solemn vow that hath been before cited out of Gen. 28. and when God had performed his Desire and kept him safe and brought him back again he yet lingred a great while before he payed his vow needed to be reminded and was as one asleep till a Call of God to go up to Bethel awakened him as we see Gen. 35. 1. and then presently we find he remembers what had past between God and him and therefore cries to his Houshold ver 3. Let us arise and go up to Bethel and I will make there an Altar unto God who answered me in the day of my Disiress and was with me in the way which I went 3 BE sure to take the first Opportunity of beginning to pay your vows 'T is a part of Dishonesty not to give to God according to the time in which he hath been merciful and gracious And we may still observe that one Neglect shall always make way for another Men are very apt to adjourn the Paiment of their vows to what they call a more convenient Season which with those who put it off from time to time is never like to come The longer we put off the paying of our Debts the more unwilling and the less able shall we be at last 4. PRAY often and earnestly to God to keep up a lively Sense of your renewed Engagements on your Hearts and Spirits As your vows were accompanied with Prayers so let them be followed by them Beg of God that he would guard you from the Temptations of an infectious World and keep your Hearts from cooling And let such Petitions be frequent and serious 5. Look for a Return of Trouble Think not because this Affliction is at an end and that Trial is over and the other Burden is remov'd that thou art therefore safe thy Mountain stands strong thou shalt never be moved for thou mayst have more to go through than thou art aware of Some Persons need not look far for a Prospect of fresh Trouble as teeming Women and those Persons that are liable to the racking and tormenting pain of Cholick Gout or Stone and the like Think not therefore that all is over with thee but expect new Trials and Difficulties live in the expectation of being sick again and that to that degree as that thou shalt not recover in the expectation of being pained afresh when it may be thou wilt not so easily find Relief think in any case that thy last Pressures or others of the same kind as bad or worse may return and as ever thou expectest God should then be thy Stay and Helper thy Shield and Buckler pay the vows thou madest him in thy last Distress Do but really look for fresh Exercises and Conflicts which thou canst never want reason to do whilst thou art encompass'd with a vail of Flesh and that will help to keep up a Sense of your vows under your last And then 6. BE duly sensible of the Treachery of your own Hearts Take heed of depending on your own Strength If you once grow secure you are in constant Danger of a Surprize Remember that confident Peter presently fell Give not way to any such Thoughts as these that your Vows were so serious and your Resolutions so strong that it 's almost impossible for you ever to lose the Sense of them Alas so far is it from that that how strong and serious soever they were when you come into the midst of Snares and Temptations you 'll find it very difficult to retain any Impressions that shall signify any thing Let every one therefore whom God hath succour'd in Distress and deliver'd in an hour of Danger say with David I will sing Praise unto thy Name O Lord for ever that I may daily perform my Vows FINIS * Let him who is dispos'd consult Aquin Sum. 2d 2d Qu. 88. Filliucius tr 26. C. 1. Sanches l. 4. Moral C. 1. Navar C. 12. Azor. 1. p. l. 11. C. 13. c. Ps. 76. 11. * Bellarm. Disputat de Controversiis Tom 2. Lib. 2. Cap 19. Gen. 28. 21. * Many pas sages to this purpose are obvious in Epictetu Arrian Simplicius his Comments on him in Seneca Antoninus Maximn Tyrius and sundry others of the same stamp Gen. 28. 20. 21. Acts 2. 39. Exod. 21. 4 Judg. 11. 36. Gal. 5. 3. Iâ—…r 35. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vers 19. Rom. 5. 1. Joh. 3. 5. 1 Cor 3. 16. Psal. 2. 3. Rom. 11 29. 2 Pet. 39. This is excellently Open'd and Explain'd by the Learned Dr. Cudworth Gen. chap. 8. 9. Gen. 15. Exod. 24. 5 8. Psal. 50. 5 Heb. 9. 12. 15. Exod. 18. 12. Exod. 24. 1 Sam. 1. Psal. 50. 16. C. Plin. Epist Lib. 10. Ep. 97. Psal. 19. 12. Jam. 1. 23. 24. Act. 20. 28 Rom. 5. 9. Heb. 9. 14. 1 John 1. 7 Heb. 10. 2â—… Psal. 41. 9. Joh. 13. 18. 1 Cor. 11. 29. Heb. 2. 2 3. Heb. 10 28 29. Cant. 2. 3 4. Joh. 21. 17. Gen. 39. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4. 7. Psal. 25. 10 Psal. 103. 17 18. Joh. 14. 21. Psal. 44. 17 18. Psal. 18. 20. 2 Cor. 12. 9. Joh. 15. 5. Phil. 4. 13. 1 Kings 8. 46. Jam. 3. 2. 1 Joh. 1. 8. vers 9. Mat. 6. 24. Jam. 4. 4. 1 Cor. 7. 31. Heb. 5. 7. Heb. 3. 13. Ps. 139. 23 24. Psal. 42 Mat. 25. 29. 2 Cor. 7. 11. Deâ—…t 23. 21 c. See the Lâ—…arned Selden de Iure Naâ—…rae Gâ—…tium â—…xia Discipâ—…m Hâ—…rorum lib. 7. c 2. * Particularly Peter Martyr in his Defence against Smith and in his Loci Communes Class 3. c. 6. Calvin in his Institutions lib. 4. cap. 13. Musculus in his Loci Communes de Votis Chemnitius in his Examen Concilii Tridentini Part 3. Riv 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his Summa Controuersiarum Tract 2. Quaest. 22 51. Chamier in his Pansirat Cathol Tom. 3. lib. 20. Thes. Salmuriens Part 3. pag 705 716 c. Psal. 61. 8.
before hinted That in all Transactions by way of Covenant as there are two parties at least suppos'd to be concern'd so is there something suppos'd to be agreed to by each of these Parties In all Covenants between God and Man God engages to something on one side and Man on the other and a Faithful bent of Heart on Mans part is pre-requir'd to Gods actual fulfilling his Engagements Gods part in all such Covenants lies in Promises and Mans in Vows which have the place of a Band between God and us Let Man keep true to his Vows and God will ever be sure to fulfil his Promises In the Baptismal Covenant God promises and ensures much and we engage to much But let us but take care to be true to our Vow and we need not fear but he will most punctually stand to his Word and Engagement Now the Promises Ratifi'd on Gods part in the Baptismal Contract are of two sorts which I may call Common and Special The Former relate to External Helps Assistances and Furtherances as to Serious Piety and Godliness which tho' they are not actually Saving may yet very much promote Salvation The Latter relate to real Marks of Divine Favour and Peculiar Love to be communicated in order to Actual Salvation The Former refer to things that are indeed vast Advantages in themselves tho' alas too often neglected and misimprov'd The Latter to things vastly Higher and which intimate a State incapable of missing of Final Happiness and Bliss Under the Former are contain'd all Church Priviledges accompanying a visible Relation to God As an Admission to the Lords Table there to receive Divine Nutriment in the company of his Children the common operations of the Spirit in Holy Motions and Serious Convictions the Pastoral Care of those whom God hath set over them and order'd to watch for their Souls the hearty Prayers and Fraternal Admonitions of the Faithful with whom they are joyn'd in Communion and the like Under the Latter are comprehended Forgiveness of Sins Acceptance both of Persons and Services Sanctification the constant Guidance and Help of the Spirit effectually to further progress in the Divine Life together with all other Blessings suiting a State of Adoption THESE are the things whereto God in Baptism as 't were sets his Seal upon the requisite Vows preceeding And by our keeping this Vow we as I may say secure to our selves the Actual Performance of the several Promises made and ratify'd As to Church Priviledges we by our standing and acting agreeably to our Baptismal Engagement have an undoubted right to them which none can warrantably call in Question And whatever further is requir'd as necessary in order to our enjoying them is an Humane Invention For Baptism being an Admission into the Visible Church it follows That none can warrantably deny any of the Priviledges thereof to any so admitted unless it can be made appear That they don't heartily stand to that Vow of God they then came under by the open disagreeableness of their Lives thereto And then as to those which are more peculiarly Covenant Blessings as Pardon and Peace and the Sanctifying Guiding and Comforting Influences of the Spirit these unless the whole tenour of the Covenant of Grace be directly ' thwarted cannot be deny'd to those who faithfully keep this Vow For it includes a Serious Repentance and an hearty Faith besides which the Gospel requires nothing further in order to Persons entring upon a Pardon'd and Justifi'd State thro' the Merits of our Dear Redeemer and then upon Iustification by Faith follows Peace with God Further They being Born of Water and of the Spirit are become the Temple of God and have the Spirit of God dwelling in them And where this Blessed Spirit dwells nothing necessary to Salvation can possibly be wanting BUT 't is observable That there is this Remarkable difference in the case between Church Priviledges and Special Covenant Blessings That where the Baptismal Vow is not openly contradicted by the Life and but Professedly adhered to there is a right unto the former by reason that it is not in the power of Man to judge of Hearts But it must be Faithfully and Sincerely kept and most heartily adher'd to in order to the reaching of the latter wherein 't is with God immediately that we are concern'd who is not by any Artifices of ours to be impos'd upon Would you then at once effectually secure all the Benefits both of Visible and Real Christianity do but sincerely adhere to the Vow of God you came under in Baptism and act Correspondently and the work is done 2. OBSERVE That by wilful and allow'd Breaches of this Vow of God both Church Priviledges and Special Covenant Blessings are directly forfeited The Benefits of Covenant Keeping on the one hand are not greater than are the mischiefs of Covenant Breaking on the other The breaking Gods Bands in sunder and casting away his Cords which is the common practice of Lawless Souls is an actual forfeiture of the several Blessings that accompany either a Visible or Real Relation to God For what signifies an Infant Dedication by Parents to the Most High God tho' ever so Serious What signifies the Vow they then came under tho' ever so Solemn To them who when they grow up disown the Bond Disclaim Subjection and give themselves up to the Conduct of their own Hearts Lusts Living without God in the World forgetting their Dear Redeemers Love and Rebelling against the Blessed Spirit of Grace than which hardly any thing 's more common What I say can it avail to such Persons How can they pretend to lay any claim to Church Priviledges when advanc't in Years who by their disorderly Lives openly renounce the Vow on which their Admission to Infant Church-membership was founded How can they have any share in the Special Blessings of the Covenant Promis'd on Gods part who are so far from doing what was engag'd to on their part that they do the quite contrary Live to themselves instead of of living to God follow the vain guise and fashion of this World instead of obeying their Lord Redeemer and walk after the flesh instead of following the Conduct and Yielding to the motions of the Divine Spirit Persons whose case this is shew that they belong to the World out of which the Church is suppos'd to be gather'd It can't therefore own them for it must disclaim those whose Conversations savour wholly of this World It plainly appears that such Persons are Children of Wrath and not the Children of God and therefore have nothing to do with those marks of Favour that belong to such So that the interest in either the Common or Special Blessings of the Covenant is hereby forfeited Altho' it must be own'd possible for a right to the former to remain even when the latter are effectually lost But to prevent Mistakes I desire it may be here observ'd 1. That tho' there is so vast a difference
A Practical Discourse CONCERNING VOWS WITH A Special Reference to BAPTISM AND THE LORD's SUPPER By EDMUND CALAMY LONDON Printed by Geo. Larkin Jun. and are to be Sold by Iohn Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultrey 1697. To THOSE Who are under the PASTORAL CARE Of the Reverend Mr. DANIEL WILLIAMS Hoxton May 24. 1697. My Dear Friends WHAT I here put into your Hands is your Own already To you was the Substance of the ensuing Discourse Deliver'd from the Pulpit and 't was your Request that put me upon Preparing it for the Press I am glad to understand that I did not wholly lose my Labour while I so many Sacrament Days successively entertain'd you on this Subject And am not without hope that what you have found Beneficial may be Profitable to some others also I expect to pass under a variety of Censures but so the great End of my Ministry be but furthered I can easily over-look them IT hath been my Earnest Endeavour ever since I have been with you to promote Serious Practical Christianity among you without attempting to draw you to or fix you in any Particular Sect Party or Interest whatever I heartily rejoyce to find a Catholick Spirit prevail so much among you the general want whereof all who are truly concern'd for the Honour of Religion find so much cause to lament I HIGHLY Esteem and Honour you on the Account of your Inviolable Respect and firm Adherence to your Reverend Pastor in the midst of all those Storms the great Enemy of Souls hath rais'd against him in order to the diminishing his Usefulness Your Steadiness in so violent a Tempest as he not long since past through which plainly had its Rise from beneath was God's great Mercy the Devil's Disappointment your Pastors Support and your Glory I HEARTILY thank you for all the Testimonies of Respect and Kindness I have receiv'd from you since I have been spending my pains amongst you I bless the Lord that he hath made any use of me to promote your Knowledge Faith of Holiness And I desire he may have all the Glory of any Good wherein I may have been Instrumental I BESEECH you my Dear Friends to go on more and more to adorn your Christian Profession Let your Tempers and Lives shew to whom you belong This will be the way to honour God to strengthen the Hands and chear the Hearts of your Ministers and you 'll reap the Fruit in due time Go on to shun Extreams and you 'll avoid the Dangers that attend them Place as little of your Religion as is possible in Separation Be always ready to receive Light in Divine Things and never think your selves past Improvements Love all that love God and Goodness how much soever they differ from you As far as you are able speak Well of those who speak Ill of you and return not Railing for Railing But do what in you lies to live Peaceably with all Men. Beware of more Serpentine Subtilty than a Dove-like Innocence can temper Be strictly Just in all your Dealings Circumspect in your Walk Temperate in all things and let your Moderation be known unto all Men For the Lord is at hand Let it be your Endeavour to get well surnish'd Minds warm Hearts Governable Spirits tender Consciences and heavenly Affections and your Stability and Fruitfulness will be signal OFTEN Reflect on the Strength and Sacredness of the Divine VOWS you are under which the Ensuing Treatise is design'd to help you rightly to Understand and Improve And take care to live Faithfully up to them if you have any Regard to the Favour of God the Honour of Christ your own Present Peace or Future Happiness AND now Brethren I commend you to God and the Word of his Grace I leave the Success of my Endeavours to Him who led me into these Meditations And make it my Request to you That when you are most Serious and Fervent at the Throne of Grace you would not be Unmindful of Your Affectionate Soul-Servant Edm. Calamy THE Reader is desired before he proceeds to the Perusal of the ensuing Treatise to correct the following Errata with his Pen. Pag. 9. lin 12. blot out more an and read no intimation P. 13. last line for a put the Sense P. 147. l. 5. in without dele out P. 149. l. 2. between in and Service add his P. 165. l. 22. change to into so P. 198. l. 2. change curbs into rubs P. 213. l. 27. for decreases r. encreases P. 216. l. 24 25. put God into the place of stop and stop into the place of God There are some few other literal Mistakes and Faults in Pointing which must be charged on the haste of the Press which need not be particularly mentioned because the Sense and Connexion sufficiently corrects them THE CONTENTS THE Introduction Page 1. CHAP. I. Certain Preliminary Observations concerning the Nature and Kinds of Divine Vows p. 4. CHAP. II. Of the General Vow whereby all that we are and have is sincerely devoted to God as our Absolute Owner and Proprietor p. 14. CHAP. III. Of Sacramental Vows p. 20. CHAP. IV. Of the Baptismal Vow The sum of it in Form as made by Persons Baptiz'd when Adult p. 36. CHAP. V. Of the Baptismal Vow as to those Baptiz'd in Infancy An Account of the different concern of Parents and Children in it and a distinct Address to each concerning the Duty resulting from it p. 48. CHAP. VI. Certain Useful Observations about the Consequence of Keeping or Breaking the Baptismal Vow And of the Recognition of it as necessary to a Regular Admission to the Lords Table p. 73. CHAP. VII Of the Lords Supper That it is a Faederal Ordinance implying a Covenant Transaction between God and Us and supposing a Renewal of Solemn Vows to be the Lords p. 94. CHAP. VIII Of an express Renewal of our Christian Vows every time we go to the Holy Communion And Directions about the right management of it p. 190. CHAP. IX Of the Nature Sacredness and Strength of the Obligation which lies on all those to lead an Holy Life who often Repeat Sacramental Vows p. 137. CHAP. X. Of the dreadful Case which all those are in who heap vows upon vows without any serious sense of their force and without any real hearty endeavours to answer and pay them p. 151. CHAP. XI Of the great Happiness of all those who are Serious in Making and Renewing their Sacramental Vows and sincere in Keeping them p. 174. CHAP. XII Of the difficulty of living up to our Sacred Vows with that exactness that we ought With the Solution of some common cases relating thereto p. 192. CHAP. XIII Directions that may help us to live more Correspondently to our many Solemn Sacramental vows p. 214. CHAP. XIV Sundry Serious Considerations to enforce the sense of our vows upon us and engage us to pay them p. 233. CHAP. XV. The Temper and Carriage of a Soul that is rightly sensible of the Force and
many times between the Infant Adult state of Persons Baptiz'd That duringtheir Infancy they were in a state of favour with God on the account of their Believing Parents as a part of whom they were then considered and with the requisite Solemnity were admitted into Gods Visible Family here on Earth and yet when they come to grow up and stand on their own Legs they are rejected on the account of their Impenitence and Infidelity and the Ungodliness of their Lives Tho' there is I say many times as great a difference as this comes to manifestly discernable in this case vet is not God in the least chargeable with Changing but 't is we that Change and make the difference The Gifts and Calling of God says the Apostle are without Repentance He Repented not of the kindness he engag'd to shew the Israelites for their Fathers sakes ' I was they who by breaking the Covenant in which they were bound to him forct him to punish their Disobedience So God Repents not of the kindness he in the Ordinance of Baptisin engages to shew to the Children of Believing Parents He is willing to make every thing good to a tittle that he then engag'd to But the Persons I am speaking of who openly break with him and renounce his kindness in the face of the World by living in the wilful violation of their Solemn Vow make it inconsistent with his Honour to own them for his by their Rebellion against him so long as they persist in it they incapacitate him to deal with them as with faithful Subjects which they are not But it is more proper to say That such Persons throw themselves out of Gods Family than that they are thrown out of it Observe further 2. THAT tho' a willful and allow'd Breach of the Baptismal Vow Liv'd in doth directly forfeit the Blessings engag'd to on Gods part yet doth it not irrecoverably forfeit them For be it known to all so Gracious is God that he is backward to take advantages against us He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance How open and notorious soever have been our Breaches of our Baptismal Vow there 's still room for Repentance Upon our serious Profession whereof the door stands open in order to our Re-admission to all forfeited Church Priviledges and our Gracious God is ready again to receive and embrace us our Abused Saviour to Interceed for us and the Affronted Spirit to Assist and Help us all the Blessings we have forfeited may be Recover'd and Restor'd upon our Repentance and Reformation our Renewing our Vow and after keeping it sincerely But yet a Forfeiture there certainly doth ensue upon willful and allow'd Breaches of it both of Church-Priviledges and Special Covenant Blessings Which all those would do well seriously to consider of who have receiv'd the Christian Badge call themselves Christians and hope to be dealt withal as such and yet lead Unchristian and Ungodly Lives 3. IT may be observ'd that the after Exercises of Religion which build on Baptism as their Foundation have this for their great design to engage and help us to keep the Vow of God we then came under or to restore us and renew the force of it upon us when we have broke it It is the great design of Catechization to ground us well in the great Principles of our Faith and Rules of Practice that we may distinctly know what we are to Believe and Do. It is the great design of the Preaching of the Word which the Spirit is wont to accompany with his Efficacy to those who seriously and faithfully attend upon it to for those things a National knowledge whereof will be of no avail home upon our Hearts to warn us of our Danger when running on in Sin to Rouz us from our Sloth and Carnal Security to Re-call us from our Wandrings to Press us with the most Urgent Arguments and Motives to be heartily his who alone can make us Happy and to live to him to whom we are Devoted and to Encourage Further and Help us in the way of Well-Doing if our Hearts are truly set Heaven-ward It is the great design of Publick Prayers by our joint Entreaties in the Assemblies of Gods People to Supplicate for Grace and the Super-natural Aids of the Divine Spirit to render our Tempers and Lives agreeable to our Christian Profession And of our Publick Praises by Celebrating the Divine Perfections of our Great Creator Redeemer and constant Benefactor with one common Ardour especially his Kindness Grace and Goodness to engage our hearts to him and stir up our selves for shame to some suitable Returns of Holy Obedience It is the great design of the Lords Supper and its frequent Repetition to keep our Hearts under the most lively sense that is possible of Redeeming Love and to give us an oportunity of Renewing our Baptismal Vow with great Solemnity over the Memorials of that Sacrifice that is of Everlasting Vertue of which more in the Sequel And it is the design of all Church Censures wherever they are kept up agreeably to the end of their Institution to curb open Sin and Vice to prevent Scandals and Blemishes to Religion to recover Offenders and to promote Sincere Piety and Holiness to keep from Transgressing and stimulate to the Obeying of the Laws of Christ to which we have in our Christian Vow all sworn Subjection All Christian Ordinances Duties and Exercises some how or other relate to this Vow and are design'd either to Instruct us in the Latitude Compass and Extent of it or to stir us up to keep it or to help us to perform it either to keep us from breaking it or to convince us of our Breaches and deter us from persisting either to help us to repeat it with a renew'd Ardour not having wickedly broke it or to help us to renew it after Repentance for having broken it to bind our Souls more and more closely to God by it and either to draw or drive us to act like those that have a Sacred Vow of God upon us 4. A Fourth Observation I have to make is this That a Recognition of the Baptismal Vow is necessary in Persons admission to the Lords Table Nothing can be more plain Than that Baptiz'd Persons as such are not therefore to be admitted to the Lords Supper For some renounce the Faith which they were Baptiz'd into some that were Solemnly Devoted to God in Infancy have no Fear of him before their Eyes when they come to Maturity and instead of spending their Lives in his Service to which they were bound they give themselves to commit all manner of Iniquity with greediness Would to God there were not multitudes of such Persons among us Others that yet are not by far so bad as the former never think seriously of the Obligation which they were laid under by their Baptismal Consecration never study how to answer it It 's as plain as the
Gratitude A further Office of the same Grace is To behold the Fathers Mind and Heart in that Amazing Mirror of his Love that there is set before us and to behold the Divine Spirit in all his Sanctifying Gifts and Graces pourd forth on all truly Covenanting Believers as the Fruit of Christ's Purchase and to yield up the Soul to be transformed into the same Image by the same Spirit NO where hath Faith such an Advantage for this Work as at the Holy Communion and never is this Advantage so well improv'd there as when our Vows are seriously and expresly Renew'd For thereby do we shew that the Discoveries that are made by Faith at that Ordinance do truly Affect us and rightly Work upon us thereby is our Faith approv'd of the right stamp and thereby is it made a Governing Principle of our Tempers and Lives Withal 't is observable how express God is at his Table as to all the several Marks of his Favour and Love which he makes over to us and bestows on us These are receiv'd by Faith certainly therefore it becomes us to be as express in our Returns to him And hereby will our Faith be strengthened by reason of the Correspondence of our Carriage in this respect towards God to his dealing vvith us and also by reason of that Riveted Sense of Faith's Transactions at this Ordinance that vvill be hereby occasioned OUR Hope also will hereby be strengthened Our Hope of the Acceptance of what we do and of Assistance in what we need Our Hope of Grace here and Glory hereafter The more express if serious any one is in giving himself up to God at his Table every time he comes there the more Reason hath he to hope that God Accepts him who never Rejects a Self-Resigning Soul the more Reason to hope for all the blessed Fruits of the Sacrifice and Death of Christ to whom he consecrates himself the more Reason to hope for all needed Guidance and Assistance from the blessed Spirit of Grace under whose Conduct he freely puts himself the more reason to hope for all he can need either in this World or another since he so intirely commits himself to and reposes his Trust in him that is a suitable Portion for him in either Further 3. WHICH follows upon the former This Practice will encrease our comfort which it is one great Design of the Sacrament to promote 'T is indeed much to our comfort to be treated at so Noble and costly a Feast as God prepares for us when he spreads his Table before us 't is comfortable to see what is there to be beheld to Receive what is Offer'd and to stand and take so delightful a Prospect as we have there Opportunity for But the serious express Renewal of our Vows to be the Lords and Solemn Engagement to live like Persons devoted to him is as great a Spring of spiritual Comfort as any in all that Ordinance For this according to the Gospel-Constitution lays a just Foundation for a Claim of all Gospel-Blessings by vertue of the Promises made through the Blood we there Commemorate The Holy Communion implies an Investiture in Pardon and Peace Reconciliation Adoption and a Right to Eternal Life to all truly Devout Participants to all who heartily devote themselves to their Lord Redeemer Renewed Vows therefore confirm our Title to all both present and future Blessings and consequently lay a firm Foundation for the highest Comfort For what can be more comfortable than for me upon a Review of what past in that Ordinance to find that I am Entitled to all those peculiar Marks of Divine Favour which God in that Ordinance makes over to his Children of which nothing can give greater Assurance than our Repeated Devoting our Selves with all the Seriousness and Solemnity we are able to be his Servants and Subjects to our Lives End All which things taken together are methinks abundantly sufficient to recommend this Practice IT yet remains That I give some Directions about this matter and shew how we should manage the Renewal of our Vows to be the Lords at the Return of every Sacrament Which having been Excellently done already by so many I shall be but brief in it However these Eight following Directions I can dare to recommend to any serious Christians Direct I. BEFORE you go to Renew your Vows to be the Lords Recollect your past Breaches especially those since your last Solemn Engagement Look not on this as an indifferent or inconsiderable matter but as a thing needful in order to your Dedicating your selves anew to God with any Advantage Take a convenient Opportunity for Rering from the World and when alone set your selves down seriously to consider what strong Tyes and Bonds you are already under to be the Lords and how little you Answer them Review your Lives rip up your Miscarriages canvass all the Secrets of your Hearts endeavour to know the worst For since God knows all 't is every way best that you should do so too that so what is amiss may be rectified and his deserved Displeasure averted Consider your prevailing Temper and stated Tenour and recollect your Demeanor upon particular Occasions when you may find Reason to conclude the Eye of God was most upon you Think how you have carried it to the blessed God how you have behav'd your selves towards your Redeemer and what hath past between you and the holy Spirit Think how you have manag'd your selves in Secret in your Families and in your several Relations in your Callings and Business and in your Retirements How you have carry'd it towards your Selves and to Others Observe what Corruptions you have most indulg'd what Temptations you have given way to what Neglects you have fallen into and what positive Guilt you have contracted When Time will allow it the running as far back in our Lives as our Memories will help us to do will be very Proper and Useful And this should be done with more than ordinary Carefulness at Persons first Approach to the Lords Table But when our Confinements are strait the Recollecting what hath past since the last Sacrament may suffice in which the more strict we are the better Our Eyes should particularly be on our Dalilahs whereby our Affections are most entangled and it should be a particuly Subject of Enquiry What Breaches of our last Vows they have drawn us into In General Let 's lay our Rule before us and compare our Selves and our Carriage with it and that will soon discover our Defects I need not tell a serious and considerate Person the Benefit of this Practice Direct II. HUMBLE your selves seriously before God for all past Breaches with Him whether known or unknown before you offer to come under New Vows to Him The more pains we take according to the foregoing Direction in searching and viewing our selves the more reason shall we find to cry out with the Psalmist Who can unstand his Errors Cleanse thou me from secret
are real strangers He will impart a full knowledge of himself to them and fill them with his Spirit which is a Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation He will manifest the Secrets of Divine Wisdom and the traces of Eternal Love to them so far as their present capacities will bear and in the future Life he will lay himself and all those Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge that lie hid in him open to their view that they may for ever entertain themselves with their Contemplation and Enrich themselves by a constant Derivation Such Promises as these that may be so comfortably apply'd by sincere Covenant Keepers with God unto themselves make their state and condition Exceeding Happy 5. THEY are provided with what may help to support them under any Crosses Troubles or Afflictions they may be Exercis'd with Come what will they are safe They may stand their ground without giving way they need not be terrify'd or dismay'd And Oh what a Happiness is this Who knows what Personal or Domestiek Troubles they may meet withe'er they Dye And how Terribly and Violently they may be Assaulted as strong as they apprehend their mountain to stand Who can fore-see what Publick Calamaties a wait us wherein all particular Persons must unavoidably be sharers now for Perfons to be able in whatever troubles they meet with to say with the Church All this is come upon us yet have we not forgotten thee neither have we dealt falsly in thy Covenant Our Heart is not turn'd back neither have our steps declin'd from thy way Foâ—… Persons then to be able to look back on their Sacramental Transactions and Remember the Seriousness and Devotion wherewith they oft have Renew'd their Vows to the Lord at his Table and to look back on their Lives and find a general stated correspondency thereto would be a spring of greater Refreshment to them than is well conceivable by them who have not had some experience of it Let 's suppose a Person to meet with great Distress in his Mind in his Body in his Estate or any other way if seriously looking upwards he can be able to say with David I have kept the way of the Lord I have not wickedly departed from my God it must needs be a great Comfort and Support to him Incredible is the Consolation which such Persons lay in against trying Times they may be call'd to pass thro' in the course of their Lives Great the Supports wherewith they are provided against the time when they shall be under the assaults of Death the King of Terrors To be able then to look back on seriously renew'd and faithfully perform'd Sacramental Vows will make those Pangs easy at which Nature trembles 't will make their Passage into another World safe and comfortable Who then can express their Happiness And then 6thly and Lastly THEY take the most Effectual Course to secure themselves from falling away That of the Perseverance of the Saints is a very comfortable Doctrine and rightly understood is so far from an evil and vicious tendendency as some imagine that it tends every way to make us better Now the satisfying Assurance of a true Christians Perseverance is built on these three grounds The Favour and Love of God to him the Sufficiency of the Divine Assistance and the Conscience of his own Integrity That these Persons take the best course to secure the Favour and Love of God hath before been made appear What can hinder those who often seriously Faederally transact with God and are stedfast in his Covenant from hoping for every thing from him which beloved Children may expect from a tender and kind Father As for the Sufficiency of Divine Grace they have no reason to question it And that they shall have it imparted to them in the measures and degrees wherein they need it is the purport of many promises which they upon just ground may apply to themselves And then as for the Conscience of their own Integrity on which the Personal Comfort of the two foregoing grounds depends none are so likely to get and keep it as those who often with great Solemnity renew the acts of their Self-Dedication to the Blessed God repeat their Vows of all prescribed Duty and in the main in their whole course demean themselves suitably What can shake such persons hopes of Perseverance Their frequent slips and failings need not For tho' they are to be lamented and bewail'd yet do they not forfeit those aids of Grace whereby they may be enabled to hold out yet do they not cut of the entail of Divine Favour whereby this perseverance is secur'd It is unquestionable that many may go far in Religion and yet fall off at last and come to nothing they may begin well and hold on for a time and for want of holding out lose the Crown that the Gospel propounds as a Reward to the Faithful But that which I assert is this That those who are serious in the frequent repeating and afterwards faithful in keeping their Sacramental Vows may on this very Consideration bottom a comfortable and well grounded hope of their own Perseverance that they shall not be in the number of them that fall away I am far from thinking that any are so far out of all danger as to have any reason to grow secure and if they do grow secure and careless 't is a plain evidence to me that they are not yet out of Danger But yet I doubt not but there are such things as that those who do them shall never fall And thus much I think may be plainly learnt from 2 Pet. 1. 10. And of this number I take this course to be of serious Repeating and faithful paying Sacramental Vows For it argues the Heart to be establisht with Grace it seems to imply an incapacity of forsaking their Saviour whose Love hath taken so fast hold of them and bound them so firmly to himself it argues an incapacity of being guilty of such crying Provocations as those must be whereby the Blessed Spirit should be quencht or God oblig'd to desert them it argues Persons to be arriv'd at so fixed an habit of Goodness as cannot be lost and eradicated Needs then must it argue unspeakable Happiness in their state who have arriv'd to it Who ought therefore certainly to be fill'd with Thankfulness and transported with Joy and will be inexcusable if their Souls don't Magnify the Lord if their Spirit don't Rejoyce in God their Saviour CHAP. XII Of the difficulty of Living up to our Sacramental Vows with that Exactness that we ought With the Solution of some common Cases relating thereto NOTHING's more easie to be observ'd Than that many are the imperfections which attend those who are most faithful in paying their Sacramental Vows Hardly any thing creates some Persons so much perplexity as this And those must be great strangers to Religious matters who know not that 't is very difficult to walk evenly with God closely to
so without a speedy and sorrowful Repentance Let me then further ask you 6. DO you never think of a Day of Reckoning that's coming Have you not sometimes in your Retirements some pre-apprehensions of a sad Account that you have to give to God another Day Doth Conscience never read you your Doom summoning you as 't were before hand to the Bar of God Do you never think of the Day that 's near and not far off when all things will be narrowly scann'd the Books open'd and among other things your Sacramental Bonds put in suit against you I believe you could hardly be so stupid in your worldly Concerns but that if you knew you ow'd ten times as much as you could pay and were in constant danger of being fallen upon by your Creditors and arrested and perpetually imprisoned you 'd be in constant fear you 'd be so taken up with the thoughts of your unhappy state and what 's coming upon you that you 'd be able to mind nothing And what Do the Affairs of time in your esteem so much exceed those of Eternity that you that would be so much concern'd in the former Case can remain unmov'd when you know that you are perfect Bankrupts in Spirituals and in constant danger of being arrested by God for ten thousand Talents no one of which you can ever be able either to pay or to get discounted Can you be unconcern'd when you know that within a little time you must be summon'd to the Bar of a Righteous God where your very Sacramental Bonds put in suit against you would utterly confound and over-whelm you were all other Debts over-look'd and forgiven Whence is it that in this case you are so undisturb'd Do but set your selves down and sedately reckon up your Sacramental Bonds and see what they amount to O what a vast summ comes up Doth it not then deserve many serious thoughts how this sum shall be discharg'd And what will you never begin Will you go on to add Bond upon Bond and heap Vows upon Vows and never in earnest begin to pay I beseech you remember and consider that all the Sacraments you have profan'd and all the Vows you have made at them which you afterwards wilfully habitually and wickedly broke will rise up in Judgment against you at last and eternally condemn you Let me then further ask you 7. WHAT can you plead in your own Excuse That you run on wilfully breaking Sacramental Vows that 's your Charge Produce your Pleas and you 'll see as weak a Creature as I can shew you their Insufficiency It may be you 'll plead your pronenefs to sin Alas that 's your fault but no Excuse 'T is what you have cherish'd and delighted in therefore to be sure it diminishes not your guilt It may be you 'll plead the force of Temptation but how can that excuse you who don't watch and pray and strive against it It may be you 'll plead that the Best have Frailties and live not up to their Sacramental Vows as they should But what Excuse can this help such as you to who han't a dram of sincerity Which appears in that you have us'd no serious thoughtfulness diligence pains or care at all in this matter which are known Evidences of the Sincerity of the Upright It may be you 'll plead a want of sufficient Grace and so endeavour to throw the blame on God But that 's a vain Attempt he never expects to reap where he hath not sown or gather where he hath not strawn but will be satisfied with that which bears proportion to what he gives And can you pretend that you have rightly us'd the Grace that hath been afforded you And might you not have had more had that but been duly improved The Case will therefore allow of no Excuse the Guilt of such Persons can by no Considerations be either extenuated or diminish'd I now proceed to the other sort of Persons that are to be dealt with viz. such as are indeed thoughtful about their Sacramental Vows and do sincerely set themselves to answer and pay them who yet do often fail and faulter which is the Matter of their Grief and Trouble I would not willingly do any thing to the needless sadning of any upright Soul and should therefore be sorry that any such should receive Disturbance from any thing mention'd under the former Heads which are calculated for those of another stamp and need not give those who are sincere tho imperfect any Molestation I have other Considerations to suggest to such which have their weight but are of another nature I have the following Questions to put to them which I would beg of them seriously and impartially to weigh 1. MIGHT not any even the best of you take much more care to live up to your Sacramental Vows than you do You can't be more free to plead than I to own that all your Care could not keep you from all Sin For when all 's done there 's no Man that liveth and sinneth not But might you not do much more towards the avoiding of Sin might you not avoid much more Sin than you ordinarily do I appeal to your Consciences about this Matter Should not the Sense of the Deceitfulness of your Hearts your many former Falls and Smarts for them and Sufferings by them and of the too great Strength of the fleshly part in you keep you more in awe and make you more careful and might you not be much more diligent and watchful and circumspect and provident and serious than you are Don't you find a great and very remarkable Difference in your selves in your Tempers and your Lives when your Guard is strict your Eyes about you your Prayers frequent close and servent and your Intercourse with Heaven uninterrupted from what you are when your Guard is intermitted your Spirits are clogg'd your Prayers are heavy and the Reins are out of your Hands Whence comes the Difference that is so discernible even among real Christians who all are sincere How even uniform steddy vigorous holy and heavenly shall some be over others To the Eye there is not a greater Difference between some Saints and some Sinners than there is between some Saints and others nor indeed so great Whence comes this What can it be imputed to but the different degrees of Resolution Watchfulness Care Caution Diligence and Painfulness that several Persons reach to It would be no objection against this for any to say That all this difference is owing to the Grace of God and that alone which is imparted by God to every man severally as he will For it s freely granted and these things mention'd that are instrumental in this difference are only so many parts of that Grace of God which receives different names according to the diversity of objects about which 't is employ'd So many parts I say of that Grace which God is pleas'd freely to impart But let it withal be noted that 't
his Death and wistfully viewing him from first to last as an exact Mirror of Divinity peculiarly fixing on his Death when his Body was broken and his Blood pour'd forth being pierc'd with grief at the remembrance of those Sins which help'd to pierce his sacred Body and full of Astonishment that it should be apt to have such light thoughts of that which was so full of Malignity that it needed his precious Blood to make Atonement It views the appointed Emblems but it looks beyond them and with sorrow considers the share it had in that doleful Tragedy which is thereby pointted at It concernedly reflects on the need it stands in of a share in the Benefit of that Sacrifice which they represent it rejoyces in its own Capacity of being interested in it it takes the sacred Emblems when offer'd with a mixture of Joy and Sorrow Fear and Love and embraces a crucified Saviour in the Arms of Faith yielding up the Heart to him as a part of the Victory and Conquest of his Love resigning up it self and its all entirely to his Disposal Management and Government not as a free Gift but as his just Right which to with-hold from him would be the highest Sacriledge and as an Offering infinitely beneath the desert of his Matchless Obligations It contentedly quits all other things whatever as but Dung and Dross without a Christ being perfectly asham'd to think that any Creature should be his Rival It declares it self satisfy'd with him as a Portion by reason that in him and with him it will have all that is needful and cares not what it wants nor how it fares nor what it parts with so it may but share in his Merits and his Spirit his Grace and his Glory It not only throws it self into its Saviour's Arms for an instant but with a design to abide there detesting whatever tends to with-draw it from him with whom it is so enamour'd It renounces Sin Satan and the World as his known Enemies fetching strength from his Cross to resist and oppose them It disclaims Self as an Usurping Tyrant renouncing it so far as 't is opposite and firmly resolving to subject it so far as 't is capable to his Scepter and Government In humble Dependance on his promised Aids it takes a New Oath of Fealty to him it engages to a thorow Discipleship solemnly swearing over his sacred Emblems heartily to be subject to him to study to resemble him to carry it as one of his Followers to stick to his Interest to fight against his Enemies to follow his Conduct to submit to his Discipline to be content with his Allotments and patiently to wait for his Rewards It embraces that Covenant which his Death so firmly ratify'd stands amaz'd at the inestimable Blessings made over in it and firmly engages strenuously to apply it self to answer the Demands of it And out of a sense of its own weakness which time past hath but too much discover'd it sends up the most Pathetical Supplications to its once crucify'd but now glorify'd Redeemer for fixing stablishing confirming preserving persevering Grace and constant Supplies of it that so the sense of such Obligations as he hath laid upon it and such Bonds as it is voluntarily enter'd into to him may by nothing ever be defac'd or worn out In hope whereof it triumphs and rejoyces magnifying adoring blessing and praising all the three Persons in the sacred Trinity the Father the Son and the holy Spirit on the Account of their distinct Concern and Agency in the Redeeming and Saving of lost Sinners 3. LET 's view the same Soul immediately after the Renewal of such Sacramental Vows and we shall find its first Work to be the Recollecting what past in the foregoing Transaction How did I burn and glow says such a Soul when I found my self under the Direct Beams of my Saviour's Love at his Table And what shall I do to retain my Warreth Or How little was I affected suitably to such a Solemnity And what can fire my frozen Heart Such a Soul cann't rest in the Work done or think all 's at an end when the solemnity's over It cann't forbear either commending or chiding it self according as the posture and carriage hath been it cann't forbear endeavouring to drive things home Follow it close and you 'll find it upon the first convenient Opportunity running all over again in its thoughts and endeavouring to rivet good Impressions and fix pious Resolutions and establish and confirm holy Purposes and back Renew'd Vows with strong enforcing Considerations and doing what it can to engage it self to answer it's Engagements and Obligations to its God and Saviour Shall I go and undo what I have been doing by a lazy Indifferency a negligent and careless course of Life Shall I forget whose I am and who I am to serve and what are my Engagements and to whom and how I am bound Will not my Guilt be much encreas'd my dear Saviour more offended the blessed Spirit more griev'd and my Heart more deaden'd than ever if I return again to Folly Was not what I did in Renewing my Vows the Effect of Consideration Is not every thing that I have vow'd antecedently my Duty Hath not every part of my Duty Benefit attending it Is not He with whom I have been Transacting able to assist me And hath he not given me his Promise in his Word and seal'd it at his Table He will never change or draw back Why then should I No I have vow'd and I 'll stand to it Christ is mine and I 'll be his Him I 'll love Him I 'll serve and follow He shall have my Heart and my Life And alas That little All I am able to give him is not the thousandth part of what I owe Him These and such as these are the Retir'd Thoughts and Reasonings of a sincere Soul presently after Renewing Sacramental Vows 4. THE former Exercise is no sooner over but if you 'll persist in your suit you 'll find the same Soul wrestling with God in Prayer and sending its most earnest Petitions and Supplications upwards for Grace and Strength to pay the Vows Renew'd I have vow'd indeed O Lord says such a Soul to God that I 'll be thine I have anew Consecrated my self to my Blessed Redeemer and I desire not to draw back But I have of my self no strength to perform all my sufficiency is of thee Lord keep a sense of my Renew'd Engagements ever fresh and warm upon my heart Thou know ' st my Weakness and my Treachery I beseech thee to aid me constantly by thy powerful Spirit that how numerous soever my Infirmities and Imperfections be I may in no case wickedly depart from thee O that I who have been viewing a crucify'd Iesus and engag'd to be his constant follower might be crucify'd unto the World and have that crucify'd unto me O that I who have been commemorating my de Lords Dying for Sin may by vertue
their Prayers and Prayers at such times are most usually accompany'd with Vows But 3. OBSERVE farther that 't is very common for Persons to forget such Vows afterwards to lose the sense of them and never pay them The Sailor mention'd by Erasmus who when he was in a dangerous Storm and in great fear of his Life made a Vow to a certain Saint of a Wax-Taper as big as the Main Mast of the Ship but when he came to be in safety thought a Farthing Candle might be sufficient gives us a Model of most Men's Tempers who are much more forward to make Vows when they are in trouble and danger than to pay them when they are out of it How often shall we see Persons who by the apprehensions of Death's near approach to them were cast into inexpressible Agonies and thereupon cry'd to God and begg'd and intreated of him with all imaginable earnestness and importunity that he would spare them a ltttle longer and try them once more which if he would do they vow and promise their whole future Lives shall show forth and express their grateful Resentments for that they will spend them entirely in his Service and that at anotherguess rate than formerly They 'll rip up their past Actions freely confess their Sins and bewail their Follies and vow by all that 's Sacred that for time to come they 'll stand on their guard watch against Temptation allow themselves in no Sin nor in the neglect of any Duty but will lead an Holy Heavenly Mortify'd Self-denying Life in the strict observance of the Rules of our Religion who when God hath heard their Cries and gratify'd them with a farther time of Trial and prolongu'd and renew'd their Lives unto them suffer their Heat in a little time to wear off slide into their wonted deadness carelesness and lukewarmness and return to their old Sins Failures and Neglects in a little time indulge to their old Lusts as freely as before if not worse than ever and are not a whit chang'd or alter'd but the same as before as if nothing at all had past between God and them And if it be so when there 's the apprehension of Death in the case we may well conceive it is the same in lower instances as under the fearful apprehensions of any thing short of it under racking Pain or any sinking Disquietment in which cases and others of the like nature 't is a very common thing for Persons to vow and promise a more careful guarding against such or such a Corruption or such a Temptation as they know is most apt to prevail upon them or a more faithful discharge of such a Duty as hath been before neglected a more close walking with God a more steddy trust in Him and more entire resignation to Him and the like But let but the Danger be over and the Trouble at an end and oh how soon are such Vows forgotten as if never made how quickly is the sense of them lost We are told Luke 17. that our Saviour cleans'd ten Lepers at once and but one of them had any thing like a sense of his Deliverance or came to return Thanks to his Great Benefactor This our Lord seem'd to wonder at and therefore cries out Where are the Nine Here was however one in ten that was duly affected with the Goodness of God and made suitable Returns But I believe I should keep within compass if I should say that scarce one in an hundred of those who come under Vows to God in trouble and distress take care with any Faithfulness to pay them afterwards An Eminent Divine now with God who had with with great Faithfulness for a course of many Years exercis'd his Ministry in this City being ask'd by one what number of the many he had known to be in great Agonies in Sickness and under the apprehensions of Death's approach who then profest Repentance of their past wicked Lives and promis'd and vow'd a serious and holy Life afterwards to which they had before been Strangers what number of such he had known that in a Judgment of Charity he could apprehend were truly chang'd by their Sickness and faithful in paying their Vows when recover'd He answer'd That he could not say that in the whole course of his Ministry he had met with above Three of that Number This is methinks very sad and doleful to consider I have often in my own Thoughts been enquiring what should be the cause of this common Failure and Neglect and it is I think well worth our enquiring after The best Account I can give of it in short is this 'T is because there 's commonly much more of Fear than Love in the Vows made in Trouble and Distress Persons under Affliction if they are not utterly stupid are under a sensible Conviction of their strait and close Dependence upon God in whose hands they are and who can do with them as seems good in his sight without any check or controul This attended with a sense of Guilt is naturally apt to excite strong Fear lest he should deal severely lest he should utterly take away forfeited Mercies and punish the abuse of them by their withdrawment lest he should deny Succour in Danger to those who are so sensible they are far from deserving it lest he should suffer the Desert of their Sins to come upon them and then to be sure woful must be their Case Which Fear if not duly temper'd with Love and other Graces will only prompt to look out for a guard for Self-preservation and so self and not God will be mainly ey'd in the vows made in such a case If 't were a true sense of Duty a real love to God that was the Spring of such Vows they 'd have a Foundation in the habitual Temper of the Soul and so the effects of them would be visible the cause would remain even when the Trouble was over which excited the particular Vows made and therefore the Effect would appear But when Fear is the sole Spring of them and that Fear wears off as the Trouble and Distress blows over we need not wonder that the Vows are forgotten and the Effects cease together with their Cause And because it is so common a thing for Persons in their Vows in such a case to be much more acted by Fear than Love therefore is it so much more common for the sense of such vows to be lost than retain'd Withal such Vows generally arise more from passionate Transport than a deliberate Confent of Heart which is another cause of their being so often forgotten and unminded View a Person in distress and anguish or under the apprehension of danger and you 'll find the Spirit in a sort of Ferment Now in the Body while the Blood is in a fermentation the animal Spirits are much more eager and impetuous than at other times and so it is also in the mind Trouble and Danger produces a Ferment and vehement
Vows made in former straits that have been neglected and unpaid Think a little and that seriously how sadly your Consciences will be wounded and your Souls dismayed when the next Distress and Trouble comes if you then find upon Reflection you were unthankful for your last merciful Deliverance and Preservation and soon lost any Impressions it made upon you How will it then cut you to the Heart to think how falsly and treacherously and deceitfully you dealt with God in breaking your solemn Vows and Promises How will this Thought weaken your hold of God! and what a matter of sinking Discouragement will it be to you think of it therefore soberly and prevent the doubling and trebbling of your own Difficulty in any further Trials God may have in store for you by a faithful Payment of your Vows And then 5. CONSIDER further what Ground your Forgetfulness of and Unfaithfulness to the Vows you made when in Trouble and Distress may give you as Circumstances may be to question the Sincerity of your own Hearts 'T is true as I before hinted there are certain Failures and those not inconsiderable ones in this Matter that are consistent with Sincerity of Heart but it is not an easy thing in all cases to distinguish them from such Neglects as are Arguments and Indications of a rotten Heart and trifling Spirit and how wofully may you embarrass your selves in this respect Do but take care to act agreeably to the Vows and Engagements you came under in the Hour of your Trouble and you 'll be clear and free you 'll have a comfortable Evidence of your own Integrity but if you are thoughtless and careless allow your selves to live at the wonted rate altho you are under new Engagements and loose the Impressions which the afflictive Providences you were under made upon you and that once and again over and over believe it you 'll find the time will come when you 'll be very apt to question whether all your Transactions with God from first to last have not been hypocritical and whether there hath been any thing of Reality and Sincerity at the bottom on your part and you 'll find your selves so wofully embarrass'd as not to be able to quiet your selves or receive Satisfaction from others As you would not have this to prove your Case I beseech you be punctual with God and faithful to him 6. CONSIDER also what Advantage you give the Devil by negecting to pay your Vows Who would do any thing to rejoice his worst and bitterest Enemy and put him in a capacity of doing him an inconceivable Mischief and yet this is done by all you that make Vows to God and forget and neglect them when you have done You give an advantage to that subtil Enemy of yours that watches for your halting and will make use of the least Slip or Failure you indulge your selves in as a means to withdraw you further and further from God till at length Conscience is sorely wounded and Grace sadly weakned and so unless God be strangely merciful to you you may go halting to your Graves Let but these things be duly weigh'd and you can't want Inducements to a serious Remembrance and faithful Payment of any Vows you made in Distress or Trouble IT now remains that I add some Directions that may be helpful to keep up a lively Sense of Vows made upon a sick Bed or in any time of Fear Distress or Danger To any that are seriously desirous thereof and would do what in them lies to engage themselves to pay their Vows to the most High I would give the following Advice 1. OFTEN endeavour to call to your lively Remembrance the State Condition and Frame that you were in and the Sense you had of things when you made your Vows to God Retire from the World ever and anon and soberly set your selves down and recollect what Thoughts and Apprehensions you had in the time of your Trouble of God and Christ of Sin and Holiness of Heaven and Hell and of a calm and peaceable Conscience what Sense you had of your past Neglects and Failures and future Duty what were your Cares and Fears and Hopes and Comforts how your Spirits work'd what were Consciences Admonitions and your Resentments Did you not then think an Interest in God and Christ to be worth more than a thousand Worlds And would you not if they had been in your power rather have chosen to have parted with them than to have gone without it Did not Sin then sit heavy upon your Minds and depress your Spirits And did you not heartily wish that you had carefully shunned it and watched against it How mean Thoughts had you of this Earth and all the Riches Honours Pleasures and Comforts of it when you did not know but you were just upon leaving it Did you not then think those the happiest of Persons how low soever their present Circumstances were that had a Treasure above and could eye Heaven as their proper home and the like The frequent recollecting of such Thoughts will help to perpetuate the Impressions they made and their good Effects And because our Memories are commonly weak and treacherous and not so faithful as they should be to us in Matters of the greatest moment it may be a considerable help to us to make use of Writing we should find it abundantly worth our while and of no small Use to us would we as soon as we are deliver'd out of Affliction and Trouble commit to Writing the State of our Case and Frame of our Spirits when we were under it what our Thoughts and Apprehensions were what supported and relieved us what Engagements particularly we made and upon what Inducements Our Recourse whereto whenever we find our selves apt to grow cold might help to renew our Sense of our past vows and engage us to answer and pay them and keep our after Lives from being like the new Editions of some Mens Books which are always worst by reason that besides the old Errata new ones creep in and are added to the former 2. Engage your Friends and Relations who were Witnesses of your Trouble that knew your Fears and were acquainted with your vows then made of a better Life for time to come to remind you of your Promises and Engagements to watch over you and tell you of them as there is occasion and take it kindly of them and be thankful to them whenever they do so A serious faithful Yoke-fellow for a Monitor in such a Case is a vast Advantage because of the constant Oversight and Inspection which that Relation gives Opportunity for but if that be wanting it may in part be made up by other serious Christian Friends whose Admonitions may be very helpful And indeed in such a case there are few but need spurring need to be put in mind of their Vows and Promises We may see it in Iacob's case who after he had upon leaving his Father's House made the