must work in his Vineyard Mat. 20.6 And he that worketh receiveth Wages and gathereth Fruit unto Life Eternal John 4.36 No Man therefore must be idle or ill employed He must work the Works of God that is such as God sets him about and approveth without picking and choosing his own Work He must work while it is Day before the Night cometh wherein no Man can work Let me advise thee O Christian to improve Time and Business that even thine Idleness if I may so call thy vacant Hours that is thy necessary rest thy leisure may not be without some Diligence because it tendeth to fit thee for Business When thou liest down to sleep let it be to this end that thou mayst rise and go about thy Work not to pamper Sloth If thou eatest do it to the same end as Elias did to walk in the strength of thy Food the way that God sends thee not to gratifie thy Belly or thine Appetite And when God puts thee at any time upon doing his Will be thou never better pleased than when God gives thee thy Hands full of work nor more restless than when God doth not employ thee It is the diligent Hand that maketh rich Prov. 10.4 cap. 13.4 And the Soul of the Diligent shall be made fat If thou walkest in God's Way thou art in God's keeping But if thou stragglest from the way of Duty thou art like enough to meet with a Lion 1 Kings 13.24 as the disobedient Prophet Or with a Storm a Wrack a Whale as Fugitive Jonas Jonas 1.17 to swallow not to save But if thou walkest diligently in thy Calling thou art within the Hedg and Pale of Providence Psal 34.7 and under the Guard of the holy Angels Idleness is the enemy of Health the consumption of Thrist the foil of Vertue the hindrance of Wisdom and the hatred of God as a Reverend Divine of ours termeth it No Man ever had larger Possessions than Adam who was the only absolute Monarch of the whole World nor was any meer Man more Noble for he is stiled the Son of God Luke 3.38 If any exceeded him herein it was only Jesus Christ the Natural Son of God and Heir of all Things Yet God would not that either Adam in Paradise in the state of Innocence or his own Son appearing in our Flesh should be without a Calling or idle in it How many are there of the Gentry that are possessed with this Opinion that they must live at the height of their Estates and spend all their time in Pleasures and Idleness no way conducing to the Common Good but much to the Prejudice of it as if God like Augustus had built an Apragopolis a City void of Business and a Nursery of Idleness and Prophaneness Multitudes there are in the City that like the Athenians find little to do but to busie themselves to hear and tell News Others spend most of their time in Plays and in Visits in the study of the Times Fashions Modes and Compliments c. erecting as it were an Academy of Idleness to busie all vain Persons like that Office set up at Rome by Tiberius stiled A Voluptatibus But this will be the Doom of all Idle Persons Cast the unprofitable Servant into utter Darkness where shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth Mat. 25.30 Every one though never so Great and Honourable standeth in God's Family as a Servant as David professeth himself to be Psal 116.16 Moses was faithful in all God's House as a Servant and Servants are not idle Every one must serve in some particular Calling wherein he must abide with God whether it be in the Magistracy ruling with God 1 Cor. 7.21 that is for God and being faithful with the Saints Hos 11.12 and so he must be a Servant unto all Thus as David he may serve his Generation by the Will of God Acts 13.36 Or whether it be in the Ministry so he is to be a Servant of Jesus Christ Thus St. Paul in the behalf of all faithful Ministers We preach not our selves but Christ Jesus the Lord and our selves your Servants for Jesus sake 2 Cor. 4.5 Yea the Master of the Family must be a Servant to the Family else the Family will not abide in good Estate and Order He that is idle and neglecteth the care of his Family is worse than an Infidel See that you do not only labour but that the thing you are diligent in be worth your Labour joyn Choice with Diligence and see that you guide all your Affairs with Discretion Meddle with nothing till you are able to answer your selves that Question Cui bono What is it good for Is it my Calling or within it or in the way to it Doth it prepare me for it or quicken me in it Doth it make me work more cheerfully or fruitfully See that ye do your own Business as St. Paul adviseth 1 Thess 4.11 I do not mean that ye should refuse to do Business for others if they desire it and that it may be for their Good but look that what ye do for your selves or others be confined within the limits of your Duty Place and Calling Meddle not with things beside your Calling God furnisheth every Man with Abilities suitable to his Calling because therein he works for God but not with sufficiencies for another Calling because therein he works for himself or rather indeed against himself as a Reverend Divine notes For he that steps out of his Calling offendeth God and so runs himself into danger He is as a Souldier who having his Station appointed him by his General goes to another Or as a Bird wandring from her Nest where she is safe becometh liable to be caught in Nets to be shot or made a prey to other ravenous Fowls As Christians ye must seek the Kingdom of God in the first place and do God's Work before your own but in business of your own particular Calling see that ye not only abide with God as not starting from him or it but labour for God that so ye may please him that hath called you Among all Businesses set upon that which most concerneth you to look after having an eye to God's Command and the good of Humane Society And in the midst of outward Employments labour to have your Conversation in Heaven and to do your earthly Business with an heavenly frame of Heart Let not your Hearts be taken up nor taken away with the things of the World but set your Affections on things above and not on things on the Earth And when ye are most diligent in the works of your Callings aim at the gaining of Time and Liberty for vacancy to holy Duties In your working-Working-days Labour prepare for the Sabbath's rest and daily so endeavour that you may gain time to solace your selves with the Lord in Reading Meditation or Prayer See that ye manage all Businesses without overmuch Carking and Vexation I have read of a
from all these and the rather because ye know ye have but a few steps to your Grave Whosoever of us is appointed in the seeret Counsel of God to live longest here yet the Day is not long the night of Death is hastening upon us The longest Summer's Day is soon at an end and the longest Life upon Earth passeth away as a Tale that is told Let us then endeavour this short Life so that it may be lengthened out with everlasting Life and Blessedness God hath given us time to make our Peace with him and if that be neglected all is lost and we are undone for ever It is reported of Alexander the Great that when he marched against any City his manner was to set up a Lamp burning and made Proclamation That whosoever oame in and submitted whilst this Lamp was burning should find Favour and have his Life But whosoever staid till this Lamp was out he was but a dead Man and must expect no Mercy Know ye O Christians that God hath set up a Lamp and our life is this Lamp and God proclaims Whosoever comes in whilst this Lamp is burning shall find Mercy but if you stay till the Lamp is out till your life be consumed there is nothing but eternal Woe to be expected Now this Lamp of your lives may not only go out on the consumption of the Oyl but it may be put out by accidental means and if this Lamp be once out and your Work not done ye are lost and undone for ever Eccles 11.3 In the place where the Tree falleth there it lieth Which way thou fallest when thou diest that way thou shalt lie to Eternity if towards God then God is thine for ever if toward Sin the Misery and Destruction is thine for ever There can be no repenting nor believing after Death the Soul and Body being parted the whole Man is not capable of a Work of God upon it Index Rerum SECT 1. The Introduction to this Work Sect. 2. A Soliloquy at waking Sect. 3. Directions how to begin the Day Sect. 4. Meditations of the dawning of the Day and rising of the Day-star Sect. 5. Meditations at the breaking forth of the Light Sect. 6. Meditations of the springing of the Day or rising of the Sun shewing how the first and second Coming of Christ is compared to the Day-spring or Sun-rising in many Particulars Sect. 7. Meditations at a Man's rising out of his Bed in the Morning Sect. 8. Quickning Meditations for one that is sluggish and loth to rise out of his Bed in a morning Sect. 9. Meditations when you are putting on your Clothes and putting away your old Clothes Sect. 10. Meditations when you are about to dress your selves Sect. 11. Meditations when you are beholding your Face in a Glass dressing your selves by it Sect. 12. Of our Dedicating the Morning to God Sect. 13. Of retiring our selves in the morning to Pray and givâ— Thanks Sect. 14. Of Thanksgiving and for what we are more especially to be thankful Sect. 15. Of preparation to Prayer Sect. 16. Of reading the holy Scriptures Sect. 17. Of Meditation and the fittest Season for it Sect. 18. Of Petition Sect. 19. Of offering our selves to God every Morning Sect. 20. Of Contrition Sect. 21. Of Family-Worship Sect. 22. A Calling and Business of what Importance with divers directions concerning it Sect. 23. Considerations for the Nobility and Gentry and those that are in Preeminence above others in the Body Politique Sect. 24. Directions to a Master of a Family for the Government thereof for the choice of Servants and his Carriage towards them Sect. 25. Rules about Eating and Drinking Sect. 26. Of Recreations and how to use them Sect. 27. Of the Conversation of Parents and Elders Sect. 28. Of the Carriage of Children Servants and Inferiours Sect. 29. Sheweth how every one is every day to embrace all Opportunities of doing Good Sect. 30. Of the improvement of all Means Gifts and Abilities inward and outward and what they are Sect. 31. Of Holy Watchfulness against Temptations and divers Preservatives against them Sect. 32. Of Exercising our selves daily in the work of Mortification Sect. 33. Of daily growing in the Knowledg of Christ and in Grace Sect. 34. Rules about the Government of our Tongues Sect. 35. A Meditation on the Miseries of this Life Sect. 36. Of returning to Family-Worship in the Evening Sect. 37. Of ones taking a review in the Evening of the Actions and Mercies of the day past Sect. 38. Of providing in the Evening for the day following Sect. 39. A Meditation in putting off your Clothes to go to Bed Sect. 40. A Meditation when you lie down in your Bed at Night Sect. 41. A Meditation when you compose your selves to sleep THE Sacred Diary SECT I. The Introduction to this Work IT is good for Man to draw near to God as the Psalmist saith concerning himself Psal 73. ult This Gloss put upon any thing commends it unto Man for naturally since the Fall there is so much left in Man that he hath an inclination to that which is good but when he cometh to particulars here is the Mistake he seeks Light in the way of Darkness and Happiness in the way of Misery and Life in the way of Death being hurried the contrary way by the violence of his impetuous Lusts But yet there is a natural tendency in all Men to that which is good as some of the Heathen have observed from the Principles of Nature there remaining this general Foundation of Religion in all Men. Good hath a magnetick Force and is of a drawing Nature and answerable to the Discovery of Good or Evil in the Understanding there is an Embracing or Aversation in the Will of Man which is that part in the Soul of the Man that cleaveth unto Good discovered It is good to draw near to God who is summum Bonum the chiefest Good The Goodness of a thing is the Reason why we desire it It is the Philosophers Definition of Good That is Good which all things do desire Bonum est quod omnia appetunt Now then what is more desiâ—â—ble is more excelling in Goodness and what is chiefly desirable is the chiefest Good All Creatures do naturally desire their chief Good their Happiness their Perfection And it is the Happiness of Man to draw near to God his Creator The Mind of a Christian may sometimes slip from God and for a time be taken up with other things but it cannot long be kept from him because God is its Center and it is as natural for a Spiritual Mind to move towards God as for a Needle touched with the Loadstone to point towards the North Pole I have set the Lord always before me saith David Psal 16.8 Where God hath no place in our Minds we have no Interest in him A pious and devout Man must be continually with God If the hungry Man cannot forget to eat nor the thirsty Man to drink
There if it will be let it be like a Gibeonite to an Israelite a Drudg a Slave not a Sarah but an Hagar a Servant not a Mistress let not Sin lose ground in one place and gain in another Mortifie your earthly Members Col. 3.5 or Affections Draw mortifying Vertue daily from the Death of Christ and that will have its influence upon the whole Old Man within you although perhaps ye employ it more especially against some particular members of the body of Sin As when Christ cursed the Fig-tree in more special reference to the Branches that bear no Fruit the whole Tree immediately withered This mortifying Vertue will not only tame and bring under all Sin in you that it cannot domineer and rage as formerly it did but it will receive its mortal Wound languish and consume away more and more Nullis medicabilis herbis as being past all recovery and hasten not only to a Dissolution but also as it were to a total Annihilation SECT XXXIII Of growing in the Knowledg of Christ and in Grace LAbour every Day to grow more and more in the Knowledg of Christ Now there are two degrees of the Knowledg of Christ 1. Historical or Doctrinal 2. Experimental and Effectual 1. As to the former it is the knowledg of the Person Natures Birth Life Death Resurrection Ascension Kingdom Offices of Christ Priestly Kingly and Prophetical as these things are laid down in the History and Doctrine of the Gospel And these contain abundance of glorious Mysteries and wonderful Revelations which all the Wisest Men under Heaven could never have found out no nor the holy Angels of Heaven if the Lord himself had not revealed them by his Spirit Christians must grow in the Knowledg of these But an Historical Knowledg or a bare Understanding of these things is not enough 1 Cor. 13. though a Man had all Knowledg that is of this degree or kind But 2. Labour for an inward experimental knowledg of Christ and to encrease therein With St. Paul count all things but loss for the excellency of the Knowledg of Christ Jesus labour daily to know Him and the power of his Resurrection and the fellowship of his Sufferings and to be made conformable to his Death Our Understandings are very weak and it is but little that we can discern at one view we have but weak and childish Capacities in respect of Heavenly Things therefore we must endeavour to grow more and more in the Knowledg of Christ Moreover there is an admirable Depth in the Mystery of Christ and you can never come to the bottom of it although ye should be diving into it all your life long Look over all the objects of Knowledg and can ye find a more pleasing a more joyous a more comfortable Object to study than the Knowledg of Christ and his Love towards Sinners What St. Augustine said of the Joys of Heaven Tanta est dulcedo so great is the sweetness of it that if God should let fall one drop of Heaven's Joy into Hell it would turn Hell into Heaven it would turn the Lakes of Brimstone into Rivers of Joy we may say as much of the Knowledg of Christ and of his Love towards us So great is the sweetness of it that it can turn an Heart full of the sorrows of Hell into an Heart full of the Joys of Heaven The more inwardly ye grow acquainted with Christ the more shall ye delight in Him and admire Him The Queen of Sheba knew Solomon by report and she admired him so far that she took a long Journey to visit him but when she was an Eye-witness and an Ear-witness of his Glory and Wisdom she admired him much more So when a Christian hath some acquaintance with Christ he admireth and loveth him but when he groweth more inwardly acquainted with him he seeth much more cause to admire and love him Such is the inward Excellency Sweetness and Perfection of Christ that the nearer any one approacheth to Him the more Admirable and Lovely he appeareth The more ye grow in the Knowledg of Christ the more will your love of the World of your Selves of your Sins wear away and die in you If ye find your Souls to increase in the Knowledg of Christ ye will find your Beloved so far to surpass all other Lovers that ye will grow more and more out of love with them Labour ye daily more and more to partake of the comforts of his Spirit for Christ will shine forth brightly in these to your Souls This Comfort is called The Light of his Countenance Psal 4. and therefore as the Light of the Sun sheweth the Sun unto us so that we see it by its own Light So the Joys and Comforts of Christ's Spirit which are the Light of his Countenance do discover Christ in a clear and excellent manner to Believers These shew Christ in his Beauty and make the Soul to admire him and cleave unto him The darkness of Hell it self cannot hide Christ from you when he doth thus discover himself unto you by his own immediate Light Labour also daily to grow in Grace Creseens is a fit name for a Christian because he ever is or ought to be in a growing state Grace having the same efficacy upon the Soul as the Soul hath upon the Body Whilst the Body is in a growing condition the Soul enlargeth the Body in all the parts and dimensions that the Members may not only fill more Clothes but take in more Nourishment and so become stronger and more serviceable In like manner labour ye that your inner Man may truly grow up in Christ in all things by the working of the Spirit of Christ as the soul of that new Life that is within you that ye may be meet Instruments of Righteousness to bring forth Fruit unto God Be still advancing still ascending always going forward unto Perfection not only in Knowledg but growing in solid Grace not in external Profession and Formalities but in all good Works which are more and better at the latter end than at the first Endeasour to be still on the thriving hand that ye may bring forth more fruit in old Age than at the beginning that ye wither not nor decay but still be fat and flourishing And this may be your comfort although the outward Man decay yet your inner Man is renewed day by day And when ye cannot perform so much outward service as when younger and stronger in Body yet your thriving Soul will glory more and more in your God even to see others to stand up in your stead whom by holy Counsel and fervent Prayers ye may further in the Work of the Lord. Labour every Day to grow more Spiritual see that your Knowledg become more judicious your Zeal more discreet your Love more active and substantial grow more to God and less to your Selves and the World settle your selves more and more in a good Course and although ye seem not so fair
Liber cui Titulus The Sacred Diary c. Imprimatur George Thorp Rev mo in Christo P. D. Dom. Gulielmo Archiep. Can. a Sacris Domesticis Ex aedibus Lambethanis Julii 29. 1678. THE Sacred Diary OR SELECT MEDITATIONS FOR Every part of the Day and the Employments thereof WITH Directions to Persons of all Ranks for the holy spending every ordinary Day of the Week Propounded as Means to Facilitate a Pious Life and for the Spiritual Improvement of every Christian London Printed by J.D. for Jonathan Robinson at the Golden Lion in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1679. THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY To the Right Worshipful Sir JOHN HOBART of Brickling in the County of NORFOLK Baronet AND TO WILLIAM WINDHAM of Felbridg in the same County Esq AND To the Vertuous Ladies their Wives Right Worshipful PLato accounted him not worthy the name of a Philosopher that studies not to know God Divines go farther and account him not worthy the Name of a Man that studies not to fear and serve him To do this is totum Hominis the whole of Man Parisiens totum Officii totum Conatus totum Faelicitatis In Scripture this Fear of the Lord is often called the beginning of Wisdom because an awful Reverence of the Divine Majesty in our Hearts makes us industriously careful to know his Will and to do it And these Phrases are frequently coupled together To fear the Lord and walk in his Ways Deut. 8.6 and Chap. 10.12 This holy Fear of God will make Men meek and humble and careful in all things to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing It will command our Thoughts bridle and govern our Tongues and regulate all our Actions This will quicken us to holy Devotion and reduce all our devotion to Practice In all Actions St. Bernard would have us put these three Queries An liceat an deceat an expediat Whether it be lawful whether it be that which becometh us to do whether it be expedient to be done All our actions in passing pass not away for every good Work is a grain of Seed for Eternal Life We should say with Xeuxes that famous Painter Aeternitati Pingo I Paint for Eternity It is very necessary for us to follow the Counsel of our Saviour and work whilst it is Day A long Night will shortly cover us with its shadow in which we shall neither have ability nor opportunity to Work Much Honoured in the Lord We have at this present many Books which eccho one another This Age is as fruitful in Words as barren in Works enclining to speak much to do nothing Yet in matters of Devotion one cannot say too much of that which we can never do enough I present you with this Sacred Diary I hope it may be useful to you to carry it in your Hands as the Clock which a great Prince wore in a Ring It strikes every Hour of the Day and agreeth with holy Scripture and Reason as Dials with the Sun By frequent reading it and doing what it directeth you shall the better know what this Treatise is For my part I should not have been so bold as to make an offering hereof unto you did I not perswade my self that you would have less regard to the Hand that presents it than to the Affection which renders me Sept. 18. 1679. Your Worships most Humble and Affectionate Servant in the Gospel W. Gearing TO THE READER THe Scripture calleth upon us to redeem Time Now to redeem Time is 1. To see that we cast none of it away in vain but use every minute of it as a most precious Thing and spend it wholly in the way of Duty 2. That we be not only doing good but doing the best good we are able c. 3. That we do the best things in the best manner and in the greatest measure and do as much good as possibly we can 4. That we watch for special Opportunities 5. That we presently take them when they fall and improve them when we take them 6. That we part with all that is to be parted with to save our Time 7. That we forecast the preventing of Impediments and the removal of our Clogs and the obtaining of all helps to expedition in Duty This is the true redemption of Time according to the judgment of a Reverend Divine And indeed the consideration of the shortness of our time in this World should hasten us in the Work and Service of God I must work the Works of him that sent me saith our Saviour whilst it is Day the Night cometh when no Man can work John 9.4 I have but a short Day the time of this Life to do the Work which my Father hath sent me to finish here upon the Earth and now I must hasten it for the time is at hand I shall shortly be delivered into the hands of Sinners to be Crucified When the Master of the Vineyard saw some standing idle at the eleventh hour he checketh them for it Why stand ye here all the day idle Do ye not know that it is but one hour to Night eleven parts of your Life are already gone there is but one of twelve remaining Is it not a shame for you yet to be idle How ought ye now to hasten when but the twelfth part of your short Life yet remaineth A great part of this short Life is taken up in that manner that little of it is well spent All the time of our Life till the time of our Conversion may be laid by as no Time or Life to us And after our effectual calling sleeping takes a large part of our time eating and drinking another part and far more of it is spent in doing nothing or in doing that which is evil Let a Man be as frugal and as thrifty of his Time as he can yet much of his Life will go this way In our old Age many weaknesses draw on and when we would do good we are disabled by Age and Sickness We are long ere we begin to do the Work of God and are soon weary of well-doing Our Glass is almost run before we begin to live indeed and at the entry of our Spiritual Life we begin to die by Infirmity So that by a just survey of our time we shall easily find that God who craveth the Tithe of our Substance scarcely getteth the hundredth part of our Time and that of those who best spend their time Consider we the greatness of the Work that every Christian hath to do in this short time How great a work is it to get a broken Heart our Hearts being naturally hearts of Stone How great a task to get an established assurance of the Love of God we having such evil Hearts of unbelief How great a work to get forward and grow in Grace our Hearts being so full of corruption eating out and wasting the strength of Grace so inclined to Back-sliding and Declining having so many things to press down so many weights
hanging on How great a task to escape the Corruption that is in the World and to escape so many Snares as are set in all places How great a work to get a free and enlarged Heart How hard to walk constantly in the Spirit How hard to do the Work and perform the Service of God in the Power of the Spirit How difficult to walk in a constant communion with the Lord What diligence then ought we to use in the Service of God being so much straightned with time and having so much to do and so great a task laid upon us Moreover the shortness of Life compared with the greatness of the Account that is to be given up at the end of this Life should move us with great diligence to hasten in the Work and Service of God A great account is to be given up to God after a short Life and therefore great diligence must be used that it may be an happy and joyful Account and that we may be sure to have all our Sins crossed out of the Account and to have many works of Obedience many pleasing Services acceptable to God through Jesus Christ put upon the Reckoning Every Master calls his Servants to account for what they put into their hands as to the improvement thereof And God will call every Man to a reckoning for every Talent they have in their hands how they have improved them what they have done for the Glory of God for the Interest of Christ and for the good of their own and others Souls All our Talents are written down our using our abusing them our spending our mispending them All the times of God's Patience Forbearance and Long-sufferance are registred in God's Account-Book All the Mercies and Blessings we have received all the Ordinances of God and means of Grace we have enjoyed all the powerful Sermons we have heard all these are written down in the Book of God's Remembrance and in the Book of our Consciences We shall all be called to give an account Mat. 25.15 16 17 18 19. Let us all mind the day of Account and not put it far from us in hope that our Master will defer his Coming But let every one labour so to do as he desireth to be found at his Coming Furthermore Consider that everlasting Estate which followeth upon so short a Life and which shall be according to this short Life and suitable unto it Now when everlasting Life followeth upon a short Life well spent to the Glory of God and everlasting Woe and Misery upon a Life spent according to the course of this World by those that live in the Flesh Oh what Speed Industry and Diligence should Men use in improving their short lives in the Service of God that they may inherit everlasting Life and escape everlasting Torment Finally After this short Life we shall have no more such opportunities as now to glorifie God here on Earth we shall hear no more Sermons enjoy no more Sabbaths his Spirit shall strive with us no longer Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might for there is no Work nor Device nor Knowledg nor Wisdom in the Grave where thou goest Eccles 9.10 Death will take away those opportunities which the life of Man affordeth therefore every Man ought to put forth his might and best strength in improving his short life to the Glory of God How may this reprove our prodigal and lavish mispending of our short Lives Men that have but a little store of such and such things are sparing and thrifty in dispensing and disposing them Scarcity of any sort of Provision moveth Men to make spare of it What is more scanty than time What hath a Man less store of than of Life No Man knoweth how little he hath and he that hath most hath but little Many reckon upon many Years of Life to come who perhaps have not so may Days it may be not so many Hours as they reckon Years The truth is no Man is sure of any more than the present time of his Life All the time past which was ill-spent is lost and whether any be yet remaining to thee thou art uncertain And if any be it is as like to slide away from thee without profit as that which is past if now thou be lavish and careless in losing and casting away the present time How easily may Satan lead thee on step by step to Hell whilst thou pleasest thy self with thoughts afar off for Heaven with remote purposes for Heaven and newness of Life Hast thou not passed over many Weeks and Days already when thou hadst a purpose to have turn'd unto the Lord and to have broken off thy Sins by Repentance Thou hast the same deceitful Heart still to flatter thee with hopes and purposes of Repentance for time to come The same Devil there is still to draw thee on from Day to Day from Week to Week to perswade thee from time to time to take longer Day until the days of thy short Life waste away and thou perish in thy Sin and find no place for Repentance Oh how should this make Men tremble Thy whole Life is but as an Hand-breadth Psal 39. a short space of time Oh then think how wretchedly lavish thou hast been already of this short precious time It may be thou hast not so many Weeks behind as thou hast lost Years already and all the Daies of thy Life which thou hast spent in a state of Impenitency and Vnregeneration are lost and thou hast no fruit of them in respect of Salvation The longer thou hast lived in the Flesh and hast not been led by the Spirit thou art the nearer Hell and Condemnation and all this while thou hast been heaping up Wrath against the Day of Wrath. And is not this time wofully cast away Howsoever thou hast thrived in the World encreased thine outward Estate gotten Things about thee c. yet all thy time is lost and it were better for thee never to have seen those Days if thou hast lived an Impenitent and Vnregenerate Life Oh then waste no more of this precious time of this short Life There is so much of this precious Oyl spilt on the Ground there are but a few drops left to nourish the flame and to keep light in the Lamp Take heed lest that also be spent and consumed and thy life go out like a Candle with a stinking Snuff and end in perpetual Shame and Misery If yet thou art not turned unto the Lord by sound Repentance and hast not yet begun to do the Work of God then now whilst it is called to Day hearken to the Voice of God and speedily turn unto him defer not thy setting about this Work till to morrow Lose not so many precious hours about the World spend not so many in carnal Delights and vain Pleasures in idle Talk or in doing nothing so many in Eating Drinking and Sleeping more than thy weakness requireth redeem time
then cannot a Man forget God Who lives under a continual sence of the want of God his Soul is still breathing and panting after God Love causeth an emission of the Thoughts it will not suffer him to dwell at home but to be where it is best of all to be There 's a Necessity a Man should mind what he most affecteth and a Man that loveth God cannot live in a Course of Forgetfulness of God either as an holy Man noteth Want brings him or Love constrains him or Christ draws him and Christ will not be long from his if their Hearts come not up to him he will come into them and if he be there all is taken up with attending upon him SECT II. A Soliloquy at Waking HOw pretious are thy thoughts unto me O God! how great is the Sum of them c. When I awake I am still with thee Psal 139.17 18. O God thou art my God early will I seek thee my Soul thirsteth for thee my Flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty Land where no Water is To see thy Power and thy Glory so as I have seen thee in the Sanctuary Because thy Loving-kindness is better than Life my Lips shall praise thee Thus will I bless thee while I live I will lift up my hands in thy Name My Soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness and my Mouth shall praise thee with joyful Lips when I remember thee upon my Bed and meditate on thee in the Night-watches Because thou hast been my Help therefore in the shadow of thy Wings will I rejoice My Soul followeth hard after thee thy right hand upholdeth me Psal 63.1 to 9. O God my Heart is fixed I will sing and give praise even with my Glory Awake Psaltery and Harp I my self will awake early or in the Morning I will be up first and raise the Morning out of its Bed that I may come to the Celebration of thy Praises Psal 108.1 2. My Soul waiteth for thee O Lord more than they that watch for the Morning I say more than they that watch for the Morning Psal 130 6. He waited for the Lord more than they that watch for the Morning either as one Expositor saith more than they who in the Sanctuary of the Lord heedfully observ'd the Morning watch that they might offer the Morning Sacrifice in due season or more than they that are appointed to keep watch all Night do watch and long for the Morning as another Expositor hath it SECT III. Directions how to begin the Day GIve GOD your first waking Thoughts Suffer no Wordly Thought to enter till God first come in The First-fruits of the Mouth and of the Heart are to be offered unto God Primitiae oris cordis Deo offerendae Ambros in Psal 119. saith St. Ambrose So all evil and vain thoughts either will not dare to intrude or shall more easily be kept out The Mind of Man is never idle it will be always active either about God or the World Christ or Vanity Good or Evil. It is always busied in thinking devising pondering on somewhat or other Therefore it is necessary that first of all in the Morning we set our Minds to the Meditation of Divine and Heavenly Objects How will the Devil busy himself in injecting Multitudes of other thoughts into your Minds to divert your Minds from the sweet Meditation of God if you give not God your waking thoughts Multitudes of thoughts will run into your Minds like People running to a Bull-baiting or to see some strange Sight but you must watch against them and drive them away as Ahraham did the Fowls from his Sacrifice 2. Lift up your Hearts to God in a reverent manner and give him thanks for the rest of the Night past that his Compassions have not failed you but are renued every Morning that even in the Night you have received an apparent Evidence of his Love and whereas for your Sins committed the day before God might even in the dead of Sleep have taken your Souls from you and so have suddenly brought you to your account bless him that it hath been his good pleasure yet to spare you 3. If God's Glory be dear unto you you will or ought to begin every Day in this manner before you do any thing by offering to God's Glory what ye are about to do setting before him premeditately the Actions of the ensuing Day in this or the like manner My God whatsoever I shall this day speak or do yea whatsoever I shall think I offer wholly to thee these Prayers these Meditations these Alms these Devotions this Fasting these Works these Businesses these Actions these my Affairs I dedicate and consecrate unto thee nor desire I any thing else than what I shall perform this day may turn to thine Honour How sweet is it in the beginning of the day before a Man takes any new Matter in hand to lift up his Heart to God and to say thus within himself Lord I will undertake this or that Action by thy help and for thee this day for thee will I labour I will think this for thee for thee now will I hold my peace and now I will speak for thy Honour and Glory I will cast my self on thee for the following Day Use your selves constantly to this Course that your Consciences may check you when you neglect it Such a constant Course will keep off divers Temptations that may otherwise surprize you and engage your Hearts to God for all the day following SECT IV. At the Dawning of the Day and Rising of the Day-Star MEditate how the Gospel is tanquam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a Day-Star and the Work of the Spirit enlightning the Mind is as the dawning of the Day or rising of the Day-star in the Heart of a Christian So St. Peter commends those to whom he writeth for making use of the Old Testament of the Truth whereof they were assured in the mean time 2 Pet. 1.19 until by a further Work of the Spirit of Illumination their Hearts and Minds are more effectually instructed and more strongly assured of the Truth of the Gospel of Christ The Old Testament is as a Torch-light in a dark Room the New Testament revealed by the Spirit is as the Dawning of the Day or Rising of the Day-Star in comparison of that Light which shall appear at Christ's second Coming which shall be as the bright Rising of the Sun of Righteousness Consider that as the Dawning of the Day is in respect of the Night so is a Soul enlightned with the saving Knowledg of the Gospel to one in his natural Blindness And First If we compare such a Soul to those poor Creatures that want the outward Means of Knowledg it is manifest for these have no Light offered them whereby to come to know God in a saving way therefore in respect of this Knowledg there is a meer Night of Ignorance among them The
as before The Lord will shortly tread Satan under your feet but he stands his ground for the present 4. Be watchful after thy Falls lest a worse Temptation than a former befal thee If Satan seeth a Man stumble and fall he will keep him down if he can When he had drawn David to commit Adultery he put him upon Murder When he had made Peter to deny Christ once he proceeded in his Temptations Here let me propound divers Preservations against Temptations that ye may not be overcome by them 1. Preserve in thy Heart settled thoughts of God's Omnipresence Seneca would have Men to think upon grave Cato that he was always beholding them to keep them from Looseness If the presence of a Man then much more the Presence of God will keep a Man from Sin Wicked Men take liberty to Sin because they say Tush Thou God seest us not But God looks upon you not only when you are Fasting but Feasting not only when you are Praying but Playing not only in the Fields but in the House not only in the Parlour but in the Bed-chamber yea in the Closet Were this Consideration still in you God seeth us what Temptation could prevail against us It is said of an holy and reverend Man that he had this written before his Eyes in his Study Sin not thou though never so secret God seeth thee and the Angels stand by thee the Devil is ready to accuse thee thine own Conscience to give evidence against thee and Hell-fire to torment thee Be thou in the fear of God all the day long Prov. 23.17 2. Maintain in your Hearts thoughts of the strict account which ye shall one Day make of every Sin Answer all Temptations thus Oh I cannot answer for the Sins I have committed already And shall I now make work for the great Day Is not mine account great enough already Oh! How can I answer God for one of a thousand Sins that I have already committed 3. Let the Word of God dwell plenteously in your Hearts To hide the Word in your Hearts is the way to be kept from Sin Psal 119.9 Christ by Scripture vanquished the Devil Avoid Satan It is written Thou shalt not do thus or thus Set home the Commands of God the Threatnings of God the Curse of the Law upon thy Soul whensoever thou art tempted to Sin 4. Oppose Eternity of Torment to thy sinful Pleasures and say What advantage is it to win the whole World and lose my Soul for ever What! shall I adventure to lie under the Wrath of Almighty God for ever for a few momentany Pleasures Profits and Pleasures are the guilded Baits of all Temptations 5. Lodg holy thoughts in your Hearts and obey all motions of God's Spirit A Mind fraught with holy thoughts will not admit vain thoughts Intus existens prohibit alienum When Satan finds the heart void and swept of good thoughts then he enters with evil Suggestions So whilst thou art following the motions of God's Spirit this will quench diabolical motions 6. Pray fervently and frequently that God will be thy Guard Complain often to God that thou art in the midst of Enemies always vexing and enticing thee Thou canst go no where but the Devil is at thy right Hand Beseech the Lord that he will rebuke Satan If God be thy Shepherd he will rescue thee out of the Paw of the Bear and out of the Paw of the roaring Lion Finally Let me advise you to take heed of throwing your selves into the Lion's Mouth and into the Paws of the Bear It is a provoking tempting of God to give us over If Children will be medling with Fire it is wisdom in the Parent to let them burn their Fingers to prevent greater mischief No Man hath need to tempt the Devil to tempt him to Sin He is watchful enough to devour when a Man rusheth upon Temptations he tempts the Devil to tempt him when a Man will adventure upon keeping company with the Wicked he tempteth the Devil to tempt him SECT XXXII Of Mortification and the daily Exercising our selves therein DAily exercise your selves in the work of Mortification of Sin As the Poets write of that many-headed-Monster Hydra that Hercules encounter'd with that still the more Heads he cut off the more did repullulate and spring up in their rooms So we shall find it true of that uncouth monster of Sin that is bred in our Natures the more Corruptions and Temptations we vanquish and subdue the more will multiply upon us still and re-inforce their Assaults It will be every Days-work and all our Lives-work to mortifie all our Sins We must take all our Spiritual Enemies that we can light on and give Quarter to none that we take in Battel putting them all to the Sword as God commanded Saul to destroy All the Amalekites And so careful ought every Christian to be to rid the Field of All that he must stand armed in the Field after he hath beaten and vanquished all that appeared and prepare for such as are undiscovered As David that endeavoured not only to subdue all his known Sins and to be kept from presumptuous Sins but prayed also to be cleansed from his secret Sins Not from those which he cherished knowingly for of this sort he had none but which he had not yet discovered in himself or not understood to be Errours Labour ye by the power of Grace to charge through and through the whole body of Sin that ye may cast down not only the Actings but the very Imaginations and every high thing that exalts it self against the Knowledg of God and bring into captivity every thought to the Obedience of Christ Leave no Member unmortified no Sin unsubdued even when the reliques and remains of Sin be not wholly grubbed up Let every Christian every day endeavour to mortifie all his Corruptions By endeavouring to do it ye shall obtain thus much that though Corruption doth grow in your Nature yet it shall not overflow in your Nature A quick-springing Well that hath Water continually bubling and rising up in it yet being continually laded out and emptied still as fast as it fills the Current of it though it be not kept dry yet it shall be kept shallow and not suffered to swell above the Banks So it is with our Nature it is a Well that hath a quick Spring there is filthy Water that ever bubbles out of it but let us ever be pumping at it and lading it out now some and then some that as fast as it fills we may empty it this will be a means to keep it shallow though we cannot keep it dry that it shall with no great danger swell above the Banks St Paul's Lesson is plain Rom. 6.12 Let not Sin reign in your mortal Bodies Though Sin remain there yet let it not reign there at least not reign like a King though it reign like a Tyrant that we should be obedient to the Lusts of it
Christ to your Souls in calling upon him for the accomplishment of his Promises and he on the other side meeteth with you and speaketh to you then shall ye be sanctified by the Glory of the Lord ye shall see the light of his loving Countenance graciously and gloriously shining upon your Souls This hath a Sanctifying Virtue and Power in it As the Sun shining brightly and gloriously from time to time on Trees and Fruits doth give growing sweetness and ripeness to these Fruits So Christ by meeting us and shining on our Souls with the light of his Counteance when we present our selves before him aright in the due and daily performance of his Service and offering of this Sacrifice he doth sanctifie us by his Glory he doth alter the temper of our Souls he doth change and fashion us unto his likeness in Righteousness and true Holiness from Glory to Glory by his Spirit SECT XXXVII Of a Man's taking a review in the Evening of the Actions and Mercies of the Day past IT is good before you lie down to Sleep to take a review of all the Actions and Mercies of the past Day If thou wouldst know the Sins thou hast committed the Day past or the Week past or thy whole Life past thou mayst briefly run over all the Commandments of God and thou mayst easily see what Commandments thou hast Transgressed and so mayst be humbled for thy Sins and mayst renew thy Repentance and resolutions for better Obedience Look diligently into the whole state of thy Life consider what progress thou hast made in Godliness or how thou hast declined What Words thou hast spoken what Works thou hast done and to what end and in what manner they were performed Consider thine Apparel thy Service thine Attendance thy Table thy Conversation thy Entertainment and all thy Dealings and Demeanour whether they have not savoured of Pride and Vanity and let this be matter of Humiliation to thee Take a strict examen of thy Conscience every Evening For if Conscience condemn God doth much more Condemn And if Conscience acquit and justifie by the evidence of the Word and Spirit God doth Acquit and Justifie and we shall have confidence toward God What can more nearly concern us than daily to make a thorow and careful search of our own Consciences Shall Men be so careful to examine their Evidences by which they hold Lands and Annuities their Leases whereby they hold Farms and shall we be so careless as to let our Hearts and Conscienccs lie unexamined and unsearched I have read a Story of a certain King who after a long time of Bloody Wars which caused a great confusion in Men's outward Estates in a publick Assembly called upon his Subjects to shew their Evidences by which they held their Lands whereupon the Nobles being loth to have their Writings examined drew their Swords and said By these they held their Lands So there are many that cannot endure to search their Hearts and Consciences because they have no sound hope to find their Evidence good and clear to the Kingdom of Heaven Unless ye be justified by Faith in Christ your Consciences when they be indeed awakened and enlightned will condemn you Guilty in the sight of God and will condemn the best of your Actions as not wrought in God nor done in the Name of Christ not proceeding from the Love of God nor intended for his Glory Now ere ye can find your selves justified by Faith in Christ through the Gospel ye must find your Consciences condemning you for Sin and therefore daily yield them to be searched and convinced by the Word of God Take a review every Evening likewise of all the Gifts Graces Blessings Benefits God hath bestowed upon thee and consider after what sort thou hast employed them the Day past and examine whether all these things wherewith thou shouldst have done the more Service unto him who gave them thou hast not made Weapons and Instruments wherewith to offend him the more Examine how thou hast used thy Strength thy Health thy Riches thy Substance thy Life thy Understanding thy Memory thy Will thy Affections thy Sight thy Tongue thine Ears thy Hands and all the rest of thy Members and Faculties And then let the consideration of God's Benefits make thee to acknowledg him and his Goodness to love him As we are not to slight common Mercies yet extraordinary Mercies must be more specially and particularly observed by us SECT XXXVIII Of providing in the Evening for the Day to come IT is good Advice that one giveth that a Christian should begin from the Evening the purpose of good Works which he is to perform the next Day what points he ought to meditate upon what Vice he should resist what Vertue he should exercise what Affairs he is to take in hand to make all appear in its proper time with a well matured Providence It is the Thred of Ariadne which guideth our Actions in the great labyrinth of Time otherwise all runneth to Confusion Some commend the Evening as a fit time for Meditation viz. from the Sun-setting to the Twi-light It is said of Isaac that he went forth into the Field in the Evening to meditate and to pray The Original Word signifies both Duties It is conceived by some Interpreters that David penned the eighth Psalm in the Night occasioned by his meditation on the Works of God In the Evening consider that every Morning hath its Evening and the longest Day hath its Night So every Man's day of Life will have its night of Death The longest day of Life will have its night of Death Think upon that speech of our Saviour John 9.4 I must Work while it is Day for the Night cometh wherein no Man can Work There is no working out your Salvation when the night of Death is come If thou O Man hast spent the Day in vain delights and pleasures ask thy self in the Evening what satisfaction thou hast found in those Vanities which thou hast so eagerly pursued all the Day before and what comfort they now afford unto thee Ah! they are now gone and passed and they have left but a sad relish behind But if yet thou resolvest to tread the same paths of Sin and Destruction again be thou well assured that a Night will come which shall never have Morning When being covered with the shadow of Death thou shalt lie down in everlasting Sorrow Then wilt thou cry out in the anguish of thy Soul O what an unfortunate Wretch am I that had time and opportunity to gain that blessed State which Angels and Saints do enjoy in the Kingdom of Heaven and would not use the benefit thereof O how idly and wickedly hath the time of my Life passed away which shall never return again And now for a few momentany Pleasures on Earth I must suffer intollerable and everlasting Torments in Hell O unhappy Pleasures O cursed Change O unfortunate Hour and Moment wherein I thus blinded