Interest require and begin to treasure up joys to lay up rewards and happiness for our selves These are things surely that cannot be done too soon If there be good reason to forsake a wicked Life at all 't is unreasonable in the least to delay the doing so When we come to condemn our selves in earnest for our Sins we shall condemn our selves too for continuing so long in them Let us all then be able to say with David at least from this time I made hast and delayed not O Lord to keep thy Commandments THE PRAYER O Lord the eternal God Creator and Owner and Sovereign Lord of all things By thee the Heavens were framed and all the Host of them by the breath of thy Mouth Thou hast made the Earth and the Sea and all that is in them and all that thou hast made is thine the World is thine and the fulness thereof all is of thee and through and to thee We who are now before thee here are a small handful of Creatures whom thou hast brought into Being from the Ground thou raisest our living Bodies and by thy mighty Power hast formed the Spirit within us And we Lord are thine thy Right and Property we are in nothing our own our Tongues are not our own our Thoughts are not our own the Members of our Bodies the Faculties of our Minds are not our own but thou art Lord over us We owe thee the entire Homage of our Souls and Bodies which are thine for we are thy People O Lord and the Sheep of thy Pasture We are those whom thou hast oblig'd to Love and Honour thee by innumerable benefits Thou hast fed and clothed and nourisht and protected us thou hast given us all our Enjoyments and thou holdest our Soul in Life We humbly acknowledge O Lord thy Right in us and we now own the Obligations thou hast laid upon us And we here present to thee our Bodies to be a Holy and living Sacrifice which is our just and most reasonable Service O Lord let us be accepted with thee through Jesus Christ We Confess that we have deserved thou shouldest reject and abhor us who have been hitherto so little concern'd to please thee who have so often and so exceedingly polluted our selves with that which is most odious and offensive to thee We are exceeding guilty and obnoxious to thy wrath and vengeance in that we have been Rebels against thy Sovereignty over us We have been unjust to thy Propriety in us we have been ungrateful to thy Goodness towards us We judge we condemn we abhor our selves for these things O do not thou enter into Judgment with us for in thy sight shall no Man living be justifyed We are heartily sorry for all our mis-doings the remembrance of them is grievous to us the burden of them is intollerable but thou O Lord whose Property is always to have mercy who hast promised Forgiveness to all that with a penitent Heart and true Faith in the Blood of Christ turn unto thee have mercy upon us Deal not with us after our Sins neither reward us according to our Iniquities Have mercy upon us O Lord according to the multitude of thy tender Compassions and blot out all our Transgressions We fly from thy Justice to the Footstool of thy mercy and there prostrate our selves in the Name of Jesus Christ O Lord for his Sake forgive us all that is past and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in Newness and Holiness of Life to thy Honour and Glory Do thou make us sincere in the Dedication of our selves again unto thee in this renewal of our Resolutions to serve thee Create in us O Lord a clean Heart and renew in us a right Spirit Do thou make us to love thy Law and to hate every false Way Cause us without delay to turn our Feet unto thy Testimonies and make us to delight in the way of thy Testimonies more than in all Riches O Lord rescue us we pray thee from the Bonds of our Beloved or habitual Sins save and deliver us from the Pollutions of a wicked World let us be blameless and harmless the Children of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse Generation Deliver us from all the Craft and Subtilty and from all the fiery Darts of the wicked One And let us never be hardened by the deceitfulness of any Sin We pray also O Lord for the Conversion of others as well as of our selves O Let thy Gospel run and be Glorified from the rising of the Sun to the going down of the same and let many be turned from Darkness to Light and from the power of Satan unto God That the Dominion of the Enemy may be diminisht and the happy Kingdom of thy dear Son may be enlarged We especially pray for the good Estate of thy Catholick Church that thou wouldest purge out of it all that does offend thee and Grant that all who profess and call themselves Christians may hold the Faith in Unity of Spirit in the Bond of Peace and in Righteousness of Life Look in Mercy upon these Nations to which we belong forgive our crying Sins and turn us from every evil way Bless us with the continuance of pure Ordinances and with a mighty Efficacy and Effect of them for the promoting of Piety Righteousness Charity and Sobriety amonst us Bless we pray thee our most Gracious King and Queen our Subordinate Magistrates those that Minister to thee in Holy things amongst us and all Ranks and Degrees of Men besides make us to fear thee to depart from all Iniquity to serve to thy Glory and to the Happiness and Welfare of each other and defend us all from all foreign or domestick Enemies of our Peace We commend also to thy infinite Mercies all our Friends Relations or Enemies those that have done us kindness we pray thee O Lord abundantly to requite them and those that have done us any Injury Father forgive them Let thy Word which we have this day heard have power to sanctifie and cleanse us from all unrighteousness We humbly hope for the mercy we have sought of thee this Day and desire we may commit our selves to thy careful and gracious Providence this Night and for evermore Lord bless and keep us lift up the Light of thy Countenance and guide us by thy Counsel till thou hast brought us to thy Glory All we humbly ask upon the Merits of Jesus Christ beseeching thee to hear us for his Sake and further in his own Words saying Our Father c. The MEANNESS of THIS PRESENT LIFE Prov'd and Apply'd Let us Pray PRevent us O Lord in all our doings with thy most gracious favour and further us with thy continual help that in all our works begun continued and ended in thee we may glorify thy Holy Name and finally by thy Mercy obtain Everlasting Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Job 14. 2. He cometh forth like
we hew out to our selves broken cisterns that can hold no water and forsake Thee the Fountain of living waters In thee alone is true content and full satisfaction to be found O Lord as sensible of this our very guilty and very dangerous Errour we desire for the future to return unto thee to esteem thee our chiefest Good and to desire thee above all things Our Hearts are now ready to say each of us for our selves Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his holy Name We desire O Lord to praise and to honour thee with all the excellent Faculties and Powers that thou hast given us We devote our Reason and Understanding to thee to learn and meditate on thy glorious Excellencies thy wonderful works and the instances of thy obliging Goodness We devote all the power of our Wills to thee to chuse thee to fix upon thee as our chief Good to submit to thy will as the rule and law of ours We devote our Affections to love thee above all things to fear and reverence thee to hope and trust in thee to hate what thou hatest and love what thou dost love We devote all our Members unto thee to be governed by thy wise and righteous Laws We desire O Lord we purpose to love and serve thee the Eternal Infinite and most Bounteous Good with all our Heart and Soul and Strength O Lord strengthen we pray thee and confirm our too feeble and wavering Resolutions Create thou us again in Christ Jesus unto good works Let us not live estranged from thee whom we are made capable to enjoy both here and hereafter Make us in love with Holiness and Vertue as the health and rectitude of our Minds as our brightest and most advantageous Ornaments and the most useful and most durable Riches Renew in us most loving Father thy decayed Image and create us to righteousness and true holiness Learn us to see thy glorious Perfections in the visible things about us to make a religious Use of all that we enjoy in this World in loving thee for what is Good praising thee for what is Excellent in them and giving thee Thanks for whatever we enjoy of them We humbly recommend to thy infinite Mercies all Estates and Conditions of Men O Lord lover of Souls pity those that sit in darkness and bless them with the Knowledge of thee and of thy Christ whom to know is Life everlasting rescue them from their miserable Bondage under the Enemy of Mankind and bring them into the Kingdom of thy Son We pray thee bless and defend the Christian Church let the Gifts and Graces of thy good Spirit be abundantly poured out upon it purge it from all things displeasing to thee and give it peace and great enlargement Be merciful to that Part of it which thou hast planted amongst us in these Nations Water it plenteously with the Dew of thy Heavenly Blessing make it fruitful in all good Works and a Praise in the Earth We pray thee bless our King and Queen and all subordinate Magistrates and those that are the Ministers of thy holy Word and Sacraments make them all in their several Places and Stations useful to the promoting Piety and Vertue amongst us And make all those that are under them peaceable and obedient teachable and submissive to their Laws and godly Counsels Grant that we may all lead peaceable and quiet lives in all Godliness and Honesty Visit and relieve all those that are in any Trouble or Affliction Bless our Relations requite our Friends and Benefactors and forgive our Enemies Persecutors and Slanderers and turn their Hearts Finally O Father of Mercies we give thee Thanks for all thy Care of our Immortal Souls for all that thou hast done for their Happiness and Well-fare We pray thee bless to our spiritual Advantage those Ordinances of thine which we have this Day been partakers of Give us leave to commit our selves to thy Protection for this Night and reward our trust in thee with safe and comfortable Rest that being well refresh'd we may return the next Morning chearfully to our several Businesses and Duties and do thou accept us in all we pray through Jesus Christ in whose Name we present our selves and all our poor Services unto thee and in whose most comprehensive Words we conclude these our imperfect Prayers saying Our Father c. OF Vain Thoughts OR INCONSIDERATION With the Mischiefs and Remedies Let us Pray PRevent us O Lord in all our doings with thy most gracious favour and further us with thy continual help that in all our works begun continued and ended in thee we may glorify thy Holy Name and finally by thy Mercy obtain Everlasting Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Psalm 119. 113. I hate Vain Thoughts but thy Law do I love OUR Care and Endeavour to live well must begin within us or it will prove vain and ineffectual We must keep the Heart with all diligence for out of it are the Issues of Life Solomon says Prov. 4. 23. According to which our Saviour teaches us That out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh and out of the good or evil treasure there proceed good or evilactions We must then take notice what our Thoughts are if we would have our Life good and not neglect them as Men too commonly do and this is what the Psalmist plainly intimates in these Words I hate vain thoughts but thy Law do I love I shall not trouble you with long Criticizing upon the words lest I should be guilty my self of what I intend to discourse against It shall suffice to observe for the justifying of our translation that the Original word here translated Thoughts is used with that significancy in other places of Scripture Particularly 1 Kings 18. 21 Where it seems to signify unsetled and irresolute Thoughts such as could not determine them to a fixed and steady Obedience to the Truth and in Job 4. 13. where it signifies such Thoughts as the roving Imaginations of the Night are wont to be employed in In both these places it signifies such as are not well guided nor directed And by reason of this use of the word in those places I doubt not but it is very fitly done that our Translators have added the word Vain in the Text to determine and signify what sort of Thoughts the Psalmist meant by the use of the word here I shall therefore understand this Text according to the import of the word Vain in our Language and shall represent it as signifying thus much I hate all idle roving and useless Thoughts such as are not considerate and designed and directed to some good and worthy purpose all inconsiderate Thinking As there are a great many idle impertinent words spoken among Mankind many very useless and unprofitable conversations and as there are especially in the briskness and activity of Childhood and Youth a great many very idle and trifling actions done by
them Vouchsafe to direct sanctifie and govern both our Hearts and Bodies in the way of thy Law and in the works of thy Commandments Cleanse thou the Thoughts of our Hearts by the Inspiration of thy Holy Spirit that we may sincerely love thee and duly magnify thy Holy Name truly serving thee with Soul and Body which are thine Lord have mercy upon us and write all thy Laws in our Hearts we beseech thee Enlighten our Darkness cure our Ignorance with all necessary Knowledge of thee and of thy Christ Change our Wills and turn the biass of them from this World towards thy Self from empty and vain Goods to full and Substantial ones from the pleasures of Sense to the accomplishments of the Mind Make us more indifferent about our outward Circumstances and more concern'd about the inward State and Disposition of our Souls and to account it our greatest Felicity to do well to please thee and approve our selves unto thee Make our vain and light Minds serious and wise furnish us with the Gifts of thy good Spirit for every good work for thou alone art the Giver of every Good and every perfect Gift it is by thee alone O Lord that we can be inabled to please thee we alas are not able of our selves to think a good Thought Help us to set thee always before us in the frequent Thoughts of thee and an habitual reverence and fear of thee that a sense of thy continual presence and observance may restrain us from all evil and encourage and quicken us to mind and do our Duty We humbly implore thy Mercy upon all Men Convert unto thy Self all Jews Turks and Heathens bring them from their several Ways of Vanity to know and worship thee the only true God by Jesus the true Christ and Mediator Give the Heathen for an Inheritance and the utmost parts of the Earth for a Possession to thy well-beloved Son Give unto thy Church all that is necessary to it to amend and purge away what is amiss and to supply what is defective in it and to make it fruitful in all good Works and that all who profess and call themselves Christians may have their Conversation such as become the Gospel Bless we pray thee and defend these Nations in which we live Bless us with a continuance of wise and kind and righteous Governours and of loyal peaceable and obedient Subjects Give peace in our Days we humbly beseech thee for there is none we rely upon to fight for us but only thou O God Establish Truth among us for all Generations bring into the way of Truth all such as have erred and are deceived Remember in Mercy all that are dear and related to us Give them things necessary for Life and Godliness Guide them O Lord by thy Counsel through this world and bring them at last unto thy Glory Sanctify us by thy word which has been this day spoken to us and promote in us thereby all Vertue and Godliness of living Forgive the wandring of our Minds in our attendance upon thee and all other defects in our Duty and comfort us with the light of thy Countenance Be thou our gracious Protector this Night for in thee alone do we put our Trust And if it please thee to allow another Day and yet a longer time on Earth Grant that it may be spent in thy fear and in a diligent and unwearied application to all that which is our Duty This we humbly ask and whatever thou seest to be most expedient for us committing and resigning our selves entirely to thy Conduct and disposal and hoping in thy Mercy through Jesus Christ to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost we desire to ascribe all Praise and Glory and Domihion for ever and ever Our Father c. OF True Happiness Wherein it lies DEMONSTRATED Let us Pray PRevent us O Lord in all our doings with thy most gracious favour and further us with thy continual help that in all our works begun continued and ended in thee we may glorify thy Holy Name and finally by thy Mercy obtain Everlasting Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Psalm 4. 6 7. There be many that say who will shew us any good Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us Thou hast put gladness in my Heart more than in the time that their Corn and their Wine encreased IT is the natural and common desire of Mankind to be happy and is the End which they aim at and propose to themselves in their several Pursuits and Endeavours But as the Psalmist speaks here There be many that say who will shew us good The Many the most of men are at a great loss in this Matter and do not know where their true Happiness lies nor in what course or way to attain it Their uncertainty in this Matter is represented by these words of the Psalmist and is too evidently seen in the common Practice of the World The Human Nature is the same in all Mankind we have all of us reasonable immortal Souls we have all the same Capacities And our Happiness rightly and truly considered must be to all the same The same Object must make all men Happy and they must obtain that in the same way But alas how is the World distracted and divided in the pursuit of Happiness Some of them running one way after it and some another and the most of them neglecting and diverting from the true Object With some there is no Felicity like the heaping up of Wealth like the sight of full Bags or great purchases and they delight in nothing so much as in gainful Bargains With others there is nothing so pleasant as to spend and they delight in this as much as the others do in getting The Pleasures of this World are their beloved Felicity to eat and drink and rise up to play With others there is no Heaven like Honour and Command the having Authority and Power among Men the being courted and sought to respected and obeyed With some how great a Felicity is it to be fine and to have all things about them so To have Themselves their Houses their Entertainments and all that belongs to them gaudy and pompous and much adorned Thus are Mankind disperst thus they wander in the pursuit of Happiness And thus the Many are taken up and employed in this great Concern Having exprest the Uncertainty and intimated the wandering of the Generality in this Affair The Psalmist next expresses what he sought as the Object of Happiness in these words Lord lift thou up the light of thy Countenance upon us Which is as much as to say Lord let us have an Interest in thy Favour regard us with kindness and Love let us enjoy the Exercises and Benefits of thy peculiar Favour and Mercy It might be shewn you by the use of this Phrase in other places of Scripture that this is the sense and meaning of it When he had made this Request he adds
that thou hast been pleased to make us capable to know and meditate on thy Self to chuse and love thee to desire and enjoy thee who art an Infinite Eternal Good and in whose presence is fulness of Joy Oh how ready should our Hearts be at all times to say Whom have we in Heaven but thee and there is none on Earth that we can desire besides thee But alas we are degenerated we are fallen from our Original Excellency we are sunk into Sensuality we need to be put in mind and told wherein our true Happiness lies and to be excited urged and exhorted to pursue it We hover here below and seldom have any thoughts or desires moving upwards the objects of Sense detain us with them and we feed on Husks among Beasts we stay and abide upon the lowest and the smallest part of our Happiness Lord we are miserable we are undone and shall perish for ever if thy pity do not rescue us from the Love of these low Things Oh Pardon our guilty and heal our distempered Souls Discover thy self to us and make us love thee shed abroad thy Love abundantly in our Hearts Make us to rise by the Creature to the Creator Guide us by the streams to thee the Fountain of their Goodness and make us as we ought to love thee above all things Let us be governed by thy Love in the whole course of our lives and readily deny our selves to please thee and keep thy Commandments Let us firmly believe the glorious Things which thou hast prepared for them that love thee and draw our Hearts after them to endeavour that our Treasure may be in Heaven in Immutable things And direct us we pray thee so to pass through things Temporal as that we finally lose not the things Eternal Have mercy O Lord upon all Mankind Let the Earth be filled with Knowledge of the Lord as waters cover the Sea and all Men be directed and led in the way to true Happiness Give to all Nations Unity Peace and Concord Pour down an abundant measure of thy Spirit upon thy Church that the Gospel may run and be glorified from the rising of the Sun to the going down of the same Let them prosper that love it and let not the Gates of Hell ever prevail against it We pray especially for that part of it which thou hast graciously placed in these Nations and hitherto wonderfully detended Lord make it a very fruitful Vineyard and purge out of it all that is contrary to true Doctrin and Godliness Bless we pray thee our Gracious King and Queen and the Royal Family with all Spiritual and Eternal Blessings and give them long and happy Possession of the Throne of these Kingdoms to thy Glory and our Comfort Bless all in Authority under them help them truly and indifferently to administer Justice to the punishment of Wickedness and Vice and to the maintainance of thy true Religion and Vertue Give grace O Heavenly Father to all Bishops and Curates that they may both by their Life and Doctrin honour thee and guide thy People committed to them in the way of Blessedness Let all the Subjects of this Realm be subject to thee in Loyalty and Subjection and due Obedience to those that are over them in Church and State and let Piety Love Righteousness and Peace and Truth abound among us We commend to thy Fatherly goodness all that are in any Distress and Affliction all our Friends and Relations we pray for our Enemies do for all beyond what we are able to ask or think We humbly ask a comfortable and safe rest this Night and that it may please thee to make the out-goings of the Morning to rejoice Let thy word which we have heard this Day guide our Conversations and let us bring forth in them the Fruits of the Spirit let not the Cares of this World or the Deceitfulness of Riches choke the Word and render it unfruitful but grant we may live to the Glory of thy Name and to the Peace and Salvation of our own Souls by Jesus Christ in whose most comprehensive words we sum up our Requests saying OVR Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen THE Necessity of Obedience TO THE COMMANDS of GOD Proved and Stated Let us Pray PRevent us O Lord in all our doings with thy most gracious favour and further us with thy continual help that in all our works begun continued and ended in thee we may glorify thy Holy Name and finally by thy Mercy obtain Everlasting Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Mat. 7. 21. Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven HOW common a thing is it among those that have heard the glad Tidings of the Gospel for Men to take up a presumptuous reliance upon the Merits of Jesus Christ with neglect of Obedience to the Commands of God! Some of the most profligate and careless Sinners will hope to be saved And if one ask them how They will say by the Merits of Jesus Christ Many indulge themselves in their darling Sins and yet hope to be saved by the Merits of Christ And most certain it is that the Doctrins of some Teachers give occasion to this presumption They occasion Men to think there is nothing necessary to their Salvation but strong Believing and so to endeavour nothing but that and to rely upon the Righteousness of Christ so as to neglect all Endeavour after any Righteousness of their own And this Error and Delusion where it obtains does often prove able to harden a Man against the most earnest Exhortations to leave his Sins yea and even against the most plain Rebukes of Providence for them and to frustrate all other Means of Grace and Conversion whatever It is therefore of great Importance to remove it out of the way and this I shall endeavour by discoursing on these words of our Saviour which if they had been well considered together with many other plain Scriptures it had prevented the entertainment of such Imaginations in the Minds of Men. He had been in a long Discourse enforcing many of the Commands of the Moral Law And now towards the close of this Discourse he begins in this Verse to tell them of what importance and necessity it was to them to practise what he had taught He plainly teaches that no belief in him would avail them any thing if they did not together with it keep the Commands of God Not every one says he that saith to me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven
let us betake our selves to repent and turn to thee to mortifie all carnal and corrupt Affections to cease from all Evil and to Good Make us O Lord seriously to consider the great uncertainty to us of what is to come let us not presume upon thy Mercy and so encourage our selves to continue in our Sins lest we thereby put an end to the Exercises of thy Mercy towards us Let us not be so foolish as to provoke thee by our unnecessary delays to cut us off by a sudden and untimely Death or to Doom us to a final and judicial Hardness let us not put off our Repentance to such a time as is not convenient to do it in or to such a time when we are likely to be deceiv'd and imposed upon by our own false Hearts in the doing it but make us now to set about it while thou callest us to it and art ready to assist us and to make us sincere and art certainly willing and ready to accept it O Lord thy ready Grace should find us always ready to receive it and thy pardoning Mercy should find us always ready to seek it Let this O Lord we pray be the Day of thy Power upon every one of us and make us willing to renew our baptismal Covenant now to devote our selves to thee again and to resolve that we will not henceforth live to our selves but to thee to make thy Holy Laws the rule of our Actions and to endeavour in all things to Honour and Glorifie thee And do thou Graciously accept us according to thy Promises declared unto Mankind in Christ Jesus and give strength and stability to these our Resolutions Extend we humbly beseech thee thy Goodness to all the Heathen and Infidel Nations let a mighty and powerful Call go forth among them and turn them to the knowledge of thee the only true God and of Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent Be mindful of thine ancient People the Jews and bring them to the acknowledgment of the true Messiah Pour out an abundant measure of thy Spirit upon thy Church that we may see and understand what is evil among us and may repent and do our first Works Lord in thy Mercy reform these Nations wherein we live from Atheism and Profaneness from Pride and Schism from Envy and Malice and all Uncharitableness from Luxury and Riot and Sloth and Idleness Uncleanness and Intemperance Let us not go on to provoke thee by these our Sins lest our Iniquity prove our ruine We pray thee to Bless abundantly our King and Queen and all that are in Authority under them in Church and State make them a Terrour to all that is evil and a Praise to them that do well that we may be all Happy in a great increase of Vertue and true Godliness amongst us Bless all our Relations and Friends and Acquaintance and keep their Hearts and Minds in the Knowledge and Love of God and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. In whose Name we humbly beg the Mercies of the Night we thank thee for those of the Day past for all that we have received and for our good hopes of more to come To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory World without End Our Father c. FINIS Books Printed for John Wyat at the Rose in St. Paul 's Church-Yard A Practical Exposition on the Ten Commandments by Ezekiel Hopkins late Lord Bishop of London-Derry An Enquiry into several Remarkable Texts of the Old and New Testament which contain some difficulty in them with a probable Resolution of them By John Edwards B. D. Sometime Fellow of St. John's Colledge Cambridge in 2 parts Octavo An Enquiry into the Constitution Discipline Government Unity and Worship of the Primitive Church that flourished within the first three Hundred Years after Christ Faithfully Collected out of the Extant Writings of those Ages in 2 parts by an impartial hand The Christian Virtuoso shewing that by being addicted to Natural Philosophy a man is rather assisted than indisposed to be a good Christian by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esquire The History of the Life of Katharine de medicis Queen Mother and Regent of France or the Exact Pattern of the Present French King's Policy The Subjects of the following Discourses Sermon I. THE Great Excellency of the Soul of Man demonstrated and improved Pag. 1 Serm. II. Of Vain Thoughts or Inconsideration with the Mischiefs and Remedies p. 27 Serm. III. Of true Happiness wherein it lies demonstrated p. 49 Serm. IV. The Heavenly Mind described and urged p. 75 Serm. V. The Necessity of Obedience to the Commands of God proved and stated p. 98 Serm. VI. The Great Duty of Thankfulness urged directed p. 116 Serm. VII The Pleasantness of Religion demonstrated and improved p. 134 Serm. VIII The Easiness of Religion explained and improved p. 152 Sermon IX The Unprofitableness of Sin demonstrated p. 177 Serm. X. God's Hatred of Sin demonstrated and improved p. 201 Serm. XI The Meanness of this present Life proved and applied p. 225 Serm. XII The Usefulness of Early Religion to Old-age demonstrated p. 249 Serm. XIII Of a Death-Bed Repentance shewing how unreasonable it is for any Man to rely upon it p. 273 Jer. 10. 25. Pour out thy Fury upon the Heathen that know thee not and upon the Families that call not on thy Name Joshua 24. 15. As for me and my House we will serve the Lord. Deut. 6. 6 7. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine Heart And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy Children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine House ERRATA PAg. 29. l. 31. r. he might p. 51. l. 26. for that r. than p. 77. l. 23. r. to them p. 87. l. 5. dele p. 103. l. 2. r. Eph. 6. 1 2 3. p. 143. l. 16. dele p. 155. l. 2. for ' tit r. ' t is p. 184. l. ult r. interests Books Written by John Norris M. A. Rector of Bemerton near Sarum A Collection of Miscellanies consisting of Poems Essays Discourses and Letters in large Octavo Price 4 s. Theory and Regulation of Love a Moral Essay in Two Parts To which are added Letters Philosophical and Moral between the Author and D. More in Octavo Price 2 s. Reason and Religion or the Grounds and Measures of Devotion considered from the nature of God and the nature of Man in several Contemplations with Exercises of Devotion applyed to every Contemplation in Octavo Price 2 s. Reflections upon the Conduct of Human Life with Reference to the Study of Learning and Knowledge in a Letter to the Excellent Lady the Lady Masham To which is annexed a Visitation Sermon by the same Author The Second Edition with large Additions Price bound 1 s. 6d Christian Blessedness or Discourses upon the Beatitudes of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ To which are added Reflections upon a late Essay concerning Human Understanding in large Octavo Price 3 s. Practical Discourses upon several Divine Subjects Vol. II. and Vol. III. In large Octavo Price of each 3 s. The Charge of Schism continued being a Justification of the Author of Christian Blessedness for his charging the Separatists with Schism notwithstanding the Toleration In a Letter to a City Friend in 12o. Price bound 1 s. Two Treatises concerning the Divine Light The First being an Answer to a Letter of a Learned Quaker which he is pleased to call A Just Reprehension to John Norris for his Unjust Reflections on the Quakers in his Book entituled Reflections upon the Conduct of Human Life The Second being a Discourse concerning the Grossness of the Quakers Notion of the Light within with their Confusion and Inconsistency in explaining it All these Printed for and Sold by Samuel Manship at the Black-Bull near the Royal-Exchange in Cornhil SEneca's Morals by way of Abstract by Sir Rogar L'Estrange Printed for Samuel Manship
wickedness and impiety debase and disparage us These latter deform us into the likeness of the Devil and so make us truely more vile than the Beasts that perish So much reason is there that we earnestly endeavour then to adorn our Souls with Piety and Vertue 4. And Lastly The Excellency and Immortality of our Souls should make us greatly concerned to secure and attain for them an Everlasting Happiness Since we are capable of such an one we should not rest till we have some good assurance of it It would become us and it were our Wisdom to give all diligence to make our calling and election sure as the Apostle advises We should work out our salvation with fear and trembling Let every man then take it into his most deliberate Thoughts What shall become of him to all Eternity Let this be a great concern with us all When this frail Tabernacle of my Body shall be taken down in which my Soul now dwells Where then shall my poor banisht Soul abide Where Oh where shall that be then disposed of To what company shall I go for I cannot be happy alone And what good things shall I then enjoy for I have not a self-sufficiency within me I am told and assured of two very different States after this Life the one of perfect Happiness and the other of perfect Misery To which of these two States am I likely to be doom'd since I am immortal and must abide forever in that I am sent to it greatly concerns me to know which of them it shall be The one is designed for good Men and the other for the Bad Which is it then of these two Characters that I bear Since the course of my Life has a certain tendency towards the one or the other of these and I shall fare hereafter according as I have lived here let me consider well what a Course I take Am I sit to dwell in the kind and loving World above if I harbour any Malice or Envy or Hatred in my Heart Am I fit for the pure Mansions of Heaven if I live in sensual and brutish Sins Am I fit to live with those who are all faithful and true with the God of Truth and Righteousness if I am deceitful and unjust and had rather be cunning than sincere Am I fit to be in the presence of God and in the Company of those that Reverence and Adore him if I am habitually Prophane and accustomed to despise all things that are Sacred and to abuse the awful Name of God in vain Oaths and Perjuries Am I sit to leave this World and to be happy out of it if my Heart be so set upon it that I can love I can relish and delight in nothing but what is of this World If this be my Condition and this has been my Course of Life certainly this will not bring me to Heaven If a man finds then that it has been thus with him he should resolve to stop and divert his Course Since without Holiness no man shall see God we must follow after Holiness we must follow after these Divine Qualifications that have been mentioned as things necessary to our everlasting Happiness We must cease to do evil and learn to do well and devote our selves to the Service of God in a course of universal Obedience to his Commands we must repent of our past Sins that they may be blotted out we must purify our selves as God is pure Blessed says our Saviour are the pure in heart for they shall see God We must cleanse our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of God and present our selves and our repentance and obedience all in the Name of Jesus Christ hoping for acceptance through him and for the favour of God to be bestowed upon us only for his sake Let it be consider'd that we must either dwell with God and his holy Angels in everlasting Joy and Bliss or be doom'd to the Prisons of the Devils and confin'd to dwell with enraged and wicked and spiteful Companions If we must not dwell in the Regions of Light we shall be dismissed to the gloomy Caves of everlasting Darkness If we are not admitted to the Joys and Hymns and Praises of Heaven we shall be condemned to the Howlings and Discords and Torments of Hell and there bear a sad part our selves in those Everlasting Sorrows There is no Middle State but the one or the other of these will be our everlasting and unalterable Portion Life and Death are set before us and we have leave to chuse between them But it is so That if we will not chuse Life we shall not be at Liberty to refuse Death If we do not chuse Life and Happiness and earnestly and steadily engage in the Course that leads to it we must fall into the other destruction and misery will come of themselves How shall we escape says the Apostle If we neglect so great Salvation Let it be consider'd that we must determine our choice between these two things while our present Life lasts not a moment more will be allowed us to do it in and this Life is of uncertain duration and most certainly is hastning away It is best for us therefore to hasten our choice in this Matter and to be very constant and steady in the way to Happiness when we have chosen that THE PRAYER OEternal and Almighty God! Before the Mountains were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the Earth or the World even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God Thy duration is without beginning or end and thou art the Author and End of all things besides thy self It is thou O Lord that hast made us and not we our selves Thou hast sent us into this world to enjoy it a while to study and see Thee in the things about us to praise Thee for their Excellency and Goodness to love Thee for them and more than them as being the Fountain and Center of all that Goodness which is scattered and dispersed among them And thou hast made us for the high and noble Happiness of enjoying thy self O Lord how great and good things hast thou designed us for and how low and mean things do we consine our selves to We are ashamed to think how seldom we think of thee we use thy Creatures and thy Gifts and forget thy Self we are charmed and detained with that little Goodness that is in them and neglect that infinite Abundance which is in thee we commonly make but a low animal use of the things of this world considering in them only their suitableness to the Appetites and Necessities of our Bodies and valuing and delighting in them only for that and so they do not raise up our minds to thee And thus it comes to pass that we seek none but these things we live as if we were not made capable of better we seek our Happiness where it is not and neglect it where it is
according to his Divinity and whence according to his Humanity what things he suffer'd and why what is the Vertue of his Resurrection what Gifts of the Spirit he promised and gave to the Faithful But it should also be taught what sort of Men the Members must be to whom he may and will be the Head What sort he requires and makes and loves and redeems and brings to everlasting Life When these things are insisted upon says he then Christ is preached Christus Evangelizatur Aug. de Fide Operibus Tom 4. This Preaching then does not take men off from relying upon Christ it does not tend to make them depend upon themselves for Salvation but it shews them in what way they must rely upon Christ for Salvation that they may certainly succeed in the doing it 2. To improve yet a little further what has been said we may thence learn the Vanity and Deceitfulness of their hopes of Salvation who lead wicked and ungodly Lives they that live in their Sins and yet hope to be saved expect to come to Heaven by the way to Hell they depend upon the Mercy of God and the Merits of Christ without taking the only course to have an Interest in them 3. There is not only folly and deceit in these Hopes but also there is great guilt and provocation in them For this is to turn the Grace of God into Wantonness which is that St. Jude Ver. 4. earnestly condemns when we encourage our selves in Sin from the undertaking of the Redeemer What is said of him in the Gospel is an encouragement for Men to forsake their Sins but not to continue in them This is the greatest abuse that can be of redeeming Love it is contrary to the end and design of it The Mediator took the Name Jesus to signify that his purpose is to save his People from their Sins And indeed his design had been a very strange one if he had come to procure a Dispensation for our Love of infinite Goodness for our Reverence of an infinite Majesty and of our Obedience to the Creator of all things if he had come to dispense with the Laws of Equity and Justice of Mercy and Charity of Truth and Faithfulness towards our Neighbour This is a design unworthy of the Holy Jesus this had not been to glorify the Father and how can it be but highly displeasing to impute to him such a Design as this Opinion and Practice must be reckon'd to do And yet further This is contrary to the Obligation of redeeming Love as well as to the Design of it and must needs be upon that account very displeasing It was the greatest Instance of divine Love to give his Only begotten Son to Die for us and then it is the greatest Obligation to the Love of God And is it not a most enormous and unjust requital to make this an encouragement to the living in hatred against him To live in constant rebellion and contempt This must needs give the highest and most guilty Aggravation to the Sins of Men that can be Let us consider then how much we are obliged by the Love of God to love him and that if we love him we must keep his Commandments The PRAYER OH most merciful and gracious God thy mercy is everlasting and thy truth endures from Generation to Generation Thou hast helped us in our low Estate through the greatness of thy Mercy When we had rendred our selves deserving of everlasting Misery and utter Rejection from thy favour and care thou didst then take care for us and laidst help upon One that is mighty and able to save to the uttermost Oh who can conceive or express the Love of God to us in Christ Jesus It passes knowledge We give thee O Lord most humble and hearty Thanks for this thy unspeakable Gift We thank thee for our Saviour's excellent Doctrins and Instructions whereby he shews us the way to happiness for his most holy and good Life whereby he leads us in the way to it and is become an encouraging Pattern and Example of Well-doing We bless thee for his meritorious Death whereby he has made an Attonement for our Sins has purchased for us thy sanctifying Grace and thy infinite eternal Favour Oh what reason have we to say what shall we render unto the Lord for all his Benefits How many ways O Lord hast thou deserved our highest praises our supream Affections and our best Obedience But Oh how unsensible have we ungrateful wretches been of this thy great Mercy How backward and slow to comply with the just and reasonable Terms of Salvation We are loth to part with our Sins even for the Love of Jesus or to wean our Affections from this World for the hopes of Heaven Yea we are apt to fall into the guilty and pernicious folly of turning the Grace of God into wantonness of encouraging our selves to continue in our Sins upon presumption on thy Mercy in Christ Jesus and of expecting Salvation by him while we have neglected the terms and conditions of obtaining it O Lord awaken us at length to a due and wise Care of our own Souls Of thy infinite Mercy pardon our past Neglects and give us for the sake of Jesus Christ what thou requirest that we may be partakers of the great Salvation Give us an unfeigned Repentance for all our past Transgressions stedfast and sincere purposes of new Obedience Give us an humble lively Faith in him such as may engage us to follow him make us love and chuse his Commands ready to deny our selves for his sake and to devote our selves entirely to him to live to him that died for us let it bring forth much fruit in a diligent and industrious Obedience and seek and expect our acceptance and reward only by Vertue of his Merits and spotless Righteousness Let such a Faith we pray thee be formed or promoted in us by the Ordinances we have this day enjoyed Let us lie down in peace with thee this Night and repose our selves under the protection of thy Providence If it please thee that we shall awake again in this World let our Hearts be full of a thankful Sense of thy Mercies and a Concern to shew forth thy Praise in the Course of our Lives We humbly recommend to thy Mercy and Favour all Mankind beseeching thee to enlighten those that sit in darkness and in the shadow of Death to bring into the way of thy Truth all such as have erred and are deceived To replenish thy Church abundantly with the Gifts and Graces of thy good Spirit to comfort and relieve any of thy Servants that are desolate and afflicted to prosper those that seek the Peace of thy Jerusalem We implore thy Mercy upon the Land of our Nativity Lord let Peace and Righteousness Charity and Piety setle and abound among us Rule and guide thou our Rulers in thy Fear Teach our Teachers Bless comfort and encourage thy Ministers both in Church and
but serviceable with them In Heb. 13. 15. We are exhorted to offer the Sacrifice of Praise to God continually that is the fruit of our Lips giving thanks to his Name But the Apostle immediately adds To do good and communicate forget not for with such Sacrifice God is well-pleased He intimates the former is required and due but we must not satisfy our selves with that alone but he requires also another Sacrifice even that of good Works and offices of Charity All the good that we have power and opportunity to do for our Neighbour relating to his Soul or his Body his Reputation or Estate we must be ready charitably to perform and this is to be always done in the best way to serve his Interest we must not only regard our own Advantage Thus should all the several Callings Offices and Dignities of Men be managed And thus may all Men express their Thankfulness to God for his benefits in the Business of their worldly Callings thus they may consecrate these and make them religious Thus I have also finisht the Second thing propos'd Now to conclude that we may the better excite our selves to these things Let us further consider at our leisure The greatness of God to whom we are beholden together with our own meanness He that gives us all we have is a Being infinite and perfect he is eternally happy in the enjoyment of himself has no need of any of his Creatures nor can have any advantage from them Yet has he taken care of us continually he watches over us every moment to defend us from mischief to supply our wants to protect our enjoyments and to support our frail Lives Justly may we say with the Psalmist Lord what is Man that thou art mindful of him or the Son of Man that thou visitest him Let us assure our selves too that the best way to preserve the Benefits we enjoy is to use them rightly and to be duly thankful for them Let us reckon also that this must needs be necessary to the acceptance and success of our Prayers for such things as we want to use well and be thankful for what we have already obtained Lastly Let us consider that a thankful frame of Mind such as is sensible of God's Mercies that which sees its own advantages and thinks upon the good things which it enjoys That uses them as God requires with Wisdom and Reason and a good Conscience such a one keeps the Soul always easy and calm always chearful and contented such a Person fully enjoys what he has and tastes the sweetness of it Whereas he who murmurs and complains who is never satisfied nor contented is always unhappy He who pores only upon his wants and what he desires who is impatient under every affliction and cross and abuses himself and his enjoyments in guilty excesses such a man can never feel any rest or quiet in his Mind he is always troubled and uneasy He imbitters his Pallate so that he cannot rightly relish any good thing he has is a burden to himself and indeed does severely punish upon himself his own Iniquity and Ingratitude Lt us then in every thing give thanks and say To God the Father Son and Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory Thanks and Praise for ever and ever Amen THE PRAYER ALmighty and most Gracious God thou art good and doest good thou art abundant in Goodness We thine unworthy Servants do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving kindness which thou hast graciously shewn to us and to all Men. We bless thee for our Creation O Lord for that thou hast made us little lower than the Angels and crowned us with honour and dignity and for that thou hast plentifully furnisht this World with good things for our Use We own O Lord with all thankfulness that thou hast hitherto preserved us thou hast taken care of us ever since we came from our Mothers Womb. Thou hast defended us from innumerable Evils which always compass us about Thou hast given us all that we have enjoy'd of the good things of this World for they are thine and thou dost dispose of them as seemeth good to thee and by thy Blessing upon thy Gifts have they been sufficient to support and comfort our mortal Life But above all we bless we praise thee we magnify thee for thy inestimable Love in the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ and for the hopes that we have of obtaining everlasting glory and happiness by the vertue of his Merits and by the guidance of thy good Spirit O Lord give us we beseech thee a due and deep sense of all thy Mercies make our Hearts unfeignedly thankful make us ready to acknowledge that we are less than the least of thy Mercies that in all thou givest thou owest us nothing Make us humbly sensible and ashamed of all our transgressions against thee of our base and ungrateful returns to thy Mercies That instead of winning us to love and serve thee they have encouraged us to transgress and have been used in rebellion against thee O Lord of thy infinite Mercy pardon all our past unthankfulness And let thy Grace make us set our selves for the future to shew forth thy praise not only with our Lips but in our Lives by giving up our selves to thy Service and by walking before thee in Holiness and Righteousness all our Days O Lord make us to go in the Path of thy Commandments And from thy mercy and goodness let us learn to shew mercy and to do good according to our power and opportunity communicating to the Necessities of others which is a Sacrifice well-pleasing unto thee And do thou O Lord continue the exercises of thy goodness to us till thou hast made us perfectly and compleatly happy in the enjoyment of thy self We humbly implore thy Mercy and Favour for all Mankind Oh that thy way may be made known upon Earth and thy saving Health among all Nations that the People may praise thee O God yea that all the People may praise thee Bless we pray thee thy Church and defend it from all Spiritual and Temporal Enemies Remove out of it all false Doctrin Heresy and Schism Envy Hatred Malice and all Uncharitableness hardness of Heart and contempt of thy Word and Commandments We intreat thee graciously to watch over that Part of it which thou hast planted amongst us defend it from secret Attempts and Plots and from open Violence from all the Enemies of thy true Religion establisht among us and make it we pray thee a glorious Church in the eminent Gifts and Vertues of the Members of it Bless our King and Queen and all that are put in Authority under them with great Wisdom and Understanding with a Zeal for thy Glory and the Subject's Well-fare Teach those that are Subjects each in their several Places to do their own Business and to study submission and quietness We humbly recommend to