Enjoyments of which I beseech thee in thy due time to restore me and make me to adorn the holy profession of a Christian in all righteousness and and true holiness And during my present Want of those gracious institutions vouchsafe O Lord to communicate the riches of thy Grace to me in such other ways and means as to thine infinite Wisdom shall seem good that I may not be as a dead branch broken off from the true Vine but may now and ever be accounted of the number of thy true Israel thy beloved people in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for whose sake vouchsafe to here me and accept me together with these my unworthy Prayers in whose blessed Name and words I humbly conclude them Our Father which c. In the next place I desire you to consider the awfulness solemnity and strictness of your Christian Vows made in your Baptism and renewed a fresh if you have indeed lived as a Christian at the Holy Table of our Lord. It is not a light matter to make a Promise to the Almighty Soveraign of the World but to make Solemn Vows to him before chosen Witnesses and in the face of a Christian Congregation and to seal this in the Blood of Christ that blood which is of infinite worth and which shews the greatest Love and Pity to us that ever was seen in the World which has a vertue to wash away Sin and to open the Kingdom of Heaven to such as are purified thereby How Sacred how strict how tremendous are such Vows And how sorely will our Righteous God avenge every wilful Violation and slight of them This is called a trampling on Christ's blood and the sorest punishment is threatned to such transgressions especialy to such as turn Renegado's and deny this Faith into which they were Baptized in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost because they count the blood of the Covenant an unholy thing they count the Lord Jesus Christ an Impostor and a wicked cheat and consequently his blood vile and base and a Covenant with him a despicable and hateful thing to be renounced and abandoned And they do despight to the spirit of Grace they treat that Holy gracious and Eternal Spirit with Scorn and Hatred tho' it be that Spirit which alone can prepare us for Eternal Salvation So that this is the most wretched and desperate Case that we can imagine for it follows Vengeance is mine I will repay saith the Lord. They shall feel the inutterable wrath of an Almighty God in it's most horrible Execution upon them for ever except they deeply Repent You have all this Hebr. 10. 28 29 30. Where it is also added in the next verse It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God So dreadful indeed that the wise and good Men of all Ages have chosen rather to be Sawn a sunder or Torn with wild Beasts or give their Bodies to be broil'd and exposed to all the Miseries that men could invent or inflict than to deny their Faith and thereby fall under the Vengeance of Almighty God to all Eternity And the least grain of Faith must needs constrain us all to do the like thro' the grace of God for what proportion is there betwixt the Anger of a frail man like our selves who can but hurt our bodys and that but for a little while and the displeasure of an Eternal and Omnipotent God who can punish us not only with all bodily tortures but with such horror and desolation of Soul as far exceeds them and that not only for Millions of Millions of Ages but time without End Consider therefore my Brother that you have devoted your self entirely to God thro our Lord Jesus Christ to your Life's end And that to do otherwise will be the blackest Perjury Sacrilege and Apostacy So that your Eternal Hope leanes on your upright discharge of this contract made with God your Saviour in this solemn transaction of the Baptismal Covenant And be you well assured That there is Salvation in no other Person but in that of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ And that you may cleave stedfastly to him with all your Soul in Profession and in Practice let me desire you to consider these few things 1. That our Blessed Saviour proposes nothing to us in order to our Salvation but what is Excellent Admirable and Advantagious in it self To love God above all to beleive and trust in him who came to lead us from Sin and Distruction to love our Brethern as our selves to Pity and Pray for our Enemies and to live soberly and honestly in the course of our Lives how sweet and lovely are these things which are set to keep us from brutal Lusts and infernal passions to lift up our Souls to the likeness of God and the dignity of holy Angels 2. Consider that our Blessed Lord and Saviour will be ready to assist you by his holy Spirit in all the work that he requires at your hands He will help you to subdue your corruptions to conquer temptations to bear afflictions and in short to pass undefiled thro' this present World and to attain the blessedness of the other He has assured us that he will as readily give his holy Spirit for those ends to such as dnely seek him as ever Parent gave a bit of Bread to his own Child crying to him for hunger Luke 11. 9 10 11 12 13. See also Ezek. 36. from the 25 verse to the end of the Chapter 3. Consider that the term of our present Life is very uncertain and at the utmost very short Whether we live well or ill we shall soon finish our Course The mirth of wicked People is but short at the best and the Labors and sufferings of good People are but short at the worst We shall soon have done with this probational Life for our days upon Earth are but as a shadow 1 Chron. 29. 15. And there is this vast difference in the present course of things between good and bad people That the wicked Mans pleasures dye in the enjoyment and inward darkness and regret springs up in their room if he has any sense left But the good man's Difficulties are lessen'd every moment and there is an eternal foundation of comfort laid hereby The wicked person has a little Sunshine in the morning as Sodom had and like it is suddenly overwhelm'd by a shower of Fire and Brimstone And the faithful Christian has a little bad Weather perhaps in the morning but he is riding out of it into perfect serenity and Bliss The one says with Jonathan I have tasted a little Honey and I must dye for it The other says with St. Paul I have fought a good Fight I have finished my Course I have kept the Faith henceforth there 's laid up for me a Crown of Righteousnss 2 Tim. 4 7. And this leads me to another considerration which I beseech you to keep up
address your sâ—lf to your Heavenly Sovereign and say O Lord the Creator and Judge of all who art of infinite holiness and perfection and hast determined that without holiness no man shall see thy reconciled Face Be pleased I humbly beseech thee to save me from my Sins thro' our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and by thine holy Spirit to sanctify me in Soul and Body that I may glorify thy name on Earth and do the work which thou hast given me to do Vouchsafe good God to work in me that purity of heart to which thou hast promised an infinitly blessed vision And make me to glorify thine holy name amongst these strangers to the common-wealth of Israel amongst wâ—om I sojourn And be pleased to take from them all hardness of Heart all unbeleif and disobedience to thy holy will that they also may at last be saved amongst thy true and faithful People That we may all with one heart and mouth glorify thee and rejoice in thy Salvation thro' Jesus Christ sour onely mediator and Redeemer Amen And now my Brother having shewn you the never failing way to true Contentment here and to eternal happiness hereafter Let not the bitterness of any temporal sufferings leaven your Soul nor run you into sullenness frowardness or the withdrawing of your heart from God Be you assured that God hath brought many a person whom he hath greatly loved into worse sorrows and streights than you are burthened with all The beloved Disciple St Jobn was banished and confined to Patmos a desolate and uncomfortable Island and we read of some excellent men of whom the World was not worthy who wandered about in Sheep-skins and Goats-skins in desarts and Dens and Caves of the Earth being destitute afflicted tormented and yet they would not accept deliverance upon sinful terms because they fixed their hearts on the hope of Heavenly enjoyments Heb. 11. 37. 38. It ought therefore to be your care to acquit your self as they did in every point of Christian duty with all good conscience that you with them may partake of that Rest which remaineth to the People of God And upon the whole as you would perform any of the foregoing Duties in an acceptable manner or injoy any of these great Blessings relating to this or the other world you must be much in Prayer and earnest devotion to God the giver of all Grace who will be found of such as truly seek his face thro' his beloved Son Jesus Christ our only mediator and Redeemer And if it shall please his infinite goodness to restore you to your former Liberty and Enjoyments be sure to live in perpetual thankfulness for such a singular mercy duely answering the ends of it by a serious and truly Christian Life For if your temporal Liberty when obtained should become an occasion of your sinking under the slavery of sinful Lusts and Passions it were infinitly better that you remained all your days under the most bitter and discoâ—solate Thraldom in this world because no chains on Earth can sit so heavy as those of eternal Darkness werewith the Devil is bound and wherewithall he seeks to load us Labour therefore my Brother to obtain such firmness in the ways of God as no Prosperity nor Adversity may ever shock And then if it please God to set you free lift up your devout Soul to God with great fervency and say UNto thee O most gracious and merciful God who hearest Prayer unto thee shall all Flesh come thee will I praise with all the Faculties and Powers of my thankful Soul for that thou hast heard me in my Distress and hast by thy good Providence delivered me from mine Oppressors When thou wast pleased to rebuke me for my Sin and folly and to bind me with affliction and Iron Yet I was not utterly forsaken of thy mercy but I found thy gracious Supports under my Trouble and at last bless'd be thy Name thou hast broken my Yoke and set me at Liberty O Suffer not this desirable enjoyment to be an occasion to the Flesh keep me I beseech thee by thy grace that I fall not under that worse slavery of sinful Lusts and Passions but make me partaker of that Redemption from Sin and Hell which is purchased for us by the blood of thy beloved Son and is offered to sinners in thy blessed Gospel to the privileges of which as thy good providence has now mercifully restored me so let thine holy Spirit lead me in those ways of perfect Liberty which thou hast therein ordained for us that living to thy praise I may dy in thy peace and be for ever thine thro' Jesus Christ our Blessed Lord and Saviour Amen FINIS ADVERTISEMENT THere are some other little useful Books proper to be had and read by all Marriners and Sea-faring-People such as The Religious-Seaman The Pastoral-Letter from a Minister to his Parishioners The Christians Daily-Devotion The Christian Monitor and the Familiar Guide to the Lord's-Supper All which may be had for about 18 d. and much Cheaper in Quantities
A LETTER OF Advice and Comfort TO THE English Captives Who Suffer SLAVERY IN Foreign Parts By Josiah Woodward D. D. Minister of Popler LONDON Printed for VVilliam Hawes at the Rose in Ludgate-street 1700. To such of the English Captives Who Suffer SLAVERY IN Foreign Parts IN TO Whose hands this Paper shall come Grace and Peace in our Lord Jesus Christ My dearly beloved Brother THe all-wise Providence of God hâ—â—ing cast you into a 〈…〉 from your ow◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you cannot enjoy th◠〈…〉 Ordinancâ—◠〈…〉 manner 〈…〉 Counery Leâ—◠〈…〉 of assistance in the great concerns of your Soul like Sheep without a Shepherd or think your selves altogether forgotten and unpitied by your Country-men I have sent this Letter to you in the Bowels and Affection of a Minister of Christ to assist and comfort you under your present sufferings and to further you in the attainment of everlasting Rest earnestly Praying that the Grace and Blessing of God may accompany these few lines to your effectual Edification and Salvation in order to which I humbly entreat you seriously to peruse the same In the first place Let me beg of you to consider the righetous hand of God in your present confinement and affliction and to lay your hand upon your mouth to suppress all murmuring and discontent at his Providence For no man living has any Reason to complain against God's Government Nor have you the least ground for it in this case whether your past Life has been spent profitably or unprofitably If the former be your happy Case if you have advanced in the Knowledge and practice of all Christian Dutys as you ought to have done It may be God has providentially disposed your habitation for a time among the Heathen that they might see and admire the Holy Doctrines and Heavenly Lives of Christians and be brought over by your Example to own and embrace the Christian Faith as St. Paul was sent in Chains to Rome that the Gospel might flourish there thro' his Bonds And if so you have great Honour done you as Gods Messingers and you have the happy opportunity of obtaining the infinite Reward promised to such as turn many to Righteousness But if on the contrary your past Life has been very barren and unfruitful of all good very negligent of the Ordinances of the Gospel and very guilty of sundry impieties and Immoralities God here graciously gives you a time to repent and reform before you go down to remediless Torments You have then no manner of reason to complain of hard dealing from the hand of God but on the contrary to admire his goodness and Patience and to be lifted up in Love and devotion to him who hath spared your Soul from Death even from eternal Death and destruction which is justly deserved by every Sin and is dismaily challenged and provoked by a continued course of sin So that in this Case which is I fear the most usual the good providence of God seems to intend a double Kindness to you by way of correction First to make you sensible of your great Sin and folly in slighting and neglecting the Light Grace and Mercy of the Holy Gospel That you might now by sad experience be taught how miserable it is to be destitute of Christian Sermons Sabaths and Sacraments To want the food of spiritual Life the Light of revealed Doctrins and the conversation of holy and exemplary Christians That you might now long after the publick Service of God and above all things relish Communion with him thro' his Son Jesus Christ And Secondly an other reason of Gods good providence in this your affliction may be to withdraw you from your former evil Courses and to stop that fierce carrier in Sin which might perhaps in the former posture of things have been morally remediless Had you had your full Liberty your old companions your former plentiful and unafflicted State you would perhaps have gone on still in those Sins to which these circumstances induced you before And so you would have daily increased in guilt and hardness of Heart But now the scene is quite altered and all things appear new to invite you to serve God in newness of Life We may well suppose that these were the kind intentions of the gracious Providence of God in this present dispensation because we are assured from his own word That he corrects us for our Profit Heb. 12. v. 5. And that he dealeth with us herein as a Father with his Children And when you have thorowly learnt these Lessons which were the cause of your being brought into the School of Affliction you may then comfortably hope that God will find out means that his Banished be not finally expelled and that he will bring you to sâ—e your own Land again when you know well how to value and improve the mercies of it As a Gentleman used to keep little Birds in Cages till they could sing tunably and artificially and then turn'd them loose into his Grove when they had perfectly gotten their proper Lessons I Therefore entreat you my Brother to look back seriously upon your past Life and bring every part of it as near as possible to the Tryal of Gods Holy Commandments Inquire impartially by what Rules you have lived from what Principles you have acted and by what Motives you have been led whether you have lived after the Will of God or after your own Hart's desire and whether your Soul has been chiefly sway'd by thelove of God or of this present World And where you perceive any marks of your past Guilt rash ness and unthankfulness say with the Prophet Amos. 7. 9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him And then also retiring to the most convenient Place that your present condition affords pour out your Soul to God in earnest prayer and say A Prayer O Most wise and good God I humbly acknowledge that all thy ways towards me a most sinful Creature have been infinitly righteous and good Thou in thy faithfulness hast afflicted me here that I might not perish for ever Enable me I pray thee by thy grace to answer the merciful Ends of this Afflicted which thou hast brought upon me Lead me O God of all grace unto unfeigned Repentance for all the Iniquitys and unprofit ableness of my past Life Forgive methat I have loved darkness more than Light and neglected the ministration of thy holy word and Sacraments and have been more concerned for the things of this Life than that which is to come I desire with the deepest sorrow to lament my rejecting of thy Son my grieving of thy Spirit and neglecting that great Salvation which has long been offered me in thy Gospel O Lord vouchsafe to give me Repentance and Pardon of all my grievous offences thro' our exalted Prince and Saviour And make me ever hereafter to live righteously soberly and godly as it becometh thy holy Gospel to the blessed Ordinances and