by the assistance of thy most holy and eternal Spirit Amen A Prayer for Divine Assistance and increase of Grace MOST Glorious and Blessed God! Thou art Infinite in all perfections thy Will is pure and all thine Excellencies are unchangeable But though thou hast been pleased to derive upon us some small degrees of thy glorious Nature though we act for the sake of such ends as we our selves propose and chuse yet our faculties are weak our sensitive appetites impose upon our reason The law of our members prevails upon the law of our mind â—om 7.15 16 c. that we cannot do the thing that we would O work in me O Lord what thou wouldst have me both to will and do â—hil 2.13 assist me by thy Grace that the power of evil habits may decay and dye in me that the life of God and all the Graces of the Holy Spirit may grow more vigorous and strong Break not O Lord Mat. 12.20 the bruised reed nor quench the smoaking flax but assist my weakness strengthen my faint desires encourage my sincerity confirm my Faith inflame my Love cherish mine Hope and enlarge my Charity support me under all my conflicts and carry me through all temptations that I may chearfully do and suffer whatsoever pleases thee Matt. 5 6. Psal 63.1.84.2.42.1 Phil. 3.14 O how I hunger and thirst after righteousness how my soul longeth after God! how chearfully could I leave all things that hinder me behind and press forwards for the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ if by any means I may attain the resurrection of the dead O perfect what thou hast begun Eph. 3.47 Gal. 4.19 Ps 73.24 dwell in mine heart by faith and form thy self in me Guide me by thy counsels here and receive me at last into thine everlasting glory through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen A Prayer for a due intention of Mind in the Celebration of Religious Duties O Father of Mercies and God of all our Consolations It was Thine own essential Goodness that first inclined thee to create us that thou mightest communicate thy self unto us and exercise thy Grace and Bounty upon us Thou hast given us all the assurances that our hearts can wish That thou delightest to do us good and that thine ears are open to our prayers 1 Pet 3.12 How justly then art thou the desire and the Worship of all nations O that I could praise thee with understanding and recount thine Excellencies with that Sense and Adoration as I ought O that I could make my Prayers unto thee with a perfect Heart with true desire and sutable endeavour that in all the Solemnities of Religion I could approach thy presence with such an holy frame with such a temper and affection of mind as the duty may require But O Lord I cannot enough bewail mine own formality and deadness in things Divine and Spiritual How difficult do I find it to raise in my mind a lively sense of God even in the most solemn duties How hard it is to bring my Soul to such a perfect Unity to such an intire concurrence as it ought to have with the outward celebrations of Religion But O blessed Jesus who once didst pity and forgive the infirmities of thine own disciples Matt. 26.45 who could not watch with thee an hour have mercy upon me Warm mine Affections by the irradiations of thy Love refine my Nature and raise me above the body Enlighten my Mind that I may know Thee correct the perverseness of my Will that I may chearfully obey Thee mortifie all mine inordinate desires that I may prefer and chuse Thee heal all my bodily distempers ease my worldly cares subdue mine unruly passions and preserve me from too strong temptations that my Mind may be always steddy and composed always fit to serve Thee here that I may sing an eternal Hallelujah to thy Praise hereafter through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer to be said by well meaning persons under any dejection or despondencies of Mind O Most Merciful God and Father Thou correctest Jer. 10.24 but it is with judgment not thine anger that thou shouldst bring us to nothing Heb. 12.6 thou chastenest every son whom thou dost receive All the evils that we suffer in the world are the directions of thy Wisdom for our Good Heb. 12.10 I therefore bless thy Holy Name for all thy Fatherly corrections wherewith in Mercy thou hast ever visited me And I humbly implore thy Divine Assistance that I may now behave my self with the most intire and perfect resignation to thy Will under that confusion fear and terror of mind which thou art pleased to lay upon me I rejoyce in the midst of this sore affliction as it is a token of thy care and Love how severely soever it may affect me Lord bring me nearer to thy self and preserve me stedfast in my duty to the end how sharp soever the means may be But O most gracious Father if the hiding of thy Countenance from me for a time has wrought those happy effects upon me for which thy Wisdom and Goodness did design it Restore me O restore me for Jesus Christ his sake to a sense of thy Love to peace in my Mind again Ps 6.6 I am weary of my groaning all the night long do I water my couch with my tears my Soul is disquieted within me sunk down into the dust of death even into the pit of hell Visit me O God Ps 106.4 with thy salvation cause thine Holy Spirit to descend into mine heart that he may defend and guard me in all my tryals support and quiet my dejected Mind Is 50 2. 59.1 Matt 8.8 Thy hand is not shortned that it cannot save say but the word O Lord and thy servant shall be healed O how would I magnifie thy Glory imitate thy Life and obey thy Will if Thou shouldst be pleased to trust me with Health and Peace again Lord pardon and hear the importunity of thy servant my heart is full Psal 6.4.55.5.142.1 Psal 60.1 Lam. 5.20 21. my soul also is sore troubled Lord how long wilt thou punish me O turn Thee again and have mercy upon me consider my complaint and let my crying come unto Thee O how chearfully would I do or suffer any thing whereby I might testifie the sincerity of mine Adoration Love and Duty to Thy Sacred Majesty I have none in Heaven but God Ps 73.25 and there is none upon Earth that I desire in comparison of Thee O when shall I feel that joy and peace in my mind which Thou hast promised to those that Love Thy Law Ps 119 165. O when wilt thou dispel those clouds of diffidence and fear which depress and trouble me even now that I find in my self the most sincere desires to do my duty in the World Yet not my will Matt. 26.42 O Lord but Thine be done here I am
and resolved themselves into the guidance of another whose Law is immoveably perfect and the same to every particular person There must be therefore an Universal and intire consent in their opinions desires and course of life as being derived from one and the same unalterable Law Iph. 4.15 They grow up into him in all things says St. Paul which is the head even Christ. And thus the unity of all sincere and faithful Christians with Christ and with one another may be easily understood of all and yet it is as real as strict and proper as the Metaphor in the Text before us by which it is exprest namely the unity of innumerable Particles of Flower by the balm or leaven which pervades and binds them all in one Lump or Loaf For we being many are one body and one bread V. 17. for we are all partakers of that one bread The Conclusion then is this that if all the faithful Christians upon earth are as the several parts of the same loaf if they are members one of another if they receive their vital influence from the same root 1 Cor. 12.20 if they are moved and acted by the same principle then we ought that is we must we can do no other than love one another intirely no love like that which sympathy and consent of will creates or to speak more properly love is not the creature of sympathy and consent but sympathy and consent of Will are Love they are the thing it self they cannot be distinguished And therefore without Charity without intire and perfect Love amongst our selves we cannot be united to Christ we cannot have eaten his Body or drunk his Blood The Elements will be no more to such as these nay less than common bread and wine We cannot be the members of the mystical body of Christ so long as we are separated from one another by the least degree of malice and evil will for no man ever hated his own flesh He then that loves not 1 Joh. 4 8. knows not God has no true principle of Religion for God is love Upon all these accounts it is that the Holy Sacrament has been always esteemed a token of Vnity a bond of Charity and a symbol of peace and concord And hence it was that in former times the Communicants brought their Offerings to the Minister Fruits of the earth or any Viands for entertainment which when the Sacrament was ended were eaten as a common feast by all degrees and ranks promiscuously without respect to place or quality And this was the feast of Charity â— Pet. 2.13 mentioned by S. Jude v. 12. and was concluded with a kiss in token of entire and perfect friendship But these pure and innocent Ceremonies being soon abused were afterwards disused Nevertheless we have something like them still continued in our Church namely in the Collection that is ordinarily made for the poor and after the Communion in eating and drinking what remains of the Consecrated Elements in the Church Rubr. without distinction of persons but as the custom is the meanest persons are invited to be the chief partakers of it Par. Sir I hope I understand you and I am heartily glad that I did not receive before I was instructed and I find upon the matter that it requires both time and retirement to prepare our selves as we ought to do and the first time more especially but I will endeavour by God's assistance to follow your directions Min. You have made a very good inference from our whole discourse the reason of the action and the solemnity of this most sacred Ordinance the several parts of our Religion which it has respect to require a very strict examination of our Knowledge Repentance Affections purposes and desires that so our apprehensions of the thing and the intention of our mind may bear a proportion to the outward action to the design the words and the gestures of the service Our devotion as you have heard is to be exercised upon every part of Christianity our particular defects are here to be bewailed the several graces of Faith Hope and Love universal Love towards God and Man are to be exerted in this solemnity and therefore it is very necessary to withdraw our selves from the world and retire into our selves some time before we receive That we may recollect the principles and the duties the blessings and the promises of our Religion that we may examine the state of our Soul what necessary Article of Faith we doubt of or do not understand what evil habit remains unmortified or is most unwilling to be subdued what is the sin that so easily besets us that has the advantage of our natural complexion violent inclination or present profit what methods we have taken or may take for the future to subdue it what improvements we have made since we last received and how we have kept our resolutions That we may sufficiently bewail our failings and take pleasure and satisfaction in our proficiency That we may excite and stir up our devotions by proper Meditations These are weighty matters yet very necessary and therefore require a previous consideration But to say how long how many hours or days or weeks a man ought to spend in Meditation and Prayer before he may presume to receive or to what degree of Knowledge and Virtue he must attain is both impossible and unnecessary Do you but remember that competent knowledge and great integrity with an hearty desire to grow in Grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 2 Pet. 3.18 is the true preparation of the Soul and you shall be able with Sobriety to judge for your self He that wants this is not fit to receive but he that is thus qualified is a worthy Communicant though his knowledge may not be so distinct and clear or his virtues so shining and perfect as some other Christians possibly may be Has not God encouraged persons of weak Faith and a frail virtue provided it be true to hope for his acceptance Aatt 12.20 For he will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoaking flax says our Saviour that is he will support it and inflame it by the influences of his Grace if we have but the first beginnings of Holiness an hearty liking of it and desire after it he will nourish it and bring it to perfection Aatt 7.7.5.6 For to them that knock it shall be opened They that ask shall have They that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled No man therefore that is inquisitive to know and sincere in practice has any reason to be discouraged For the Grace and assistance which God has promised he bestows and infuses into the hearts of men as by the immediate influences of his Spirit upon the Soul so especially through his Word and Sacraments It is certain we cannot be too well prepared but we may be too scrupulous about the degrees of Knowledge
agreeable passion of love is too often exercised upon unworthy objects pursued and enjoyed after an unreasonable manner But notwithstanding that whether the object be wisely chosen or foolishly whether the beauty apprehended be real or imaginary wheresoever delight and desire are there beauty or goodness in the object is however apprehended and supposed And from this general account of the nature and Principles of Love we may most firmly establish the notion of Love to God Wherefore then to Love the Lord our God is so to apprehend the excellencies of the Divine nature his absolute perfections in themselves and his infinite grace and goodness towards us as that we most sincerely and heartily admire and adore his Majesty and earnestly desire the most intimate enjoyment of Him and the most perfect union with Him that we are capable of This is the nature of the Duty in the general And the Qualifications with which it ought to be exercised are three with all thine Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind The Text is taken out of Deut. 6.5 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Might St. Mark Luke 10.27 and St. Luke express it with all thy Strength And because of this indifferent variation of the phrase and because the same thing is sometimes expressed by one of these phrases only as with all thy Heart 1 Sam. 7.3 Sometimes the Heart and Soul without the Mind or Strength as in the 2 Kings 23.3 Therefore some Expositors consider the Heart the Soul and Mind as words of the same or of equal signification accumulated only to press and inculcate the duty more effectually upon us but not as a Climax of perfection in the practice of it But because we may observe a real and material difference in the common use and acceptation of the words expressing the degrees of Intention and desire in the acts and operations of the Soul and because it will very much administer to the just explication of the duty therefore I shall presume and with good authority to consider the Heart the Soul and Mind as qualifications of gradual Excellency as a Scale of Perfection in the practice and exercise of Love to God And first With all thy Heart By the Heart according to the usual signification of that Metaphor we understand Integrity Sincerity of affection Ye have obeyed from the heart Rom. 6.17 the form of doctrine that was delivered you that is sincerely and without hypocrisie And innumerable other places Secondly with all thy Soul that is with Understanding and Knowledge that our Love of God be not only Sincere but grounded well proceeding from Causes proper and considered not with Passion only but with Judgment The Soul here may be understood of Reason and Discretion whereby we distinguish of Good and Evil base and worthy and to whose determinations the Will Desires and instruments of Action are obedient Thirdly with all thy Mind By the Mind may be understood the more Spiritual Principle in Man whereby he feels and enjoys the truth of such Propositions as Reason by comparing one thing with another shall discover Reason is as it were an Artificial Mechanical deduction of Conclusions from Premises but the Mind enjoys them really by an intire agreement with the Proposition And upon this account the wicked in Scripture are said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as are able to collect the truths of Religion or any other Propositions by Scholastick inference but the Pious and Regenerate have an inward sensation of things Intellectual and Divine and are therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to whose Body and Soul is added Mind or Spirit Wherefore then to Love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind is sincerely to Adore and Delight in God from a distinct perception from an inward sensation as well of his absolute Perfections in themselves as of His infinite Bounty and Goodness towards us And thus I have explained the Terms and stated the Nature of the duty in general I proceed as I proposed in the second place to consider the particular parts the necessary acts and exercises of Love to God First with all our Heart and with all our Soul Secondly with all our Mind And First the particular acts implyed in the Love of God with all the Heart and with all the Soul are chiefly these First the Preference of God to all other objects whatsoever He that loves with Judgment esteems and values according to weight and measure according to the degrees of beauty and excellence in the object As he readily acknowledges whatsoever worth or goodness he any where discerns so he suffers not his Passion and desire to go before his understanding But God is a Being that exists of himself in whom is implied whatsoever can be supposed to be and in whom all being is resolved as into its proper and most perfect cause Defect supposes impotence and controul but Omnipotence implies the most absolute perfection Desire of Good when known is necessary But can any instance of goodness or perfection be hid from his knowledge or kept from his possession who is the cause of all things Wherefore then since all perfections are essential to this first and Original Good one of the necessary acts of Love to such a being is the preference of him to all other Beings whatsoever If our Love of God be with all the Soul with judgment and understanding then we know that there is none in heaven but God and none upon earth to be desired in comparison of Him That he is the fountain of all the imperfect excellencies of all created Beings that he is the most constant and the most potent friend and benefactor who made us by his Power and sustains us by his Providence guides us by his Council assists us by his Spirit pities our Weakness pardons our Sins and is ready at last to receive us into Glory Wheresoever therefore He is understood all other objects habits and desires will necessarily fall before him For whatsoever beauty or goodness may be found in any other object they are all derived from God in whom all fullness dwells That is the first The Second particular implyed in the Love of God with all the Heart and with all the Soul is a stedfast Faith in whatsoever he reveals A sincere affection is apt in its nature to beget an unreasonable credulity It is very difficult to perswade our selves that our friend whose happiness we know is our greatest pleasure should abuse our Passion by deceit and guile to sport or private ends and therefore notwithstanding all the infirmities of humane Nature all the insincerities which may proceed from wicked dispositions and violent temptations yet Love creates an intire and perfect confidence in one another How much more if our Love of God be with all our Heart and Soul shall we
those that are as obstinate and wilful as himself And when once these causes namely Pride Self-will and Humour are removed we shall return of course to the Lenity and Goodness of the humane nature a great many injuries will vanish into nothing Great ones will appear indifferent and the greatest may be easily supported Finally Let us set before us the Examples of great and holy Men who when their enemies have been under their power when they might have taken their utmost revenge upon them have pass'd over all their injuries and affronts with neglect and pity And thus we may encourage our selves by the experience and success of others as well as by the reason of the thing Time would fail me to tell of Joseph David Job the Publican St. Stephen and the rest whose stories are recorded in the Holy Scripture it is enough Heb. 12.1 that we look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despised the shame and prayed for those who insulted over him and slew him Father forgive them for they know not what they do If you say says Saint Augustine How shall I ever hope to do as our Lord has done Consider where he did it on the Cross T. 10. 2da fer in Rog. Serm. 1. where he acted altogether as a man and proposed himself to our imitation And now I hope upon the strength of so many considerable Motives we may be all perswaded at least to attempt the mastery of our selves The end is so considerable and the means so reasonable and likely to attain it that our best endeavours will be both justified and rewarded It may be difficult at first to change a habit that is riveted by long indulgence but pertinacity and time will overcome it Nature delights and hastens to throw off all obstructions and when once we have made a little way we shall then proceed secundo flumine and be over-joyed at the recovery of our primitive our proper disposition Besides the ready assistances of God who will facilitate our difficulties assist us by his Wisdom support us by his Power and refresh us by the irradiations of his Love till the Victory be obtained and we at last triumph in that most Perfect and Eternal state of Bliss which is prepared for those who by patient continuance in well doing Rom. 2. seek for Glory and Immortality To which of his mercy may he bring us all for Jesus Christ his sake the Righteous To whom with the Father and the blessed Spirit be ascribed all Honour Glory Praise Dominion and Obedience now and for ever Amen FINIS BOOKS Printed for W. Kettilby A Sermon preached before the King at Windsor June 13. 1680. on Matt. xvi 26. A Sermon preach'd before the Lord Mayor Feb. 5. 1681. on Ps 119. 165. The Liberty of Humane Nature discuss'd stated and limited in a Sermon on 1 Cor. 6.12 A Sermon preached before the King and Queen at Whitehal Jan. 19. 1689. on Prov. 22.4 All four by the Rev. Mr. J. Lamb. Mr. Hesketh's serious exhortation to frequent Communion Octav. 's Case of Eating and Drinking unworthily Oct. 's Piety the best Rule of Orthodoxy Religion the Perfection of Man Oct. Pattern of pure undefiled Religion Exposition on the Church Catechism The Faith and practice of a Church of England man Edit 3. Bishop Overal's Convocation Book MDCVI concerning the Government of God's Catholick Church and the Kingd of the whole world