be allowed a great deal of liberty and that a very little Religion may serve their turn 2. To shew that the time of old Age is That he means here by the Evil days and the years in which a Man shall say he has no pleasure in them for to illustrate this matter is to strengthen the Argument 3. To shew how this is a good argument and reason against mens putting off their repenting and being religious to their old Age and that the best Defence and Preparation that we can possibly make against the Inconveniences of that time is to be religious in our Youth I begin with the first of these To shew what is meant by Remembring our Creatour in the days of our Youth By Creatour then we are to understand he means God that made us for it is He that hath made us and not we our selves Psal 100. 3. By Remembring him we must understand these particulars are intended 1. That we seek and get a good measure of the Knowledge of God No man can remember him at all that does not know something of him Nor can any man remember what he is unless he does in some measure know this and we must remember him such as he is or we shall not do it to any good purpose We must therefore betimes enquire into what he has revealed of himself in his word We must know and remember that he is and is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him That he is a Being Infinite Eternal Good and Just Wise and Almighty That he is our Creatour and the Creatour of all things that he is thereupon the Lord and owner of all as he says The world is mine and the fulness thereof Psal 50. 12. and we are his people and the sheep of his Pasture as the Psalmist speaks Psal 100. We must know and remember that he has laid his Laws upon us and expects our Obedience to them that he is Judge of all the Earth and will render to every man according to his works Thus we must remember him in what he is in himself and in what relations he is pleased to bear towards us 2. 'T is also intended herein that we should often think of God that we should have him much in our minds that we set the Lord always before us as the Psalmist speaks of himself Psal 16. 8. It is the Character of an evil man that God is not in all his thoughts and of very wicked people that they forget God Men may actually think of God often in the midst of their worldly business and may habitually acknowledge him in all their ways they may and ought to depend upon his Providence thank him for all they enjoy praise him for and ascribe to him all the good they do We should begin and end every day and receive every Meal with actual thoughts of God and scrious Addresses to him of Praise and Thanksgiving We should duly set apart his Sabbaths to remember and worship him upon them 3. This includes also suitable affections of the Heart Our knowledge must not be speculative and unaffecting We must think of God with awfull reverence and fear of his Majesty and Greatness We must love him above all things and desire his favour and love as our chiefest good We must admire and delight in his Holiness and Justice and Goodness and endeavour to conform to them 4. This includes Obedience to his Commands and Resignation and Submission to his Providence This is due to him and is the just acknowledgment of his right in us His Laws must be the rule of our Actions and his Glory our great end as the Apostle says 1 Cor. 10. 11. Whether ye eat or drink or whatever ye do do all to the glory of God And whatever portion or fortune he allots us we must take with an humble contented and resigned frame of spirit as sensible that he disposes but of his own in his ordering of us and our circumstances We must be ready always after our great Pattern to say Lord not what I will but what thou wilt Thus much is included in the word Remember And all this is to be done in our early Youth according to the Wiseman's advice here As soon as possibly we can do it without any delay or putting it off We should with the first exercises of our reason study and learn to know him and his Laws With the first actions of out wills we should chuse him for our chief good and his Laws as our best rule and make it our great care and endeavour to conform to them rather than to the Customs and Fashions and Maximes of the foolish and wicked World and we should set our first affections on him give him our Hearts before the things of this World here get possession of them This is that which Solomon advises let us now proceed to consider that which is his argument to urge this advice That is that Evil days will come and the years in which a man shall say he has no pleasure in them That this is spoken of old Age appears by the following verses wherein 't is generally acknowledged he describes that Age of humane Life and indeed the description he makes of it does justifie his giving it the name of Evil days as he seems to have designed to do I shall give the Summ of what he says to this purpose in the following particulars 1. That is an evil time upon the account of the weakness and decay of Nature which often attends it There is then a great decay of all the faculties and powers the mortal Body begins to fail The Beauty of it is withered the Strength exhausted The dim Eye can no longer see nor the deaf Ear hear the feeble Feet cannot walk nor the Hands work as they could before And in this weakness the Limbs which were strong and vigorous become a burden to themselves The old man cannot help himself but descends perhaps to the weakness of a Child again Thus is he taken from action and business that which made him taken notice of and considerable in the World that which made him sought to and respected And now perhaps he sees himself forgotten and forsaken he sees those he has been kind to prove ungratefull and those whom he has nourisht and brought up grown weary of him And where these things are who would not account the time which that man continues further an Evil time 2. But further It often attends this decay of Nature that they are loaded with pains and distempers These whenever they come are an heavy burden even to those who are young and strong and therefore they will much rather be so to the aged and weak and these are more liable to them than younger persons Indeed if pains and distempers are very violent upon old Age they are not of long continuance because weak Nature cannot then bear much Yet they are very uneasie sometimes and of long continuance too
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
this Exhortation we may consider that without doubt the Pleasures of Religion are the strongest and sweetest of any They sink deeper into a Man than any other and affect him more as they enter into his Mind and put all the inward Powers of that into a pleasing Exercise and Motion They possess more of a Man than those that touch only his Body and Senses The Mind of Man is the most and as we may say the greatest part of him It has most Desire and greatest Capacity of Pleasure It is much more sensible both of Pleasure and Pain than the duller Body The Psalmist speaks the greater Sweetness and Excellency of Religious Pleasure when he says of the Law of God If it sweeter than the Honey and the Honey-comb Psal 19. 10. He means the practice of Religion and Vertue the doing any Duties commanded by the Law of God afforded him a far greater Pleasure and Delight than e're he could by his Senses receive from the most pleasant things of this World 2. Since there is so much Pleasure in well-doing this may justly persuade Men off from the guilty Pursuit and Enjoyment of the Pleasures of this World Why should a Man suffer himself to be guilty for the sake of any Pleasure when he may enjoy that which is very Rich and Sensible without being so It is most certain that Guilt will greatly allay the briskest Pleasures of this World In the midst of guilty Laughter the Heart is sad These are always best and sweetest to him that regularly and soberly uses them that uses them according to the Rules of Religion Thus he shall hurt neither his Body nor his Soul nor his Estate nor his Neighbour while he pleases his Appetites and gratifies his Senses and so he avoids the unpleasing Farewell of a troubled Conscience He does not destroy the Appetite while he pleases it but keeps himself in a capacity to have always a very lively Relish and Sense of his Pleasures The irregular and intemperate Man makes a Drudgery of those of this World and turns their fine Relish eager and four And the other sort that is the high and delicate ones of Religion he utterly deprives himself of In a vertuous and religious Course of Life a Man may enjoy both sorts but in that which is guilty and irreligious he cannot well enjoy either This is the First Use may be made of this Discourse 2. A Second is this It ought to persuade Men to betake themselves steadily to a religious and good Course of Life It was said by the Spirit of God that the ways of Religion are ways of Pleasantness with Design to recommend them to the Sons of Men. He spoke this in a kind Condescention to our Nature and Inclination to make a Bait of Pleasure which we are so apt to dote upon And this surely should be a very powerful Argument to this purpose This ought much rather to induce Men to be Wise and Vertuous to act as becomes them and pursue their true Happiness than to make them guilty of Folly and Sin of what is shameful and hurtful to them and of what will incur their everlasting Misery And how great an Obligation to Obedience is it that the Laws of our Religion are thus contriv'd that the Universal Sovereign has made the Instances of our Duty so reasonable and so good that we may delight in our Duty and the Performance of it will reward it self They would exceedingly aggravate our Wickedness and shew a strange Obstinacy in Sin and Enmity to God if we should rather refuse all this Happiness and Pleasure than submit our selves to the Laws of Religion And thus I have far enough urg'd this Argument in our Text to shew that they who will do wickedly do obstinately refuse their own Interest And to furnish the Consciences of Sinners with such a Conviction as will at one time or other prove a sharp Sting and Torment if they will not suffer it now to restrain them from Wickedness THE PRAYER MOst Great and Glorious Lord God! the Infinite and Perfect Being The greatest Excellency among thy Creatures lies in their greatest Likeness and Conformity to thee We give thee Thanks O Lord for that thou hast made us capable of so great Honour as the resembling of thee in our Actions for that thou hast laid upon us such Laws as guide us to a noble Conformity to the Divine Nature Thou didst of thy bounteous Goodness make Man upright inclin'd to such Actions and suited to thy excellent Law But alass we have defiled and polluted our selves with Sin and are become averse and unwilling impotent and unable to keep thy Commandments Our carnal Minds are Enmity to thee and are not subject to thy Law nor can be till they be Renewed Sanctified and Created again in Christ Jesus unto Good Works O Lord open thou our Eyes to behold the wondrous and alluring Excellencies of thy Law Work in us to will and to do according to thy good Pleasure Rectify the Apprehensions the Relish of our Souls that we may find thy Commandments to be sweeter than the Honey and the Honey-comb Lord make us so steddy and diligent in our Duty so practised and inured to it and so in love with it that we may find thy ways to be to us as they are in themselves ways of Pleasantness Shew and convince us of the Equity and Reasonableness of all thy Service that it is perfect Freedom that it is our greatest Honour that the Wisdom of good Living is our best Ornament even as a Chain of Gold about the Neck Encourage us we beseech thee to our Duty with a constant Sense of thy Presence with us of thy gracious Eye and Regard to all we do Let us know thou dost accept our sincere Endeavours and imperfect Performances through the Merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ Inable us to hope in thy Mercy and assure us that if we put our Trust in thee in Well-doing we shall not be confounded But especially we pray thee O Lord shed abroad thy Love abundantly in our Hearts Let Love possess us Love move Love direct and byass us make us to love thee with all our Hearts and our Neighbours as our selves so shall we be reconcil'd to thy Commandments so shall we run and not be weary we shall ever walk before thee and not faint in that blessed way Renew us O Lord after thine Image and make us Holy as thou art Holy and Good as thou art Good Merciful as thou our Heavenly Father art Merciful and Forgiving as thou art ready to Forgive Let our Lives and Conversations shew forth the Vertues of him that has called us to his Kingdom and Glory Look down in Mercy upon all Mankind rescue the miserable Slaves of the Devil who is the Ruler of the Darkness of this World from their sad Bondage under him and bring them into the happy Liberty of the Children of God Save thy People O Lord and bless thine
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
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
serious enquiring Thought whether they are in Favour with God or not Whether the Almighty be to them a Friend or an Enemy That never did set themselves down seriously to examine into this Matter or that would continue the enquiry till they came to a well-grounded Determination concerning their State And do such indeed desire an Interest in the Love of God Are there not also many that take no care to please God who follow their own Inclinations without any regard to his Will and Laws and so do daily affront and displease him And and are these concern'd for an Interest in his Favour These that live in gainful or pleasant Sins and will not be persuaded to leave them for the Favour of God Or they that live in the habitual constant Practice of the most needless Sins such as Swearing Cursing Backbiting Slandering or in the most mischievous and hurtful Sins such as Intemperance and Prodigality and will not leave them for the Favour of God Are they concern'd for an Interest in that How many besides are there that put off this Concern and Care and bid it stand by till they have accomplisht some other Designs Do they not think that they may accomplish Designs which will be of Advantage to them without the Favour and Blessing of God upon them Do they not think those Designs more necessary and advantagious to them than that And is not this to slight and undervalue that To account it but a needless or an indifferent thing Thus it is but too evident that a great many neglect this Blessedness And by these things we may understand our selves if we will compare them with our own Carriage and may see whether we have been in this Folly or not And indeed it may hereby appear that the best of us may charge our selves with having been too deep in it that we have followed the things which are seen too much and the unseen things too little We have loved and sought the Creature more than the Creator But we must not observe this without making our selves sensible of the Guilt and Folly of it and Resolutions to be careful for the future that we may avoid it Let this then be the Matter of our Shame and Sorrow Let us consider how we must needs have offended God herein That we have been guilty of the Idolatry of the Heart in loving and seeking more the things of this World than the enjoyment of God that we have been herein very ungrateful to his Creating Goodness in despising and neglecting that Happiness which he made us capable to enjoy that we have despised the Blood and Death of the Redeemer whereby an Attonement has been made for our Sins and Salvation purchast for us at a costly Rate even the Salvation which herein we have neglected Let us own then that we have greatly sinned so far as we have been guilty in this Matter and have deserved the most terrible Punishment We have deserved that God should put us off with any thing rather than his Love while we have been seeking any thing more than that We deserve to feel the everlasting Terrors of his Anger if we despise his Love and may reckon it an amazing Instance of his Mercy and Patience that we are yet spared and have time to recollect and amend our selves Let us confess our Sin and resolve to amend it Let us by frequent consideration of the Necessity the Usefulness the Happiness of God's Favour bring our selves to have a mighty esteem and value for it and raise in our selves the most earnest desires and longings after it Let us readily put far away from us all things that will forfeit and lose the Favour of God Let us be diligent and industrious in our Duty in doing the things that will please him And then let us ask for this and we shall receive it Let us seek and we shall find let us knock and this full Treasury of Blessings shall be opened to us THE PRAYER INfinite and Almighty Lord our God Thou art he who hast made the Heavens and the Earth and the Sea and all that is in them Thou art the Fountain Good and the sufficiency of every Creature in Heaven and Earth We acknowledge O Lord it is in thee that we live move and have our Being and all our fresh Springs are in thee Thou art an Infinite Good and after all thy Communications to thy Creatures dost remain the same In thee still does all Fulness dwell To thee O Lord do we poor and miserable Creatures make our humble Addresses Thou alone hast the words of Eternal Life Thou only canst make us happy In thy Favour is Life even Eternal Life and thy loving kindness extends beyond the bounds of our present mortal Life Oh Lord lift thou up the light of thy Countenance upon us and bless and be merciful unto us Enlighten our darkness strengthen our weakness sanctisy our unholy and polluted Natures communicate of thy fulness to the supply of all our wants that we may rejoice in thy Goodness and always live to thy Glory Lord we humble and abase our selves before thee for that we have heretofore so little valued thy Favour or concern'd our selves to enjoy it We foolish Creatures have been ready to prefer any thing before it we have valued the gratifying of impertment and unreasonable desires the getting a little worldly Gain the enjoying a little sensual Pleasure above the matchless Blessings of thy Love We have not believed thy Goodness nor been able to trust thy Favour and Love to take care of and provide for us Thus are we exceeding guilty and while we remain thus estranged from thee we can never be happy We beseech thee O Lord deal not with us after our Sins neither reward us according our to our Iniquities When we humbly confess our Sins do thou graciously forgive them and cleanse us from all our unrighteousness Make us for the future to value thy Love above all things and therefore to set our selves with great care to do those things that are well-pleasing in thy sight and to avoid whatever is offensive to the pure Eyes of thy Glory Let us be sensible that it is only the pure in Heart that can see thee and therefore be industrious to cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in thy Fear Lord we give thanks for thy Forbearance and Patience towards us that thou hast not yet cut us off and sent us to Eternal misery that we have yet Means of Grace and Hopes of Glory Let thy Goodness and Forbearance lead us effectually to unfeigned Repentance and end in a full remission of all our Sins Transform us into thy likeness by the renewing of our Minds and let the light of thy Countenance beautify and adorn us Love us into loveliness Oh thou Almighty Love that thou mayest then delight in us and we as we ought may have our chief delight in thee We pray thee
so happy as to gain an Interest in his Favour and to be in some measure Partakers of the Blessings of his Love it will be the Temper of our Minds to delight greatly in the things above highly will the Thoughts of our Happiness please us we shall be able to say of God as David did My Meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad or rejoice in the Lord Psal 104. This will be the chief delight and solace of the Heavenly Soul to think God loves me the most High has a peculiar favour for me This God is my God for ever and ever With highest Pleasure will the Soul say My Beloved is mine and I am his There is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness And if such be the most welcome and pleasant Thoughts it cannot be but they will be very frequent ones Oh how I love thy Law says David It is my Meditation all the Day Psal 119. 97. When we can let many Days pass over our Heads without one serious and sensible Thought of Heavenly things this is a Symptom of an Earthly and Carnal Mind The Heavenly Mind is necessitated and drawn to other Thoughts but it enclines to these And the Sabbaths and publick Worship of God are a great delight to such a Man When he may be separated from the Concerns of the World to contemplate the Riches of God's Love to taste the sweetness of it to consider the Beauty of Holiness and the Joys of Heaven The Sense of his Soul is the same with that which David expresses Psal 84. 10. A Day in thy Courts is better than a Thousand I had rather be a Door-keeper in the House of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness And Solomon puts a mighty value and esteem for the Worship and Sacred Ordinances of God and an excessive delight in them into the Character of a devout Soul which he gives us in his sublime Song Cant. 2. 34. 5. where after he had made her say As the Apple-tree among the Trees of the Wood so is my Beloved among the Sons She carries on the Metaphor and says I sate down under his Shadow with great delight and his Fruit was sweet unto my taste He brought me into the Banquetting-house and his Banner over me was love And being thus entertained with his Love she is transported with delight she is as it were overwhelmed with Joy Stay me with Apples says she Comfort me with Flaggons for I am sick of love Which is as much as to say Thy Love dear Lord is great like thy Self and far greater than my narrow Capacity When I consider when I feel it when I enjoy the exercises of it in Holy Communion with thee I am me thinks my self all Love I am transported in Extasies of Love and the Love I feel in my self and the delight I take in thine are a Pleasure even too great forme without thy assistance to bear it If our Mind and Heart were truly set on things above we should go from Publick Devotion to Private either in our Closets or Families Certainly he that loves those things and wishes to be employed to Eternity about them cannot think One whole Day in Seven too much to be separated entirely from the World for the enjoyment of them And the Heavenly Soul will be often discoursing of Heavenly things It is a Pleasure to speak of that we extreamly love The Holy Soul represented in the Canticles does so often extol her Beloved and so stay and dwell upon the Descriptions Commendations and Discourses concerning Christ as does sufficiently shew He is indeed her Beloved The Society therefore wherein such an one may best discourse of his Heart 's chief Joy will be always most acceptable and desirable to him Those that value highly the same things that we value and love will be most agreeable to us especially in such cases where there can be no rivalling of each other as it is in this Heavenly Souls will be most acceptable to the Heavenly And the Joy and Pleasure which attends the Thoughts and Remembrance of those heavenly Things which they are partly possest and partly in expectation of will be able in a little time at least to overcome every worldly Sorrow Lastly If we value and love Heaven and things above more than things on the Earth we must greatly desire to be in Heaven We must needs desire to be advanced to that State where we shall more perfectly enjoy those things than we can here where we shall be satisfied with the communicated likeness of God in our perfect and compleat Sanctification where we shall enjoy perfect Rest and Blessendness we cannot chuse but desire that State where as we shall have a fuller enjoyment of the things we mostly love so the enjoyment of them shall be more constant and uninterrupted where we shall have the light of God's Countenance always shining bright upon us where no Clouds no Eclipses shall hide or any Night ever take it from us but it shall make a continual joyful and glorious Day The Soul then that does truly relish and delight in these Divine things cannot be satisfied to be here but will with submission to the Will of God long for the time of his removal to that better State He will not think his Life on Earth too short but rather too long and be ready to say When will this my tedious Pilgrimage be over When shall I come and appear before God! He is not only contented but even desirous with St. Paul To depart and to be with Christ He can willingly forsake not only a poor mean and laborious State on Earth but even a rich prosperous and easy one for the better Enjoyments of Heaven For that which he enjoys of Heaven here is that which he chiefly delights in And since the second Coming of Christ is that which brings him his full Redemption and the perfect Fruition of all that he desires he will greatly long for that he will be one of those that love his Appearing He has the Spirit of the Bride in him who says Come Lord Jesus come quickly in Rev. 22. Or as the holy Souls before his first Coming in longing desire after that Cant. 8. 14. He will say for his Second Make haste my Beloved and be thou like a Roe or to a young Hart upon the Mountains of Spices Thus must our Will and Affections prefer the Things above 3. Those things must have also the Preference of our Actions and Course of Life And it is a certain consequent and fruit of the other two Particulars and the best Indication of them in us that we chiefly endeavour after and mostly seek and pursue the Things above It is necessarily included in the minding those Things that we seek them and endeavour to be Partakers of them We must strive to enter in at the strait gate we must give diligence to make our Calling and Election sure we must work out
Heritage govern them and lift them up for ever And make all that name the Name of Christ duly concern'd to adorn the Doctrin of God our Saviour in all things Let thy gracious Presence dwell in the Land of our Nativity bless us with Peace and Plenty with the Means of Grace and the Efficacy of them to enlighten our Minds to cleanse our Hearts to heal our Divisions to teach us all from the Highest to the Lowest our several Duties towards thee Give Health and Happiness to our King and Queen and teach us and all their Subjects our Duty towards them Bless and direct all inferiour Magistrates make them a Terror to evil Doers and a Praise to them that do well Let those that Minister in Holy things be a good Example to the Flock and make us Followers of them as they are of Christ We Implore thy Mercy upon all that are in Affliction especially upon those who are persecuted for Righteousness Sake give them Patience under their Sufferings and a happy Issue out of all their Afflictions Accept our humble Sacrifices of Praise and Thanksgiving which we have this day offer'd to thee in thy Sons Name And make the Word which we have heard to have such Influence upon our Hearts and to bring forth such Fruit in our Lives as thou dost expect from it Give us a Night of safe and comfortable Rest preserving us from Fear and Danger And when we awake in the Morning let us chearfully return to our Duty in all our ways acknowledge thee and do thou graciously direct our Steps for the Sake of Jesus Christ In whose Words we conclude these our poor imperfect Addresses 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 Easiness of Religion EXPLAINED and IMPROVED 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. 11. 29 30. Take my Yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart And ye shall find rest to your Souls For my Yoke is easie and my Burden is light IT is a strange and wonderful Degeneracy that the Humane Nature is fallen under as appears from the wonderful Aversness that is in all Mankind to a religious and a vertuous Life Religion is the greatest Ornament and Glory of the Humane Nature It is the Cure of all our Defects and Disparagements It is our true and compleat Perfection And yet we commonly appear to be most easily withheld from the Practice of it We devise Excuses to neglect it we receive the most false and unreasonable Prejudices against it without any Examination of them We do often obstinately persist in Wickedness against the most weighty Inducements to do well These Words of the Blessed Jesus who came into the World to save Sinners and to that Purpose has taught us as well as died for us do meet with one of the Prejudices against an Holy Life which he knew to be very common in the Hearts of Men And that is the Imagination that Religion is a Task too hard for Humane Nature and utterly impossible to be perform'd Because we must indeed take some Pains to be Religious our lazy and unwilling Souls magnify the little Oppositions into Mountains of Difficulties and make us think we shall never be able to get over them and the way down to the bottomless Pit seems easie and smooth is strow'd with Pleasures Riches and Worldly Honours and these things easily allure and engage us to follow that Against this fatal and discouraging Prejudice our Saviour says in the Words of our Text Take my Yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart And ye shall find rest unto your Souls For my Yoke is easie and my Burden is light Take my Yoke upon you That is charge your selves with the keeping my Commands submit to my Government For this Meaning the Word Yoke is wont to have in Scripture For my Yoke is easie and my Burden is light It shall be possible to you to keep my Commands you shall find I do not require of you that which you cannot perform that the Difficulties you may meet with are not invincible And further to encourage the taking up his Yoke he adds Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart If ye take up this Yoke ye but take up that which I have born my self I am of a meek and submissive mind I do not disdain to be subject to the Laws of Religion I then command you nothing but what I have practised my self and your Obedience to these Laws will be your Imitation of me And he adds further Ye shall find rest to your Souls This shall be Peace and Happiness to you In discoursing upon these Words I think it may be useful for the better promoting the Design of them to insist upon these Three Heads 1. To shew in what Sense it may be said that the Commands of God are easie to be observ'd Which will be both Explication and Proof of our Saviours Words 2. To suggest by what means we may best render this easie to our selves 3. To urge by some proper Motives the Use of those Means In the First place I shall shew you in what Sense we may understand this that 't is easie to keep the Commands of God And this will be sufficiently represented in the Three following Particulars 1. This is easie to a vigorous and earnest Endeavour ' Tit true there will be continual Opposition made against it by that Corruption that has gotten Possession in our Souls and by the frequent Assaults of Temptation from the World and the Devil But yet these are Difficulties that shall be overcome by an earnest and diligent Endeavour Our Saviour says Strive to enter in at the strait Gate for many I say unto you shall seek to enter in and shall not be able Luke 13. 24. By the strait Gate he means the way of Religion which the Opposition of our Spiritual Enemies and our own unworthy Averseness do render a strait Gate This we cannot pass without Striving and a good Endeavour but with this he intimates we may do so This will ccomplish what we desire but many seek to enter in and shall not be able To lazy Wishes 't is exceeding difficult indeed invincibly Difficult to be Religious He that cannot persuade himself to strive with Earnestness and Patience shall never become so And this
very Vanity Convince us we pray thee O Lord steadily and effectually of these things let us not sell our Souls for nought let us not spend our Life in the pursuit of shadows and neglect substantial things teach us that he who sows unto the Flesh shall of the Flesh reap Corruption And make us to believe that in keeping thy Commands there is great Reward to believe that thou art and art a Rewarder of those that diligently seek thee that we shall not serve God for nought But if we do by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality we shall obtain eternal Life Let thy bounteous and faithful Promises effectually allure us from the ways of Folly and Perdition O that we were so wise as constantly to take thy Testimonies for our heritage to desireabove all things the Happiness which thou hast prepared for them that love and serve thee O turn thou we humbly pray the Byass and Propensity of our Souls that way Give us not up to the choice and pursuit of this World condemn us not to have all our Portion in this short miserable and transitory Life Strengthen and encrease our Faith of unseen things that it may be in us the Evidence of things not seen and the Substance of things hoped for and let this quicken let this encourage us at all times to our Duty by assuring us that our Labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. By alluring us of everlasting Rest to reward our Labours in well-doing of our having fulness of Joy in thy Presence and Rivers of Pleasures at thy Right hand for evermore Deliver us O Spirit of Truth from all the deceits of the World the Flesh and the Devil lead us into all Truth necessary for us to know in order to Salvation and make us to pursue the things which make for our everlasting Peace Give us we pray thee a Treasure in Heaven through the merits of Jesus Christ In whose Name we humbly make our Prayers and Supplications for all Men Give O Lord to all Nations Unity Peace and Concord and pour out thy Spirit upon all Flesh that they may all know thee from the least to the greatest Bless thy Church and prosper it and make it yet more Holy and more Universal Bring in all Jews Turks Infidels and Hereticks into the way of thy Truth and into the way of Salvation We pray thee pour down thy abundant Blessings upon these Nations wherein we live deliver us from those that hate us continue to us thy true Religion establisht among us in the Administrations of it and continue us in the due and universal Practice of what it teaches and requires of us Bless we pray thee our King and Queen and Magistrates be thou their Guide and Defence and make them useful Instruments to promote thy Glory amongst us and our Happiness Let us know those that are over us in the Lord and admonish us those who are thy Ministers in Holy things and esteem them very highly in Love for their Works sake and follow their Godly Counsels and good Examples Grant we beseech thee that the means of Grace which we have this Day enjoy'd may be effectual upon us to the Salvation of our Souls Pardon the imperfections of our Services and graciously accept them through the merits of Jesus Christ In whose Name we present and dedicate our selves to thee we recommend our Relations and Friends to thy Mercy and all that are desolate and afflicted and we pray for the pardon and conversion of our Enemies We commit our selves to the Care of thy Providence this Night beseeching thee to keep us in safety while we are not in a Condition to look to our selves And if it shall please thee to add yet more days to our Lives we desire to spend them all in thy excellent Service to which purpose we humbly implore the continual Guidance of thy Spirit to whom with the Father and the Son one Infinite and Eternal God we ascribe all Praise and Glory for ever and ever Our Father c. GOD's Hatred of Sin Demonstrated and Improv'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 Prov. 15. 9. Former Part. The Way of the Wicked is an Abomination to the Lord. IT is in the Heart of most Sinners that God takes little or no notice of what is done by us here below or if he does take notice that 't is without any concern about what we do They do not think those things offend him which they encline to and which are pleasing to themselves nor will believe that he is so displeased as some represent him to be with any of their Actions And from hence it is so small and light a matter with many to do those things which are sinful It is that which many are accustomed and habituated to do and are contented to be so The smallest temptation is able to make a man commit a Sin Yea without any temptation they will readily run into it and instead of avoiding and repelling temptations they industriously seek them and delight to entertain them It is become so common a thing to do wickedly that men have no horrour at any but the very grossest crimes such as would lessen a man's reputation in the World or expose him to Penal Laws and they are but very few But these things come to pass for want of a due consideration of such Truths as that which the Wise-man here delivers in saying The way of the wicked is an Abomination to the Lord. The most Holy and Almighty God takes notice of the Actions of men is acquainted with all our ways and resents with Infinite dislike and hatred whatever we do that is contrary to his most excellent Commands It is not an indifferent thing to him what our Actions are But as he that made us has given us Laws for the direction of our Actions so every transgression of those Laws and Rules which is that which is call'd Wickedness is odious and abominable to him A very terrible Consideration this is to those that have not taken any notice of it before and so have liv'd carelesly but it is therefore necessary to such to reclaim them from these offensive ways And if any man does so well lay it to his heart as to give it power to do so he shall find it as happy and comfortable in the fruits and effects of it To put you in mind of this I shall at present fix my Discourse upon it and to give it the more force I shall insist upon these Heads of Discourse concerning it 1. To confirm and prove what is here said 2. To shew you the Inferences which we may raise from it 3. To make
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