acknowledge it is only his unwillingness to comply with the rules of a good life which makes him pretend to stumble at disputes 3. It is to be considered that even those who differ and dispute in several points agree notwithstanding in this that it is the wisest and safest course to come to a resolution in Religion forasmuch as particular disputes about it prove undeniably this in the general that by confession of all Parties there is great moment in it because there could be no reason why either the one side or the other should trouble themselves and raise such heats about it but that both are satisfied of the great consequence of the subject of the question and the consideration of that is it which makes them be so nice curious and critical about the very punctilioes of it But Fourthly and lastly It is especially to be considered that he that stands neutral and holds off from all Religion upon pretence of the danger of mistake upon account of the great variety of perswasions runs into the most fatal mistake of all and is of all men in the most desperate condition for whatsoever becomes of other men under a mistaken zeal or a false opinion he is certainly a lost man who hath no Zeal or Religion at all For though it be certain all perswasions cannot be right and therefore some must miscarry yet so long as there is a real foundation for Religion in general as we have seen it is evident the Sceptist cannot be saved whoever be damned who entertains no perswasion at all Therefore as it is better uncertainly to erre than certainly to perish so it must needs be a wiser course to determine our selves someway notwithstanding the disputes than gravely to doubt our selves into Hell by a phantastical neutrality But then secondly as it is a very dangerous and absurd resolution to be of no Religion for fear we should mistake the right it is not much better on the other side to be such Latitudinarians as to think it indifferent what Religion a man be of so long as he is zealous and devout in his way unless we could be assured that the broad way was the way to Heaven which is most certainly false I confess it is a very bad Religion indeed which is not better than none at all as the faintest hopes are better than utter desperation And it is undoubtedly true that without fervour and devotion in the prosecution of a mans perswasion no Religion be it never so good and Orthodox will signify any thing It is true also that a man of a devout temper hath the ground of Piety and a foundation for good institution to work upon yet notwithstanding Religion speaks something more than to be in earnest and Piety requires more than a good intention For unless that honest temper be cultivated and improved it will bring forth nothing but wild fruit that zeal must be governed and conducted by good principles or it will betray a man to presumption to superstition and to a thousand irregularities We are set to run a race towards Heaven but in that case it is not only speed but the keeping the exact course withal that intitles to the reward He that runs wrong the more hast he makes the worse is his speed for he hath the more to undo again Nor is this any reflection upon the Divine Majesty who is infinitely good and consequently very pitiful to the well-meant errors of Mankind for it must be considered that he is wise and great and just also not so soft and fond as to be pleased with whatsoever is well meant towards him or to be contented with whatever men phansy No he hath a mind and will of his own and requires and expects those be complied withal by such as he rewards with Eternal Life Therefore the Question which we are now upon is very serious and necessary viz. how amidst such variety of perswasions or forms of Religion as are in the World a man may make a right choice and know which of them in particular he ought to determine himself upon But the assoiling of it cannot be difficult forasmuch as if God will be served in his own way it is evident that he must have taken some course or other for the discovery and interpreting of his mind and will to the Sons of men to the intent that they may have a rule to govern their devotions by Now it is plain beyond dispute that there are three and but three things which can with any colour of probability pretend to give us aim in this Case viz. natural light the Spirit or the holy Scriptures and therefore all the difficulty comes to this point which of these three we are to follow and govern our selves by As for the first of the three namely the light of nature or natural reason it is true that this is able in some measure to discover to us that there is a God and to assure us also of some of his Attributes and perfections so as to lay a general foundation of Religion as we have briefly shewed already but it can neither discover all the divine perfections because he is infinite and beyond our comprehension nor much less penetrate the depths of his counsels or the secrets of his will and pleasure because as we also noted before he is a free Agent and hath no necessary measures but freely chuses as it pleases him And therefore as no man knows the mind of a man but the spirit of a man which is in him so much less can any man know the mind of God till he be pleased to reveal it Now the design of Religion being to please and propitiate the divine Majesty to us it is impossible any man should pretend to know what will fully do that by natural reason Consequently not only the old Philosophers but the modern Theists and that Sect of men called Quakers who pretend to attain happiness by the natural notions of God or the light within them must miserably be bewildered whilest they follow so imperfect and uncertain a Guide As for the second namely a private Spirit there is no doubt but that the divine majesty could if he had pleased have conducted men by immediate Revelation and as it were led them by his own immediate hand from time to time dictating his own will to their minds and there is as little reason to question but that sometimes in extraordinary Cases he hath done so in former times but that this should be his ordinary and standing course is not reasonable to think not only because we cannot now observe that the best of men either have experience of or so much as pretend to any such thing but because in the first place it is evident that such immediate Revelation could be of no further use than to that particular person to whom it was made in regard it would be like the white stone Rev. 2. 17. which no man knows what is
is not so to be understood as if the obligations of Religion extended no further than to acts of worship or address to God for it is as much our duty to manage our selves well towards others for Gods sake as towards him for his own sake And therefore as hath been intimated heretofore true Piety in its just dimensions comprizes no less than a worthy discharge of our selves in all those relations Divine Providence hath placed us in Now next to our obligations to our Creator and Preserver and next to our concern for the better part of our selves our own Souls a man stands related to his Family so nearly that he is wanting in both the former that is negligent of this Almighty Wisdom and Goodness pronounced it not fit for man to be alone and therefore the first provision he made against the uncomfortable state of solitude was to enter him into the Society of a Family partly that in so near a station they might mutually relieve and help one another in difficulties entertain one another by Discourse and improve one anothers reason partly that in this Conjunction they might fortify one anothers Spirits against all ill accidents or the enterprizes of wicked and malicious Spirits more powerful than themselves but principally that they might mutually provoke and inflame one anothers hearts to admiration love and reverence of their great Creator And this end is so great and the injunction of it so strict that every man in this Society stands charged with the Soul of another and is accountable for it at least so far that he cannot be excusable that doth not indeavour to bring those with whom he so intimately converses and upon whom he hath so many opportunities to a sense and regard of God and Religion And this especially concerns those that are heads of Families forasmuch as by virtue of their place they have always been accounted not only Kings and Governours but also Prophets and Priests within their peculiar sphere and province Accordingly we find it to have been the constant care and practice of all good men in all Ages to train up those of their Families in the knowledge of the true God and the exercises of true Religion particularly God himself testifies of Abraham Gen. 18 19. that he knew he would command his children and his houshold after him that they keep the way of the Lord c. And Job 1. 5. we find it to have been the continual care of that holy man to sanctify his Children and Family and daily to intercede with God for them by Sacrifice Deut. 6. 6. it is an express injunction upon the Children of Israel that they not only keep the laws of God in their own hearts but that they should teach them diligently to their Children and talk of them when they sate in their houses and when they walked by the way c. that is that they should convey and imprint a sense of God and his Religion upon the minds of those they familiarly conversed with And so great is the authority and influence of Governours of Families and so powerful is good example in this particular that Josh 24. 15. Joshua undertakes for his Family that they should serve the Lord whether other people would do so or no. David often declares his zeal for the maintenance of Religion in his Family so far that he resolves those persons should be excluded his House that made no Conscience of God and most remarkably 1 Chr. 28. 9. he gives this solemn charge to his Son Solomon Thou Solomon my Son know thou the God of thy Father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind for the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imagination of the thoughts if thou seek him he will be found of thee but if thou forsake him he will cast thee off for ever And for the times of the New Testament there is abundant evidence that it was the constant practice of all those who had a sense of Religion in their hearts to set it up in their Families also of which the testimonies are so many and so ready at hand that it is needless here to recite them and the success was commonly answerable to the indeavour from whence it comes to pass that Acts 10. 2. it is said of Cornelius that he was not only a devout man and prayed to God always but that he feared the Lord with all his house i. e. his Example Prayers and instruction prevailed upon all those that were under the influence of them to bring them to at least a profession of piety also upon which account it is further observable that generally when any Governour of a Family imbraced the Christian Faith and was converted to that Religion it is said that such an one believed and all his house or he and all his house were baptized namely because truly good men did not fail by their example and endeavours to bring those over to the same Religion which themselves were heartily perswaded of and accordingly we see it often come to pass in these times wherein we live that several persons very heartily bless God that his providence disposed them into such or such pious Families wherein the foundation of their eternal happiness hath been laid by the means of the instructive and exemplary devotion which they have there been under the advantages of upon consideration of all which reasons examples and incouragements and several others which might with great ease have been added let no good Christian be of so monastick a spirit as to extend his care no farther than his own Cell and to think he hath acquitted himself well enough when he hath discharged the offices of his Closet and hath kept Religion glowing in his own heart but think it his duty to take care that his light shine quite through his House and that his zeal warm all his Family In order to which we will here consider these three things First Of the several members which usually a Family consists of and which are concern'd in its discipline Secondly The several duties of piety which especially become and concern a Family And thirdly By what means the members of a Family may be brought to comply with all those duties 1. First The ordinary relations of a Family especially as it signifies those which dwell or converse together under the same roof are Husband and Wife Parent and Children Master and Servant Friend and Friend and all these I take to be comprized in those several passages of the Acts of the Apostles where it is said that such a man and all his house were converted or baptized for there are great interests of Religion which intercede between every of these as for the relation of Husband and Wife as it is the nearest and strictest that can be so consequently it is of mighty importance to their mutual comfort and a wonderful indearment of affections when both the relatives are animated with
tells us there is a time for every thing so let every man who would promote Religion in his Family appoint set hours for Prayer and all the offices of Devotion and then it will neither be difficult to obtain the constant observance of them nor so ordinary to perform them carelesly and formally 6. Sixthly and lastly It will be the wisdom of every Master of a Family who would bring those which are under his care and tuition to an uniformity in Religion and the worship of God and to seriousness and heartiness therein that he express all tender affection to them and regard of them when any of them happen to be sick or under any adversity and by that means make to himself an opportunity of obliging them to take his counsel and follow his direction in all other cases We use to say he that will gain an interest in any man so that he may be useful to him or compliant with him in his prosperity must lay the foundation of his Friendship in that mans adversity For no man knows who are his Friends till he hath occasion to make experiment of them which cannot be done but in adversity for every man is a Friend to him that hath no need to him but he that like the good Samaritan deserts us not in our greatest difficulties him we have just grounds to value and confide in Now above all kindnesses men are most sensible of those which are done to their Bodies and they commonly take the measures of all Friendship and sincerity from thence and therefore he that will win upon the minds of men must first oblige them in their bodily interests Besides as we observe that all inferiour Creatures are most tractable and docible at such times as wherein they are lowest and can least help themselves so mankind is most disposed to take advice and most obedient to counsel when he is at a non-plus in his affairs and especially when the vanities of this World which dazled his Eyes before begin to vanish and there seems to be but one way left with him that is to prepare for another life he will then freely admit of Discourse of the other World and be glad to comply with all serious advice in order thereunto These seasons of adversity therefore are by no means to be let slip by him who is tender of the Souls of those who are under his charge To which add that forasmuch as it is the constant method of all the Zealots and Emissaries of false Religions to insinuate themselves into sick and calamitous persons to the end that by such an opportunity they may gain Disciples to their party and they too frequently find this subtilty successful the consideration hereof ought to awaken the diligence and incourage the hopes and indeavours of all those that sincerely desire to save their own Souls and those that are imbarqued with them to apprehend and improve such opportunities to better purposes especially seeing that in such seasons men are as capable of good principles as of bad if there be not as much shameful and supine carelessness on the one side as there is commonly vigilance and application on the other And so much for Family-Piety CHAP. VI. Of publick Piety and particularly of governing a mans self in relation to the Church and publick assembly of Christians AS it is certain we were not born for our selves so neither is it a sufficient discharge of our duty that we be useful in our private Family or amongst our Kindred and Relations only but that we express a zeal of Gods glory and the good of Mankind answerable to the full extent of our capacity and let our light so shine out before men that we may provoke as many as are within our reach to glorify our Father which is in Heaven Now every private man is in some measure concerned in the Neighbourhood and Parish wherein he dwells and whereto he belongs and therefore should so far at least dispense the influence of his zeal for God and Religion for Almighty God who hath appointed the bounds of mens habitation having thus setled every man in his station expects that he should look upon this as his proper sphere and adorn it as his peculiar Province No private man hath any just reason ordinarily to prompt him to go beyond this forasmuch as if every good man would do his part within these bounds the whole World would be amended and he that is remiss and negligent in this cannot easily satisfy himself that he hath demonstrated such love to God as becomes him nor can he expect to reap all those comforts and benefits which otherwise by a conscientious discharge of himself in this particular might redound to him Now that which we mean by the relation to a Neighbourhood or a Parish hath a double consideration First As every Parish is or ought to be a branch or member of the Church Secondly As it is a branch or member of the Commonwealth Accordingly there is a double obligation lies upon every man that is within the bounds of it and from thence arise duties of a different nature for brevity and perspicuity I will distinguish them by the names of Ecclesiastical and Civil Piety and then shew what each of them comprehends beginning with that which I call Ecclesiastical Piety or the discharge of such publick duties as especially concern the Society of a Church And this consists in these few following particulars 1. That a man join himself to and carry himself as a member of the Church and not out of pride phantastry or contempt separate himself from it or schismatically set up Factions and Conventicles against it It is evident that our Lord Jesus Christ established the Society of a Church that is appointed that all those who would be his Disciples should not content themselves singly and particularly to believe on him but should all be obliged to associate themselves and make up a body or spiritual corporation wherein they were to hold Communion with each other as members as well as with him their head The ends and uses of this institution were very many and great for besides that by this means order and unity is promoted which is very beautiful in the Eyes of God himself our Lord hereby provided that the truth of Christianity might be jointly held up in the World and the several members of this Society become mutually more helpful and comfortable to each other and also that by a constant method of Christian intercourse here they may be fitted for Eternal Friendship and Society in Heaven In subserviency to all these ends publick Officers were appointed in the Church to govern and to instruct the several members of it which it were plainly impossible for them to do unless their numbers were almost infinite and equal to that of the people if it had not been that the people were to join together and become a common flock for those Officers to govern and
by yet in some respects they are more acceptable to God than the other forasmuch as they are founded upon an acknowledgment of his Omniscience and demonstrate the great and intimate sense we have of the Divine Majesty and consequently of this they give the greatest assurance to our own hearts of our sincerity and so are the most comfortable for publick Devotion may possibly have a great alloy of secular interest and may owe it self in a great measure to the authority of Laws or to publick fame and reputation but he that worships God in secret where and when no Eye is privy but only that of God Almighty is secure to himself that he can have no mean or sinister end in so doing nothing can move him to this but the mere reverence of God and therefore our Saviour in the forementioned passage Mat. 6. 6. lays an Emphasis upon those words thy father which is in secret and adds this incouragement of such addresses to God thy father which seeth in secret will reward thee openly Upon all which considerations let the man who either values Gods glory or his own improvement Peace and Comfort or indeed who makes any pretence to Religion strictly make Conscience of and constantly practise secret Devotion The nature extent manner instances and circumstances whereof I am now further to explain in the following particulars 1. And I begin with that which is so universally acknowledged and so principal a part of Divine Worship that as I noted before it is ordinarily put for the whole I mean Prayer to God touching the secret exercise whereof let the good Christian take these following Directions First Let him not fail Night and Morning at least solemnly and devoutly to pray to God Divers holy men we read of who according to the greatness of their zeal or urgency of the occasion for it have prescribed to themselves stricter measures than this particularly David saith he would worship God seven times in a day and Daniels custom was to do it three times a day Dan. 6. 10. as seems also to have been that of the Primitive Christians but less than twice a day I cannot find to agree with the practice of any good men unless either sickness disabled them or some very extraordinary occasion diverted them and it is wondrously fit and decorous that we who owe our whole time to God should pay him the tribute of devoting those critical periods of it I mean Evening and Morning to him especially in consideration of the peculiar circumstances these two points of time are attended with namely in the Evening having finished the course of that day and reflecting upon our infirmities in it we cannot but observe by how many failings we have justly incurred Gods displeasure if he should severely animadvert upon us and therefore have great cause to deprecate his anger and to make our peace with him and we must needs also be sensible both how many dangers we have escaped by his Providence and how many instances of blessing we have received from his goodness and therefore have reason to praise and magnify his name nd especially being then also to betake our selves to sleep when above all times we are out of our own keeping and are exposed to a thousand dangers from thieves from malicious men from violent Elements of Wind Fire and Water from the enterprizes of evil spirits and frightful Dreams and our own foolish Imaginations in which and sundry other respects no man knows what a night may bring forth and in consideration of which he is a stupidly secure and fool-hardy person that doth not think it highly to be his interest by peculiar addresses to recommend himself and all his concerns to the watchful Eye of Providence which neither slumbers nor sleeps And in the Morning having not only by the guard of holy Angels been preserved from all those dangers which might have surprized us in the dark and when our senses were so lockt up that we could not help our selves but refreshed and recruited in all our powers by that admirable divine Opiate sleep nothing less can become us than to consecrate anew all these restored powers to our Creator and Preserver by hearty Adorations Besides this we are then sensible that we are now entring upon a new scene of business where we shall be exposed to innumerable accidents dangers difficulties and temptations none of which we are match for without divine assistance and have therefore need to implore his grace and good providence before we encounter them so that it is not timidity or superstitious fear but just wisdom not to dare either to go to Bed or to set our foot out of doors till we have recommended our selves to Almighty God by Prayer And by so doing as aforesaid we maintain the juge sacrificium and in Gods gracious interpretation are said to pray continually and to consecrate our whole time to him and besides we keep up a lively and constant sense of him upon our hearts Secondly Let him be sure that these duties be done fervently as well as constantly and frequently not formally and customarily without life and feeling of what a man is about or with wandring thoughts and distracted affections but with the greatest vigour and intention of mind that is possible for if a mans heart be flat and remiss in these special approaches to God he will be sure to be much worse and even loose and Atheistical upon other occasions for these secret duties are the special instruments and exercises of raising our hearts towards Heaven and as it were the nicking up of our Watch to that cue in which we would have it go In the more publick offices of Religion the credit and reputation of it is principally concerned and therefore they ought to be performed with all gravity and solemnity but the very life and soul of piety lies in these secret duties and therefore they ought to be discharged with the quickest sense and most inflamed affections insomuch that a man must not think he hath acquitted himself when he hath repeated such or so many Prayers until he find also his heart warmed and his temper of mind raised and improved by them to this purpose therefore let him in the entrance upon these retirements place himself under the Eye of God and be apprehensive of the immediate presence of the Divine Majesty that this may give check to all levity of spirit and wandering of thoughts and make him grave and reverential let him also all along be sensible of the great value and necessity of those things which he either begs of God or returns thanks for that this may render him ardent in his desires and affectionate in his praises and whilest he perseveres in these duties let him join with them reading and meditation not only to fix his mind but to prevent barrenness and to impreganate and inrich his Souls with divine notions and affections To this end Thirdly Let him take care
improved his Stewardship in this particular Lastly In a Family there are commonly some who under the general relation of Friends or Acquaintance are either resident in it or at least hospitably entertained by it now as this lays an obligation upon the persons treated so it gives some authority to him who treats them and consequently as such a Master of a Family is in some measure answerable towards men for the scandals and misdemeanours of his Guests so is he much more responsible to God for any profaneness they shall be guilty of towards his Divine Majesty For as I said before every man being King in his own Family may give Laws to it and oblige those who are under his protection to pay him Allegiance and to serve and worship God with him especially he ought to do this because the fourth Commandment requires at our hands that we use this authority not only over our Sons and Daughters our Man-Servants and Maid-Servants but over all those that are within our Gates But so much in the general let us now consider in the second place the particular duties of Religion in a Family of which in the next Chapter CHAP. IV. Of Family Duties in special IN the first place I look upon it as the duty of every Family that besides Closet-Devotions of which I have spoken before and besides publick Worship of which I shall speak anon once a day at the least they join together in Prayers to God I say once a day at the least in favour of mens occasions and the peculiar circumstances of some Families were it not for which it would be very fit that there should be Prayers Morning and Evening as is the general practice of most pious Families but certainly it is wonderfully decent that all the members of every Family should once in the day meet together and with one heart and one mouth glorify God and pay their homage to the great Master of the whole Family of Heaven and Earth and it is very strange if any excuse should be pleaded or admitted in this case For as I said before every several Family is a peculiar Body or Society which hath its distinct circumstances effects and consideration it hath its respective needs to be supplied and therefore hath occasion to make proper and peculiar requests to God as that he will be pleased to continue it in health to settle concord and unity amongst the several members of it that the whole may enjoy prosperity and safety from Thieves from Fire and other dangers And every such Society hath also proper and peculiar mercies to give thanks to God for as namely for success in affairs for quiet habitation that they are not molested with ill Neighbours nor vexed with Law-Suits for hopeful Children faithful Servants c. for in several of these respects a man may be well and comfortable in his own person and yet be unhappy in the Society and contrarywise the Society or Family may be happy in the general and yet a particular person may be in ill circumstances and therefore there is just reason of addresses and acknowledgments to God in relation to the Family and by the whole Family in Conjunction as well as by every single person apart and in his Closet And though perhaps there may be some Family wherein there is no person who can aptly and properly represent the peculiar concerns of it to the Almighty and it may be also there is no form of Prayer at hand that will express all the respective circumstances of such a Society yet they may lift up their hearts and voices together in a general form and supply with their thoughts and affections whatsoever is wanting in the expressions And as there is just ground and reason for such family worship so there is good cause to expect it will be singularly successful when the whole community joins together and present themselves and their tribute of praise before the Lord no question but the very manner of doing it as well as the matter will be highly acceptable to him and when with prostrate bodies devout hearts and hands and eyes lift up to Heaven they combine together to importune and as it were besiege the Almighty they cannot fail of a blessing or however it is a mighty satisfaction to the minds of all such persons and a great security to them that they have thus jointly and solemnly commended themselves to the divine protection Besides that this course is an effectual means to conciliate peace and love and kindness between all the members of this body and to knit their hearts to one another when they are thus accustomed to unite their hearts and join their hands in Gods service and conspire to pray with and for each other which is the greatest indearment of affection Perhaps some man will now say there is no express Scripture which requires of men this daily office of Family Prayer To which I answer first what if it were so yet nevertheless it is a duty seeing there is so apparent reason for it For God who considered that he gave Laws to reasonable men did not think himself bound to prescribe every thing in particular especially in natural worship where the reason of man might supply him with direction what was fit to be done in such a case Besides secondly as I discoursed in the former part of this Treatise it is a stingy and narrow-soul'd trick and an argument of no true love to God and goodness to stand upon so strict terms in our piety as to require an express command in particular for that which is admirably good in the general and hath also been the general practice of all good men as this hath been But after all I would in the last place crave leave to ask those men a plain question who insist upon more express proof of Family Prayers and it is no more but this Whether they think there is any such thing as publick worship required of men if they do then let them remember there was a time when there was no more publick Society than that of Families namely at the first planting of the World and then either publick worship must be this of Families or none at all and to inlighten them in this case let them consider that passage Gen. 4. 26. when Seth had Enos born to him it is said then began men to call upon the name of the Lord that is so soon as there began to be a Family in the pious line of Seth then presently they set up Gods worship in it Now this was not the beginning of secret worship for no doubt but Seth was careful of that before Enos was born nor was it properly publick or Ecclesiastick worship for in that minority of the World there neither was nor as yet could be any Church established in such a sense therefore it must follow that Family worship is as antient as the being of Families themselves Or let pious and
express his apprehensions of the infinite distance between him and the Divine Majesty by the lowliest postures of his body 6. Next to this let the pious man think it his duty to pay some measure of reverence to Gods Minister as well as to the Divine Majesty and for his sake In the Old Testament God took special care of the respect and dignity of his Ministers as well as of their maintenance for indeed all contumely towards them redounds upon himself And the new Testament is very full and express in this particular they are those that watch for our souls and must give account for them they are Gods Embassadors and workers together with him those by whose hands he pardons and blesses his people and therefore he holds them as the stars in his right hand and those who slight them that speak in his name on earth affront him that speaketh from heaven but amongst the many passages in the New Testament to this purpose that of the Apostle to the Thessal 1. Ep. 5. 13. is very considerable the words are these We beseech you brethren to know those who labour amongst you and are over you in the Lord and to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake The last words are so emphatical they cannot be expressed in English 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to give them greater esteem than otherwise is due to them for their work and office sake i. e. to value them above their parts and merits and quality in other respects for the sake of that relation they stand in to God and for their office and usefulness towards our Souls And indeed touching that last particular it is evident in experience that all those who have any regard to their own Souls are such as indeavour to raise in their hearts an esteem for their Minister not only that they may incourage his studies and sweeten his labours to him but that they may render themselves the more capable of following his counsels and receiving benefit by his instructions and on the other side those that slight and vilify the persons of such neither do nor possibly can ordinarily receive any benefit by their Ministry and therefore the Prophet Hosea 4. 4. speaking of a profligate and hopeless sort of people useth this expression this people are as those that strive with the Priest q. d. they are not only horribly vicious and profane but they are incorrigible too Therefore the piously disposed man will be sure to reverence Gods Ministers both for Gods sake and his own too and this leads me to another duty of kind to the former viz. 7. That the good Christian account it an office of publick Piety as well as of common justice to pay truly and faithfully his Tithes and Church dues to the Minister this the Apostle intimates by the expression of double honour 1 Tim. 5. 17. Natural reason and the common sense of mankind requires that they which serve at the Altar should live upon the Altar And in the Old Testament when God himself setled the provision for his Ministers he did it most amply and honourably and under the Gospel pious antiquity took care that the Christian Church and Ministry thereof should be liberally indowed till the envy and rapacity of after-times deprived it of a great part of its rights but now after those depredations it would be an horrible sin and shame to rob the Church of any part of that remainder or fraudulently to diminish or impair it For it is evident that no man can pretend any right to it as having neither purchased it nor hired it nor had it descend upon him by inheritance the Churches due being a reserved estate or a rent-charge upon every private estate And it is notorious that it is what pious Ancestry consecrated to this use and therefore no part of it can be invaded intercepted or incroached upon without Sacriledge and the Curse of God And for proof of this we need no more than to observe the common success of such men as purloin from the Church and as their own phrase is are always pinching on the Parsons side They are generally a querulous uneasy lean hungry and unthrifty sort of people God Almighty blowing upon and blasting their other labours for the sake of this accursed thing in their Tents or if any of them thrive for the present yet one time or other a Coal from the Altar will take hold of and fire their Nests Whereas on the other side those that are just to God in this particular ordinarily find the benefit of it in the success of their affairs and they are commonly chearful in their spirits and prosperous in the World But the good Christian will not need these arguments for he loves God and his service and his Ministers and thinks it fit that he that reaps spiritual things ought liberally to sow temporal things at least he will rather abridge himself than wrong the Church although it may be never so cleverly done under the countenance of a corrupt custom or prescription So far from it that 8. In the eighth place he will be an example of pious munificence and put himself to some voluntary cost for the Ornaments of Religion and the House of God and that his publick service may be performed with gravity decency and solemnity For he thinks it very fit that the great Majesty of Heaven and Earth should not only be worshipped with sincerity and devotion but with grandeur and magnificence He will not therefore humour the profaneness of degenerate times so much as to forswear building of Churches if it be in his power nor much less will be backward or stingy in repairing of them when there is occasion for he cannot find in his heart to let Gods House lie waste when he builds his own nor frame his mind to think that is good enough for the uses of Religion which he could not be contented with for his private accommodation if better were in his power and therefore will in all Parish-meetings about these matters vote for God against his own Purse for he is of Davids mind who had no fancy for a cheap Religion nor would serve God with that which cost him nothing 1 Chron. 21. 24. And as he Psal 84. verses 5 6 7. blesses those that took pains to repair the ways and to make the passage easy towards God House at Jerusalem so the pious Christian will indeavour by his counsel and example that the whole external face of Religion may be lightsome beautiful and decorous in the place where he dwells to the end that not only his animal spirits may the more chearfully comply with the devotion of his mind but that those also may be invited to frequent Gods House and worship who have not yet experimented the spiritual ravishments of it In further pursuance whereof 9. The pious man we speak of will together with all the aforesaid allurements use also his utmost indeavours by
his Closet and depart out of Gods presence till he have affected himself with deep sorrow and contrition for his sin and prostrated himself at the throne of grace with strong and earnest cries for pardon and until he have confirmed his heart in a resolution of watchfulness and more strict obedience for the time to come And let him do this often that he may not run up too big a score and so either his heart become hardened through the deceitfulness of sin or his Conscience be so affrighted with the greatness of his guilt that like a Bankrupt he be tempted to decline looking into his accounts because he can have no comfortable prospect of them or run away from God in a fit of desperation instead of running to him by repentance Let him I say do this often not by chance or unwillingly but frequently and periodically set times being appointed for it and though I would be loth to impose a burden upon the Consciences of men yet I think it ordinarily very adviseable that this be done once a month viz. whilest a man hath his past actions and carriage in remembrance and can take a just account of himself but especially it is very fit to do it against the time of the administration of the Holy Sacrament and then would be extraordinarily proper and seasonable for these two things Self-examination and partaking of the Lords Supper do marvellously suit and answer to each other the former preparing a mans heart for that sacred solemnity and that holy solemnity sealing to him the pardon of those sins he hath discovered and repented of in secret But whether this work of self-reflection and ransacking a mans own heart in secret be absolutely necessary to be done at certain times and periods it is wonderfully useful that it be seriously and conscientiously practised some time or other forasmuch as on the one side it is not conceivable how a man should be able to maintain an holy and comfortable Life without it so on the other hand it seems equally impossible that he should continue to be an evil man who habitually and sincerely practises it for as there is no way so effectual to preserve an estate from being squandred away extravagantly as the keeping constant and strict accounts of receits and expences so there is no method more powerful to restrain sin than this of self-examination the very searching into our hearts jogs and awakens Conscience and that being rowsed will be a faithful Monitor of all that was done amiss the mere prospect of which will make a man very uneasy by the fears and horrors that attend it the consideration of the silly motives upon which a man was induced to sin will fill him with ingenuous shame and indignation and the easiness which he cannot but find of withstanding such motions by the grace of God will provoke him to a resolution of amendment in a word the sight and knowledge of the Disease is a great step to the Cure and an heart well searched is half healed But this leads me to another instance of great affinity with what we have now been speaking of and which shall be the last excercise of secret Devotion which I will here make mention of viz. 6. Trial of our proficiency and growth in grace this is of great importance forasmuch as we have seen before the truth of grace is scarcely any otherway discernible but by its progress and in that it makes men daily better and better for the essences of things are indiscernible and a man may endlesly dispute with himself whether such or such a thing be a sign of grace and of spiritual life in him till he puts all out of controversy by the fruits and improvement of such a vital principle and therefore it is extreamly necessary if we will arrive at spiritual comfort that we make experiment of our selves in this particular which can no otherwise be done than by retirement into the Cabinet of our hearts and the diligent comparing our selves both with our selves and with the rules of the Gospel The common estimation of the World is a very fallacious and improper measure of divine life and as the Apostle tells us it is a small thing to be judged of men one way or other but if our hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God for they being privy to our ends and designs and to all our circumstances as well as to matter of fact cannot nor will not deceive us if they be secretly examined and therefore must be impartially consulted if we would indeed know our selves and be able to prejudge our own condition Now the testimony which our hearts can give us of our spiritual improvement is not to be grounded upon the increased length of our Prayers nor merely from the passion and earnestness of them for the former of these may be the effect of hypocrisy and the latter may proceed from some peculiar temper of body or outward accident nor upon our affectionate hearing of Sermons for the stony ground received the seed with joy as well as the good ground nor yet upon a more than ordinary scrupulosity of Conscience especially in smaller matters for this may proceed from Ignorance Superstition or Hypocrisy But the safest decision of this great case whether we grow in grace or no is to be made by examining our hearts in such points as these following viz. Whether we be more constant in all the duties of Religion than formerly Whether we be more exact and regular in our lives daily Whether our hearts be more in Heaven than they were wont and that we have arrived at a greater contempt of the World Whether we are more dead to temptation especially in the case of such sins as agree with our constitution and circumstances Whether affliction be more easy than it used to be and we can better submit to the yoke of Christ Whether we are more conscientious of secret sins and such as no Eye of man can take notice of and upbraid us for Whether we are more sagacious in apprehending and more careful of improving opportunities of doing good than heretofore In a word Whether we are grown more meek more humble and obedient to our Superiours c. If upon due inquiry oru hearts can answer affirmatively for us in such points as these then we may comfortably conclude that we have not received the grace of God in vain which being of unspeakable consequence to us to be substantially resolved of self-examination in the aforesaid particulars as the only way to arrive at it ought to have its share in our Closet Devotions CHAP. III. Of Family-Piety in general THough the consideration of Gods Almighty Power Wisdom Goodness and his other perfections together with our dependance upon him and obnoxiousness to him be the first reason and ground of religion as we have already shewed and so the Divine Majesty is the immediate and principal object of it yet notwithstanding this