saved or otherwise I shall be damned and then all is plain before me for in this case I have nothing further to do but to make use of the means of Grace which God affords me and to look into my own heart and life for my Evidences of Heaven Thus as the wise Persian who sooner found the Sun to be upon the Horizon by turning himself towards the Western Hills than he that fixing his Eyes upon the East expected to see the Sun it self so we shall sooner find the beams of divine favour in the reverse and reflection of them upon our own Souls than by a presumptuous prying into his secret purposes And the consideration of this truth will ingage men in all care and caution in all diligence and humility in the use of means till they gradually improve into a state of holiness and comfort here and to assurance of the Kingdom of Heaven hereafter And this is the course which the Apostle leads us to 2 Tim. 2. 19. The foundation of God standeth sure having his seal the Lord knoweth who are his and let him that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity as if he had said It is true indeed God knows from Eternity whom he intends to save and all such shall eventually be saved and none else but our hope and comfort cannot be built upon unknown principles such as only are recorded in Heaven but upon the counterpart of an holy life or a conformity to those conditions which God hath expressed in his Gospel as a Copy from the Original kept in his own bosom 2. The next dangerous mistake which we ought carefully to avoid is concerning the Grace and holy Spirit of God When men unreasonably expect that God should do all for them in the business of their Salvation without their own indeavours upon pretence that we can do nothing our selves and therefore it is in vain to go about it our part is only to wait Gods time of working and when his holy Spirit moves the business will be done without more ado but in the mean time all our diligence is discharged as impertinent and even our Prayers too if this Doctrine be consistent with it self for according to this opinion if ever men come to Heaven they must be dragged thither by Omnipotency as the Disciples of Mahumet expect to be by the hair of their heads Now though it be undoubtedly true that all the good that is in us is owing to the father of lights from whom every good and perfect gift cometh forasmuch as he worketh in us both to will and to do and therefore we can never magnify grace enough nor attribute too much to the holy Spirit without making machines of our selves and nonsense of the Gospel yet it is as sure on the other hand that God needs not that we should tell a lie for him nor would have us slander his Creation for the honour of Regeneration since he doth not destroy the man when he makes a Christian So far from it that as I have noted before he charges us to strive to enter in at the strait gate and to use all our diligence to make our calling and election sure Which plainly implies that he doth not intend to supersede our powers when he repairs our natures and that although he made us without our own activity yet he will not save us without our own indeavours And therefore the holy Scripture always represents to us the way of Gods working good in our Souls to be by exciting our Spirits by assisting and strengthening our faculties and by cooperating with us not by over-bearing our capacity and doing all for us without us insomuch that that man who dreams of being carried to Heaven by Omnipotency without his own concurrence is so far from any incouragement from the Scripture to hope that ever he shall come there that it is most certain he shall never see that happy estate unless it please the divine mercy to make him so early sensible of this fatal errour that he may timely repent and pursue the right way thither For he that expects to attain the Kingdom of Heaven by Miracle it will be a Miracle indeed if he come thither And this fond opinion is as mischievous as it is unscriptural not only as it apparently deprives a man of all the comfortable reflections of his own Conscience upon whatsoever by the grace of God he hath obtained forasmuch as it equals the condition and character of the most slothful Epicure with that of the most generous and industrious but especially as it disposes men to slight all the means of grace and all the advantages of Gods Church and that upon good reason for if this opinion be true they are all insignificant and collusory It also tempts men to sin and that without regret or remorse under a pretence that they cannot help it and in short it perfectly betrays them to their own lusts and into the hands of the Devil making way for whatsoever temptation he will think fit to make use of For the man of this perswasion that it is impossible to make resistance is bound by his own principles and to save himself useless trouble to strike Sail and surrender upon the first assault or Summons 3. A third dangerous opinion which it is necessary to be cautioned against is a mistaken notion of sins of infirmity this at first mention of it may seem of kin to that which I last spoke of but as I intend it it is of a different nature viz. when men do not altogether discourage their own indeavours upon the pretence of natural impotency in general but yet perswade themselves that some certain sins in particular are so necessary to them and unavoidable that God will allow of them under the favourable notion of infirmities and pardon them without repentance It is very true there are such things as pitiable infirmities which the best of men cannot be altogether free from and which infinite goodness therefore so far considers as to make a vast difference between them and wilful or presumptuous sins pardoning the former upon a general repentance whereas he requires a very particular repentance for and reformation of the latter But the mischief which I seek here to prevent is when men cheat themselves into a perswasion that some voluntary sin or other is necessary to them and therefore must come under this estimate of infirmity and consequently need neither be repented of nor forsaken from whence it comes to pass that ordinarily the sin which hath been most customary and habitual to them because it easily besets them and they find it not easy or pleasant to them to forgoe it is therefore incouraged under the favourable name of infirmity For thus they say every man hath his infirmities and this is mine and so the mouth of Conscience is made up as if a pardon of course were due to it without the solemnity of Reformation They will allow such
THE Old Religion Demonstrated in its PRINCIPLES And described in the LIFE and PRACTICE thereof Jerem. vi 16. Thus saith the Lord stand ye in the ways and see and ask for the Old Paths where is the Good Way and walk therein and ye shall find Rest for your Souls LONDON Printed by J. M. for R. Royston Book-Seller to His most Sacred Majesty at the Angel in Amen-Corner MDCLXXXIV THE EPISTLE TO THE Pious Reader Good Reader THou art here presented with a new Book concerning the Old Religion As therefore thou art not to expect thy curiosity should here be gratified with new Notions for I am not describing a new way to Heaven but directing thee in the good old way which the holy Scriptures have marked out and which wise and good men have all along walked in so neither art thou to think thy self disappointed if thou meetest not with a Discourse modishly drest up with all the fashionable Ornaments of Wit and Eloquence For give me leave to tell thee though that would have been acceptable to the humour of the Age and perhaps might without any great difficulty have been complied with yet it would neither have suited so well with the nature of the subject I am upon nor especially have fitted the persons for whose sake this little Book was written That therefore which I here pretend and which I hope thou wilt not fail of in the Papers before thee is First A brief but plain and substantial proof of the grounds and fundamental Principles of Religion in general Secondly A discovery and confutation of several vulgar Opinions which deform the beauty and defeat the efficacy of Christian Religion in particular And lastly A clear description a rational deduction and a serious inculcation of the most important duties of that Religion wherein either the glory of God our own comfort or the peace and happiness of Mankind are principally concerned As for the management of these Points though I have not given countenance to this Discourse by citation of Authors nor either adorned the Text with fine Sayings nor the Margin with great Names yet I hope thou wilt find a vein of sound Reason in it and the spirit of the Gospel running quite through it I assure thee I have dealt sincerely and conscientiously herein I have impartially consulted the holy Scriptures I have made use of the best understanding God hath given me and I here set before thee though not the product yet the result of many years observation consideration and experience And so I leave it to Gods blessing and thy candid acceptance Farewel THE CONTENTS PART I. An Introduction to an holy and comfortable Life CHAP. I. THE wisdom of being religious Page 1 CHAP. II. The reasonableness of Religion in general p. 9 CHAP. III. Of the rewards of Religion in another World p. 21 CHAP. IV. Of the great influence and mighty efficacy of believing Heaven and Hell or rewards and punishments in another World p. 38 CHAP. V. Of the choice of a Religion or what particular Religion a man should apply himself to p. 55 CHAP. VI. More particular Directions for the setling a mans mind in Religion p. 71 CHAP. VII Cautions against some Opinions which are hindrances both of an holy and of a comfortable life p. 85 CHAP. VIII Directions for the effectual prosecution of Religion p. 139 PART II. The practice of holy and comfortable Living CHAP. I. OF Secret Devotion and particularly of secret Prayer p. 181 CHAP. II. Of several other instances of secret Devotion p. 209 CHAP. III. Of private Devotion or Family-Piety in general p. 235 CHAP. IV. Of Family Duties in special p. 254 CHAP. V. Of Family-Discipline or by what means a Family may be brought to the observance of Religion p. 281 CHAP. VI. Of publick Piety and particularly in relation to the Church and publick Assembly of Christians p. 301 CHAP. VII Of Civil Piety or how a man may and ought to promote Gods honour and the publick good of the Parish considered only as a Civil Society or Neighbourhood p. 346 AN Introduction TO AN HOLY AND A Comfortable LIFE CHAP. I. The Wisdom of being Religious THE Holy Scripture that Book of Books and Treasury of Divine Wisdom expresses it self thus concerning Religion Psal III. V. 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and a good understanding have all they that keep his commandments Eccles 12. 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty or business of man S t Luke 13. 23. Strive to enter in at the strait gate for many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able Phil. 2. 12. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling c. 2 Pet. 1. 10. Give diligence to make your calling and election sure S t Mat. 6. 33. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you S t John 6. 27. Labour not for the meat that perisheth but for that meat which endureth to eternal life S t Mat. 16. 26. What shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul By all which and abundance of other such like passages it appears that Religion is as much our interest as our duty and that Piety and Care of another World are not only the Commands of God and his impositions upon us but the upshot and result of the best and truest Wisdom For Wisdom doth not consist in sceptical jealousies and suspicions but in a determinate knowledge and resolution what is fit to be done not in a superficial smattering of many things but in a clear and distinct apprehension of the just nature value and moment of them not in an endless hunting after curiosity but to know where to stick and fasten not in pilling a flint or laborious beating out of unprofitable difficulties but in applying a mans self to such things as are savoury and useful not in tricks of wit sophistry or eloquence and least of all in a jest or a repartee but to discover what is fit to propound to a mans self as his end and design and by what means to attain it to have great things in a mans thoughts and to despise and scorn little and petty designs in a word to see a great way before him and to be well provided for the future Now all this is verified in Religion more than in any other thing in the whole World for here a mans mind is taken up with the greatest thoughts and sublimest objects God and Eternity he takes care to secure the main stake his own Soul he imploys himself about things of the greatest moment and consequence by inquiring about another World he gives proof of the greatest foresight in considering of it he gives evidence of a sagacious temper in resolving upon it he shews judgment in pursuing it by the means appointed he
acknowledge it is only his unwillingness to comply with the rules of a good life which makes him pretend to stumble at disputes 3. It is to be considered that even those who differ and dispute in several points agree notwithstanding in this that it is the wisest and safest course to come to a resolution in Religion forasmuch as particular disputes about it prove undeniably this in the general that by confession of all Parties there is great moment in it because there could be no reason why either the one side or the other should trouble themselves and raise such heats about it but that both are satisfied of the great consequence of the subject of the question and the consideration of that is it which makes them be so nice curious and critical about the very punctilioes of it But Fourthly and lastly It is especially to be considered that he that stands neutral and holds off from all Religion upon pretence of the danger of mistake upon account of the great variety of perswasions runs into the most fatal mistake of all and is of all men in the most desperate condition for whatsoever becomes of other men under a mistaken zeal or a false opinion he is certainly a lost man who hath no Zeal or Religion at all For though it be certain all perswasions cannot be right and therefore some must miscarry yet so long as there is a real foundation for Religion in general as we have seen it is evident the Sceptist cannot be saved whoever be damned who entertains no perswasion at all Therefore as it is better uncertainly to erre than certainly to perish so it must needs be a wiser course to determine our selves someway notwithstanding the disputes than gravely to doubt our selves into Hell by a phantastical neutrality But then secondly as it is a very dangerous and absurd resolution to be of no Religion for fear we should mistake the right it is not much better on the other side to be such Latitudinarians as to think it indifferent what Religion a man be of so long as he is zealous and devout in his way unless we could be assured that the broad way was the way to Heaven which is most certainly false I confess it is a very bad Religion indeed which is not better than none at all as the faintest hopes are better than utter desperation And it is undoubtedly true that without fervour and devotion in the prosecution of a mans perswasion no Religion be it never so good and Orthodox will signify any thing It is true also that a man of a devout temper hath the ground of Piety and a foundation for good institution to work upon yet notwithstanding Religion speaks something more than to be in earnest and Piety requires more than a good intention For unless that honest temper be cultivated and improved it will bring forth nothing but wild fruit that zeal must be governed and conducted by good principles or it will betray a man to presumption to superstition and to a thousand irregularities We are set to run a race towards Heaven but in that case it is not only speed but the keeping the exact course withal that intitles to the reward He that runs wrong the more hast he makes the worse is his speed for he hath the more to undo again Nor is this any reflection upon the Divine Majesty who is infinitely good and consequently very pitiful to the well-meant errors of Mankind for it must be considered that he is wise and great and just also not so soft and fond as to be pleased with whatsoever is well meant towards him or to be contented with whatever men phansy No he hath a mind and will of his own and requires and expects those be complied withal by such as he rewards with Eternal Life Therefore the Question which we are now upon is very serious and necessary viz. how amidst such variety of perswasions or forms of Religion as are in the World a man may make a right choice and know which of them in particular he ought to determine himself upon But the assoiling of it cannot be difficult forasmuch as if God will be served in his own way it is evident that he must have taken some course or other for the discovery and interpreting of his mind and will to the Sons of men to the intent that they may have a rule to govern their devotions by Now it is plain beyond dispute that there are three and but three things which can with any colour of probability pretend to give us aim in this Case viz. natural light the Spirit or the holy Scriptures and therefore all the difficulty comes to this point which of these three we are to follow and govern our selves by As for the first of the three namely the light of nature or natural reason it is true that this is able in some measure to discover to us that there is a God and to assure us also of some of his Attributes and perfections so as to lay a general foundation of Religion as we have briefly shewed already but it can neither discover all the divine perfections because he is infinite and beyond our comprehension nor much less penetrate the depths of his counsels or the secrets of his will and pleasure because as we also noted before he is a free Agent and hath no necessary measures but freely chuses as it pleases him And therefore as no man knows the mind of a man but the spirit of a man which is in him so much less can any man know the mind of God till he be pleased to reveal it Now the design of Religion being to please and propitiate the divine Majesty to us it is impossible any man should pretend to know what will fully do that by natural reason Consequently not only the old Philosophers but the modern Theists and that Sect of men called Quakers who pretend to attain happiness by the natural notions of God or the light within them must miserably be bewildered whilest they follow so imperfect and uncertain a Guide As for the second namely a private Spirit there is no doubt but that the divine majesty could if he had pleased have conducted men by immediate Revelation and as it were led them by his own immediate hand from time to time dictating his own will to their minds and there is as little reason to question but that sometimes in extraordinary Cases he hath done so in former times but that this should be his ordinary and standing course is not reasonable to think not only because we cannot now observe that the best of men either have experience of or so much as pretend to any such thing but because in the first place it is evident that such immediate Revelation could be of no further use than to that particular person to whom it was made in regard it would be like the white stone Rev. 2. 17. which no man knows what is
written upon it but he that receives it and secondly because the very person himself that should pretend to it could not secure himself from illusion but might easily mistake the Idols of his own phancy or the very illusions of the Devil for the dictates of the Divine Spirit as we find by sad experience that many have done unless there were withal a constant succession of Miracles to assure their minds that it was the divine impression Therefore forasmuch as those who pretend to the Spirit can give no assurance of it and natural reason cannot pretend to discover sufficiently the Divine Will it remains that only the Holy Scripture is that which must be our guide in the way to please God and attain the Salvation expected in another World The holy Scripture then is that provision God hath thought fit to make for our weakness and ignorance This is the transcript of the divine mind a light that shineth in darkness and by which divine wisdom designed to guide us through all the maze of disputes and to resolve us of all the important questions that concern our eternal interest and this is that which he hath so fitted to our use that whosoever consults it with a mind free from prejudices and anticipation he shall not miss his way to Heaven Nor shall such a man as is disposed to receive the Kingdom of God as a little Child i. e. comes with a mind willing to learn and be convinced and with that temper applies himself to the holy Scripture need either the pretended infallibility of a Pope or the Authority of a Church to interpret it to him For it is certain God is as able to express his mind to us as either of these are whensoever he thought fit to do so and where he resolved to be obscure it is not to any purpose to consult them in the Case who are no more privy to his secret counsels than we our selves are And it is not consistent either with the goodness or wisdom of God to order matters so that he should be betray'd to any capital error so as to indanger his Salvation who applies himself to the holy Scripture and comes qualified with an honest heart and in the use of such ordinary means as are afforded for the understanding of them It is indeed not impossible but that such a man notwithstanding both the perfection and perspicuity of his rule may erre in some smaller matters but there is no reason to fear they should be either such as will abuse him in the great Doctrines of Faith or the rules of a good Life he can neither mistake the Object of his worship nor the manner of it nor indanger the glory of God or his own Salvation For this will direct him to a Religion plain and easy humble and peaceable reasonable and hearty a Religion that neither imposes an implicit Faith nor countenances a bold presumption that will make men devout without superstition and holy without arrogance or pretending to merit at Gods hands in a word the holy Scripture impartially consulted will bring us to a Religion that shall neither consist of speculations and be opinionative and fanatical on the one side nor made up of external shew and pomp as that of the Church of Rome on the other side but such as that of the Church of England which manifestly avoids both extreams CHAP. VI. More particular Directions for the setling a mans mind in Religion ALthough it be never so certain that the holy Scripture was both composed and preserved by the providence of God for mens guidance in the way to Heaven and notwithstanding its great perspicuity and sufficiency in that case yet as I intimated before prejudice of mind is able to defeat the ends of it therefore for the removal of that it will be of great use that the following particulars be considered First He that would make a right use of the holy Scripture and thereby discover the true lineaments of Religion let him make inquiry after the most antient and the most Catholick Religion and not indulge his curiosity so as to be taken either with novelty or singularity for each of those will lead him aside both from the truth of Religion in general and from the Christian Religion in particular As for the former of these notes of Religion viz. Antiquity the oldest Religion must needs be as much the truer as God is before the Devil therefore the Prophet Jerem. 6. 16. directs the people to inquire for the good old way and walk therein and they should find rest to their souls and for Christianity in particular forasmuch as that depends upon Divine Revelation it is impossible that After-ages should add any thing to it or make improvement of it without new revelation Whilst God is of the same mind Heaven of the same nature and the Gospel of the same tenor there can be no new Christianity Therefore let all new lights go for Ignes fatui and mere meteors that serve to no purpose but to bewilder men he that seeks for true Christianity let him neither content himself to look back to 41 or the last Age as some do nor 500. years backward to a dark Age as others but let him inquire for a Religion as old as Gospel and observe in what Rules it was delivered and in what Examples it first shew'd it self in the World As for the other note of Religion viz. Universality It is certain the true Religion is the most truly Catholick For it is evident that our Saviour intended but one Church and one Religion in all the World and to that purpose he instituted Christianity in such sort that it should agree with all times and ages fit all Countries and Climates suit all Constitutions and conditions of men and subsist under whatsoever form of Government or Civil polity it should meet with Those therefore who model Religion according to the peculiar fashion of some one Country or frame a notion of it which requires a certain complexion and temper of Body as for instance that make some austerities essential to it which all cannot comply with or that describe a Religion for the Cloyster and not adequate to common Life or that model it so as that it must have the Civil Government submitted to it or it cannot subsist or in a word that confine it to narrow bounds or Canton it into separate parties none of these understand the true genius of Christianity nor take the measures of Religion from the holy Scripture Secondly He that would make a right choice of his Religion must not take it upon publick Faith or be determined by common fame or so much as regard the loud shouts and acclamations of the vulgar For they are generally sworn Enemies to sober reason as being moved more by heat than light and governed by sense and phancy and consequently cannot entertain any great esteem for a modest sedate manly and rational Religion but on the contrary
infinitely dote upon all the tricks of Superstition and Enthusiasm and those two do so wholly govern them that they receive no impression of Religion where one or other of them doth not strike their imaginations As for Superstition the wonderful efficacy of that upon common minds is so notorious that nothing can be more If they see a man so extreamly scrupulous that he finds as we say a knot in a Bullrush so squeamish and strait-laced that he becomes a burden to himself and all about him so infinitely full of doubts and fears and jealousies that he scandalizes Religion by his impertinency and renders God Almighty a very unbenign and severe Majesty such a man notwithstanding is apt to be cried up as a great Saint although in greater matters perhaps he gives himself more liberty than other men Or if they observe a man pretend to great austerity and mortification by the carelessness of his habit dejectedness of his Countenance or other peculiarity of his garb as wearing an hair shirt or girt with a rope especially if he also macerate himself with Fasting or whip himself till the blood comes or use any such severity towards himself they are strangely affected with this pageant of Piety and these things alone are security enough to them that he is an holy man and of the best Religion Thus no doubt the Priests of Baal who as we read 1 Kings 18. 26. prayed from Morning to Mid-day made horrible outcries and used antick postures and amongst the rest in a blind Zeal cut themselves with Knives and Lancets had a mighty veneration amongst the rabble of superstitious Israelites insomuch that the Prophet Elijah with all the holiness of his life and very great austerity of conversation too was not able to bear up with them And thus the Scribes and Pharisees in our Saviours time what by their demure and mortified looks disfigured Faces and outward appearance of Sanctimony what by their broad phylacteries and fringes of their Garments beset with sharp thorns to prick and vex them what with long Prayers and frequent Fastings and such other Artifices they so led the people by the Nose that all the wisdom temper goodness nay Miracles of our Saviour were scarce sufficient to procure their attention to him And thus it will be also with Enthusiasm that raises the admiration and captivates the minds of the generality as much or more than superstition If a man pretend to the Spirit and to extraordinary Communications from the Divine Majesty if he now and then either feel or can counterfeit raptures and transports so that by turns he shall be sometimes as it were snatcht up to the third Heaven and at another time be cast down to Hell and if in these fits he can talk non-sense confidently can make vehement harangues against pride formality or superstition if he make shew of extraordinary Zeal and Devotion and have the pride or insolency to speak ill of his Betters to slight all ordinary Forms and censure the Government if he have either an horrible Voice or an oily melting tone an artificial Countenance a peculiar motion of his Eyes or especially hath the trick to resemble an Epilepsy in all this Legerdemain then when he speaks evil of dignities he shall be thought to have the zeal and spirit of Elias but unquestionably the spirit of God is in him and he is admired if not adored by inconsiderate people When in the mean time sound Doctrine sober reason wise conversation and grave Piety shall signify nothing but form and carnality with them For as I intimated before such things as I last named commend themselves only to a sedate mind and a considerative temper but the other bear strongly upon the senses and the phancies of men and so carry away the vulgar He therefore that would not have his devout intention abused must not suffer the multitude to chuse his Religion for him nor take it upon trust from publick fame and noise for if he decide this case by the poll he shall be sure to have shadow for substance and either imbrace a Religion made up of paint and varnish or else one animated only by a spirit of Enthusiasm Thirdly He that would make a right choice in Religion and is content to follow the measures of the holy Scripture therein must resolve with himself not to seek for or pitch upon such a way as will put him to the least pains and give him the least trouble but be willing to deny himself and to conflict with any difficulty that he may save his Soul for pretended easy Religions are like Mountebanks Cures deceitful and palliative Some men have the folly to perswade themselves that a Religion consisting of mere Faith without the trouble of a good Life will serve the turn nay that to be of a peculiar Party Sect or Church will be sufficient but then it is strange our Saviour should bid us strive to enter in at the strait gate for it would be a wonder if any should miss of Heaven upon these terms or if any be so sottish they deserve to perish without pity Others there are that entertain a conceit of getting to Heaven by the merits of other men as by purchasing an Indulgence or by hiring a Priest to say Prayers for the man when he is dead that would not be at the trouble to pray for himself whilst he was alive or by getting a plenary absolution of all his sins at the last gasp or some other such voluptuous and compendious ways of Salvation He that seeks out such expedients as these argues that he hath some little love to himself so far as to be loth to be damned but that he hath none at all towards God or Virtue and indeed demonstrates that he hath not so much as any worthy notion of God or apprehension of the nature of the happiness of the other World Nay he gives evidence that he is as much in love with his sins as with himself and would have both saved together St. Paul assures us 2 Cor. 5. 10. that when we shall appear at the Judgment-seat of Christ we shall receive our Doom according to the things done in the body whether good or evil not according to what shall be done for us when we are out of the Body much less according to what others have either officiously or mercenarily performed for us All such methods are Cheats the artifices of Hypocrisy and constitute only a Religion for an Epicure but are as far as Hell is from Heaven from the institutions of the Scripture It is true our Saviour saith his yoke is easy and his burthen light but that is spoken either comparatively to the burden of the Mosaick Law especially considered with the additional impositions of the Scribes and Pharisees who as he tells us laid heavy burdens upon others but would not buckle under them themselves or with respect to the great assistance and mighty incouragement which those men
that he tempt not himself to flatness by an affected length of these holy duties for though it be a sign of an indevout temper to be too compendious and concise in them as if we grudged the time spent in Gods Service and although it be also irreverent towards God to be so short and abrupt as if we briefly dictated to him what we would have done yet it is to be guilty of the same fault to be impertinently tedious with him as if he could not understand us without many words or would be wrought upon by tedious importunity Besides all this it is to be considered that often when the spirit is willing the flesh is weak and that our bodies cannot always correspond with our minds now in such a case to affect the prolonging of our Devotions is to lose in the intention what we get in the extension of them for it will be sure either to make us go unwillingly to our duty or to perform it very superficially in either of which circumstances it is not likely we should be pleasing to God or be able to make any comfortable reflections afterwards upon such performance The measures of Devotion therefore are not expresly prescribed by God but are to be determined by a prudent respect to the peculiar constitution of the person the condition of his affairs and the extraordinariness of the occasion and to go about to exceed these bounds is an argument of intemperate zeal which is never acceptable to God and is so far injurious to a mans self that it manifestly hinders what it pretends to promote To these I add Fourthly Let not the devout man be very curious or sollicitious about the from or expressions of his secret duties I mean whether his Prayers be read out of a Book or be the present conceptions of his own mind so long as they are offered up from an understanding Soul and an humble and affectionate heart for these are all the things that God looks at and wherein his honour is directly concerned and therefore as he hath no value for eloquence of speech on the one hand so neither hath he for strength of memory or for pregnancy and variety of phancy on the other but only as I said that we worship him with our understanding and do not like Parrots utter words whereof we have no sense or notion that we bring an humble and contrite spirit as sensible of the infinite distance between him and us and an heart seriously affected with his presence and the nature and value of the things we are conversant about It is true that a composed form is most sutable to publick worship where as I noted before the dignity and credit of Religion is concern'd and that perhaps in private duties our present conceptions may most please and affect our selves but our acceptance with God especially in these secret duties depends neither upon the one nor the other but upon those inward dispositions of the Soul aforesaid Wherefore let no man cheat himself into an opinion that those heats of phancy or transports of affection which sometimes happen in conceived Prayer are instances of real and extraordinary devotion or that because the use of a form or Book may perhaps be destitute of such flights therefore those duties are dead and formal forasmuch as those services may be most acceptable to God which are less pleasant to our selves since it is not those sudden flashes but a constant and even servour of piety which he hath regard to And this leads me to another advice namely Fifthly Let the pious man think himself obliged to pray without ceasing and that he is never to lay aside or intermit the regular course of a daily devotion upon any pretence whatsoever but especially not upon the absurd pretext of awaiting the motion of the spirit for although it be true that the Spirit of God ceases not to move men to their duty the way of the Spirit of God is not to move sensibly and to make violent impressions upon us and therefore he that suspends the performance of his duty till he is so jogged and stirred up to it will never pray at all and indeed what reason can there be to expect such a thing or what need of it in the case of a known duty if it were the will of God to put us upon some extraordinary service then it were reasonable to expect some special mandate or impulse upon our spirits from him which might both warrant the enterprize and quicken us in the prosecution but in ordinary duties the motion of the holy spirit in the Scripture is and ought to be sufficient and he that will not be stirred up by that doth but pretend to wait for a spirit in excuse of his own Atheism Unbelief or intolerable slothfulness and in so doing lays himself open to an evil spirit whose design it is to check and withdraw men from Religion and this is matter of sad and common experience that from waiting for the motion of the spirit men very usually grow first to frequent omissions then to carelessness of their duty and at last to a total neglect of it Therefore let not any man slight a regular and methodical Devotion as a meer formal and customary thing since this is the very attainment of Piety when that which is matter of duty becomes also in a good sense customary and habitual and he that out of such a temper performs the duties of Religion constantly and reverently gives far greater proof of sincere Christianity than he that seems to himself to do them with greater heat and transport but needs from time to time to be jogged and provoked to the performance Sixthly To all these I adde in the last place that it is very advisable though not absolutely necessary that in these secret Devotions a man should where it may be done with privacy and without oftentation or such other impediment pray vocally and audibly for although God knows our hearts and observes all our thoughts and the motions of our affections before we express them and therefore needs not that we should interpret our minds to him by words yet it is fit we should imploy all the powers and capacities we have in his service our Bodies as well as our Souls and our Lips as well as our hearts Besides though we cannot affect God with the tone and accents of our Speech yet we often times affect our own hearts the more and raise them a note higher in concord with the elevation of our Voices but that which I principally intend is this viz. by the harmony of our tongue and voice our hearts are as it were charmed into the greater composure and intention upon that we are about And so whereas it is the usual complaint especially of melancholy and thoughtful persons that their hearts are apt to rove and wander in these secret duties of Religion by this means we have it very much in our power to keep
hath advanced Gods glory in the Salvation of others Therefore it is exceedingly worth the while that we should deny our selves and condescend to any honest art and method of ingaging men in Religion Especially this is to be considered that the instances of Piety and Devotion are above all things to be voluntary free and chearful or they are nothing worth and therefore harshness and severity are the most improper instruments for such an effect consequently it must be wise Discourses obliging carriage sweetness of temper kindness and benignity that are the most likely methods of prevailing in such a case and ordinarily to gain this point no more is requisite than that a man discriminate between the good and the bad that he favour the one and discountenance the other and this alone will in time make a strange change in a Family Especially Thirdly If in the third place the Governour of a Family be a great Example of Piety himself Rules without Examples are neither understood nor considered by those to whom they are propounded and he that goes about to over-rule his Family to Piety without making Conscience of it in his own practice nay who doth not make his own life a great pattern of what he perswades to undermines his own indeavours and shall not only fail of success but be ridiculous for his pains for every body is aware of this that if Devotion be necessary to one it is so to another if the Servant ought to pray to God so ought the Master if one ought to be zealous certainly the other ought not to be careless or profane or if one may be excused the trouble of Religion so may the other also And indeed it is hardly possible for a man in these matters to have the confidence earnestly to press the observation of that upon those under him which is not conspicuous in his own practice or at least if he have the forehead to do it and can so well act the part of the Hypocritical Pharisee as to lay heavy burdens upon others which he himself will not touch with one of his fingers yet as he cannot do it heartily so he must be very vain if he thinks men will not be able to see through the disguise and very sottish if he can expect that such commands of his should carry any authority with them But there is a majesty in holy Example it not only commands but charms men into compliance there is life and spirit in it insomuch that it animates and inflames all about a man it makes Piety to become visible and not only shews it to be necessary but represents it with all its advantages of goodness beauty and ornament it confutes mens mistakes of it answers their objections against it removes their suspicions shames their cowardice and lukewarmness in a word it doth after the manner of all great Engines work powerfully though almost insensibly We find by common experience that men are sooner made wise and fit for great actions by the reading of History than by studying of Politicks because matter of fact strikes us more powerfully and the circumstances of things as they are done instruct us more effectually than all dry rules and speculations can do to which purpose it is to be remarked that the way of the holy Scripture is rather to teach men by Examples than by rules and accordingly the whole sacred Writ consists principally of the History of the Lives of holy men Almighty Wisdom thinking that way the fittest not only to express the Laws of Virtue but to make impression of them upon the spirits of men and indeed which is further remarkable there are some of the more curious and excellent lines of Piety which can hardly be exprest by words but are easily legible in the lives of holy men Therefore let him who would ingage his Family to Devotion give them a fair Copy of it in his own Example and then he shall not fail of the honour and comfort to see it transcribed and imitated by those about him 4. But that he may with the more certainty and expedition attain this desireable effect it is very necessary that he neither make the lives of those he would gain upon burdensome to them and exhaust their spirits by too great and constant drudgery about the affairs of the World nor that he make the business of Religion irksome and unpleasant to them by unnecessary length and tediousness of Family-Devotion For the former of these will take off their edge and leave them with no heart to Religion and the latter will beget an utter aversation to it As for the former our Saviour hath told us we cannot serve God and Mammon and that no man can serve two Masters i. e. either one of them must be neglected or both served very remisly for it 's certain when men are harassed with secular business they cannot have spirits enough to attend Religion with any vigour And for the other if the duties of Religion be drawn out phantastically to a tedious length it will be impossible whilest men are men that they should either be inclined to go to them with such chearfulness or persevere in them with such delight and fervour as is requisite Therefore let the World be so moderately pursued as that time and strength and room may be left for Devotion and let the Duties of Religion be so contrived that they may be pleasant and easy and then besides that Devotions so performed are most acceptable to God it will be no hard matter to bring our Families to comply with them Especially 5. If in the fifth place the Governours of Families take care to order and methodize affairs so that these different things intrench not upon each other neither the World incroach upon Religion nor Religion shut out and exclude the common affairs of life but both may take their places in a just subordination We commonly observe that things in an heap and which are not digested into any order look vast and numerous so as to amuse our minds in the contemplation of them insomuch that we neither apprehend any of them distinctly nor comprehend them all together and in a crowd of business we are either so confounded with the multiplicity or distracted with the variety of things before us that we apply our selves to nothing at all effectually for one hinders and supplants the other So it is here in the case between the affairs of the two Worlds if both lie in gross before men and no distinct place be assigned to each of them the effect is that both together being an intolerable burden one of the two must necessarily be neglected and that commonly falls to be the lot of Religion or if it happen that these offices are not totally omitted they will be sure to be superficially performed the minds of men neither being sufficiently prepared for them nor united enough to attend them without distraction and wanderings Therefore as the wise man
instruct Moreover it was also the intention of our Saviour that this Church of his should be but one and Catholick imbracing all the true Believers all the World over and therefore it is called his Body and his Spouse from whence it follows that every man who will partake of the benefits which flow from him must be a part of this Body and thereby hold Communion with him by Conjunction with that which is otherwise impossible to be done than by joining with that part of the Catholick Church where it hath pleased the Divine Providence to settle our abode and habitation that is in the Parish and Neighbourhood where we dwell for without this though it 's possible we may retain the fame Faith in our hearts with the Catholick Church yet we cannot perform the offices of members nor serve the ends of such a Society The result is therefore that it is ordinarily every Christians Duty to communicate in all the offices of Christianity to submit to the Officers to be subject to the censures ahd to comply with the orders of that part of the Church amongst which the Divine Providence hath placed him I say ordinarily because it may happen that the Society of Christians amongst whom a man lives may be heretical in their Doctrine or Idolatrous in their Worship and then it will not be his sin but his duty to separate from them but bating that case and where the Doctrine is sound and the worship free from Idolatry I see not what else can acquit him of Schism that separates or what can be sufficient to dissolve the obligation of joining with the Catholick Church by Conjunction with that particular Society or Member of it where he is placed Therefore let not the good Christian without flat necessity suffer himself to be alienated from the particular Church lest by so doing he lose the comforts and benefits of the Catholick Church but let it be his care and indeavour so far as it is in his power that there may be but one Church in the World as was the intention of our Saviour to this purpose let him not hearken to the fond pretences of purer Ordinances and double refined worship or to the vain boasts of greater edification in other Assemblies for besides that a man may justly expect most of Gods blessing upon those means which are most his duty to apply himself unto it is also evident that if such suggestions be attended to it will be flatly impossible that there should ever be such a thing as unity or order in the Christian Church nay these conceits will not only distract and confound the order of the Church but they serve to fill mens heads with endless disputes and their hearts with perpetual scruples about purity of administrations so that they shall rest no where but under pretence of soaring higher and higher shall ramble from one Church to another till at last they cast off all Ordinances as the highest attainment of spirituality Nor let him give ear to any peevish insinuations against the Church and publick worship upon account that there are some Rites or Ceremonies made use of which are only of humane institution for it is not only reasonable to hope that God will be well pleased with humility peaceableness and obedience to humane Laws but certain that there is no Church in the World that is or can be without some observances that have no higher original than humane institution But against these and all other such like principles of separation let him indeavour to secure himself First by dismissing the prejudices of Education and the unnecessary scrupulosities of a melancholy temper and above all acquit himself of pride and pragmaticalness and then he will easily and comfortably comply with any sound part of the Christian Church In pursuance whereof 2. He must diligently frequent all the publick offices of Religion in that Society whether it be Prayers Preaching or reading the word of God or Administration of the Sacraments c. For it is a mighty shame that a man should pretend to be of the Church who cares not how little or how seldom he comes at it and who slights the advantages of its Communion For such a man however he may hector and swagger for the notion of a Church manifestly betrays that all is but humour or interest and no true principle of Christianity at the bottom and really he doth more dishonour to that Society than the professed Schismatick doth or can do For besides that he incourages them in their contempt of it and discourages good men in their zeal for it he foments the suspicion of Atheistical men that Religion is but a politick trick to catch silly persons with whilest those that are privy to the plot keep out of the bondage of it I need not adde That he defeats the institution of our Saviour that he baulks his own Conscience if he have any and aggravates his own Damnation which are all very sad things On the other side the blessings and comforts of frequenting the offices of the Church are so many and great that it is not imaginable how any man who is convinced of the duty of Communion in general should be able to neglect the particular instances of it For besides that the Church is Gods House where he is especially present and where we meet him and place our selves under his eye and observation and from whence he usually dispenses his favours it is a great furtherance of our zeal and piety to be in the presence of one another where the example of holy fervour and devotion in one powerfully strikes and affects others There is also an extraordinary majesty in the word of God when it is not only fitted to our peculiar condition but authoritatively pronounced and applied to our Conscience by Gods Messenger Above all in Prayers when our Petitions and requests are not only put up to Almighty God by his own Minister appointed for this purpose but our weakness is relieved our spirits incouraged and we are inabled notwithstanding our private meanness or guilt to hope for acceptance and success in our desires by the concurrent Devotions of so many holy men as there join with us in the same suit and in the same words and whose united importunity besieges Heaven and prevails with Almighty Goodness for a blessing Wherefore let no man permit the private exercises of Piety it self such as Prayer reading or Meditation to supersede or hinder his attendance upon the publick offices of the Church seeing that as these yield more publick honour to the Divine Majesty so they are more effectual for our own benefit much less let sloth or too great eagerness upon the affairs of the World make us forget or neglect them but least of all let any lukewarm indifferency or Atheistical carelessness seise upon any man in this particular but let the man who glories to be of the Christian Church be sure to be found there in