time tempts thee to despair of GOD's Mercy and to think that thou art eternally wretched or hast committed the unpardonable Sin shew him the Gospel oppose to his Temptations the Glorious Mystery of Man's Redemption by Jesus Christ. Set before him the Noble Design and the most generous overture of the Gospel And that will be a means to aggravate his Despair but to comfort and support thee who art within that Covenant which He is not Christ came into the World to save thee He died to satisfy the Justice of GOD for thee He rose again for our justification He is gone into Heaven to intercede with God continually in thy behalf and to procure all manner of good for thee He is God all powerful all-sufficient and most merciful What an affront then is it to such a Redeemer to yield to black and despairing Thoughts What a Reproach cast upon his Merit and Satisfaction and a cowardly and pusillanimous disowning of his power and goodness and a diffidence in his Veracity and the authentickness of his gracious Promises The Application of the Sweet and precious Promises containâ—d in the word of God is also a proper expedient against this kind of evil Thoughts As the Scripture contains terrible and severe Threatnings to deter secure and stubborn Sinners so it is a Treasure of most comfortable Promises for the support and stay of Mournful and Timerous Souls Without which indeed it would be sometimes an hard matter for poor Christians to bear up under the Thoughts of an approaching Eternity and to resist the furious assaults and the fiery darts of the Devil Almighty God hath therefore engag'd his Veracity that if we fear him and keep his Commandments live according to the plain Rules of the Gospel and believe we shall be assuredly happy and blessed In order to which he hath also liberally promised all such supplies of Grace and Assistance as we shall at any time need These Promises therefore we should firmly believe and lay hold on and apply to our selves when we are at any time haunted with such desperate injections as we are speaking of In vain have Christians this Spiritual Armory and Magazine if they let these Weapons of war lie unus'd Ah! but says the Disconsolate and Drooping Soul I am satisfy'd of the Goodness of God of the Infinite Merit of Jesus Christ that He was an Inestimable Oblation for Sin and a Sacrifice of transcendent value but oh I fear that the vertue of that great Sacrifice belongs not to me But hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith unto all them that truly turn to him Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden with the burden of your sins and I will refresh you So God loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son to the end that all that believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life I believe also saith the Desponding Soul the exceeding great and precious Promises I am fully persuaded that in Christ all the promises of God are Yea and Amen And that Heaven and Earth shall pass away but not one tittle of God ' s word shall pass away But these Promises do not appertain to me I have forfeited all Title and Claim to them and therefore oh am certainly lost and undone for ever But let me beseech thee whoever thou art that art depress'd with such Thoughts as these to beware and consider That this is a bold and a peremptory Sentence which thou passest on thy self Such a Sentence as none of all the created Beings can affirm 'T is the suggestion of the most desperate Being the Enemy of our Souls and what finite Being can without the height of Presumption pass such a Sentence upon any Person which too is so far from being true that it is utterly false For the gracious Promises of the Gospel are offered to all whatsoever none are excepted And every one that will lay hold of them hath a title to them provided he comes up to the conditions on which they are establish'd And therefore in God's Name hearken no longer to such terrifying Thoughts but let this still the boistrous and troubled sea spread a calm over thy Mind and stir thee up to a devout Application of the Blessed Promises of God to thy own sinful Soul Constant and devout Prayer is here also absolutely necessary Pray we therefore that God would quiet and still our hurried and affrighted Spirits That he would in mercy be pleas'd to give us a right Understanding of our selves his Promises and Threatnings that we may not cast away our Confidence in him nor place it any where but in him That God would vouchsafe to deliver us from the terrours of Satan who is by St. Peter stil'd A roaring Lion walking about seeking whom he may devour That he would scatter these black Clouds and Mists which overspread our Souls with the light of his countenance and shine in upon our drooping sorrowful and sick Souls That the Sun of Righteousness may arise upon us with healing in his wings and that the Lord would grant us that inward joy and peace of Conscience which the World cannot give and which passeth all understanding That he would no longer hide his face from us but shew us some glimpse of his favour which is better than the life it self That he would heal all the diseases and infirmities both of our Souls and Bodies that the bones which he hath broken may rejoyce Is any among you afflicted saith St. James let him pray Then especially is a proper time to seek God's face Call upon me saith God in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me Ah! but I cannot pray I cannot perform any holy Duty or fix to any one part of Religion I no sooner retire into my Closet or kneel down upon my knees but a thousand terrours infest me so that I think 't were better to let Devotion alone then to perform it no better Ah! Lord But let me ask thee Dost thou do thy utmost dost thou sincerely desire to do thy duty and to please God and dost thou put a force upon thy self sometimes to perform the Duty of Prayer or any other holy Duty tho' it be with many interruptions and distractions Continue to do so for by so doing thou wilt approve thy self unto GOD who seeth thy Heart and in all probability thy fears and terrours will by degrees vanish these sad and dismal Thoughts will lessen and at length quite leave thee GOD is a God hearing Prayers He will be sought to in our distresses and implored in our afflictions Say then with the Psalmist Why art thou cast down O my Soul and why art thou so disquieted within me hope thou in God pray to him for I shall yet praise him who is the help of my countenance and my God Again To prevent these sad dejected or despairing Thoughts we are speaking of we
the best of men are not above that advice 1 Cor. 10. 12. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall If we do not keep a strict watch and a careful hand over our thoughts they will inevitably betray us when an opportunity serves and make most furious assaults upon us when we are least aware of it We can no more restrain them when we please whatever we think we can no more stop them from breaking out than we can smother a raging Flame or chain a foaming Billow And therefore whosoever he be that allows his thoughts an extravagant liberty he is much mistaken if he thinks that he is sure to stop there But admit that he could Can it be thought by any Rational Creature that God doth not take any notice of his thoughts themselves Suppose it were in the power of any person to act contrary to his habit of thinking and to avoid the practice of these sins which he indulges himself in the speculation of Hath an Omniscient and an holy God think you no regard to the thoughts and the inward temper and disposition of the Soul If we think so then we have mean thoughts of him indeed and make Religion degenerate into the service of brute beasts For wherein doth man differ from them but in his Reason and Thought and that he is capable of knowing God of being ravish'd with his Excellencies and Perfections and encouraged by his suitable Rewards and taking delight in the glorious Communications of himself to his Soul and serving him with his whole heart and being united to him by a life of thought Upon which consideration it must needs follow that the Great God is so far from disregarding our thoughts that he hath a principal respect to them And tho it should chance that they should never break out into Actions and Gross Practices yet God looks to the inward parts is a narrow observer and searcher of the thoughts is pleased when his Throne is established in the Soul and his Dominion and Empire over all its Thoughts and imaginations and abhors and abandons an unclean wicked or Rebellious Heart To him all the Pomp of Religion and splendor of outward Performances is without it detestable The Soul is the Seat of Religion As for the Parts and Members of our Bodies they are intirely at the Command of the Mind The Understanding and Will are their Despotick Rulers And as the Heart and the Thoughts are disposed so is the Practice and Conversation and therefore them the Almighty principally regards As a Man can never testifie the truth of his Love to God or evidence the Sincerity of his Soul without having a special regard to the well Governing of his Thoughts So without it Damnation may justly be his Portion tho the Plague break not out in the Botches and Ulcers of a profligate Conversation tho the Pollution be concealed and hidden Indeed if we are so prophane as to think of God as a Man and esteem Him to be such an one as our selves If His Eye could not penetrate any deeper than ours but were fallible and weak If he could not see into our Breasts and discover the Secrets of our Hearts Then there might be some reason for us to imagine that He did not regard our Thoughts so our visible behaviour were smooth and untainted But since He is an All-seeing and an All-knowing God and professedly declares himself such in the Sacred Scriptures The reason of Man cannot submit to such an idle fancy as this viz. that He hath no respect to a Mans Thoughts but on the contrary must believe that He hath an especial Eye to them and will assuredly call us to an Account for them at the Day of Judgment For tho our Saviour's Discourse Mat. 12. 36. extends only to every idle word yet in the very Verse before he shews that the Heart is principally regarded and therefore to be observed by our selves And more fully and clearly in his divine Sermon on the Mount Mat. 5. 20. For I say unto you that except your Righteousness shall exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the Judgment But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the Judgment And v. 27. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time thou shalt not commit Adultery but I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery already with her in his heart From all which it plainly appears that if a man could indulge himself in all manner of Licentious thoughts without any further danger yet that God knows is evil sufficient because the thoughts of the Heart are principally regarded by Almighty God But indeed it is hardly possible to imagine how any person that is careless of his heart should be otherwise of his Life or how he that is vain filthy or any way Vicious in his Imaginations can be pure and holy sober and Religious in his Conversation and Practice Upon both which accounts we see the vast Advantage that we shall iufallibly reap by being diligent and careful in the well-governing of our thoughts But Thirdly That which will serve to make us further sensible of the great advantage of well-governing our thoughts is this Viz. That we shall ever be in a preparation for the best and most weighty Duties by this means We shall not only be able to resist and repel the fury of temptations but be ready for the performance of every Duty These men that have not inur'd themselves to an habit of Thought and constantly exercised a strict regimen over the motions of their own Hearts will require a great deal of time to recollect and order their Thoughts and reduce them into a proper Frame and Posture These that carelesly give their Minds a loose as soon as any solemn and weighty Duty is over and suffer their Thoughts to return to the old Subject of the World or any other of their Vanities The same difficulty will attend them to bring their Thoughts into a due Frame again which did at first So that they will thereby be mightily hindered in their advances in Religion Their progress in Holiness will be much retarded They labour in a Circle Or at best they will move but slowly on in the way to Heaven in comparison of these that keep a constant and strict Government over their Thoughts These latter will be able always to say with the Psalmist O God my Heart is ready my Heart is ready And what an happy and desirable temper of Soul is this What Spiritual comforts and benefits do these enjoy which others for want of a due care and watchfulness deprive themselves of These only want
God we of the Church of England are in no danger of having our Thoughts thus drawn aside Because these few Ceremonies which are observ'd in it are appointed in great Wisdom and Discretion And there is not the least thing in all our Liturgy that is apt to excite one vain or wandring Thought in any Man's Mind but all is so uniformly ordered and disposed as greatly tends to the increase of Piety and advancement of true Devotion This must be acknowledg'd by all sober and impartial Men so that I need only mention this particular But yet there is one thing which I think to be here worth our Notice and which very much conduceth to the prevention of wandring Thoughts in the Worship of God And that is an Vniformity of Action in the Divine Service My meaning is that we should kneel when others kneel and stand when they stand as the Church in the Rubricks appoints and observe an Harmony in our outward deportments as well as inward Devotions and this will be a means of preserving our Thoughts from flying off Whereas when this Person kneels and another stands up a third sits down a fourth leans c. this is apt to beget in us an improper variety of Thoughts and to make our Minds wandring Covetousness and Worldly-mindedness necessarily makes our Thoughts vain and wandring while we are about holy things In this case especially it's true that No man can serve God and Mammon We can no more have our Thoughts Heavenly and Earthly Spiritual and Carnal at the same time than we can look upward and downward at once Covetousness therefore and worldly-mindedness must needs be avoideed if we would escape Wandring Thoughts For how can such a Man pray or serve God in any tolerable manner who hath all the while his Heart and affections set upon the World How can he attend upon the Ordinances of GOD without interruption whose Mind is at home about his Riches Farms or his Merchandise These things steal away his Thoughts and for that reason Covetousness is by St. Paul termed Idolatry Here therefore especially must we practise that Advice of our Blessed Saviour Take no thought saying What shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed For after all these things do the Gentiles seek for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things But seek ye first the Kingdom of God his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you When-ever therefore thou settest about the duty of Prayer Meditation or any other holy Duty either in private or publick be sure to shut out all covetous sensual and worldly Thoughts Let not thy Mind hanker after those Flesh-pots when thou art going into Canaan and to have some prospect tho' not to take possession of the promis'd Land This is the way to have thy Mind fix'd and intent and by that means better'd and edified This is the Mystical meaning of that Action of our Saviour viz. His whipping the buyers and sellers out of the Temple saying My house shall be called the house of prayer but ye have made it a den of thieves 'T was to shew that when we come into the House of GOD to worship the Eternal Majesty and in all other holy Duties we should abhor all such profane mixtures as Covetousness and Worldly-mindedness which are the Tables of the Money-changers and the Seats of them that sold Doves and altogether unsuitable to these holy Performances we are about We must therefore take our leave of all worldly covetous or anxious Thoughts otherwise our Minds must unavoidably wander when like that of Martha They are cumbred about many things All the cares of the world must be banished from our Hearts Even prudent and honest care is unseasonable here and nothing but this one thing necessary must be minded As for all worldly Thoughts or terrestrial Imaginations we must shake off the very dust of them from our feet We must in our Devotions soar so high as to be out of reach of the fatal Magnetism of Earth This must we endeavour to do if we would avoid this kind of evil Thoughts viz. wandring Thoughts in holy Duties Again In the next place there must not be the least grain of Ambition or Vain-glory in any of our Performances for that will carry away our Thoughts and Imaginations after a thousand vain and foolish objects The approving our selves to an Omniscient GOD must be our sole end in all holy Duties And the only reason of our being pleas'd with our best and most excelling Performances if such sinful ones can any of them be called so should be that they the more tend to the Glory of God least we lose all the reward of them and incur that just opprobrium of our Saviour's wo on the Scribes and Pharisees When thou prayest thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets that they may be seen of men verily I say unto you they have their reward To these Rules and Directions in order to the avoiding wandring Thoughts may be added A careful observance of all the Duties of the Lords-day A minding the things of this World when they ought to be minded with indifference and a trust in the over-ruling Providence of God That we be more and more humble and repenting That there remain no sin unmortified in us A devout and earnest Praying to be delivered from them that so we may serve GOD without distraction in imitation of the Blessed in Heaven c. These are the Principal Rules that I could discover in order to the avoiding vain and wandring Thoughts in the worship of God Which are oftentimes an unspeakable affliction to Good Christians and which 't is no small difficulty to prevent But if after the use of these Directions which I have laid down and all that we can do we cannot be rid of them but they will still haunt and disturb us yet we must persist in our Duty Tho' they should come very thick upon us yet we must not be discouraged from our Duty For leaving that undone is I am sure far from being a Remedy against them and gives the Devil a greater advantages over us than we are aware We must therefore continue in our duty tho' it be with an heavy heart And then we shall retain the Vertue tho' we lose the present satisfaction of our Obedience GOD sees the sincerity of our hearts and will assuredly reward us at the last Altho the Devil who hath a great hand in these Thoughts also as we find in the Parable of the Sower doth continually vex and trouble us with them yet let us wait upon GOD with patience and an humble observance of these Rules laid down as far as we are able and then we shall be in no danger by reason of such Thoughts tho' we should be grappling and