People are obliged to a strict observation of the Lord's-day The Gentry in comparison rest all the Week long their Cheeks are not moistened with Sweat their Hands are not hardened with hard Labour they are not tired and wearied out with pains-taking They who take their Pleasure and recreate themselves every Day in the Week have nothing to plead for Recreations on the Lord's-day Though for my own part I should be far from indulging a Liberty to any to take such Recreations as hinder the Devotions due to any part of the Lord's-day and are Impediments to the Sanctification of it aright Let all industriously redeem the Lord's-day And take we heed we redeem it not by halves but let 's religiously observe and covetously redeem the whole Lord's-day We are bound in justice to God to do it because God has set a Day not a Piece of a Day apart for himself and requires this Portion and Tribute of Time to be paied to him who has graciously given us all our Time We should be as much yea more afraid to steal God's Time than Mens Goods Do not only observe the former Part of the Day repairing to the Church or Chappel in the Morning but commonly and customarily absenting your selves and growing quite weary of any such Duty in the After-noon for God has allotted and appointed a seventh Part of our Time for his own Worship and Service but if you keep only one half of the Lord's-day you give God but a fourteenth Part of your Time Nay of one Day in seven I fear too many spare him no more than that Time only which their Morning-Attendance takes up in publick on the Lord's-day And here I appeal to their own Reason whether it be a meet and fit Thing that rational Persons created by God and redeemed by his Son should afford to the Worship and Service of God and Christ and the great concerns of their immortal Souls but two Hours at most of the whole Lord's-day and it may be no more of the whole Week and shall spend those Hours in a formal customary cold and heartless Worship of an infinitely holy and just Deity the tremendous impartial Judg of Angels and Men. Grudg not to give God one whole Day in seven who largely and liberally grants and allows six whole Daies in seven to you and who designs a greater Benefit and Advantage to you by your Observation of this one Day than possibly can accrue to you by the carefullest and painfullest worldly Improvement of all the rest O believe and consider that the taking out of this one Day and setting it apart for such an excellent Service and high Employment as you are called to in it is certainly the greatest Gift of all How can you be loth to spend one Day in seven in Familiarity with Heaven in communion with your Maker and Fellowship with your Saviour Let us all call the Christian Sabbath the Lord's-day a Delight take as much Contentment and Satisfaction in doing on this Day the Exercises of Religion as Men usually take in doing the Works of their ordinary Calling take as much Pleasure in God's Service as others take in Sin and Vanity Let us spend the Lord's-day as becomes those who profess that they love God better and delight in him more than in any Thing in the World Spend it as they that are glad of so honourable and profitable and pleasurable an Employment as the publick and private Worshiping of God Let us go to the House of God with Joy Let the Church on the Lord's-day be a Banquetting-house and not a Prison to us Do but bring your selves to spend the Lord's-day with Delight and then you will keep it to the End of it The Jews were bound to keep a whole Day holy in a grateful Memory of the lesser Benefits of the Creation and their Deliverance out of Aegypt And shall not we solemnly observe the whole Lord's-day in a thankful Remembrance of greater Blessings not only of the Goodness of God in our Creation but of his Grace and Mercy in our Redemption and Deliverance from Hell and Death eternal We have greater Engagements to do it than they not only greater Motives but greater [a] See Mr. Cawdrey's Sabbathum redivivum p. 563 564. Means too We have greater Variety of publick Exercises on the Lord's-day than they had on their Sabbath We have more Scripture to reade in private than they had We have the Old and New Testament many Expositors upon them many good Practical Theological Tractates written We have more Knowledg afforded us than they had more Grace offer'd us to do the Duties incumbent on us Now we that have more Means and Helps how can we offer to put God off with less Duty and smaller Service and shorter Performance Nay the very Heathens guided by the Light of Nature held it reasonable that the Daies consecrated to their Gods should be devoutly and totally observed with Rest and Sanctity [b] Saturn l. 1. c. 7. Macrobius tells us that on their holy Daies the People came together to spend the whole Day in learning Fables to be conferred upon and will you that call your selves Christians refuse to come together on the lord's-Lord's-day to spend one Hour in the Morning another in the After-noon in learning the Mysteries of the Gospel and in receiving saving Instructions out of the Word of God You that give your Bodies two Meals every Day will you feed your Souls but once on the Lord's-day Give me leave to deal with you in the winning Words of that sweet Singer of our Israel Speaking of the Lord's-day saies he [a] Church-porch p. 14. Twice on the Day his due in understood For all the Week thy Food so oft he gave thee Thy cheer is mended bate not of the Food Because 't is better and perhaps may save thee Thwart not th' Almighty God O be not cross Fast when thou wilt but then 't is gain not loss Consider that your own and your Families spiritual Necessities do require and call for a most strict Observation of the whole Lord's-day and a faithful Improvement of all the Helps and Advantages of it The Works of your Callings and your worldly Occasions and Employments do in a manner take up six Daies of the Week and you have but one whole Day in seven to provide for the Needs of your immortal Souls Now the Necessities of your Souls are far greater than those of your Bodies your spiritual eternal Estate is of nearer and higher Concern than your outward and temporal Estate And will you not labour then to improve every Hour and endeavour to redeem every Minute of this one Day Do but seriously think with your selves how much work you have to do in this one Day and then tell me whether in reason and Prudence you can spare any Part of it yea or no. What have you to do for God for your selves What for your Families for your Children and Servants How
many and great Mercies of God towards you and yours and all Mankind are you bound to recount and to be affected with on this Day Ought you not still on this Day to remember and consider and solemnly and heartily to bless God and Christ for the capital Mercies of Creation and Redemption and for the gracious seasonable Sending of the Holy Ghost and to spend some Time in speaking highly and honourably of these Benefits to the Praise of your Maker and Glory of your Redeemer Are not you ignorant of many Things in which you ought to be informed and have not you need then to spend some Part of the Lord's-day in reading the Bible and some select Books of sound Divinity in hearing the Word preach'd and in Conference with godly understanding and well-experienced Christians Are you not too great Strangers to God and your selves and have not you need then to improve some Portion of this Seasonn in Meditation and Self-examination that you may get more Acquaintance with God and your own Hearts Have not you the Sins of the whole Week past to confess to God in secret and to beg the Pardon of every Lord's-day when you have leisure from your bodily Labour is it not fit you should take some pains in conquering the Corruptions and mortisying the Lusts of your own Hearts and in wrestling with God in Praier for his Strength and Grace Can you idle away your Time and take your Pleasure on the Lord's-day when you have Families to inform and Children and Servants to catechize and instruct Let your Consciences tell me whether it be better on the Lord's-day to spend your Time in unnecessary Divertisements in fruitless Visitations in vain and frothy Discourses to talk freely together of worldly Businesses to judg the Preacher to censure your Christian Neighbour Or to commune with your selves and to labour to edify your own Families To teach your Children the Doctrine of Adam's Fall and of the Redemption wrought by Christ To acquaint them what Sin and Corruption they brought with them into the World and how they have encreased it since they came into the World That the Wages of Sin is Death To tell them what Christ has done and suffered to free and deliver them from Sin and Death and what they must do to be capable of partaking of Christ's saving Benefits To ground your Servants in the Principles of Religion To take account what they remember of the Sermons they heard that Day and to examine how they have profited by the publick Ordinances You see what a great deal of Work you have to do and what a little Time you have to do it in You have but one whole Day in seven It concerns you then to be very saving of this whole Day [c] Quicunque hisee sacris ita seriò se excicent ut ipsorum familiae necessitas plani postulat locum nullum relictum esse quaestioni ists carn â—liter de larantium invenient An licitum sit die Dominâ—co aut oftari aut ludere aut epu is aut inanabus aut mundanis non planè necessariis tempus sacrum conterere Et qui serpsum alaos werè novit ut diei negotia commoda oblata verbo divino de rebus sparitio libus aeternis verè credit ipsius altorum ex vera necessitate ut â—â—â—tate interesse percepiet diem totum quantùm fieri potest in sacris colocare neque frustra sine fruge horae moment um essluere sinet Neque niâ—â—ges quaestionem movebit An liceat ludis vel aliis manibus ad perdere quà m An laceat sanguinent sâ—um inaniter fundere aurum oblasum respâ—ere in canum projicere Carnalis quippe pe animus sui rerum spiritualium ignarus disputationum talium author est plerumque promus-condus Baxter Method Theol. part 3 c. 14. P. 172. To be as far from disputing whether it be not lawful to use Recreations and Sports on some Part of it or to employ some Hours of it in any unnecessary worldly Businesses as from putting the Question Whether it be not lawful vainly to spill your own Blood or to make a refusal of Gold that is offer'd you and to cast it contemtuously into the Dirt. 'T will but little avail you to make the utmost worldly Advantage of all the other six Daies if you make not a sufficient spiritual Improvement of this which is more considerable than all the rest What would it profit you if as God made the World in six Daies so you could gain the whole World by working hard the six Daies if by gross neglect of the Lord's-day you at last lost your own Souls The Church of England in her pious and useful Homily of the Time and Place of Praier declares that in the fourth Commandment God has given express Charge that his obedient People should use our [d] And truly it is strange that some who have a dearness yea fondness for some VVords of Jewish Extraction Altar Temple and the like should have such an Antipa by against the Sabbath Fuller's Church-Hiâ—â— B. 11. p. 144. sabbath-Sabbath-day which is now our Sunday holily and rest from their common and daily Businesses and also give themselves wholly to heavenly Exercises of God's true Religion and Service And in his Majestie 's Royal Proclamation for the Observation of the Lord's-day all his Majestie 's Subjects are bid to take notice that by the Law the resorting to divine Service enjoined on that Day does comprehend the entire Day and entire Service both Morning and Evening Yea every Lord's-day Morning you your selves make this open Confession and publick Praier in the Congregation after the Reading of the fourth Commandment Lord have Mercy upon us and encline our Hearts to keep this Law As much as to say Lord we acknowledg we have neglected this thy Day We pray thee pardon all our unchristian Sabbath-breaking for the Time past and give us Grace to observe the Christian Sabbath better for the future Now will you confess in the Fore-noon and transgress in the After-noon Will you beg pardon in the Morning and sin again the very same Sin before Night Will you open your Mouths to ask God's Grace to sanctify and keep holy the Sabbath-day and it may be profane it in a graceless manner as soon as you are out of the Congregation If the Lord's-day ought to be observed at all it is to be kept both Parts of the Day And for those that commonly stay away in the After-noon I would ask them what their Employment is at home in the mean Time Do not some of them spend the After-noon in sleeping or walking or talking or drinking or gaming while others are jointly confessing and praying and praising and hearing If God requires a Day is this to sanctify a Day to the Lord to worship God in the Morning and to dishonour God and serve the Devil and divers Lusts in the Afternoon
from whom we may reap and receive most spiritual Good or from whom we may reap and receive most spiritual Benefit Study and strive to chuse such an one for thy Friend to whom thou maiest give such reverential Respect in thy Carriage and Behaviour as may restrain thee from many uncomely sinful Actions which you might take more Liberty to commit in other Company Take him for thy special Friend and peculiar Companion who will be a constant Physician careful Tutor and spiritual Benefactor to thy Soul who will be a familiar tutelar guardian Angel to thee who will be as [k] Dr. Alle. bâ—â— Serm. p. 57. The second Soul and Conscience Dr. Ham. of srat Admoa and Correp p. 8. one well expresses it an [k] Dr. Alle. bâ—â— Serm. p. 57. The second Soul and Conscience Dr. Ham. of srat Admoa and Correp p. 8. assistant Conscience to thee who will not fail to perform that Office which the benumm'd or sleepy Conscience within thee shall at any time neglect Who will be as faithful a Monitor to thee as thy own Conscience should be Who daily does so improve in Vertue and Profit in Piety that whenever he comes into thy Company he will give thee the great Pleasure not only of seeing whom you would but of seeing such an one as you would Who will be careful to [l] Herb. Church-porch p. 6. salute himself before he visits thee and will surely bring himself a great Gift to thee as [m] Conspectus praesentia conversatio al quid habet vivae voluptatis utique si non tantum quem velis sed qualem velis videas Affer itaque te mihi ingens munus Prepera ad me sed ad te prâ—us Sen. ep 35. Seneca counsels his Friend Lucilius to order compose and carry himself toward him Chuse such Persons for thy intimate Friends who will be Friends and Helps in the best things to thee Friends in the concernments of the Life to come that will prize and value and on all occasions readily shew some real Kindness to thy Soul that will observe thy Motions and help to guide and direct thy Actions that will have a constant watchful Eye upon thy Life and Manners and not willingly suffer thee to misearry to Eternity for want of careful looking after Acquaint and accompany with those in the enjoyment of whom you may enjoy somewhat of God himself and whose sweet and gracious Converse will be a little Image of Heaven to you Take those for your Consorts and Associates here with whom you may desire and hope to keep joyful Company for ever hereafter If we make any Reckoning of our Time let us first make a good Choice of our Friends 2. And then a good Improvement of our Company and Society with them Be prudent and pious in the Vse as well as in the Choice of your Friends Let not your Friendship be a meer nominal formal empty juiceless thing Let your ordinary Visits to your Friends be out of Conscience as well as out of Courtesy out of a real Design to do some Office of Love especially to their Souls and to bring some spiritual Advantage to them [m] See p. 216. to the end of 219. Time is commonly lost by meer complemental Visits wherein no civil Business is dispatch'd no Service done to the Bodies Estates or Souls of others Let Christian Friends take heed especially that they come not together of purpose to waste their Time in unseasonable immeasurable Play and Sport that they be not found notoriously guilty of spending commonly and customarily as many Hours in Play together as if Gaming were not their Recreation and Diversion but their Trade and Profession their Calling and Occupation Can this be reckon'd a well redeeming the Time in evil Daies Would not some of that Time be spent more fruitfully and comfortably in the Communication of your Experiences and the Observations you have made relating either to God's Word or Works or in reading together some select and seasonable Scripture or else some part of practical Divinity or good Morality or useful History and in discoursing and conferring thereupon as you have Ability and find Occasion Let not Cards and Dice swallow up and devour the most of the Hours you spend together Nor ever suffer any Friends and Companions to rob you of your Time by [m] Nulla est excusatio peccati si amici causâ peccavâ—â—â— Strectum statuerimus vel concedere amicis quicquid veltur vel impetrare ab amicis quicquid velimus perseâ—â—â quideus â—pientià sumus si nibil habeat res vitu Haec prima lex in amicitia sanciatur ut neque rogemus res turper nec factamus rogati c. ut ab amicis honesta petamus amitorum can a honesta faciamus Lael apud Cic. de Amic yielding to them and complying with them when they unreasonably exact of you to hold out with them in their Sports If you perceive that any particular Game or Play does steal away your Heart and Time 't is high time then rather to lay it quite aside than to suffer such Detriment by Continuation of the Use of it When Bp. Vsher in his tender Years was taught by some of his Friends to play at Cards and found himself so delighted therewith that it not only took place of the Love of his Book but began to be a Rival with the spiritual Part in him upon apprehension thereof as [n] In the Life of Bp. Usher p. 24. Dr. Bernard informs us he gave it over and never played after When Christian Acquaintance meet together let them be as useful and profitable as helpful and beneficial as holy and heavenly in their Discourses as may be You may do more good by an honest Hint and a serious savoury Speech in Company than it may be a Minister may do by many Sermons Labour to spiritualize and ennoble your Friendship by making it a State of Love and Purity an Opportunity and Advantage of amending and reforming of benefiting and bettering one another [o] Dr. Ham. of frat Admon or Corrept p. 29. Let such as live either with or by one another by solemn Compact and Agreement strictly and strongly oblige one another to take some special spiritual Care of one another's Souls This would be real spiritual good Neighbourhood an high Advancement a rich and gainful Improvement of Friendship You that are Intimates and Familiars look upon your selves as one another's * Gen 4.9 Keepers Take a spiritual Charge one of another †Phil. 2.20 Naturally care for one another's spiritual State ‖ Heb. 13.17 Watch over one another's Souls as they that must give account an Account of one another as well as of your selves that you may do it with Joy and not with Grief Be (*) 2 Cor. 11.2 jealous over one another with a Godly Jealousy and shew your selves such fast Friends to one another's Souls as to do your best to prevent
temporal Advantage our Honour and Esteem in the World rather than lose the blessed Occasion of trading for Heaven and improving our Time for spiritual Advantage [k] Plutarch in vita Sertorii Sertorius the Roman General in his Passage into Spain yielded to pay the Tribute demanded by certain barbarous People that inhabited the Pyrenaean Mountains over which he was to pass at which his Souldiers were offended and said that it was too much Shame and Dishonour for a Proconsul of Rome to pay Tribute to vile barbarous People but the wise Commander gave his Souldiers this sober Answer that he bought a Commodity which such as aspire to high Enterprizes must take up readily at any Rate And should not we be much more willing to give any Rate for the spiritual Redeeming of Time surely we should not stick at any thing we should not think Time dear or an hard Bargain whatever it costs us Somewhat to be sure it will cost us and Calvin here puts the Question quodnam erit pretium redemptionis what Price must we give for the redeeming of Time The Price is plainly this [l] Calvin in loc saies he to shun the infinite Snares that would entangle us to free our selves from the Cares and Pleasures of the World and to renounce and part with whatever would hinder us from using our time aright To redeem the Time saies [m] Zanchius in loc Zanchy is only not to suffer Time to slip away unfruitfully that we may enjoy our Pleasure and Leisure but rather than lose our Time to suffer the Loss of any thing He is said to redeem the Time saies the Reverend [n] Dav. in Coloss 4.5 Vos adhortor ut redimatis tempus id est ut quovis pretio tempus hoc salutare faciatis vobis liberum ad serviendum Deo Potiâ—s patimini bonorum temporalium dispendia quà m ut ea cum aliquo salutis aut Euangelis dispendio velitis retinere Estius in text Tempus redimere est occasionem opportunitatem quae se nobis offert diligenter captare cum damno etiam altquo jactura commodorum nostrorum illam arripere Crellius Ethic. Christian p. 32. Davenant who yields to the worst conditions that can be so they be but lawful that he may be able to cleave to God to hold the Faith and to keep a clear and a good Conscience Whatever he paies for it he counts this a very good Bargain * Dan. 6.10 Daniel would redeem Time for Praier though he ventur'd his very Life for it †2 Sam 6.20 David had rather be mockt and despis'd by Michal and lose hi Honour than part with a special Opportunity of dancing before the Ark. A sincere Christian had rather be scorn'd and nick-nam'd reproached and reviled than neglect any special good Season of honouring his God and advantaging his own or others Souls The Apostles would * Acts 5.41 suffer Shame endure Reproaches and Imprisonments rather than omit any Occasion of teaching and preaching Jesus Christ Rather than the Primitive Christians would lose any Advantage of serving God and consulting their Souls good they would †Heb. 10.34 suffer joyfully the spoiling of their Goods yea rather than lose that they would lose their very Life and Bloud ‖ Acts 21.13 I am ready not to be bound only but also to die at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus This was the Price St. Paul was ready to give to redeem the Time for Christ's Service [o] Musculus communibus suffragus Prior electus rejecit eum honorem intelligens nimirum hoc agere Satanam ut à pio proposito ipsum retraheret hoc quasi vinculo injecto huic vitae generi magis obstringeret aniâ—â— nque propagandae veritatis studio ardentem his quasi honorum deliciarum lenocintis emoliâ—et Melch. Adam in vit Musc p. 372. Moses the adopted Son of Pharaoh's Daughter a Person brought up at Court who had the Education of a Prince and large Expectations of rare and extraordinary temporal Advantages when he ‖‖ Heb. 11.24 25 26. came to Age and well understood the inviting alluring Circumstances of a temporal Felicity and was most capable of tasting the Pleasures of a prosperous State and Courtly Life this Moses at this Time was willing to part with the Pleasures and Treasures of Egypt and refused the Honour of being called the Son of Pharaoh's Daughter to gain an Opportunity of bearing the honourable Reproach of Christ and of suffering out of Choice and Election most comfortable Affliction with the People of God And so the famous Galeacius Caracciolus a Courtier to the Emperour Charles the fifth Nephew to Pope Paul the fourth and the only Son and lawful Heir of the Marquess of Vico being powerfully wrought upon by Peter Martyr's Sermon like another Moses [p] See Calvin's dedicatory Epistle to Galeacius before his Commentary upon the first to the Corinthians he freely forsook his Marquesdom the Riches Honors and Pleasures of Italy and of the Emperour's Court to enjoy God and the Purity of the Gospel and the Peace of his Conscience and the Fellowship and Society of the People of God in a mean and private Condition in a poor Geneva notwithstanding variety of mighty entisements from his Father his Wife his Children and Acquaintance to renounce the Profession of the Reformed Religion and to return to Popery To redeem or buy the Time it is to part with somewhat to gain the Time And then 2. To improve and make the best of it for our good To buy the Time is [q] 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sic Scholia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 autem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quando in ipso bene operamur ut placeamus Deo Zâ—nch in loc to make it our own now we make the Time our own when we make a special Advantage of it when we employ and lay it out in doing whatever we do to the * 1 Cor. 10.31 Glory of God when we spend it to the good †Gal. 6.10 of others when we use our Time to ‖ Phil. 2.12 work out our own Salvation with Fear and trembling to make our (*) 2 Pet. 1.10 Calling and Election sure to get and grow in Grace to provide for our precious immortal Souls and to fettle and secure our everlasting State and eternal Welfare That is the second Sense of the Words 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is not only to buy up the Time but also to buy it out and this is the most proper rendring of the Word As when you see others watch and wait for a Commodity which is for their turn and you presently clap hold upon it and lay down the Price of it before any one else can get it into their hand So to redeem the Time it is to gain it out of Hucksters hands as I may say Pleasure and Play on the one side or overmuch Labour and excessive
lib. p. 1690. When Dr. Cranmer was made Arch-Bishop of Canterbury he evermore gave himself to continual Study not breaking the order that in the University he commonly used that is by five of the clock in the Morning he was at his Book and spent his Time in Study and Prayer till nine of the clock By reason of other private Studies and by means of useful proper Employments he was never idle no Hour of the Day was spent in vain by him but was so bestowed as tended to the Glory of God the Service of his Prince or the Commodity of the Church The excellent Bp. Juel read much and wrote much besides his publick Employments Scarce any Year in all the Time of his Bishoprick passed wherein he published not some famous Work or other At nine a clock at Night he used to call all his Servants to an Account how they had spent that Day and after Prayer to admonish them accordingly Then he returned to his Study where often he sate till after Midnight * Dr. Humphr in the Life of Bp. Jewel When he was very weak a Gentleman meeting him as he was riding to preach at Lacock in Wiltshire earnestly desired him to return home for his health's sake telling him that it was better the People should want one Sermon than be altogether deprived of such a Preacher To whom he replied [u] Oportet Episcopum concionantem mori That it best became a Bishop to dy Preaching alluding to that of Vespasian [a] Oportet Imperatorem stantem mori It becomes an Emperour to dy standing and thinking upon his Master's Saying * Mat 24.46 Blessed is that Servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing And presently after that very [b] On Gal. 5 16. Walk in the Spirit Sermon by reason of his Sickness encreasing upon him he was forced to take his Bed from which he never came off till his Soul quitted his frail Body and was translated to everlasting Glory He said in his last Sickness That seeing God had not granted his Desire to glorify him by sacrificing his Life for the Defence of his Truth yet he rejoiced that his Body was exhausted and worn away in the Labours of his holy Calling It was the Motto of the pious and painful Mr. Perkins that which he used to write in the Frontispiece of all his Books Minister verbi es hoc age Thou art a Minister of God's Word mind thy Work and attend thy Business It was also the Motto of [c] His Life among Mr. Clark's Lives of 10 Eminent Divines Mr. Samuel Crook Impendam expendar I will spend and be spent It was moreover the Motto of [d] Bp. Usher's Life written by Dr. Bernard p. 52. Bp. Vsher's Episcopal Seal when he was Bishop of Meath which he continued in the Seal of his Primacy also Vae mihi si non euangelizavero Wo is unto me if I preach not the Gospel All which they severally answer'd and made good in an eminent and very exemplary Manner The learned and religious Dr. John Rainolds was so very careful to redeem the Time that when the Heads of the Houses in Oxford came to visit him in his last Sickness which he had contracted merely by excessive Pains in his Study whereby he brought his Body to be a very Sceleton and earnestly perswaded him that he would not [v] Perdere substa etiam propter accidentia lose the Substance for the Accidents not lose his Life for Learning He smiling answered with those excellent Words of the Prince of Satyrists [w] Nec propter vitam vivendi perdere causas Juv. sat 8. That to save his Life he would not lose the Ends of living I may well apply to [e] Reade the Lives of Mr. Joseph Allein and Mr. John Janeway these Worthies those words of A Kempis [x] Dati sunt in exemplum omnibus Religiosis plus provocare nos debent ad bene prosiâ—tendum quà m tepidorum numerus ad relaxandum T. a Kempis l. 1. c. 18 n. 4. These are given for an Example to all pious Persons and should be more powerful to provoke us to profit well than a number of lazy lukewarm Persons to draw us to Slackness and Remisness Let us follow these fair and bright Exemplars in the main of their tendency to teach us to live serviceably to God and usefully and profitably to our selves and others We have hitherto been ingentium Exemplorum parvi Imitatores to use Salvian's Expression small Imitators of great Examples O how short do we come of many of the eminent Saints and faithful Servants of God who redeemed their Time and served their Generation by the Will of God in former Ages Yea may not our own personal Knowledg and particular Observation of the Labour and Diligence Improvement and Growth of other Christians put our selves to the blush Many that have liv'd in the same Times and Places in the same Parishes and Families with our selves Many that have sate under the same Ordinances enjoyed no better Means received no greater Helps than our selves have yet surpassed and excell'd us in the gracious Frame of their Hearts out-strip'd and out-shined us in the Holiness and Exemplariness of their Lives To what a pitch are others gotten to what an height have they arriv'd and attain'd What right apprehensions have they gotten of the Nature of God and Undertaking of Christ for the promoting of Holiness What a good Understanding of the Word of God What Insight into the various Providences of God What warm and good Affections suited to true Notions of Things How have they proceeded in Knowledg grown in Grace profited in Experience increased in Strength abounded in Comfort What Power have they gotten over their Corruptions what Strength against Temptations What Government of their Senses What Command of their Passions What Freedom and Enlargement and Delight in Duties How useful are they in their Places How serviceable to God and their Generations What Evidence have they gotten of the Goodness of their State of the Truth and Sincerity of their Love to God and of the special Love and Favour of God to them What good grounds for their Hopes of Heaven and Happiness How sit are they to live How ready and prepared to dy How meet to be Partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light Alas how far do we fall short of them and come behind them What Fools have we been when others have been wise for their own Souls When others shine as Lights and as bright Stars in the World are not we as dark as a Coal or as dim as a Glow-worm Are not we who are planted in the same Soil dressed and cultivated with the same Hand watered with the same River of God wetted with the same heavenly Dew and refreshed with the same Droppings of the Sanctuary yet notwithstanding as barren and as unfruitful as may be when others of our Neighbours
and solemn-Prayer this is the right instant for Ejaculations whether orally utter'd or only poured forth inwardly in the Heart Fuller's Medit on all kind of Prayers p. 77. This is an excellent way to redeem the Time in the want of a proper Place for larger Prayer Wherever thou art though never so far from a Church or Oratory yet as to the Use of this kind of Prayer thou maiest be the Temple of God thy self and pray within thy self Yea once more This is an admirable way to redeem the Time in the greatest straits of Time in the midst of much Company in the Multiplicity Croud and Hurry of worldly Businesses and Employments For this is the Advantage and rare Priviledg of Ejaculation that the Work of God is performed in it and [a] Media inter praelia semper Stetlarum coe ique plagis superisque vacavi Caesar apud Lucan l. 10. v. 185. no secular Affair or worldly Occasion hindred or retarded impeded or interrupted by it It is a gaining of Time for the Exercise of Religion without any Prejudice Let or Hindrance to your Calling It is a taking Time for a spiritual Duty without taking it away from your civil Employment [b] The Field wherein Bees feed is no whit the barer for their biting when they have took their full repast on Flower or Grass the Or may feed the Sheep fat on their Reversions The reason is because those little Chymists distil only the refined part of the Flower leaving the grosser Substance thereof So Ejaculations bind not men to any bodily Observance only busy the spiritual half which maketh them consistent with the prosecution of any other Employment Fuller loc cit p 78. VVe should make some improvement of that Time in which we do the works of our particular Callings to some spiritual Advantage if our Employments be such as exercise the Hand and not the Head by some useful Meditations as some will plant their Hedg-â—owes with fruit-trees reckoning that what they get thereby is clear Gain because they take up no room which might be put to any other Use so what we get by such Meditations is clearly gained because it doth not hinder any other Employment Lukins Pract. of Godl p. 53 54. Art thou as much against this that worldly thoughts should mingle themselves with thy solemn Prayers as that holy thoughts should be mingled with thy worldly Business This shews the rottenness of thy Heart that thou wilt admit the VVorld to come and speak with thee in the midst of thy solemn Duties or converse with God but wilt not afford God a word or a look while thou art conversing with the VVorld White 's Power of Godl p 214. You may at the same instant follow your particular proper Vocation and send up an holy Ejaculation The Husbandman may dart forth an Ejaculation and not make a Balk the more The Tradesman may mind his Shop never the less for minding God in such a way as this Thy Ejaculatory Prayers will sanctify instead of hindring thy Employments will influence thy Conscience and keep thee from sinning in thy Calling and will draw down a Blessing upon every Business and Undertaking In a Word To give our selves to holy and heavenly Ejaculation this is the way * 1 Thess 5.17 to pray without ceasing And surely the Frequency and Number of Ejaculatory Prayers will bring us in very great and large spiritual Gains and notable rich Returns 'T is a noted and approved Saying That much Meditation short Prayers and often make an excellent Christian The eminently learned and holy Andrew Rivet did much accustome and inure himself to these short Prayers He used in his old Age as he himself declares [c] Ego sanè mi srater à multis annis hanc orationem singults diebus saepe hor is repoto qui sentio mihi haec eadem convenire Andr. Rivet ep ad Guil. Fratr De Senect bon p. 1260. in an Epistle to his Brother for many Years every Day and often every Hour to repeat * Psal 71.17 18. those Words of the divine Psalmist which were suitable to the Circumstances of his own Condition O God thou hast taught me from my Youth and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous Works Now also when I am old and gray-headed O God forsake me not until I have shewed thy Strength unto this Generation and thy Power to every one that is to come The seventh Direction If we would redeem the Time we must set our selves to the daily frequent diligent Reading and serious studying of the sacred Scriptures for 1. This is a gaining and making Advantage of all that Time past which the Scripture gives you the History and Account of Seneca advises his Friend Lucilius by the Peregrination of his Mind to go to the ancient Worthies and renowned great Men and by Cogitation to behold them in order to an Imitation of them This he proposes to him as a prudent way to get Vice extirpated and Vertue farther planted in him He would have him by Contemplation go live and converse with the Cato's with Laelius Tubero Socrates Zeno Chrysippus Posidonius These will instruct you saies [a] Hi tibi tralent divinorum humanor â—â—mque netitiâ—â—m Hi juâ—tbunt in opere esse Sen. ep 104. he in the knowledg of things divine and humane and will command and enjoin you to be busied and employed in some good Action Let me advise and counsel you that are Christians to travel srequently through the holy Scriptures to keep a constant Course of attentive reading those sacred Writings and they will give you the happy Advantage of spiritual and fruitful Converse with the Patriarchs and Prophets with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob with Moses and Elias with Noah Job and Daniel with David and Solomon with St. Peter and Paul and James and John with Christ and his Apostles and the Primitive Christians There you may get Acquaintance with and make use of those rare Persons that have been most exemplary and serviceable in their Generations and most deservedly famous in the several Ages of the Church of God and Christ and may take the Benefit of their holy Discourses their excellent Lives and vertuous Actions And what the same Philosopher wisely Discourses in his excellent Book of the Brevity of Life encouraging Persons to a daily familiar Acquaintance with Zeno Pythagoras Democritus Aristotle Theophrastus What he saies there to invite and engage Men to reade the Writings of such as excess in useful Philosophical Learning and good Arts is more truly applicable by way of Motive to prevail with Men to give themselves to the reading of the Pen-men of the sacred Scriptures and of the Sayings of those wise and holy Persons that are introduced discoursing therein [b] Nemo horum nen vocabit nemo non venientem ad se beatiorem ama 〈◊〉 émque sui dimittit Hi tibi dabunt ad aeternitatem iter te in iâ—um iocum ex
this present World Thy thinking of Judgment will make thee careful of thy Thoughts because God will judg the Secrets * Rom. 2.16 of Men and †1 Cor. 4.5 manifest the Counsels of the Hearts And render thee watchful over thy Words because of all thy ‖ Jude 15. hard Speeches and of every ‖ Jude 15. idle Word thou must give an account and ‖ Jude 15. by thy Words thou shalt be justified or condemned And will cause thee to be circumspect in all thy Waies and narrowly observant of all thy Actions because Christ vvill come to (†) Ibid. convince Men of all their ungodly Deeds and thou must be judged according to thy Works Didst thou faithfully mind thy self of a future Judgment thou wouldst not be so frothy and foolish in thy Speeches so vain and profane in thy Merriments so deceitful in thy Trade so formal in thy Duties thou wouldst not sottishly sleep or impertinently muse or irreverently talk out Sermons nor mumble and huddle over thy Praiers like so many Ave-Marie's Thou wouldst certainly think and speak and act buy and sell hear and pray carry thy self in thy Dealings with Men and in thy Devotions to God as one that must give an account of thy self to God O think and say at the End and Close of every Day Now I have one Day less to live and one Day more to reckon for It is [g] Apophthegms collected by George Herbert in his Remains reported of Ignatius Loyola that he used to say when he heard a Clock strike There 's one Hour more that I have to answer to God for Such a good Meditation concerning the past Hour would surely quicken thee to spend the following and succeeding Hour much better To conclude this particular Consider thou art to be judged by Christ and surely then thou wilt not be ashamed of him now lest he be ashamed of thee another Day Thou wilt wisely labour for an Interest in him who is to be thy Judg that when the Devil shall accuse thee thou maiest have an Advocate to plead for thee and the Judg himself to befriend thee and to deal according to the Mildness of the Gospel with thee Thou wilt hear and receive his Commands now that thou maiest hereafter hear the Sentence of Absolution from him Thou wilt endeavour so to live that thou maiest look upon the Day of Judgment as the Time of thy Refreshment and maiest * 2 Tim. 4.8 love the appearing of thy Lord and Judg. The eminently holy [h] In his Life written by his Brother Mr. James Janeway p. 95 96. Mr. John Janeway sometime Fellow of King's Colledg in Cambridg had very [i] At about 20 for he died between 23 and 24 and this was his Condition for about 3 Years before he died p. 97 120. early arriv'd and attain'd to such an high pitch and great measure of spiritual Readiness and heavenly Preparedness that when once there was much Talk that one had fore-told that Doom's-Day should be upon such a Day although he blamed the presumptuous Folly of the false Prophet yet supposing it were true What then said he What if the Day of Judgment were come as it will most certainly come shortly If I were sure the Day of Judgment were to begin within an Hour I should be glad with all my heart If at this very instant I should hear such Thundrings and see such Lightnings as Israel did at Mount Sinai I am perswaded my very Heart would leap for joy But this I am confident of through infinite Mercy that the very Meditation of the Day hath even ravished my Soul and the Thought of the Certainty and Nearness of it is more refreshing to me than the Comforts of the whole World Surely nothing can more revive my Spirits than to behold the blessed Jesus the Joy Life and Beauty of my Soul Would it not more rejoyce me than Joseph 's Wagons did old Jacob O let us labour to be like him Let 's love Christ's Laws that we may not dread but love his appearing when he shall come to reckon and call to an account for our Observation or Violation of them Let us love the Appearing and Manifestation of Christ in his Ordinances his Word and Sacraments love the Appearing Enlargement and Encreasing of his spiritual Kingdom in the World love his Appearing in the Hearts and Lives of his most saithful and obedient People love his Appearing in our Houses and Families and his being formed and inthroned in our own Hearts and in the Hearts of our nearest and dearest Friends and Relations and by earnest and ardent Desire even hasten the coming of the Day of God long for the second coming of the Lord Christ when he shall appear without Sin unto Salvation and very heartily pray and say * Rev. 22.17 20. Come Lord Jesus come quickly When wilt thou †Joh. 14.3 come again and receive us unto thy self that where thou art there we may be also Thus I have offer'd to your best Consideration the Certainty and Necessity of a future and final Judgment 2. I come now to lead you to the Meditation of the great Vncertainty as to us of the Time and Season of this Judgment O think with thy self that the Son of Man * Luke 12.40 cometh at an Hour when you think not That Christ saies †Rev. 16.15 Behold I come as a Thief That thou ‖ Mark 13.33 knowest not when the Time is That (*) Mat. 24.42 25.13 thou knowest neither the Day nor the Hour wherein (*) Mat. 24.42 25.13 your Lord (*) Mat. 24.42 25.13 the Son of Man cometh to particular Judgment at the Day of Death or to general Judgment at the End of the World That there are indeed Signs of the Times which shew when it is near which the Faithful are to observe and take notice of to be instructed by and to gather comfort from But that the punctual and precise Time is hid from us And that a considerable Latitude being to be allowed in the Accounts of Time both as to the Beginning and Ending of them we can therefore take no exact Measures nor six directly upon the very Time and Day that God hath set in his own purpose to judg the World in And here 't will be useful to thee to consider that as St. Austin speaks [k] Ideo later ultimus dies ut abserventur omnes dies The last Day is conceal'd and kept secret from thee that all other Daies may be observ'd well-spent and improved by thee and that there may be a due Trial of thy Faith and Patience and Obedience by a Course of holy Living Whereas if thou knewest certainly the just Term of thy Life and how long it would be before thou shouldst be called to be judged thou mightst too probably take Occasion from it to defer and put off thy Conversion and Repentance to a few Daies
offer'd to God and prove available to cross and cancel all the Debts and wipe off the many and great Guilts of a fifty or threescore Years Impiety and Iniquity And that the Pardon of all thy Sins will be comfortably sealed and thy Soul be certainly consign'd to the Joys of Paradise and Glory of Heaven by receiving the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper immediatly before thy Departure That if thou canst but form and frame thy shortest Breath to call upon God with these five Words Lord have Mercy upon me but a little before thy last Gasp they will really [n] Dâ—ke prove as powerful and available for the happy Translation of thy Soul to Heaven as the mumbling over those five Words of Consecration Hoc est enim Corpus meum for this is my Body is by the Papists imagined to be effectual for the Transubstantiation of their Host Is this consistent with the use of Reason and Consideration to venture all upon a Death-bed Repentance to take a wilful Course to bring thy self into such a Condition in which thou shalt be utterly unable with all the help that can be afforded thee to find out one Promise or to meet with one Example in the whole Bible that will full reach or plainly and properly speak to thy particular case and afford thee sufficient support relief and Comfort in that dark and dismal Day and Hour Obj. No Promise may some object and say Why what do you make of those Words At what time soever a Sinner doth repent him of his Sins from the bottom of his Heart I will put all his Wickedness out of my Remembrance saith the Lord. Answ For answer give me leave to tell you what others make of these Words and those very great Divines too There are no such Words in the whole Bible saies the very Learned [l] Serm. of the Invalid of a Death bed Rep. part 2. Bp. Taylor nor any nearer to the sense of them than those Words of the Prophet Ezekiel chap. 18.21 But if the Wicked will turn from all his Sins that he hath committed and keep all my Statutes and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live he shall not die Or those chap. 33.14 15. in which you shall find Repentance more fully described When I say unto the Wicked Thou shalt surely die If he turn from his Sin and do that which is lawful and right if the Wicked restore the Pledg give again that he had robbed walk in the Statutes of Life without committing Iniquity he shall surely live he shall not die Here only is the condition of Pardon to leave all your Sins to keep all God's Statutes to walk in them to abide to proceed and make progress in them and this without the interruption by a deadly Sin without committing Iniquity to make restitution Satisfaction for all Injury to our Neighbour's Fame all wrongs done to his Soul When this is done according to thy utmost Power then thou hast repented truly then thou hast a title to the Promise Thou shalt surely live thou shalt not die for thy old Sins thou hast formerly committed This Place of Ezekiel is it which is so often mistaken for that common Saying At what time soever c. Repentance as stated by the Prophet cannot be done at what time soever not upon a Man's Death-bed Let that Saying therefore no more deceive you or be made a colour to countenance a persevering Sinner or a Death-bed Penitent And it is observable what a free reflection the judicious Chillingworth in a [m] P. 337. Sermon preached before King Charles the First was bold to make upon that Passage which then stood in the entrance to our Common-Prayer-Book I would to God saies he the Composers of our Liturgy out of a care of avoiding mistakes and to take away Occasion of cavilling our Liturgy and out of Fear of encouraging Carnal Men to security in sinning had been so provident as to set down in Terms the first Sentence taken out of the 18th of Ezekiel and not have put in the place of it an ambiguous and though not in it self yet accidentally by reason of the mistake to which it is subject I fear very often a pernicious Paraphrase for whereas thus they make it At what time soever saith the Lord the plain truth if you will hear it is the Lord doth not say so these are not the very Words of God but the Paraphrase of Men The Words of God are * Ezek. 18.21 where I hope you easily observe that there is no such Word as At what time soever a Sinner doth repent c. and that there is a wide difference between this as the Word repent usually sounds in the Ears of the People and turning from all Sins and keeping all God's Statutes That indeed having no more in it but Sorrow and good Purposes may be done easily and certainly at the last Gasp and it is very strange that any Christian who dies in his right Senses and knows the difference between Heaven and Hell should fail of the performing it but this Work of turning keeping and doing is ordinarily a Work of Time a long and laborious Work but yet Heaven is very well worth it and if you mean to go through with it you had need go about it presently And I find the Reverend and Learned Mr. Robert Bolton expressing himself to the same purpose [n] Mr. Bolton's Instruct for a right coms Affl. Conse pag. 254 255. I marvel saies he that any should be so blindfolded and baffled by the Devil as to embolden himself to drive off until the last by that Place before Confession At what time soever c. Especially if he look upon the Text from whence it is taken which me-thinks being rightly understood and the Conditions well considered is most punctual and precise to fright any from that desperate Folly The Words run thus Ezek. 18.21 22 c. Hence it appears that if any Man expect upon good ground any portion in this pretious Promise of Mercy and Grace he must leave all his Sins and keep all God's Statutes Now what space is left to come to Comfort by keeping all God's Statutes when thou art presently to pass to that highest and dreadful Tribunal to give an exact and strict Account for the continual Breach of all God's Laws all thy Life long But I must desire the Objector to remember that when some Alterations were made by Authority in our Liturgy the Paraphrase was removed and the proper Words of Scripture put in the room of it and now the self-deceiving Procrastinator will not well know what to do for want of a What time soever c. which is nowhere now to be found or met with in all his Bible or Common-Prayer-Book Obj. But a Friend to Delaies may further object and say Though I confess I was out in alledging the Promise yet certainly there is an Example that affords sufficient ground of
Author of the [s] P. 281 282. Great Exemplar thinks it probable that the good Thief was much advantaged by the intervening Accident of dying at the same time with Christ there being a natural Compassion produced in us towards the Partners of our Miseries For Christ was not void of humane Passions though he had in them no Imperfection or Irregularity and therefore might be invited by the Society of Misery the rather to admit him to participate his Jaies and St. Paul proves him to be a merciful High-Priest because he was touched with a feeling of our Infirmities the first expression of which was to this Blessed Thief If the Thief had not met with such an extraordinary Opportunity of Suffering with Christ and entring with Christ into Paradise though he had been converted he might have tarried till he had suffer'd many Years Afflictions and Persecutions for the sake of Christ and his holy Gospel and perform'd a long and tedious Work of crucifying the Old Man crucifying the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts of Mortification Self-denial and sincere Obedience The good Thief by special Favour was let into Paradise at a privy Door as I may say but you and I must look to go thither and enter the ordinary Way Consider 3. That the Conversion and Salvation of the Thief is not only an extraordinary but a singular Instance The Example of the Thief it is but one and besides this one there is not one more to be produced out of all that Sacred Book which contains the History of several thousand Years and for this one that sped how many millions of late and Death-bed Penitents have eternally miscarried sadly repented of their late Repentance and inherited the uncomfortable Portion of Fools And if thou shalt venture to drive off all to the very last hast not thou very great cause to fear that thou shalt become an unhappy Cast-away as well as so many have been before thee Thou dost not think it prudent or safe to follow [t] It is as if a Man should spur his Ass till he spoke because Balaam's Ass did once speak Mr. Greenham Though some have found a Purse in their way let us not trust to like hap but carry money with us Bp. Andrew's serm pag. 180. or rely upon single or very unusual Precedents in other things If a thousand Persons should have perished by the taking of any poisoned Meat and one only have been miraculously preserved wouldst thou dare to taste of that or the like Food and hope to do well because one once escaped when a thousand died Wilt thou expect to be accommodated and upon any great Occasion provided for by Miracle because God once * Ps 78.13 divided the Sea and caused his Israel to pass through and made the Waters to stand as an heap †Vers 24 25 27 28. rained down Manna upon them to eat and gave them of the Corn of Heaven so that man did eat Angels Food rained Flesh also upon them as Dust and feathered Fowls like as the Sand of the Sea let it fall in the midst of their Camp round about their Habitations ‖ Vers 15 16. clave also the Rocks in the Wilderness and gave them drink as out of the great Depths and fed Elijah the Prophet by the Ministry of (*) 1 Kin. 17.4 6. Ravens whom he commanded to bring him Bread and Flesh both in the Morning and in the Evening Because the Thief was happily converted at the last Hour dost thou conclude so thou maiest be in like manner But why shouldst not thou be startled and affrighted by the (u) Ideo conjungitur exemple latrenis conversi exemplum latronis alteriue qui in peccatis quibus assueverat manet in aeternam damnationem inesdit ne quis adsecuritatem hac drctrinâ abutatur Gerhard Harm in loc sad Example of the other Thief who still lay in his accustomed Sins died and perished in his Iniquities and though his Saviour was so near him fell irrecoverably into eternal Damnation The one Example may serve to keep thee from abusing the other to Security 4. Do not offer any longer to draw the good Thief into Example and to embolden thy self thereby wittingly and willingly to defer thy Repentance till the last Hour and to hope for Mercy at the very last for let me tell thee There is a great deal of difference between the case and circumstances of the blessed Thief and thy self for suppose the Thief had heard somewhat of Christ by general fame before some commendation of his Doctrine and Miracles and an intimation of Christ's Profession that a Kingdom belonged to him though not of this World yet thou canst not prove that ever he had in all his Life a clear direct Call before this Day and Hour in which he was Christ's Companion upon the Cross and heard his gracious Speeches and his compassionate Prayer poured out to his Father for his Crucifiers and beheld and considered his excellent Vertues and admirable Graces in the time of his deepest Sorrows and forest sufferings This was the first time that the Thief had any Converse with Christ and the first Day of Grace that probably was ever vouchsafed to him Speak now is this thy case Art thou able to use this Plea that hitherto thou wast never plainly invited to Repentance nor expresly called to come to Christ Hast not thou liv'd long under the Means of Grace and frequented the Ministry of the Gospel Hast not thou heard yea of often heard the joyful sound of the Word and felt the sweet motions of the Spirit May not Christ complain of thee and such as thee * Mat. 23.37 How often would I have gathered you even as a Hen gathereth her Chickens under her Wings and ye would not The Thief had no distinct Knowledg of Christ before His case was as if a [w] See Bp. Taylor 's serm of the Invalid of a Death-bed Rep. part 2. p. 78. Turk or Heathen should turn Christian and receive the Sacrament of Baptism and therewithal the Remission of the Sins of his State of Ignorance upon his Death-bed But thou wast very early baptized into the Name of Christ and hast solemnly entred into Covenant with Christ and frequently ratified and confirm'd that Covenant and all along openly and outwardly profess'd thy self the Disciple of Jesus and Servant of Christ And therefore if still thou livest in Sin and deferrest thy Repentance and puttest off thy Obedience thou failest in the performance of thy solemn Promise and grand Obligation and art false and treacherous to the Lord Christ and art to account for Breach of Contract and plain Rebellion against thy Heavenly Lord and King And how canst thou hope when thou hast refused and denied to present the Service of thy Life to him that God will be satisfied with the weeping and †Hos 7.14 howling of a careless Sinner unwillingly departing and forced to go to a speedy reckoning