bountifully and more willingly because the stock out of which they give is prepared before-hand and it being a sacred Stock by their voluntary setting it apart to such an use their conscience will account it sacriledge to lay it out any other way If poor men that live by their daies labour and servants that live on their wages would every Lords Day lay up some half-pennies or pence for this end and purpose they might have without any sensible dammage to themselves a stock for the poor How much greater store would be for the poor if rich men according to Gods blessing on them would so do 2 Visiting the sick and such as are otherwise restrained of liberty This we finde practised by our Saviour and that upon the Sabbath day after the publick ordinances were ended as Mark. 1 29 30. where we read that our Saviour with some of his Apostles After they were come out of the Synagogue went to visit Peters wives Mother who lay sick of a Feaver which sheweth That Christ accounted it a work of mercy suitable to the Sabbath to visit the sick From whence we may learn as just occasion is offered to spend some time of the Sabbath in visiting the sick it being an especial work of mercy proper to the Sabbath yea and an especial means to fill our minds with spiritual Meditations and our mouths with holy conferences which are parts of private sanctification of the Sabbath What time therefore others spend in idleness or vain company or sitting at street-doors or walking abroad in the streets and fields let us spend in this and such like works of mercy Directions for the right manner of visiting the Sick see in Chap. XIX Besides these duties of Piety and works of Mercy which are commanded to be done on the Lords Day There are some things which the Lord permits unto us in regard of the weakness and infirmities of our bodies viz. Sleep Food and Apparel Because we cannot with strength and delight spend the whole day in Sabbath duties without competent rest food and apparel therefore it is lawful for us to spend some time as in sleep so in apparelling our selves and in refreshing our bodies with food which otherwise would be ready to faint But by a moderate use of these we are inabled to do the things we take in hand the more chearfully But herein two Cautions ought carefully to be observed 1 You must spend no more time about them than needs must Wherefore your bodies being refreshed with moderate sleep you ought to get up early on the Lords Day as about six or seven of the clock and to use all possible speed in dressing your selves and not to sit longer than needs must at your meals that so you may have the more time for the duties of Gods worship and service on his day And truly since the Lord is so good and gracious unto you as to afford you some part of his own day for the refreshment of your bodies Far be it from you to abuse his goodness by lavishing away more time therein than needs must Second Caution Do them as Sabbath-dayes-works which is done two waies 1 By doing them for this end that thereby you may bee the better inabled to serve God Thus when at your lying down the evening before the Sabbath you desire God to give you quiet comfortable sleep that thereby your weak bodies may be refreshed and you the better inabled to serve him the next day in the duties of his worship and service this is a Sabbath-sleep In like manner when you eat and drink for this very end that your bodies may be refreshed and your spirits revived and you thereby the better inabled with chearfulness to serve God the remaining part of the day this is a Sabbaths-eating and drinking 2 By raising spiritual and heavenly Meditations from the same At your first awaking you should call to minde what day it is and having blessed God for your comfortable rest and sleep that night you should beg of him the special assistance of his grace to carry you thorow all the duties of the day When you are rising out of your beds you should think as of the Resurrection of Christs body out of his grave early on that day so likewise of the Resurrection of your Souls here out of the death of sin to the life of holiness and of your bodies at the last day out of the grave of the earth to the life of glory in Heaven In your apparessing your selves you should then think of the long white Robe of Christs Righteousness and of the happiness of those who have an interest therein When you are washing your hands and your faces from the cleansing virtue of the water you should take occasion to meditate of the cleansing virtue of Christs blood which alone washeth your souls from the filthy spots and stains of sin When you go to your Tables to partake of Gods good creatures your corporal food for the nourishment of your bodies should minister occasion of meditating on the spiritual food of your souls whereby they are nourished unto everlasting life The bread on your Tables should minde you of Jesus Christ who is the bread of life that came down from Heaven to quicken your dead souls Thus from every thing should you indeavour to draw matter of spiritual and heavenly meditation labouring to keep your hearâ—s in an holy frame all the day long For what our Saviour said to his Disciples concerning the loaves and the fishes Gather up the fragments let nothing bee lost The like he seemeth to speak unto you concerning the Lords Day gather up the parcels thereof let no part of the day be lost no not the least minutes which are precious as the least filings of Gold As the Lord doth permit unto you some things which your weak bodies stand in need of that thereby you may be the better inabled to serve him on his day So he is pleased to allow some things to be done by you even on his day though they hinder the performance of the proper works thereof and they are such things as are of absolute necessity Quest. If you ask what I mean by works of absolute necessity Answ. Such as must needs be done and yet could not be done the day before the Sabbath nor put off to the day after without great prejudâ—ce But on the other side such things as do no way further the sanctification of the day but rather hinder the same and may as well be done the day before or the day after or some other time ought not to be done on the Lords Day Having thus done with the Directions for the right sanctification of the Lords Day IV. Come we now to the Motives to quicken you up to a conscionable observation of the Directions 1 A right sanctification of the Lords Day maketh much to the honour of God Mark what the Lord himself saith to his Church in this case by his
heart that is we must exercise the graces of Gods holy Spirit in singing as well as in praying labouring to express the same affection in singing the Psalm as David had in penning the same as if it be a Psalm of Confession then to express some humility and brokenness of heart and spirit in singing it If it be a Psalm of prayers and petitions then must our affections be fervent If a Psalm of praises and thanksgivings then must our hearts be chearful And thus must the affection of the heart be ever suitable to the quality of the Psalm 3 It must be to the Lord that is as in the sight and presence of the Lord and to his honour and glory As the Apostle expresseth it in the next verse Whatsoever yee do in word or deed do it as in the name of Christ so to the praise and glory of God making his glory the main end and aim of what you do III. Another private Duty to be performed with our Family is Prayer For if this duty ought to be performed every day twice at least viz. in the morning and evening then especially on the Lords Day which the Lord hath wholly consecrated to his worship and service The Directions for the right manner of performing this duty of Prayer so as it may be an acceptable service and sacrifice unto God you may finde in Chapter second about the latter part thereof IV. Reading the Scriptures is another Duty to be performed in and with our Family that so they may bee acquainted with the Body of the Scriptures yea and with the Precepts and Promises the Directions and Consolations of the Word for their direction and comfort Directions for the more profitable reading of the Scriptures see Chap. 4. These are the Private duties of Piety to bee performed on the Lords Day Besides the Publick and Private there are likewise secret duties to be performed by every one alone in their Closets or Chambers which are briefly these 1 Reading some part of Gods Word or other good Books 2 Meditating of what you have heard or read that day which is an excellent means to make the Word both read and preached profitable unto you For as meat though it be never so wholsome nourisheth us not if it be not concocted and digested so is it with the Word of God the food of our souls if it be not by meditation concocted and digested it will nothing at all profit us but being by meditation digested it will then prove effectual to the nourishing of our souls 3 Examining your selves as of your former life conversation so especially of your carriage the last week and of the manner of your performing the duties of the day and as you should be humbled for your faylings therein so you should resolve with the assistance of Gods grace to be more watchful over your selves for the time to come and to be more careful in sanctifying the Lords Day by a conscionable manner of performing the duties thereof 4 Praying unto God is another duty to be performed by you in secret as well as publickly and privately yea you should double and treble your Prayers on the Lords Day Under the Law we read how the Lord required double Sacrifices on the Sabbath Day for besides the daily Sacrifices two Lambs more were appointed to be offered up on the Sabbath day four in all to shew the holiness of the day And in like manner ought you to double your spiritual sacrifices of Prayer and Praises on the Lords Day earnestly beseeching him for Christs sake to pardon as your sins in general so in special the manifold infirmities and imperfections which have passed from you in the performance of your holy seâ—vices and to enable you by his Spirit to perform them for the time to come with more life and vigor with more fervency and affection Having thus shewed you both the Publick Private and Secret duties of Piety to be performed on the Lords Day Come we now to the Works of Mercy which is another Head of duties which ought to be performed on thatday and therefore to duties of Piety you must adde Works of Mercy on the Sabbath day in a conscionable performance of both which consisteth the true sanctification of the Sabbath And because man consists of two Parts viz. of Soul and Body and both of them are subject to many Maladies therefore the Works of Mercy may be brought to these two Heads 1 Such as concern the Soul 2 Such as concern the Body of your Neighbour I The Works of Mercy which concern the Soul of your Neighbour are these and such like 1 To instruct the ignorant in Points of Doctrine needful and necessary to be known herein Iob expressed his charity as Eliphas testifieth of him Thou hast instructed many viz. in the knowledge of God 2 To draw Sinners to repentance by setting before them as the severity of Gods Justice against all impenitent Sinners so the freeness of his grace and riches of his mercy to all penitenâ— Sinners 3 To comfort such as are comfortless through an apprehension of the number and hainousness of their sins by setting before them the All-sufficiency of Christs Sacrifice and the gracious offers in the Gospel to all who find their sins a burthen to them 4 To exhort and stirre up such as have begun well to hold on patiently and constantly whereunto the Apostle exhorteth us Let us saith he consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works or to whet on to love and good works as the word in the Original properly signifieth 5 To reprove and rebuke such as are scandalous and offensive in their waies Thus Iohn reproved Herod for Herodias his brother Philips wife and for many other evils 6 To resolve the doubtful 7 To strengthen and establish such as are weak in grace These indeed in one respect may be called works of Piety namely as they are instructions directions and consolations gathered out of the holy Scriptures But in another respect they are works of mercy namely as they tend to the good of your neighbours souls In which the poorest that are may be rich in good works II. The works of mercy which concern the body of our neighbour are these and such like 1 Relieving such as are in want The Apostle enjoyning the Corinthians to lay up some thing in store every first day of the week which is the Lords Day implieth that that is a very fit season not only to do such works of mercy which are then offered unto us but also to prepare for other times And surely if every one would every Lords Day set apart something out of his commings in that week for a stock to give to charitable uses much good might be done thereby For as men by this means will have more to give than otherwise they will finde in their hearts to do on the week days So they will give both more
unworthy soever thou art otherwise to be a worthy receiver Having thus shewed the Necessity of the duty of Examination Come wee now to the Extent thereof which may be brought to two heads viz. 1 Thy graces 2 Thy sins First Thou must examine thy self of thy graces more especially of thy Knowledge Faith Repentance and Love Touching Knowledge I shall shew 1 What Knowledge is required of every worthy Communicant 2 The Necessity 3 The Trial thereof I. For the first what Knowledge is required I answer in general Knowledge of all the fundamental Principles of Religion In particular Knowledge of the Doctrine of the Sacrament Fundamental Principles of Religion are such as our salvation is founded upon without the knowledge whereof a man cannot be saved and they are these That there is a God That there is but one God That that onely true God is distinguished into three Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost all equally God That that God is the Creator and Governour of all things That all things were made good by him and are still governed by him righteously That man in particular was made perfectly righteous by him That man continued not long in his happy estate but fell by transgressing the Commandement of God in eating the forbidden fruit That wee are all guilty of Adams sin being in his loins when hee committed that sin That every one of us brought into the world corrupted and polluted natures natures as full of sin as a Toad is of poison That unto this original corruption wee have added a numberless number of actual transgressions and that in evil thoughts evil words and evil deeds That by our sins wee have made our selves liable to the wrath of God to the curse of the Law to all judgements and plagues here and to eternal death and condemnation hereafter That no man can free himself out of that miserable condition whereinto by sin hee hath plunged himself neither can any meer creature help him That God out of his free grace and rich mercy did send his own Son out of his bosome into the world to take our nature upon him that therein hee might become our Surety and Redeemer That Christ was both God and Man in one person That hee was conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary That hee died upon the Cross to save his people from their sins That hee rose again the third day from the dead ascended into Heaven sits at the right hand of God and makes continual intercession for us That by Faith wee are made partakers of Christ and of the benefits of his death and passion That Faith is the gift of God wrought in us by the Spirit of God through the Ministery of the Word whereby wee rest upon Christ alone for the pardon of our sins and for eternal life and salvation That it hath pleased God to make with us in and thorow Christ a new Covenant of Grace wherein hee hath promised the pardon of our sins and the salvation of our souls upon the alone condition of a lively Faith Particuâ—ar Principles concerning the Sacrament of the Lords Supper are these That it was ordained by Christ himself as a memorial of his great love in offering up his life a Sacrifice for our sins That this as well as the other Sacrament of Baptism is a seal of Gods Covenant whereby he bindes himself to perform his promises made to us in Christ for strengthening our Faith therein That the outward signs in the Lords Supper are Bread and Wine by which are set forth the body and blood of Christ which the worthy receivers by Faith do partake of in this Sacrament That whosoever eats and drinks unworthily is guilty of the body and blood of Christ and therefore that every one is to examine himself lest he eat and drink judgement to himself Having thus shewed what is that knowledge which is required of every worthy Communicant II. I shall now shew the Necâ—ssity thereof which appeareth 1 Because without this knowledge a man can never attain to any of the other graces for an ignorant man can neither beleeve nor repent nor love God or his neighbour aright 2 Because without this knowledge a man cannot discern the Lords body which if hee do not hee eats and drinks damnation to himself And therefore it is absolutely necessary that all who receive the Lords Supper should discern the Lords body i. e. should perceive that there is more to be received than that which is seen with the eye of the body To the bodily eye there appeareth nothing but Bread and Wine upon the Table but by virtue of the divine institution there is also Christs body and blood if this be not discerned the benefit of the Sacrament is lost But it is not possible without knowledge which is the eye of the soul to discern that body and blood under the elements of bread and wine therefore is the forementioned knowledge absolutely necessary III. For the third particular viz. The Tryal of thy knowledge whether it be a true saving knowledge thou mayest know it by the properties thereof some whereof are these 1 True saving knowledge is Experimental whereby a Christian hath a spiritual sense and feeling of what he knows He hath not only a general and a notional knowledge of God and of his own miserable condition by nature and of Jesus Christ but hee hath likewise an experimental knowledge of God and of his Attributes as of his power in supporting him under his trials and temptations of his faithfulness in making good his promises unto him He hath likewise a sensible feeling of his own wretched condition by nature And an experimental knowledge of Jesus Christ so that he knoweth Christ to be his Saviour and Redeemer and resteth upon his merits alone for life and for salvation By this then try and examine thy knowledge c. 2 True saving knowledge is Humble and joyned with meekness of spirit For the more true knowledge a man hath the more he discerns his own ignorance yea and vileness by reason of his sins And therefore you shall finde those Christians who were most eminent both in knowledge and grace to complain most as of their ignorance so of their own base and naughty hearts as you may see in Paul and others And no marvel considering that true saving knowledge discovers unto a man his own vileness and wretchedness by reason of his sins his own unworthiness yea his own emptiness and nothingness in regard of any goodness of his own Whereas unsanctified knowledge is apt to puft a man up with pride and self-conceit even to the contemning and despising of others which the Apostle plainly expresseth where he saith Knowledge puffeth up By this then try and examine thy knowledge whether it be a saving knowledge or no. 3 True saving knowledge is active and operative being ever accompanied with practice and obedience so that it worketh reformation in the heart
measure suitably thereunto To that end observe these Directions 1 So soon as you get home withdraw your self into some secret place and there upon your knees from your heart bless God as for hâ—s manifold favours mercies and blessings so especially and above all for the fountain of all blessings the Lord Jesus Christ for his Covenant of Grace made unto you in him for adding the Sacraments as Seals to the Covenant of Grace for the strengthening of your Faith and for making you that day partakers of his blessed Sacrament and for that comfort and refreshment which you finde therein I hope you are not such beasts as to forget to return thanks to God for the food wherewith your bodies are refreshed And will you bless God for your corporal food and not for your spiritual food whereby your souls are nourished unto everlasting life Will you bless God for a crumb and not for a Christ in whom are all good things contained in a most eminent manner 2 Did you finde your hearts cheared and warmed at the Lords Supper beware of quenching that spiritual heat which was there kindled in you by a sudden falling into worldly conferences and fruitless discourses But labour to keep alive that sacred fire which you found then kindled in your hearts by prayer meditation and holy conferences for know that a sudden quenching of the Spirit will exceedingly tend to the hardening of your hearts 3 Maintain a stricter watchfulness over your selves against sin for the time to come Were your souls washed at the Sacrament with the blood of Christ from the filthy spots and stains of sin and will you sâ—on after with the Sow wallow again in the filth of sin and miâ—e of sinful filthiness Did you upon your approaching to that Ordinance cast up your sins by confession and will you now with the Dogge return to your vomit again Did you there by the eye of faith see Christ crucified for your Sins under the rites of breaking the Bread and pouring out the Wine and wil you now by a fresh committing of sin crucifie him again rather resolve and strive hence forward to crucifie your sins for which Christ was crucified to hate abhor and abandon every Sin as much as in you lieth 4 Labour to live more soberly righteously and godly in this present world More soberly towards your selves more righteously towards your Neighbours and more godly towards God As you have been made partakers of an Ordinance not common to all but peculiar to Saints so your lives should have somewhat peculiar in them which is not common to wicked men You should live convincing lives by exceeding others in holiness and in righteousness You must be more frequent and fervent in Family-duties more careful in sanctifying the Lords Day more just and honest in your dealings with men living so as you may credit your Profession and adorn the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And when you are tempted to any sin thus reason the case with your selves Was I not lately at the Lords Table and did I not there vow and promise to be more watchful against Sin and more careful to walk in the waies of godliness and shall I now step out of the way of godliness into the way of sin Thus lay your temptation to the touch-stone of your vow and try whether it bee not against it which through the blessing of God may prevent many a Sin CHAP. XXIII Of the Common mutual Duties betwixt Husband and Wife HAving shewed the general Directions which appertain to Christians as Christians I come now to the particular Duties which appertain to thee in thy several and distinct relations For it is not sufficient that thou make conscience of the general Duties of Christianity but thou must also be conscionable in the performance of the particular duties of thy several relations whereby much good is both mutually communicated one to another and received one from another Whereas the Apostle Paul in setting down the severul Duties of relations doth still bring them under three Heads viz. Husbands and Wives Parents and Children Masters and Servants I shall follow his Method shewing thee the duties of each of these For the Duties of Husband and Wife they may be drawn to two Heads 1 To such as are common to both 2 Such as are proper and peculiar to each severally The common and mutual Duties are these I. A loving affection of one to another I call this a mutual Duty because as the Husband is to love his Wife so the Wife is to love her Husband Love is a duty which every Christian oweth to another Love thy neighbour as thy self saith our Saviour Where by Neighbour is meant every man every woman so that we are bound to love every one even our enemies for Christs sake But the nearer any are knit together the more they are bound to this duty of love and to abound therein Now who are so nearly knit together as Husband and Wife and therefore there ought to be a mutual loving affection between them and that love which one sheweth to the other will stirre up the other to requite that love again so as there is nothing lost by love II. Outward concord and agreement This should be as farre as is possible with all men i. e. so farre as may stand with faith and a good conscience but more especially between Husband and Wife who are so nearly knit together For without concord and agreement between Husband and Wife what comfort can either find in their house The truth is every one lives more or less comfortable in his house as there is concord and agreement there And therefore saith the Wise man Better is a dinner of herbs or roots where love is than a stalled Oxe and hatred therewith And again Better is a dry morsel and quietness therewith than an house full of sacrifice with strife i. e. slender fare yea a dry crust with peace and concord is more comfortable than good chear with strife and contention for that will so imbitter the sweetest Meats that a man can find little relish in them For the better preserving of concord and agreement betwixt Husband and Wife take these few Directions 1 Labour to suppress and keep down all furious Passions which doe usually occasion discord and dissention especially when one is passionate it will be the wisdom of the other to act patience and to express a spirit of meekness for when both are hot and angry together then the fire of contention is like to increase to such a flame as will not suddenly bee quenched And therefore I would commend this rule to Married persons To beware of beâ—ing both angry together but rather let one be to the other like Davids Harp to apt ease Sauls fury 2 Though the fire of contention be kindled at home yet let it not break forth into thy neighbours house but bee sure thou keep it within
Christian Directions SHEWING How to walk with GOD All the Day long Drawn up for the use and benefit of the Inhabitants of SEPULCHRES Parish By THO GOUGE Pastor thereof 1 Sam. 12. 23 24. I will teach you the good and the right way only fear the Lord and serve him with all your heart considering how great things hee hath done for you 2 Pet. 1. 12. I will not bee negligent to put you alwayes in remembrance of these things though yee know them and bee established in the present truth Luke 17. 10. When yee shall have done all these things which are commanded you say wee are unprofitable servants wee have done that which was our duty to do LONDON Printed by R. Ibbitson and M. Wright at the Kings-head in the Old Bayley MDCLXI TO My dearly beloved Friends and Neighbours the Inhabitants of Sepulchres Parish Grace Mercy and Peace from God the Father of Mercies and the God of all Consolation My Dear Friends COnsidering with my self how besides my Lords-daies Preaching and Week-daies Catechizing I might be further serviceable to your souls in promoting their spiritual welfare It pleased God to put it into my heart to draw up some practical Directions for your better guidance in the way to Heaven and to give to every Family in my Parish a Copy of them Accordingly I set upon the work with all readiness and alacrity being much perswaded in my self that some spiritual advantage might through Gods blessing accrew unto your souls thereby The Lord who is the searcher of all hearts knoweth that my only end and aim herein is the advancement of your everlasting salvation which if it shall be any way furthered by this small Treatise I shall never repent of my pains and cost But shall very much rejoyce that the Lord hath inabled mee in any measure to be serviceable to him in the furtherance of the Gospel of his dear Son especially among you my dear flock Two considerations among others have had some influence upon mee in this undertaking The one is of that mutual love which hath hitherto been between us As I have you in my heart so am I perswaded that you have mee in yours During the whole time of my abode with you which is now above two and twenty years I do not remember that we have had the least difference no not about the point of Maintenance the usual unhappy make-bate between Minister and People For though the value of the Living be not so much by half as is generally reported abroad being no Parsonage but a Vicaridge endowed with a third part of that Tithe which the Parson doth collect yet I cannot but with much thankfulness acknowledge that what I have had hath been with much love and friendliness For when you have made any composition with mee for my part of the Tithe you have alwaies given mee more than I could demand or expect If then the blessed Apostle Paul were willing and that with gladness to spend and to bee spent for his Corinthians and that although the more abundantly hee loved them the less hee was loved of them Much more ought I to be like-minded towards you who have not at any time so ill requited my love but alwaies been ready to answer it with reciprocal affections That therefore I might leave to posterity some publick acknowledgement and perpetual memorâ—al of your constant love and respect to mee together with my due resentment of it was one consideration which put mee upon this design Another was the gladsome reflexion upon your great and godly care of your poor which I look upon even as it is meet for mee so to do as the fruit of the Gospel preached among you and an argument of your profiting therein And indeed it is such as I willingly take occasion to make publick mention of it for an example to others For though your poor bee many hundreds yet I think I may say truly without offence to other Parishes they are in some respect better provided for than any poor in the City For by the voluntary contribution of divers of you with the assistance of some other charitable persons 1 All the poor children in your Parish are taught to read and write gratis by such School-Masters and School-Mistresses who teach them their Catechize whereof my self sometimes take an account 2 All the Antient poor who can either spin or knit may have Flax and Yarn for fetching to set themselves on work an are well paid for the same immediately upon the return thereof This consideration as it hath very much affected mee so have I alwaies accounted my self your debtor upon this score And surely if our Lord and Master doth take what is done unto the poor for their relief as done unto himself then should wee also especially his Ministers in some sort be like-minded Your debtor therefore I have taken my self to bee nor could I bethink my self how to discharge this debt in a way more suitable to the nature of it and my relation to you than by indeavouring something extraordinary for your good hereafter as you have done extraordinarily for the present good of our poor and as you have put your selves to special pains and charge for the succour of their bodies so to put my self upon some special labour and willingly be at some cost for the advantage of your souls But the main Motive which hath put mee upon this undertaking is the single sense of my Relation to you that it hath pleased God of his infinite goodness and free grace to entrust mee a weak frail earthen vessel with that inestimable Treasure the Mysteries of the Gospel and appointed mee to preach unto you in particular the Unsearchable Riches of Christ. I account it the greatest honour a poor creature can be capable of to be made directly subservient to the glorious counsel and gracious purpose of his Creator for the recovery and restauration of the world by Jesus Christ and therefore that we Ministers of the Gospel whom God hath vouchsafed this honour have the strongest ingagement and obligation laid upon us to preach the Gospel both in season and out of season and to lay out our selves all manner of waies if by any means we may gain souls unto Christ and build them up in him Now this way I have here taken will have this advantage above others above my ordinary preaching and performance of other Ministerial duties among you that whereas by them I can minde you of the things which belong unto your everlasting peace only while I am in this Tabernacle By this as it is said of Abel I may still speak to you even when dead Accept therefore my dear Friends and Neighbours this little Treatise from the hands of your loving Pastor whose heart is exceedingly inlarged towards you greatly longing after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. For what is my hope or joy or crown of rejoycing Are not even yee in the
so if thou canst pour out thy Soul in a true and hearty Prayer unto God for the pardon of thy Sins he will questionless forgive thee even because thou prayest unto him for as David speaketh The Lord is not only ready to forgive but plenteous in mercy to all them that call upon him 4 Sprinkle thy Soul with the blood of Iesus Christ. Christ is our peace as the Apostle calls him neither canst thou by all that thou art able to doe make thy peace with God but only thâ—ugh faith in his blood When the destroying Angel saw the blood of the Lamb sprinkled on the Posts of any Door hee passed by that House and they within were safe so that Soul which is sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ is so safe from the destroying Angel of God that he shall not doe it hurt for death is an advantage to that Soul which is sprinkled with the blood of Christ being the door of Life and a gate to Heaven as Cyprian calls it Though the blood of Christ be the means of our peace and reconciliation with God yet unless that blood be sprinkled on thy Soul thou canst find little peace there and therefore the Apostle Peter speaks not only of the blood of Christ but of the sprinkling of the blood of Christ. It is not enough that Christ hath shed his blood but there must be besides the shedding of it the sprinkling of it Christs blood was shed upon the Cross yet all men are not reconciled unto God thereby And what is the reason Surely because that blood is not sprinkled upon their souls and peace and reconciliation with God must be had not only from Christs blood poured out but from his blood sprinkled Quest. How is Christs blood sprinkled upon our souls Ans. By Faith applying the blood of Christ unto our own souls comfort Faith is the hand of the Soul and the soul by faith puts her hand into the Wounds of Christ takes of his blood and besprinkles her self therewith applying the merits and the vertue thereof unto it self and thence follows peace and reconciliation with God Obj. I would willingly apply the Merits of Christs Death and Passion unto my self but oh I am conscious of so much unworthiness seeing nothing in my self why the Merits of Christs death should belong unto me that I cannot yea I dare not apply them to my self Ans. 1. It is good to be conscious to thy self of thine own unworthiness but not so as to bee kept thereby from applying of Christ and the Merits of his Death and Passion unto thy souls comfort And truly if thou wouldst but consider that God respecteth his own goodness and not ours in the offering of his Son and that his grace is everyway most free this conceit of thine unworthiness can be no just plea against the applying of Christ with the benefits of his Death and Passion unto thine own souls comfort it should rather be an incouragement unto thee because the more unworthy thou art in thine own sight and sense the more worthy thou art in the account of Christ. The greatest worthiness that any Christian can here attain unto is to be sensible of his own unworthiness 2 Thou who complainest of thine unworthiness I would ask thee Whether any man before he made application of Christ and of his Merits unto himself did see any thing in himself why Christ should belong unto him rather than to any other The Scripture saith There is no difference for all have sinned Obj. 2 My Sins are so many for number and so hainous in their quality that I cannot imagine that Christ should belong unto me and therefore dare not apply him nor the benefits of his Death and Passion unto my self Ans. The more sinful thou art in thine own sense and apprehension the fitter thou art to close with Jesus Christ and to apply the Merits of his Death unto thy self for in that gracious invitation of Christ we find no other qualification put in but a sense of sin Come unto me all yee that labour and are heavie laden and I will give you rest where the Parties invited to come unto Christ are such as are sensible of and thereupon groan under the weight and burden of their sins as the words in the Greek there properly signifie and Luke 5. 32. Christ professeth He came not to call the righteous but sinners not such as were righteous in their owne conceit but such as were Sinners in their own sense and apprehension truly sensible of their sins so that sense of sin is the only qualification requisite to an application of Jesus Christ. Obj. 3 I have often sinned against knowledge and conscience and therefore fear I have committed that unpardonable Sin the Sin against the Holy Ghost and so dare not apply Christs blood unto my self Ans. Though the Sin against the Holy Ghost bee a Sin against knowledge and conscience yet every Sin yea every grievous Sin against knowledge and conscience is not the Sin against the Holy Ghost for they may be without malice of heart which this cannot be and therefore though thou hast often sinned against knowledge and conscience yet if thou hast not sinned with a malicious heart i. e. thou hast not sinned meerly because thou wouldest displease God and grieve his Spirit thou hast not committed the Sin against the Holy Ghost IV. Having made thy peace with God then make thy peace with men by an hearty forgiving of all who have wronged thee This is a duty to be perâ—ormed by thee in the whole course of thy life as any occasion thereof is given without which the Lord will not accept of any Christian service and sacrifice that thou offerest unto him and therefore saith our Saviour When thou standest praying forgive if thou hast ought against any for indeed how canst thou ask God forgiveness of thy sins when thou wilt not forgive man his offences against thee How canst thou begg peace and reconciliation with thy heavenly Father when thou wilt not be reconciled on earth to thy Brother As therefore this Duty is to be performed by thee in the whole course of thy life so especially in thy last Sickness for thereby thou maist gain some assurance in thine own Soul of the forgiveness of thy Sins committed against God which our Saviour implieth in that expression of his If yee forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you wouldst thou therefore be assured of Gods mercy towards thee in the forgiveness of thy sins committed against him search narrowly into thine own soul and if thou canst find thou dost as heartily forgive thy Brother as thou dost desire forgiveness of God then maist thou assure thy self of Gods mercy to thee in the forgiveness of thy sins committed against him so much is hinted to us in the fifth Petition of the Lords Prayer Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them
that trespass against us which latter clause is added partly to stir us up readily to forgive those who have wronged us and partly to strengthen our faith in the assurance of the forgiveness of our sins committed against God from our readiness to forgive those who have wronged us in that our forgiving of our Brother is a fruit proceeding from Gods forgiving of us V. Labour to clear up thine Evidences for Heaven that thou maist upon good ground be able to say with the Apostle Paul I know that when the earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved I shall have a building with God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens The Scripture layeth down sundry clear evidences of a true right and title unto Heaven which who so finds in himself may rest assured of a blessed life after this I shall instance only in one which indeed is the principal of all and a very comprehensive one viz. Faith in Iesus Christ which we find often set down in Scripture as a sure evidence for Heaven for saith our Saviour God so loved the world that he gave his only begotton Son that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life and saith Iohn Baptist He that beleeveth on the Son hath everlasting life i. e. he is as sure of it as if he were in actual possession of it Q. How may I know whether I have a true sâ—ving faith A. Most Divines doe hold forth the fruiâ—s and effects of faith as the only signs thereof and means whereby men should try and examine their faith but the truth is the fruits of a saving faith in many Christians are often times so weak that if they should examine their faith only by them they would bee apt to question the truth thereof yea to conclude against themselves that they have no true faith at all therefore I shall briefly shew thee the Antecedents of Faith by declaring the ordinary method oâ— Gods Spirit in working true faith in the soul which is this 1 God by his Spirit in the Ministery of the Word doth awaken a mans Conscience and maketh him to see and discern as his manifold sins and transgressions so his misery by them in regard of the dreadful punishments due unto him for the same This method the Lord observed in those three thousand Converts mentioned Acts. 2. 37. Examine therefore whether thou hast by the Ministery or the Word been convinced of thy Sins and of thy miserable condition thereby how thou art liable to the Wrath of God to all Judgements and Plagues here and to Eternal Death and Condemnation hereafter for till thou beest convinced of thy sins and misery thou canst see no need nor want of Jesus Christ. Hence the Law is said to be our School-master to bring us to Christ because it doth discover as our sins and our misery by reason of them so our need of Christ. 2 The next Work of Gods Spirit is to make the soul sensible of its wretched miserable condition affecting it with some measure of grief and sorrow for the same This method likewise the Lord observed in those three thousand Converts mentioned Acts 2. 37. where it is said When they heard this i. e. when they were convinced of that horrible Sin of theirs in Crucifying the Lord of life they were pricked in their hearts viz. with the sence and apprehension of their wretched miserable condition Examine therefore whether thou hast been truly sensible of thy wretched miserable condition and whether the sence thereof hath affected thee with true grief and sorrow for the same Though all men are noâ— alike afflicted with a sence of their wretched miserable condition but some much more deeply than others yet few pass through the pangs of their New Birth without some throws some grief and sorrow for their sins neither can I conceive how any should cloze with Jesus Christ as their Saviour till they have been so sensible of their sins as that they are sensible of their need of a Saviour 3 Another Work of the Spirit is to convince the Soul of its own unrighteousness that so it may the more willingly seek out after the righteousness of Christ to be cloathed therewith for so long as a man is conceited of any righteousness of his own he will never be beholding unto Jesus Christ for life and for salvation for as our Saviour saith The whole need not a Physician they need neither Physick nor Physician and therefore care for neither In like manner such as are strongly possessed with a good conceit of their own estate and condition of their own righteousness see no need they have of Christ and his Righteousness and so regard him not Examine thy self therefore whether thou hast ever been truly and thorowly convinced of thine own unrighteousness whether thou hast discerned the Sins of thy holy services whether thou hast cried out with the Church All my righteousness is as filthy raggs c. 4 The next Work of the Spirit is to convince the soul of the perfection of Christs Righteousness and of the All-sufficiency of his Sacrifice that his righteousness is a most perfect and exact righteousness that his sacrifice upon the Cross was a full satisfaction to Gods Justice for the sins of all the Elect it being the sacrifice of the Son of God even of him that was God as well as Man which indeed added an infinite value to all which Christ did and suffered for mans Redemption in which respect the redemption wrought by Christ is called plenteous redemption enough and enough for all the sins of his people how many or how hainous soever they were Now examine whether thou hast found this work of the Spirit upon thy soul so that thou art convinced thorowly as of thine own unrighteousness so of the perfection of Christs righteousness and of the all-sufficiency of his Sacrifice which far exceedeth the merits of thy sins 5 The next Work of the Spirit is to convince the soul of Christs willingness to receive all poor Sinners sensible of their sins who will come unto him and cast themselves and the burden of their sins upon him by affecting them with a serious apprehension of the manifold gracious invitations of Christ unto poor Sinners as that in Isaiah Hâ— every one that thirsteth come yee to the waters he that hath no money i. e. no goodness nor righteousness of his own let him come and that fore-mentioned place Mat. 11. 28. Come unto me all yee that labour and are heavie laden and I will give you rest Examine thy self therefore whether thou hast been thorowly convinced of Christs willingness to receive all poor Sinners that will come unto him and cast the burden of their sins upon him 6 The next Work of the Spirit is to stirre up in the soul some earnest longing desire after Jesus Christ so that the soul cries out Oh that Christ were mine oh that upon
any terms my soul might enjoy him which desires are the lifting up of the doors and gates of the soul for the receiving of Jesus Christ. 7 The Spirit of God having thus prepared the soul to a closing with Jesus Christ then he works the grace of faith in it whereby it throwes it self into the armes of Christ rolls it self upon him and rests upon his perfect righteousness and all-sufficient Sacrifice for the pardon and forgiveness of its Sins here and for eternal life and salvation hereafter Thus have I shewed thee the ordinary way and method which the Lord useth for the working of true saving faith in the hearts of his people Wouldst thou then know whether that faith thou pretendest to be a true saving faith try examine it by the fore-mentioned particulars consider whether it was thus kindly wrought in thee according to the ordinary method of Gods Spirit if so then though the fruits of faith are very weak in thee yet thou hast a comfortable evidence of the truth thereof and so consequently hast a sure evidence for heaven Obj. Though I cannot deny these fore-mentioned particulars to bee wrought in me yet notwithstanding I have no comfortable evidence and assurance of Heaven nor of my interest in Iesus Christ. Ans. For answer hereunto I shall lay down three comfortable considerations 1 A man may have the faith of adherence and dependence though he hath not the faith of evidence and assurance For the better understanding whereof you must know there is a two-fold faith as Divines distinguish viz. The faith of adherence whereby we roul our selves upon Christ and rest upon him and his Merits alone for â—ife and for salvation and the faith of evidence and assuranâ—e whereby wee know and are assured of our interest in Christ and consequently of our right and title unto Heaven This latter is the refleâ— act of the soul by which a Christian clearly seeth his own happiness whereas the former is the direct act of the soul. Now a man may have the faith of adherence which is true justifying faith that giveth him an interest in Christ and a right to Heaven and yet may want the faith of evidence and assurance so that he knowert not his own happiness As the child may truly hang about the mothers neck or cast it self into her armes and yet receive neither kiss nor smile from her so a poor soul may truly roul it self upon Christ cast it self into his armes and rest in his bosome which is true faith and yet have neither kiss nor smile from him therefore far be it from thee to question the truth of thy faith meerly for want of Christs smiling upon thee or to question thy faith of adherence because thou hast not the faith of evidence and assurance 2 Assurance of our interest in Christ and of our future happiness though it be requisite to the consolation of a Christian yet not to his salvation though to his comfort yet not to his safety his condition may be safe though not very comfortable at present for a Christians safety doth not at all depend upon his assurance but upon his faith That Christian that can by faith roul himself upon Christ cast himself into his armes resting upon his merits alone for life and for salvation his state and condition is safe though he hath not that assurance which he doth desire for the promise of life and salvation is made to faith and not to assurance the tenour of the Gospel is Beleeve and thou shalt be saved as Ioh. 3. 16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life It is not said that whosoever hath assurance of his interest in Christ and of eternal life and salvation but whosoever beleeveth in Christ shall be saved This consideration may revive many drooping souls who though they doe renounce all confidence in themselves and in any righteousness of their own and place their whole confidence upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ and the merits of his Death and Passion yet have no comfortable assurance in their own souls of their interest in Christ or of their eternal life and salvation let such know that their condition may bee good and safe for all that 3 Assurance of Salvation is not so ordinary as many Christians doe imagine for indeed they are but for Christians who doe here attain to a clear evidence and full assurance of their salvation such whom the Lord here calleth forth to hard services or great sufferings to them he is pleased many times to give some clear evidence and assurance of their eternal life and salvation for their better comfort and support Thus many Martyrs have expressed their full assurance of a better life after this whereas such a measure is not usually granted to ordinary Christians their trials being but flea-bites in comparison of the others VI. Then especially act the graces of Gods Spirit in thee as 1 Thy Falth which is a grace of special use to thee so long as thou livest in this world but most of all at thy last Sickness and in the time of Death therefore then especially bee often actuating and exercising thy faith in Jesus Christ with the eye of faith look upon Christ hanging upon the Cross there offering up his life as an all-sufficient Sacrifice and full satisfaction to Gods Justice for thy Sins and cast thy self into the armes of Jesus Christ resting upon his Merits alone for life and for salvation with a disclaiming of all confidence in thy self or any righteousness of thine own place thy whole confidence upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ and upon the merits of his death and passion 2 Then especially act thy zeal for Gods glory by giving good counsel to those who are about thee or come to visit thee it is the last time thou canst doe any thing for God in this world therefore then shew thy love to him and zeal for his glory by calling upon others to fear him and serve him by a conscionable discharge of the duties of their places callings and relations perswade them to minde the things of this world less and the things of Heaven more to prize health and improve it for the good of their souls to lay up a stock of graces and comforts against the evil day and to get their evidences for Heaven clear before they be cast upon their Death-beds Words of dying men are of most efficacy and authority and therefore improve thy dying speeches to the glory of God and the good of thy neighbour Thus our blessed Saviour when he was to leave the world shewed his zeal for Gods glory and love to his Disciples in leaving with them many precious counsels comforts and exhortations and the Apostle Paul being aged and knowing the time of his departure was at hand called for the Elders of the Church of Ephesus and leaves with them
many excellent and weighty exhortations 3 Act thine obedience by resigning up thy self unto the Will of God to be at his dispose either for life or death As thou must not be unwilling to dye when God calleth thee so neither must thou be over eager to dye before hee call thee thou maist not desire Death out of discontentment of mind because of some present miseries and afflictions which lye upon thee nay thou maist not absolutely wish to dye out of a desire to be rid of thy sins and to bee with Christ but it must be with a submission to the Will of God if he see it meet and convenient for thee though Paul knew it were far better for him to dye than to live yet did he not desire death absolutely but with a submission to the Will of God VII Be frequent in reading the holy Scriptures or cause them to be frequently read unto thee for there thou shalt find 1 Examples of Gods mercy shewed to the afflicted 2 Instructions how to bear and improve thy present Visitation 3 Comfortable promises of support under the sorest trials And know for certain that one Promise in the Book of God will bee more effectual to yeeld thee comfort on thy Death-bed than all the counsel of thy friends that shall be then about thee VIII Be often lifting up thine heart to God in Prayer And when through weakness of body and faintness of spirit thou art not able to pour our thy soul in any set and solemn Prayer send up some short ejaculatory Prayer unto God as that of the poor Publican Lord be merciful to me a Sinner and also that of the poor man Lord I beleeve help thou my unbelief and that of the Apostles Lord increase my faith and that of Stephen Lord Iesus receive my spirit These ejaculations going from the heart they are acceptable and pleasing unto God let us therefore as Austine adviseth us endeavour to dye praying by a frequent breathing forth of these or such like ejaculatory Prayers IX Be often resigning up thy soul into the hands of God saying with our blessed Saviour Father into thy hands I commend my spirit Little Children for the most part desire to dye in their Fathers bosome or upon their Mothers lap even so shouldst thou in the hour of death cast thy soul into the arms of thy heavenly Father and rest in the bosome of Jesus Christ. If thy Disease be painful turn to those Direction in the fore-going chapter How to bear afflictions willingly and cheerfully CHAP. XIX Directions to such as visit the Sick VIsiting the Sick being a work of Mercy it will be thy wisdom so to manage and improve the same that thou maist both benefit thine own soul thereby and likewise doe good to the sick Party I. That thou maist benefit thy self thereby take these few directions 1 In visiting thy sick Neighbour take occasion to think of thine own mortality and proneness to fall into Sicknesses and Diseases for that which befalls one man may befall another in that we all carry about us as mortal so frayl bodies subject to the like calamities which the Lord knows how soon may befall any of us 2 Lift up thine heart in thankfulness unto God for that health and strength of body he is pleased still to continue unto thee Health is a greater mercy than most doe imagine Ask the sick man what hee thinks of health and he will tell thee it is the greatest of Temporal mercies and in it self a mercy not to be valued the truth is all Mercies are prized by the wanting of them more than by the having and enjoying them As no body admires the Sun but when it is eclipsed so neither doth any esteem health but when by sickness they are deprived thereof 3 Labour to be compassionately affected with the miseries and afflictions of thy brother for as Iob speaketh To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend Which duty is often urged and pressed in Scripture as by the Apostle Paul Rejoyce with them that rejoyce and weep with them that weep and by the Apostle Peter in this phrase Having compassion one of another which Beza Paraphrastically well turns Be touched with the sence and feeling of one anothers griefs And truly that communion and nearness of conjunction that sincere Christians have one with another doth call for this duty for as they are all sons of one Father so are they members of one body in respect whereof there should nay there ought to be such a compassion and sympathy in the members of the Mystical body I mean among Christians as there is in the members of the Natural body Now you know that in the Natural body if one member suffer all the members suffer with it as the Apostle expresseth it 1 Cor. 12. 26. which place Saint Augustine in his Works often expounding most excellently shewes the mutual compassion betwixt the members of a Natural body Behold saith he the foot treadeth on a thorn and see how all the members condole it the Back bends it self the Head stoopeth the Eye though remote in place diligently searcheth it out the Tongue complaineth as if it self were pricked and the Hands doe their best to pluck it out and yet neither Back nor Head nor Tongue nor Eye nor Hand nor any member but the Foot was touched with the thorn and surely such a sympathy and fellow-feeling there ought to bee amongst true Christians who are all members of one body whereof Christ Iesus is the head II. As in visiting the Sick thou must be careful to benefit thine own soul thereby so likewise to doe what good thou canst to the sick Party To that end observe these few Directions 1 Forbear to talk of any vain worldly or needless matter before him but let thy discourse be as savoury and Spiritual so in some measure suitable to his condition as of Death and preparation thereunto of the Day of Judgement of the happiness of those who have an interest in Christ and his Righteousness and the like 2 Perswade the sick Party to settle his estate by making his Will if he have not done it before that so hee may with more freedome wholly mind the spiritual good and welfare of his soul. This counsel did the Prophet Isaiah give unto King Hezekiah when hee was first struck with sickness 3 If thou apprehendest his Disease to be dangerous flatter him not with a hope of recovery lest thereby thou betray his soul to eternal death but deal faithfully with him by declaring unto him his weak and dangerous condition and advising him as to think of death so to prepare for it telling him that the fitter hee is to dye the fitter he will be to live if the Lord should adde more days to his life 4 If thou perceive him to be ignorant instruct him in the Principles of
revenge in the night and in the morning bring forth some mischief or other and therefore as we say of the Toad-stool it grows up in a night and dyes in a night so should this poysonous weed of anger dye on the day wherein it was born IV. Before thou goest to bed be sure to offer unto God thine evening sacrifice of Prayer and Thanksgiving this is hinted unto us under the Law where the Lord required his Evening Sacrifice as well as his Morning Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the Altar two Lambâ— of the first year day by day continually the one Lamb thou shalt offer in the Morning and the other Lamb thou shalt offer at Even This was the daily ordinary Sacrifice which the Lord required under the Law and therefore much more doth hee require a Morning and an Evening sacrifice of Prayer and Praises now under the Gospel And truly if thou shalt lye down in thy sins unrepented of thou mayest happily awake with Hell flames about thine ears and therefore farre be it from thee to presume to goe to thy bed before thou hast offered unto God thine evening sacrifice of Prayer and therein heartily begged the pardon and forgiveness of all thy sins in and thorow the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ. Shouldst thou put off the performance of this duty till thou art in thy bed as the practise of too too many is it is very likely thou wilt fall asleep before thou hast made any great progress therein and those prayers which thou makest in thy bed will prove but drowsie yawning prayers at the best therefore bee sure to offer up thine evening sacrifice before thou goest into thy bed and if conveniently thou canst before supper for by experience we find that our bodies are much more drowsie and our spirits much more dead and heavie after supper than before Q. Whether a man finding his body drowsie and his spirits dead and heavie had better fall upon the duty of Prayer or forbear it for that time Ans. Drowsiness of body and deadness of heart is no sufficient warrant for the omission of thine evening sacrifice of Prayer but thou oughtest to â—erform it notwithstanding as well as thou canst and that for these Reasons 1 Because the Scripture giveth us no warrant for the omission of a bounden duty because of some present drowsiness and indisposition thereunto but doth rather expresly hold forth the contrary enjoyning Christians to pray always and to pray continually with sundry the like expressions Which imply as a frequent lifting up our hearts to God in ejaculatory Prayers so a constant observance of our set times of solemn prayer 2 As man that hath little or no appetite to his meat yet by forcing himself to eat a bit or two he begins to have a better stomack thereunto so when a Christian hath no mind or disposition unto Prayer but findes his body drowsie his spirit heavie and his heart dead yet by forcing himself thereunto though against his mind doth many times find his affections â—â—ickned and his spirits raised up in Prayer yea it is wonderfuâ— what quicknings and enlargements do many times come upon an adventurous soul upon a soul that will adventure upon duty against deadness drowâ—ness and such like discouragements and therefore let not the drowsiness of thy body nor the heaviness of thy spirit so far prevail with thee as to forbear and omit thy course of praying But fall upon it and for ought thou knowest thou mayest feel and finde the lively quicknings and inlargements of Gods Spirit upon thy spirit in the performance thereof 3 When a Christian feels and findes his body drowsie his spirit heavy and himself very indisposed unto the duty of prayer yet hee may do it with much uprightness and sincerity of heart that is hee may do it in obedience to the command of God as in the sight and presence of God with a desire to approve himself unto God in the doing of it and herewith hee may exceedingly comfort himself against deadness and drowsiness for such is the excellency of this grace of sincerity that it maketh all our services to be pleasing unto God though they bee performed with deadness of heart and dulness of spirit 4 Though our prayers bee performed with much deadness of heart and indisposition of body yet being put up in the name of Christ they finde acceptance with God in and thorow his Mediation and Intercession Let us therefore put up our prayers in the name of Christ and by Faith cast our selves and our services upon him and then wee shall not need to doubt of Gods acceptance of them Thus have I shewed thee the duties to bee performed by thee in the evening before thy going to bed I come now to the duties to bee performed by thee at thy lying down I. As thou art going to bed take all occasions of holy and heavenly Meditations To give you some hints As thou art putting off thy cloaths think how it will not be long before thou beest stripped of all and go out of the world as naked as thou camest into it which Iob excellently expresseth Naked saith hee came I out of my Mothers womb and naked shall I return thither q. d. I came into the world destitute of cloathing and of all outward comforts whatsoever and naked shall I return thither not into his Mothers womb again for that is impossible but to the grave the womb of the earth and common Mother of all so that his meaning is I shall go out of the world as naked as I came into it Heâ—ce Death is called an uncloathing because it strips a man of all his ornaments not only of his apparel but also of his honours wealth and riches How should the consideration thereof stir thee up to labour for the true riches and spiritual cloathing I mean the saving graces of Gods Spirit and the robe of Christs Righteousness and then thou shalt not goe out naked but adorned and enriched As thou art laying thy self down in thy bed let the bed mind thee of thy grave thy sheets mind thee of thy winding-sheet and thy sleep mind thee of death for death is but a kind of sleep sleep is a short death and death is a long sleep Hence Sleep and Death are often put the one for the other in Scripture and death is often set out by sleep That thou maist lengthen out this meditation think of the several resemblances between Sleep and Death as 1 Men asleep are at rest free from all trouble from all toyl and travel so the dead doe rest from their labours as Revel 14. 13. blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord for they rest from their labours that is from their troubles and travails 2 Men asleep rise again so the body after it is dead and laid in the grave shall arise again death is but a sleep somewhat
thou art present at the Ordinance put forth all the strength thou canst in the partaking thereof I mean the strength of thy affections For though thou art very weak yet if thou put forth thy weakness God will accept thereof Content not thy self therefore with a meer outward participation of the Lords Supper but let thy care be to bring up thine heart and thine affections to the Ordinance and to put forth what strength thou canst II. Remember the death of Christ which is Christs command in the institution of this Ordinance for saith he This do in remembrance of mee viz. in remembrance of my bitter death and passion For the Apostle Paul explaining this remembrance of Christ applieth it to his death and the shewing it forth This do saith hee in remembrance of mee For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do shew the Lords death till he come So that this Ordinance of the Lords Supper was instituted for a solemn Memorial of that great Sacrifice the Lord Jesus Christ that his death might never be forgotten but be ever fresh in our memories And why must his death be thus remembred Surely because thereby was the Covenant of Grace ratified and sealed our Redemption purchased our sins expiated our reconciliation made with God and the foundation of our peace laid And therefore at the Table let out thine heart in a serious meditation of the manifold sufferings of Christ which is the main business of this Ordinance And meditate not only of his sufferings at his death but likewise in the whole course of his life even from his cratch to his Cross from his birth to his death For his whole life was a continual suffering Meditate therefore of his mean birth and flight in his infancy of the manifold reproaches which were cast upon him from time to time yea of his manifold persecutions of their cruel handling of him at the time of his death when they apprehended him like a theef bound him arraigned and condemned him as a Malefactor buffeted him with their hands beat him with staves scourged him with whips making loâ—g furrows on his back platted on his head a Crown of sharp Thorns laid an heavy cross on his back nailed his hands and feet to that Cross give him Gall and Vineger to drink and sundry waies much afflicted him Thus was his body broken with torments In relation hereunto it is said of him That he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs Especially when thou art present at the Sacrament take a turn with Christ in the Garden by meditating of his bitter Agony wherein he sweat drops of blood which was never read or heard of in any before or since yea the blood which Christ then sweat was not thin watery blood but thick blood as St. Luke expresseth it Being in an agony his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground which latter clause sheweth that the blood of Christ passed through the pores of his body in such a plentiful manner that it trickled down to the ground in great abundance so that not only the eyes of Christ but all the parts of his body did seem to weep and that tears of blood as Bernard speaketh In this sweat of Christ there are three things remarkable which doe exceedingly set forth the greatness of his Agony 1 It was in a cold night for which cause afterwards they kindled a Fire in the High-Priests Hall and cold driveth the blood inward 2 Hee lay upon the cold ground which was enough to drive the blood inward 3 He was in exceeding great fear which naturally draweth the blood from the outward parts to the Heart and yet in a cold night lying upon the cold ground and being in great fear he sweat drops of blood Who can imagine the bitterness of our Saviours Agony at that time And what was it which put him into that agony questionless the apprehension of what hee was to suffer as appeareth by his Prayer in his Agony Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me Now if the apprehension of what hee was to suffer was so bitter oh how bitter think you were his Sufferings upon the Cross when he cried out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me which words doe not imply that the Deity was severed from the Humanity but that the Father had withdrawn from him all sensible feeling of his loving favour had restrained the influence of those beams which might any way refresh his troubled soul so that Christ might well take up the words of the captive Iews and say Behold and see if there bee any sorrow like to my sorrow wherewith the Lord hath afflicted mee in the day of his fierce anger These things call to mind in the time of the administration of the Sacrament not only when thou art eating the Bread and drinking the Wine but also when thou seest the Bread broken and the Wine poured forth then thou shouldst think how Christs Body was broken with torments and his Blood shed for remission of sins and also when thou seest others taking the Bread and the Wine thou shouldst then be steeping thy thoughts in the meditation of Christs bitter death and manifold sufferings This remembrance of Christs Death at the Sacrament must not be a bare Historical remembrance thereof contenting thy self with a remembrance of the History of Christs death as it is set forth by the Evangelists but it must be an operative and practical remembrance working up thine heart 1 To an unfeigned love of God who out of his free grace and rich mercy did send his dearly beloved Son out of his own bosome into the world to take our Nature upon him and therein to dye a bitter cursed death for mans redemption Who can sufficiently admire the riches of Gods love to man therein How may we with David cry out and say Lord what is maâ— that thou art mindful of him especially that thou shouldest be so mindful of him as to give the Son of thy love to suffer a cursed death upon the Cross to make us who were children of Wrath and bondslaves of Sathan Sons of God and Heirs of eternal life and salvation And how should this incomprehensible love of God fire and inflame our cold and frozen hearts with a fervent love unto him again 2 The remembrance of Christs death should work up our hearts to an ardent love of Christ for that wonderful love of his in giving himself for us his Body to be crucified his Blood to be shed and his Soul to bear the intollerable burden of his Fathers Wrath due to our Sins which made him sweat drops of blood in the Garden and to cry out on the Cross My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Oh how should this ravish our souls with admiration of so great love and inflame our hearts with love
again unto him who did and suffered so much for us How should the meditation of the manifold sufferings of Christ especially of his bitter Death and Passion work in us an holy passion of love 3 The remembrance of Christs death should work in us a care to please him in all things to be willing to doe and suffer any thing for him who hath done and suffered so much for us which Christ declareth to be a good proof of our love to him saying If yee love me keep my Commandements And though we cannot exactly keep the Commandements of Christ yet we may and ought sincerely to endeavour the keeping of them without which our profession of love is but vain and fruitless in shew and not in truth 4 The remembrance of Christs death should work in us a godly sorrow for our sins as the true cause of his sufferings For the truth is it was not so much Iudas that betrayed Christ nor the Scribes and Pharisees that accused him nor Pilate that condemned him nor the Souldiers that Crucified him nor the Devil that set them all on work as our sins that were the true cause of Christs sufferings The Souldiers that Scourged him and Crucified him were but our Executioners to inflict on him those punishments which our Sins deserved and Gods Justice imposed for the same They were our Sins which envenomed those Whips that scourged his innocent Body those Thorns which pricked his Temples and those Nayls which pierced his Hands and Feet and made them so bitter unto him Oh therefore that we could so look upon him whom we have pierced by our Sins that we might mourn as one that mourneth for his only Son and be in bitterness as one that is in bitterness for his first-born 5 The remembrance of Christs death should work in us the death of Sin wee should so remember the death of Christ as to dye unto Sin For the Apostle Paul urges our death to sin from the death of Christ that as Christ dyed and rose again so wee should dye to sin and live to God To this end let us hate and loath Sin as the greatest evil resolving with the assistance of Gods grace to leave and forsake all manner of sins for the time to come for why should any sin seem light to us which lay so heavie upon our Saviour as to cast him into a bloody sweat Why should any sin be sweet to us which was so bitter to our Saviour Farre bee it from us by our renewed sins to tear open his Wounds afresh and Crucifie him again 6 The remembrance of Christs death should work uâ— our hearts to some due thankfulness unto God and his Son Iesus Christ for their unspeakable love and mercy towards us therein Thankfulness is a grace not only to be exercised after our receiving of the Sacrament but likewise while we are present at the Ordinance when our hearts are affected with the apprehension of the incomprehensible love of God the Father in giving his beloved Son out of his own bosome to dye for us and of the unspeakable love of Christ in offering his own Body a Sacrifice upon the Cross for our Sins then should they break forth in praises and thanksgivings unto God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. III. Another Duty to be performed at the Ordinance is the exercise of thy graces more especially thy faith and repentance It is not enough that thou bring faith repentance and other graces to the Sacrament but thou must likewise there stirre up thy graces and exercise the same or else thou wilt be an unworthy receiver For not only a wicked man that wants grace but likewise a child of God that hath true grace may receive the Sacrament unworthily and go away without any comfort or benefit at all namely if hee do not there stir up and exercise his graces For Sacraments do not work as Physick by a virtue inherent in them but according to the disposition of the party that partaketh of them And therefore as thou wouldest be a worthy guest and partake of the comfort of the Ordinance stir up and exercise thy graces As I. Thy Faith This is the chief grace to be exercised at the Sacrament for Faith is the eye of the Soul whereby it seeth and discerneth the body and blood of Christ under the elements of bread and wine it is likewise the hand of the Soul whereby it receiveth Jesus Christ and the mouth of the Soul whereby it feedeth upon Jesus Christ. And therefore without the exercising of thy Faith at the Sacrament thou canst receive no benefit at all There is a threefold act of Faith to be exercised at the Lords Supper 1 To look out for Jesus Christ. 2 To receive Christ. 3 To apply and appropriate him unto thine own self 1 The first act of Faith is to look out for Christ and therefore when thou art present at the Lords Supper rest not in the outward elements in the beholding and taking of them but with the eye of Faith discern the body and blood of Christ under the elements of bread and wine which indeed do spiritually sacramentally set forth the body and blood of Christ as is clear from Christs own expression for holding the bread in his hand he said of it This is my body i. e. Mystically and Sacramentally by way of representation as if hee had said This bread representeth my body And holding the cup that had wine in it and speaking of the wine therein hee saith This is my blood i. e. Mystically and Sacramentally by way of representation q. d. This wine representeth my blood And as thou art not to rest in the outward elements so neither in the outward rites and actions but in the beholding of them thou art with the eye of Faith to see and discern the spiritual things signified thereby When therefore thou beholdest the Minister breaking the bread then meditate of the manifold sufferings of Christ and with the eye of Faith look upon Jesus Christ hanging upon the Cross there conflicting with his Fathers wrath and groaning under the weight and burden of our sins Behold his blessed body broken and torn with stripes and wounds with whips and nails The Apostle St. Paul thus bringeth in Christ himself applying that rite of breaking the bread for saith hee Christ took bread and brake it and said This is my body which is broken for you which yet is not to be so understood as if his blessed body or any part or member thereof were broken in two peeces For that charge of not breaking a bone of the Paschal Lamb is applied to Christ in that his leggs were not broken But of the breakings of his flesh by thorns whips nails c. and other sufferings which hee endured in his body till his blood was shed This rite also of breaking the bread implieth thaâ— the sufferings of Christ were so many and so great
they are born The Iew. vere commanded to circumcize their children on the eighth day But though Baptism succeeded in the room of Circumcision as the Apostle hinteth yet are not wee now under the Gospel strictly tied to that day notwithstanding from that command of God to the Iews wee may doubtless infer that the Children of Christians may and ought to be baptized within some few daies after they are born II. To train them up in the fear and nurture of the Lord. This duty the Apostle Paul in special presseth upon Parents Yee Parents saith hee bring up your Children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord q. â— Let your main care be not how to make them rich but religious how to work the sincere fear of God into their souls that as God of his infinite goodness hath made them your children by natural Generation so you should strive and indeavour to make them his Children by a godly and religious education Austin in his fifth Book of Confessions speaking of his Mother Monica saith That shee travelled with greater care and stronger paiâ— for his spiritual birth than for his natural birth And truly the like care and pains should be in all Parenâ—â— towards their Children Not thinking it sufficient that they have brought them up to some good Trade whereby they may live another day But they must likewise bring them up in the fear of God teaching them so to serve him here that they may live with him eternally in the Heavens For your better help herein take these few Directions 1 Instruct them in the Principles of Religion by teaching them some good Catechism which should be frequently if not daily performed though but a very little at once to prevent wearisomeness in your children Q. How soon should wee begin to teach our children A. When they are able to learn any thing that is evil it is high time to teach them something that is good Solomon saith when hee was young and tender his Father taught him And that his Mother did so too you may read in the last chapter of the Book of Proverbs 2 Betimes instruct them in the practical part of Christianity by calling upon them frequently to read the Scriptures daily to offer up a morning and an evening Sacrifice of prayer and praise unto God constantly to give thanks before and after meals carefully to avoid all known sins and diligently to perform every known duty and that out of conscience This the Lord commended in Abraham I know him saith God that hee will command his children and his houshold after him to keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgement 3 Bring them with you to the House of God so soon as they can remember any thing which they hear When Ioshua read the words of the Law before the Congregation of Israel it is expresly said That the women and the little-ones were amongst the men 4 Examine your children at home of what they have heard in the publick Congregation and labour to make it more clear and plain to their understanding 5 Bee often speaking before them of the great things the Lord hath done for his Church and people both of old and in your daies This the Lord commanded the Israelitish Parents to do to their children which wee finde accordingly practised by them As children generally have good memories so they are excellent at the remembring of stories 6 Bee patterns of piety and godlâ—ness unto your children For the truth is there is great force in Examples to draw others either to good or evil And it is usually the disposition of Children to follow their Parents And therefore how doth it concern Parents to look to their waies and courses especially how they behave themselves before their children who are much inclined to follow their example Oh that all Parents would seriously think of this that the consideration hereof might reclaim them from all loose and wicked courses lest by their evil example they make their children twofold more the children of Hell than they were by nature 7 Bee sure you forget not daily to pray to God for them especially that hee would indue them with his saving sanctifying graces that as they grow in years so they may grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And for your incouragement know that children of many prayers seldome miscarry Parents are generally careful to lay up wealth and riches for their children oh that they would be as careful to lay up a stock of prayers for them in Heaven which will questionless prove their childrens best portion Oh that all Parents would thus indeavour to bring up their children in the fear and nurture of the Lord that as they were instruments to beget them in the flesh so they might be instruments to beget them in the Faith which is the main duty incumbent upon Parents in reference to their children III. Another duty is To provide for the bodies of their children as well as for their souls This the Apostle intimateth where hee saith If any provide not for his own and specially for those of his own house hee is worse than an Infidel viz. in this point because he by the light of nature knoweth this to be a duty And again saith the Apostle in 2 Cor. 12. 14. Children ought not to lay up for their Parents but Parents for their children as God shall bless them But yet beware of with-holding thy hand from works of charity because of many children nay rather the more children thou hast the more liberal thou oughtest to be that so the Lord may double his blessing upon thee and thine for the seed of the merciful saith the Psalmist are blessed And saith the Apostle Hee that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully IV. It is the duty of Parents to rebuke their children when they do amiss whereby you may both free your selves from the guilt of your childrens sin and prevent much evil in your children For questionless the want thereof is one special cause of so much wickedness and prophaneness in many children V. When reproof prevails not you ought to correct them for their faults This duty the Scripture often presseth upon Parents Chasten thy Son while there is hope and let not thy soul spare for his crying or as the Original properly signifieth Let not thy soul spare to his destruction Intimating that the Fathers sparing of his child may tend to his destruction or as wee use to say bring him to the Gallows So that too much lenity may prove the greatest cruelty in the issue An Antient Father in the Church relates a sad story of a youth whose usual custome it was upon auy thing that crossed him to curse and blaspheme and not being duly corrected for the same hee continued in that wicked course to his dying-day and as the story noteth the Devil
bread according to their families And it is recorded of Ruth that she did not only glean for Naomi her Mother in Law but having food given her by Boaz servants for her refreshment she reserved part thereof and gave it to her mother I have read of a Daughter whose Father being sentenced to be famished to death and thereupon none being suffered to bring him Meat she gave him suck with her own breasts How blame-worthy then yea and unnatural are such Children whose Parents being poor and themselves able to releeve them doe notwithstanding 〈◊〉 them to want things needful Saint Iohn saith That the lâ—ve of God dwelleth not in him who shutteth up his bowels of compâ—ssion from his brother How then can it dwell in that Child who shutteth up his bowels of compassion against his own Father or Mother who having not only a sufficiency but also an affluency of worldly things suffers his Parents to want necessaries 2 By loving their Parents And truly that love which Parents bear unto their Children and have manifested by bringing them up in the world should by the law of equity stirre up in Children a love to their Parents for love deserveth love 3 By concealing and covering their infirmities which will evidence the truth of their love to their Parents and procure Gods blessing upon them Shem and Iaphet we read were blessed for this because they would not behold the nakedness of their Father when being drunken he lay uncovered in his Tent and Cham for discovering and making known his Fathers nakedness was cursed of God As therefore Children would avoyd Chams curse let them carefully shun Chams Sin forbearing to blazen abroad their fathers infirmity CHAP. XXVIII Of the Duties of Masters THe last Head of Family relations is Master and Servants The Duties of Masters in reference to their Servants may be brought under two Heads 1 Such as concern the Bodies of their Servants 2 Such as concern the Souls of their Servants The Duties of Masters in reference to the Bodies of their Servants are 1 To provide fitting raiment for them such as may fence them against the extremity of the weather I mean if by agreement they are bound to find them apparel as is the condition of most Apprentices 2 To give them wholsome and sufficient food As their food must be wholsome for the preservation of their health so sufficient for the encrease of their strength that they may be the better enabled with cheerfulness to doe their Masters service Solomons Housewife among other things is commended for her giving meat to her houshold and a portion to her maidens VVhereby is meant a sufficient portion and quantity of meat to her servants Oh that all Huswives would imitate her herein and not pinch their Servants bellies which too many doe 3 To afford them Physick when they are sick For Masters are commanded to give unto their servants that which is just and equal And is it not just and equal that those servants who labour for their Masters in the time of their health should be cared for by their Masters in the time of their sickness The Centurions care for his sick Servant is left upon record for our imitation who used the best means he knew for his Servants recovery which was to goe unto Christ. The humanity of this Centurion being a Gentâ—le may be a witness against the inhumanity of many Christians who take little care for their sick Servants 4 Not to oppress them with labour by over-working them requiring more of them than they are well able to perform This would be cruelty in a man to his Beast much more in a Master to his Servant Indeed the Aegyptians dealt so cruelly with the Israelites that they groaned under their burthens whose groans ascended unto the ears of God who thereupon came down to deliver them from their bondage And let Gods hearing the cry of those oppressed Servants and revenging them of their Oppressors make all Masters beware of laying heavie burthens upon their Servants requiring more of them than they are well able to perform lest their groans ascend up unto God 5 To pay them their wages when it is due without delaying it or defrauding them of any part thereof It is reckoned in Scripture as a crying Sin to keep back and with-hold the Labourers or Servants wages a sin that crieth unto God for vengeance who is the Poors avenger and as he taketh special notice of their wrongs and oppressions so will he take care to avenge the same II. The Duties of Masters in reference to the Souls of their Servants are 1 To instruct and Catechise their Servants in the Principles of religion For if it be a duty incumbent upon all Masters of Families to provide for the nourishment of the bodies of their Servants how much more then should they be careful for the nourish-of their souls yea let all Masters of Families know that they are as expresly charged to teach and Catechise their Servants as the Minister is to instruct his Flock witness Gods command to the Israelites Thou shalt talk of my Lawes when thou fittest in thine house and when 〈◊〉 walkest by the way and when thou liest down and when thou risest up And God hath manifested his approbation thereof by commending Abraham for his practice therein 2 To cause the Scriptures to bee frequently read in the Family We read that under the Law the people of Israel were commanded to cause the words of the Lord to be written upon the Posts of their Houses to the end they might be frequently read by every one in the House And saith the Apostle Paul Let the Word of Christ dwell in you By the Word of Christ the Apostle meaneth the Doctrin of the Gospel which was published by Christ and is contained in the Old and New Testament Let this word saith the Apostle dwell in you i. e. be yee much imployed in the reading thereof as in your Closets so in your Families or as Calvin interprets it Make the Word familiar to you by giving it household entertainment But oh what a stranger is the Word to most Families how seldome is it read amongst them If that house bee an Hell where the Scriptures are not read as Luther said Oh how many houses are there as so many hells for want of reading the Scriptures 3 To pray daily in and with their Family To offer up a morning and an evening Sacrifice of prayer and praises unto God in their Family For the better stirring you up to this much negleâ—ted duty of Family-prayer I shall commend a few Arguments 1 Taken from the practice of the faithful in all ages Wee read it was Abrahams practice wheresoever hee came to build an Altar to God where God should be called upon joyntly by him and his family Wee read likewise it was Iobs practice as you shall finde Iob 1. 5. And
peace and comfort rest and salvation is to bee had Such therefore as having found their hearts affected with grief and sorrow for their sins do rest satisfied therewith and seek not out for Jesus Christ they are like to sit down without Christ and so fall short both of true peace here and of salvation hereafter 7 Others bottome their hope of salvation upon their partial repentance I mean their leaving and forsaking some sins when in the mean time they wittingly live in the practice of other sins which in truth is but a seigned and hypocritical repentance like that of Herods who upon Iohn Baptists preaching is said to leave many sins but yet would by no means part with his Herodias his darling and beloved sin Nay though your repentance bee true and full yet if you stay there and not look beyond it unto Jesus Christ you will fall short of salvation 8 Others bottom their hope of Salvation upon their Works of Charity thinking to purchase Heaven by their good Works and so wholly exclude Christs merits which they ground upon that sentence of Absolution pronounced by our Saviour at the Day of Judgement unto his Elect wherein hee giveth Heaven to them who have expressed their charity to his poor members in feeding cloathing them and the like whereas our Saviour instanceth in these Works of Charity as the fruites of their faith whereby they did evidence their faith to be a true and lively faith which manifested its life by those works of charity so that works of charity in themselves can be no good ground to bottom your salvation upon but only faith in Jesus Christ which is ever accompanied with works of charity if true and sound 9 Others bottom their hope of Salvation upon the Mercy of God They will confess themselves to be poor wretched sinful Creatures but they hope the mercy of God will pardon their sins and accept their poor services Thus many make the Mercy of God to eik out their own righteousness and so both put together they think will be a means of attonement and reconciliation with God yea and of obtaining eternal life and salvation But such doe wonderfully mistake the proper work of Gods Mercy which is not to eik out our righteousness but to shew us our unrighteousness and misery and then to shew us Jesus Christ the perfection of his righteousness the all-sufficiency of his Sacrifice with his willingness to receive all poor Sinners that will come unto him and then to stirre up our hearts to receive Jesus Christ as our Priest Prophet and King and to rest upon him for life and for salvation And thus might I goe on shewing you the many false and rotten foundations upon which the greatest part of men doe build their hopes of Salvation whereas in truth Christ is the only true solid foundation whereon we can safely build the hope of our Salvation And therefore saith the Apostle Other foundation can no man lay thâ—â— that is laid the Lord Iesus Christ intimating Christ to be the only true foundation So that he is the wise Christian that builds his hope of salvation only upon that rock the Lord Jesus Christ. And so I pass from the first fundamental Principle to the second namely II. That beleeving in Christ is the only means as of partaking of Christ so of salvation by him This was typified by the means of the Israelites cure of the sting of the fiery Serpents and that was by looking upon the brazen Serpent for as the Israelites by looking upon the brazen Serpent were perfectly cured of the sting of the fiery Serpents In like manner all poor Sinners sensible of the sting of Sin by looking with the eye of faith upon Jesus Christ lifted up upon the Cross shall be perfectly cured of the sting of their sins This application of that Type our Saviour himself maketh for saith he As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life So that beleeving in Jesus Christ is the only means of partaking of Christ and of salvation by him What this faith is which maketh us partakers of Christ and of Salvation by him I have formerly shewed in the Directions for the worthy receiving of the Lords Supper How should the consideration hereof stirre you up to labour above all things to beleeve in Jesus Christ that is to goe wholly out of your selves unto Jesus Christ and to receive him as he is offered in the Gospel Mind this work most of all for it is the All in all to your Salvation and yet how doe the greatest part of you minde your pleasures and your profits more than this Can they give you an interest in Christ or a right to Salvation Why then should your pleasures and your profits be so minded and sought after by you even more than faith which only can give you an interest in Christ and a right unto salvation in and thorow him Surely it is a thing to be lamented that men should so much mind worldly things and in the mean time forget spiritual things That they should be so politick for their bodies and so foolish for their souls That they should with Martha be so much troubled about earthly things and not with Mary mind this one thing necessary but resolve hence forward to give no rest to your souls till you have attained to this saving grace of faith The means God hath sanctified thereunto may be brought to three Heads 1 The removing of some lets and impediments 2 The embracing of some truths 3 The practising of some Duties The lets and impediments are of two sorts 1 Such as keep Natural men and women from beleeving in Jesus Christ. 2 Such as keep off many a sincere broken-hearted Sinner I. The lets and impediments that keep off Natural men and women from beleeving in Jesus Christ are these and such like 1 A love of their lusts For this men generally know that as Dagon fell down before the Ark so their lusts must fall down before Jesus Christ they know that when Christ is received into the heart by faith their lusts must be cast out for Christ will not be received into that heart which is full of base and sinful lusts Now mens lusts are dear unto them and very unwilling they are to part with them they had as lieve part with Christ as part with their lusts This our Saviour intimateth where he saith Light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light where by Light is meant principally Iesus Christ with his Gospel and by darkness mens lusts which they prefer before Jesus Christ and will not part with them for the gaining of Christ with all the benefits of his Death and Passion Oh that any man should bee so sottish as to prefer a base sinful lust before Jesus Christ Surely that man
hath a low mean esteem of Christ who thinks him not able to recompence the loss of a base lust 2 An over-much love of the world and worldly things The truth is that soul that is not in some measure divorsed from the world cannot by faith embrace the Lord Jesus Christ as her Husband O therefore let it be your daily Prayer and earnest endeavour to wean your hearts more and more from the love of these earthly things that yee may not love them so much as thereby to be kept from loving and embracing of Jesus Christ. 3 Spiritual Pride grounded upon a mans over-valuing conceit of himself and of his own estate How many are apt to think with the Church of Laodicea that they are rich and full and have need of nothing when in truth they are poor and blind and naked wretched and miserable being empty of all grace and goodness yea they are the more wretched and miserable because they know not their misery and so see no need no necessity they have of Jesus Christ which is the saddest condition in the world for such are furthest off from going unto Christ and beleeving in him Hee therefore that would imbrace Jesus Christ as his Saviour must come with an empty hand and heart receiving him with an empty hand of Faith into an empty heart emptied of all self as self righteousness self-worthiness self-goodness c. II. The Lets and Impediments that keep off many a sincere broken-hearted sinner from clozing with Jesus Christ and beleeving in him are these and such like 1 A deep apprehension of the number and heinousness of their sins For the removal of this let such consider 1 That the more and greater their sins are the greater need they have to go unto Iesus Christ and to cast themselves and the burthen of their sins upon him For as the more sick any are in body the more need they have of a Physician So the more sinful any souls are the more sick of sin the more need they have to go unto Jesus Christ who is the onely Physician of the soul who both can and will heal all their sins which are the spiritual diseases of their souls as readily as he healed bodily diseases when he was upon the earth if they will go unto him 2 Let such know and consider that the apprehension of the number and heinousness of their sins should be so far from keeping them from going to Christ and receiving him that it should be a forcible Argument to drive them unto Christ seeing Christ professeth hee came into the world to save sinners where by sinners are meant such as are truly sensible of their sins And thereupon all such sinners are invited to come unâ—o him Come unto mee all yee that labour and are heavy laden viz. with the weight and burden of your sins And therefore the Apostle Paul averreth this truth with a gloriovs preface This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation viz. That Iesus Christ came into the world to save sinners and that without exception of sins or persons yea that hee came to save the chief of sinners Why then should the apprehension of thy sins keep thee off from going unto Christ and resting upon him for salvation when as hee came to save such sinners as thou art nay worser even the chief of sinners 2 A second Let and Impediment is A doubting of Christs willingness to receive them if they should go unto him For the better convincing such of Christs willingness to receive and imbrace all poor sinners that will but go unto him and imbrace him with the arms of their Faith I shall lay down three grounds thereof 1 The first is the several gracious invitations of Christ to poor sinners to come unto him as Isa. 55. 1. Mat. 11. 28. Ioh. 7. 37. 2 Christs willingness appears in that hee hath instituted and appointed his Ministers hee hath dispatched Embassadors in his name to wooe instruct and beseech men to come in unto him and to accept of that Reconciliation which hee hath purchased by his blood 3 Christs willingness doth appear in that hee â—oth accept of the least and lowest degree of Faith and will not discourage the weakest soul that cometh unto him A bruised reed shall hee not break and smoaking flax shall hee not quench As by a bruised need is there meant a weak Christian so by smoaking flax such an one as hath corruption mixed with grace For the flax there mentioned is the weick of a Candle which if it smoak giveth but little light and yeelds a stinking savour Though true beleevers by reason of the flesh in them may bee such yet will not Christ quench that little light of Faith that is in them 3 A third Let and Impediment is a fear and jealousie that they are not sufficiently humbled under the sense of their sins and the rather because they do not finde their hearts so broken as the hearts of others have been For the removal of this I desire such to take notice of these things 1 That a man may be sufficiently humbled and broken for his sins though not so deeply as others for true humiliation admits of degrees and all Christians have it not in a like measure And therefore far be it from any to conclude that they are not sufficiently humbled because they have not attained to such a measure and degree thereof as some others have 2 Though thou art not so deeply humbled as some others have been yet if thou art so sensible of thy sins and of thy misery thereby that thou art truly sensible of the need and necessity thou hast of Jesus Christ it is sufficient and thou mayest with boldness go unto Jesus Christ roul thy self into his bosome and cast thy self into his arms Though thou never knewest what belongs to the bitter throws and stinging pangs which others feel in their new birth yet that work being done for which deep humiliation is required namely to be sensible of the need of Christ and thereupon to long after him thou mayest bee incouraged to go unto Jesus Christ and to rest upon him as for the pardon of thy sins here so for eternal life and salvation hereafter 3 Know that if thou beest not at present so deeply humbled and broken for thy sins as thou wouldest be yet thou mayest bee more humbled after thy beleeving in Christ. For a Christians sorrow and humiliation for sin and misery is not all at first but oftenâ—imes it is more and greater after a clozing with Jesus Christ and a sensible feeling of Gods love than it was before Yea the leâ—s humiliation before Faith in Jesus Christ the more many times follows after And that is true humiliation and Evangelical Repeâ—tance which followeth after Faith 4 Another Let and Impediment that keeps off many a sincere Christian from going unto Christ and clozing with him is a fear and sealousie that their day of