that very often he grants the Blessing for which we bound our Souls on purpose to make us in love with his Service and though the names of those that have Vowed and yet after their Vows have perished are not written down upon Tables as the Atheist Diagoras scoffingly said yet where God doth not grant the Mercy that is desired in the Vow it is either because he sees that the person Vowing is not in good earnest resolv'd to perform his promise or because the grant of the Blessing desired would prove an occasion of his greater dissoluteness or because he intends better things to the man that Vows than the things he begs or hopes upon his Vow to enjoy II. After some signal deliverance from Danger and Calamity To Vow after some such Mercy is a thing so natural with ingenuous Spirits that even the good-natur'd Seamen in Jonas c. 1. 16. though they were Heathen when the Sea ceased from raging feared the Lord exceedingly and offer'd a Sacrifice unto the Lord and made Vows Prodigious deliverances strike the Soul into amazement and a Man that hath any sense of the unexpected favour can do no less than Vow unto God some signal Devotion by way of Gratitude for the Mercy The deliverance is great and signal and the devotion ought to be so too The Vow shews that the Gratitude is hearty and nothing is so great an Argument that the sense of the Mercy is vigorous and lively as when we bind our selves to make returns some way suitable to Gods Benignity It cannot but be pleasing to God upon such occasions to Vow that either we will pray seven times a day with David or that we will allow something more than ordinary for charitable uses or that we will be more diligent in visiting the Sick the Widdow and the Fatherless or that we will go into such ill company no more or that we will shun such occasions of evil or that we will take care of some poor Children and either breed them up or keep them at School or get them to be instructed in the Principles of Religion or that we will employ so much time every day in working for indigent and distressed persons c. Such things as these are or may be all within our own power and consequently may lawfully be Vow'd and we have reason to believe that for Christ's sake God will behold these Free-will Offerings with a Gracious eye because they proceed from love and he that dwells in Love dwells in God and God in him saith the Apostle 1 Joh. 5. 16. III. When some strong Corruption is to be subdu'd and an easie matter will not make it yield When after many weak purposes we relapse into the Sin and notwithstanding our Resolutions against it now and then suffer our selves to be misled into it In such Cases where gentle Remedies will do no good it 's fit yea necessary to use stronger Medicines and where our Flesh doth baffle our good purposes to cross it with stronger Vows He that finds himself enclined to drink immoderately when he comes into company hath no better way to overcome the Sin than by Vowing either not to drink at all in such Societies or to drink but one Glass and no more or to abstain from such a Liquor which is apt to intoxicate him or not to come into company which he knows will tempt him to intemperance The man that finds himself subject to carnal pollutions may certainly forbear them if he will enter into solemn Vows never to be guilty of such sins again If the Swearer would make a Vow to God to give a Crown to the Poor if ever he swear again without all peradventure the Sin in a short time would die provided he hath Conscience enough to keep his Vow And all grosser Sins as gaming obscene discourses and Atheistical talk
more active will the Spirit be and I think I may lay it down for a Maxim that the greatest Revelations and Inspirations have been vouchsafed to Men that have been most given to Abstinence Of Anna the Prophetess it is particularly said that she served God with Fasting much Luke 2. 37. Not that I would encourage men to aim at extraordinary Visions and Revelations in their Fasts but so much I dare promise them that by frequent Religious Fasts they may obtain great assistances of God's Spirit to subdue their corruptions and to do great things for God and to arrive to more than ordinary content and satisfaction And this calls me to another observation 12. That these Fasts if the Soul shall receive any great good by them as I hinted before must be frequent Once a year or once in half a year to deny our selves in Meat drink upon the account of devotion is may be to do more han profane persons but not to do more than hypocrites it is the frequency of study makes men Scholars and the frequency of speaking makes men Masters of a Language Frequent touching of the Strings makes a man a good Lutenist as frequent working at a Trade makes a man an excellent Artificer so he that repeats this Exercise often will not only get a facility in the performance but his Soul will signally thrive by it supposing still that the days be spent as I have directed and though we cannot lay down a certain Rule for all men because their Constitutions and employments are different yet I should think that once a month at least any private Christian might keep a solemn Fast to obtain mercy and find Grace to help in the time of need Those who have more time may take the first Christians for their pattern and exercise themselves either once or twice a week in such Abstinence The Scripture hath not given us any particular instructions about it because God would have such Exercises come freely from us without constraint and then they become Golden Viols full of odours as S t John speaks Rev. 5. 8. 13. When we fast thus our care must be not to despise others that do not Every man stands and falls to his own Master and I that know not anothers Reasons why he neglects such Exercises must not therefore judge him as profane I must still consider that I have more need of such Self-denials than other men and though they do not for the present apply themselves to these stricter Rules of living God will in time acquaint them with their duty I know my own wants and necessities best and my first care must be to save mine own Soul As other mens neglects must be no examples to me so neither if they do not do what I do must I cry Stand off for I am holier than thou art This may befit a Pharisee but doth not become a Christian and whatever effects Grace produces in the Soul to be sure contempt of others is no Fruit of that Tree 14. Those that are under the yoak as Servants or Apprentices and are desirous of this Exercise must take such days as their Masters and Superiours will allow or when they can be best spared from their work and employment and if it be replied that they have no other days but Sundays and Holidays I answer that there is no place of Scripture that forbids turning the Lords Day or other Festivals in case of necessity into days of humiliation especially where the severity of Masters and Mistresses is such that they will neither enter into Gods Kingdom themselves nor suffer those that will to enter The Eastern Church heretofore made it a crime to fast on Saturday or on the Sabbath day except the great Saturday before Easter yet the Western Church ventured it and what was a Festival in the East was a Humiliation day in the West and no doubt they had their different reasons for it as the Eastern Church made it a Festival to oppose the Heresie of Marcion who fasted that day so the Western made it a day of Humiliation because the Disciples of our Lord were overwhelmed with grief and sorrow that day for the loss of their Master This passage I mention on purpose to shew that though the Lords day and other Holidays be Festivals yet it hath not been unusual to change Festivals into fasting days and consequently a person that is under such Bondage may no doubt lawfully spend them in such mortifying Exercises because he hath no other days to employ in such Devotions 15. They that are Masters of their time and have liberty to choose what days they think fit for this Exercise may do well to pitch on such days when together with their private devotions they may have opportunities to hear a Sermon or to be present at the publick Prayers of the Church For these publick Devotions keep the private warm and as one hand washes the other so the private fits the Soul for the publick and the publick makes her return with greater appetite to her private Confessions and Orisons On such days when our private Devotions are on the wing and our hearts hot within us we are the fitter to join with our follow Christians in publick and may contribute to the hearing of their Prayers for since the exaudition of Prayer depends much upon the fervour of it Abstinence as I said before being a great means to give heat and fire to our Prayers we may on such days by our addresses to God in publick as well as private signally promote not only our own but also our Neighbours welfare and happiness 16. When at night we break our Fast it 's fit and convenient we should be very moderate in eating and drinking least with the severities of the day we forget our resolutions of better obedience too He that hath fasted all day and gluts himself again at night seems to be glad that the devotion is over and to take greater delight in his corporal than spiritual Food and Nourishment The serious frame of spirit we have been in all day must be preserv'd at night and sure I am that feeding our selves to the full at such times will very much debilitate and weaken the noble sense we had all day and therefore a courser diet than ordinary is fittest at night when we have been with God all day It keeps in the holy fire and helps to maintain the serious thoughts we have had for the courser the Meat or Food is the less palatable will it be and the less palatable the less delight a man will take in 't and the less delight he takes in it the more he 'll reflect on the sad truths that have been in his mind all day To this purpose I remember a passage in Procopius concerning Justinian the Emperor The week before Easter saith he he fasted every day and led a very severe life such as meaner men would scarce have endured All the
fervour in Mens breasts at home and as a man for to pray need not every time he is to kneel down run to a publick Church to pray so neither is a Christian obliged to neglect this Watching upon the account of devotion because it is not exercised in publick It 's enough that the Church doth recommend it to private Christians though she cannot as yet bring private Christians to use this Self-denial publickly It were to be wish'd that the Ministers of the Gospel did begin this Exercise and possibly some well-disposed Christians would follow them but the age we live in is so very apt to call all things Superstition and Rags of the Whore of Babylon that looks like Self-denial that even those Divines that would observe these Vigils publickly dare not for fear of greater inconveniencies 2. As I told you in the beginning that these Vigils or Watchings to devotion at night had reference either to sitting up the greatest part of the night or to rising at midnight and employing some time in Prayers and Praises so where a man means to make use of the longer Vigils he would not do amiss if he used them once a week though if a man can bring himself to it the Vigils appointed by our Church are an excellent Rule to go by To sit up one night in 7 certainly cannot be prejudicial to Health when we see persons upon more trivial occasions without doing themselves any hurt sit up two or three nights in a week The Christians of old by what Tertullian tells us sat up two nights in a week upon the account of Religion how happy should we think our selves to be if we could perswade men to sit up but one The shorter Vigils or rising at midnight to devotion and spending some time in Pious acts and Exercises may easily be performed and practised every night especially by Men and Women who are single and have nothing to take care for but the things of God and there can be no great difficulty in it if we will but force our selves and push nature forward where it is loath to go This would make us awake as duly about that time as we do at seven or eight of the Clock in the morning Nature is a very tractable thing especially where people are healthy and will yield to modest violence and the Scepter of Reason and use will make that facile and easie which Men look upon under the wrong notion of impossibilities 3. The Exercises proper for these Vigils as I have partly intimated already are praying singing of Psalms or reciting and repeating such Psalms as are most suitable to our Wants and Necessities and Meditating Theodosius the Emperor did so rose in the night with his Sisters and their chief employment was to sing Psalms he one Verse and they another So little were Kings and Princes ashamed in those days to express their Zeal in Religion These Exercises drive away the tediousness of the night and turn darkness into day These make the Sun of Righteousness rise upon us with healing under his Wings and fill the Soul with oriental Splendour These make the black night look lovely and are the best weapon to disperse all terrors the Officers Hell may scatter at that time among Gods Creatures He that must have variety of employments at such times to prevent weariness may begin with musin upon Gods wondrou Works upon the blackness and deformity of Sin and the dismalness of that Soul that is a stranger to Divine Illumination From Meditation he may proceed to Prayer and from Prayer to Singing or if he be not able to Sing to rehearsing the Songs of the Sweet-Singer of Israel These happy Changes like so many different Musical Instruments will give new delights to his Soul and make him loath to give over These like rich Liquors fill the heart and all the faculties thereof with a divine briskness and make the Soul rise from her devotion with a sacred relish and appetite 4. These Vigils or Watchings at night to acts of devotion may be prejudicial to persons that labour under weakness of body nay and to such as work hard in the day time whether the Work be Preaching or Servile labour yet do not people work hard every day nor do Ministers Preach every day nor doth weakness continue every day and therefore these must not be made impediments for the total neglect of this Exercise sometimes people that have work'd all day cannot sleep and had not they better consecrate that time to the praises of that God who neither slumbers nor sleeps However on those days that men do not spend their Spirits with any extraordinary service or toiling may not the Soul be ravish'd at night and summon'd to apply her self to this delightful severity Shall the softness of the Bed keep the Soul from such employment or the warm down of the Pillow hinder a Christian from crying out with the excellent Psalmist My heart is fix'd my heart is fix'd I will sing and give praise Awake up my glory awake I my self will awake right early Ps. 57 7. 5. This Exercise at night may lawfully be neglected if the evil that may ensue upon it be greater than the good which can be expected from it This I speak not only with respect to what men may find upon the frequent use of this Exercise for a man may find upon frequent Tryal that it either indisposes him for nobler Duties or discomposes him in his Health whereby he is hindred from doing God farther service and in such cases it may without sin be laid aside but also with respect to the offence his Neighbour may take at it for it may happen that a weak Christian may sink into great perplexities because his strength will not bear this Exercise while my example makes him look upon it as necessary or a man may have a Wife that is exceeding tender of him and upon his exercising himself in this manner may either lead him a very unquiet life or make her self sick with vexing and grieving at his austerities upon a fancy that it will shorten his life or cast him into some dangerous sickness and consequently by her continual and importunate quarrelling about it cause great disorders in the Family and by that means put a stop to the free course of some greater Duties and in both these cases it may lawfully be omitted for God always bids us measure the exercise of our Duties by the good that flows from them and therefore it the evil or mischief accidentally attending such Exercises be greater than the good that we can suppose to reap by them God certainly requires not the practice or performance of them Yet even here it 's fit we use such Arguments to our Neighbours or Friends as may discover to them the weakness of their surmises and the needlesness of their Scruples for fear we seem too easie in yielding to the neglect of a thing which otherwise may be
Needy which formerly they used to express to their own Children Here you should see none Rejoycing that he had any thing of his own for whatever he had he look'd upon his Fellow-Christians as Co-heirs and was so well contented that they should inherit with him that he thought that which he had a Burthen if his Neighbours were not to share in his Possessions This present Life was the least thing they minded while that to come engrossed their Thoughts and Considerations They were so entirely Christians that in a manner they were nothing else and cared not for being any thing else lest if they should be something else they should be suspected of deviating from their Masters foot-steps Hence it was that the Pagans accused them of Unrighteousness and Unprofitableness as if they were dead Weights in the World contributing nothing to the welfare and prosperity of Mankind and as if they stood for Cyphers in Humane Societies though none were more ready to communicate of the Profit of their Labours to others than they and did therefore on purpose keep close to their Calling and Profession that they might be able to relieve the Needy And though they were loath to take upon them the Employment of Magistrates and Governors lest the Emperors and Gods Commands should clash and they lye under a temptation of obeying Man more than God yet whenever they were thought worthy to bear Office in the Church they readily embraced the Charge that they might be in a greater capacity to improve the Talents God had given them to his Glory and his Peoples good and were pleased with the Trouble of the Office that the World might see they had no design of Gain or Worldly Interest in the Administration They spake little but their Thoughts were always Great and Heavenly and as they look'd upon sublunary Objects as too mean for their lofty Minds to rest on so their care was to keep the Eyes of their Understandings fix'd on that World which fades not away In the eye of the World they were Pythagoreans and a kind of Dumb-Men but when they met one with the other and CHRIST was named perfect Peripateticks and no Philosophers would be freer in their Discourses than they Their business was to live not to talk great Matters and the name Christian did so charm them that though there were various degrees of Men among them Ecclesiasticks Lay-men Virgins Widows Married Persons Confessors Martyrs and Friends yet the name Christian swallowed up all and in this they triumph'd beyond all other Titles in the World which made Attalus in Eusebius when the Governor ask'd him what Countryman he was who his Father and Mother were what Trade Profession and Employment he was of whether he was Rich or Poor give no other answer but this That he was a Christian. And the same did the excellent Blandina And by this answer they gave the World to understand that their Kindred Pedigree Nobility Trade Profession Blood c. did all consist in this one Thing and that beyond this there could be no greater Honour and Dignity Their Communications or Answers in common Discourse were Yea Yea and Nay Nay An Oath they shunn'd as much as Perjury and a Lye among them was more rare than a Sea-monster is to the Inhabitants of a Continent for they said that in their Baptism they were Signed with the Mark of Truth and that they could not be Servants of the God of Truth if they should yield but to the least appearance of Falshood Christ was the charming Word among them and they heard nothing with greater joy than that glorious Name His Death and Sufferings raised their Souls and his Cross was more Pretious to them than Rubies Hereby they learned to despise the World and the Marrow Virtue and Efficacy of their Religion was the Death of JESUS This Death they remembred not only in the Sacrament but at their common Meals and when they refreshed their Bodies with Meat and Drink they talked of that Meat which would feed them into Everlasting Life and herein they walked contrary to the custom of the Drunkards of old who used to carry a Death's Head with them to their drunken Meetings and set it upon the Table and with the sight of that and remembrance of what they must shortly come to encouraged themselves in Drunkenness The first Christians remembred indeed the Death of Christ at their ordinary Tables but it was to make Pain and Torment and Death and the Cross familiar to them for the Afflictions of this Life they looked upon as the Midwives that promoted their new Birth and the best Companions of their Faith and the faithfullest Nurses of their Hopes In the Cities and Towns where they lived none was unknown to the other for they Pray'd together heard the Word together met frequently at Meals together and were continually helpful one to the other Infomuch that where-ever they met they knew one another and when they durst not with their Lips yet with their Eyes and Gestures they would salute one another send Kisses of Peace one to another rejoice in the common Hope and if permitted assist one another in Adversities This is one of us saith such a Saint for we have seen him in our Oratories we have Pray'd with him we have been at the Lords Table together we have heard the Scriptures read together we have kneeled together we have been instructed together O happy Kindred which comes by Prayer and Communion of the Body and Blood of JESUS O blessed Relations where Men are not called Brothers of the Sun or of the Stars as the antient Tyrants styled themselves but Brethren of CHRIST Children of GOD and Citizens of Heaven When a Christian who was a Stranger came to them before ever he shew'd his Testimonials they knew him by his lean Visage and meager Face which his frequent Fasting had brought him to by the Modesty of his Eyes by the Gravity of his Speech by his Gate and Habit and mortified Behaviour for something Divine did shine through their looks and one might read the Characters of the Spirit in their Countenance Nor is it very strange that a good Man should be known by his Carriage for to this day a serious Person though he says nothing something in his Lineaments and Features and Postures will betray the inward Zeal and Sincerity of his Soul and his deportment will discover there is something more than ordinary in him as much as the Roman Senator was betray'd by the Perfumes about him Whenever they were thrust into the Croud of Malefactors their Fellow-Christians soon guessed who they were for they hastned with Meekness to their Martyrdom and without expressing any impatience or indignation submitted their Necks to the stroak of the Axe prepared for them They used to look frequently up to Heaven and one might by their smiles see that between God and them there was more than ordinary Correspondence Sometimes they would provoke the Executioners to