overcome evil by doing of good If another strike us we may not strike again if he rail upon us and revile us we must not return the same ill Language but either by silence or by gentle and soft answers endeavour to appease his wrath For the Rule is not to deal with others as they deal with me but as I in reason desire to be dealt with and another Man's fault will not excuse mine If he do me an injury I must not be judge in my own Cause nor take upon me to revenge it but in weighty Cases may fly to the Magistrate for relief But upon no account whatever may we bear any grudge or hatred in our Hearts against any Man though never so wicked or never so much our enemy but we must pity him and pray for him that God would give him a better mind If ever we hope to find mercy with God and have our trespasses forgiven we must forgive those that offend us as we learn from the Lord's Prayer and many most plain places of Scripture See Matth. 5. 44 c. Matth. 18. 21. to the end Rom. 12. 14. to the end We must shew meekness and gentleness to all men and never willingly say or do any thing to provoke another to anger nor should we be easily provoked but very easily appeased and reconciled It 's very sad to consider what wretched and miserable Lives many of the poorer sort lead by their continual brawling and scolding quarrelling and contending with one another and sometimes when they have scarce Money to buy Bread they 'l throw it away in vexatious Law-Suits meerly out of Spite and Revenge And the People of this Rank ought especially to beware of envying those that are in better Condition than themselves We ought to have that true kindness and good will for all Men that we should be glad of their prosperity though we our selves be in affliction as on the other hand we ought to have great compassion for those in misery though we be in prosperity And let such that are in want take heed that their Necessities put them upon no unlawful Course for their Relief Particularly beware of stealing any thing though of a small value By degrees it 's to be feared you will go on to greater matters and so may bring your selves to shame and punishment in this World as well as that to come The best way to avoid this is to be very diligent in your lawful Calling as the Apostle directs in that place before named Eph. 4. 28. If you are not able to work it 's lawful to beg But by no means betake your selves to this lazy unprofitable Life of begging if you are able to subsist by any other lawful course He that will not work when he can deserves not to eat But rather than either steal or starve you may seek for Relief from your Neighbour's Charity But do not go about to deceive him by borrowing what you know you are never like to pay for this is downright cheating Rather deal plainly and make known your Necessities If you trust in God and do your duty he will take care of you And though you may be in straits sometimes yet still you will find a supply And to prevent your poverty let me especially warn you against that common bruitish sin of Drunkenness which brings both this and many other mischiefs along with it as I have before told you Indeed it hinders every thing that 's good and leads Men into all manner both of sin and misery This Vice it is that makes more Beggars than any other cause Wherefore if you have any regard to your Families any love to Soul or Body avoid all riot and excess Eat and drink moderately as may tend to keep you best in health and make you most fit for the service of God and your own Callings And lastly beware of that filthy sin of Whoredom which very often goes along with Drunkenness and as often brings the curse of God both upon Men's Bodies and Estates And to keep you innocent avoid idleness as well as intemperance And flie from all lewd and wicked company where you are in danger of being enticed and ensnared and do not so much as allow your selves in any unclean thoughts or desires nor in filthy Discourses or in any wanton carriage and behaviour For the preventing of all wickedness in this kind God hath allowed Marriage which is said to be honourable in all but Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge Hib. 13. 4. Wherefore let them who are in that state keep strictly true to their Marriage Vow And all both Married and Single preserve both Body and Soul so chast and pure that the holy Spirit of God may now dwell in their hearts and they may be fit to dwell for ever in the presence of the most holy God And thus I have briefly given you an account wherein consists that holiness of life to which all Christians are obliged by the Precepts of our Blessed Saviour and by their Baptismal Vow which binds them to keep his Precepts and to follow his Example who himself lived in the same holy manner that he taught and hath commanded all that say they abide in him to walk as he walked 1 Joh. 2. 6. The summ of all you have in few words which the Gospel teaches even that we should deny ungodliness and all wordly lusts and live soberly righteously and piously in the World Tit. 2. 11 12. And now let me again beseech you seriously to consider whether it has been your care to live such holy and good lives yea or no. And whereinsoever your Conscience does accuse you that you have neglected the duties God has commanded or committed those sins which he hath forbidden do you humbly acknowledge and confess the same to Almighty God with true godly sorrow for the same earnestly begging Mercy and Pardon for Christs sake who dyed on the Cross for sinners and through whom all that confess and forsake their sins shall find mercy Wherefore do you henceforward resolve by his Grace that you will forsake your sins and amend your lives and make it your chief business to keep Consciences void of offence toward God and Man not allowing your selves in any known sin nor in the wilful neglect of any known Duty Do not object against this and say that it is impossible to lead such an holy Life For thousands in the World of all Ranks and Conditions have done it in all Ages by the assistance of God's Grace which you shall never want if you seek it earnestly and improve it diligently And though there may at first be some difficulty in leaving an ill course yet by degrees it will grow easie and you will then find nothing so sweet and pleasant as Religion and Vertue And do not I beseech you fancy that it is not for poor people to think of being so Religious and godly that this is only for the Rich who have
O then let his patience and all his goodness at last have this happy effect upon us let it lead us to true Repentance and ever hereafter engage us to diligence and constancy in his service Rom. 2. 4. 2 Pet. 3. 9. 2 To which purpose consider again that this was the end for which God sent his Son Jesus into the World even to seek and save us lost and miserable sinners to bring us to Repentance and newness of life that so we might be restored to the love and favour of God which we had lost by sinning against him Our first Parents Adam and Eve were created in a very holy and happy Estate but they fell from it by sinning against God and so came all misery into the World And then did our Heavenly Father take pity on us and sent his own Son out of his bosom to be our Saviour and Redeemer to reform us from our Sins and so to deliver us from misery First he will make us Holy and then we shall be made Happy For as man lost his happiness by disobeying Gods command so he must recover it by becoming obedient to his will in all things To this end hath the Lord Jesus fully revealed Gods will to us when we were in ignorance and darkness He hath given us holy precepts for the rule of our Life And made most rich and precious promises to perswade us to our duty and denounced dreadful threatnings to affright us from Wickedness And when we had deserved the Wrath of God for our sins then did Jesus Christ shed his most precious Blood to make Atonement for us and to obtain our pardon and forgiveness He dyed for our offences and rose again for our justification Rom. 4. 25. And in his Gospel he has given full assurance of Gods good will to mankind that he will be merciful to us and pardon us if we truly repent of our sins and forsake them Thus hath Christ opened a door of hope for us to encourage us to return to God For if there had been no hopes of mercy we should never have been drawn to Repentance but even like the Devils themselves should have remained full of hatred and malice against God utterly despairing of relief from him But whilst the death of Christ does so much engage and encourage us to forsake our sins it gives not the least encouragement to our continuance in them Let us not think that Christ dyed for our sins that we might have liberty to live in them and yet be saved at the last No but he came to save us from our sins not in them He makes us blessed by turning us from our iniquities He dyed to redeem us from a vain and evil Conversation to purify our Hearts and reform our Lives and make us a peculiar People zealous of good works Matt. 1. 21. Act. 3. 26. Tit. 2. 14. 1 Pet. 1. 18. The death of Christ for us vile sinners shews the infinite love of God in finding out this way for our Salvation But then it shews also what an evil thing sin is and how hateful to God since he would not pardon us without the suffering of his own dear Son on our account And therefore if the consideration of all this does not bring us to hate and abhor our sins and to love and serve our God and Saviour we are never like to have any benefit by Christs death All our professions of loving him and believing in him will stand us in no stead without obeying him True saving Faith in Christ is that which works by love both to God and our Neighbour Christ accounts none to be his friends but those that keep his Commandments and to such only will he grant pardon and Salvation Gal. 5. 6. Joh. 15. 14. Heb. 5. 9. 1 Joh. 3. 8. Since then the ever-blessed Jesus the Son of God came down from Heaven became a Man and dyed a most painful death upon the Cross that he might save us from sin and misery shall we not accept of him as our Lord and Saviour who comes to deliver us from the power of the Devil and our own Lusts to make us the Children of God and heirs of Glory which is a thousand times greater deliverance than that of the Israelites from the Aegyptian bondage Will you not be moved by all that Christ has done and suffered for you Shall not his love constrain you to love him and to hate all sin which was the cause of his sufferings Will you tread under foot his most precious Blood and even crucifie him afresh and again put him to open shame Thus in some sort do wicked men use their Saviour whilst they go on in their sins which are so displeasing to him They that lie and cozen for a little gain what do they but with Judas sell away Christ for Money They that live in hatred and malice and do mischief to their Neighbours do in effect run the Spear into Christs side and drive Nails into his hands and feet And they that give themselves to Riot and Drunkenness do even mingle Gall and Vinegar for him to drink They do all that in them lies by their sinful pleasures to put him again into Agonies and Pains But on the other hand it is a delight to our Saviour to see us humbled for our sins and resolved to forsake them He will readily and effectually interceed for us with our heavenly Father who is most willing to receive returning Prodigals There is joy in Heaven when sinners on Earth repent Even this our return to God by true repentance is the best recompence we can make to our Blessed Saviour for all his pains and sufferings When the pleasure of the Lord prospers in his hand by the conversion of sinners he then sees the travel of his Soul and is satisfied Isa. 63. 10 11. And shall we not afford this satisfaction to our Redeemer who hath undergone so much for our sakes and still out of his tender love to our Souls follows us with such earnest invitations to come to him for life and happiness Could we deny him this most reasonable request if we saw him now in person standing before us beseeching us to turn and live And this he now does by his Spirit and by his Ministers But that leads me to the next 3 Consider therefore that this also was the end for which the Holy Ghost is given and all the means of grace afforded even to sanctifie our hearts and make us an holy and obedient People God knows the weakness and corruption of our Natures and therefore in great mercy he affords the assistance of his holy Spirit to enlighten our minds and purifie our hearts to renew and change our natures and guide us in ways of holiness here that so we may be fitted for eternal happiness with the most holy God in the life to come Joh. 3. 3 5. Rom. 8. 9. And for this end were the holy Scriptures written by men assisted
follow his wholsom Counsel and desire his Prayers to God for you I know in large Parishes Ministers are not able to have a particular knowledge of every Person but yet all that know the worth of Souls and the price that was paid for them will be ready to give attendance to the meanest of their People that shall apply themselves to them for Advice and Comfort and will be glad of all opportunities to promote the Honour and Interest of their Saviour and the good of precious Souls committed to their Care And thus have I as plainly and as fully as I well could in so little room directed you in that holy way which leads to eternal Glory and have shewn you what great Reason you have to walk in that way and to continue therein to the end As to those who desire larger Directions next to the holy Scriptures which I beseeeh you to read frequently with humility and seriousness especially the New Testament next to them I shall referr you only to that pious and most useful Book The whole Duty of Man And heartily I wish that every poor Family in the Kingdom was furnished with one of those Books together with a Bible and Common Prayer Book which might all be purchased for much less than five Shillings and therefore it 's great pity they should be any where wanting Though alas I know there are many Families of poor People where none of them can read and so Books to them are useless Great Charity therefore it would be for rich Landlords and Gentlemen to see that the Children of their poor Tenants and Neighbours be put out to School and then to bestow at least Bibles upon them that the knowledge of God and Religion may be promoted amongst them which would make greatly for the good and welfare both of Church and State For though Brain-sick Opinions and false Principles may make Men proud and head-strong and troublesome to their Governours yet solid Knowledge and sincere Godliness will make Men humble and meek quiet and peaceable obedient to Magistrates and Ministers full of Charity to their Neighbours and ready to every good Work And I am sure an increase of this truly Religious Temper would be one of the greatest Blessings that can be bestow'd upon this Earth and would settle Kingdoms and Churches Towns and Families in Peace and Concord which almost every where are divided amongst themselves as well as against one another And by such blessed effects of true Religion something of Heaven would be brought down upon Earth and our Souls would be well fitted for Heaven when we are called off from this Earth into those happy Regions above where there is nothing else but Peace and Holiness and Love and Joy And may it please God to bless these plain and short Instructions for the enlightning of any minds with that Wisdom from above which is thus pure and peaceable then shall I obtain my Design and have great cause to be thankful And that the Reader may joyn with me in these Wishes I have annexed hereto a Prayer for Grace to lead an Holy Life And if he will but add diligent endeavours to frequent and servent Prayers neither his Labour nor mine will be in vain through the Grace and Blessing of Almighty God from whom comes every good and perfect Gift to whom be given all Honour and Glory both now and for ever Amen A PRAYER Chiefly for the assistance of God's grace in order to the leading an Holy Life O Most holy and ever blessed Lord God I do humbly cast down my self before thee acknowledging and lamenting my own sinfulness and earnestly begging thy grace and mercy through the Lord Jesus our only Mediatour and Advocate I confess O God I am a vile sinner polluted from the very Womb but since I came to the use of my Reason I have defiled my self with many wilful and hainous transgressions I have sadly neglected thy Service and dishonoured thy Name and have been greatly wanting in those Duties which I owe to thee my God to my Neighbour and to my own Soul and have not lived in such a godly righteous charitable and sober manner as I ought to have done But have often acted contrary to my own Reason and Conscience and to the plain Precepts of thy Word and contrary to my own Promises and Vows for better Obedience O Lord give me a clear sight of my sins and such a deep sense of the evil of my ways that my Heart may be truly humbled and broken in the remembrance thereof And for the Lord Jesus sake who died for Sinners be merciful to me O Father of Mercies pardon all my Iniquities and let them not be remembred against me to my Condemnation either in this World or that to come Nor is it only Pardon that I beg but most earnestly I beseech thee by thy Holy Spirit to sanctifie me both in Body and Soul that being made pure and holy on Heart and Life I may serve thee diligently all my days on Earth and so may enjoy thee for ever in Heaven I am fully convinced that it is both my duty and my happiness to fear and serve thee the great and glorious God who hast made me and redeemed me and hitherto graciously preserved me I acknowledge thy Service to be perfect freedom and all thy Laws to be holy just and good Wherefore I desire utterly to renounce and forsake every evil way and most entirely devote my self to serve and please thee in newness of Life But thou O Lord knowest the weakness and corruption of my Nature and how by evil customs I have made my self more prone to sin more backward to that which is good O do thou throughly change my Nature by thy Grace that I may hate and abhor all wickedness and take delight in the ways of Piety and Holiness Let no unmortified just remain in my Soul but do thou purifie and cleanse me from Pride and Covetousness from Envy and Malice and from all impure and sensual affections and desires and enrich me with all the Graces of thy holy Spirit Give me such a clear knowledge of thy infinite goodness and of all thy glorious perfections that I may ever humbly admire and adore thee and love thee with all my Heart and Soul and cleave to thee as my only portion preferring thy favour before all the enjoyments of this World Help me always firmly to trust in thee and freely to leave all my Affairs to thy wise and gracious Providence absolutely resigning my Will to thy holy Will in all things Make me truly thankful for all thy mercies and patient under afflictions By thy teaching let me learn to be content in all Estates and Conditions And good God suffer me not in the greatest difficulties and dangers to distrust thy mercies or take any unlawful course for my Relief I beg from thee my daily Bread and beseech thee to give me an Heart well satisfied with what thou seest
to see how you would perform the same Take heed then of abusing his mercy and breaking your promise Moreover I might shew how your professing to believe the Creed engages you to live well according to the holy faith you profess which is a doctrine according to godliness But lastly the very prayers you put up to God lay the same engagement on you even to serve and please this God whom you Worship To instance briefly in the Lords prayer whilst we call God Our Father c. ought we not to love and honour him to obey him and submit to him as our heavenly Father Whilst we pray that his name may be hallowed his Kingdom come and his will done in Earth as it is in Heaven ought we not our selves to honour his name and advance his Kingdom by obeying his Laws and by doing his will constantly and chearfully as the Angels do in Heaven to the utmost of our power Praying for daily Bread teaches our dependance upon God and engages us to serve him by whom we are maintained When we pray God to forgive our Trespasses as we forgive others this strictly binds us to forgive those that offend us as ever we hope for mercy from God And when we pray not to be led into temptation but delivered from Evil this should restrain us from running into temptation and make us careful to avoid all sin and the occasions of it To the same purpose I might also mention the Prayers of the Church to which I hope you come frequently Therein you begin with the Confession of your sins and ought you not to forsake as well as confess them And in the end of the confession you pray God for Christs sake to grant that you may lead godly righteous and sober lives And almost in every prayer you will find somewhat to this effect Now I hope you are in good earnest in these your prayers else you do mock God and affront him instead of worshipping and pleasing him But if you do heartily desire these things which you pray for then you will do your part for the attainment of them and will diligently endeavour to live in so holy and good a manner as you pray that you may do And if you thus add diligence to your prayers Gods grace will never be wanting for your assistance 5. Consider also how just and equal all Gods commandments are such that our own Reason cannot but approve of them as being most agreeable to us as we are Reasonable Creatures To instance in the chief of them is it not most just and fit that we should love God above all who is the best and most perfect of all Beings and from whom we receive all our good things Ought we not to pray to him who alone can hear and help us and to give thanks and praise to him who is the Father of mercies Is it not most reasonable that Children should obey their Parents and Subjects their Rulers and that all men should live in peace and love with one another and speak truly and deal honestly as they would be dealt with Is it not most fit and decent for a Man to eat and drink moderately so as makes most for his health To be modest and chast in all his conversation Will not every Man 's own Reason acknowledge the equity and fitness of these and the like precepts And for some that do seem more severe there may be given very good reason for them also So that plainly all Gods commands are the wise and wholesome counsels of a most tender Father who forbids his Children nothing but what 's hurtful and requires nothing of them but what makes for their own good even to deal iustly to love mercy and to walk humbly with their God Mic. 6. 8. Christs Yoke is easie and his burden light Matt. 11. 30. Gods service is perfect freedom as we daily stile it in our prayers And his commandments are not grievous 1 Joh. 5. 3. Shall we not then be so dutiful to our heavenly Father yea so wise for our own good as to obey these most reasonable and gracious laws which he has given us So just and equal they are that we cannot break them without offering a kind of violence to our selves and going contrary to the reason of our own mind They are light to the eyes and joy to the heart sweeter to a good Man than honey and the honey-comb as the Psalmist oft speaks As suitable are Gods commands to our natures and as useful and healthful to our Souls as the most wholesome food to our Bodies And for a Man to direct his whole carriage and behaviour according to the laws of God is as much his wisdom as it is to go cloathed in decent Apparel and to eat and drink what is good for his nourishment But on the other hand for one to run naked about the Streets to fill his mouth with mire and Dirt to cut and mangle his own Flesh is not a greater sign of folly and madness than for a Man to live according to his own lusts rather than after the laws of God which are so agreeable to our Reason and do so plainly conduce to our own truest interest and advantage both in this Life and that to come as will appear by what follows 6. Consider therefore in the next place that it is a most certain truth That the leading of an holy and good Life is in all respects very greatly for a Man 's own benefit and comfort even in this present World Godliness is profitable for all things It makes for the quiet of our Minds the health of our Bodies the encrease of our Estates and procures us much credit and esteem much love and good will among our Neighbours Yea it commonly brings along with it all manner of Blessings and makes the enâ—oyment of them more sweet and pleasant and keeps off a great deal of trouble which wicked men bring upon themselves and affords much support and ease under those afflictions which the providence of God may lay upon us Insomuch that no Man of what rank and condiâ—ion soever can lead a truly comfortable Life except he lead an holy and good life All this is frequently taught in Scripture and may easily be manifested by clear Reason Or if that be not sufficient it is also most plainly to be 〈◊〉 by daily experience that they who truly fear God have much more peace and comfort in this World than wicked and loose livers that make no Conscience of their Ways If I should make the comparison only betwixt a sober Man and a Drunkard which do you think has the better of it in this Life How often do the great drinkers not only waste their Estates but destroy their Health weaken their Brains and shorten their Lives How often do they fall into quarrels get wounds and bruises and sometimes death it self either by fighting or by one sad accident or other Sometimes the very Children in
was not in vain And to this day will all God's faithful servants find the good effects of thus devoutly applying themselves to God by Prayer For his eyes are ever upon the Righteous and his ear open to their cry He takes pity on them comforts and supports them He 'l lay no more upon them than he enables them to bear and in his good time he supplies their wants and delivers them from their afflictions yea he turns them into blessings and makes all work together for their good as he has promised to them that love him Rom. 8. 28. O what an happiness is it to be acquainted with God to have a due sense of his Providence so as to live upon it and improve it Job 22 21. But how sad is the condition of a wicked Man who has no such knowledge of God no love to him nor any expectations of help and relief from him Even in his greatest prosperity he 's a very miserable Man whilst he lives without God in the World but he feels himself to be so indeed when he falls into any great calamity and knows not which way to turn himself for help and comfort For as wickedness still brings Men into misery as I have before shewn so there it leaves them in the most wretched forlorn condition And the ill temper of their minds adds weight and load to their calamities and grievously encreases the smart of them The sense of their own guilt sometimes torments their Consciences and fills them with fear and horrour Sometimes they rage and fret against those that help'd on their sufferings and sometimes they even blaspheme God himself and murmur against his Providence Whilst the good Man with Job blesses God in all his afflictions these are ready to follow the counsel of his Wife even to curse God and die For being full of anguish and despair they are at their wits end and weary of their very lives as we read of Cain and Judas and such like both in Scripture and other History For my part I do verily think that next to the Devils and those in Hell there are no Creatures in the World more miserable than wicked ungodly People and whilst we see what the common fruit of Sin is here on Earth we may easily be convinced that it leads to Hell and damnation hereafter And all this do men madly and wilfully run into by their own evil doings even as a Man that thrusts his hands into the fire is like to feel pain and smart By forsaking of God they forsake their own mercies and by sinning against him they wrong their own Souls yea their Bodies too and all their Concerns Thus you see that an holy Life is most profitable for us even in this present World preventing much evil and bringing all manner of good along with it Or if a Man should fall into such hard times as to suffer meerly for Religion and a good Conscience he shall then commonly find such wonderful comfort and satisfaction of mind that he will even triumph and rejoyce in the midst of his sufferings as we know the Apostles and primitive Christians did and that especially in hope of the glorious Rewards laid up for good Men in the Heavens But that brings me to the last Consideration I shall mention Lastly Namely That an Holy Life through the rich mercy of God will render us perfectly and eternally blessed in the World to come whereas a wicked course of Life leads to eternal misery and torment According as we live in this World so must we fare in the next for this Life is a state of trial in order to Eternity Even at Death a good Man has ground of much comfort having the testimony of a good Conscience and the sense of God's love so that with Saint Stephen he may commit his Soul into the hands of the Lord Jesus who is ready to receive him But how sad is it with a wicked Man when beside all the pains of his body his mind is tormented with the remembrance of his sins and with the fears of God's wrath But the great difference will be made at the day of Judgment when the sheep shall be set at Christ's right hand and the goats on the left as you have it described Matth. 25. 31 c. To those on the right hand that is the pious and good will be pronounced that joyful Sentence Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World And then shall they enter into that most glorious Kingdom where neither sin nor sorrow shall ever disturb them more where they shall never feel nor fear any manner of evil or pain either of Soul or Body but shall be admitted into the immediate presence of God where there is all fulness of joy for evermore They shall have such a clear knowledge of the ever-blessed God and such a lively sense of his infinite Perfections as will fill them with Admiration Love and Praise and they shall feel the love of God and their Saviour so fully shed abroad upon them as shall raise their Hearts to the very utmost heights of joy and thankfulness and their mouths shall be filled with Hallelujahs and Songs of Praise and in this most delightful Employment shall they joyn with all the blessed company of Heaven for ever and ever That 's the perfection of all that the joys of Heaven shall never have an end It 's both a most exceeding and an eternal weight of glory that 's promised 2 Cor. 4. 17 18. For ever shall we remain with the Lord 1 Thes. 4. 17. The eternal God will be the portion of his people and their joy in him shall never be lessened or abated through all eternity They shall be always blessing and praising him always satisfied and ravished with the beholding of his Glories and the enjoyment of his love always delighted with the most pleasant and agreeable society of Angels and Saints And never more shall dear friends and companions be separated from each other when once they are met in Heaven Death has now no power over them They are become in some measure even like to Christ himself and there shall see him as he is in all his glory Phil. 3. 21. 1 Joh. 3. 2. But what it is thus to be made like to Christ to see God and enioy him we are not able fully to express or conceive whilst we are here in the body to compare the glories of Heaven to all the riches and honour of Courts and Pallaces here below were greatly to lessen and disparage them So great are those heavenly glories and joys that they can never be clearly known till they are enjoy'd As a blind Man can never well tell what light is till his Eyes are open to discern it It 's enough for us that we have full assurance from the promises of the Gospel that such a state of unspeakable happiness there is provided for good
are entirely fixed upon the ever-blessed God as our chiefest good and only satisfying Portion And let us earnestly seek his favour through the Lord Jesus the Mediatour who came into the World on purpose to bring us into a state of Friendship with God that we might love him and be loved of him and live with him for ever in love and joy But alway remember that obedience to God is the only sure evidence of true saving Love He that loves God will hate and abhor sin and wickedness Let the Son pretend what love and honour he will to his Father he does not truly love him except he use all due care to please him And if you do thus sincerely love God as your Father then may you always comfortably trust in him and depend upon him which is another great Duty and brings great peace and quiet to our minds Isa. 26. 3 4. Whilst you live in obedience ro God's commands you have a sure interest in his Promises and may safely rely upon his good Providence for the performance of them Wherefore whatever your wants your dangers or sufferings are do not distrust the Providence of God but wait patiently and do your own duty and be assured God in his good time will succour and relieve you he will direct comfort and strengthen you Let all the experience you have hitherto had of his loving-kindness engage you to trust in him as long as you live And take great care that you never murmur nor repine against God under any affliction whatever when you meet with the heaviest crosses and disappointments or lose your dearest Relations and Friends say with holy Job The Lord gives and the Lord takes away blessed be the Name of the Lord. Beseech God to teach you that excellent Lesson of Contentment in all Estates Phil. 4. 11 12 13. Though you may be low and poor in the World yet consider you have always cause to be thankful but never any reason to complain God knows what condition is best for us and let us leave it to him to chuse what we shall have We that deserve nothing but wrath and misery ought to acknowledg the great goodness of God that we are on this side Hell It is if the Lord's mercies that we are not utterly consumed and that we do enjoy any measure of comfort Think how poor the Lord Jesus was for our sakes who had not where to lay his Head and was ministred to by the substance of others and in the same mean Condition did the holy Apostles live Your low Condition frees you from a great many snares and temptations and from a great many cares and sorrows that rich People meet with If you but truly love God and have a treasure in Heaven you are very rich though you have neither Gold nor Silver Fear not but God will give you and yours Food and Raiment and having that let us be content and thankful Yea let us put the very worst that we should starve to Death for want of Bread which not one of a thousand does in times of Peace and Plenty yet if our Souls be fit for Heaven and carried thither we shall have no cause to complain of the manner of our Death I have heen a little the larger upon this for the sake of poor People who are too apt to be discontent and to murmur at their Condition though alas they commonly bring themselves into it or make it much worse by their own careless and loose lives as was before mention'd And yet before I proceed to the Duty you owe to your Neighbour let me in a few words direct you as to the Worship of God in Prayers and Praises This is a duty most frequently enjoyn'd in Scripture and practised by all good Men and the very Light of Nature may direct us to it We have daily need of God's mercy and do daily taste of it and therefore are we taught to pray continually and in everything to give thanks To God alone must we offer up our Prayers and Praises in the Name of Jesus Christ as he himself teacheth us Matt. 4. 10. Joh. 16. 23. We must not pray to Angels or Saints nor make use of them as our Mediatours for this is the peculiar Office of Christ who died for us and is now interceeding at the right hand of God 1 Tim. 2. 5. Heb. 7. 25. Wherefore we mean sinful Creatures must always come to God in the Name of Christ and for his sake alone hope for the favour of God the pardon of our Sins the acceptance of our Persons and Services and the Salvation of our Souls And our Saviour teacheth us to worship God in a pure and Spiritual manner with our Hearts and Souls because he is a Spirit and searches the hearts of Men Joh 4. 23. Wherefore by no means may we make any Image or Picture of God nor may we give Religious Worship to an Image which is directly contrary to the second Commandment Neither may we frame in our minds any bodily shape or likeness of God when we pray to him but must conceive of him as a most pure and glorious Spirit most powerful and wise and good who fills the whole World with his Presence and is always near to us though not to be seen with bodily Eyes and hears our Prayers and knows our wants and is both able and willing to help us Our Saviour hath commanded us to pray in private when we are alone Matth. 6. 6. And there he taught his Disciples how to pray and hath given us that most excellent Form which we call the Lord's Prayer Our Father which art in Heaven c. which by the way may assure us that Forms of Prayer are very lawful And the Lords Prayer may both serve for a Pattern to direct us in all our Prayers and also is it self most fit to be used and joyned to our other Prayers But it is not proper to use the Belief and the ten Commandments for Prayers as the manner is of poor ignorant People though we ought often to think of them or rehearse them for the quickning of our Faith and the guiding of our Lives Upon all occasions in all our troubles and distresses let us be much in Prayer to God and still seek to him for mercy and comfort who is always nigh to them that call upon him in truth and sincerity Would the poor Man seek as earnestly to God for relief as he does to his rich Neighbour he would find it the surest course to have his wants supplied And let us also frequently be lifting up our Hearts to God in Thanksgiving and Praise for all his mercies and favours which he bestows upon us Thus may even the poorest Man have his mind often employ'd when he is at his Work in the Shop or in the Field or when he is walking in the way or sailing on the Seas which would not hinder but further his Labours and make them more easie and
pleasant But be sure to set some time apart every day for solemn Prayer Very fit it is to begin the day with Prayer to God as soon as we rise out of Bed blessing his Name for our preservation and quiet rest begging his gracious Presence with us all the day that we may be kept from all evil especially from sin the worst of all And at the Evening let this be our last work before we lie down to sleep humbly to commit our selves to God by Prayer Psal. 92. 1 2. Exceeding useful it is for those who have Families to joyn together Morning and Evening in Prayer to God and in reading some part of his holy Word for which purpose there are many good Books of Devotion and though they have none of them yet they may use such of the Prayers of the Church as are proper for their purpose which are to be found in the Morning and Evening Service and in other places Before you sit down to Meat beg Gods blessing upon it and afterward return thanks for it But beside our Devotions in the Family or Closet our great Duty is to worship God in the publick Assemblies of his People which by no means we ought to forsake Heb. 10. 25. Suffer not your selves therefore by any Pretences whatever to be drawn away either by Papists or Sectaries from the publick Worship of God as it is now by Law established in the Church of England But see that you duly resort to your Parish Churches and that not only on Holy-days but on the Week-days when you have opportunity and leisure More especially see that you constantly frequent the Church on the Lord's Day if not hindered by sickness or some other very great and urgent Cause Let not that Excuse keep you from Church which would not keep you from the Market Bring as many of your Family along with you as can possibly be spared Come to the very beginning of Service and stay quietly till the end of it not running away before the Blessing as many careless People rudely do as if they were glad to get away as from a Prison Behave your selves with all due reverence both of body and mind considering the Majesty of that God in whose presence you stand before whom the very Angels vail their faces Always kneel at your Prayers if there be convenience or stand at least Psal. 95. 6. Above all look well to the temper of your Soul and keep up an awful sence of the great God to whom you are praying and mind well what is said as you go along with the Prayers and offer up your desires to God otherwise though you may speak much you do not pray at all Avoid all vain and wandring thoughts as much as possible When you joyn in the Confession of Sins think of your own particular faults and be deeply humbled for them and be unfeignedly thankful for all God's mercies whilst you are praising his Name and earnestly long after that Grace you pray for Attend with care and reverence to God's Word when it 's read from the Desk and also to the preaching and explaining of it from the Pulpit that you may both be diligent hearers and faithful doers of the Word Neglect not the Church in the Afternoon though you should live where there is no Sermon Catechising may be as useful to you and this ought to be in all places And besides that you will hear the holy Scriptures read and have the benefit of the publick Prayers When you come from Church spend not the remainder of the day in sports and idleness much less in drinking and gaming as too many do but if you have a Family let some time be spent with them in praying in reading God's Word and some good Book and let Children and Servants be instructed in their Catechism Examine them about what they have heard that so it may make them more attentive and do you meditate on the same that it may sink into your Heart Works of mercy and necessity may be done on the Lord's Day but by no means allow your selves in any needless Labours nor in travelling upon the Road or wandring about to make idle Visits God allows us six days in the Week for our own Employments let us devote the Lord's Day to his service readily and cheerfully When the Sacrament of Baptism is administred do you attend to it Remember your own Engagement by having received it in your Infancy and resolve to live answerably thereto Joyn in Prayer for God's blessing on the Children then received into the Church And when you bring your own Children to be baptized see that you do most sincerely give them up to God and devote them to his Service with firm Resolutions to bring them up in his fear if God spare your Lives and theirs and earnestly pray for his Grace to be given in to their Souls And those to whom you stand as Sureties you ought to do your utmost toward their good Education in the knowledge of God and Religion according to the Charge given you especially if the Parents die or prove negligent And pray beware of a very wicked practice which is common in some places that after a Child is baptized the Neighbours that are invited spend the rest of the day in Riot and Drunkenness forgetting that even now they renounced the lusts of the Flesh those who stood at the Font and all the rest are under the same obligation Whenever you are invited by your Minister to the holy Communion do not willingly neglect the Invitation but come with a thankful Heart to keep up the remembrance of Christ's love in dying for sinners according to his express Command Luk. 22. 19. Take care to prepare your selves by true repentance for all your former sins and stedfast purposes by God's grace throughly to forsake the same See that you be in perfect Charity with all Men freely forgiving those who have offended you and offering satisfaction to those whom you have offended If after this they will not be reconciled that 's not your fault but theirs and therefore may not keep you from the Sacrament Stay not away out of a Pretence that you want time to prepare your self For a constant holy Life is the best Preparation If you are fit for Prayers you are fit for the Communion Do not think that the Communion is only for rich People The Souls of the poor are as precious as the rich and as much concerned in Christ's death and they have as much cause to remember it and seek after the benefits of it If you have not Money to offer at the Collection see that you offer up your selves to God and that will be of more value Complain not that you want Clothes and therefore you absent both from the Church and Communion but see that you come in the Wedding Garment required in the Gospel with humble penitent thankful Hearts and then you will be welcome Guests at Christ's Table For
most convenient for me Give me such a Spirit of Piety and Devotion that I may take great delight in thy Worship and Service both in publick and private Fill me with such love to my Blessed Saviour and with such thankfulness for his love in dying for Sinners that I may go with more delight to the Holy Communion for the good of my Soul than to the richest Feast that is made for my Body Help me O God to shew my love to thy blessed Self by true love and charity to my Neighbours Make me tractable and obedient to my Governours both in Church and State peaceable and gentle toward all Men dealing with them so justly and truly as I my self desire to be dealt with Make me tender and compassionate and ready to do all the good I can to others and let thy Grace enable me freely to forgive those that do evil to me as I my self hope for mercy and forgiveness from thee my God And help me always to live soberly and temperately purely and chastly in Heart and Life and with great meekness and humility in the sense of my own unworthiness and manifold imperfections O Lord grant that my Heart may be fill'd with earnest longings and desires after those Graces which now with my lips I pray for and help me to shew my sincerity by diligent endeavours daily to grow in all Grace and goodness and to perfect Holiness in thy Fear Make me watchful over my self and all my ways that I may carefully avoid all occasions of sin and may check the first motions thereto in my own Heart Keep me always deeply sensible of thy Presence that I may walk humbly with thee my God and approve my self to thee in well-doing Wean my Heart from all things here below and prepare me for my departure hence into a better World Help me always to live in such a religious and holy manner as will be most for my comfort at Death and Judgment Strengthen my Belief of the precious Promises and dreadful Threatnings of the Gospel and let this Belief rule and govern me in my whole Conversation O that I may never be guilty of so much folly and madness as to lose the eternal and unspeakable joys of Heaven and throw my self into the eternal torments of Hell for any of the profits or pleasures of sin that are but for a moment Do thou O Lord by thy holy Spirit ever keep upon my mind such a fresh and lively sense of the reasonableness of Religion and of the mischief and folly of all sin and wickedness that no temptations of Satan no allurements of the World or the Flesh may hinder me from my Duty nor draw me into any known sin but do thou ever strengthen and assist me by thy Grace and guide me by thy Counsel till thou shalt bring me to thy self in Glory Neither do I pray for my self alone but for all Mankind beseeching thee to send the Light of thy Gospel into all the dark Corners of the Earth and grant that they who do enjoy it may walk in all holy obedience thereto Be merciful to these Kingdoms pardon our sins and reform us from them Heal all our divisions continue our mercies and make us truly thankful for them Bless the King's Majesty with the Royal Family and all those that are in authority under him and grant to me and all his Subjects grace to lead quiet and peaceable Lives in all godliness and honesty Bless the Ministers of thy holy Word and Sacraments and make them very diligent and very successful in their Endeavours Help us to bring forth such Fruit from the Blessings we enjoy that thy Gospel and the Ordinances thereof may be continued to us and to the Generations after us Shew mercy to all that are afflicted whether in Soul or Body and preserve those that travel on their lawful Occasions by Land or by Sea Bless all my Friends and Relations particularly all that belong to this Family and help us all to live in the fear and love of thee our God and in peace and charity one with another Let thy blessing and good presence be with me thy unworthy Servant now and at all times at my down-lying and up-rising in my going out and coming in be thou my God and my guide even to the death and my eternal portion when time shall be no more And accept O God of my unfeigned desires to bless and raise thy glorious Name for all thy Mercies and Favours to my self and to all Men. I bless thee for my Reason and Senses my Health and Strength Food and Raiment and all the Comforts of this Life but above all I praise thee for thine inestimable love in the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ for all the means of Grace and for the hope of Glory And I beseech thee give me that due sense of all thy Mercies that my Heart may be unfeignedly thankful and that I may shew forth thy praise not only with my lips but in my life by giving up my self to thy service and by walking before thee in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of my Life through Jesus Christ our Lord in whose most holy Name and Words I continue to pray as he hath taught us in his Gospel saying Our Father which art in Heaven c. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with me now and evermore Amen FINIS