direction how both shall be employed But so it falls out that as the Slaves and the Souldiers sometimes prove mutinous and unruly and combining their forces together make themselves masters of the Conservators of the true peace and liberty so have the violent desires that are in us of enjoying a sensual good and of avoiding all outward evils and inconveniencies grown to such a head-strong and unbridled humor that they have overtopt reason and refuse to hearken to the authority and to obey the dictates of our understanding Many wayes have been tryed both by God and Man to reduce them to a good agreement again But though all fair satisfaction hath been offered and is allowed to the lower part it would not yield to a surrender of that power and soveraignty which it hath usurped As a company of Factious people that strive for superiority over their Governours when they have compassed their designs and possessed themselves of the throne are with more difficulty suppressed than they were before kept in subjection So it is with the multitude of mens furious lusts and passions now that they have dethroned reason advanced themselves into the seat of Government Having tasted very strongly of a sensual good and felt the sweetness as they take it of being absolute they are loth to be denyed the license which they have so long enjoyed and will by no means grant any obedience to be due to an higher power God was pleased therefore to manifest himself in our flesh to countenance the claim and assert the title of our Mind and Understanding and by shewing its undoubted right of Government to take up this controversie and put an end to these sad contests which have hapned to the ruin of mankind In the Lord Jesus there appeared such an absolute and constant dominion of the Spirit as in the first Adam after his fall there did of the Flesh And he came not only to give us a glorious Example to overawe all unruly motions in us by his divine Authority and to inspire our feeble Spirits with some courage by his great and precious promise of eternal life but to comfort us by his Death Resurrection and Exaltation at the right hand of the Majesty on high with the hopes of a mighty power from above to aid and assist us in our Christian conflict with all unreasonable desires This he actually sends into our souls to give them sufficient force and ability for the doing of their duty redeeming themselves from this slavery and recovering their ancient rights and liberty And in all those who attend unto his holy Counsels and receive his Divine grace and are renewed and led by his good Spirit there appear many happy tokens of the Souls victory and they are daily winning new conquests over the flesh with all the affections and lusts thereof The heavenly good seems so great in their eyes that they cannot upon any terms think of submitting their souls any longer to attend wholly or chiefly upon the pleasures and satisfactions of the lower man The mind is furnished with such right opinons the Will is become so tractable and compliant with their resolutions the Affections grow so subject and obedient to the orders and commands of both in short God and his will is so seriously loved and their Spirit strives so earnestly after the ardors and fervent Devotion of love that the ancient Government is again restored its lost authority rights and royalties are manifestly recovered and they live in good hope to be more than conquerors over all temptations from the World the Flesh and the Devil aspiring to an humble rejoycing glorying and triumph over all these enemies But notwithstanding all this these men remain still both flesh and spirit The Body is not destroyed the goods wherein it delights have not altered their nature its habitation is not removed from their neighbourhood and it retains the same inclination to them and they are often remembring it of its forepast fruitions and which is worst of all the Soul cannot presently recover its perfect health and soundness but feels the maimes and the bruises that it got when it was formerly beaten down and oppressed by them Hence it comes to pass that for some time at least there are many motions made for a revolt and every thing in the world is tampering with the heart to corrupt and bring it over again to their party and the mind it self in some fits almost wearied with their importunity may be ready to lend half an ear to these solicitations There is not such a perfect peace established but there will be some endeavours of the fleshly part to resume its power and get into its hand its pretended liberty Yea by the violence of many outward accidents the mind may sometimes fall into a dream and be tempted to muse whether there be sufficient reason to prefer those future and unseen goods before present enjoyments The Will may begin to bend it self to some civil carriage and fair complyance with the flesh the Affections being much wooed and complimented may feel themselves in danger to be inveigled or the heat at least and liveliness of Devotion may in such a condition be much abated and impaired And indeed it is not to be expected that the Body should go along as nimbly as the Spirit would have it towards a good with which it is not acquainted All that the Mind can do is to take a very great care that it move it self with as slow a pace towards that good to which the other is most inclined That we love these outward things cannot be blamed but it will require much diligence to keep our hearts from doting on that for which we naturally have no small affection That we hold some acquaintance with them can by no means be avoided but that we grow not too familiar with them ought to be our prudent care and cannot without some difficulty be prevented There will some kindnesses pass between us and we cannot deny the Body these sensible pleasures but that our Souls should thereby suffer themselves to be undermined and their interest betrayed there is no small danger For while the Good of the body is near at hand and the Good of the soul is at some distance while that which is near seems great and that which is remote seems small while the one is present and the other future while things present call upon us and we must earnestly call for things future while the one is alwayes before us and the other comes but at certain seasons while the one is of old and the other but of a late acquaintance we having been bred up with the one and being but brought to the other the one coming first and the other thereby prejudiced as long I say as there are these plain advantages on the one side if we use not attentive diligence to give the soul just and true information they will prevail with it inconsiderately to slight the
with such a mighty love to thee as may set Thee alway before me and carry forth my Soul in ardent desires after thee and fill me with an humble confidence in thee and make me watchful active and zealous in my duty and never suffer me to distrust thy pitty and indulgence when I unwillingly offend thee and assure me of thy kind intentions in all the cross accidents of this life which are most offensive to me I doubt not O Lord of a power from above continually to attend me now that I feel thy love so strong and powerful in me I believe thou wilt do more for me both here and eternally than heart can conceive O how great things hast thou laid up for those that fear thee O the heighth of that joy which thou hast set before us to encourage us in our Christian race O the comfort of those gracious words which promise us after our short pains and trouble here a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory How pleasant is it to wait for thy Son Jesus from Heaven to give a Crown of righteousness to me and to all those that love his appearing Preserve I beseech thee this holy love and faith most fresh and lively in my heart to my great increase in all the fruits of righteousness which are by Christ Jesus unto thy glory and praise Maintain in me such chearful thoughts of thee that Religion may be my delight as much as it is my duty and I may alway approach unto Thee with a joyful heart being glad to leave the company of all other things to go to thee my God my exceeding joy Reconcile me so perfectly to every other part of my Christian duty that all the actions of an holy life may be but so many motions of hearty love to thee and I may so feel the ease and satisfaction of all well doing as to love and delight the more in thee whose wayes are wayes of pleasantness and all whose paths are Peace I am sensible of the uncertainty of all things else but only of thy love which will inspire me I hope to behave my self worthy of the greatness of it in every state and condition of life O that in prosperity I may think I have an opportunity to show how much I love Thee above the World by exercising humility heavenly-mindedness charity temperance and purity and in adversity how much I love thee more than my self by expressing all patience meekness forgiveness of others chearful submission to Thee and confidence in Thee with thankfulness for all thy past and remaining mercies Be they always acknowledged and never forgotten by me For which end I again consecrate my Soul to be thy holy Temple wherein may dwell continually pious and religious thoughts devout Meditations of Thee and remembrance of thy loving kindness intire love to Thee sending up perpetual Hymnes of Praise and Thanksgiving together with the constant sacrifice of an humble and obedient heart That so I may be filled with the comfort and joy of the Holy Ghost at present and hereafter be admitted into the fellowship of Saints and Angels with them to rejoyce and praise Thee in fulness of love World without end Amen IV. BUT as I would have you exceedingly in love with Religion so I must advise you not to charge your self with too many or too long exercises of Devotion For Honey it self will cloy us and a perpetual scent of Roses may become offensive to us Observe therefore what you can do with ease and a pleasantness of Spirit And when you find your self to be free and forward then you may be the longer and more enlarged in your Devotions But when you are very heavy and straitned then it is not fit to tire your spirits and drag them along with you whither they have no strength to accompany you nor any disposition to comply with your desires Our Body is such a beast and sometimes so dull and restife that if we spur it on to a faster pace it not only quite tires but will have no list to travel any more Whereas if we bait it a while and suffer it to take some repast and give it some rest it will go along with us to the end of our Journey When our spirits are dull already we make them more dull by our restless importunity to do as we would have them As a Child you may have observed when he cannot think of his Lesson the more his Teacher chides and calls upon him the more blockishly he stands and the further it is beat out of his memory so it is very frequently with the natural spirits of every one of us They are so oppressed and stupid at certain seasons that if we labour to set them in motion it doth but dispose them the more to stand stock-still But if we let them alone and for that time leave them they will be like the same Child who in a short time comes to himself and is able to say his Lesson perfectly They will go whither we would have them and perhaps run before us We must do then with our selves as one that is weak and going up an high and steep Hill When he feels his Legs begin to fail him and complain that they are weary he rests a while and sits him down to recruit himself And it will not be long before he hear his mind calling on him to try if he hath not gathered some new strength with which he marches a little further according as it will carry him And if he hath any cordial spirits in his Pocket a little taste of them may much revive him in this languishing condition Yea the pleasant prospect of the Fields round about him and the various Objects that gratefully entertain his eyes if he cast them on every side will be a fit divertisement for his mind to turn it from thinking of his weariness Thus I say My Friend it is adviseable for you to do rest your self a while and make a pause when you perceive your spirits begin to flag Break your Devotions into little parts and take not the Journey you have set your self all at once When your mind tels you that now you are better able or prompts you to try your strength then up again and go forward And between whiles turn your mind aside to something or other that is wont to please you much Think of some good Friend of the many fair accommodations that God hath afforded you of the pleasant Meadows as I may call them and the still Waters by which he leads you or betake your self to some Divine promise and take a taste of the love of God contained therein which is as a Cordial to chear and refresh the Spirits or run to the extract or quintessence that you have drawn as I shall direct you anon out of former Meditations and some of these its possible may make you quite forget that you were faint and weary And truly for the most
whom he loved better If therefore we had such a love to God as others have to the things of this World the thoughts of them could not quite thrust out the thoughts of him But still we should be apt to write if I may so speak upon the very forehead of every earthly good God is most lovely or God is my exceeding joy the Lord is my portion O how amiable are his Courts or as an holy man who it is said could never get these words out of his mouth My God and all things Where he is there in effect are all things and where his love dwells there he will be sure to be We shall meet him every where see him in every beautiful thing and taste him before we have done in all the delightful enjoyments of this life 2. And as it comprehends in it the practice of making God present which some Masters in Divinity have said may serve instead of all other Rules for the ordering of our life aright so it contains in it likewise the very spirit of Prayer to God which all acknowledg to be not only a great part of a godly life but a great help and furtherance to us in all the rest of our Christian duty If by Prayer we understand as some have explained it the ascent or raising up of the Soul to God it is love only which continually aspires towards him and carries the heart aloft from other things to be joyned to him Or if we call it the converse of the Soul with God which are the words of Gregory Nyssen or a holy conference and discourse with the Divine Majesty as it is termed by S. Chrysostome it is manifest the love of God includes this in it for it is the nature of this passion to make us frequent the company of those whom we love Their conversation is most welcome their discourse delightful we are exceedingly desirous to impart our mind to them and especially to let them know how much we love them For which purpose it needs not alwayes the help of the tongue but can frame a language of its own and speak by the very countenance and the eyes and make use of silence instead of words to declare its inclinations According to the admirable expression of the Psalmist who setting forth the pious affections of the People to God their Deliverer saith Praise is silent for thee O God in Sion so the Hebrew hath it as your Margin tells you to Thee shall the vow be performed But let us take it simply for the desiring and requesting good things of God and then we must needs acknowledg that love being a passion full of desires cannot but comprehend in it as I said at first the very spirit of Prayer and Supplication You know how much we long for that to which we have given our hearts And therefore if they be devoted in love to God we cannot chuse but be ever breathing after more sensible apprehensions and tastes of him So much as we love him so much we shall thirst after a larger communication of his Divine Grace to us It will make us sigh for more tokens of his favour and wait for a greater power of his Holy Spirit and vehemently long to be more transformed and changed into his Image What was it but this that made David say Psal 42.1 As the Hart panteth after the Water-brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God The chased Deer in a great Forrest and in the midst of Summer did not more long after the streames of Water than this good Man being it is likely in the Wilderness of Judah and so denyed the favour of going to the Tabernacle of God did ardently desire the happiness which there he had sometime tasted in the Divine Presence He opens his mouth and pants after this with a thirst so vehement that it makes him cry out in the following words O when shall I come and appear before God It is the heat of that Creature to whose pantings David compares the longings of his Soul which is the cause of its thirst and that being a constant desire which goes not off by continuance as many inconveniences do but rather more encreases it beares the greater resemblance to this Divine passion of love whose fervours and ardent longings are perpetual and do not abate by length of time but grow still greater and greater There is nothing so likely as this to enable us to fulfil that exhortation of the Apostle Pray without ceasing and to make us importunate and unwearied in it which are the two qualifications our Saviour requires in our devout addresses to God Luk. 18.1 Where you read a Parable of his to this end that Men ought alwayes to pray and not faint It marvelously disposes us also for the Divine favour by moving us to quit all that is inconsistent with our desires in hope of that which we pray God to bestow upon us There was a Monarch you have heard perhaps who offered his Kingdome for a Cup of cold Water in a time of extreme thirst And therefore what is it which the heat of this heavenly affection will not make us resign to God and absolutely part withall that it may obtain its Petitions and have its desires satisfied Besides it hath one wonderful power in it which nothing else can furnish us withall to make our Prayers prevalent and that is by fixing our thoughts and fastning our minds to the business which we are about For love you know doth not willingly stir from the Object to which it is devoted It is this flame which keeps our heart close to the Holy Sacrifice and will not easily suffer us to wander from the Gate of Heaven It sets us in the Presence of God it keeps our eye upon him it makes us converse attentively with him and while the power of it lasts our very hearts are tyed to him and cannot go aside from him But as soon as ever it begins to dye or decay then it is that the mind steales away and gads about the World till this flame revive again and make us fly back to the Altar of God The best Soul that is I confess may feel some loosness and distraction of spirit especially at some untoward season some ashes may dim and dull the Fire but yet this love and ardent desire will keep the greater part of our thoughts together and knit our heart so to our duty that there shall be no long nor wide breaches in it but it shall still be strong and fervent and effectual with our Heavenly Father Thus you see how wisely these two are joyned together by St. Jude v. 20. Who after he had exhorted the Faithful to Pray in the Holy Ghost immediately bids them keep themselves in the love of God There is nothing comparable to this to inspire us with devout and earnest desires And it hath an equal force also to excite us to Praise and Acknowledg our great Benefactor who gives
be performed at another time so they will not wait upon us and stay our leisure and that as they pass away so we know not when they will come again For May as the Proverb is comes not every Moneth and a fit opportunity lies not in every lock of Times head And if there should yet it is bald behind and we cannot call back that which is gone which may be better than will be presented to us again And if we find by experience that these occasions do excite our Souls then the observing and embracing them will be an excellent means to keep us from dulness because it is likely that God will favour us with more of them when he sees that we use those well which he hath given us already But yet you ought to be cautious that this do not prove matter of scruple and perplexity to you if you neglect an occasion when you are otherwise necessarily employed For both prudence and the forwardness of our affections and every thing else must give way to a real necessity and of two necessary things that seems to be most necessary in which we are already engaged Make therefore a short Address to God and both comfort and quicken your self after this manner when you are dull and indisposed or otherwise apt to be perplexed upon such accounts as these A PRAYER O My God whose Name is most excellent in all the Earth and ought to be celebrated with the highest and continual Praises of Men and Angels How happy are they whose minds are ever delighted in the thoughts of Thee and whose hearts constantly burn with ardent affection and devotion to Thee It is some satisfaction to think of that vehement love wherewith the Holy Spirits above perpetually acknowledg thy bounty to them to us and to all thy Creatures and to feel my self desirous if it were possible to accompany them at all times with the like affections of a most chearful and joyful heart in that Heavenly employment Accept I most humbly beseech thy Divine Goodness of these sincere desires that thou hast wrought in me Graciously accept of these pantings of my Soul after a freer and more delightful converse with Thee And pitty the great weakness and dulness of my nature which will not permit such ardours of love to continue always as by thy grace I sometimes feel in my heart towards Thee Pitty O pitty and take compassion upon me when I am so heavy as not to be able to lift up mine eyes towards Heaven or when I move so slowly and faintly as if I had no lift to serve thee in the works of piety righteousness and charity O that I may feel my spirit stirred with a greater zeal and carried with stronger desires at all other times when I am better disposed for thy service that then I may run the ways of thy Commandments when thou hast enlarged my heart And endue me likewise with prudence equal to that uprightness and integrity of heart which I hope I shall always carefully preserve That I may neither neglect any occasion of exciting and expressing a most fervent love to Thee nor dispirit my self by an indiscreet heat and forwardness to the performance of any part of my Christian duty Dispose me but to be ever serious resolved stedfast and watchful to be always well or innocently imployed and to be still going on with continued and constant motions to perfect holiness in thy fear and I shall hope by thine Infinite grace to finish my course at last with joy and to arrive at the happiness of that blessed company who as they do thy Commandments hearkning to the voice of thy Word so they are not weary in their obedience to Thee but with incessant Praises and Thanksgivings serve Thee World without end Amen V. YOU see already how necessary it is well to understand our selves and therefore lest you should think the pleasures of Religion to be other than they are it will concern you My Friend in the next place to Distinguish carefully between those consolations that are spiritual and those that are sensible For your receiving benefit by this Rule you must consider that the spirit of man being as I said joyned to a body and made a member of this World and yet belonging to another Country hath several sorts of faculties which we call its upper and lower powers whereby it converses with both With the former which are the mind understanding and will it hath entercourse with God and Invisible things and is fitted to improve all lower objects to an heavenly end with the other which we call sense imagination and sensitive appetite we can maintain acquaintance with nothing but this outward World Or rather this one Soul of Man is fitted with Capacities of such different kinds that it can hold correspondence with God and the higher World and likewise with the goods of the body in this World which is sensible to us Now such a friendship there is between the Soul and the Body by reason of their nearness and between the upper and lower faculties of the Soul if you so conceive of it by reason as I may call it of their oneness that they do mutual good offices for each other when they are able And as the Soul lends such a great part of it self to serve the Bodies necessities so the bodily spirits likewise are ready to assist the Soul in their better Moods to a freer pursuit of its own concernments in its motion towards God and the things above And more than this the pleasures of the one redound to the other what the Soul doth for the Body returning upon the mind it self and the bodily spirits likewise oft-times feeling the contentment of which the mind tasteth Hence it is that by discreet use of bodily enjoyments and due attendance to the outward Mans moderate satisfaction the spirits ofttimes are made so mild and sweet so chearful and compliant that the Mind finds them more ready and forward to accompany it in the contemplation of Diviner objects and it serves it self the more by serving the Body for a while And on the contrary part when the mind converses with Heavenly things they so powerfully touch it at certain Seasons that they make a motion there all over even as far as the very skirts of its Territories The Heart is glad the Spirits leap and dance for joy and the very blood in our Veins runs the smoother for it Now while we have this sensible delectation in the borders of our Soul by the agitation of the Animal Spirits to which the mind communicates its resentments there is no part of us but can be well content to accompany the mind in its devotions and they will not be enclined to with draw their attendance from these delightful services But on the other side if the Mind through incapacity it is like of the Body to receive them cannot impress its perceptions upon the Spirits nor make such a warmth and