the satisfaction of your sensual appetite is concern'd but grant you get that sensual satisfaction you wish for by these sins will it countervail the loss of God's Grace the loss of the light of his Countenance the loss of spiritual comforts the loss of inward joy the loss of Communion with your Maker all which you do certainly lose by your affection to these sins Where is your Christian Perfection if you watch not against the least sin How do you put on the whole Armour of God if you arm not your selves against these common Souldiers of the Devils Army It is not the Officers the Captains of his Hellish Host I mean the greater sins alone that endanger you These Gibeonites that seem inconsiderable that come with Clouts upon their feet and look as if they would do no great harm these lesser sins are as big with mischief as the other for their design is the same viz. to engage you in a League with Hell in a Covenant with Death and to lay you open to the fiercest assaults of the Devil In a word if you would be rid of the least sin learn to live by Rule think by Rule and speak by Rule and work by Rule even by the Rule of the Word of the Living God And as many as walk according to this Rule peace be on them and on the whole Israel of God VII Exercise Every day to keep a strict Guard over our Eyes an Exercise recommended to us Job 31. 1. Psalm 119. 37. Matth. 5. 28 29. Matth. 18. 9. By the Eye here I do not mean the Eye of Contemplation whereby Men see what is above them nor the Eye of Reason whereby they see what is within them but the Eye of the Body which discovers to them the things that are without them and what necessity there is for guarding the Eye the unhappy examples of persons who have been lost for want of it do sufficiently shew When our Grandmother Eve suffer'd her Eyes to wander on the Forbidden Tree and pleas'd her sight with the lovely but dangerous Fruit we know and feel to this day what was the effect of it even the undoing of all her Posterity Had Dinah the Daughter of Jacob kept within the limits of her Fathers House and not gadded abroad to see fashions and the wanton behaviour of the Daughters of the Land she had not lost her Virginity nor been the occasion of so much Blood-shed Had the Jews forbore looking on the Daughters of Midian they had prevented the plague which broke in upon them and consumed the chosen Men of Israel Had David turned away his Eyes from Bathsheba when he walk'd on the Plat-form of his House neither Uriah had been kill'd nor himself fallen into that distress and anguish which afterwards came upon him Achan loses his life by his Eyes and Amnon commits incest Haman's Eyes taking notice of Mordecai's irreverence occasion his death And had the Elders in the Story when they admired the Beauty of Susanna look'd another way they had prevented their shameful and ignominious execution At these Windows Covetousness and Lasciviousness and admiration of sensual Objects and Envy enters at these Avenues they come in and from these Gates the poison is convey'd to the Heart and Entrails At these Doors grief come in which racks the mind and tears the bowels for who knows not that it is more tolerable to hear than to see a loss or misfortune Did not the Covetous feed his eyes with the sight of Gold he would not forsake Paradice for Sodom Heaven for Earth and God for Mammon Did the lustful person deny himself in seeing the tempting object he would not become a slave to his passion nor stoop to such a fatal servitude as we see he doth it 's gazing on the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on the gaudes and glories of this World makes the sensual man admire nothing but what savours of satisfaction of the Flesh. Did not the envious cast his eyes on his neighbours welfare it would not grieve him to see his equal or inferior thrive and prosper The Mother that looks upon her dying Babe by that look increases her grief and he that sees himself despis'd and wrong'd makes that spectacle an argument of his immoderate sorrow and vexation so that guarding the eyes is an Exercise which Duty Interest and Desire of our own quiet doth command This Exercise consists First In admiring nothing in the Creature but the Creators Glory Secondly In turning away our Eyes from any Object which we have reason to suspect as dangerous Thirdly In checking the disorder which our seeing may cause in our minds and passions Fourthly In making greater use of the Eyes of our Minds than of our Bodies 1. In admiring nothing in the Creature but the Creators Glory what Beauty what Harmony what Evenness what Exactness what Perfection we see in any object that must immediately lead us to admire the Supreme Cause that gave it Being His Finger must be taken notice of His Wisdom magnified His Bounty adored His Power praised His Munificence exalted and the Creature only look'd upon as the work of his hands the effect of his Providence and the product of his Goodness he that looks no farther then the creature runs himself into snares and God justly suffers him to fall that would not look higher and from Earth cast up his Eyes to Heaven Such a man looks no farther than a Beast and forgets that God gave him a faculty to see more than irrational Animals such a man hath nothing to keep him in awe and therefore is tempted to lay hold on the forbidden Tree which was only presented to his eyes by way of Tryal He that upon seeing the Loveliness and Beauty of a sublunary Object presently reflects on the God that made it at the same time furnishes himself with Arguments to keep within the bounds of Seeing and within the borders of Virtue for sure he cannot at the same time admire the Creator and sin against him That reflexion will put a stop to his sensual desires and as the Angel did Balaam suffer him not to go on to the King of Moab I mean to fulfil the suggestions of a brutish Appetite 2. In turning away our Eyes from any Object which we have reason to suspect as dangerous There is no man that observes himself and knows what sins and errors he is most prone and inclined to but must needs or at least may know what objects are most likely to raise disorders in his soul Experience hath taught him and his frequent falls have been his School-masters Such objects must be shunn'd as the pestilence and if they come within sight the Eyes must be cast down on the ground or shut and as ridiculous as this may seem in the eyes of the world a man in this case had better be laught at by all his acquaintance than loose the Glory of his Self-denial
this Art did Paphnutius teach Thais the Harlot after her Conversion and St. Bernard reports the same of St. Malachias I have read of others that while they have been in company of their Neighbors have in their Minds offered no less then One hundred and three Prayers to Allmighty God and accordingly Macarius advised the Man that ask'd him how he should Pray to repeat very frequently such words as these in his Mind Have Mercy upon me O Lord as thou wilt and think'st most convenient In the Lives of the Fathers there is mention made of one Moses that Pray'd Fifty times a day of one Paulus that Prayed Three hundred times and of a Virgin that did so Seven hundred times others have gone farther and lifted up their hearts to Heaven a Thousand times a day as St. Clara. These Prayers were only short Ejaculations used upon all occasions effects of this Praying Frame and whatever they undertook they began with a Prayer and while they were busy in the Works of their Calling still some Holy Aspirations came from them and if they were reading the Bible at the end of every Verse their Souls breath'd after God and in few words beg'd some Blessing at his hand to which purpose St. Ephrem gives this excellent Rule Whether you work or are going to lie down whether you stand still or are in a Journey whether you eat or drink whether you are going to sleep or are awaking take heed you do not forget to Pray whether you are at Church or at home or in the field whether you feed sheep or build houses whether you are at a Feast or otherwise engaged still Pray and Converse with God These short Ejaculatory Prayers are by St. Austin justly call'd Arrows whereby Gods heart is wounded and our hearts are rais'd into reciprocal love to God These are the Prayers which Tertullian calls Prayers without a Train or retinue of Words And Isack the Anchorete in Cassian pure Offerings Sacrifices with Marrow in them These are the Works or Attempts of our Spiritual Bow as Justinian phrases them Darts and Arrows levell'd against the Enemy Fiery Desires of the heart and the Wishes of Importunate Supplications which are shot up to Heaven wound a great way off fly with great swiftness keep the Enemy from coming too near and sometimes at one stroke enervate his Temptations when he approaches for seeing the presence of God in these Ejaculations he is struck with horror and departs And this Rule I earnestly entreat my Reader to think of and put in practice Christian What difficulty is there in 't before any honest attempt or enterprise to say in thy Mind Lord establish thou the work of our hands upon us yea the work of our hands establish thou it or if it may not tend to thy Glory keep it from prospering and let it not succeed according to my desires If thy design be honest and lawful Why shouldst thou be loth to recommend thy endeavors to the conduct of Providence try it and thou wilt find what comfort it will yield in the end When thou hearest the Clock strike let thy Mind immediately mount up to Heaven and say Lord so teach us to number our dayes that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom When dressing thy self Cloth my soul with salvation and deck me with white raiments that the shame of my nakedness may not appear When washing thy hands and face Bathe my soul in the Blood of Jesus and wash my heart from all Iniquity When walking O Lord cause me to walk in the way of thy Testimonies and let me not wander from thy Commandments When in Company O when will that Joyful Day come that my soul shall be gathered to the innumerable Company of Angels to the general Assembly and Church of the first-born which are written in Heaven and to the Spirits of just Men made perfect When Writing Lord put thy Laws in my heart and write them upon my mind When Reading O make me to understand the way of thy Precepts so shall I talk of thy wondrous Works When Rising O let me awake unto Righteousness and arise from the dead that Christ may give me light When lying down O cause me to lie down in the green pastures of thy Mercy lead me beside the still waters of thy Comforts and restore my Soul When kindling a Fire O shed abroad thy love in my heart and raise such flames within as may burn up all my dross and all my filth When lighting a Candle O give me the spirit of Wisdom and Understanding and enlighten mine Eyes that I may see what the hope of thy calling is and what the riches of thy Grace are When Eating or Drinking O let it be my Meat and Drink to do thy Will feed me with the Bread which came down from Heaven and give me to drink of that Water whereof whoever drinks shall never thirst again When Riding out O Thou that ridest upon the wings of the Wind shew thy self conquer my Corruptions and trample all my Sins under thy feet When taking the Air Come Holy Spirit blow upon my Garden that the Spices may flow out make my mind calm serene and quiet breathe upon me and revive me with the light of thy Countenance When Visiting a sick Neighbour O do thou make all his Bed in his sickness and give me Grace to speak a word in season to him and cause all thy Goodness to pass before him When beholding Trees and Plants and Flowers Lord how wonderful are all thy Works in Wisdom hast thou made them all the Earth is full of thy Riches O make me as a Tree planted by the Rivers of Water which may bring forth its fruit in due season When going to speak to a Great Man Over-awe me with thy presence Lord that I may not comply with any Evil but may fear Thee more than Men. When going by Water O satisfie my Soul with the Fatness of thy House and make me to drink of the River of thy Pleasures When Buying or Selling Lord prevail with me to keep a Conscience void of offence toward God and toward Man When standing in thy Shop How amiable are thy Tabernacles Lord God of Hosts O let me ever love the Habitation of thy House and the place where thine Honour dwelleth When hearing thy Neighbour Curse or Swear O Lord lay not this sin to his charge Father forgive him for he knows not what he doth When hearing any good of thy Friend or Acquaintance O let him grow in Grace and go on from Virtue to Virtue and make him fruitful in every good word and work When seeing any one that 's Blind or Lame or Dumb O Lord make these distressed Creatures amends for these defects some other way make the Eye of their Faith the quicker their inward Man stronger and their Hope more lively and visit them more powerfully with thy Salvation When looking upon a
behold with amazement the many Millions of poor tormented Creatures that howl and shriek and lament that they have neglected so great a Salvation and this doleful cry makes me watch against every weight and every sin which does so easily beset me And now Brethren If there be any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels and mercies fulfil ye my joy and let not this Exercise seem grievous to you Plead not that it is out of fashion if it be so do you make it modish You know who it is that beseeches you by the Mercies of God not to conform your selves to the World If it be out of fashion to be saved will you therefore resolve to be damn'd Bear up against the stream Be not ashamed of Christ and of his Gospel You dare not plead this Excuse in the last day why should you alledge it now Here is no Rhetorick required no Eloquence no Florid Learning O that you were but more sensible of your spiritual wants O that your hearts were but more inflamed with the love of God! O that you did but observe God's dealings with your Souls more and would take more notice of God's Providences and the Operations of his Hands You would not then want language to express your selves in to your Children Servants Friends Neighbors and Acquaintance but the sense within would force you to say with David Come and I will tell you what the Lord hath done for my Soul Psal. 66. 19. Do not think Heaven so cheap a thing as your careless Neighbours do either Christ and Heaven and our future Glory are worth talking of or nothing can be worth it Dare to prefer Heaven before the World and in your Words as well as Actions manifest the sincerity of your resolution You cannot pretend impossibility you have a Tongue you have Reason you hear the Ministers of the Gospel you see God's Providences you know Heaven and Hell are before you you read many excellent Lessons what should hinder you from speaking of these weighty things It 's but bending and moving your Tongues to such Subjects and they 'll yield as easily as they do when you bend them to frivolous vain and idle talk to gossipping or complementing or prating of other Mens Matters You will rest the sweeter at night when you have been talking of good things in the day-time you 'll go with greater comfort to Bed your sleep and repose will be more pleasing and satisfactory when you have exercised your Tongues in matters of this nature When you talk of such heavenly and spiritual things you are not exposed to so many Temptations as otherwise you are when in company with others you may sin in talking of your Neighbours you may sin in speaking of the Actions of Kings and Princes you may sin in telling things and passages for true which have no other foundation but an uncertain report you may sin in foolish jestings and jeering one another but in discoursing of heavenly things you are safe you are in God's way God walks with you bears you company and the Enemy of your Souls will despair of prevailing with you you shun the occasions of evil and you prepare your selves to quench the fiery darts of the Devil hereby you may do good to others comfort your Neighbours support your fellow-Christians and in such Conferences a word may drop from you as may keep those you discourse with from despair and which may be an encouragement to them as long as they live It was bravely done of that Young-Man under Decius his Persecution who being by force tied upon a Down-Bed in a Room made for Pride and Luxury and sollicited to Uncleanness by a Harlot sent to him by the Governour on purpose to provoke him to sin bit his Tongue to pieces that the smart and pain might drown all sense of Voluptuousness and so spit it in the Harlots face But here we require no such severity but all that is expected from you in this Exercise is to keep your Tongues from evil and your Lips from speaking guile to speak of the Glorious Honour of God's Majesty and of his Wondrous Works to utter abundantly the memory of his great Goodness and to declare his Righteousness The very Heathen have seen the necessity of this Exercise therefore they shall be your Judges in the last day and I know not how to express their sense of this duty better than by setting down the words of the sober Epictetus Prescribe thy self a Rule saith he which thou mayst observe when thou art either by thy self or in company with others Either be silent or let the things thou speakest of be necessary and profitable When thou speakest talk not of light and trivial things as Wrestling and Horses or Fencers or Swords or Meat or Drink neither spend thy time in praising or dispraising Men but let thy discourse be of something noble decent grave and serious but if this cannot be hold thy peace Thus did the Primitive Saints and when they visited one another their care was to put one another in mind of the words and actions of their Great Redeemer what he did and what he promised and what he suffered how kind he was to this Blind Man how favourable to that Leper how loving to the Lame how compassionate to the Blind how gracious to his Enemies how free and communicative to his Friends what pity he expressed to sinful Men how meek he was before his Accusers how patient before his Tormentors how he ran to kiss the Penitent how he wept over the obstinate Jews and how he long'd for Mens Salvation These were their discourses and they would hardly give themselves liberty to talk of their Worldly Affairs except necessity forced them for they believ'd that by their Charter they were to have their Conversation in Heaven and this they thought imported talking much of their Heavenly Country and of the Joys and Hallelujahs of that Kingdom It was the custom of some Heathen Priests of old in the service of their Gods to wash or dip their Tongues in Honey an excellent Emblem to teach us how our Tongues must be purified and sanctified and seasoned with that Word which is sweeter than the Honey and the Honey-comb Psal. 19. 10. And indeed then our words are sweet and there is Milk and Honey under our Tongues when we exhort and admonish one another daily taking heed lest we be harden'd through the deceitfulness of sin Heb. 3. 13. VI Exercise Every day to watch against those sins which in the eye of the World are small and inconsiderable an Exercise commanded Matth. 5. 19. 1 Cor. 5. 6. Jud. Vers. 23. Indeed Christ's whole Sermon upon the Mount is chiefly bent against those sins which purblind Mortals are apt to miscall little and trivial The Pharisees were such ill Divines that they not only believed but taught the people too That in the Ten
There is no dallying with such objects To see whether I am able to resist the Temptation is to sin for Tryals sake and he is certainly safer that looks another way Our greatest wisdom is to suspect our own frailty and the best way to keep Sin out of the Mind is to keep it out of the Eyes What sin we have formerly fallen into we may fall into again and he that knows not but he may had best put himself out of all danger and that is by not looking upon the enticing object and though it is not necessary to run away from it in great fury as Paulus in Cassian did from the sight of a Woman yet it 's expedient to get as fast as we can from the confines of that Fire which is so apt to put our passions into a Fever 3. In checking the least disorder which our Seeing may cause in our Minds and Passions It 's possible we may be surpriz'd and the object we behold unawares may dart a covetous or envious or lascivious thought into our minds and that spark may fall upon the passions but here the poison must be presently vomited up again and the seed of evil dissipated and our Souls clear'd of the dangerous guest the sudden thought drown'd in the waters of Repentance and greater cautiousness for the future must be used and the Child thus burnt must learn to dread the fire where this is neglected and men are careless of this Exercise their Souls are in danger of being consumed for those sparks if let alone will soon put all into a doleful conflagration so necessary is it to resist the beginnings of these impurer steams and exhalations and the Vipers bite can do no great harm if something be applyed presently to stop the inflammation The first disorder is soon check'd when the greater tumult cannot be quell'd or allay'd but with very great pains and difficulty 4. In making greater use of the eyes of our Minds than those of our Bodies Matth 6. 22. When St. Anthony the Hermit had a mind to comfort the Excellent but blind Dydimus of Alexandria he thus addressed himself to him Let it not trouble thee that thou hast lost thy outward or carnal eyes for in being deprived of them thou wantest only such eyes as Mice and Flies and Lizzards have but rejoyce that thou hast Eyes of Angels whereby God is seen and a vast light of knowledge is kindled in thy Soul Indeed were these Eyes but exercised more those of the Body would have no such evil influence upon the Soul The intellectual Eye looks beyond the Clouds transcends the Sky and sees through all the Mists and Foggs of this present World into Eternity This beholds the satisfactions of another World and surveys the Treasure God hath laid up for them that fear him This sees the goodness of God and causes otherguise Delights than the Butterflies and Glow-worms of earthly Glories do This looks up to the everlasting Hills and as the Eyes of Servants look unto the hands of their Masters and as the Eyes of a Maiden look unto the hand of her Mistriss so this waites upon the King of Heaven till he is pleased to answer in the still voice of Love and Mercy This scorns to stoop so low as to see what Swine and Moles do here on earth and takes a view of Gods Paradise and of the blessed Shades under which the Heirs of Glory rest without Disturbance or Molestation and he that sees with this eye opens this often and delights to behold objects suitable and agreeable to its sublime and wonderful Fabrick doth stupifie the pleasures his corporal eyes suggest and so qualifies them that they make no more impression than Arrows shot against a brazen Wall or Fortress made of Iron In these particulars this Exercise consists and this is it we press upon you this is it we exhort you to and intreat you to employ your selves in as you would not bear the name of Christians in vain We do not bid you with Eusebius in Theodoret to shut your eyes against the Flowers of the Field or against the Stars of Heaven and to put weights of Iron about your Necks to keep your Eyes fixed upon the ground we do not perswade you with Pachomius so to tye your selves up from the sight of all Mankind as not to look upon so near a Relation as a Sister Simeon Stylita and Theodorus would not see their own Mothers John the Hermit for Fifty years together saw none of the Female Sex one Sarah lived Threescore years by a River and never look'd upon it one Marcus saluted his Mother and one Pior his Sister with their eyes shut Sylvanus on Mount Sinai was so afraid of having his mind distracted with vain thoughts that he would not so much as look upon the Trees that grew in a Garden before him but such superstitious doings we do not set before you as patterns to imitate but the thing we would have you learn to be masters of is that modesty of the eyes that serious Look that care of your Senses that you may not look upon any thing that 's like to breed vain thoughts in your understanding your Eyes are Sacred things The Egyptians represented God by them and the Type should ever answer to the Antitype As God therefore is Holy so should the Eye be that represents him Would you know what makes your Mind so frothy and your Souls so weary of Gods Service Why your Eye is never weary of seeing objects that feed your sensuality What is it makes you so averse from reading Books that Treat of God and Happiness Why your eyes delighting so much in reading Romances and Play-Books What damps or dulls your admiration of Gods providences Why your eyes being so much taken with vain shews and representations What makes you that you are no more enamour'd with him that 's altogether lovely Why your eyes are so entirely fix'd on the Flesh and on the World How should you love that which you see but seldom How should you hunger and thirst after that which you care not how rarely you cast your eyes upon you fancy Religion doth not reach so far as the eyes and think that God hath given you eyes on purpose to look on all things that are visible you are not aware of the Serpent that lies in the Grass you look upon and all is harmless to you that comes within the verge of sight but these are not thoughts of Men that have learn'd Christ these are not reasonings of Men that have laid up their portion in another world this is the sense of Men that grovel in the Dust and know not what it means to walk after the Spirit your God that knows your frame would never have made a Law to regulate the Sight but that he knew that was the hole at which the Scorpions creep in that prey upon the Soul Stop up this Fountain and you need not fear
and his Righteousness and nothing ingrosses my desires so much as to be always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as I know my Labour is not in vain in the Lord. 15. Then I exercise my self unto Godliness as a Great Man or a Man of a Gentile and Noble Extract when I mind things Great and Generous and slight those Lusts which other men admire and make pleasing God the chief care of my Life while others make it their principal care and business to please and gratifie themselves When I undervalue that world others doat on and love that God with Zeal and Fervency whom others love only in Words and vain pretences When I pray with Groans which cannot be uttered while others draw nigh to God only with their lips and their Hearts are far from him and dare loose something for Christ while others follow him no farther than is consistent with their Temporal Glory when I mind that which many Kings and Prophets and Righteous Men have desired to see even the Spiritual Riches of Grace and the everlasting Mercies of David When I mind that for which Abraham forsook his own Countrey and Moses left the dazling Glories of Pharoh's Court and for which Saints and Martyrs have spilt their Blood even that everlasting Kingdom of Bliss which Sense cannot Fathom and no Eye can perceive but that of an illuminated Understanding and which the King Immortal who cannot lye hath promised to the Man that shall be faithful unto death When I am ambitious of the company of that vast multitude we read of Rev. 7. 9. which no man can number out of all Nations Kindred Tongues and People that stand before the Throne and before the Lamb with Palmes in their hands and clothed in White Raiment and cry day and night Salvation unto our God and to the Lamb for ever and ever When I can offer free-will-offerings to God and am so far from being frighted at the Gift God requires at my hands that I am ready to do more than I have an express Command for like the Pious Souls at the erecting of the Tabernacle who being bid to bring in their proportion freely offered more than their share and were so free to give that Moses was forced to put a stop to their Generosity and Liberality Exod. 36. 3 5 6. And to add no more then I exercise my self unto Godliness as a common ordinary man as a man in a lower Sphere and private station When I am just in all my dealings and in Simplicity and Godly Sincerity not with fleshly wisdom but by the Grace of God have my Conversation in the World When I live in a sense of God's Mercy and am ready to do good Offices to all my Neighbours When I study Truth in my Trade and Calling and as much as in me lies provide things honest in the sight of all Men. When I am not slothful in business but fervent in Spirit serving the Lord rejoycing in hope patient in tribulation continuing instant in prayer c. You see Christians what it is to be universally conscientious In vain doth the Pharisee boast I thank thee O God that I am not as other Men Extortioners Unjust Adulterers nor even as this Publican As much as he valued himself up-his perfection it was nothing but Rags and menstruous Cloaths for in this Catalogue no Duties of his several Relations are mention'd and he knew not what it was to live like a Divine or like a Loyal Subject Let Alexander boast of his Conquering Persia India and other Countries and mourn that there are no more Worlds to conquer He that faithfully discharges the duties of his several Relations is a greater Man Such a Man is sensible that God will not be put off with shews and shadows nor with a righteousness that is as a Morning Cloud and as the early Dew which passeth away Such a Man receives the Kingdom of Heaven as a little Child and doth not stand out for want of pains Such a Man is resolved to know God and what the exceeding greatness of his power is to them who believe O Sirs retire and think of the reasonableness of this Exercise O that we could make you see the necessity of it O that it lay in my power to perswade you to it O that I had Rhetorick enough to charm you O that I had the Tongues of Angels to catch your Inclinations by a holy guile But it is not Eloquence will do it God's Spirit must breathe upon you and O that this blessed Spirit would blow upon you and compel you to come in and make you so sensible of the love of God that you might not be able to withstand its force but become greedy and ambitious of this Imployment You would then see how much these Men are mistaken how much they are out what a wrong way they take that place all Religion in a few heartless Prayers and careless Wishes and will not be perswaded to believe that God ever commanded this faithful discharge of the Duties of their several Relations and Callings and that they may not be obliged to it are resolved to continue in that unbelief to their dying day You would be ready to call after them Awake ye that sleep and Christ shall give you light You would wonder that they take no greater care to dress up their Souls for the Marriage of the Lamb O how you would pity them bemoan them and wish for a Fountain of Tears to bewail their stubbornness O how you would be frighted to see what burthens they lay upon their backs Burthens insupportable burthens which will crush them burthens which will make them cry out one day O that there had been such a heart in me O that I had kept close to the Law and to the Testimony O that I had look'd more to my ways O that I had remembred what a charge God gave me O that I had given ease to my Soul when Christ offered to refresh me O that I had submitted to his Yoak in all things when he promised me rest for my Soul We have innumerable examples of Men who even in this life have felt the burthen of God's anger for their unfaithful discharge of these Duties How many Fathers have groan'd under a sence of neglect of their duty to their Children How many Children have smarted for the neglect of theirs to their Parents How hath God punish'd Princes how hath he visited Subjects for their carelesness of these mutual Offices How many Servants have complain'd that they have been undone because their Masters admonish'd them not How many Masters have been ruin'd because their Servants remembred not what faithfulness and what duties God required at their hands And if God's anger against these neglects be so heavy in this life what will it be in the day of Wrath and in the day of Indignation The Judgments God
every Lesson that 's deliver'd in publick and when they hear Sinners reprov'd and condemn'd cry with the Disciples of our Lord Master is it I But our Business for the most part being with men who like wanton Children will scarce eat the Meat that 's cut for them and are so choak'd with the Cares and Riches and Enjoyments of this World that the loudest Thunders of God make no impression on them and fancy because they are not particularly named in the Bible that therefore the Commands there given do not belong to them we are forced to make the way they are to walk in as easie as we can remove the Stones out of it and tell them every step of the way in hopes that all these pains may work upon their good Nature and oblige them to break loose from the Kingdom of Sin and Darkness And therefore 1. If the Actions and Motions of our outward and inward man be made the Rule of this Daily Self-examination the particular questions that must be proposed to our Hearts at night must be such as these To begin with the Senses As for the Ear Have not I this day heard some ill immodest unsavoury Expressions used by others and hath it been a grief to me hath it been a trouble to my Soul to think that my God was abused and dishonoured by it Have not my Ears been open to corrupt and vain communications Have not I been tickled with some obscene or filthy Story I have heard Have I heard my Neighbour reviled or ill spoken of and have I done the duty of a Friend and justified his innocent Behaviour Have I heard this day of any undecent deportment of any of my Family and have I reproved them for it or admonished them to amendment of life Have not I been pleased with the Commendations I have heard men pass upon me and hath not their applause tempted me to vain-glory Have I heard of losses I have had with Patience Have I heard a man speak disgracefully of me without being enraged at the Calumny Have I heard men entice me to sin and have I abhorred the invitation Have I heard men Swear and Curse and have I been concern'd at the greatness of their Sin On the Lords day especially Have I heard the Word this day with seriousness Did I come to Hear with Resolutions to Practice what I heard Was my Heart affected with the happy Message of Grace and Pardon Was not I more taken with the Ministers delivery than the great things he spoke of Was it custom that obliged me to go and hear or was it a fervent desire to be edified and built up in my most holy Faith Do I feel in my self any Purposes at this present to do as I have been advised to day Did I prepare my self for hearing the Word by suitable Thoughts and Contemplations of that awful Majesty before whom I was to appear Did I feel any heat in my Hearing which was ready to consume the Straw and Stubble of my carnal Affections Did I find any sweetness in the Word of God I heard to day Was my heart ravisht when I heard the joyful news of Christs Redemption to day Was my Soul affected with the love of God when I heard it described to day at the Receiving of the Holy Sacrament Have I done my duty at home Have I made my Servants and Children hear what the Lord their God requires at their hands As for the Eye Have I this day lifted up mine Eyes to Heaven and taken notice of Gods Providences Have not I fed mine Eyes with some unlawful Spectacle Have not I seen men sin and laught at it Have not I beheld immodest Actions and been delighted with them Hath not the sight of such a Vanity transported me into admiration of it Have I read a Portion of the Holy Scriptures to day and remembred to apply the things I read of to mine own Conscience Have I been enflamed with the goodness of the men I have read of Have the Duties and Precepts I have read caused in me a willingness to perform them Have I beheld the Finger of God in the Blessings I have received to day Have I taken notice of Gods goodness to me and mine and stood amazed at it Have I look'd upon the Works of God to day upon Trees and Herbs and Flowers and admired the Wisdom Glory and Bounty of God As for the Tongue and Lips Have I wilfully spoke evil of no man to day Have not I rendred Railing for Railing and Threatning for Threatning Have I been careful to drop something of God in the company I have been in Did not I Eat and Drink to day more to please my Appetite then to repair the decay'd strength of my nature that I might be more serviceable to God and my Neighbour Did I take occasion to speak of something that 's good at my Table And when I craved a Blessing was not my mind more intent upon the Meat before me than on the Great God above me Have not I been intemperate to day Did not I Eat and Drink more than Nature required Have I Pray'd with my Family to day and did that Prayer proceed from an humble sense of our Spiritual Wants and Necessities Have not I said something whereby my Neighbour might suffer in his Credit and Reputation Have I dropt never a Lye in my Shop or Trade or in company either in Jest or for some Advantage or to please Men Have not I rashly made or falsly broke a Promise Have I in my Addresses and Answers shew'd all Meekness unto all Men Have not I talk'd Surly or Proudly to a Man because he was Poor Have not I disdain'd to speak to him because he went in Rags Have I avoided foolish Talk and when I have been tempted to break a Jest which was either Smutty or might be some way prejudicial to my Neighbour have I suppressed it and been more ambitious of being Grave and Modest than of the Reputation of being Witty As for the Hands and Feet whereby the Scripture usually expresses Mans actions Have I been diligent in the Duties of my Calling to day Have I defrauded no Man deceived no Man Have I dealt uprightly and honestly with all Men Have I shunn'd that company which I was afraid would draw me into Sin Have not I complyed with some sinful Action of the Company I have been in Have I some way or other shewn my abhorreney and detestation of their Sins Have I really endeavour'd more to please God than Men What good have I done to day Have not I taken more pains and care to dress my Body than I have done to beautifie my Soul Have not I been more curious about my Cloaths than about my Graces Have not I been more careful to make my Face pleasing to Spectators than I have been to approve my self to God Have not I lost somewhat of the Life of Religion by going into such Society Have not I spent
Dunghil O make me to know my self and discover to me my false deceitful heart and the odiousness and loathsomness of my sins that I may hate them with a perfect hatred When beholding the Sun O Thou Sun of Righteousness rise upon me with healing under thy wings and warm my Soul with thy Radiant Beams that I may love thee better than Father and Mother better than all that 's dear and pleasing to me here below When looking upon a House O my God make me in love with that City which hath Foundations whose Builder and Maker is God O when shall this Earthly House of my Tabernacle be dissolved and I received into that Building of God the House not made with hands eternal in the Heavens When seeing other Men laugh at any sin Lord let Rivers of Tears run down mine eyes because Men do not keep thy Law O give me tenderness of Soul that I may be concern'd at other Mens sins as well as mine own When beholding any Children or Infants O Lord out of the mouths of Babes and Sucklings do thou prepare praises unto thy self let these Children grow up as the Lilies and spread their Branches as the Cedars of Libanon When going to visit a Friend Lord make him thy Friend and that he may be so incourage and assist him to do whatsoever thou commandest When reproved by another Lord let this reproof be as an excellent Oyl to me give me Grace to take it in good part let my Soul thrive by it let it heal my wounds and make me thankful for this opportunity When receiving any injury or ill language Sweet Jesu give me Grace to follow thy example and to tread in thy steps who being reviled didst not revile again and when thou wert threatned sufferedst it committing thy self to him that judges righteously When seeing it Snow Purge me with Hyssop and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than Snow When seeing it Rain O visit me with the former and latter Rain of thy favour and make my heart rich with thy Showers that I may bring forth the fruits of the Spirit When despised for Righteousness sake O let me esteem the reproach of Christ greater Riches than all the Treasures of the World When it Thundreth O Lord the Power of thy Thunder who can understand Let the World take notice of the Voice of God and the Inhabitants of the Earth learn Righteousness I have been the more prolix in particularizing these Ejaculations of the Mind and these Aspirations of the Heart in the various Contingencies Accidents Providences and Actions of our Lives because I would help the Ignorant and take away all colour of excuse and destroy all pretences of impossibility of this Exercise Use will make it easie And Sirs if ever you would learn to converse with God or to have your Conversation in Heaven If ever you would get a Foretaste of the Joys to come If ever you would make Religion your Business If ever you would conquer the Lusts of the Flesh If ever you would extinguish vain and evil Thoughts If ever you would arrive to a sound Mind and that inward Spiritual Worship of God without which Christ says None can please him If ever you would learn to conquer Temptations If ever you would have your Souls become strong lusty and vigorous in the Ways of God This is the way even this praying without ceasing This is the best Antidote against Sin the best Medicine to cure all Spiritual Diseases It doth not hinder you in the Works of your Calling but rather furthers and sanctifies them nor can it be uneasie to the Mind except it be to the unwilling Mind and it keeps out the Devil better than St. Teresa's Holy Water or St. Anthonies Sign of the Cross. I know what will be pleaded here That this is to make Religion burthensome a Yoak indeed and at this rate you shall never enjoy your selves But give me leave to ask you What kind of Religion would you have Would you be Religious and dissolute Would you be good and have Elbow-room in Sin Would you be pious and be kept within no bounds Cannot you enjoy your selves without you may be licentious Would you be happy and suffer no restraint to be laid upon your Sensual Pleasures If this be a yoak there have been those before your time that have cheerfully drawn in it and thought themselves most blessed for having the honor of the Employment It is a yoak which the Son of God hath taken upon himself and all the Apostles whose Memories you celebrate and whose Actions you admire have imitated their Great Master in Would you be his Disciples and live as you please Are you proud of being his Followers and scorn his Laws Do you glory in his Salvation and are you loth to follow his Example Would not you deny your selves in your ease for a Crown of Glory Would you have all that the World affords and all that Heaven affords Would you live easie here and easie hereafter too Would you lie in the lap of Sensual Delights here and from thence drop into the Bosom of Everlasting Mercy Is it rational to believe that the Spiritual delights above are purchased by brutish and beastly ones on Earth He that will have his fill of this World must not expect to have his fill of the next He that will wellcome the pleasures of Sin and Lust here must not think to drink of the Rivers of Gods pleasure hereafter He that means to Rejoyce hereafter must mourn here He that means to Laugh in the next World must weep in this Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted but thou art tormented saith Abraham to Dives Luc. 16. 25. II. Exercise Every Morning when we have paid our homage to God by Prayer and Thanksgiving to resolve and solemnly resolve to tye our selves to certain Rules of living that day An Exercise recommended to us Psal. 17. 3 4. Psal. 76. 11. Psal. 57. 7 8. Psal. 119 101 106. To this purpose Pliny saith of the Christians in Trajan's time That they used to oblige themselves or bind themselves by an Oath in the Morning before they went about their Business not to Sin not to Cheat not to Lie not to Steal not to keep any thing unjustly from their Neighbors And this Exercise was observed many hundred years before that time by David Psal. 5. 2. where our Translation renders it In the Morning will I direct my Prayer unto thee and will look up but the Original runs thus In the Morning I do order or dispose my self to thee or towards thee and watch as a Man from a high Tower watches and observes the motion of the Enemy Not but that our Translation reaches David's sense well enough but it doth not so fully express it as it might have done He had in the foregoing words spoken
and modest delights not in superfluous talk laughs but seldom fixes his eyes to the ground with the Publican is ashamed to lift them up to Heaven smites upon his breast and cries from a mighty sense of his own vileness Lord be merciful to me a Sinner That mistrusts himself sets no high value on what he doth contemns the pomp and grandeur of the World admires nothing but God and is well pleased with being made as the filth of the World and as the off-scouring of all things That doth think himself unworthy of the least crum he eats of the least drop of drink he drinks and though the circumstances he is under and the place office calling and condition he is in bids him use discretion in shewing and expressing his humility yet in his mind throws himself at the feet not only of Equals and Superiours but of Inferiours too and could be contented to wash the Feet of the meanest Servant of his Lord and Master Christ Jesus That can hear a Friendly Check with Meekness can ask forgiveness in case he doth unawares offend before others and is contented men should misconstrue his innocent Words and Actions and Gestures and Behaviour so God doth but know the pious and holy designs he hath in them That is contented that those whom he loves and in whom he trusted and who have been kind to him should forsake him abandon him and persecute him and can bear with the ingratitude of Men to whom he hath done many good turns and can find more comfort and satisfaction in the light of Gods Countenance then other Men do in the Favours and Presents of the greatest Monarchs That can modestly decline great Employments and thinks himself unfit for weighty Provinces That can be contented to see his Neighbour honour'd and himself slighted and hath courage to refuse such Honours as are not convenient for his place and station That submits to the Will of God in all things and both hopes and quietly waits for the Salvation of the Lord. And this is that Humility the Gospel presses and whereof the Captain of our Salvation hath given us so illustrious an Example This is that Virtue which Cassian justly calls the Corner-stone of all Virtues the Foundation of Religion the Ladder to intimate Converses with the Almighty and a gift beyond that of Miracles and this is that Employment which justly deserves our Care and Labour and exercise When Austin the Monk had summoned the Brittish Bishops and Clergy to Conform to the Church of Rome and to yeild obedience and submission to that See the Brittans consulted with a certain holy Man to know whether he thought it expedient for them to submit to Austin or no. The good old man told them That if they found him to be a man of God and a true follower of Jesus they should not dispute their Submission and the only Character to know that said he was to see and take notice whether he were a meek and humble Man If he were it was a certain sign that he bore the Yoak of Christ but if stout and proud whatever his pretences might be he could not be of God And accordingly when they found the insolent Monk carry it with a high hand and scarce vouchsafe to Salute them they rejected his proud dictates though it was with the loss of their lives And though I like not that piece of Humility whereby men confess themselves Guilty of the same sins that others are when they are not on purpose to win others to Repentance or to preserve them from despair as he in Ruffinus who when his Neighbour had committed Fornication and thereupon was ready to cast away all hope pretended to have committed the same Crime that he might thereby oblige him to apply himself together with him to the severities of Repentance yet as no man is to do evil that good may come from it and as the Divel is not to be gratified that God may be pleased so where a Christian with Eugenia when moving in the Sphere of Honour and Dignity can stoop to the humblest and lowest Offices to advance Gods Glory and with King Abenner think so meanly of himself that he doth not think himself worthy to name the Name of God and with the Emperor Theodosius converse with the meanest Men that have the Image of God upon them and with the noble Olympias in Palladius can lead a life without the least affectation of Vain-glory carry a mind about him free from Arrogance in the midst of a thousand acclamations and not be ashamed of the meanest habit honour all Men succour the Weak attend the Sick help the Lame protect the Aged relieve the Distressed be serviceable and Charitable to the Poorest and meanest shed tears abundantly from the consideration of his own vileness and can with Euphrasia stoop to him that hates him and pray for the person that hath injured him and move his fellow Christians to be kind to him and with the Prophet David takes it kindly when he is reproved and instead of being angry thanks the faithful Monitor Such a one may promise himself the special presence of the High and Lofty one who Inhabits Eternity for with him will I dwell saith the Lord that is of a contrite and humble Spirit Isay 17. 15. And though this be look'd upon by the Frantick World as baseness of Spirit Cowardize and a low-bred mind yet such is the nature of Religion that Gods thoughts are not as our thoughts nor are his ways as our ways and what is highly esteemed among Men is Abomination in the sight of God Luc. 16. 15. And whoever will be a Friend of God must be an Enemy to the World Jam. 4. 4. and be so far from conforming to the World that he must become a Fool in the eyes of the World 1 Cor. 3. 18. I have read of a Pious man whether it be Parable or History it matters not who having a Demoniack brought to him to expel the Divel out of him was after great importunity persuaded to command the evil Spirit to depart from God's Creature The Fiend hearing the unwelcome voice cried out I go but pray tell me Father who they are that be the Sheep and who the Goats the Gospel speaks of The humble man replied Who the Sheep are God knows but sure I am that I am one of the Goats And when he had said so the Fiend replied this Humility is the Charm that drives me out No doubt this is a powerful Weapon to keep off and resist the great Enemy and he that exercises himself in this Humility imitates the best Pattern even God himself whose Humility is such that Men and Angels stand amazed at it and it could not have entred into our thoughts that God could stoop so low or condescend as we find he doth if himself had not been pleased to reveal this self-humiliation He hath revealed it and we have seen the
Almighty enter into a Virgins womb to be born of her whom he had made before We have seen how the Son of God hath loved his Enemies even with that dearness and tenderness that he hath laid down his life for them We have seen how the omnipotent Creator Courts his Creatures his Rebellious Subjects to Repentance We have seen how notwithstanding the frequent repulses they give him notwithstanding their frequent refusals of his stupendious offers he renews his Entreaties repeats his Expostulations and when the Prodigal Wretch is yet a far off and approaching his Fathers house with fear and trembling runs and hath compassion and falls upon his neck and kisses him This Humility makes us like unto the Angels of God for as bright and as glorious Ministers as they are as powerful Princes as they are for the Kings of the Earth are subject to their power yet behold they fly down from above and Minister to those that shall be Heirs of Salvation even to the meanest Saint to the poorest Believer to a Paul in Prison to a Daniel in the Lyons Den. HÃ c Iter est Superis ad magni Tecta Tonantis This is the way that leads to Glory so true is it what the Religious Syncletica said of old That as a Ship cannot be held together without Nails so a Christian and Christ Jesus cannot hold together without Humility The Tree of Life said the holy Hyperichius grows in Heaven and Humility is the Grace that climbs and touches the Top of it This leads to the highest joys to the richest content to the greatest satisfaction and he is happier that sees his own sins than he that sees an Angel for an Ass can see a Spirit but none but a favourite of heaven beholds his sins with humility or Self-abhorrency Antiquity speaks of the Devil appearing to one in the shape of an Angel of Light and saying to the Devout Hermit I am the Angel Gabriel and am sent to thee Oh said the Devout man Take heed thou dost not mistake thy Message or the Man to whom thou art sent I am sure thou art not sent to me for I am not worthy of the sight or company of Angels and hereupon the fraudulent Spirit disappeared In the same manner he appeared to another saying I am Christ come down from the Regions of Glory to visit thee The humble Man answered I do not desire to see Christ in this life all my hope is I shall see him in the next Humility eludes and mocks the Stratagems of the Prince of Darkness and how God rewards and crowns it the Blessed Virgin hath told us Luc. 1. 51 52. He hath shewed strength with his Arm he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart He hath put down the Mighty from their seats and hath exalted the humble and meek Indeed we see how Meadows and Vallies are laden with Fruit and Corn and Enamell'd with Flowers while the higher Mountains remain barren and unfruitful O Christians did you but know what Treasures lie hid in this Exercise you would be so far from counting it troublesome that you would be ambitious of it In this Exercise consisteth the Mystery of Religion the richest Influences of Heaven come down upon the Soul that looks upon her self as nothing To her the Allmighty reveales himself and here he is ready to build Tabernacles the sweetest communications of Grace are vouchsafed to him that is acquainted with this lowliness into such a heart the Joys of the Holy Ghost flow with a Springtide and he that would understand the secrets of the Lord this is the School where he may learn them and if he become a great proficient here he may promise himself a more then ordinary intercourse between God and his Soul The humble Shepherds are honour'd with the first news of Christ's Nativity while the lofty Pharisees at Jerusalem are kept ignorant of these Glad Tidings and that which mov'd God to send Nathan the Prophet to David to tell him of his singular love and compassion to him was the voice of that Great-humble Man I will yet be more vile then thus and will be base in mine own eyes 2 Sam. 6. 22. I 'le conclude this Exercise with a passage out of a Learned Jew The advantages of Humility saith he consist in Six Particulars Three whereof do respect this Present and three the next Life First It makes a Man contented in all Conditions for he that 's proud and arrogant the whole World and all that 's in it is not able to satisfie his lofty and rising thoughts much less that which God hath appointed him for his Portion but he that is humble lives contentedly and is satisfied with what Providence hath allotted him Secondly The Humble Man bears adversity patiently whereas the Proud Mans fear is great and his patience inconsiderable when troubles come upon him Thirdly The Humble Man is grateful and acceptable to Men and Men love him and esteem him And to this purpose I must tell you a Story of a King that being asked How he came to be so great Answered That he never saw any Man whom he did not esteem wiser then himself and those that he look'd upon to be wiser then himself them he ever thought to fear God more then himself and if he met with any that was manifestly more foolish than himself he presently reflected that this Man would have a less account to give unto God in the last day then himself If he met with any that were older then himself he humbly thought that their Merits must needs be greater then his own and if those he met with were younger then himself he considered that their sins must needs be fewer then his own if he met with any of his equals their heart thought he in all likelihood is better then mine if they were richer then himself he considered that they did more good in the World then himself if poorer that then by reason of their poverty they must needs have more humble and contrite hearts and therefore be better then himself Fourthly the humble man arrives to true and solid wisdom before other men not only because he is desirous to learn and loves to sit at the feet of his Teachers but God also helps him to attain unto more then ordinary wisdom whereas the proud and haughty being loth to learn that wisdom which crosses flesh and blood remains ignorant of the most solid wisdom Fifthly The humble Man runs more chearfully in the wayes of Gods Testimonies boggles at nothing that God commands and expresses alacrity and readiness at the voice of the greatest and weightiest as well as at the least and easiest Precepts Sixthly The humble Mans devotion is the only acceptable devotion to God his Sins are pardoned his Iniquities are easily forgiven For an humble and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise V. Exercise Every day to bridle our Tongues and to set a VVatch over the
doors of our Lips and to take care that our Speech be always with Grace season'd with Salt that we may know how to Answer every Man An Exercise enjoyn'd Col. 4. 6. Ephes. 4. 25 29. Ephes. 5. 3 4. Matth. 12. 34 35 36. It was a good Observation of one who Travell'd with some Men that talk'd loosly and inconsiderately and whom St. Anthony the Hermite took for excellent Company Yes saith he they are good Men but the House they live in wants a Door with a Lock and Key for whoever pleases may go in and take away what they possess His meaning was That they took no care of their Words that the Door of their Lips was always open and that they talk'd any thing that came into their Minds The Tongue saith St. James is a little Member but contains a world of Iniquity James 4. 5 6. So that the greatness of the danger enforces the necessity of this Exercise This Exercise consists partly in watching against the sins the Tongue is subject to partly in using the Tongue to such discourses as are most proper for a man that pretends to be a follower of Jesus The sins of the Tongue are without number yet the most remarkable are these following 1. Blasphemy 2. Murmuring 3. Defending our sins 4. Perjury 5. Lying 6. Detraction 7. Accusing others falsly 8. Much speaking 9. Idle words 10. Profane jesting or abusing of Scripture 11. Indiscreet expressions 12. Railing 13. Quarreling 14. Laughing and deriding those that are serious 15. Evil Counsel 16. Sowing of Discord and Dissention among Neighbours 17. Cursing and customary Swearing 18. Flattery 19. Double tongued dealings 20. False Reports 21. Boasting and speaking in ones own Praise 22. Revelation of a Secret In vain doth he pretend to exercise himself unto Godliness that watches not against these sins or seeing himself in danger of running into them steps not back or climbs up with his thoughts to Heaven as he that sees a Wild Beast coming towards him climbs up into a Tree to secure himself There is hardly any Precept either more spoken of or recommended more either by the holy Ghost in Scripture or by holy wise and sober men in their Books then this watching over our tongues and words and speeches for indeed By thy Words thou shalt be Justified and by thy Words thou shalt be Condemned saith Christ Matth. 12. 37. Before the power of Godliness was turned into a Form the Christians that lived then studied this point with that care and assiduity and became such Proficients in it that men might Converse with them and keep them company a week together and not hear one idle word drop from them but what was to the use of edifying and Ministred Grace unto the hearers and till men come to believe that their tongues are not their own but Gods who made them and designed them for the Noblest uses and must therefore be employed as he shall think fit to direct they are yet far from the Kingdom of God and Aliens from that Common-Wealth of Saints who are to be Heirs of Salvation and he knows not what Self-denial means that doth not deny himself in speaking things which the Holy-Ghost hath forbid and thought improper undecent or extravagant and he that cannot speak but must offend in one or other of the aforemention'd particulars had better hold his tongue and spend his time in silence It was therefore excellent advice which St. Ambrose gave to his people Let 's learn to hold our tongues that we may be able to speak why shouldst thou run thy self into danger of Condemnation when by silence thou mayest be infinitely safer I have seen thousands run into sin by speaking but few by holding their peace most men love to talk because they know not how to be quiet He is the wise man that knows when to speak and when to be silent if of every idle word Men shall give an account in the day of Judgment how much more of filthy Communications Thy mind is thy Lands and Houses thy heart is thy Gold thy speech thy Silver Therefore make a Hedge about thy Lands and cast up Trenches against thy Thoughts Arm thy House with diligent care that thy unreasonable passions like Thieves do not break in and Spoil it that no disorderly motion make an irruption and lay it waste that those that go by may not pluck off thy Grapes Watch over thy inward man do not neglect him as contemptible tye up thy Speech cut off its luxuriant Branches let it not play the wanton lest it drag thee into sin restrain it keep it within its Banks Water soon gathers Mud Bind up thy Senses let them not be loose or Gadding make a Dore to thy Lips to shut it when there is occasion and to open it when there is necessity Bring thy tongue under the Yoak and let it be subject to thy Reason Keep the Bridle in thine own hands weigh thy words in a Ballance that thy sense may be ponderous thy speech solid and thy words move within their bounds But watching against the sins of the Tongue is but one half of this Exercise speaking of God and heavenly and spiritual things is another as we may see Col. 3. 16. an Exercise commanded already in the days of Moses Deut. 6. 5 6 7. and duly observed by men who took care of their Salvation long before the Gospel was proclaimed in the World which makes the Prophet take notice Then they who feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord hearken'd and heard it and a Book of Remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and thought upon his Name and they shall be mine saith the Lord of Hosts in that day when I make up my Jewels and I will spare them as a man spareth his own Son that serves him Mal. 3. 16 17. Indeed Spiritual and Heavenly things are the best things and therefore deserve our speaking of them If meaner things or Trifles are thought worth discoursing of why should not the greatest most excellent and noblest be worth talking of especially when we converse with persons that profess the same Faith with us There is hardly any man that makes a shew of Religion or frequents the publick Ordinances of God but will grant and confess That the concerns of God and of our Souls do infinitely exceed all Earthly Objects in Worth Value and Dignity but then not to speak of them is an omission which contradicts that belief and makes that faith all shadow and imagery He that believes that these are the bestthings and yet cares not for discoursing of them to his Neighbour gives himself the lie and silently confesses that whatever his pretence may be they are the meanest lowest and most inconsiderable things for he doth not think them worth opening his lips about them And as these are the best so they are the most necessary things Luc. 10. 42. Can there be
Commandments nothing was forbid but only the gross errours of Mens Lives and Conversations by example in the sixth Commandment they thought God required nothing but abstaining from downright Murther and accordingly they made nothing of envy or malice or grudges or secret heart-burnings nothing of words spoke in anger nothing of contumelious speeches nothing of giving Men ill names or ill language nothing of expressions whereby they derogated from their Neighbours credit and wounded his reputation which wilful and notorious mistakes Christ rectifies in that Sermon and bids them look for God's eternal wrath for these offences as well as for the greater enormities So in the seventh Commandment they flattered themselves that they did rarely well obey the great Lawgiver when they kept themselves from being polluted with their Neighbours Wives and from the Act of Adultery but the Son of God shews them their monstrous errours and proves to them that not only that detestable Act is prohibited in that Law but all those Acts and Occasions that lead to it as wanton glances lascivious thoughts obscene expressions running to places where temptations grow bad intentions lustful touches evil desires and these he assures them lead to Hell as well as the grosser villany In the same manner they restrain'd the third Commandment to perjury only in a publick cause and so thought light of customary Oaths these were but matters of laughter and the people by their permission and approbation in their common speeches and communications swore by Heaven and by Earth by their Heads and by Jerusalem and he that did so did not lose the reputation of a sober Man The Lord Jesus protests against this abuse too and lets them see that He who forbid Perjury did forbid these common and customary Oaths too and was resolved to revenge and punish the Offenders for so doing and did not so much as permit strong Asseverations in common discourse and ordinary matters but allow'd only bare Affirmations and Negations Loving those that loved them and doing good to them that did good to them they thought was all that God required in that Royal Law Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self Hating their Enemies or doing them all the mischief they could they look'd upon only as a venial extravagance of passion So they did but perform the task and duty of Prayer they did not think any sin could be committed in the manner of the performance and therefore wandring thoughts and affectation of vain glory or laying the stress upon the length of Prayer they thought were no sins at all or if sins not worth regarding or confessing And by the same Rule they walk'd in their Alms and Fasting thinking the letter of the Law required no more than the outward observance of the duty as for a suitable frame of heart they did not look upon the want of it as damnable or worth their care to get it supplied from Heaven Thus these Men lessen'd and extenuated their Offences and having once brought them into the number of little Sins they excluded them from their care and would not suffer their Consciences to be troubled for them and though they had very severe Exercises and disciplined their Bodies to a miracle yet they made watching against little Sins no part of their exercise and this neglect draws that dreadful protestation from the Son of God Matth. 5. 20. I say unto you That except your Righteousness shall exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of God What these little Sins are and how they may be known is a Question that any Man of common sense may soon satisfie and resolve himself in that will either compare his actions with the precepts of the Gospel or attend and observe his own neglects or the practices of such of his Neighbours that in the Eye of the World pass for sober Men and yet are no thorough-paced Christians How few are there that make conscience of curbing their passions of being concern'd for the sins of others of giving Alms according to their ability of speaking truth when they are in danger of losing something by the truth of obeying God more than Men of being more careful to please the Creator than the Creature of attention in a Sermon of fixing their thoughts and affections upon God in Prayer of ruminating upon what they hear of doing good to them that hate them c. Neglects of such Duties pass for Peccadillo's and cunning frauds dissimulations officious lyes false warrantings secret over-reachings mincings of Oaths telling of unchaste passages churlish behaviour unkindness to enemies revenge of Injuries hatred of a Brother adulation flattery laughing at good counsel slighting of Fraternal correption wanton Songs scoffings at Ministers rash censuring and judging and contempt of others or pride in Cloaths Patching and Painting talking extravagantly over a Cup of Wine sleeping at Church carelessness in devotion are Sins which few people take notice of looking upon them as offences of the smaller size and as things easily pardoned as they think by Him who delights not in the death of a Sinner But Sirs as little as these and other Sins may seem in your eyes we have a Commission from the Allmighty to tell you that you cannot be Christians except you exercise your watchfulness against all those sins which the World is pleased to call by other names then the Holy One of Israel is pleased to put upon them A Christian hath Vow'd to strive against all sin whether great or small This Oath of God is upon you and in your Baptism so much you promised and so much you have since confirm'd by approving that your solemn Initiation or Introduction into the visible Church of Christ. Will ye be false to your promise Will ye break your Vow Will ye Abjure what then you gave your consent to Deceive not your selves these sins are not little ones you only call them so that you may more freely commit them and that your hearts may not smite you for them You mistrust they may provoke the Allmighty to anger and that you may not be discompos'd with the thoughts of Gods Indignation you look upon them as trifles Such sins formerly were no little sins when men were better Christians then now they are it 's only the great Debauchery and Viciousness of the age we live in that makes them so But shall this Age prescribe Rules to God to govern himself by Shall the Wickedness of the Times oblige God to condescend to Mens Impiety and in Complaisance to their Folly cause him to make no more of their sins then they are pleas'd to do Shall Men willfully blind tell the Allmighty what colour their sins are of or how he must interpret them that searches the heart and the reines Can any sin be little that is committed against an Infinite Majesty Can any Affront be small that 's levell'd against him whose Brightness dazles the eyes of Angels
These hinder men from going on from virtue to virtue and like a Moth eate away the beauty and splendour of their virtues Indeed while you go on in these little sins you cannot rationally suppose that your Names are written among the Candidates of Heaven for Conversion makes the Soul cautious even of the appearance of sin and he is yet a stranger to the work of Grace that hath not learn'd to avoid the occasions of evil and he certainly begins at the wrong end that begins to subdue his obduracy and hardness in sin by suppressing the outward act for it is the evil thought that causes delight delight consent consent action action habit habit custom custom perseverance and perseverance hardness therefore he that means to crush the corruption must begin at the little sin the evil thought or else he doth but beat the air and like the Boy in the story that thought to pour out the Sea into a Nut-shell attempt impossibilities Christians The Day will come when every thing shall be call'd by its proper name and O how will you be surpriz'd when the sins you look'd upon as inconsiderable and unworthy of your deep repentance and circumspection shall be represented in Magnifying Glasses and appear as they are indeed dreadful and terrible Wo to them that call evil good and good evil saith God Esay 5. 20. a threatning pronounced not only against such as give Virtue the name of Vice and Vice the name of Virtue but such also as make of great sins little ones and of little ones none at all This was the trade of the Pharisees and what serious Man can read the Judgments denounc'd against them by the Son of God and not be afraid of being guilty of their Errour Depart I pray you from the Tents of these wicked Men and touch nothing of theirs lest ye be consumed in all their sins cry'd Moses to the Children of Israel in the case of Korah Numb 16. 26. A Watch-Word I may give unto every one of you Do you know what terrour what anguish what plagues our Great Master hath threatned the Pharisees for their disregarding of little sins and will you participate of their ruine Come Christians believe the Word of God before your deceitful hearts That will tell you what is offensive to God and shew you that even the least sin deserves tears more than laughter and sorrow more than mirth and divertisement That will tell you that even these Children of Edom must be dasht against the stones if you would have peace within and that as dead Flies cause the Ointment of the Apothecary to send forth a stinking savour so doth a little Folly him that is in reputation for Wisdom and Honour Eccles. 10. 1. That will tell you that a little Leaven leavens the whole lump and the only way not to be under a temptation of sitting down in the scorners Chair is not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly And to this purpose Barlaam in Damascene advises his Convert Josaphat Before all things in this exercise thy self even in the sedulous destruction of all thy evil thoughts that nobler conceptions may enter into thy mind and thy Soul may become a habitation of the Holy Ghost for from thoughts we come to actions and whatever work we undertake it hath its rise in our minds and as small as its beginning seems to be by degrees it grows bigger and by silent steps swells to a vast magnitude And for this cause let no evil custom exercise dominion over thee but while the shrub of sin is young and tender pull up the little root lest being grown strong and lusty it be past thy skill to eradicate it for from hence it is that greater sins get access to our hearts because we apply no early remedy to the lesser errours such as are roving thoughts immodest speeches and evil conferences and as it is in wounded Bodies if the slighter hurts and bruises be neglected the wound festers and gathers corruption and many times brings on death and excessive torments so he that 's careless of little sins calls for greater to attend him Christians There is not one Soul in Heaven now but what watch'd against such little sins when they sojourned here and if they did not mind them for some time yet they were forced to repent of them and to subdue and leave them before ever they saw the face of God in Glory If this Heaven be worth your care if this Glory be worth your pains if this Everlasting Rest be worth your endeavours O say not of any sin as Lot of Zoar Is it not a little one and my Soul shall live You may as well say I will break my Neck a little and I will cut my Throat a little and I will burn my self in Hell a little as harbour the smallest sin O Tremble at any thing that looks like it Beware of these Foxes these little Foxes that spoil the Vines Trust not these Vermin but destroy them utterly This is the way to keep your Garments white and to fit your selves for the Wedding of the Lamb and for those Mansions at which no unclear thing must enter Learn to die to the World for it 's your fondness to that which blinds you dulls you darkens your Understanding and perverts your Affections raises clouds and mists before your eyes that you cannot see your duty or your sins and eclipses the light of your minds that you can see nothing but grosser offences if you would have that Sun shine out clearly you must not suffer this Moon to interpose between your sight and it This Moon is your love to the World which will put other constructions other interpretations on your sins than your naked Reason would do Set the Goodness of God before you Reflect much on his Favours Ruminate upon his Mercies The Divine Goodness is of a melting constraining nature and the more lively you represent it to your minds the more it will compel you to part even with the least transgression Fancy you hear God pleading with you Sinner What Iniquity hast thou found in me Thou owest thy Life and Being to me and all the Blessings thou hast are mine Canst thou be so unkind so inhumane so ingrateful as not to crucifie so small a sin for my sake If I should withdraw my presence from thee take away all I have given thee wouldst not thou complain and mourn But what mean these Provocations Why dost thou compel me to cast thee off Look back and see whom thou dost offend by these thou callest little sins It is thy greatest Benefactor and is not he worth pleasing that hath greater things in store to bestow upon thee if the favours he hath already showred down upon thee can make thee intirely his Think you hear such a Voice behind you Compare your losses with your gains Your little sins are commonly your gainful sins they are sins wherein your carnal ease and
as love Christ cordially and the Lillies among which they feed are the innocent and spotless lives of sincere Believers which nourish and cherish their Souls make them Lively and Vigorous Fat and Flourishing These purify their Minds These give them the whiteness of Milk and nothing digests with them better than this Heavenly Food I dislike not the practice of Papias had it been but carried on with greater discretion who was mighty inquisitive what Andrew what Philip what Peter what James what John what Matthew and what the rest of the Apostles of our Lord had done and what they used to say how they ordered their Lives what their Conversation was how they behaved themselves abroad and at home for by such enquiries a man may learn much improve himself advance in goodness and encourage himself to the severest acts of Religion which by having such patterns before us become easie and loose much of that dreadful aspect in which they do appear to Flesh and Blood Behold Christians here lies your Wisdom this is to be wise unto Salvation This is the Learning that must fit you for the University of the Third Heaven This is the Schollarship without which you loose your places in that Colledge of Glory Study this point and you 'll be Wiser than Aristotle Learneder than all the Sages at Athens all the Wisdom of Solomon without this skill would have done him but little good Behold the Fountain of your Comforts would you be supported in distress would you be preserved from fainting under troubles would you bear up under the greatest storms would you hold out in the greatest persecutions survey the Heroick actions of the Martyrs and Confessors of old and they 'll shed new Life into your Spirits strengthen you beyond expectation keep you from despair defend you against discouragements and make you weather out all the tempests that come against you Are you reproach'd look upon David how patiently he endured the railings of Shimei are you persecuted for Righteousness sake look upon the Apostles of our Lord how they rejoyced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the Name of the Lord Jesus do you suffer wrongfully look unto Jesus the Author and Captain of your Salvation who for the Glory set before him endured the Cross and despised the shame Are you bound with Chains Look upon St. Paul how he glories in those shackles and is confident that they will promote God's Glory Do Friends forsake you Look upon Lazarus whom God took care of when none would regard or relieve him Nay in Death it self the sweet and heavenly frame of spirit that is to be found in the Saints of God will be of very great efficacy to arm your selves against the assaults of that last Enemy When Death approaches look upon the courage the joy the comfort the resolution and chearfulness of Polycarp of Ignatius of Epagathus of Sanctus Maturus Altalus Blandina Biblis Alexander and others Come forth my Soul said old Hilarion Why art thou afraid Venture into another World Why dost thou doubt Hast thou served Christ so long and dost thou tremble The Saint in Ruffinus smil'd and laught three times when he was a dying Being ask'd by his Friends that stood about him mourning and weeping why at the point of death he presumed to laugh The first time said he I laugh'd because I saw you so strangely afraid of death The second time I did so because the World deludes you so that you cannot find in your hearts to prepare for death And I smiled the third time because just now I am going from my labour to rest from my pains and toil here below to everlasting quietness in Heaven St. Jerom when he was departing thus addressed himself to his Friends that stood about him Throw off your Mourning Weeds and sing a Psalm of Praise to God for hitherto I have gone through Fire and Water but now I am entring into my Cooling-place O what a mighty gainful thing is Death to me for Christ with all his Merits and Benefits will be mine Behold my Friends the Earthly Tabernacle of my House is going to be dissolved that I may enter into another made without hands eternal in the Heavens I am going to put off Corruption that I may put on Incorruption Hitherto I have been a Traveller but now am going to my own Country I see the Prize before me for which I have been running so long I am come to my desired Haven I am passing from Darkness to Light from Poverty to great Riches from Fighting to Victory from Sorrow to Joy from a Temporal to an Everlasting Life from an Offensive Dunghill to Odoriferous Fields The Life of this World is no Life but Death The Mèrchandise of Death is more precious than that of Gold and Rubies O sweet O comfortable Death Certainly thou art no King of Terrours for thou givest true Life thou chasest Fevers and Wounds and drivest away Thirst and Famine Come then my Beloved my Spouse my Friend my Sister shew me where he feeds whom my Soul doth love Awake my Glory Lend me thy hand draw me after thee My Heart is ready I 'll rise and follow the perfume I smell till thou bringest me into my Fathers House Thou art lovely my Friend come do not tarry By thee I must go into the Garden of my Beloved that I may eat of his Fruit. The time is come for thee to have Mercy on me make haste fly to me for I am sick of love Thou art black but comely thy Lips drop Honey Thou art terrible to the Kings of the Earth and crushest the Spirits of Princes but to the Humble thou makest thy Power to be known Thou breakest the Horns of the Wicked and liftest up the Horns of the Righteous Open to me my Sister thou Gate of Life Take away my Coat this Mortal Coat which I wear and deck me with the Garment of Praise and Gladness Break the Bow and Sheild the Sword and the Battle Harden not thy Heart against me Take pity of a hungry Son that hath lived long in a strange Country and deliver him back to his own Father again Thus departed that Holy Presbyter thus he spoke and thus he died What excellent Cordials are such Patterns to a dying Christian He that takes a view of them learns what to say and how to speak to God and to his own Soul when he is going to leave this present World Hypocrites commonly compare themselves with Men that are worse than themselves and finding themselves better than the worst of Men stroak themselves for excellent Saints Because they are not so bad as others therefore they must be very admirable Christians Because they do something more than those that know not God therefore they think they do enough as much as is necessary to Salvation But a Christian indeed a Christian that is altogether so looks forward upon those that are better than himself and by
than our anger our commiseration more than our passion and our tears more than our stripes The injury he hath done us is not so great as that he hath done to himself and he is to be pitied the more because may be he doth not pity himself we are not only to weep with them that weep but to weep over those too that have cause to mourn for themselves and are blinded and do not for that 's the greater misery He that is sensible of his misery and weeps may yet find out a way to be freed from it but he that is not and consequently is not affected with it runs on and locks up all the Gates of Mercy and Recovery against himself whence must necessarily arise those everlasting Plagues prepared for the Divel and his Angels 5. A ready belief of all the good that is said of our neighbours Indeed this is a sign of a generous mind of a Soul enamoured with goodness and so in love with it that it would have no man bad but is desirous that all mankind should meet in this Center A sanctified Soul doth attentively listen to such Reports rejoyces at the Blessing God hath conferr'd upon it's neighbour and if the good things said of him be not true it however wishes they were so Such a man hopes that the very shadows of his neighbours Graces are substantial things and though he would not if he could help it suffer sin upon him or sooth him into counterfeit Piety yet till he hath certain knowledge to the contrary he believes he is that man he seems and is reported to be A true Christian hath a Soul greedy after Goodness and is glad of an opportunity to think well of his neighbour That which makes him loth to believe any ill of him makes him believe all that is said in his commendation for he abhors that which is evil sin is odious to him because God hates it and therefore he would have no man guilty of it and because Goodness is exceeding lovely and amiable in his eyes and God loves it therefore he would have all men love Goodness that God may love them and that draws this charitable Belief from his mind he believes what he would have to be true and so makes good that character St. Paul gives of Charity that it thinks no evil but rejoyces in the Truth 1 Cor. 13. 4 5. And this is that Exercise that is incumbent upon you Men Fathers and Brethren an Exercise of that necessity that you must declare Enmity and War against that Law of nature Whatsoever you would that men should do unto you even so do ye to them if you neglect or undervalue it Is there any of you that would not be thus dealt withal would not you have others put such charitable interpretations on your Words and Actions and will not you express the same civility to others would you have others subject to this Rule and would you except your selves would you have others live up to this Light and would you love Darkness better would you have others discharge their Duty to you and would you be excused from discharging yours to them what can be more unreasonable where is your Justice your Equity your Religion would you have others wash your errours white and would you throw Ink on theirs would you have others smooth the rough outside of your Offences and put on them the skins of Lambs and would you put the Lions skin on theirs It is ill manners as well as irreligion and do not your Hearts and Consciences smite you for it You are for Peace and Quietness but are your sinister constructions of your neighbours Actions the way to it Charitable interpretations will preserve you from a storm but where you abate nothing of the fault your passions must needs rise into a Tempest Calmness of mind is so great a Blessing that a wise man would purchase it at any price and when you may have it at so cheap a rate as the favourable interpretations of what your neighbours say or doe Will ye stand out and refuse the Treasure This Exercise will preserve you from a thousand sins and as many inconveniencies too We see how Men when once they give way to uncharitable censures how they run from one sin to another and know not where to stop this uncharitableness leads them on to envy envy to wrath wrath to backbiting backbiting to revenge revenge stops their progress in goodness and who can reckon up all the evils that flow from this polluted Spring These evils you avoid by your favourable interpretations and consequently lessen your account with God so much you strike off from the sum of your sins and consequently are more expedite in your way to Heaven What should you do but imitate your Father which is above How loath is he to believe our rebellion against him Truly they are my people saith he children that will not lye so he became their Saviour Es. 63. 8. He knows our frame and remembers that we are but dust saith the Royal Prophet Psalm 103. 14. And shouldst not thou also have compassion on thy fellow-servant even as I had pity on thee saith the Son of God Matth. 18. 33. Shall God allow grains in offences and shall not we Shall he remember we are dust and shall we forget that our Neighbours are so and subject to mistakes and errours How can we expect God will deal favourably with us if we do not deal so with our fellow Christians What do we call our selves Christians for if we will not learn to run in this race This charitable interpretation of what we see or hear is the very character which is to distinguish us from Jews Heathens and Infidels if we want this mark how shall Christ distinguish us from the Goats Who hath made you Judges of your Neighbours Who opened a Window to you into their hearts Why do you usurp God's Authority Hath he appointed a Day to judge the World in and will you prevent that Judgment Are you ever like to love your Neighbours as you selves while you reject this Exercise And if you are resolv'd not to learn it how will ye be able to appear at the great Tribunal Have you forgot that this Charity is the root of all Virtues Have not you heard that this makes the Soul beautiful and lovely in the eyes of him that gave it Have you forgot that this is the Bond that unites the Soul to its Creator This is the Harp which cheers the heart both of God and Man This opens the Gate of Heaven This is the Gold of the Sanctuary without which we are blind naked poor and miserable This enlarges the Soul whereas suspicion and rash judgment doth contract it This is the most excellent gift and speaking in divers Languages and giving our Bodies to be burnt and the greatest Learning in the World The Eloquence of Angels the Rhetorick of the greatest Orators the greatest
us How can we deal worse with a man that hates us than by not looking on him when he meets us Is God our enemy that we care not for beholding him in secret when he stands before us in our Closets The Glory of God surrounds us penetrates our Souls and Bodies more than the Sunbeam doth the Chrystal stone and shall not we tremble when we are alone at so great a Majesty The Presence of Gods Wisdom provides for us and sees that we may want nothing is always busie about us either to direct or to rewards us nay God doth not trust his Angels with this Province but himself watches over us every moment every hour like a Nurse he carries us in his everlasting Arms. Have we such a constant Benefactor continually about us and are not we concerned more at his Presence Behold Christian when thou art alone that God is with thee and in thee and stands by thee before whom all Angels vail their Faces at whose Presence Divels tremble who fills Heaven and Earth with his Glory that God is with thee who is altogether lovely the Center of Happiness before whom all Nations are as Grashoppers as the small Dust of the Ballance and as a drop at the bottom of a Bucket who by his Providence maintains thy Soul in life charges the Divel not to drag thee into Hell commands the Powers of darkness not to molest thee or murther thee takes care of thy Self thy Wife and Children and watches day and night over all that thou hast that preserves thy House from being burnt thy Children from being drowned thy Cattle from rotting thy Barns from being consumed by Lightning that Commands and thou takest thy Rest speaks the Word and no danger must come nigh keeps thee as the Apple of thine own Eye and bids his Angels to carry thee in their hands This God this Beneficial God This Immense This Infinite This Bountiful This Gracious This Munificent This Liberal This Charitable God is with thee and about thee every where especially when thou art by thy self for then there is none with thee but he and wilt not thou be conscientious in his Presence Was ever Ingratitude like this The most ungrateful slave however he rails against his Benefactor behind his back yet is afraid to do it in his Presence and will you revile God to his Face What is your sinning against him but reviling of him What is your acting contrary to his Will but abusing of him 〈…〉 he be in the room with you looks you in the Face when you do so do not you reproach him to his Face Ay but Man would be angry with us say you if we should abuse him when he is present with us and bring us into trouble God never punishes us when we sin against him in private and none but he with us Disingenuous Wretches Is your Eye therefore evil because God is good Must you be vain because God is patient Foolish because he suffers long Must you sin because he doth not punish or transgress his Laws because by his Mercies he would oblige you to Repentance Will you slight him because he is kind or undervalue him because he caresses you to your happiness Sinner Did the Lord Jesus appear to thee in a visible shape while thou art alone in thy Closet Wouldst not thou behave thy self humbly modestly and seriously and sute thy thoughts and actions to the Presence of so Glorious a Being Why Christs Divinity is with thee now and cannot his Divinity have the same influence upon thy Spirit that his Humanity would have Is not his Divine above his Humane Nature and is not the Deity more excellent than the most Glorious Image or representation Inconsiderate man If thou art minded to offend God get Curtains that can hide his sight for if he see what madness is it to conspire against him before him Go get where God sees not and then do what thou wilt God stands with infinite Ears and Eyes and Understanding about thee and with as strong application of Spirit as if he left contemplation of himself to pierce thee with all his beams and for him to see thy Disloyalties is a greater shame than if they were represented on all the Theaters of the World The Soul that lives in the thoughts of Gods Presence prepares for her richest Comforts for how can he want Joy that is sensible the Fountain of Joy is with him How can he want Support that is sensible that the God of all Consolation is with him How can he want a refuge or hiding place that is sensible he hath the rock of ages in the room with him The Palm-tree bears Fruit when another Tree of the same nature is set by it how much more will a Soul bear Fruit that 's sensible the Great Husbandman that hath planted Heaven and Earth and gives Sap and Nourishment to all his Creatures is with her and within her and that that Sun of Righteousness is continually warming her with his lively beams Have not you seen a stone thrown into the Air make all the haste it can to return to its Center so whenever such a Soul is justled out of her Orb either by the World or the Divel the God that lives in her forces her to return presently to her Center even to that God in whom she hath all that heart can wish or reason can desire Fear the Lord all ye his Saints for there is no want to them that fear him saith David Psal. 34. 9. The Soul that fears him from a sense of his Omnipresence is that Soul that can lack nothing for it can lack no strength to arrive to the highest degrees of Holiness for this sense will call it away from all absurd and undecent actions will not suffer her to fall into sin and like the Hands of Angels preserve her Foot from running against a stone as a large spreading Oak deeply rooted in the Earth mocks the rage of winds so a Soul in whom this Sense is fixed can sing securely under all the outrages of hellish Furies My Flesh trembles for fear of thee so we read Psal. 119. 120. The Septuagint render it Fix or nail my flesh with thy fear because the Hebrew Word signifies both and the Word thus taken is very emphatical for as the Man whose Hands and Feet and Body are nailed to a Tree can stir no where so he that lives in a mighty Sense of the Almighties Presence dares not stir from the strait way or from the paths of Righteousness Such a man thinks himself obliged to work out his Salvation with fear and trembling and when Flesh and Bloud would have him be angry or laugh at a sin or defile himself in secret he dares not how can I commit this wickedness and sin against God saith he for God sees me Where this Sense is there Envy must be gone love of Money must take its leave and depart Wrath and Malice dares not stay
Tobit whose Talent lay chiefly in burying the Dead out of Charity or as that Lady Cassian speaks of who took into her house a wayward troublesome peevish cholerick poor Widow that she might become eminent in Patience Such Exercises I confess are great and noble and befit the holiness of a Christian but yet one particular Grace must not be exercised to the decay of the rest or with secret hopes that God who sees us laborious in one Virtue will dispense with our neglect of others I am sensible it is with Grace as it is with Nature and some Graces as some Actions are more suitable to our inclinations than others not but that we are obliged to love and embrace all but some our affections are more violently carried out after than others as a Father though he is kind to all his Children yet by some secret instinct or Propensity hath a more tender affection to one than to another and without all peradventure it is a very laudable and commendable thing to be industrious in any gracious Work and Relious Action but however our inclinations may chiefly run after one particular Grace the rest also must be duly exercised and fortified into habit and a second nature else we have reason to suspect that that seemingly holy fruit is not a Plant of our heavenly Fathers planting who disperses influences and assistances sufficient for the growth of every Grace and improvement of every Virtue in the Soul and consequently justly expects that his Vineyard should bring forth sweet Grapes not some sower and some sweet but all sweet and all pleasing to a spiritual palate and appetite Of the necessity of this Exercise none can doubt that doth but take pains to read over the several Parables of the Gospel wherein Grace is compared to Seed and sure no Gardiner or Husbandman ever threw Seed into the Ground but took care that it might grow and advance into a Blade next into an Eare and in the end into ripe Corn all the Exhortations all the Admonitions all the Counsels in Scripture to Stedfastness and Abounding and Increasing and Going on to Perfection do with one Mouth and with one Voice proclaim the necessity of this Exercise And O Christians if you would know what it is to recover the great loss you had in Adam this Exercise will be your Schoolmaster this will in some Measure bring you up to that Innocence and Perfection he enjoy'd in Paradise This will re-entitle you to that Image of God in which he was at first created This will make the Divine Characters which Sin hath blotted legible again This will make the Divine Nature flourish in you again Make your Faces shine like that of Moses when he descended from the Mount This will set a Beauty on your Souls fit for God to be enamor'd withall By this you will be able to guess at the Glory of the first Creation and what wonderful Creatures your first Father and Mother were before the fatal Tree became a Snare to their Appetite This will make you fit company for your Head Christ Jesus who therefore gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers even for the perfecting of the Saints for the edifying of the Body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the Faith and of the Knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect Man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ for indeed this is growing up unto him in all things from whom the whole body joyn'd together and compacted by that which every joynt supplies according to the effectual working in the measure of every part makes increase in the Body unto the edifying it self in love Ephes. 4. 11 12 13 15. XV. Exercise Every Night before we go to Bed to call our selves to an Account for the Actions of the Day and Examine our Hearts and Lives how we have discharged our Duty towards God and toward Man An Exercise commanded Psal. 4. 4. 2 Cor. 13. 5. Jerem. 8. 6. This Exercise is the life of all the rest and the great reason why Men make no greater progress in Goodness is because they do not study and search their own Lives and Actions How should we know what good we ought to do except we examine what evil we commit The Merchant at night casts up the gains of the day and if he finds he hath lost more then he hath gained seeks to recover it with the first opportunity It 's a wonderful thing we should examine our Servants about trifles and inconsiderable matters and leave our selves about whom Heaven and Earth are concerned unexamined A Man tryes the Oxen he hath bought whether they be strong to labour or no and his Horses whether they will do him service or no and sees whether he hath all his Sheep and whether none of his Cattle be lost and shall we be such enemies to our own Souls as not to see what condition they are in No Man can be a good Man that neglects his Exercise for every good Man must be cautious of offending God But How can any Man be cautious of offending him that doth not search and see what it is that doth offend him and whether his own actions be not the things that do displease him Nothing will make a man more cautious then this frequent calling himself to an account and since every rational person that chuses the end must necessarily chuse the means also that lead to that end it will unavoidably follow that he that is a good Man and cautious of offending God cannot but resolve upon this Self-examination the great means to arrive to that cautiousness This was David's practice and long before him Isaac who went every Night into the Field to Meditate as we read Gen. 24. 63. no doubt in that Meditation reflected on the Actions of the Day that he might Praise God for the particular Assistances and Influences he had felt and for the future watch against the Errors and Defects he had been guilty of that day Men to whom the Word of God never came have seen the necessity of this Exercise and thought they could not be Men without it and O my Friends Can we be Christians without it It was one of the Canons of the Pythagorean Discipline to call to mind what they had been doing in the Day and sometimes they reflected on what they had done two or three dayes before This was the Doctrine and Practice of Cleobulus and of the Indian Gymnosophists who strictly enquired what good they had done in the day time And How like a Christian doth the Noble Seneca speak when he tells his Friend Novatus The heart must every day be call'd to an account So did the brave Sextius before he composed himself to sleep when day-light was shut in he Ask'd his heart What Disease what Distemper of Nature hast thou Cured What sin hast thou withstood
but him no other Riches but him no other Pleasure but him no other Friend but him no other King no other Master no other Father but him if they want a Father he 'll be more to them than a Father if they want a Mother a Sister or a Brother he will be more to them than all these can be as they that have the Light of the Sun have more than if they had an hundred Candles in the room for they have him who is All-in-all so that in their very wants they can rejoice in him in their very Misery they can boast of him in their danger confide in him in their necessities roll all their cares upon him and when Heaven and Earth are like to be confounded and mingled together look up and cry God is our refuge a present help in the time of trouble therefore will we not fear though the Earth be moved and though the Hills be carried into the mid'st of the Sea Psal. 46. 1. What if they have not the outward Comforts of this present World the Reward God intends them lies beyond this Earth These outward Conveniences are Rewards too low and mean for God to bestow and there would be no difference between such men and those that have their Portion in this life should God heap upon them such Blessings of his Left-hand God lets them want these outward ornaments on purpose to let the World know that he hath nobler things in store for them not but that sometimes even those that are diligent in these Exercises have much of this Worlds Goods but that doth not make them a whit the happier but only encreases their Account and obliges them to greater Liberality and greater circumspection in their Stewardship Behold Christians To what still Streams to what pleasant Pastures these Exercises lead you what a rich Table they prepare for you in the presence of your Enemies how they Anoint your Heads and make your Cups run over These Exercises attract the noblest Spectators imaginable Have not you read have not you heard what the presence of a Monarch can do with Wrestlers and Men of Activity What valiant Acts have some men performed in the Olympick Games whence the word Exercising unto Godliness borrows its name when some great Princes have look'd on Men have attempted to do more than Men when the presence of a King hath enliven'd their endeavors and as tedious as these Exercises may seem to some of you yet is not the company that beholds your fight and labours motive enough to descend into the field Behold the Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity becomes a Spectator The Father is present to applaud the attempt The Son present to encourage it The Holy Ghost present to crown it and round about the Throne of this bright Majesty stand the Myriades of Angels and they all look on Christian fancy thou seest David fighting with Goliah in a Vally between two vast Mountains while on the one there lies encamped the Army of the Philistines on the other the Host of Israel think what Courage and Resolution it must infuse into the young Soldiers heart to see himself gazed and stared on by two Armies of Friends and Enemies Why thy Condition while thou exercisest thy self unto Godliness is the same thou standest in this Vally of Tears on one Hill stands the Great God of Heaven and Earth with all the Host of Heaven and beholds what thou art doing on the other are spread all the Legions of Hellish Furies ready to triumph in thy fall Can there be a greater encouragement than to see a Glorious God before thee ready to set the Lawrel on thy Temples if thou darest follow after that thou may'st apprehend that for which thou art also apprehended of Christ Jesus Nay he calls to thee from the Hills of Heaven Fear not for I have redeem'd thee I have call'd thee by thy name thou art mine when thou passest through the Waters I will be with thee and through the Rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee and shall not this tempt thee to do more then thy careless Neighbours more than nature will agree to more than thy sensual Appetite will like of more than the sober Heathens do and shall not this make thy Righteousness surmount that of Hypocrites and painted Sepulchres Arise and depart for here is not thy rest Rest Ay that 's the glorious Fruit of this Tree of Life that 's the comfort which these Exercises end in The weary day-labourer after his toilsome Work in the Field the Seaman after his hard tugging at the Oar and labouring in Storms and Tempests does not rest so sweetly as he that exercises himself day and night unto Godliness for he rests on the down of Angels on the Wings of Cherubims on the Breast of Jesus and shall rest ere long in Abraham's Bosom in the Bosom of Glory in the Bosom of Everlasting Mercy where life is to be found in its perfection life without sorrow life without fear life without corruption life without disturbance life without change life without deformity life without discontent life without dishonour life without envy life without decay where no Adversary comes to molest it no Sin to spoil its Beauty no Temptation to break its order no Devil to discompose its Harmony where the day is everlasting the Hours measured by Eternity and Months and Years by infinity of Bliss and Glory Go to now ye careless Men that are more frighted by these Exercises than by all the terrors of the burning Lake As laborious as these Exercises seem to be without them expect no Rest no Peace no Tranquility for there is no peace saith my God unto the Wicked Expect Grief Trouble Anguish despairing Thoughts a turbulent Soul an affrighted Conscience for these must certainly be the Portion of your Cup one day How should your life end in rest who never tried your strength in these Exercises Lift up your Eyes and behold the man that exercises himself unto Godliness Hear what becomes of him at his death Blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them Rev. 14. 13. There remains therefore a Rest for the People of God a Rest which Tempests cannot shake Storms cannot annoy Frosts cannot chill and Heats cannot consume a Rest where there is Joy without Mourning Tranquillity without Labour Honour without a Period Wealth without danger of loosing it Beatitude without the least shadow of Calamity What Songs What Hymns What Musick What Praises What Hallelujahs What Melody What Harmony is to be met with there where the Citizens of Heaven are all Organists and the Spirits of Men made perfect join in perpetual Concert to sing Salvation to our Lord and to the Lamb for ever and ever Where Bitterness and Gall have no
c. may be vanquished thus If the Adulterer would solemnly Vow and add Imprecations to his Vow not to come to his Harlot again and the Fornicator not to embrace the strange Woman again they might break the neck of these dreadful sins and indeed one such Vow shall do more than twenty fainter Purposes or Prayers In lesser Sins and sins of infirmity it is not so safe to Vow as in the other because we are too apt to be surprized into such Errors and to commit them before we are aware yet he that Vows to do something that 's irksome to Flesh and Blood in case he yields to any lesser sin by example in case he lies in Jest or in case he breaks out into a Passion c takes the readiest way to subdue the corruption and to be Master of his Spirit As to Vow not to sin at all would be rash and foolish and promising a thing ordinarily impossible so to Vow to mulct our selves if we commit a trespass of infirmity is to act like Wise men and such as are in good earnest resolved to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit and to perfect holiness in the fear of God IV. When we find a backwardness or unwillingness upon our Spirits to do a duty we find commanded or are put upon by the secret instigations of our Consciences He that finds himself loath to pray three times a day must Vow that he will do so and then he must do it and whatever unwillingness may remain after the Vow is past time and use will make it easie He that is loath to do good to the Man that hath formerly wrong'd him must Vow to God that he will do it and force himself to it Nature where it will not be led must be drawn by violence and though unwillingness in the performance of a Duty makes no very sweet perfume in Heaven yet that offering violence to our Natures is a kind of conquering our selves and consequently is an acceptable present to the great Rewarder of them that diligently seek him This way he that was loath to visit a Neighbour against whom he had some prejudice may be brought to a Christian temper again and he that would not sing Psalms but at Church may be reformed This way the man that before cared not for good discourses may come to speak of spiritual things with delight and satisfaction and he that was a Stranger to Hospitality may come to open his House and Heart to the Stranger and Traveller In all these Cases Vows are seasonable and what Rules are to be observ'd in Vowing is the second particular I am to treat of 2. The Rules that are fit to be taken notice of in this Exercise are these following 1. These Vows must not be made to Saints For a Vow is a Religious Worship and therefore to be given to none but God Among the Papists it 's true such Vows are common but we have not so learn'd Christ nor did Antiquity allow this Profanation and though Marcellina S t Ambrose's Sister seems to have made a Vow to S t Laurence for her Brother Satyrus's good Voyage yet do the words used by S t Ambrose who relates the Story import no such thing for he tells his Sister that by her Vows at S t Laurence the Martyrs her Brothers safety was procured and those Vows might be Vows to God made in S t Laurence's Church or Oratory where the Bones of S t Laurence were buried it is not necessary to conclude that the Vow was made to the Saint However the practice of a Woman is no Law and had she made a Vow to the Saint by her Brothers approbation we know who it was that said Vow and pay unto the Lord your God Psal. 76. 11. nor do we read in all the Word of God that any Vows were ever made but unto him that understands our thoughts afar off and to whom it was said Praise waiteth for thee O God in Zion and unto thee shall the Vow be perform'd Psal. 65. 1. Nor do the latexamples of Chosroes King of Persia making a Vow to S t Sergius of King Pepin Vowing to S t Suibert or of Otho the Great Vowing to S t Laurence make the thing more lawful for an ill custom being once broacht it shall not want Followers if the subtle Prince of the Air can any way contribute to the itch of imitation II. These Vows must be serious not only in respect of the matter but in respect of the manner too As to the Matter they must not be slight and trivial things that are Vow'd to God He that should Vow that he will ride abroad such a day to take the Air or go into his Garden such an hour or go and buy such a thing he stands in need of or have such a dish of Meat for his dinner c. would make a Jest of this Sacred Tye and profane an Ordinance which God looks upon to be of the greatest weight and moment And as to the manner of the performance it 's fit that the Vow should be accompanied with Prayer and Supplications for Gods assistance in the due performance and therefore the Greeks by one word express both Vow and Prayer Prayer sanctifies the Vow and fastens the Soul in her resolution to keep it Hence it was that the Saints of old made their Vows while they were on their knees the same posture that they used in Prayer To this seriousness belongs sequestring our selves at that time when we Vow from all other Secular Businesses and entring into our Closets or retiring into places where no persons or divertisements are like to distract us A Vow requires the attention of the whole Mind and he that Vows while he is doing something else shews he hath no mind to perform what his lips have uttered The man in Plutarch therefore plaid the fool with Heaven that Vow'd he would throw himself from a Precipice and when he came to it chang'd his Mind and null'd the Vow with this Jest I did not think that this Vow had need of another Vow to see the first effectually perform'd Those Heathen Philosophers he speaks of in another place were more rational and serious that Vow'd to abstain from their Wives and to deny themselves of Wine a twelvemonth and for some certain time to shun Lying and consequently to Worship God by Continence for these Vows they made with great Solemnity and from a sense of Virtue and Goodness which made them very strict in the observance of those Promises III. In these Vows its fit such limitations should be added as are necessary and may free the mind from scruples afterwards when they are to be perform'd He that Vows to set aside a certain day in the Month for Fasting and Prayer had need except Sickness and such other inconveniences as may endanger his Life or Health in the performance for if he do not when such accidents
hearts that we do not take sin to be such a harmless thing as the World makes of it and that we have other apprehensions of Religion then careless sinners have and that we do in good earnest believe that Gods word is of great weight and will be infallibly fulfill'd That we do not conforme to Hypocrisy nor think that Devotion consists altogether in making clean the outside of the Cup and Platter That we value the Examples of Saints more than the Customs of the World and are resolved to be guided more by the Actions of a few Mortified Men than by the inconsiderate doings of a Multitude 4. But then if we enter into such Holy Vows let 's dread Violation of them as we would do committing the blackest Villanies which is the Fourth Particular I am to Treat of And the breaking of them will appear very dreadful if we reflect 1. That this violation is no less than Perjury A Vow and an Oath are much of the same Nature and accordingly in Scripture they are used promiscuously one for the other Numb 30. 13. For though it 's said that a Vow is made only to God and an Oath many times both to God and Man yet still in both God is made Witness Judge and Revenger What some of the Papists say in this case that the Pope can Dispense with a Vow and not with an Oath is Childish and unworthy of a rational Mans disquisition Since God makes them to be one and the same thing why should we invent distâ—nctâ—â—ns to make them different and being the same if we presume to violate a Vow we have made we cannot possibly avoid the guilt of Perjury a sin so great that in its heinousness it goes beyond Adultery and Murther beyond Adultery because in this the crime is immediately committed against our Neighbour but in the breach of Vows it is immediately levelled against God's Nature beyond Murther because in this a command of the second Table is wilfully broken but in Perjury a Precept of the first which as it concerns God immediately so it is of greater dignity and consequence not to mention that in Perjury Men deny Gods Wisdom Knowledge and taking notice of their Monstrous sin It 's true in all sins the sinner is guilty of this denegation but in this more especially because God is appealed to as knowing the very secrets of the heart which Faith is manifestly and desperately denied in violation of such Vows and turns the crime into Blasphemy 2. This violation of Vows is a thing which the very Heathen have abhorred the most Idolatrous People in the World have dreaded it as one of the greatest Enormities Man can possibly be guilty of which made one of them say merrily That such Men as break their Vows had need get themselves New Gods for the old ones would never let so great a Crime pass unrevenged They have Writ Books against it Declaimed against it and thought it rational that persons who make so bold with the Allmighty should be banish'd from Humane Societies They have detested such violations as things contrary to the Instinct of Humane Nature Doom'd such sinners to Notorious Punishments and left them to the All-revenging Eye of Heaven 3. And indeed he that hath been no careless spectator reader or observer of affairs in the World cannot be ignorant how severely God hath in this life punished such Presumptuous Violations Men that have dared to be so Hellishly bold have either come to some fearful end or have suffered signally in their Estates or Fortune or Reputation or have fallen into strange Terrors and Anguish of Conscience or have been forced like Cain to be Vagabonds on Earth and even then when they have fled from one place to another to hide their shame Vengeance hath followed them so dangerous a thing it is to play with a Consuming Fire My self have known persons who upon the breach of their Vows have fallen into that disconsolate dejected condition that they have run into Despair and have turn'd a Deaf Ear to all the Comforts of the Gospel Something within hath sate heavy on their hearts and in the midst of their health they have consumed and pined away and no Drugs of Apothecaries no Medecines of Physitians no Kind Addresses of their Friends have been able to bring their Minds to any Calmness or Serenity but they have roll'd on from one Pensive Thought to another till at last they have been ready to lay Violent Hands upon themselves and like Judas toss'd from one place to another have not been able to exchange their pain with their place 4. This Violation of our Vows is a kind of Challenging God's Vengeance It looks as if we dared the Allmighty defied his Thunder and mocked his Arm of Justice for when we make a Vow we do as good as desire God to revenge our Violation if we break it and therefore to break it wilfully must needs participate of contempt and undervaluing of his Vengeance as if he either durst not or could not punish it or had so little regard to his Honor and Justice as to let such Enormities go scot-free Such Sins if truly interpreted will look very big and if the consequences of them be consider'd it will be found that they intrench strangely upon God's Honor and Prerogative This makes Men generally so afraid of breaking their Vows that they even venture to keep rash and inconsiderate Vows because they think it safer to keep them then by violation to put such notorious Affronts upon him that dwelleth in the Heavens And this was it that Solomon aim'd at Eccles. 5. 4. When thou Vowest a Vow unto God deser not to pay it for he hath no pleasure in Fools Pay that which thou hast Vowed Better is it that thou shouldst not Vow then that thou shouldst Vow and not pay Such men as do not pay are Fools indeed for they seek to put a Cheat upon the Allmighty and to deceive him whose Eyes are like Flames of Fire and behold both the inside and outside of their hearts Silly Wretches as if a Grashopper could circumvent a Giant or a poor Worm outwit the greatest Sages Such Follies meet with Judgments of the same Nature and as such Sinners mock the Most High so he also will Laugh at their Calamity and Mock when their Fear comes Prov. 1. 26. 5. If we break the Vows we make to God What Man can trust us after that If we are Treacherous to our God how should we keep Faith with Men If we are unfaithful in greater Matters Who will commit lesser to our trust When Canstantius Constantines Father had given order That such Christians as would not Sacrifice to the Heathen gods should depart his Court but those that would Offer Incense to Idols might stay and not a few for fear of losing their Places hereupon Offered Incense while others quitted all they had rather then they would sin against God He Generously called those
without being concern'd whether they have a deliverer or no. 5. In such Fasts the Word of God must be diligently read and read with great attention especially such portions of Scripture as contain some of the severest threatnings of God and his Commands which we have been most negligent of and upon such passages reflections must be made and those Threatnings and Commands applied to our selves and our hearts asked how they feel themselves under these comminations and whether they are sensible of their Errors as the Eunuch of the Queen of Aethiopia said to Philip Of whom doth the Prophet speak of himself or of another man Act. 8. 34. so when these threatnings occur the interrogation must be Of whom doth God speak of me or of another Am not I guilty of the same sin and may not I justly think he speaks of me as well as of another 6. With these Devotions in such Fasts praises of God may be mingled now and then and Gods various Blessings laid open to our view that we may learn to admire his goodness and our strange ingratitude and in this the Israelites in Nehemiah are our Precedents of whose Fast we read that they divided the day of their Fast into four parts one part they consecrated to confessions of Sin the second to reading the Word of God the third to thanksgiving and praising God the fourth it 's like to begging Blessings Spiritual and Temporal for themselves and for their brethren Nehem. 9. 1 2 3. An excellent pattern and which if follow'd may keep us from being tired with devotion on such occasions 7. In such Fasts holy serious and gracious thoughts are absolutely necessary thoughts suitable to that mortification and the great concern we are about for as we need not lie upon our faces all day but may lawfully rise sometimes and walk so in that walk or while we are not reading or praying our minds must be busie with contemplations of our spiritual wants and the ways and means how they may be supplied our eyes must be fixed upon Heaven and God's justice and vengeance survey'd with an impartial eye till it makes us wish with Jeremy O that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for the iniquities of my sins Jerem. 9. 1. 8. Alms and Works of Charity must accompany such Fasts for thus we are taught Es. 58. 6. 7. Is not this the Fast that I have chosen To undo the heavy Burdens to deal thy Bread to the hungry and that thou bring the Poor that are cast out to thy house In such Fasts we come to beg a considerable Alms of God and God is resolv'd to observe his own Rule With what measure you mete with the same it shall be measured to you again and that the merciful shall obtain mercy What pity can we expect from God at such times while we shut up our bowels of compassion to the needy Though we our selves fast yet that 's no Rule for them that are in distress and want daily Food and we then fast with some comfort while we make them eat that are destitute of necessaries and conveniences 9. In such Fasts we must have no ill designs He that with Jezehel fasts to circumvent an innocent Naboth fasts not to God but to the Devil and he who hath some interest or intrigue to carry on and can effect it by nothing so easily as by a Fast and Humiliation to bring people into a good opinion of him takes strange pains to make God his implacable enemy To provoke God by downright works of darkness is all one would think that wickedness can aim at but to convert Religion into sin and by a Fast to hold a Candle to the Devil is a Villany which hath no name and therefore the punishment due to it can have no bounds no measure He that Fasts upon the account of the great injustice and oppression he hath been guilty of in hopes that God will let him enjoy the estate or means he hath wrongfully gotten without restitution observes a lesser Command and breaks a greater The design in such Fasts must be no other but to cloath our Souls with greater righteousness and to get our hearts fill'd with greater zeal to Gods glory To think that a Fast will excuse my sin or Abstinence serve for a cloak to cover my unlawful desires or make my Lusts and wilful Follies pass for Peccadillo's in Heaven are thoughts which require no other confutation but God's thunder and where people can think so ill of God and Religion there is no other way to convince them but by Viols of wrath and cups of trembling and astonishment 10. In these Fasts new Resolutions must be made against those sins we find our selves very prone and inclined too without this our Fasts are but cold services and our Abstinence but a formality It 's therefore well observed by the Jewish Doctors that it is not said â—â— the Ninevites that God saw their Faâ—â—ng and their Sackcloth but their Worâ—â— and that they turned from their evil ways Without such Resolutions we only fast for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness as it is said Es. 58. 4. but do not fast to God If we have been defective in any duty new resolutions must be made against the neglect new resolutions to be more careful in the performance new resolutions to watch more and to overcome our selves This is to renew our Covenant with God and when we do so God will be found of us 2 Chron. 15. 12. 15. To weaken our Bodies in fasting while our sins continue vigorous and strong is only a seeming imitation of a Nation that doth righteousness and forsakes not the Ordinances of God but no real following after righteousness as God complains of the Jews Es. 58. 2. XI Our intent in such Fasts must be to fit our selves for the influences of God's Spirit One great reason why the Christians of old had so plentiful a Portion of God's Spirit vouchsafed to them was without doubt their great Temperance and Abstinence which makes the Soul more agile and lively and consequently quickens her understanding and prepares her for those communications of the Deity I can lay no very great stress upon the place because it concerns a particular person yet it is remarkable however that the Evangelist speaking of S t John the Baptist's Abstinence immediately subjoins the priviledge we speak of Luke 1. 15. He shall be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost as if Abstinence attracted that invisible in-influence and God loved to converse more with persons that are enemies to pampering of their Bodies than with those that delight in corporal Food and choicer Diet. Indeed the more the Body is cherish'd the more sleepy will the Soul be and the less it is cocker'd and pleased the
had so well deserved at the hands of God by his Righteousness and severity of Life that if he had been so minded he could have Redeemed all the Men and Women that should be born after him from the everlasting Wrath of God and if his Son Eleazer should but join the Merits of his Righteousness with his they might go near to save the whole World from being condemned in the last day This is Bedlam-talk and yet it were to be wish'd that the Church of Rome did not participate of this madness when they talk of the Treasury of their Church the Merits of their Saints and their Works of Super-errogation whereby they free many Souls out of Purgatory and how such a wicked Man wrapt up in a Monks Habit at his death hath been immediately transported into Heaven c. One would admire how men in their Wits can talk at this Rate but that I see even David could feign himself mad at the Court of Achish for his Interest and then no marvel if these Men finding what grist this Doctrine of Merits brings to their Mill venture to be extravagant in their expressions concerning it II. Whenever these severities are used they must not be used to give God satisfaction for the sins we have committed To give God satisfaction by any thing but the Cross and death of Christ is an expression which should sound harsh in a Christian Ear and be banish'd from the confines of Divinity Here the Church of Rome exceeds and deviates again from the Primitive Rule and while they look upon these severities as satisfactions given to God for the guilt of the temporal punishment that remains after remission of sins they seem to follow no Rule but that of their own fancy for the Scripture is a Stranger to this notion of satisfaction and though David and other Saints have used these severities yet we never read that they intended them as satisfactions to God whom they had offended but had other ends in them such as we shall name as we go along It 's not to be denied but that the Fathers use the word satisfaction often when they discourse of such mortifications but by those satisfactions they do not mean satisfactions given to an offended God but to the Church and the People of God as signs whereby our fellow-Christians may conclude that our Repentance is real and free from Hypocrisie Nor III. Must they be used in hopes that God will dispence with our sins for the future much less that he will pass by those that we have committed without sincere repentance meerly for these severities Alas it's easier to punish the Body than to leave a sin and while the Sinner can enjoy his Lusts what need he care if for a day or two he is a little rigid and unkind to his Flesh that unkindness will quickly wear out again and the body fitted for commission of new offences God doth not value these severities at this rate a penitent heart is more pleasing to him than a thousand Lashes and a Soul that grieves for offending a Gracious God looks lovelier in his eyes than a bloody Side or the imaginary Wounds of S t Francis He that thinks that God will let him sin because he whipt himself on such a day takes God for some Heathen Deity and indeed to lay a greater stress upon afflicting the Body then upon forsaking of sin is to contradict that notion the Holy Ghost delivers of God that he must be worship'd in spirit and in truth Nor IV. Must they be used with an unwilling mind where the inward repentance of the Soul makes the Will resolute in the use of them they may pass for excellent Offerings but being performed by force or meerly because a Superiour commands them this evacuates the virtue of the affliction Hence those among the Papists that either suffer themselves to be hired to perform the Ceremony of Self-affliction on Good-Friday or being once engaged in such an Order use them not out of any sense of Sin within but because the Rule of their Order doth oblige them to it whatever Conceits they may entertain of the Opus operatum or Work it self God still looking to the spring from which all these mortifications flow they prevail no more than the Indians going to Church meerly because their Masters force them prevail with him to send his Spirit into their Hearts crying Abba Father Nor V. Is it fit that weak or sickly persons should use them Though many Christians in the Primitive times would thus afflict themselves notwithstanding their bodily infirmities yet we find 1 Tim. 5. 23. that in these cases men must use moderation The Body being disabled I do not see how the Soul can perform those noble Operations she is other wise capable of no more than a Workman whose tools are nought can promise you an excellent piece of Manufacture The Body is a Servant of the Soul and we know if our Servants be out of order our Work must be left undone Strong and healthy Bodies will bear it better and if they loose something of their florid complexion there is no great hurt done Mortification to some Bodies would be a preservative of health and such voluntary afflictions would spend many of those superfluous humours that disorder them In all these severities men must be their own Physitians and consider what their Bodies are able to bear and what they are not And yet lazmess and softness of life and love to Carnal ease must not make us pretend that our Bodies will not bear them This is best known after we have had experience and when we foresee a signal danger it will then be time to forbear them Our Bodies are able to endure a great deal more than we are willing to believe and the reason why people are weary of any thing that 's irksome to Flesh and Blood is because they lie buried in Lust and Sensuality He that is weak already had not need make himself weaker than he is and Sickness is for the present severity enough to subdue in us all disorderly Affections and in these Cases it 's infallibly true what the Apostle saith that bodily exercise prosits little 1 Tim. 4. 8. And as these severities are not fit to be used by sickly and weakly persons so neither must they be used by the Strong to the distervice of their Souls In a word the Body must not be used so coursly as to make it useless to the Soul and therefore the Saints of old observ'd most truly that our Bodies are like Garments if you take care of them they will last a great while but if they be totally neglected they will wear out in a very short time To mortifie the Body is one thing to kill it is another and he that would not be guilty of Self-murder must not be too lavish in these severities It was a good answer of S t Anthony the Hermit to a Huntsman that had
Needy which formerly they used to express to their own Children Here you should see none Rejoycing that he had any thing of his own for whatever he had he look'd upon his Fellow-Christians as Co-heirs and was so well contented that they should inherit with him that he thought that which he had a Burthen if his Neighbours were not to share in his Possessions This present Life was the least thing they minded while that to come engrossed their Thoughts and Considerations They were so entirely Christians that in a manner they were nothing else and cared not for being any thing else lest if they should be something else they should be suspected of deviating from their Masters foot-steps Hence it was that the Pagans accused them of Unrighteousness and Unprofitableness as if they were dead Weights in the World contributing nothing to the welfare and prosperity of Mankind and as if they stood for Cyphers in Humane Societies though none were more ready to communicate of the Profit of their Labours to others than they and did therefore on purpose keep close to their Calling and Profession that they might be able to relieve the Needy And though they were loath to take upon them the Employment of Magistrates and Governors lest the Emperors and Gods Commands should clash and they lye under a temptation of obeying Man more than God yet whenever they were thought worthy to bear Office in the Church they readily embraced the Charge that they might be in a greater capacity to improve the Talents God had given them to his Glory and his Peoples good and were pleased with the Trouble of the Office that the World might see they had no design of Gain or Worldly Interest in the Administration They spake little but their Thoughts were always Great and Heavenly and as they look'd upon sublunary Objects as too mean for their lofty Minds to rest on so their care was to keep the Eyes of their Understandings fix'd on that World which fades not away In the eye of the World they were Pythagoreans and a kind of Dumb-Men but when they met one with the other and CHRIST was named perfect Peripateticks and no Philosophers would be freer in their Discourses than they Their business was to live not to talk great Matters and the name Christian did so charm them that though there were various degrees of Men among them Ecclesiasticks Lay-men Virgins Widows Married Persons Confessors Martyrs and Friends yet the name Christian swallowed up all and in this they triumph'd beyond all other Titles in the World which made Attalus in Eusebius when the Governor ask'd him what Countryman he was who his Father and Mother were what Trade Profession and Employment he was of whether he was Rich or Poor give no other answer but this That he was a Christian. And the same did the excellent Blandina And by this answer they gave the World to understand that their Kindred Pedigree Nobility Trade Profession Blood c. did all consist in this one Thing and that beyond this there could be no greater Honour and Dignity Their Communications or Answers in common Discourse were Yea Yea and Nay Nay An Oath they shunn'd as much as Perjury and a Lye among them was more rare than a Sea-monster is to the Inhabitants of a Continent for they said that in their Baptism they were Signed with the Mark of Truth and that they could not be Servants of the God of Truth if they should yield but to the least appearance of Falshood Christ was the charming Word among them and they heard nothing with greater joy than that glorious Name His Death and Sufferings raised their Souls and his Cross was more Pretious to them than Rubies Hereby they learned to despise the World and the Marrow Virtue and Efficacy of their Religion was the Death of JESUS This Death they remembred not only in the Sacrament but at their common Meals and when they refreshed their Bodies with Meat and Drink they talked of that Meat which would feed them into Everlasting Life and herein they walked contrary to the custom of the Drunkards of old who used to carry a Death's Head with them to their drunken Meetings and set it upon the Table and with the sight of that and remembrance of what they must shortly come to encouraged themselves in Drunkenness The first Christians remembred indeed the Death of Christ at their ordinary Tables but it was to make Pain and Torment and Death and the Cross familiar to them for the Afflictions of this Life they looked upon as the Midwives that promoted their new Birth and the best Companions of their Faith and the faithfullest Nurses of their Hopes In the Cities and Towns where they lived none was unknown to the other for they Pray'd together heard the Word together met frequently at Meals together and were continually helpful one to the other Infomuch that where-ever they met they knew one another and when they durst not with their Lips yet with their Eyes and Gestures they would salute one another send Kisses of Peace one to another rejoice in the common Hope and if permitted assist one another in Adversities This is one of us saith such a Saint for we have seen him in our Oratories we have Pray'd with him we have been at the Lords Table together we have heard the Scriptures read together we have kneeled together we have been instructed together O happy Kindred which comes by Prayer and Communion of the Body and Blood of JESUS O blessed Relations where Men are not called Brothers of the Sun or of the Stars as the antient Tyrants styled themselves but Brethren of CHRIST Children of GOD and Citizens of Heaven When a Christian who was a Stranger came to them before ever he shew'd his Testimonials they knew him by his lean Visage and meager Face which his frequent Fasting had brought him to by the Modesty of his Eyes by the Gravity of his Speech by his Gate and Habit and mortified Behaviour for something Divine did shine through their looks and one might read the Characters of the Spirit in their Countenance Nor is it very strange that a good Man should be known by his Carriage for to this day a serious Person though he says nothing something in his Lineaments and Features and Postures will betray the inward Zeal and Sincerity of his Soul and his deportment will discover there is something more than ordinary in him as much as the Roman Senator was betray'd by the Perfumes about him Whenever they were thrust into the Croud of Malefactors their Fellow-Christians soon guessed who they were for they hastned with Meekness to their Martyrdom and without expressing any impatience or indignation submitted their Necks to the stroak of the Axe prepared for them They used to look frequently up to Heaven and one might by their smiles see that between God and them there was more than ordinary Correspondence Sometimes they would provoke the Executioners to
wretched how odious sin makes us in the sight of God how we are cheated by it how it flatters us into destruction How like a cunning Merchant it sells us trash for Gold pebles for Pearls and drops of Gall for VVine and Milk How bitter it is in its farewel How it hardens the heart sears the Conscience beguiles us of our great Reward represents things to us under false colors How it alienates the Mind from God how averse it makes us from the ways of God What ingratitude it is how destructive it is what hurt it hath done to Sodom to Jerusalem to Cain to Judas to Dives and to innumerable Millions of Men that would take no warning How burthensome it will be to the Soul at last how contrary it is to the Divine Nature how loathsome to Angels how odious to a holy Soul what Tears it hath cost David Peter Paul Mary Magdalene the Publican and others what howling what terrour what anguish what shrieks it will cause in the Burning Lake how easily these terrours may be prevented now by a serious repentance and how much better it is to abandon and undervalue the pleasures and profits of the World now than smart for these transitory delights to all Eternity Such Exercises as these keep the Soul awake and thus rouz'd it cannot be surpriz'd with a Lethargy The foolish Virgins Matth. 25. neglected these Meditations and that made them slumber and sleep Such daily Meditations keep the Soul in a readiness to obey her Great Master's Call in case he should summon her to Judgment These feed and strengthen the Soul as much as Meat and Drink doth the Body and thus supported it grows strong and vigorous and emulates the felicity of Angels Christians Is your Reason a Talent or no If it be not then it is no gift of God if no gift of God why do you thank him why do you praise him for it If it be why should not you give God his own again with Usury If it be a Talent must not you give an account of it in the last day Were you capable of thinking of such things as these and will not your Lord ask you whether you have made that use of your Reason which he intended it for Shall you give an account of your Riches and Honour and Time and Opportunities and Liberty and give no account of your Reason Will it serve turn do you think to say That you have employ'd it about the World Is the World a fit Object to engross so Noble a Faculty Shall the meanest thing which is no more but Dross and Dung in the sight of God employ that Power which is capable of fixing upon the Noblest Being Would you have the Almighty so unwise or weak or improvident as not to demand of you an account of his Goods what you have done with them whether you have traded with them whether you have been active in your Master's Business Your Reason was given you to trade with it for Heaven it was given you to help you to steer your Vessel steddily through the boisterous Sea of this World till you come to the promised Canaan and arrive at the shore of Heaven and will you make no other use of it but think how your lusts may be gratified how your carnal ease may be advanced and how your outward Man may live in mirth and jollity You complain of Ignorance How should you increase in Knowledge if you will not meditate How should your Understanding be enlightned if you will not make use of this Candle How can you but sit in darkness if you refuse this Torch of Heaven By this God would teach you by this he would instruct you by this he would communicate himself to you but if you will not whose fault is it whom can you blame how inexcusable do you make your selves This would clarifie your Souls drive away the Mists and Clouds that dwell upon your Reason but if you love Darkness better than Light no marvel if your Deeds be evil It is with your Souls in this case as it is with your Bodies shut your Eyes and you cannot see so here keep out such Meditations as these and you will not perceive the things of God they 'll be foolishness unto you and you cannot perceive them for they are spiritually discern'd Never complain of want of fervency for the future while you are loath to let in such Meditations into your Minds Fervency does not come from nothing it must have some root some foundation some fewel some action to give it life and being and Meditation is this root and this foundation This is it must warm you This is it must fill your Souls with hallow'd Flames Keep out This and you keep out the Sun shut the Window against these Beams and you will freeze and shake with cold It 's This must make the ways of God easie to you it 's This must make them pleasant sweet and amiable This gives them Charms This strows the way with Pearls and shining Stones which make the Soul enamour'd with it and thus it flies to Heaven IV. Exercise Every day to study Humility an Exercise peremptorily commanded Matth. 18. 3 4. Luk. 14. 7 8. Jam. 4. 6. Learn of me saith the Son of God for I am meek and lowly in heart Matth. 11. 29. Learn of me What Not to raise the Dead not to cleanse the Lepers not to cast out Devils not to give sight to the Blind not to make the Deaf to hear not to cure the Maimed not to walk on the Water not to feed five thousand Men with a few Loaves no but learn of me Humility in this exercise your selves daily And indeed greater Humility hath no Man shewn for being in the Form of God and thinking it no robbery to be equal with God he humbled himself and took upon him the form of a Servant and became obedient to the death of the Cross saith the Apostle Phil. 2. 6 7. This Exercise consists not only in forcing the Body into a submissive posture but working the Mind into very low and humble thoughts of our selves and of our worth and he is a truly humble Man that doth despise himself and is contented to be counted not only humble but vile and wretched too that refers all the honour done to himself unto God and rejoyces in being despised 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and is proud of nothing so much as being ill spoken of and despising praise and glory that compares his sins with the good works of others and upon that account looks upon himself as the chief of sinners and worse than others that affects no applause in what he doth for God or for his Neighbour is contented his defects and infirmities should be known bears Injuries patiently is glad of mean imployments to shew his love to God doth not care for being known puts all things under his feet and looks upon himself as nothing is circumspect