things which are told them of the LORD Intercession makes a fourth part of Prayer this St. Paul enjoyns 1 Tim. 2. 1. and it is insinuated in the Tenor of the LORD'S Prayer for that being prescrib'd to be a Form of private Prayer and yet runing all alongs in the plural number it teacheth us that while we pray for our selves we should also be careful to hold up the concerns of others Selfishness is contrary to the temper of the Christian Religion and it tenders our Prayers ineffectual For GOD hears us and deals with us only according as we are disposed towards others with what measure we mett it shall be measured to us The Apostle requires expresly that our Prayers be without wrath 1 Tim. 2. 8. intimating thereby that where there is wrath there is no acceptance And according to the Christian Law there is Wrath where Kindness is not testified he hates who does not love he envies anothers Happiness who does not heartily wish it That therefore our Prayers may be effectual for our selves we must present Supplications for others that we may taste the goodness of GOD let us not confine it to our selves but heartily wish it extended to all the rest of the World That GOD may be glorified in others as well as in us thus it is our duty to pray for all Men whom we must specify according to their various Conditions and Necessities because we cannot name every one in particular but St. Paul bids us pray especially for Kings and those in Civil Authority in the forecited place and for our Spiritual Guides and Rulers in several of his Epistles both because they have much need to be prayed for and also in that the good of Mankind much depends upon them And as Nature teacheth us to particularize those who are near or dear to us so Religion requires us expresly to mention our Enemies and if our hearts will not suffer us to do this we need not pray at all as our Saviour plainly intimats Matth. 5. 23. 6. 14. The fifth Particular whereof Prayer should consist is Praise or Thanksgiving this must be alwayes joyned to our Prayers according to the Apostles Precept Col. 4. 2. 1 Thes. 5. 18. Very Nature teacheth us to be thankful to our Benefactors and to make an acknowledgment of their Favours so that an unthankful person has been ever esteemed among Heathens most odious what Obligations then are on us to give thanks to GOD who is the great Benefactor and who is even the Author of all the favours which others confer And we are the more oblidged to make this hearty and thankful acknowledgment because t is all the requital he seeks all we can return for what he does to us for we cannot be profitable to him again as we may be to our fellow creatures our requests the desires of our heart are intimat by thanksgiving as much as by Formal Petitioning as appears from Phil. 4. 6. and moreover hereby we in a manner lay obligations on GOD both to continue the benefite and also to grant us what else we aske whereas by our unthankfulness we provock GOD to withdraw his Blessing already bestowed and to turn away from our Prayers How unreasonable is it to desire or expect a kindness from him to whom we have shewed our selves unthankfull for what he hath already done But because GOD measureth our Thankfulness not by our Words but by the inward sentiments and affections of our hearts therefore we should consider First the number of those blessings which God bestows on us how they are almost nay altogether infinite for who can reckon up all the Publick and Private the Temporal and Spiritual Blessings they enjoy the Good they possess and the Evils which they want for as he gives the one so he withholds the other As the Psalmist speaketh Many O LORD my GOD are thy wonderful Works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to us-ward they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee if I would declare and speak of them they are moe then can be numbred Psal. 40. 5. 2ly The greatness of them what matter of Content and Satisfaction they afford especially such as are Spiritual for without them we should be Eternally miserable 3ly How freely they are bestowed for they are all Acts of pure love in GOD being given without either merit on our part or profite or gain to Himself 4ly How undeservedly they are continued we rebell against GOD grieve his Spirit and give him dayly manifold Provocations and yet he still loads us with his Benefits if any Parent received but the thousand part of these injuries from his only Son He would certainly abandon him By these considerations we must labour to make our selves sensible of GOD'S Goodness towards us and to estimate truly these expressions thereof we have received that our affections towards him may be enflam'd and that our Souls and all within us may be stirred up to bless and magnifie his holy Name These are the several parts of Prayer which if persons please they may rank otherwayes for 't is not material what particular method be observed but by this veiw we have given it appears that Prayer is somewhat more then a bare repetition of Words that to pray well and effectually there is more time and greater deliberation requisite then People ordinarly imagine or what I fear the most bestow If we would have our Prayers avail or take effect we must ply them seriously and allot some time for the right performance of them And here none ought to pretend that their business will not suffer this for though upon some urgent Occasion or particular emergency Men may be allowed to shift or abridge their Prayers Yet it is not lawful for any to let the Ordinary or Daily Business of their Callings so take them up as not take time to retire and pray in that manner we have shewed for this were to prefer Earth to Heaven the Body to the Soul the cares of this Life to those things above whereas our Saviour bids us seek first the kingdom of GOD and his righteousness The Servant that is most strictly kept hath time allowed to eat drink and sleep the Man of the greatest business if he be Master of himself will allow himself some leasure to talk with his Friends or Neighbours and why also should not every one seek out some proper time for Praying to GOD. 'T is true People may lift up their Hearts to GOD while at work and indeed they ought to be ever darting up Pious Ejaculations wherefore we are commanded to Pray alwayes and herein also Prayer is like to Breathing that it ought to be continual and joined to all other Exercises But these short Ejaculations or occasionall Prayers will not serve in steed of such Set and Solemn Prayer as we have been speaking of which GOD necessarly calls for which all Holy Men have taken care to perform some seven times
fixed Staâ—…ion in this World but are either by their â—…hoice willingly or through necessity changing their Habitations and Imployments When we think our selves most secure and are building to our selves Houses and Tabernacles of Residence hoping that here we shall fix and settle behold presently some thing or other occurs which defeats our Design and alters our Purpose and constrains us to make Tryal of some State and Condition we little thought upon And thus all Men almost from their own Experience may say that their Life and Condition heâ—…e is like that of a Traveller and Pilgrime But however true it hold in a Literal sense it is alwayes Morally true that Man while upon Earth is but a Sojourner and Stranger whatever be his Lot and Portion For first GOD hath not intended us a Sure and Lasting Abode here he hath resolved not to suffer us to make any long or considerable stay on the Earth he designs only that we should take a short view of things take a turn or two and then remove hence Man's Life here is but of few dayes even those who attain to the greatest number of years their life if compared to Eternity is but a span-long and seeing that thus we have but so short and so uncertain Possession of this World our stay therein cannot be counted other then a Sojourning It cannot be said properly that we dwell here but only that we lodge For we are not true Inhabitants but only way-faring Men who take a Nights Lodging and afterwards are gone We can call no place here our Home we never go Home till we descend into the Grave and pass over into the other World that is our Home because there is no changing of it nor flitting from it Secondly As we are to account our selves Sojourners because our Life is short so Strangers because of the want of an agreeable Habitation All Creatures have a proper Element whither also their Natural Propensitie inclines them that is the Proper and Natural Element of any Beeing which is suitable to its Nature and Quality and where it finds Rest and Ease but on the contrary that is Improper and Unnatural which agrees not with its Disposition and where it lives with Difficultie and in much pain Thus the Air is an improper Element for Fishes as the Water for Fowls and Terrestrial Creatures and consequently this World is not the proper place and habitation of Spirits and Rational Beings And therefore also not of Men seeing we are of this Order by our better part The Creatures to be met with here below are not capable of Converse with us and all the Delights and Enjoyments here can only gratifie the Body and be profitable for chearing those frail Tabernacles we carry about with us But 't is little service they can do the Soul and therefore however proper these lower Regions may be for Bodies yet certainly our Souls soar higher and aspire after a Happiness beyond what is to be found here Wherefore whiles we are upon Earth we may be truely called Exiles and said to suffer Banishment for Heaven only is our Native Sâ—…yle it is in yonder Regions above that we can only expect to find a sutable Habitation and abode The very Heathens had this Sentiment they accounted their Stay here a perfect banishment and esteemed the Body the Prison which detained the Soul from its Native Countrey So Anexagoras being asked whither he had any Care or Concernments for his Countrey because he troubled not himself with the Publick Affairs and Transactions His answer was GOD forbid that it should be otherwise indeed my mind is greatly towards my Countrey pointing with his finger to Heaven That is a Man's Home where his Friends and Relations live where his Wealth and Estate and the Possessions wherein his Happiness lyes are reserved where his Heart and Affections are placed And so Heaven is and should be only our Home Thither should we aim for our Souls are descended thence there GOD our Father liveth and IESUS CHRIST our elder Brother and Angels and Seraphims and the Spirits of just Men made perfect our Friends and Companions and Fellow-Citizens and there be the Treasures of our Happiness That Good which our Souls crave and seek after is shut up there and no where else This World affords no perfect Contentment or true solid Happiness All we can expect here is some little Refreshing to keep us from Fainting and Languishing This World is an Inne too narrow and scanty for to give Satisfactorie ease and fulness this is only to be looked for when we come to our Fathers house where there are many Mansions and all Richly and well Furnished In his Presence there is fulness of joy and at his Right Hand there are Rivers of Pleasures for evermore Psal. 16. 11. This Earthly Canaan which was here promised to Iacob was a type of Heaven and given as a Pledge thereof It is not to be doubted but that the Patriarch had a prospect beyond the Land wherein he was though it was the pleasantest upon Earth he had already tasted these Delights which Canaan upon Earth afforded and albeit they were good enough of their kind yet he could not but be sensible that they were far short of of satisfying the Appetite of the Soul And that therefore there was something to be desired more then what is to be found even in the best Countrey here Iacob had certainly the best and most vertuous Education of any in the World he was preserved from Vice and Immorality which render Men brutish and so enfeeble their Minds that they can Dream of nothing but what savours of the Flesh he was early taught all Natural Wisdom and Knowledge and Instructed also in things which Natural light could not reach to And therefore he certainly knew and was persawded that there was something within him besides Flesh and Bones even a Divine Soul capable of and designed for a more noble kind of Life then what Man enjoyes at present Because the Promises made to the Patriarchs expressed in Scripture are Temporal we must not from thence conclude that they had no other Spiritual Eternal Blessings were Vailed under these and might perhaps also be Promised a part though they be not particularly mentioned No doubt more was Revealed to them then what we have an account of but what is written was only necessarie to be known to us for the pointing out of the Messias It is very unreasonable to think that they who were so Dearly Beloved of GOD Honoured with many Particular Revelations and whose Wisdom and Vertue was more then Ordinary I say it is unreasonable to think that they were left ignorant of a future state Such a thought is injurious to the Love of GOD and also inconsistent with that Character they deserve as questionless they had a Curiosity to know whither there was another better life hereafter So GOD would not refuse to satisfie the same it being very Laudable and
very proper and convenient to set apart one particular Room of our House for this end that we may perform our Devotions with the greater freedom and be less lyable to disturbance and those interruptions which persons usually meet with who want this conveniency But to leave the circumstance of the place and to come to the thing it self Prayer is a speciall part of Divine Worship enjoined by clear precepts recommeded by the example of all holy Men and so necessary that who prayeth not at all or but seldome cannot be said to Worship GOD whatever elâ—…e they doe For their other Acts cannot be properly referred to GOD if they be not accompanied with Prayers Our obligation to Prayer ariseth not from one but from all the Divine Attributes and by Prayer there is an acknowledgement of all of them He who prayeth declareth GOD'S Omnipresence His Omniscience His Omnipotence and All sufficiency and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him But who neglecteth Prayer doth not believe these Divine Perfections or doth not seriously consider them he maketh no actuall acknowledgment of them nay he lives in open defiance of them and arrogates to himself an independency and self-sufficiency which are GOD'S prerogative Again there can be no Intercourse with GOD but by the means of Prayer Without Prayer we can never arrive at he end of Religion viz. Union with GOD and participation of the Divine Nature He who is not exercised in Prayer hath his Heart alienat from GOD and is wholly indisposed for receiving the Spirit of GOD and the impression thereof without which there is no advancing towards perfection Prayer is by some compared to Breathing and not unfitly for what that is to the Body Prayer is to the Soul respiration is no more necessary to our NaturallLi'e then Prayer to the Spirituall Life for hereby it â—…s preserved as the stiffling our breath ends our Life so the ceasing to pray destroyes the life of God in the Soul The bâ—…dy which breaths not has no sense or feeling nor is it capable of motion even so the man who prayeth not is without all due sense of GOD neither maketh he any motion towards him Prayer is a sign of Spirituall Life and shews a desire and capacity to receive what is necessary to growth and perfection and as the want of such a desire and capacity obstructs the communication of GOD'S Spirit so where this is he will certainly manifest his Lâ—…ve and bestow his Grace To him who hath the desire and capacity shall be given He who asketh shall receive he who seeketh shall find and who knockâ—…th it shall be opened unto him Mat. 11. But to make Prayer acceptable to GOD and thus profitable to our selves it must be rightly performed and duely qualified true Prayer is alwayes acceptable as incense and never failes to bring down a Blessing but many deceive themselves with a meer shew they are contented that they seem to Pray but do not Pray really some Pray much but yet are never a whit nearer GOD nor move more forward in Holinesse which is both the undoubted Sign and the certain Effect of true Prayer We ought then not only to Pray but to pray aright else all the Labour we bestow this way is in vain Ye ask saith St. Iames and ye have not why because ye ask amiss Now that our Prayers may be proper Prayers and effectuall first We must take heed that they be the Work of the Spirit and not the Labour of the Lips For GOD is a Spirit and will be Worshipped in Spirit and Truth That is by free and proper Acts of the Mind and not by empty shews which have no Solidity or Reality in them If our Hearts be removed he cares not for our drawing near with our mouth or the honouring him with our Lips as we learn from Isa 29. 1â—… To prostrate our Bodies before GOD and to let our Minds â—…ove and wander is to offer a dead Sacrifice which is no Reasonable or acceptable Service to utter words which we do not understand or whose meaning we attend not to is not to pray but to prat it is to bable without sense to make a sound which signifies nothing and deserves no more to be regarded then the pronunciation of Puppets and Mechanicall Engines which is performed by Wheels and Springs without understanding Our Prayers are but bruitish gruâ—…tlings if they come not from the Heart and be not performed by the understanding Wherefore when we are to Pray we should first fix our Spirits and compose our Minds to a serious Attention and should endeavonr to wind up our Souls to that fervour and earnestness which is Sutable to the weight and importance of Prayers And to this purpose â—… will be necessary to bestow some time in Meditation and Reading of the Seriptures or some other devout book Having thus reduced our Minds to a due Attention and secured as much as possible against wandering thoughts in the next place we must consider the several parts of Prayers the Nature and Property of each and the Affections sutable thereto and frame our Prayers accordingly For they cannot be acceptable if lame and defective nor though they have all necessary parts if each part be not rightly Adjusted and Properly qualified To clear this better we will touch a little on them The first part of Prayer is Adoration and Invocation This we should alwayes begin with for as in our addresses to Kings and great Personages we use first to do them reverence and to testify their dignity before we present our requests So in our addresses to GOD we should first adore his Majesty and invocate his Audience Now the right way to do this is not to be accoast him with a heap of bigge tittles but to call to mind his incomprehensible Nature and Adorable perfections visible in his manifold Works And if our apprehensions of GOD be worthy of him we will be abashed at our selves as unfit for so great a presence and most unworthy to be regarded by one so highly exalted above all our thoughts To expresse which and to cherish it too 't is requisite to throw our selves in some humble posture Thus the Publican to signify his own vileness and GODS greatness he stood a far off and would not lift up his eyes as one ashamed of himself But lest the reflecting upon GODS Majesty and Greatness should take away the hopes of Acceptance and rather fill us with dread then confidence in him we must remember his Goodness his Love his Mercy and how that he is reconciled to us in his Son IESUS CHRIST Therefore our Saviour hath taught us to draw near to GOD as in a sense of his Ineffable Greatness whose throne is in the Heavens so under the notion of a Father who is alwayes ready and easie to be entreated When ye pray saith he say Our Father which art in Heaven c. Confession is another part of Prayer This
Trades whereby men ordinarly are necessitat to seek their living this can be no acceptable service to God seeing it runs counter to his express ordinance in the sweat of thy brows thou shalt eat thy bread if men can free themselves of the necessity of eating and drinking they may cast off all honest care and endeavours for these supplies otherwise they ought not for St. Paul commands that if any would not work neither should he eat and such as work not at all he saith that they walk disorderly 2 Thess. 3. 10. Sick and Malmed persons who cannot work for their own Maintenance should be supplied by others Charity but not these who are Able and Healthy but resolved to live idly and uselessly to the Common-wealth And herein the present Monks of the Romish Church differs much from those of the Primitive times for the Ancient Monks did not eat their breadin idleness but did labour that they might help others to live every one should study to be poor in Spirit and mortified in his affections to the World but these may be done in outward possessions Finaly as to the Vows of Celibacy and a total retirement they are too important things to be undertaken by any rashly and they are such as young Persons should not be suffered at all to engage in for they cannot well know either the Temper of their Spirit or the Constitution of their Body how they will agree therewith If their disposition be contrary then they involve themselves into a sad inconveniency and almost insuperable difficulties of pleasing GOD which might be easily avoided by taking a course more sutable to their natural disposition Not to speak of Celibacy every ones humour even will not sute with that Solitude and retirement which by the Laws of Monastries they are oblidged to who are naturally Studious thoughtful and a little Melanchollie may like it well enough and also fall upon methods for improving it to their grouth in Vertue and Piety But such as are active and sprightly weary of it and count it a burden And as their nature inclines them to action so when they are any considerable time without business their fancy runs out upon vain projects and airy contrivances neither profitable to themselves nor others and which prove an Impediment to Spiritual devotion as much yea more then outward innocent actions He who in his retirements bethinks with himself how he would rule the world if he had place and power and what he would doe or have done in such and such cases spends his time more idly then if he were actually versant in Wordly affairs And there be few active Spirits but have their retirements if long Spoiled with such devices and imaginations The Church of Rome seems to have foreseen the inconvenencie of Monasticall Vows to guard against them in that a year of probation is allowed But it is evident from experience and many instances that a year is not proof sufficient especially when arts and tricks are used to delude Novices and to wheedle them into a belief that things are otherwise then what afterwards they find them If Vows were not imposed and that a free exit were allowed to such as pleased and found a change convenient I verily believe Monastries might be very usefull both for Church and State both for the civil good of the Nation and the Spiritual good of mens Souls All men are oblidged to be chaste but chastity may be preserved in a married State as well as in a single life and every ones constitution doth not sute therewith It would be good and proper for every man though never so much engaged in worldly affairs to retire himself frequently for the excercise of Religion and the considering the state of his soul Buthardly any can stay their minds altogether upon these exercises for whole years much less all there lifetime nor is their any necessity thereof seing men may goe about the affairs of the world without crossing these of Religion and ply the things of this life without prejudice to the other GOD is not pleased with our vows when they have not a tendency to his Glory our Neighbours good and our own Spiritual Advantage and he cannot be but highly displeased when by our vows we tie our selves to doe something which is unlawfull in it self or which may be the occasion of some sin to our selves or others Or to forbear another thing which is good or usefull and which is or may become our duty What is sinful or evil can never honour GOD but doth dishonour him and it doeth bewray a gross ignorance to seek the pleasing of God by doing contrary to His will Unlawful Vows should not be made and if made they ought not to be kept it is a sin to make them but a greater to observe them such Vows lay no obligation upon us except to repentance and mourning for our rashness and folly Herod was no wayes tyed to cut off the head of Iohn the Baptist because of his vow for that would never excuse the murder of that innocent man neither was the plot against Pauls life any whit extenuated because the forty men had bound themselves thereto under a curse It is a very bad reason for one not to come to Church and to refuse to hear such a Minister because he hath sworn it There is no perjury in breaking of these Vows the Perjury is in the first making of them because they are contrary to those other general vows of Baptism c. Whereby we are tyed not to do any thing that is evil but what ever is good and praise worthy Wherefore I wonder much how ever it could have slipt from the Author of that excellent Book entituled The whole Duty of Man to say That he who rashly swears to kill another if he do it he is guilty of murder and if he do it not of perjury and so is under a necessity of sining If this be true it might prove a shrewd tentation to the keeping of unlawful Vows For where one of two evils is necessary or unavoidable men are at liberty to choose which they will or what they think least And there be some who have perjury in greater abhorrencie then anyother wicked act therefore if such have once sworn a thing though never so evil they will do it for fear of drawing on them the guilt of perjury This Doctrine therefore may be of very bad consequence but however such a necessity of sinning cannot be admitted unlesse we make the nature of sin alterable and that a sinful Act may sometimes cease to be sinful One cannot be oblidged by any Law to impossibilities and therefore not to contrary Acts as to do and not to do the same thing at one and the same time for to observe both is impossible Wherefore if the doing a thing be sin there is onely an Obligation upon us not to do it and if the not doing thereof be a sin
GOD was with him And indeed how can it be but well with that Person whom GOD is with what can he want who hath him to be his Friend He who hath the Divine Presence accompanying him withersoever he goeth is Richer and Happier than if he had all the treasures of the world carried about with him For God is the Author and Fountain of all Good from Him every Good and perfect Gift doth come he can easily command any desirable thing where when and to whom He pleases So that he who enjoys GOD hath enough and needs not fear or care for the want of any thing for GOD will be to him in stead of all things And in having Him he may say truly as that Philosopher said Omnia mea mecum porto that is I carrie about with me all things proper all things necessary or requisit either for my Support or Comfort for GOD is all that It was a vain and proud boast of Cesars to the Mariner who was wafting him over the Adriatick to Italy when he perceived him seized with Fear and ready to turn back Perge audacter ne timeas Caesarem vehis Caesarisque fortunam be not afraid you carrie with you Cesar and his Fortune But truly every one that hath GOD with them may with reason confidently say to himself be not afraid sad or dejected Deum habes ejusque favorem you have GOD his favour and having that what cause can there be of Fear or Dejection For He is Wisdom Power all Goodness and All-sufficiencie it self and therefore He is a True Aid and Support and a sure Rock to build on which will never fail Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him Psal. 2. 12. Though I walk saith David through the valley shaddow of death yet will I fear no evil for thou art with me thy Rod and thy Staff they comfort me Psal. 23. 4. The very hopes of this special Presence and Favour of GOD did mightily chear up the Psalmist's Spirit when he was like to be overwhelmed with trouble he chides and is in a chaff with himself for being any wayes troubled having this hope Why art thou cast down saith he O my Soul and why art thou disquieted in me Hope thou in GOD for I shall yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance and my GOD which he repeats twice Psal. 42. and once Psal. 43. Many excellent Blessings and advantages follow him whom GOD is with First he is sure of Counsel and Direction which is a very necessary and desireable thing The life of man while in this World is for the most part Dark Intricate and full of Difficulties 't is like a Labyrinth full of perplexities we cannot well discern the outgate We know not what certain course to Steer for our profit and advantage As the Prophet Ieremiah saith the way of man is not in himself it is not in him that walketh to direct his steps Ierem. 10. 23. It is not safe to follow our own Devices things ordinarly succeed worse when we do so the wittiest Men have sometimes befooled themselves by leaning too much to their own Wit No Mans Wit and Judgement can be sufficient of it self to guide him and oft-times we are not much better of others for they are short sighted too as well as our selves and may mistake things as well as we we can never therefore be sure that we are right but when we follow the Counsel and Direction of GOD when we are guided by him who cannot erre because his understanding is infinit But if he be with us his Counsel will be with us too if he hath set his Heart upon and chosen us for his Friend he will also guide and instruct us and shew us the way wherein we should walk What man is he saith David that feareth the LORD him shall he teach in the way he shall choose Psal. 25. 12. But here some may ask How doth GOD teach us And what way are we to expect Direction from Him Must we look for Revelations Dreams and Visions Indeed this was not unusual under the Old Testament GOD did then very ordinarly this way manifest himself to the Patriarchs and others his Eminent Servants but now it pleases Him to forbear it at least that so common use thereof and we are neither to ask nor to look for Advice and Counsel this extraordinary way But however if we wait on GOD we may be confident of Direction from him which he will communicat to us two manner of wayes First by the inward suggestions of his Spirit he will not only enlighten our minds and clear our understandings with wisdom knowledge so that in the general we shall be able to know what is good and right but he will also help us to discern what is fit and proper in that particular case circumstance wherein we stand will secretly incline and draw us whither his Wisdom sees it fit for his Glory our comfort This is no idle Fancy or Delusion it is no piece of Fanaticism or a Dream of Enthusiastical persons but a certain real Truth which all Good and Holy Persons have felt from their experience Though these words of the Prophet Isa. 30. 21. Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saving this is the way walk ye in it when ye turn to the right hand and when ye turn to the left are not altogether to be restricted to an inward inspiration but also to be understood that external Voice in the Word and by the Ministry of His Servants Yet Solomon seems to hold out this when he saith in all thy wayes acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths Prov. 3. 6. This also must be the meaning of Elihu in these words There is a Spirit in Man and the Inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding Iob 32. 8. This Voice is inward and therefore not audible or perceptible by our outward Senses but however it may prove effectual enough for to move and sway us And though as one says this secret Direction of Almighty GOD is principally seen in matters relating to the good of the Soul yet it may be also found in the great and Momentous Concerns of this life which a good Man that fears GOD and begs his Direction shall very often if not at all times find I hope none will be so injurious as to think I intend to countenance or authorise those who father horrid impieties and most impertinent extravagancies upon GOD pretending they are carried thereto by a secret impulse of the Spirit I know and would have every one to assure himself that God is never the author of what is evil foolish or ridiculous whatever comes from him is worthy of him that is to say sutable to infinite Wisdom and Goodness neither doth GOD shew himself thus to any mean trivial things but in matters of serious Importance But because some have been so far out of purpose as to
love of Riches And certainly to crave and be desirous of more than what is Competent for the Maintenance and Support of our Lives is both inconsistent with that Dependence Subjection we owe GOD and doth also bespeak a great deal of Vanity Folly and Inconsideratness GOD who is the great Master and Governour of the World he Allowes and Commands that we wait upon Him for the necessary Supplies of our Life yea this much we may lawfully seek from Him Wherefore our Saviour in that Prayer which he prescribed his Disciples he taught us to Pray for our daily bread comprehending under that all other necessary Supplies According to that of St. Augustine quando rogamus panem quotidianum quicquid nobis propter carnem nostrum necessarium est rogamus that is when we aske our Daylie Bread we also aske all other things necessary for the Preservation and Comfort of our Lives And as it becomes us to pray for this that we may own and shew our Dependence upon GOD so it becomes us to rest satisfied with the seeking of it and to be contented when we have gotten it To aske and be desirous of more is but immodesty and doth bâ—…wray an Unruly and Stubborn and Unreasonable Disposition As the holy Father we just now mentioned saith Food and Raiment is necessary without it we cannot live there is no immodesty in seeking it But it is impudency to ask Riches it is one thing to ask what may nourish our Pride and Vanity and another thing to seek only what is proper for the sustenance of our life Aliud est unde superbias aliud unde vivas When a Servant hath received his Allowance is sufficiently Fed and Cloathed what an insolency is it for him to desire his Master to give Superfluities over and above what he needs meerly to please his Fancy or to gratifie his Humour It is not Discretion to set down Measures and to prescribe what should be given where nothing is due Now GOD owes us nothing He is not oblidged to give us any thing at all But only because we are his Creatures he is Ready and Willing to preserve us and hath in some sense oblidged Himself to Maintaine and Cherish that Life he hath given which yet gives no Allowance to seek for the satisfying of our unreasonable and unsatiable Appetites Necessaries we may call for but Superabundance and more than enough we ought not seeing we Live meerly by the Bounty of Almighty GOD we ought not to carve for our Selves but the Alms and Portion which He bestowes we should take Thankfully and sit down Contentedly therewith It is observed that though we have several other failings of the Servants of GOD mentioned in Scripture yet there is not one instance of an immoderate desire for Temporall Goods in any one of them For as the excessive Love hereof is inconsistent with the true Love of GOD so the express desire of them is arrogant Presumption which the Servants of GOD are ever carefull to keep themselves free of And as it is Immodesty and Undiscretion in regard of GOD to be desirous of more than a Competency then what is sufficient to maintain us in our State and Condition So really it is an unreasonable and vain thing in it self To what purpose is it to seek more than that we stand in need of All that is over and above is perfectly vain useless and unreasonable And it is no real but an imaginary Satisfaction only which a Man can promise to himself thereby If one keep the Wealth by him which he stands not in need of if he hoord it up in his Chests and Coffers and put it to no use what is he the better of it What doth it really signifie more to him than if it were yet an hundred fathom under Ground in the Bowels of the Earth except that he hath a great dale of Care Fear Anxiety and Trouble which he would want if it were still there Fond Man what good or beauty can be found Iâ—… hâ—…aps of Treasure buried under ground Which rather then diminisht e're to see Thou wouldst thy self too buried with them be And what 's the difference is 't not quite as bad Never to use as never to have had Cowley Dionysius the Elder understanding a certain Citizen had Gold hid in his houâ—…e he commanded it to be brought to him But afterwards when the same Person went to sojourn in another City and did Trade with a little which he had stollen away Dionisius sent for him and restored him all back again bâ—…cause he began to use his Wealth and to leave off the rendring an useful thing useless Thereby shewing that the true use of Money is not to hoord it up but to lay it out in such and such wayes as tend to the Publick good Surely use alone Makes Money not a contemptible stone Herbert Again if one should resolve to use and spend it on his Family and House-keeping if a Man design to keep a great Retinue and to live up sutably to the Abundance which he possesseth Yet even in that case there is more of Fancy than Solid Pleasure and Satisfaction When goods encâ—…ease saith Solomon they are encreased that eat them and what good is there to the Owners thereof saving the beholding of them with their eyes Eccl. 5. 11. Which truely is a very small and vain good Let a Man have never so much of this World yet even in that abundance his Natural necessities are not better supplied than if he had only a simple competency of all his Dishes he fills but one Belly of all his fair Houses and Rich furnished Rooms he can lodge but in one at once and neither the Variety nor the â—…ineness and Delicacy of the things he enjoyes doth secure from Death or Sickness and Diseases and the other incumbrances of our Life Mans life saith our Saviour consisteth not in the abundance of the things he possesseth Luke 12. 15. That is a Man's Life is not prolonged thereby he must not necessarily live as long as he hath any thing to spend even though he have much goods laid up for many years his Soul may be very soon required of him as the Parable there sheweth And as the Abundance maketh not our Life the longer so neither much the better True Pleasure and Contentment doth not alwayes follow great Measures of this Worlds goods he that hath little and but a moderate competency passeth his dayes ordinarly more Quietly and Contentedly than he that hath much Riches and his sleep is alwayes sounder The sweetest sleep doth not necessarily follow Beds of Doun and Pillows of Silk The sleep saith Solomon of a labouring Man is sweet whither he eat little or much but the abundance of the Rich will not suffer him to sleep Eccl 5 12. Our Natures may be well enough supplied with little Natura paucis contenta and ordinarily when that little and moderate competency is only enjoyed it affordeth greater
display Himself and His Glory and will give Admirable Manifestations of his Wisdom Power Goodness and other Perfections beyond what either eye hath seen or eare heard or what can enter into the heart of Man Tâ—…irdly The excellent company which are in Heaven is no small Addition to the Happiness thereof They are Persons far from Malice and Envy from intertaining Suspicions and Animosities or from being ready to fall out in jars and contests But as they are Enriched with the best Endowments so they are Acted with the largest Charity and Good-will loving each other intirely and intertaining one another with all the Indearing expressions of Friendship Of all pleasures Friendship and the society of Excellent Persons is the greatest it affects the mind most and fills the Heart with the greatest Measure of Joy and Gladness what Delight and Satisfaction then may be expected in the Society of Angels and Arch-Angels Cherubims and Seraphims and the Spirits of just Men made perfect But fourthly in the other life we shall find our selves not only in a far better State as to Externals but shall also feel great and Glorious Changes in our selves For first we shall not be tyed to the necessity of Eating and Drinking and Sleeping in which mean exercises the one half of our time is consumed there we shall not be cloged and fettered to a crazy infirm and sickly Body as now for then this Corruptible shall put on Incorruption and this Mortal Immortality And CHRIST IESUS shall change this vile Body that it may be fashioned like unto his Glorious Body according to the working whereby He is able to subdue all things to himself 1 Cor. 15. Phil. 3. 21. There shall be a vast Change in the â—…rame and Constitution of our Body For there shall be given to it Glory and Power and Splendor and some other Subtile and Excellent Qualities so far above the common Nature of Bodies that the Apostle thought fit to term it a Spiritual Body Secondly As such Glorious Changes are to be wrought upon our Bodies so the like shall be done to our Souls the Body is thus changed into the better because the Soul is also made more perfect these excellent Endowments are bestowed upon the Body because the Perfection and Dignity to which the Soul is now raised require that it should be solodged For being our inward Faculties are much better then Formerly the outward Organs and Instruments of Action should be better too Now our Souls shall not only be delivered from Ignorance and Errour and all the Disorders which sin hath involv'd them into but shall also have all their Faculties rectified and elevat to the outmost hight of Perfection of which Creatures are capable Truth shall not then be vail'd with Absurdity nor shall we be oblidged to seek the Knowledge thereof by such tedious and uncertain inquiries as now we are necessitate to But shall be endowed with all desirable Wisdom Now sayes the Apostle We see through a Glass darkly but then face to face now I know in part but then shall I know as also I am known 1 Cor. 13. 12. And to make our Souls compleatly perfect there shall be added unspotted Puritie and Holiness and a participation of the Divine Nature Beloved saith St. Iohn now are we the Sons of GOD and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is 1 Iohn 3. 2. The Image of GOD shall be renewed upon our Souls and that more clearly and brighty then it was at our first Creation the Divine Perfections shall be transcribed upon us and thereby we shall be brought into a near and inconceivable Union with GOD. And now seeing this doth appear what needs more Here we may well stay our Thoughts for indeed there is no climbing higher GOD is Perfection it self and the Fountain of all Happiness he therefore must needs be most Happy who is like GOD and United to him It is simply impossible to conceive greater Happiness and Satisfaction then this Enjoyment of GOD and likeness to him David doubted not of receiving Satisfaction from this when he said As for me I will behold thy Face in righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness Psal. 17. 15. This is true Felieity and should be aspired after 't is a shame for any Man to sit down lower or to content himself with less Degrees of Happiness seeing GOD is willing to bestow this upon him The obtaining Heaven and Eternal Life should be our main Project and the great Design we should be alwayes dryving on nothing should divertâ—…us from this but all our Endeavours should be to further it on And our Prayers to GOD should be chiefly that he would be pleased to favour this aim of ours and not suffer us to miscarry Some whom Worldly Love and Carnal Affections have seized and enslaved may with Reuben and Gad wish to have their Tabernacles set up this side Iordan And providing they could get their Portion in this Life would never seek after the Land of Promise But such certainly Act contrary to Reason and unbecoming the Dignity of their Natures They must put off the Man very much who intend no higher Pleasures then what are Bodily and arise from the Enjoyment of Earthly things Which though gluted to the full can never satisfie the Soul As all Mens Experience do testifie As Noahs Dove found no rest untill she returned to the Ark So neither can the Soul of Man have any solide content until it ascend into the holy hill of GOD and rest in the bosom of him from whom it had its being And as Man's true Felicity lyes not in this but in the other World so the chief Satisfaction which we can have at present flowes from the sure and well grounded Hopes of that after Happiness even as the greatest content of a Merchant while he is Trafficking abroad is in the Expectation of the Gain he will make when he comes home And as the chiefest delight of an Heir while he is Minor is in his hopes of succeeding to his Father's Honour and Fortune when he arrives at full Age. Here we are as it were in the Quality and Condition of Minors and therefore have no Reason to grudge though we be not put actually in the Possession of full Happiness We may be very well satisfied for the present that the same is surely reserved to us and waiting upon us till that we be ripe for it Blessed be the GOD and Father of our Lord IESUS CHRIST which according to his abundant Mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of IESUS CHRIST from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for us 1 Pet. 1. 3 4. The Design of this present Treatise is to direct to true Felicity which as it is of great Importance
adoe about that which is neither necessary to our Present Peace and Comfort nor yet to our Future Happiness It is just as if a Traveller coming to an Inne where he were to stay but for a Night and finding it but Poor and Mean and ill Accommodat should presently send for Masons Carpenters and Painters to repair and beautifie it Or as one upon his Arrival to any great City should presently aspire to the highest Dignity and Preferment in it And raise Stirs and Factions for that end when he knew assuredly that he must leave it the next day If by such Impertinencies Men did only disturb their Present Peace and Quiet the matter were yet the less though even here their Loss would exceed their Gain suppose they should obtain their Desire But alas the great concerns of another World are often put in hazard thereby Their Souls for the most part perish in these Attempts and by their Eagernesse to have those vain and short Enjoyments of this present Life they often keep themselves from receiving the Satisfactory and Eternal possessions above O that men were wise O that they understood this that they would consider their Latter end O that they were so Wise and Happy as not to enterprise or engage themselves into any Pursute untill they first Weighed and Examined the importance thereof whither the Fruit and Event would recompense the Pains and Labour O that they would but put that Question often home to themselves What is a man profited if he should gain the whole World and loss his own Soul And what will a man give in exchange for his Soul Matth. 16. 26. What a Madness and Unexcuseable Folly is it to be much concerned for a Transitory Life and little for Eternity To take much thought for things which perish and which we must shortly leave and to mind little or to seek with indifferency that which endureth for ever Here saith the Apostle we have no continuing City but we seek one to come Heb. 13. 14. Our Heads and our Hearts should be still towards Heaven the recovery of that Countrey above for which we were first designed and to which we Naturally belong this I say should be our chief Aim and main Project All other things in comparison to this are but idle Fancies and building Castles in the Air He that doth not so live as that he may be received into Glory when he dies he hath lived to very little purpose He deserves the Tomâ—… and Epitaph of that Luxurious and Useless Emperour Sardanapalus in which there was drawn two Fingers and sounding one upon another with these words NONTANTI EST that is all is not worth the while Men are seldom wise till it be out of time but sure if they did but consult their own Experience they shold be more sensible of the Folly of many of their Designs and Enterprises And if we did ask the greatest Warriour and Conquerour in the World he that had been the most Succesfull in his Aims to be Rich and Great and Honourable when he were departing hence what pleasure or profit he received thereby He would no doubt give us Solomon's Verdict All is vanity and vexation of Spirit the Prosecution of them produceth Vexation the Enjoyment proveth Vanity and the Reflection makes them tristes ineptiae soure and sad trifles and they carry little away with them besides the Memory of being so ill imployed What hast thou by thy happiest project gain'd But thou repent'st thy pains and wish obtain'd This Saladine that great Sultan of Egypt loudly proclaimed to the World when he discharged all Funerall Solemnities and ordered only a Black shirt in which when dead he was to be wrapt to be carried through the Camp on a Lance and one to cry before it This is all which Saladine the Emperour receives of his great Wealth and vast Empire Which Bocarius hath put into this disâ—…ich Vixi Divitijs regno tumidusque trophaeis Sed pannum heu nigrum nil nisi morte tuli With Riches Power and Trophees I did swell Now a Black-Shirt doth only with me dwell Death is a convincing proof of the Vanitie of all Worldly things it shews to how little purpose it is to Labour and contend so earnestly for them for when that hour comes they must be all thrown away the use of them ceaseth When a man dieth saith the Psalmist he shall carry nothing away his Glory shall not descend after him Psal 49 17 And though it should yet in the other World Men do not take place as in this according to their Birth Wealth and Grandeur 't is Vertue only and True Holiness which makes a Man's way there In the morning when they awake it is the Upright only which shall have dominion And therefore let Men reckon when they will he is the most Happy who hath enjoyed the greatest Quietness and Peace tho it should not be much attended with outward Pomp and Grandeur And who when he is to leave this World hath some good and well grounded Hopes of being admitted into that blessed State where he shall enjoy GOD and the Society of Angels and Immortal Felicities Now that we may be all thus Happy let us henceforth take off our Eyes from viewing the Vanities of this World let us beware of being deceived with its gaudy allurements But let us seek and endeavour seriously to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all Godliness and Honesty Let us as much as in us lyes follow Peace with all Men and prevent unnecessary and impertinent Strifes and Debates That enjoying an outward Peace with others we may be the more capable to maintain the inward Peace of our own Consciences and a true Peace with our GOD That when he hath served himself of us in this World he may thereafter receive us to the enjoyment of himself and of his endless Glory Seneca Thyest Act. 2. Stet quicunque volet potens Aulae culmine lubrico Me dulcis saturet quies Obscurâ—… positus loco Leni perfruar otio Nullis nota Quiritibus Aetas per tacitumfluat Sic cum tranâ—…ierint mei Nullo cum strepitu dies Plebeius moriar senex Illi mors gravis incubat Qui notus nimis omnibus Ignotus moritur sibi Let him that will ascend the tottering Seat Of Courtly Grandeur and become as great As are his mounting wishes as for me Let sweet repose and rest my portion be Give me some mean obscure recess a Sphere Out of the road of business or the fear Of falling lower where I sweetly may My self and dear Retirement still enjoy Let not my life or name be known unto The Grandees of the times tost to and fro By censures or applause but let my age Slide gently by not overthwart the stage Of publick action unheard unseen And unconcern'd as if I ne're had â—…een And thus while I shall pass my silent dayes In shady privacy free from the noise And busles of the World then shall
I A good old innocent Plebeian dâ—…e Death is a meer surprise a very snare To him that makes it his lifes greatest care To be a publick Pageant known to all But unacquainted with himself doth fall HALES The Character of a Happy Life How happy is he born and taught That serveth not anothers will Whose Armour is his honest thought And simple truth his outmost skill Whose passions not his masters are Whose Soul is still prepar'd for death Unty d unto the World by care Of publick Fame or privat Breath Who envies none that Chance doth raise Nâ—…r Vice hath ever understood How deepest wounds are giv'n by praise Nor rules of State but rules of Good Who hath his life from rumours freed Whose conscience is his strong retreat Whose state can neither flatterers feed Nor ruine make oppressours great Who GOD doth late and early pray More of his grace then gifts to lend And entertains the harmless day With a religious book or friend This man is freed from servile bands Of hope to rise or fear to fall LORD of himself though not of lands And having nothing yet hath all The end of the first Part. JACOB'S VOW OR MAN'S FELICITY and DUTY Part Second Chapter First A short Review of the First Part. The Case proposed how far it is Lawful to eye the Reward in our Resolutions of Obedience The Resolution given in five Particulars with an Application of all to Jacob here THere are two things to be considered in every Vow viz. What is Promised and what is desired this last we have handled already as to this Particular Vow of Iacob's here we have in the former Discourse opened up the Nature of his Requests and shewed what he sought of GOD and made it appear that as he was Humble and Modest herein in respect of GOD so very Wise for himself things craved comprehending all that is Necessary and Requisite to compleat ones Happiness in this present World he who is accompanied with the Favourable Presence of GOD who is kept and protected by the Power of the Almighty and who hath Food and Raiment that is what is Competent and Sufficient for the serving his Necessities and the Maintenance of the Present State he hath all that is desirable in this World And therefore Iacob is a fit Patern to direct us how we should steer our course and what we should Aim at while in this World and wherein the Happiness of this Present Life doth consist Having thus cleared and treated of the Conditional part of this Vow It followes next that we consider and speak to the Promissory part thereof that we may see what the Patriarch binds and oblidges himself to do to GOD if so be he bestowed and granted these things to him But first We will Answer and Resolve a Question which any may readily start here and it is this whither it be lawfull to take in conditionall Clauses in our Resolutions to serve GOD or how far we may have a respect to our benefit in our Purposes of Obedience for it would seem that Iacob's service here was a little Mercenary that he made a formal Bargain with God and that he resolved only to serve him upon condition he did such and such things to him for he first asks and then he promises For answer to this we shall first consider the Case in general and then speak to what Iacob did here in particular And first you must know that we owe to GOD all possible Service and Obedience even abstracting from these External Rewards which he hath to bestow and which we have good ground to expect from him Indeed no Man doth or shall serve GOD for nought they be-lye GOD and speak falsly who say It is in vain to serve Him and what profit is there in keeping his Ordinances for he plentifully rewardeth such as seek him in sincerity and truth and is most Liberal to all those who come unto him but however there are other prior Obligations and strong tyes upon us to Obey and Please Him so that although we had no Advantage by serving the LORD yet we could neither Reasonably complain of nor decline His Service for he is the Author of our Life and Beeing we are his Creatures and the work of his hands And therefore he hath just Right and Power to command us and all the Service we are able to do is small enough requital for what he hath already done to us And he may justly call for it though he should add no farther Favours It is his own Bounty and Goodness which makes him load us with his Benefits there is no Obligation upon Him therefore our Services do not nor can they Merit any thing at GOD'S Hand though we should suppose them never so exceptable or Worthy yet GOD is alwayes aforehand with us and we can never draw him in Arrears to us for our very Life and Being is more then sufficient payment for all that we are able to do Secondly the chief Motive to the Service of GOD and the great Principal by which we should be acted in our Obedience is that of love God himself and his glory should be the chief end which we propose to our selves otherwise our Service is neither Reasonable nor Acceptable GOD is not like man that he may be profited by us our goodness as the Psalmist sayeth extendeth not to thee Psal. 16. 2. And how little will he value what is not done to him but to another Now though we be never so much taken up in the Acts of Religion and Vertue yet that cannot be counted Homage and Worship payed unto GOD unless we make him our last end But it is service only payed to that which we chiefly aim at be it our selves and Riches or Honour or Pleasure or whatever else we have the greatest regard to That for which any thing is beloved is of it self more beloved when David dealt kindly and lovingly with Mephibosheth for Ionathan his Fathers sake it is a certain Argument that he loved Ionathan more then Mephibosheth He that loves a Man for Money and for Meat loves Money and Meat more then the Man for these are the Causes and Ends wherefore he loves the Man so he that serves GOD for any other End then GOD he certainly loves that more then GOD. Now if we prefer any thing to GOD we do not love him truly nor will he regard us as upright before him He saith our Saviour who loveth Father or Mother Son or Daughter or his own life more then Me is not worthy of Me Matth. 10. 37. Luke 14. 26. CHRIST upbraided the Men of Capernaum for following him because it was for the loaves We do not reckon them our Friends nor do we think our selves oblidged unto them who wait upon us and do us service because they bring Gain and Advantage to themselves thereby these are Mercenary Persons but he is our Friend who abstracting from his own Interest or from any
Disstance which is betwixt Him and us And so we read that Abraham and Moses and David and all the Prophets and Servants of GOD in the Scripture used to bow down and fall upon their Face to the Ground when they appeared before GOD or that he appeared unto them Yea GOD himself expresly required this of Moses and Ioshua at these Manifestations of his presence unto them which we find Exod. 3. 5. Iosh 5. 15. For there he commanded them to put off their shoes from off their feet which according to the custom of the Eastern Nations was then a Testimonie of Respect and Reverence And indeed seing we bear no proportion to the Greatness of God there is nothing more Proper or Reasonable then that we should Reverence and Exalt him by such depressing of our selves and humbling of our Bodies in his Sight The very Angels these Glorious Spirits are said to vail and cover their faces when they appear before God And how much more Reason is it that we be abashed and humbled who dwell in houses of clay and whose foundation is in the dust Certainly if there be any Gesture or Posture more humble then anoher it becomes us to use it and it doth bespeak little Reverence to God to use that Gesture and Carriage when we speak to him or he speaks to us which we would not make use of but when we were conversing with our Equals or Inferiours Sitting therefore at Prayer and having the head covered when Divine Worship is performed are very undecent and unbecoming things I wonder how ever this creept in or came to be in fashion amongst us and I think it yet more strange that there should be some who take upon them to defend that which is condemned not only by the practice of all the Saints and Servants of God we read of in Scripture but also by the Custome of all Nations whatsoever For even the very Heathens would account it irreverence towards their False Gods which many Christians in this Country are not ashamed to do towards the True and Living God What the Lord saith by the Prophet Malachy in another case will be very applicable here a Son honoureth his Father and a Servant his Master if then I be a Father where is my honour and if I be a Master where is my fear offer this now unto thy Governour will he be pleased with thee or accept thy Person saith the Lord of Hosts Mal 1. 6. 8. Nay to pass Kings and Princes and those of the best quality even the meaner sort of Gentlemen would look upon themselves as affronted and uncivilly Treated if they had not greater respect payed them then what some shew to God who would not be incens'd and provock'd if his Tennent or any other Poor mean Fellow should thrust into his presence without uncovering his Head and sit down and talk with him I doubt not but there are some who would be ready to cause kick such all manner'd Persons to the doore and I cannot see how that can be reckoned as reverence and a sign of devotion to God which men look upon as rudenesse and incivility There be some which very much mistake that place of the Prophet Isai. 29. 13. Where the Lord complains of his People of Old that they drew near Him with their Mouth and that they honoured him with their lips as if that were a discharge of all externall Worship or of outward reverence therein whereas it is not the outward honour and reverence which the Lord there finds fault with but only that their hearts were far from him God values not the Body without the Soul for then it is but a dead Carcase he cares not for our outward reverence and Prostrations when the inward Spirit of devotion is wanting but as he calls chiefly for the Heart and Mind because it is the better part of Man so he expects that having the inward the outward man will follow and indeed what God hath joyned together should not be put asunder The Apostle enjoyns the honouring of God outwardly as well as inwardly when he saith Glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods 1 Cor 6. 20. ' Tits true superstition is a fault but it is not the best way to redresse it to turn Profane and irreverent God is not pleased with the humblest postures of our bodies when our hearts and souls do not accompany them but to make up that want we must not turn away from the necessary and becoming testimonies of devotion and reverence What our Saviour said on another occasion to the Scribes and Pharises I may well apply here these ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone Matth 23. 23. As hypocrisie may be joyned to the outward acts and expressions of humility and reverence so it is as certain that there is little true sense of God within when the outward behaviour is not Grave modest and Humble wherefore it is the saying of One I will as sure believe him temperat who is staggering in the Streets with drink and him chaste whose eyes are full of Adultery him mercifull whose hands are imbru'd in blood as that he can truely fear God who sheweth no outward reverence in his worship The outward reverence of the Body is not only necessary to testifie the inward respect of the mind but it is also requisite for the quickning and stiring it up as the outward Pomp and Grandeur of Princes and Magistrats is necessary to put People in mind of their Power and Authority which otherwayes they would be readie to forget or to be too bold with so the outward Humiliation of our Bodies serves to cherish and to keep up in us the sense of God's greatness and Glory which otherwayes perhaps would slip out of our minds Thus we have spoken to that reverence both Inward and Outward which is due to GOD which is always One of the fruits of his fear The other effect thereof consists in a great care and circumspection not to offend or displease him And indeed if this be wanting there is no true Fear of GOD nor will any Reverence which we shew towards him find acceptance with him As Children who truly honour and respect their Parents are alwayes very loath to give them any manner of offence and as they are grieved when at any time they chance to do it though they do not Fear nor apprehend to be chastised so such as are sincerly acted with the Fear of GOD will carefully watch against all manner of sin and will have an aversion from it though there where no ground to dread Hell or other punishments but even because that this is contrarie to him whom they intirely love and honour And when they have sinned the consideration of the offence which is given GOD thereby will afflict them more then these bitter fruits which sin alwayes produceth Therefore the True fear of GOD doth alwayes restrain Men from doing these
done to God when we regard Man more then him And do we not regard man more then God when we are more desirous of applause from Men then to find favour in the Eyes of GOD And when we withdraw our selves from the eyes of Men lest they should know our evil Actions but never value God's sight and knowledge thereof He who doth thus hath not taken the Lord to be his God he doth not own and acknowledge him he bows only to Men to his own Credit or Homour and hath set up these for his GOD. Wherefore who would not be guilty of such gross Idolatry as to worship the Creature more then the Creator and and who would testifie and make it appear that they indeed adore the true GOD let them not slight or despise the Divine Presence but let them alwayes eye and consider it and be carefull to carry themselves alwayes as before so Great and Glorious a Majesty And seing that God is every where and hath his eye alway upon us let us in private and in publick at home and abroad at all times and in all places walk wisely and circumspectly let us not be guilty of such incivility towards God as to do any unworthy thing before him but let us labour so to behave our selves that he may think us worthy of that testimony which he gave unto Iob whom he said was a perfect and upright man One that feared GOD and eschewed evil Iob 1. and 1 Of Observing GOD'S Wayes and Actions In the second place Walking with GOD implies a carefull observance of whatsoever he doth For it is usuall for such as are in company together to watch and take Notice of one anothers Words and Actions and if one be more eminent for Wisdom and Ver. tue or any other excellency then such a are with him are the more oblidg'd to eyes his Motions and and Behaviour Nothing which Excellent and Worthy Persons speake or doe should fall to the Ground un-observ'd and it doth speake out some contempt of one to think that what they do or say is not worth the noticing as therefore out of respect to Great and Eminent personages we ought seriously to consider them their Speeches Actions and to count them worthy our remembrance so much more should our eyes be fixed upon God and it is much more our dutie to consider him what he hath done and what he dayly doth in the World that the consideration thereof we may return Him due praise and glory For this end GOD endued us with Rational Spirits and with understanding Faculties that we might be capable of Contemplating himself and his workes And therefore when we turn away our eyes from such Contemplations or neglect them we do in so farr swerve from the Design of our Creation and do disappoint GOD of that Tribute of Praise which is due unto him yea in steed of honouring him we do actually dishonour him by slighting the Effects and Products of his infinite Wisdom Power and Goodness All GOD'S Actings are like himself and do shew forth his Admirable Perfections there is no part even of the Material world but is stamped with some impression of his Almighty power and unsearchable wisdom and Infinite goodness And therefore what the Psalmist sayes of the Heavens Psal. 19. 1. May be said of all GOD'S other works they all declare the glory of GOD i. e. As a Curious engine or Fine Piece of Work doth hold out the Skill and Cunning of him that made it so all the Works of GOD have in them what doth set forth and proclaime how wise how great and good he is And as the External and Material World doth contain Visible Characters of the Divine greatness and Perfections so GOD hath created Rational and Intellectual Beeings viz. Angels and Men capable to discern and read them that by so doing they may sound forth his Praise The Contemplation and Admiration of God's works and Wayes is our proper and should be our constant imployment And if it had not been for this there would not have been bestowed upon us such Powers and Capacities Wise and Understanding Persons will not Expend more upon any thing then it is worth they will not reare up stately fabricks meerly to lodge Swine nor will they buy fine Silk and Carpet to Wipe shoos and Dishes and neither would GOD have endued us with understanding Souls Immortal Spirits if we had been only destin'd to the Acts of a Brutish and Sensuall life for then what Iudas said impertinently when the Box of Oyntment was powred upon our LORD might have been here put as a very pertinent question What needed all this Cost For something less then Reason and Spirit a meer Animal Sagacity might have served and been sufficient for finding out and taking care of Bodily Pleasures and Accommodations GOD and his Works therefore are the only sutable object for our thoughts to be imployed about these indeed are answerable to the capacities of our Soul and as the considerations thereof tendeth to the Honour of GOD so it clevats our selves to a proper and becoming Dignity whereas the most of other things are so far below us and so much within our reach that it is a debasing of our Natures too much to mind or to be taken up with them However it is certain all the Saints and Servants of GOD have ever thought it their Duty and a proper and necessary Testification of their Respect unto GOD to be taken up with the Contemplation of his Works both of Creation and Providence and to set a part sometime dayly for this purpose We are told that it was Isaac's custome to go out to the Field and meditate about even-tide Gen. 24 63 and no doubt his Meditations were such as we are speaking of The Book of Iob shews how much that holy Man and his Friends were accustomed to the consideration of GOD ' S Works and Wayes for all their Discourse and Reasonings are taken thence Yea when GOD himself appeared unto Iob he calls him to a particular consideration of his great and wonderful Works and does therefore largely display them before him in the 38. and following Chapters Nay what are all the Psalms but as so many devout Meditations of GOD'S Works or Pious Hymns composed in memory of them The Works of the LORD saith the Psalmist are great and they are sought out of all them that have pleasure therein His Work is honourable and Glorious and he hath ordained his wonderfull Works to be remembred Psal. 111. 2. 3. And again he saith All thy works shall praise thee O Lord and thy Saints shall blesse thee That is as his works contain the matter of his Praise so the Saints shall publish and Declare it by admiring and magnifying of them they shall as he goeth on speake of the Glory of thy Kingdom and talk of thy power to make known to the Sons of Men his mighty Acts and the Glorious Majesty of his Kingdom Psal.
must by no means be omitted GOD requires it the rules of Justice and Equitie make it necessary and there is no Remission without it he who confesseth hath the promise of pardon but who covereth his Sins shall not prosper To perfom this aright we must consider both our Generall and particular State and make an acknowledgement of them In the Generall we ought to acknowledge what is common to us with all others that we are of a rebellious Race miserably corrupted and prone to all evil but we must not rest here but must subjoine also a confession of our own particular faults all our sinful inclinations and actual transgressions with their Aggravating Circumstances for which purpose we ought to search our hearts to examine our Dispâ—…sitions and to take account of our Lives But if we make only a simple Confession it will avail us little we must not confess our sins to GOD as usual People do the offences they give one another or some great Man which they do clearly out of Complement or out of Constraint to shun some present inconveniency without any dereâ—…ation of the thing But as we must be ingenuous in confessing our Sins so we ought to confesse them with sorrow and contrition Confession is a meer mockery if it proceed not from an abhorrency at Sin and be not attended with indignation at our selves and backed with unfeinged purposes to abandon Sin and guard against it wherefore when we confesse 't will be necessary to consider how every sinful act is a complex of Injustice Ungratitude Arrogancy madness and Folly that sin is most loathsome in its Nature and most mischeivous in its Consequences But because GOD requires us not to remember and confesse our Sins that we may be filled with despair But to stirr up in us desires of Mercy and to prepare us for it So having humbled our Souls with the sight of our sins and wrought our selves to an earnest Desire of being delivered from the stain and Guilt of them we should next support our selves with the comfortable consideration of GODS infinite Mercy how that he is most ready and willing to forgive and how that to make way for his Mercy to Sinners he hath sent his own Son to satisfy for our sins and to repair his Honour which by our sins is affronted and baffled we should consider that IESUS CHRIST is the True Sacrifice and Propitiation for sin which by Faith we should offer up to GOD and thereupon both ask forgivenesse and confidently hope for it A third part of Prayer is Petition or a humble Representation of our Desires to GOD which he calls for to teach us our Dependance on him that 't is in him we live move and have our being and that we may acknowledge Him the Authour and Giver of all good To the right performance of this part we must first have a sense of our own indigency and a strong Faith in Gods Power and Goodness in his Power that he is able and in his goodnesse that he is willing to give us what we aske For 't is a vain thing to ask of another what we think we need not or what we may get without him and 't is no less vain to address our selves to one in whom we have no Confidence whose Power or Goodness we very much doubt Now to perswade us of GODS Power and Goodness and of our own Misery and Poverty we need but to read the Scripture call to mind the Nature and Works of GOD and take an impartial view of our selves Secondly we ought to look to the Aime and Reason of our Desires that we have a right end before us for if we have an evil intention our Desires are sinful and unworthy to be presented to GOD who is most Iust and Holy and who cannot be perverted from what is right Our Desires therefore must not terminate in our selves we must not intend our own Honour Glory Pleasure c in this World that must be the cheif end of our Desires and Petitions which is the last end of our Life and Beeing viz. GOD himself and his Glory This our Saviour teacheth us in that short Prayer he prescribed for there we are commanded in the first place to Pray that GODS name be hallowed that his Kingdom may come But this doth not debarr us from respecting our own Eternal Felicity for the Glory of GOD which we should seek includes that in seeking the Glory of GOD we seek our own Eternal interest and we cannot aime at Heaven without aiming at the Glory of GOD these two are inseparable 3ly We ought carefully to consider the matter of our Requests that in this also they be good and proper that is agreeable to the will of GOD for it is not lawful for us to crave what he hath not approved And therefore we must acquaint our selves well with the Holy Scripture in which GOD hath revealed his Will and thereby regulate all our Desires what he hath allowed we may what he hath commanded we ought to ask but what he hath forbidden we should pray against From hence it follows 4ly That we ought to pray with all earnestnesse for all Spiritual Blessings but as for Temporal things though we should Pray for them too yet not Peremptorly but with a Resignation to the wise Disposal of GOD'S Will the Reason of this Difference is because he hath absolutely approved of Spiritual Blessings but hath declared otherwise anent Temporal Benefits and because he hath made it alwayes necessary for us to be Good Holy Chaste Sober Meek c. But it is not always expedient for us to have health and outward Peace Prosperity and other temporal good things nor is it expedient for us to know when they are fit for us Fifthly and lastly each time we pray we should not only consider our general State as Men and Christians and ask what is agreeable thereto But also our particular Station the Condition of our Body and Soul the tentations we are in or lyable to and in a word all the Circumstances of our Affairs both Spiritual and Temporal and lay them open before GOD and frame Desires sutable to each of these things as a Man goeth to his Friend with a thing which befalls him and as the Sick and Infirm make the Physitian acquainted with all their Distempers so we should never fail to impart our State and all our Concerns to GOD and to ask the Direction and Assistance he knows we stand in need of Which being done in Faith of his Power and Good-will as was said before cannot but be a great Ease and Satisfaction to our Minds because then we may have this confidence that we shall have the Petitions we desired of Him 1 Iohn 5. 15. For as all things are possible to GOD so all that is good and fit shall be done to them who believe in Him or rely upon Him Blesseod are they who believe for there shall be a performance of these
is both lovely in it self and in the eyes of all the World this gains the Hearts and wins the Affections of all Wit Learning Dexterity and Courage will be talkâ—…d of indeed with some Admiration but Bounty and Charity is truly lov'd and Esteemed instances of these do tickle the Fancy chiefly but this really affects the Hearts of all who know it Every ones heart is open to embrace him whose hands are alwayes ready to the relief of the Poor and Miserable every Mouth blesseth him and every tongue speaks of his Praise People honour his Presence Pray for his Life and count it a Blessing and when he is gone hence his memory is dear to them Such an one needs no Brass Statue or Marble Tomb to perpetuate his Name it never rots but lasteth to many Generations and like precious Ointment has still a sweet Savour which refresheth the Spirits of those who smell it The Righteous saith the Psalmist that is the Charitable Man as appears from the context shall be in everlasting remembrance Ps. 112. 6 And how can it be otherwise for Thirdly Charity is a God-like thing it makes a Man truly resemble GOD in the most Lovely of his Attributes if I may be allowed to speak so GOD'S Omnipotence and Omniscience are proper Objects of fear and Reverence but 't is the consideration of his Goodness which especially begets our Love to him yea 't is this which makes him most Glorious therefore when he shewed his Glory to Moses he did it by proclaiming his Name the LORD GOD Merciful and Gracious long suffering and abundant in goodness c. Exod 34. 6. Because Goodness is the chiefest of the Divine Attributes therefore the rest are set on work for the manifestation thereof his Wisdom contrives and his Power Acts that by both he may shew his Goodness his Mercies are over all his Works Now as 't will be acknowledged the Highest Perfection to be like GOD so the best and truest Likeness to him is to study to be good and Merciful as he is Good and Merciful Though we could come to some resemblance of his Wisdom and Power 't would neither endear us to Him nor to others so much as the imitation of his Goodness Who therefore would be Like GOD who are Acted with such an High and holy Ambition let them busie themselves in doing good and according to their Power let them abound in Works of Charity and Mercy For hereby they shall become partakers of the Divine Nature and shall purchase a right to the same Tittles which GOD takes to himself in Scripture and indeed glories in as the Father of Mercies and Comforts the Helper of the helpless the Reliever of the needy such as are distressed c. The half of the Money which some lay out for Worldly Tittles would procure these Divine Designations which are by far preferrable and upon many considerations more Honourable Fourthly this Duty of Charity is most pleasant and taking 't is not more for the Comfort of the distressed then 't is for the satisfaction of the Charitable Man himself wherefore our Saviour said It is more blessed to give then to receive Acts 20. 35. Acts of Bounty and Charity truly rejoice the Heart and fill the Soul with large measures of solid joy there is far more Joy in Spiritual Exercises then in any other other pleasures are but skin deep they are only some Titillations in the Body which soon evanish but the Joy which results from Vertue and Religious exercises peirceth the Heart and causeth the very Spirit to exult and there is in Particular a special Pleasure in doing Good As the desires of doing Good are of all other the Noblest which made a Heathen Poet to call them Sensus pars Optima Nostri so certainly the fulfilling thereof is attended with the Chiefest Satisfaction has a gust and relish proper to delight a Heaven born Soul 'T is but small delight which cometh from dainty Morsels quaffing of Healths for these are Bruitish exercises and inferiour to the Dignity of our Natures But to feed the hungry to afford drink to the thirsty Soul to cloath the naked to comfort those who mourn to save the life which is ready to perish and other the like Charitable deeds are Exercises worthy of GOD himself he delights in them and how can it but delight and rejoyce us to be so Nobly and Divinely imployed If Men have reared up magnificent Structures great Buildings and made fine Gardens about them they are ready to contemplate them with vanity as Nebuchadnedzar did his Babylon saying Is not this great Babylon which I built O how mean a thing is it to be vain of these works which Wind and Weather can deface Storms batter down and time wear out But certainly there is Reason to rejoyce in being instrumental to rear up living fabricks to repair the Temples of the Holy Ghost and to preserve those who are capable to sound forth the praises of GOD to all Eternity If People will but consult their Reason and reflect on their own little Experience they cannot but be perswaded of the unspeakable Pleasure in doing Good in contributing seasonable comfort and relief to their fellow Brethren in being able to step in and pull them out of some Sad Straite or to hold off the weight of a Crosse whose pressure is likely to fill them with excessive grief 'T is only the consideration of this pleasure which makes Worldly Greatness desireable or Supportable for abstracting from this 't is an uselesse burden and a great impertinence which a Wise Man would shun and seek to be rid of Fifthly Acts of Charity and Bounty are most profitable and that upon many Accounts First they are Profitable because hereby the Creatures of GOD are Sanctified to our use and our enjoyment of them becomes Lawful Every creature of GOD is good saith the Apostle and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving 1 Tim 4 4. The Creatures are only good then when thanksgiving is Joined to the use of them which thanksgiving doth consist in a deep sense of GODS Propriety in the Creatures and of his goodness in bestowing them upon us this sense must be expressed not only in Words but Deeds The violating the Signs of GODS Dominion over the Creatures brought a curse upon them for this cause the Earth was cursed to us and this curse is not removed but by returning to our Allegiance by making an acknowledgement of GOD'S Right and Dominion in paying the Tribute which is due and which he requires The neglect of this keeps GOD from blessing our enjoyments this is the reason why some as the Prophet Haggai speaks sow much and bring little eat but have not enough drink but are not filled with drink Cloath themselves but are not warm earn wages but 't is put as 't were into a bagge with holes Hag 1 6 And as the giving GOD his due sanctifieth the Creatures by taking