still leaving 'em in the Dark as to their Enquires how it could be so And so for the Mystery of Trinity in Vnity which is plainly enough Asserted both by himself and his Apostles neither he nor they ever attempted the Explication of this Mystery any more than they did of the rest Indeed St. Paul gives the Corinthians some Description of the manner of the Resurrection of the Dead 1 Cor. 15. which yet must be allow'd to be One of the Great Mysteries of Christianity But then we may take Notice that to the curious Enquirer How are they Dead rais'd up and with what Body do they come He ushers in his Answer with this very plain Rebuke Thou Fool. Now since our Blessed Lord and his Apostles thus wav'd the giving any Particular Explications of these and the like Mysterious Truths which yet they would have given had it been needful nay so much as expedient especially when so often urg'd to do it methinks it should be a sufficient Caution to every Man else not to Intrude too far into those things which he has not seen What they thought fit to leave as Mysteries to be only Believ'd and Reverenc'd by Christians methinks none that come after them should offer to unveil but chuse to exercise their Faith about 'em rather than their weak benighted Reason and ev'n in the necessary Defence of them follow the Scriptures as their surest Guide And how happy would it have been for the Christian Church had these Depths been always venerated at a Distance And that Quickness of Parts and Warmth of Temper duly employ'd in Provoking to Love and Good Works and in Confirming more and more the Foundation of our Faith which was abus'd in Digging up and Destroying it and Ruining that Charity without which tho' a Man speaks with the Tongues of Men and Angels and understands all Mysteries 1 Cor. 13.2 and all knowledge St. Paul says He is nothing And if such way of Proceeding in these matters would have been the truest Wisdom in the Ages past no doubt but it is so still in this The sad Consequences of the want of which and crying up the contrary Practcie of laying open all Mysteries are but too well known It has indeed expos'd Religion to Innumerable Wounds from all its Adversaries and tends more than we can imagine to Atheism and all manner of Looseness and Debauchery Highly needful therefore is it to give our young Reasoners Warning of so Dangerous a Rock as this and perswade them to avoid it And before I put an end to this Advice which is of such mighty Consequence let me appeal to their own Unbyass'd Reason Whether a Man would not be better much better employ'd in humbly and thankfully embracing what God has been pleas'd plainly to Reveal to his Church concerning the Incarnation of his Divine Son for Instance God Manifest in the Flesh to destroy the Works of the Devil and in sincerely endeavouring to Imitate his most excellent Example and pay Obedience to his Holy Precepts than in making curious and nice Enquiries into the Nature of the Personal Union which the more it is pry'd into the more Humane Wit will be confounded and nothing in the Conclusion but a Pernicious Brood of Heresies Does it not more become us heartily to rejoyce in the Satisfaction Christ has made for Sinners by his Bitter Death and Sufferings and continually to pay our Humblest Acknowledgements and Devoutest Praises to God and Jesus for their wondrous Love and make it our great Endeavour to perform those Conditions upon which alone we can be Sharers in his Merits Does not this become us better than to raise subtile Questions and be always Quarreling about the Nature of that Satisfaction and in the Scuffle commit such Wickedness as will render it unavailable if persisted in to those that are so unchristianly engag'd The like may be said of the Mystery of the Adorable Trinity in Vnity concerning which Thus much I may say I hope without Offence That to be contented with what the Scriptures have plainly told us in this matter and to give all Honour and Glory Love and Obedience to the Great Creator Redeemer and Sanctifier of the World God Blessed for evermore is more agreeable to the Piety and Humility of a Christian than to tear the Church in pieces and give the Enemies of our Faith too much occasion to Blaspheme and Ridicule it by so fiercely opposing one another in our Explanations of what will be an Inscrutable Mystery when we have done all Finally I may add That he is much the wiser Man and better Christian who with all due Awe and Reverence and Preparation frequently Adresses himself to the Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ and endeavours in good earnest to keep the Pious Resolutions he then makes than he who perplexes himself and disturbs and embroyls the Church about the manner of our Saviour's Presence there and of our receiving him And I can't but think Solomon's Counsel in this as well as other Cases to be very excellent and worthy of our greatest Regard Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thine own understanding Prov. 3.5 The Fourth Advice HAVING thus endeavour'd to secure the Faith of young Persons the next thing to be taken care of is their Obedience Now the Main Spring of this is a Devotional Temper of Mind and a Quick Taste and Relish of good things whereby we become fully perswaded that 't is not only our Duty but our greatest Interest upon all Accounts to be Religious This will make us employ our Thoughts our Desires and Affections upon Divine Objects in Good Earnest and Quicken us on in the ways of Christian Vertue with Satisfaction and Delight Whereas when Men are Cool and Indifferent to things of this Nature Religion soon degenerates into bare Formality and from thence decays into Nothing The great Business then is to engage the warm Affections of Youth upon Religion before they are too far taken up with other things to turn the stream of their Passions into the right Channel betimes before they are Habituated to some other Course nothing being more Difficult than when they are so effectually to direct and keep 'em right My next Advice therefore is That they would cherish that Natural Disposition to Devotion which is in most young People before it is Destroy'd and Quench'd by Vice Now by Devotion I mean A settled Temper of Mind arising from a Due and Lively Sense of the Supreme Excellency of God and Religion whereby we entirely dedicate our selves to his Service in the way he has directed and in all things endeavour and that with Warmth and Spirit to behave our selves towards him as befits both him and our selves I have given this Description of it that we may know how to Distinguish it from Superstition and Enthusiasm which are the two Mimicks of Devotion and often borrow its venerable Name And 't will not be
Jesus come quickly Having thus Conducted Young Persons to the Holy Altar which unless they are extreamly wanting to themselves is next to Conducting them to Heaven I shall leave them there to the blessing of God and our Saviour who is ready to embrace them with the Arms of his Mercy and seal them with his life-giving Spirit to the Day of Eternal Redemption Only to their own Pious Meditations and Prayers they may if they please add the following Litany A LITANY FOR Young Gentlemen O God the Father of Heaven of Angels and of Men have Mercy upon us Miserable Sinners O God the Son who hast Redeem'd the World with thy most Precious Blood have Mercy upon us Miserable Sinners O God the Holy Ghost the Lord and giver of Spiritual Heavenly Life have Mercy upon us Miserable Sinners O Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity whose Wisdom and Power and Goodness is Infinite have Mercy upon us Miserable Sinners Remember not Lord the Sins and Offences of our Youth nor be extream to mark what we have done amiss Spare us good Lord spare us a little that we may recover our strength and according to thy Mercy think thou upon us for thy goodness Spare us good Lord. From forgetting our Creator in the Days of our Youth from wasting the flower of our age in vanity and folly and reserving our decrepid Years for the Service of God Good Lord deliver us From valuing the Blessings we enjoy more than the Giver of them from trusting in any thing more than in Providence and from loving Pleasure more than thee our God Good Lord deliver us From dishonouring our Bodies with Intemperance and Vncleanness from polluting our Souls with impure Imaginations from defiling our Mouths with prophane and impious or obscene Discourses Good Lord deliver us From abusing our Reason in opposing Religion from debasing our Wit to the service of our Lusts from living like Beasts when thou hast made us Men and Christians Good Lord deliver us From excesses of Passion and a turbulent Spirit from tormenting our selves because others misuse us from the guilt and the misery of Malice and Revenge Good Lord deliver us From Conceit and Pride Envy and Ambition from foolish Rashness and inconsiderate Heat from despising our Guides and following our own Counsel only Good Lord deliver us From stubborn Obstinacy and deafness to Advice from contempt of Reproof and anger at the Reprover from a blinded Mind and a seared Conscience Good Lord deliver us From deadness in thy Service and a formal Religion from obedience that is fanciful humoursome and uncertain from a superstitious use or neglect of the Ornaments of Worship Good Lord deliver us From forgetting Thee or our selves in raptures of Enthusiasm from pretending to Piety for the sake of the World and from all the Paths that lead to the Portion of Hypocrites Good Lord deliver us From conforming to the World in the Arts of Deceit from fawning and flattery Censure and Detraction from false Smiles and treacherous Friendship Good Lord deliver us From impatience in Trouble and excessive Dejections from distrust of thy Providence and Desperate Courses from fretting against God for what we bring upon our selves Good Lord deliver us In all time of Temptation by Prosperity or Adversity in all sudden Surprizes and imminent Dangers in the hour of Death and in the Day of Judgment O Blessed Jesus by all that thou hast done and suffered for us then succour and deliver us And tho' unworthy as we are and miserable Sinners yet encouraged by thy boundless Mercy and Goodness we beseech thee farther to hear us and as the Guardian and guide of our Youth shew us the way that we should walk in for we lift up our Souls unto thee Good Lord we beseech thee to hear us O that our ways might be directed by thy Commandments and our footsteps never wander from them that we might meditate upon thy Precepts and delight our selves in thy Service and never forget thy Word Good Lord we beseech thee to hear us Thy Hands have made us what we are from thee comes all we have or hope for O give us the Vnderstanding that we may entirely Praise and Love thee and not be stupid and insensible as the Beasts that perish Good Lord we beseech thee to hear us That it may please thee to inspire us with Affections becoming Christians that we may live worthy of that most Holy Profession as Disciples of Jesus and design'd for Glory We beseech thee to hear us good Lord. That our Saviours life may be the rule of ours that we may tread in his steps and become like him in temper and spend our days as he did in advancing thy Glory and doing good in our Generation We beseech thee to hear us good Lord. That we may employ our Youth and our Strength in the great work of our Salvation and run the way of thy Commandments with vigour and spirit and the warmth and fervour of a chearful Mind We beseech thee to hear us good Lord. That Religion may be esteem'd by us as our chief good that all things else may be subservient to it as the delight and the joy of our hearts Good Lord we beseech thee to hear us That our Faith may be irreproveable steady and modest such as may work by Love and purifie our Hearts and bring down every thing that exalts it self against obedience to Christ Good Lord we beseech thee to hear us That with our whole Heart we may devote our selves to thy Service and be sincerely what we do Profess and value the Joys of a quiet Conscience above thousands of Gold and Silver We beseech thee to hear us good Lord. That our Baptismal Vow may be kept Inviolate the Promises we have since made to thee faithfully perform'd and all our Pious Resolutions made good We beseech thee to hear us good Lord. O let us not go wrong thou guide of our steps O let us not fall thou that art our Support Discover to us the snares that are laid for our Souls and grant that we may ever escape them Good Lord we beseech thee to hear us And when we are down Lord do thou raise us up When we go astray like Sheep that are lost O seek thy Servants pity our sad state and bring us back unto thy fold again Good Lord we beseech thee to hear us We will think on our ways and turn our feet unto thy Testimonies we will make haste without delay to keep thy righteous Judgments with thy assistance which we humbly beg and Beseech thee to hear us good Lord. But who can tell how often he offendeth Cleanse thou us therefore from our secret faults and keep us from presumptuous Sins lest they get the Dominion over us Good Lord we beseech thee to hear us May we never despise the Riches of thy long-suffering and forbearance nor by our continu'd impenitence treasure up Wrath against the day of Wrath but be intirely softned
then if he has him not he must for ever lose him And the circumstance of a Dying Condition give him great Advantages over a Poor Languishing Amaz'd Dispirited Affrighted Creature and 't is but too too often that he is Successful against those that madly while their Repentance off till then For Thirdly The inseparable Attendants upon a Death Bed are such as if there were no such Adversary to deal with would render it a very unapt season for so great a Work as this Our Powers and Faculties both of Soul and Body are then generally mightily Disorder'd and very little Serviceable our Apprehension dull'd our Understanding and Judgment and Memory weakned and Impair'd our Minds Distracted by fears and uncertainties and our Bodies Languishing full of Pains and great Discomposures Some Diseases make the Patient stupid and utterly Inapprehensive others heat Him into Frenzy and Distraction and some keep Him continually upon the Rack and will not suffer him to attend to any thing but his present Misery And even the most favourable have enough in 'em mightily to hinder our Progress in this great Duty for which a whole Life of Youth and Health and perfect soundness of Mind and Body will not be too much No wonder therefore if the weaknesses and Infirmities of Sickness and the Approach of Death which make a Man scarce capable of settling his worldly Affairs should be a very unfit Time for him to begin to make his Peace with God and Prepare himself for Eternity But in the last place Let us suppose all that can be desir'd in such a Case as this that the Distemper is not so Violent but that it leaves a Man the free use of his Reason and all his Faculties and the decays of his Body are gradual and without excessive Pains and Death comes on by easie gentle steps 'T would yet be a very great Folly to put off Repentance ev'n to such a Death Bed as this because 't is so hard a Matter to have any tolerable Assurance that the utmost we can then do is Hearty and Sincere and will be to any purpose 'T is the Fruits of Repentance that Prove the sincerity of it and Sorrow and Regret for past sins and wishes that we had never committed them and the like how pungent and how earnest soever they may be are not Repentance but only a step in order to it For Repentance as was said is a thorough Change of a sinner's Mind and Life which whether such Sorrow will really effect or not nothing but Time can shew And therefore the Man that Repents not till his Time is just Expiring that has no Temptation to his former Vices nor Ability to Commit them if he had must needs be very uncertain whether He indeed Repents or is only scar'd and frighted with the near Prospect of the endless Miseries that attend a sinner after Death That it is too often thus with dying Penitents their returning to their Vices when God has Restor'd to them their Health is Proof sufficient and whether it is not so in any particular Man's Case no one can say unless he Lives to make the Tryal Now what a Comfortless disheartning thing is it for a Man to Breath out his Soul in such great uncertainties How miserably anxious must his Breast needs be about the safety of his Condition and his Acceptance with God which yet he can have no Assurance of till his Condition is fix'd and become unalterable The only Remedy is to Repent Immediately that we may have time to approve the Sincerity of our Repentance and enjoy the unspeakable Comforts both in Life and Death that will attend our being at Peace and Reconcil'd to God Wherefore as the Wise Ben Sirach excellently adviseth make no tarrying to turn unto the Lord Eccl. 5.7 and put not off from day to day for suddenly shall the wrath of God come forth and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed and perish in the day of vengeance The Last Advice AND now for a Conclusion of all Last Advice Let me Advise Young Persons when by God's Assistance they are become so Sensible of their Miscarriages as sincerely to Repent of them and resolve to Reform Let me then Advise them to seal and ratifie those Pious Resolutions with a Devout Reception of the Holy Communion and Confirm and strengthen them still more and more and bring 'em to Perfection by a frequent attendance at the Table of our Lord. The Sacrament of our Lords Supper as 't is one of the great Mysteries of our Holy Religion and therefore requires of us the profoundest Awe and Reverence and Religious Fear so is it a Treasury of Blessings also a Channel flowing with Divine Grace and Bounty and therefore calls for the highest Degrees and expressions of Desire and Love 'T is like the Pillar of a Cloud and of Fire that accompanied the People of God in the Wilderness Dark and Mysterious indeed on one side and apt to Imprint a Holy Dread upon our Spirits But on the Reverse there is Light and Heat to inflame our Love and enkindle our Devotion to enlighten our Understandings and direct our Wills to purifie and refine us and render us an Offering of a sweet smelling savour acceptable to God by Jesus Christ And thus was it esteem'd by the Holy Men of the First Ages of Christianity when the Fires of Devotion burnt bright and the Church was Acted by the Spirit of Love and Purity Many excellent Things were then spoken of this Mystery and great was the Reverence that was given to it but then their Love to it likewise was very great their desires of it ardent and frequent and constant was their Reception of it They call'd it a Mystery and as such they rever'd it they call'd it too a Feast of Thankfulness and Love and as such they rejoyced in it and thirsted after it And the Effect of this was Exemplary Piety and Holiness of Life and steady Profession of the Faith of Jesus even to the Death Afterwards when the Love of many did wax cold this Sacred Duty grew more and more neglected two or three times a Year was thought sufficient to Communicate and sometimes once would serve the turn and so 't is still with most amongst our selves and the Wickedness Ignorance and Stupidity of the middle Ages and the open Prophanness and scandalous Debauchery of these last Times are the miserable Consequences of so great an Impiety And indeed no wonder if the Disease get head when Men omit to apply the Remedy The Holy Jesus that great Physician of the Soul who bests knows its Distempers and the Methods of their Cure left this as his Dying Secret to be observ'd by all Ages of the World for the Recovery and Confirmation of their Spiritual Health Now if after all this Care and Kindness and excellent Provision on His part we slight his Directions reject his Medicines and refuse Life when 't is so Charitably offer'd us
and upon such easie terms we may thank our selves if we are as we deserve to be Diseas'd and Miserable I hope we are Sensible that without God's Grace and Divine Assistance we can do nothing that is Good which Grace being His free Gift 't is necessary that we make use of those Means and observe those Times and Seasons which he hath made choice of in order to our Receiving that his Charity and Bounty Now the Chief of these is the Sacrament of the Lords Supper by which we are made one with Christ and Christ with us and he dwelleth in us and we in him as our Church expresses it in the Exhortation at the time of the Celebration That is 't is the great Conveyance of every thing that is needful to the Strengthning and Refreshing the Soul of a Christian and making him run with chearfulness the Race that is set before him This then being the great Dispensatory of the Riches of God's Goodness hither must we come if we would be Partakers of it and wilfully to Absent our selves is so great a Slight both of the Dying Institution of our Saviour and the Blessings that will attend the due observance of it as is utterly inexcusable and will be of very Melancholly consequence But I shall not Proceed further upon this Particular either in giving an Account of the Nature of this great Duty or the Manner of Performing it and the Preparation requisite in order to it there being so many excellent Books already written upon this Subject Only give me leave to make one Observation or two For the true meaning of which Words See Archbishop Tillotson's Seventh Sermon Volume the third Printed before his Death in Answer to the usual Plea for Mens neglect of this Holy Sacrament viz. That they are unfit for and unworthy of it and fear therefore that if they do Receive it they shall Receive it unworthily and eat and drink their own damnation As for the latter part of this Plea it proceeds from a great Mistake namely the confounding these two very different things being unworthy to Receive and Receiving unworthily And which when rectified the thing will stand in a clear light 'T is True every Man as a Sinner is unworthy not only of so great a Favour as the Sacrament at the hands of God but of every breath of Air he breaths of every Crumb of Bread he eats in short of every the least Blessing he enjoys and 't is very fit he should be intimately sensible of this his Vnworthiness but yet for all this he that uses any of these Blessings soberly and gives God thanks may very Worthily partake of and enjoy them So here in this Case of the Sacrament the best Man living can't say he is Worthy to Receive it but yet may nevertheless Receive it Worthily or in a manner becoming so sacred a Duty Nay the more deeply sensible he is of his not being Worthy to Receive the more Worthily no doubt he will Receive it And 't is he that Receives Vnworthily not he that is Vnworthy to Receive that incurs the Guilt and the Punishment which the Apostle mentions 1 Cor. 11.29 As for Mens being unfit to Receive or unprepared not to take Notice of the oddness of the Excuse which is in effect the same as to make carelesness and idleness a Plea for Disobedience I only desire they would ask themselves upon what terms they hope to go to Heaven If they know any thing of Christianity they must answer thus I hope to arrive at that happy place thro' the Merits of Jesus my Saviour upon Condition of my own true Faith and sincere Repentance Now if this be thus absolutely necessary to our Salvation we must either quit our Hopes of being sav'd or else sincerely Believe and Repent that is have such a Faith as purifies the heart and works by love and resembles us to Jesus and makes us partakers of a Divine Nature and so Repent as thoroughly to amend and reform our lives and entirely to turn from Sin to God This we see is indispensibly requir'd of us in order to our future happiness and was so before the Sacrament was Instituted and would have been so had it never been Instituted at all Now that which is so necessary as on our part to bring us to Heaven is the very Preparation that is requisite to fit us for the Sacrament the Qualifications for both are exactly the same And therefore he that hopes to be Saved must so Believe and Live as to be fit to Receive the Sacrament unless we 'll say that more is requir'd to our Receiving the Sacrament Worthily than to Eternal Salvation and he that makes his Vnfitness the Excuse of his neglect of it either knows not what he says or else must know that he must cure that Fault or be for ever miserable A Good Life as we all must own if we believe the Scriptures is absolutely necessary to the Happiness we hope for in the other World for without Holiness no Man shall see the Lord and a Good life is without doubt the best Preparation for the Sacrament So that he that lives like a Christian is fit to Communicate and he that does not is fit for nothing but ruine How strange an Excuse then is this which is so often made for Peoples neglect of the Sacrament For with the very same Breath they conclude themselves to have no reasonable Hopes of being Sav'd And so long as they continue unfit for the one they are uncapable of the other And dare they continue in such a state as this Would not such thoughts as these therefore be more becoming every one that names the Name of Jesus I am unfit for Heaven therefore will I frequent the Sacrament Tho' I am Young and probably may live for many Years to come yet since 't is so uncertain whether I shall or no and I can't begin too soon to fit and prepare my self for a happy future state therefore will I address my self to the Receâ—tion of those conveyances of the Divine Grace and Assistance without which I can do nothing and with which I shall be able to do every thing that 's needful to be done to my Salvation thro' Christ that strengthneth me This will compleat my Repentance confirm and enliven my Faith and in every respect make my Obedience more sincere and full the more Defects therefore in each of these I am sensible of the more need have I to approach that Holy Table where all my Spiritual wants shall be supplyed To thee therefore Blessed Saviour I humbly come for help that my sinful Body may be made clean by thy Body wounded and torn for my Offences and my Soul washed by thy most precious Blood which thou didst shed for the remission of my Sins I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my polluted Roof but prepare for thy self an Habitation by the Influences of thy Blessed Spirit and then come Lord