all his Undertakings for the Advancement of the true Honour and Interest of the establisht Religion his Subjects Peace and his own Safety Give a plentiful Portion of thy Grace and Spirit to all the several Stewards and Dispensers of thy holy Mysteries whether they be Arch-Bishops Bishops or other subordinate Priests and Deacons but more particularly to him whom thou hast intrusted with the more immediate Care and Inspection over our Souls in this Parish Enable them to feed their Flocks with true Wisdom and Knowledge that after a plentiful Conversion of Sinners from the Errour of their Way they may shine like so many Stars in thy Kingdom and Glory for ever and ever And let the same holy Spirit we most humbly beseech thee sanctifie and direct all the King's Councellors Judges Magistrates and Ministers whatsoever that they may be all faithful and zealous in their several Stations and Callings for the Maintenance of thy true Religion the Encouragement and encrease of Piety and Justice and brotherly Love and Unity amonst us And now O Lord as we have pray'd unto thee for the supply of all temporal and spiritual Wants so we beseech thee to accept of the hearty Return of our most affectionate Praise and Thanksgiving for the abundance of thy Grace and Mercy vouchsafed to our Souls and Bodies We bless thee for our Creation Preservation and manifold Deliverances from Temptation Sin and Danger for all the comfortable Motions of thy holy Spirit and the blessed effects thereof in our Lives and Actions for our Health and Liberty Peace and Prosperity But above all let Heaven and Earth praise thee for thine infinite Love and Compassion to our miserable Nature in the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ and herein we praise thee more particularly for his Merits and Intercession his Doctrine and Example the benefit of Repentance and promise of Pardon for thine unwearied Patience and passionate Entreaties to save us from Sin and Ruin for all the blessed Opportunities of Grace and Mercy in this Life and the assured hope of a blessed Immortality in that which is to come Finally we beg the Assistance of thy good Providence which hath watcht over us and preserved us this Day to defend us this Night also Refresh our wearied Bodies with comfortable Rest and Sleep and keep our Souls and Bodies from the Violence and Malice of the Spirits of Darkness from all evil Accidents and illusive and filthy Dreams So that if thy good Providence bring us to the Enjoyment of another Day we may serve thee fathfully and sincerely both in the business of our Callings and Religion Take us not out of this World we pray thee till thou hast dispos'd and qualified us for the happy and eternal Enjoyment of a better and let thy merciful Kindness be our Support and Comfort in the whole remaining part of our Lives In confidence whereof we recommend our Selves Ours to thy gracious disposal in Christ Jesus in whose most holy Name and prevailing Words we beseech thee to hear us Our Father c. A Morning Prayer for a Private Person O Most merciful and gracious God the Fountain of all goodness and blessing of life and peace of plenty and pardon thou art greatly to be feared and had in reverence of all that draw unto thee Wherefore I humbly beg the assistance of thy Grace at this time to sanctifie and enliven my Devotions that I may pray with the Spirit and pray with the Vnderstanding also For I must confess O Lord to my great shame and sorrow that I am a most vile and sinful Creature less then the least of all thy Mercies and lyable to the severest of thy Judgements All the Powers and Faculties of my Soul and Members of my Body are polluted with the contagion and filthiness of Original Sin I am clothed with Iniquity as with a Garment and my Transgressions are gone over my head like a sore burden too heavy for me to bear I have sinned in every Circumstance in every Condition and Imployment of my whole Life not only in my youth and days of ignorance but in my more discerning and riper years Insomuch that there are few sins which I have not either actually committed or at least been inclined to to the great increase of my present Misery and future Condemnation * Here mention your partitular sins as Besides vile Creature that I am I have been so miserably intangled in the snares of Sin and Wickedness as to be hurried on either to the wilful neglect of the Duties of Religion †Here confess your particular Omissions of and Failings in Duty or those I perform are done with so much indifference and formality hypocrisie and distraction coldness and indevotion that even my Prayers and other religious Performances are not seldom turned into sin And to render all my Transgressions out of measure sinful the guilt of 'em has been hugely aggravated and encreast ‖ Here consider the circumstantial Aggravations as when how often where c. by the Commission of 'em from time to time against the clearest Convictions of thy Word and Spirit the Testimony and many checks of my own Conscience notwithstanding my many solemn Vows and Resolutions to the contrary Wherefore holy Father thou mightest justly enter into Judgment with me and if thou shouldest be extreme to mark what I 've done amiss I should not only be of all Men but of all Creatures the most miserable But with thee is mercy and forgivenness and because thy fatherly Compassions fail not therefore I am not consumed thou passest by the Transgressions of thy Servant and retainest not thine Anger for ever Let the abundant Merits of thy Son and my most merciful Redeemer make a full and satisfactory Atonement for the Sins and Offences of my whole Life and for his Righteousness sake deliver me I beseech thee from the Guilt and Stain and from the Power and Punishment of all my reigning Lusts which I have hitherto indulg'd and cling about me * Here mention the Sins to which you are most inclin'd and pray earnestly against them Enable me to subdue and overcome all those Follies Indiscretions the unreasonable Cares and unrelenting Affections that remisness and indisposednes in Duty †Here mention and pray against your several indispositions to Duty whereby I 've been so miserably led captive hitherto to the great dishonour of my holy Profession the Scandal of others and the extreme trouble and disquiet of my own sorrowful and afflicted Conscience Rescue me from those many alluring Temptations which are daily perplexing me in every Condition of life ‖ Here mention the Temptations which do oftnest aâ—â—ault you or give me a Sufficiency of spiritual Strength when they assault me to overcome them lest my Enemies prevail against me and lead me unawares into the Pit of Destruction and endless Perdition For this end I humbly beg the Aids of thy holy Spirit to purifie my
Angels but the seed of Abraham Heb. 2.16 17. Thus it behov'd him to be made like unto his Brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful High-Priest in things pertaining to God that he might make Reconciliation for the Sins of the People And upon St. Thomas the Apostle's Doubting of the reality of his Humane Nature our blessed Saviour to convince him of his Errour and to confirm the rest of the Apostles and in them all succeeding Christians in the belief of this necessary Point of Faith Luk. 24.39 He said unto them handle me and see for a Spirit hath not Flesh and Bones as ye see me have Now what can be more evident since the Scripture is every where full to this purpose then this that the Son of God assum'd the true Nature of Man and the very substance of his Mother and that he was not only made in her but born of her To which the Testimony of all Antiquity might be added to confirm us in the Belief of it But Theodoret and Gelasins present us with a Collection of excellent Arguments out of the Councils and Fathers to this purpose whither I refer the judicious Reader if he require further satisfaction in this Point Secondly The Humane and real Body of Christ was inform'd And a rational Humane Soul actuated and enliven'd with a perfect rational and immortal Soul And as He had all the Members Organs Dimensions and Properties of the one So He assum'd all the Powers Faculties and Functions of the other as Understanding Will Memory Affections Passions c. Which I could easily make out Heb. 1.17 if 't were necessary by an Induction of Particulars For he was made like us in all things Sin only excepted and therefore could not be deficient in the most minute and much less in the primary and most constituent Part of his Manhood and besides he that was to be Mediator between God and us must needs be a perfect Man Of which hereafter Again Mat. 26.38 He complain'd a little before his Passion saying My soul is very sorrowful and heavy even unto Death And in his last Agony he said Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit This Truth is every where so evident in the History of our Saviour's Incarnation that I need not multiply Instances to prove it But yet for all this tho Christ was really invested with all the Members and Faculties and all the Essentials of the Soul and Body of a Perfect Man Yet 2dly In this true and real Body in this reasonable and immortal Soul he assum'd took upon him all the Properties and Infirmities of both Sin only excepted He assum'd all the sinless insirmities of both His Birth manner of Life Death Burial Resurrection and Ascention are full and perfect Demonstrations of the reality of his Manhood But with reference to our Infirmities he was subject to Cold and Heat Hunger and Thirst Sweating and Bleeding Weariness and Weakness Pain and Sorrow Heaviness and Fear Passion and sinless Anger yea Torment and Death it self All which Arguments are so cogent and convictive that neither the Hereticks of Old nor the Socinians and Libertines of our Age ever were nor ever shall be able to elnde the Power and Energy of them Let us now endeavour to make some practical Improvement of the Point under Consideration And 1 In the Incarnation of our Lord Application of this Point by considering its Influence on Practice we have an admirable Instance of God's tenderest Love and Compassion to poor sinful Man For what kindness could parallel this that the Father should send and the Son condescend to come from his Bosom and Bliss upon that great Ambassie of making our Peace even then when by our sin and Disobedience we had violated his just Laws broken the Covenant between God and us and put our selves into a state of Hostility and Rebellion against him But besides all this 't is an evident matter of Fact as will fully appear afterwards that Christ the Son of God and Heir of eternal Majesty did not only descend from those Regions of Bliss and assum'd our whole Nature with all its Properties and Infirmities But he also underwent the Burden and Smart of all our sins and sorrows and having finished his innocent Life he submitted to all the Tortures and Indignities of a painful and ignominious Death for our sakes And these were all such Tokens and Evidences of Love and Bounty as both the Hierarchy of Angels and the whole Race of Mankind stood amaz'd at And that the Son of God should lay down his dearest Life for his most daring and bitter Enemies even for the Salvation of those who were the immediate Instruments in his Condemnation and Crucifixion is such a Mystery as no Humane Reason is able to comprehend O the ineffable and infinite Love and Mercy of God in Christ How should this consideration affect our Souls with Love Joy and Wonder Has he given us his Son whilst we were Enemies unto him Rom. 5.10 How much more will he bless us with the Abundance of Grace and Glory if we live as the redeemed of the Lord being thus reconcil'd Indeed this Love was beyond all possibility of Parallel and if we seriously consider our Interests and Obligations we can do no less than devote our Souls and Bodies entirely to his Service thro' the whole course of our Lives We should hate all things in respect of him that is Matth. 10.37 so far as they stand in Opposition to him or pretend an equal share of Affection with him Let us then follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes in doing and suffering for him and his And if any that bears the Name of Christian should be so ungrateful as not to love the Lord Jesus Christ with the greatest intenseness of Gratitude and Affection 1 Cor. 16.22 Let him be Anathema Maranatha 2 We can no less admire and should be as careful to imitate his singular and unparallel'd Humility who came down from the highest Pinacle of heavenly Grandeur and vertical point of Soveraignty to become incarnate in the obscure Womb of a poor Virgin And therefore well might the Evangelist prefix an Ecce to the Mystery behold a Virgin shall conceive This was a Miracle indeed Faith must assist Reason in it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 1.15 'T is a faithful Saying that Christ Jesus came into the World to save Sinners Quanto pro me vilior tanto mihi Charior Bern. Ser. 1. de Epioh Now that the Ancient of Days should abase himself to become a little Child and the Word and Wisdom of the Father not be able to utter a word was such a wonderful Instance of Humility as can never be sufficiently admir'd How then should we Christians study and endeavour to be like Him As in all other Instances of Piety and Vertue so particularly in this and I 'me sure there can be no Inducement either Internal
Good In which holy Confidence we shall rest secure and safe and nothing shall be able to disturb or interrupt our Quiet And whatever our Condition be in this Life we shall enjoy a Heaven upon Earth in the Peace of a good Conscience which to an upright man is more precious than Rubies and much more valuable than all the Treasures of the East 5 Our pious Reflexions upon those infinite Expressions of Gods Love and Bounty 4. By our filial Fear of offending him c. should possess us with all awsul Regard to and Fear of offending Him And we have many powerful Inforcements to perswade us to a strict Performance of this Duty For the infinitely wise God observes all our Actions Psal 139.1 to 12. hears and considers all our Words and sees our very Thoughts and Inclinations they are all registred in his Book and will infallibly be brought to Account either to our Consolation or Condemnation at the day of Judgement But where the Fear of God is truly fixt 't is the Spring of all other Duties the Watch-port and Centinel of the Soul to keep out Temptations and in Scripture Language comprehends the whole Duty of Man Ecc. 12.13 This Duty is of that absolute Importance that the Christian who truly Fears God has no cause to be afraid of any thing besides For God can restrain the Power and Malice of Devils and wicked Men when and how he pleases and make our greatest Enemies to be at Peace with us Prov. 16 7 Those temporal Afflictions which the righteous suffer are but fatherly Chastisements for the tryal and improvement of their Graces or the Punishment of their Sins for a time that they may not perish for ever Hence it is that our blessed Saviour exhorts us not to Fear those that can kill the Body only for that 's the worst they can do since our Souls are out of their reach Mar. 10.28 But rather fear him that can kill both Soul and Body in Hell 'T is no matter then whether the World smile or frown on us For if we fear God as Sons out of a true Principle of Love and Obedience Rom. 8.1 Psal 25.23 it will exempt us from all other Fears our Souls shall dwell at ease and if God be with us who can be against us From all which it may be reasonably infer'd Heb. 10.31 on the contrary That 't is a dread ful thing to fall into the hands of the living God For who shall stand before the Lord when he is angry Psal 76. 7â— or be able to conflict with everlasting burnings What cause then have the Atheists and all impenitent Persons to be afraid especially if they consider that Vengeance does every where await them nor can they be secure one Moment from Destruction Those that will not repent of their Sins and reverence their heavenly Father as Sons shall be cast out of his Presence as Slaves and have their eternal Portion assign'd 'em with the Devil and his Angels Matth. 25.41 Wherefore let the best of Men tremble at God's Judgements and flie from all Occasions and Temptations of Sinning For since to live and die in the least Sin unrepented of is damnable and if the righteous Man depart from his Righteousness Ezek. 3.20 all his former Piety and Vertue shall stand him in no stead but the heavy Wrath of God must fall on him for his wilful Apostacy and Disobedience What cause have we then to be watchful over our selves and serve the Lord with fear all the dayes of our Life that we may not be afraid of his Judgements at the hour of Death or in the great day of Account 6 And Lastly 8. By our sted fast Hope in him If God's Spirit witness with our Spirits that we have thus Repented of our former Sins and do sincerely resolve to abandon 'em for the future if we stedfastly believe all those necessary and saving Truths which God has been pleas'd to reveal to us by the Spirit of his Son and testifie the sincerity of our Faith by the genuine Fruits and Effects of it if our Love towards God be attended with those necessary and excellent Properties which I have mention'd if we Pray devoutly and humbly and patiently submit to God's wise and gracious Disposals if we be afraid to offend him and be willing to quit all our Interests in this World and die a thousand Deaths rather than wilfully transgress the least of his Commands we may undoubtedly upon these Conditions cheerfully and comfortably expect and hope for the happy Accomplishment of all the Promises of the Gospel to our endless Joy and unspeakable Felicity Yet here I must note to you that we must by no means depend upon the Efficacy of the Duties themselves tho' they should never be neglected but on the infinite Mercy of God in Christ for the comfortable success of all our pious Endeavours These are the Principal Duties of Piety we owe unto God which he indispensibly requires of all Christians and must be carefully and conscientiously perform'd by all those who expect and hope for the admirable Blessings and Priviledges of the Gospel And as these excellent Duties must by no Means be neglected So On the contrary The Opposite Sins most dangerous and damnable we are oblig'd under the severst Penalties of Hell and Damnation to avoid and abandon the Sins of Atheism Polytheism Blasphemy Idolatry prophane Swearing Lying Sacriledge Covetousness the neglect or contempt of God's Worship Word Sacraments Services Days groundless Presumption Distrust Dispair c. All which searlet Sins are highly dishonourable to God reflect a Scandal upon our excellent Religion will deprive those Miscreants of all the rational Pleasures of the Soul and without a sincere Repentance and Reformation of Life they 'l forfeit their Tittle to eternal Happiness And those Penalties which I mention'd before shall be their just Portion and Punishment in another World We pass forward to the 2d The Dities relating to our Selves Duty which our blessed Saviour has enjoyn'd and recommended for the Attainment of his Grace and Glory Namely that which has a peculiar reference to our Selves Which Duty consists in the prudent and virtuous Conduct of our Lives especially in the Affairs and Business of Religion And since this must needs highly concern us 't will admit of a serious and impartial Consideration Now Christian Prudence of which I shall give you an account in the first Place will be of necessary use and advantage to direct and further us in this Duty Prudence of general and necessary use for the Government of the whole Man This Virrue will teach us to govern our selves according to God's Word and the Dictates of sober Reason and prevail with us by degrees to conform all the Actions and Affections both of the outward and inward man to the Pattern of Christ that we may not only be morally virtuous John 1.16 but receive
lasting Monuments of God's Grace and Power and of their Patience and Magnanimity to all succeeding Generations Let no sincere Christian then be discourag'd tho he be now and then obnoxious to Satans Temptations For if he hold out vigorously the Power and Malice of the Devil shall not only be much abated by the Opposition of good Angels who are much more able and active to preserve and protect us then Devils and wicked Men can be to mischieve and hurt us But the Spirit of God is also greater in us 1 Joh. 4.4 then he that is in the World and he who is God over all has prescrib'd such Bounds to our Enemies of all sorts that they are now confin'd like those turbulent and otherwise uncontrolable Waves of the Sea Job 1 1â— that they can only move so far and no further then he pleases But this is to be understood of Believers only For the sinful and disobedient Eph. 2.2 3. the unbelieving and impenient are led captive by him become his absolute Slaves and Vassals and are forward to commit all those Villanies which he doth perswade and tempt 'em to tho never so dishonourable to God or mischievous to themselves and others But here I must note to you Absolute Conquest over Sin not attâ—â—able in this Life that we cannot expect an absolute Conquest over Sin and Satan in this Life by the Sacrifice of Christ's Death And therefore we had need to stand continually upon our Guard and pray incessantly for the Assistances of God's Grace and Spirit to help our Infirmities and enable us to resist them yet this we are certain of which may encourage us in the Conflict that when we come within the Fortifications of the new Hierusalem we shall reap the blessed Fruits of this great Expiation and have a total Exemption from all Temptation Sin and Suffering whatsoever Then shall our Bodies shine as the Brightness of the Sun Beams and as the Stars for ever and ever and our Souls shall be cloath'd with an immaculate and spotless Dei-formity Then shall all those Laws which are now so difficult to be perform'd be either cancell'd and repeal'd or our merciful High-priest will furnish us with a Sufficiency of Will and Power to obey them Then will all our Desires Inclinations and Affections cheerfully concur without any by-respects to our private Interests or Passions in the promoting of God's Glory and the mutual Joy and Happiness of the whole Community of holy and beatified Spirits Then shall all Labour and Travel Sorrow and Sickness be at an end and Death it self which is now so terrible to Flesh and Blood shall be swallow'd up in absolute and perfect Victory Then shall the Devil our most malicious and inveterate Enemy and all his Agents be cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone and shall be confin'd eternally to those Flames and Tortures which are prepar'd for him and his Angels There are several other Benefits resulting from this great Propitiation More particular Benefits which I have toucht already and therefore shall only name them here as the Conquest which Christ has obtain'd over the World with all its vain Pomps 1 Joh. 5. â— Honours Beauties Pleasures c. which the Apostle did so much glory in and rejoice at Eph. 2.15 16. He has put away the Enmity between God and Man between one Man and another and between every good man and his own Conscience He has ratified and confirm'd the new Covenant between God and us Heb. 10.29 in his own Bloud repair'd God's Honour which had been so much obscur'd and violated by our Disobedience and Rebellion against him and has restor'd us to all those just Rights and Priviledges which we thereby forfeited and lost He has rais'd and advanc'd us to the Honour and Happiness of God's own Sons thus mystically uniting us to himself and elevating us above the World In a Word he has fully satisfied God's Justice which had been so often affronted by our Iniquities and perfectly made up the Breach between God and Man as we have prov'd before to the advancement of his own Glory and the unspeakable Comfort and Happiness of all true Believers Thus our most faithful and compassionate High-Priest has made our perfect and plenary Atonement with God by that infinite Sacrifice and unsinning Obedience which he perform'd in his Life and has perfected at his Death Which Propitiation of his is fully correspondent to God's determinate Counsel and all the Prophesies and Types in holy Scripture concerning him We have seen likewise what a happy State and Condition Mankind is in by his Assumption of our Nature and what Blessings and Priviledges he has purchas'd for us and will certainly bestow on us if we endeavour to make our Lives the Transcript of his Doctrine and Example We shall Apply this Point by considering what practical Inferences may be drawn from it And 1 The serious and impartial Consideration of this great Mystery The Influence which this Doctrine should have upon Practice should affect our Souls with the highest Transports and oblige us to make the most affectionate Returns of Love and Duty towards him No Imagination could devise any thing beyond this That the Lord of eternal Life should stoop from the Top of Heaven and under the Vail of our Flesh endure the Pain and Infamy of an accursed Cross not only to rescue his Enemies from Death but to exalt them to eternal Life What infinite Obligations are these and how unworthy should we be of those Favours if the effects in our Hearts and Lives do not bear some considerable Proportion to those wonderful Emanations of his Love and Bounty And how should we Love him above all things who has thus loved us 2 This is a most solid Foundation for our Faith Rom. 8.32 our Hope and Confidence to rest upon amongst all the distracting Cares and Sorrows of a miserable World That we live under the Providence and Protection of an all-powerful and merciful God and have the Plea of Christ's infinite Merits to secure and confirm to us our present and eternal Peace upon such reasonable easie Conditions as are propounded in the Gospel If these things were duely weigh'd and consider'd they would prove the best and most absolute Catholicon to cure all the melancholly Suggestions of Distrust and Infidelity 3 Our serious Reflexions upon that black and tragical Scene of Christ's Sorrows and Sufferings for our Sins may give us a true Representation of the damnable Nature heinous Aggravations and dreadful Consequences of 'em and inspire us with the greatest Dread against Detestation of those Enemies which are so dishonourable to God and mischievous to our selves For our Sins alas have been the Betrayers and Slanderers of the most innocent Son of God our best Friend and most compassionate Redeemer and the immediate Authors too of that painful and infamous Death and all the precedent Cruelties which he suffer'd for
whole Nature and dispose me for the moderate use of all thy Creatures Inform my Judgement with the useful Knowledge of those Truths which are necessary to be believed and practic'd rectifie my Will and sanctifie my Affections that I may so love and fear trust and hope desire and delight in thee above all Things that all my Thoughts Words and Works may shew forth thy praise who hast call'd me from the dark Regions of Sin and Ignorance to the marvellous Light of thy pure and undefiled Religion Give me Grace to improve every Opportunity and Blessing thy good Providence has intrusted me with that when thy Messengers Death or Judgement shall put an end to all the tedious Cares and troublesome Concernments of this mortal Life I may be clothed upon with a glorious and blissful Immortality Bless thy holy Catholic Church but more especially the Churches of these Kingdoms Bless the King's Majesty the Royal Family the Clergy Nobility Gentry and Commonalty of this Realm Let all my Friends Relations and Benefactors particularly * As Father Mother Husband Wife Children c. the Family wherein I live c. receive the Benefit of my Prayers Bless them in their Bodies with the Comforts of Health and Peace Liberty and Safety and in their Souls with sound Judgements holy Affections and heavenly Dispositions that their Lives and Practices may be unblameable before thee in the sight of all men And now O Lord I beseech thee accept of the Tender of my most humble and hearty Thanks for those innumerable Blessings by which I live and am provided for Thou hast given me Food and Raiment Liberty and Friends †Here mention the temporal Blessings God's Bounty has bestow'd on thee and thine c. and by thy merciful Providence hast wonderfully preserved me yet alive amidst the innumerable Assaults of my bitter and malicious Enemies But chiefly O Lord I praise and magnifie thy holy Name with all my Soul and all my Strength for the miraculous Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ for the Revelation of thy Will the Satisfaction which he made and the Ransom which he paid not only for mine but the Sins of the whole World for the sanctification of my Nature by the Grace of his holy Spirit the admirable Comforts and Refreshments of his Body and Bloud the conquest over all his and mine Enemies for his powerful Intercession and the gracious acceptance of my Prayers and Person before God c. * Spiritual Mercies For which and all other temporal and spiritual Mercies my Soul shall magnifie the Lord and with the best Faculties I have I will bless and praise him for ever Finally O Lord I beseech thee preserve me in a perpetual Remembrance of those manifold and undeserved Favours thy Bounty has bestowed upon me and mine And as thou hast wonderfully preserv'd me hitherto and particularly from the dangers of the Night past so keep me this Day and for ever from all Sin and Mischief Let the Love of Christ be always in my heart and in my thoughts and as he is my hope so let him be for ever my rule and pattern to walk by That by by a sincere and faithful Discharge of the several Duties of my Calling and Religion both to God and Man I may enjoy a comfortable and prosperous well-Being in this Life and in the World to come Life everlasting To which the Lord of his infinite Mercies bring me and all his People thro' the Merits of Jesus Christ In whose Name and Words I continue to pray unto thee Our Father c. An Evening Prayer for a private Person OH eternal God! the Father of Men and Angels whose Glory is far above the Heavens and by whom the lower World is establisht in a Wonderful Order making the Day and Night to succeed each other Thou excellest the praises of all thy Creatures and hast no need of our Services neither can any thing be added to thy infinite Perfection yet in great Mercy thou hearest Prayer and thy Power and Goodness are abundantly manifested to the meanest of thy Servants who call upon thee in Faith and Sincerity In confidence whereof I most humbly implore the gracious Assistance of thy holy Spirit and be pleased to accept of such Prayer and Service as thy Bounty shall enable me to perform But the sense of my sinful Estate and Condition might justly make me afraid to speak of thy holy name since I have so wilfully and wickedly abused thy Goodness affronted thy Clemency resisted thy Power undervalued thy Wisdom trespassed upon thy Patience and stopt mine Ears against all the charitable tenders of Mercy and Salvation In somuch that thro' this senseless Stupidity and unreasonable Folly my heart is become proud and unmortified pievish and disobedient lustful and intemperate so wholly intangled in the snares of Sin Wickedness that I am utterly unable to resist or flie from 'em For I am daily prevailed with by my buitish Appetites and Passions to commit those Sins which thou hast forbidden * Here confess thy particular Sins committed as c. and to ommit those Duties which thou hast commanded †And the Duties omitted even contrary to the most convincing Attestations of rectified Reason and Religion For which beinous and innumerable Offences thou mightest justly long ere this have given me my portion in the horrours and sorrows of a sad miserable Eternity But thou delightest in Mercy and thy loving kindness has been abundantly manifested hitherto in sending thy Son and Spirit not to call the Righteous but Sinners to Repentance Come Lord Jesus and say unto my Soul I am thy Salvation and my Leprosie shall be healed Think upon thy Mercies holy Father consider thy Son's Bloud and Obedience and accept of my sincere Contrition and unfeigned Repentance for his Names sake Touch my frozen heart with the Finger of thy Omniporence dissolve it into those Tears which may so wash my polâ—ited Conscience that thy love may refresh me that thy presence may revive me and the Garments of heaviness will be turned into the white Robes of Praise and Exaltation Oh let me hear the joyful News of a merciful Pardon from thy gracious Lips that the Bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce Stretch forth thy hand O Lord to save a poor miserable and sinful Creature from the power of Sin and Satan and the pain and peril of hell torments Keep me unspotted from the World that my Thoughts and Affections may not be drawn away from thee by the deceitful Pleasures unmanly Desires and unworthy Designs of this vain and transitory Life Support me under the many Temptations and Pressures which thy good Providence may order and appoint for the tryal and improvement of my Graces or the punishment of my Sins Teach and enable me to be truly watchful in all my Ways and so keep the door of my lips that I may not offend in Thought Word or Deed either
Doctors that thereby it became so impracticable and obscure that 't was neither obey'd nor understood But because Mankind should not be left for ever destitute of a sutable and sufficient Remedy to repair those miserable Defects which we had contracted by our Sin and Disobedience nor of reasonable Assistances to buoy us up and support us under the Temptations and Pressures of a calamitous World and at last by the saving Methods of his Grace to bring us to the Enjoyment of his Kingdom and Glory God was pleas'd for several Reasons best known to himself in this last Period of the World when all other Means and Methods prov'd ineffectual to extol and magnifie his Mercy in sending his own Son and by a clearer and more perfect Revelation of his Will to mankind 2 Tim. 1.10 which he determin'd from all Eternity has now brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel Which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Gospel is a Term appropriated to signifie the glad Tidings of our Salvation purchased by the Blood of Christ This was the Subject of the Angels Song to the Shepherds Luke 2.10 the Desire and Happiness of all Nations God manifested in the Flesh to concilate the difference and make up the Breach between offending Man and an offended God to rescue us from the Power of our sins by his Grace and from the punishment of 'em by his bloud and that by the Belief Practice of this most excellent holy and innocent Religion all his sincere Proselites might become holy here and happy eternally And this is that Religion which by God's assistance I design to make the Subject of my ensuing Discourse But that we may proceed with some competent Assurance in a Business of so great importance I shall premise something by way of Introduction concerning the Truth and Excellency of the Christian Religion The Truth and Excellency of the Christian Religion fully represented And tho' 't would be needless to multiply Arguments for the Confirmation of a Truth which has been so generally own'd yet these following Topicks may prove of considerable Advantage to illustrate and recommend this admirable Doctrine to the serious and impartial Considerer And 1 God the Father has testified the truth of it from Heaven by an audible Voice By Gods own Testimony Mat. 3.17 This is my beloved sâ—n in whom I am well pleased And has confirm'd it by the miraculous and Visible descent of the Holy Ghost a double sensible Evidence three times repeated which were the strongest and most convictive Demonstration our humane Nature is capable of 2 All the Prophesies of the old Testament concerning Christ the Saviour of the World By fulfilling of all the Prophesies concerning him as to all the Punctualities of his Life Death Resurrection and Ascention and every Circumstance of Time and Place when where and how he should be manifested had their completion in him So that there was not the least Title or Iota fail'd concerning him from the first instant of his Conception to the last period of his Glorification 3 The Truth of this excellent Doctrine which he deliver'd By Miracles was confirm'd by real inexceptionable Miracles such as neither the Devil nor any of his Agents either Sorcerer or Magician were able to counterfeit And this evidence by Miracles was necessary for the conviction of the Jews who had receiv'd their Law by Signs and wonders from Heaven Nor could it be imagin'd they would lay aside their own or admit of any other Institution how specious and excellent soever unless it were confirm'd and recommended by as powerful Arguments and Demonstrations as the former Now the Miracles which were done by our blessed Saviour and his Apostles could be no less than the Product of an omnipotent Arm either as to the things themselves or the manner of producing 'em being such as were never done by any finite Creature either before or since To instance in some Particulars As in raising the dead Body of Lazarus John 11. the restoring him to life and to the exercise of all his Faculties after he had laid four days in the Grave The curing the blind the lame and the sick and diseas'd not only without and above but even contrary to means The feeding of so many thousands of men and Women Matt. 14.19 21. with a few Loaves and some small Fishes even to satiety besides the Surplusage of several Baskets full John 2. The turning of Water into Wine and that far more excellent than could be produc'd by the most generous Grape Acts 5. The suddain Death of Ananias and Saphira at the Apostle's Word for lying to the Spirit of God Acts 9. The miraculous Conversion of St. Paul who in a few days far beyond any Metamorphosis we read of in the Poets was chang'd from a malicious virulent and fierce Persecutor of Christians and Christianity to be a zealous Professor of this excellent Religion and at last testified the Truth of it after he had suffered many years persecution for it by dying it's Martyr And all these and many other Miracles which would be endless to repeat for the whole Lives of our Saviour and his Apostles were a continual Series of Miraculous Atchievements were not done clancularly in a blind corner of the World but openly and visibly every where about Judaea in the Temple Synagogues and all public Places Insomuch that his profest Enemies were convinc'd of the Truth and Reality of it tho' Prejudice and Passion had prevail'd so with them that they were unwilling to comply with it Besides there was something of Piety and and Charity in all the Miracles which our Saviour and his Apostles did For they were of special Use and Advantage either for the curing of Mens Bodies and the Conversion of their Souls or the promoting of God's Glory in the Establishment of the Christian Religion All which Omnipotent Productions are not only a most certain and undeniable Evidence of the Truth of our Saviour's Doctrine For the Divine Providence would not suffer so many Miracles for the confirmation of a Superstitious and erroneous Opinion but of the Power of his Divinity and that he is the true Messiah the Son of God and Saviour of the World which was promis'd by God predicted by the Prophets and is already come to accomplish the great Work and Business of our Redemption 4 There was never any Religion but this neither Mahometism Paganism c. By the Means and manner of its establishment in the world that could ever be propagated by any other Means than either force or Violence or by indulging its Votaries in a sensual and brutish Liberty which might influence their Appetites and Affections into a sinful and slavish compliance with it But our Heavenly Law-giver has recommended the Christian Religion to our Belief and Practice by other Motives and Credentials and has settled it in most of the known Parts of the World
we wilfully despise or dishonour that high and holy Name whereby we are call'd God's Honour in Christ our anointed Saviour is a Prerogative He 's exceeding jealous of and therefore whosoever shall arrogate that Glory to themselves or substract that Obedience which is due to the Eternal Son of God shall certainly feel the Power of his God-head We 've a great many sad Instances upon Record of God's Justice and Vengeance on purpose to deter us from the like Offences How conspicuous are the tragical Memoirs of the fallen Angels of Herod Pontius Pilate Judas and many others who would have set themselves in God's stead What shall I tell you of the whole Jewish Nation that derided betray'd condemn'd and Crucified the Lord of Life Not one of all these could flie from Justice but suffer'd the severest Punishments in proportion to their Crimes for their wretched Prophaneness Cruelty and Irreligion What might I add of the later Hereticks as Arrius Nestorius Eutyches Servetus c. whose Lives and Deaths are and shall be for ever infamous to all Posterity Seing therefore that God will be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth and that he will by no means endure that his Glory should be given to another And seing we have such a Cloud of Witnesses before us who have suffered by the Contempt and Neglect of his Worship it stands us in hand to be very prudent and circumspect in our Demeanor and Deportment towards him lest we wilfully blaspheme his Name derogate from his Glory abuse and trample upon his Word and Sacraments despise his Servants neglect our Duties transgress his just and reasonable Commands or continue in any one unlawful Act of Sin or Disobedience unrepented of unreform'd 'T is our Saviour's own Rule and confirm'd by every day's Experience Ioh. 2. Ep. â— He that loveth God will keep his Commandments And what heinous Ingratitude as well as Disobedience must we Christians be guilty of if we make not our Lives the Transcript of his Divine and Excellent Doctrine and with the highest Expressions of Love Joy and Thankfulness recognize his inconceivable Goodness and Mercy to the Children of Men. But if on the contrary we should render him evil for good and hatred for good-will this Abuse and Contempt of his Grace and Clemency shall not be able to escape the just Resentments of his Wrath and Vengeance And judge what a miserable Condition those poor Wretches will be in who not only trample under foot the Son of God but have so disregarded the Sanctions of his Laws and the Charitable Tenders of his Grace and Goodness that Salvation it self cannot save them Thus much concerning our Saviour's God-head I have been the longer about it because the Devil has been more sedulous in his Endeavours to corrupt and undermine this than any other Article of our Christian Faith Which every Man will readily grant that has the least Acquaintance with Ecclesiastical History and Decrees of Councils Wherefore no Person of any Candor or Christianity can think my Time or Pains mis-imploy'd and mis-spent in explaining and confirming this Article of our Faith wherein the Excellency and Dignitie of the Person of the Son of God and our own present and eternal Welfares are so Emimently concern'd CHAP. III. Of our Saviour's Manhood THis is another Fundamental Article of our holy and excellent Religion The Humane Nature of Christ constder'd that the Eternal Son of God became true and real Man for our sakes That he assum'd the Humane Nature into the reality of his Person tho' in a manner most incomprehensible And yet he was fully invested with it and precisely at the time appointed of the Father and predicted by the Prophets was really conceiv'd in the Womb and born of the Virgin Mary He was made that he might be a perfect Man not begotten of the Seed and Substance of the Woman as all other Men are differing from Vs only in the Miraculous Conception by the Power of the Holy Ghost And 't was necessary that it should be so that he might be free from all sin Himself especially since He came to suffer for Ours For indeed all other Men being conceiv'd by natural Generation must needs be tainted with the Guilt and Stain of Adam's first Sin which has been thus transmitted to and propagated by his miserable Posterity But tho' Christ the Eternal Son of God was conceiv'd by the Holy Ghost yet he was made of the Flesh of the Virgin Gen. 3.15 Gen. 22.18 Mat. 1.1 otherwise he could not have been what he really was The seed of the Woman the seed of Abraham the seed of David Besides this was absolutely necessary to qualifie him for nor could he've been otherwise capable of that Mediatorship whereby he was to procure and establish a Peace between God and Man Thus he took our Nature and therefore no Starry Substance as the Marcionites cerdonians and Manichaean Hereticks vainly dream'd nor yet a Spiritual or Elementary Body as Valentinus and others conjectur'd And tho' those several Heresies were censur'd and exploded by the Decrees of Councils in the four first Centuries yet there 's still a Spawn of those Errours amongst us And therefore for the Conviction of those that have espous'd them and to confirm others in the stedfast Belief of this important and saving Truth I shall make it fully evident That our Lord Jesus Christ did not only assume our Flesh but our whole Nature That is 1st Arguments for it A true Humane Body and a rational Humane Soul 2dly He suscepted in that real Body and reasonable Soul all the Properties and Infirmities of both First he took our whole Nature Christ assum'd a real humane body viz. I A real Humane body figur'd and circumscrib'd as ours which had all the Parts and Members of a true Body compounded of Flesh and Blood was visible and tangible did eat drink sleep encrease in strength and stature sensible of pain and want and was at last subject to a conspicuous Death for the conviction of the obstinate and unbelieving World The Holy Scripture has confirm'd and fortified this Truth with variety of Arguments for Christ is said to be of the Seed of Abraham the Seed of Isaac Rom. 1.3 Rom. 9.5 the Seed of Jacob and particularly of the Seed of David For Christ saith the Apostle expresly descended from David and the Fathers according to the Flesh And again when the sulness of time was come Gal. 4.4 God sent forth his Son made of a woman c. and in the likeness of sinful flesh Rom. 8.3 Eph 4.16 that he might condemn Sin in the flesh by which means he became the Head of his Body the Church For asmuch then as we are partakers of Flesh and Bloud He also likewise himself took part of the same Heb. 2.9 that he might tast Death which he could not otherwise have done for every Man and therefore he took not on him the Nature of
with their Bloud So that we 've no cause to be discourag'd in the stictest Compliance with all the Conditions and Duties of the Gospel because they have been done effectually by Others Nor can we doubt of the success Recompence herein because the Saints in Heaven who were formerly in the same Circumstances with us do now and shall eternally inherit the comfortable and saving fruits of them And 1st Christ our great Prophet was strictly conformable to his own Laws and Constitutions By his own Example in all the Instances both of his Active and Passive Obedience having impos'd nothing upon his Proselites and Followers but what he first practiced himself in our own Nature leaving us hereby an Example that we should follow his steps 1 Pet. 2.21 And indeed 't is plain and obvious that the Gospel is rather a Narrative of his holy and exemplary Life than a Systeme of his Precepts For the Doctrine of the One is mostly comprehended in the Graces and and Virtues of the Other For 1 Christ was a Partern to us in all the Instances of an Active Obedience And by his Active Obedience as will fully appear in these following Particulars And First To the Ceremonial Law Luke 2.21 Mat. 3.15 he was most exact and uniform in his Obedience to the Ceremonial Law For he was Circumcis'd the eighth day and submitted to Baptism a Rite substituted in its stead that he might be a Pattern to others for he had otherwise no occasion to be Baptiz'd to the end of the World He kept the Jewish Passover and all their other solemn Feasts and Sabbaths he frequented their Temple and Synagogues at the Hours of Prayer and taught publickly in both he was subject to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake and became in all things conformable to the lawful Customs of his Country and the regular Constitutions of that Church under whose Politie he was born and educated Secondly The Moral Law Math. 5.17 He was uniform in his Obedience to all the Precepts of the Moral Law in the strictest sense and meaning of it And altho' there be some Actions of our blessed Saviour's Liâ—e upon Record particularly those Maracles which he wrought wherein he asserted and vindicated his Divine Power and Authority which were never design'd for our Imitation yet in all such Instances as 't is well observ'd by most modern Divines wherein the Evangelical Doctrine is to be our Map and Rule his holy Practice and Obedience are to be our Guide and President to walk by Thirdly In all the Duties of Piety to God His Piety towards God inconformity to his own Doctrine was even and constant not affected with high Transports and Raptures in Devotion but such as was meet and easie for Mortals to imitate For all his Addresses to God were secret and serious free from all appearances of Hypocrisie and Ostentation most calm and candid in themselves and always conducted with Reason and Sobriety He forsook his earthly Parents lest they should be Hindrances unto him in doing the Will and the Work of his heavenly Father Fourthly And in his whole Conversation towards Men. His whole Conversation amongst Men was innocent and candid free and ingenuous he resisted not Evil with Evil but treated his most fierce and implacable Enemies with Courtesie and Kindness He paid Tribute where it could not be exacted to testifie his Loyalty and Subjection to earthly Powers He was just and charitable to all Men without partiality nor was there any Guile found in him Joh. 8.46 All the Sermons which he preacht and the many Miracles which he wrought were so many melting and compassionate Expressions of his immense Goodness and Mercy to the Souls and Bodies of Men For whose sake he was most active and industrious in all the Instances of Charity and Beneficence and made it his whole Business to do good Act. 10.38 His whole life is an Example of Vertue and Goodness Fifthly and Lastly What a divine Light and Lustre did his admirable Vertues send abroad into the World Even those which were more peculiar and private to himself became eminent and conspicuous to others How many Instances of his Humility Meekness Patience Candor Constancy and Perseverance in well-doing are yet upon Record for our Example and Imitation And in a Word there was not one Passage in the whole Course of his Life but Odours of Grace and Vertue did thereby break forth from him to the wonder and astonishment of Jew and Gentile But God having appointed the Gospel Dispensation to be a State of Sufferings and Sorrows and Afflictions to be the Portion and Patrimony of Believers so that we cannot expect ordinarily to be happy hereafter unless we be afflicted here Therefore our blessed Saviour to encourage us in our Warfare was made perfect through Sufferings 〈◊〉 10. And as he because a Pattern for us to exemplifie as before in all those Instances of an Active He became also a Pattern to us in his Passive Obedience Mar. 4 1â— so likewise 2dly of a Passive Obedience To instance in some Particulars And 1 Tho' our potent and politic Adversary the Devil did frequently assault him with various Temptations and so attemper'd and gilded his Baits that no less than an untainted Innocence and invicible Power could have been able to resist them Yet our blessed Lord did effectually countermine and defeat all his Projects by Grace and Vertue by Prayers and Tears rather than force and Violence 2 How many thousands of the Jews were every where in Combination against him to take away his Life Yet with what Patience Meekness and Humility did he submit to all those Indignities and Affronts which those his restless and malicious Adversaries put upon him For tho he was Scourg'd Buffered Spit upon and Revil'd Arraign'd Condemn'd Crucified that in a most infamous manner too between Thieves of which more fully hereafter yet for all that he went as a Lamb to the slaughter Isai 53.7 and as a Sheep before the Shearers is Dumb so he open'd not his mouth unless it was to pity and pray for his Persecutors 3 That he might be sensible of and more deeply affected with our Infirmities and Afflictions he did not only voluntarily submit himself to all the lawful Appetites Affections Passions Desires Necessities and natural Inclinations of the Flesh but he most cheerfully underwent all other acute and perplexing Agonies of Mind and Body with a patient and entire Submission of himself to his Father's Will designing hereby to teach us Patience Meekness and Condescention by those things which he suffer'd Hence therefore we may learn for the prevention of all Discouragements and Despondency that tho' the way to Heaven be difficult and troublesome We are taught that the way to heaven is passible yet 't is passable and we 've no cause to murmur against God nor be dejected tho' we meet with cross Accidents and
this Nation especially have been most signally happy in the enjoyment of public Peace and Plenty for several years Our Lot is cast in a good ground We have the Advantages of a fruitful and generous Soil which affords all things necessary and convenient for Food and Raiment for Physick and Delight We are blest with a temperate Air fruitful Seasons Conveniencies for Traffick yet secure and free from Invasion a well constituted Government a wise and merciful Prince whom God long preserve good Laws and duly administred for the Peace and Benefit of the Subject But then Secondly And our Souls We are far more transcendently happy in our precious and immortal Souls if we consider those admirable Facuities of Understanding Will Memory Affections c. and all their excellent Tempers and Dispositions which God Almighty has stampt with the Signature and Impressions of his own Divinity the love of Goodness and the knowledge of the Truth And tho' our Faculties were extremely obscur'd and deprav'd by our miserable Fall in Adam yet God has been wonderfully gracious to us in sending his dearly beloved Son into the World as we have seen at large before thereby repairing all our Defects and making up the Breach between God and us upon the gentle and easie Conditions of Faith and Repentance And to enforce all the saving Methods of Grace and Mercy he is pleas'd to vouchsafe unto us the bountiful Assistance of his holy Spirit by whose Operation and Influence we are preserv'd in a great Measure from Sin and Temptation and enabl'd to perform all our Duties to God's Glory and for the mutual Comfort and Benefit of our selves and others We have all the blessed Advantages of his holy Word and Sacraments and he has instituted and appointed an Order of Men to minister in Christ's stead and to be Ambassadors to solicite our Peace and reconcile us unto his Grace and Favour And besides all this we are certain if we be good Christians that we shall not only live comfortably here but our Souls thâ—ll be kept in safe Custody after Deaâ—â—â— that our Bodies united to our Souls and that God will bestow on us that glorious Kingdom which he has prepar'd and purchased for us where we shall perfectly enjoy all those never failing Pleasures without the least Allay or Discomposure which our Hearts can desire or hope for Thus the Divine Providence has made a wonderful Provision for our Souls and Bodies that we may live comfortably here and if we be not wanting to our selves be happy for ever And what could our gracious God have done more for his Vineyard then he has done for us Isai 1.4 Can any heart then be so callous and impenetrable as not to be influenc'd and affected with such admirable Endearments and Charms of Beauty Love and Mercy as these are How should we study therefore and endeavour as we are most strictly oblig'd in Duty and 〈◊〉 to please him in all things and conform the whole Man to his gracious and reasonable Commands How should we love him with the greatest fervency of Affection so as to desire above all things to enjoy him in all the Dispensations of his Grace and Glory Especially if we consider that there can be no Duty nor Vertue nor Grace acceptable to God unless it be founded in and flow from a Principle of Love Since then The sincerity of this Duty examin'd our Love to God is a Duty of so great Importance let us a little examine the Sincerity of it which may be understood by such Properties as these For if our Love be sincere we shall hate every thing that he hates and make it our chief Business and Delight to have a holy Entercourse with him in all the Duties and Offices of Religion and we shall study to avoid all those Sins and Temprations as the very Plague and Firebrands of Hell which shall at any time interrupt or hinder us in our Duty We shall be more zealous for God's Glory then our own Interest and be careful in all our Ways to do the Will and the Work of our Heavenly Father We shall be ready and dispos'd to forsake all things that are most dear to us in this World for his sake and the whole Bent and Tendency of our Lives will be a full Demonstration of the sincerity of our Affection to him A Mistake herein would prove of infinite Consequence to us which has caus'd me to be more express in the handling of this Point so that we are highly concern'd to be very inquilitive about the Nature and 〈◊〉 of our Love to God in Christ which to the natural and necessary Effect or a 〈◊〉 Faith and the very Source and Foundation of all Religion For if we have these worthy thoughts in our Minds concerning the Essence and Artributes of God and his Benefits to us which become the Perfection of the Divine Nature his Soveraignty over us and our Dependance upon him if we love him as the Author of all that Happiness which we enjoy and hope for then 3 We shall esteem and Honour him 2. By the 〈…〉 we 〈◊〉 to him for his Majesty and Mercy his Power and Goodness c. not only inwardly in our Hearts by conceiving always worthy Troughts of him in our Minds where all true Love is grounded 〈◊〉 also outwardly in our Demeanour and Carriage towords him in all our Words and Actionse viz. By acknowledging our whole Dependance upon him and Praying unto him for the supply of all our Temooral and Spiritual Wants by paying him the just Fribure of Thankfulness for his manifold 〈◊〉 and blessings bellow'd upon our Souis and Bodies in Hearing Reading and Meditating on his Word with a serious 〈◊〉 of Mind and fervency of Affection in receiving the holy Sacraments with a Disposition of Soul and a Posture of Body correspondent to those stupendous Mysteries in Sanctifying his Sabbaths and keeping with due Observance the Festivals of the Church in allowing a competent Maintainance a dutiful Respect and Obedience to all his Ministers and Viregerents in promoting holy Conferences with his Children and Servants for the mutual Edification and Comfort of one another And in a Word by being zealous in the whole Course of our Lives for the Enlargement of the Boundaries of his Kingdom of Grace and Righteousness as it becomes his dutiful and Obedient Children 4 This Temper of Mind will oblige us to depend upon him 3. By our Trust in Dependance upon him and to repose our whole Trust and Confidence in his All-sufficiency in general and in his Wisdom Power Goodness and Mercy in particular Always praying unto him earnestly and devoutly for the supply of all our Wants as before and depending entirely on him for protection in and deliverance from all Temptations Sin and Danger and humbly submitting our selves to the determination of his VVisdom and Providence for the disposing of us and our Concernments to his own Glory and our
of his abundant fulness grace for grace He that is truly prudent in the government of himself will use his utmost endeavour to abstain from all Sins of all sorts and study in every undertaking to make choice of the best Ends and most effectual Way and Means of obtaining them He will be careful not only to improve every Opportunity for the bettering of himself but studiously avoid every Occasion and Temptation of sinning which may interrupt his Progress and Proficiency in Grace and Virtue Now by this discreet Procedure in the prudent Conduct of our Selves we shall in some degree resemble the infinitely wise God who acts and contrives all things according to the Dictates of Wisdom and Prudence and are hereby distinguisht from all sublunary Beings who have no other Light nor Laws to direct 'em but those of natural Instinct Thus in general as Creatures endued with Religion and Reason we are oblig'd that we may proceed to the Acquest of Virtue and perform all the Duties of Christianity cheerfully and vigorously without any considerable Let or Distraction to subject all the Appetites Affections Passions and Inclinations both of the Soul and Body to the Empire of Reason and by the prudent deliberate and conscientious guidance thereof we shall be able to correct and subdue the Extravagancies of corrupt Nature and grow more manly in the Government of our Selves as sober Judgement and God's infallible Word shall direct us Thus when we have reduc'd the superior Faculties of the Soul to this Order and Harmony so that our Understandings dictate aright and our Wills are conformable to those Laws and Rules which are prescrib'd by an unbyass'd and unprejudic'd Understanding when our Affections and Appetites are subject to our Reason and have a direct Tendency to these Objects in the Enjoyment whereof true real and substantial Satisfaction can only be expected then it is that we govern our selves prudently and all is calm and quiet within us Then we act regularly as it becomes Men and Christians who are in the pursuit of generous Ends by rational Means and Methods and make it their chief Business and Delight to live holily and vermously here that they may be glorious and happy for ever And thus much of Christian Prudence which is of general and necessary use for the government of the whole Man in the Ways of Religion We descend to the particular Virtues which spring and flow from it The Souls and Bodies of Men are the constituent Parts of themselves which by the Laws of Nature and Christianity we are most especially oblig'd to love and take care for And this must be done 1 by repelling all Injuries and Inconveniencies which may tend to the Ruine or Prejudice of either And this imports an Abstinence from and a hearty Abhorrence of all Sin 2 By consulting and inforcing all the prudent and rational Means and Methods which may conduce to our comfortable subsistence in this World and will dispose and qualifie us for the Imployment and Happiness of that State which we hope for in a better Now these virtuous and vitious Dispositions are either such as respect the Happiness and Misery of the whole Man as Sobriety and Moderation Or they have a more peculiar respect some to the Souls others to the Bodies of Men distinctly We shall treat of all these severally and in Order And we begin First The Vertue of Sobriety of necessary Us for the Government both of coul and Body With Sobriety or Moderation These twin-Virtues which we shall handle together are of special use and importance for the Government of all the Faculties Affections Desires and Appetites of the whole Man that we may be able to confine them to those due Bounds and Measures which Christian Prudence has assign'd them And if we be truly sober and moderate we shall not be studious to indulge and please those Appetites and Passions which are always ready to comply with every Sin and Temptation to the great disquiet and prejudice of our rational Powers For if we study to please and gratifie our Palates with delicate Meats and Drinks the Touch with Softness and Effeminacy the Eye with fair and gaudy Shows the Ear with harmonious and pleasant Sounds the Smell with fragrant costly Perfumes c. Such Allurements as these do so influence and bewitch the sensual Appetites and Passions that the Reason and Judgement will be forc'd not only to quit their Dominion and Authority but they become subservient to all the base Ends and Designs which these imperious and domineering Usurpers shall desire 'em to comply with And what can be expected in this Discomposure but a fruitless variety of Expectations and Disappointments If then we set a greater value on these Things then they are capable of 't is impossible that we should be satisfied with 'em whenever we enjoy them For 't is most notoriously evident That no man has that gust and pleasure in the Acquest of worldly Delights which he propounded to himself and so eagerly expected whilst he was in pursuit after them Besides 't is considerable that all the things of this World are flitting and transitory and in a few Years perhaps in a few Minutes we shall be stript naked of every thing we possess except the good or bad Qualities and Dispositions of our Souls Now if it should happen when we come to die that our Souls should be hankering after the Pleasures of Sense we should carry our Affections into another World and leave their Objects behind us And judge ye in what a miserable state and Condition those poor Creatures will be in who depart this Life with such Appetites and Affections as these Therefore upon these Considerations how should we proportion our Desires and Inclinations to the value of those things are delighted and pleas'd with And the Enjoyments of this World should only affect us so far as they become subservient to the things of God and the rational and intellectual Pleasures of the Soul and till our Affections be thus cultivated by Grace and Virtue we can have no true Relish of Spiritual and Heavenly Delights For if we devote our selves to the Pleasures of Sense they cannot satisfie the Desires of the Soul but do only comply with and indulge the boundless and extravagant Appetites of the Body Hence then it must needs follow by the Rule of Contraries that the state and condition of wicked and intemperate Men in this World who being inslav'd by their Lusts and Appetites are like a Vessel in the midst of a rugged and tempestuous Sea which is in danger to be shipwrackt by every Wind and Wave by every Lust and Temptation A thousand cross Accidents both within and without do continually perplex and torment 'em which Flesh and Bloud are not able to encounter nor endure and to add to their Misery they are alwayes attended with a succession of new and unexpected Mischiefs This is the worst part of Hell and far
more perplexing than whole Legions of infernal Fiends without them Since then these bruitish Passions have such a mischievous Influence to turn Angels into Devils how can any Man hope to be happy so long as he suffers such Furies to rule and reign over him There 's no way therefore to be at Peace with God and Man and our own Consciences but by subduing our sensual Appetites and Passions and reducing 'em by Sobriety and Moderation under the Empire and Soveraignty of rectified Reason and Religion Otherwise if 't were possible that we should be in Heaven with such uneasie and troublesome Companions we should find nothing there to please us but be rather desirous to return into the lower World to react these sensual Pleasures which are most correspondant to our bruitish Tempers and Inclinations Thus Sobriety and Moderation are the Harbingers which by the Assistance of God's Grace do dispose and qualifie a Christian for all other Virtues and there must be a concurrence of 'em all to make as truly wise and truly good We shall now descend to Particulars Partieular Vertues relating more peculiarly to the Soul As And treat distinctly 1 Of the Vertues which do more immediatly respect the Soul And 2 Of those which are most peculiar to the Body Those of the former Rank are 1st 1 Heavenly-mindedness Heavenly-mindedness The Soul of Man has a direct and natural Tendency to the Place from whence it derives its Original And tho' our Bodies be polluted with sin and the Faculties of our Souls chain'd and fetter'd by the sensual Appetites and Passions here below yet they 'l now and then endeavour to disintangle themselves from those Confinements especially when prompted thereunto by the Motions of God's holy Spirit and the Assistances of Religion Our own Experience will inform us That the Things of this World which are usually esteem'd and valued by worldly minded men are not easily got difficult to keep and do often procure so much Malice Envy and Danger to those that possess them that the Worldling's life can be no other than a continued Series of Trouble and Discomposure But those who have no other Aims than the necessary Supplies of Nature and are not affected with the fruitless Vanity of being rich or honourable in this World but place their whole Desires and Delights in the exercise of Piety and Virtue and in Contemplation of the Riches of Gods Grace in Christ and that suture Happiness which we aspire to Those heavenly minded Christians I say who have arriv'd at this divine Frame and Temper of Mind do trample upon all the little Projects and Fooleries of this World enjoy a Heaven upon Earth and live little less than the Life of glorified Angels and Saints whilst by a Mind content with little they imitate their want of nothing Now this Heavenly Disposition is most sutable and correspondent to the Genius and Spirit of Christianity and the Doctrine and Example of our blessed Saviour Who commands us to pray not for Delicacies and Superfluities to pamper and please our wanton Curiosity and if they are not to be prai'd for they are not worth the having but for daily Bread and such Accomodations of Life as may keep our Bodies in Health that they may be fit for Action and more serviceable to the Soul When we 've rais'd our Faculties to this Pitch of Purity and Holiness 't will be no difficult Task to part with our Fathers Mothers Wives Children the dearest Friends and Relatives Houses Lands and whatever else may be esteemed valuable in this World if they should come in Competition with Christ and the interest of our precious and immortal Souls In a word this heavenly Frame and Temper of mind and Spirit will teach us to bear with Aequanimity all the cross Accidents which may happen to our Persons and Possessions For there 's nothing can fall amiss to that Person that is divinely dispos'd And if it should so happen that our Enemies break open the Cages of our Bodies which is the worst they can do they will make the more safe and expedite Passage for our Souls into those peaceable Regions of Bliss and Immortality Thus as the Soul is in but not of the Body so Heavenly minded Men may be in but not of the World But with passionate Groans and Cries yet always submitting to the Will and Wisdom of God they desire to be dissolv'd and to be with Christ Phil. 1.23 which is far better 2dly Humility The next Virtue which is of necessary use for the conduct of our Souls in the ways of Religion is Humility I have toucht that Branch of it already which relates immediatly to God I shall consider it here as it has more peculiar reference to our Selves Now this Virtue consists in having a lowly and modest Opinion of our Persons Acquisitions Merits and Endowments both of Body and Mind and being content that all others should have so to resolving all what we are and what we have into the Grace and Mercy of God in Christ This Humility will teach us to dwell at home and converse more familiarly with our Selves And indeed if we seriously reflect upon and consider all the Deficiencies Follies and Indiscretions in our best Performances the Ignorance and Errours of our Judgements the Perversness of our Wills the Defects of our Manners the Ommissions of our Duties both to God and Man which we are incessantly guilty of we shall have sufficient Grounds to correct and subdue the proud and insolent Conceits our haughty and ambitious Spirits and submit to the meanest Offices and Imployments Rom. 12.10 in Honour preferring one another To enforce the Practice of this excellent Vertue We have the concurrent Examples of our blessed Saviour and his Apostles which are written every where in the New Testament in such lively and legible Characters that I need not instance in Particulars We have the holy Angels also for our Patterns who tho they be advanc'd to the highest Pinacle of Honour and Happiness Heb. 1.14 yet are ministring Spirits to the Sons of Men for their Weal and Preservation To which may be added the admirable Examples of the Church of Christ in all Ages and what her Members have done and suffer'd for God's Glory in the Defence of and for the Establishment of the Christian Religion Now if we apply these things seriously to our Selves we shall appear like so many Lamps in the Sight of the Sun and those little remains of Wisdom and the fond Conceits which we are so apt to admire in our selves and undervalue in others would expire and vanish A modest Humility and Self denial would take Possession of our Minds and Spirits and the Effects of it would appear in our whole Entercourse with and deportment towards one another Again 't is reasonable to consider that whatever we are and whatever we have our Beings and Well-beings are the immediate Product and Pensions of God's Bounty
far more grievous and insupportable Whereas by a patient Submission to the Will and Wisdom of God under the manifold Pressures of this Life they will become far more tolerable and easie to be endured Especially to those who have a well grounded Assurance that their Sufferings in this World shall be infinitely rewarded with the Favour and Plenty of a heavenly Country Thus if we bear with Patience and Meekness those sundry Pressures and almost infinite Sufferings of this Life we shall not only reap the Comfort and Benefit our Selves both in this and a future State but by this Means Christianity would be restor'd to its ancient Purity and Splendour we should bring out excellent Religion into Repute and Credit as the first Christians did and perswade others to embrace it tho' to the utmost hazard of their Lives and Fortunes Hitherto of those excellent and admirable Virtues which are most peculiar to the Souls of Men with their Opposites We pass on 2dly Virtues relating to the Body To the other Branch of Duty which concerns our Bodies Now we are oblig'd by the Laws of Nature and Christianity to make use of all sutable and convenient Means to preserve our Bodies as well as our Souls in a state of health and safety till Providence be pleas'd to dismiss them into the other World And the best Expedient which God's holy and infallible Spirit directs us to for this End is the comprehensive Virtue and Duty of Sobriety Sobriety as it relates to the Body The Species of iâ— are Temperance Which in a more limited sense as it relates to the Body does consist in the moderate use of Meats Drink Sleep Apparel and Recreations both as to the Quantity and Quality of them and this is Temperance Or in the Moderation of the Lusts and Desires of the Flesh which is Chastity Chastity Or in the sober and moderate use of Riches and Honours and that is Contentedness Contentedness In practicing all these Virtues and avoiding the contrary Vices we act like men endued with Reason and Religion and are hereby distinguisht from bruit Beasts who know no other Measures than their sensual Appetites Of all these as they are of special and necessary use to conduct the Body in the ways of Religion that it may be a fit Mansion for the Soul distinctly and in Order And I begin 1st Temperance With Temperance in the moderate use of the Creatures in Eating Drinking c. And we are oblig'd to be temperate 1 In Eating In Eating 'T is beyond Dispute that our gracious God doth allow us the moderate Use of the Creature and we are confin'd to no other Measures either as to the Quantity or Quality of Meats than what may consist with the Health and Preservation of our Bodies But tho' we have no positive Law to restrain our Appetites to a certain Rule nor is it possible that it should be so because Men's Appetites are of different Proportions some require more and some are satisfied with less Yet our blessed Saviour has expresly forbidden all manner of Excess in Eating in these words Luk 21 3â— Take heed that your Hearts be not overcharg'd with surfeiting And he insinuates the Danger in that Instance of the rich Glutton Luke 16. so that every Man has sufficient cause to make Laws to himself to restrain and put Bounds to his Appetite Besides 't is highly observable that intemperate Eating and Sin were coetaneous and had the same Original And in the very infancy of the World Esau would quit the Interest of his Birth-right and make Shipwrack of his Honour too rather than offer Violence to his greedy Desire of Eating And the Sins which brought sudden Destruction upon the once flourishng Cities of Sodom and Gomorah were Idleness and fulness of Bread Intemperate Lust is always the miserable Companion of intemperate Eating and other Sins are indulg'd and thrive by this kind of Excess 'T is the Duty and Interest then of all Mankind to use moderate and wholsome Diet to live always temperately and soberly according to the Rules of sound Reason and Religion For they that do so sleep sweetly and quietly and are seldom troubled as the intemperate are with ill Humours or depriv'd of the Comforts and Benefits of Health by violent and raging Distempers Their Understandings are clear their Constitutions firm and unshaken their Bodies are active and fit for Business and this is the most certain Expedient through God's blessing to preserve Mentem sanam in Corpore sano a vivacious and brisk Soul in a sound Body Now if the great Advantages of this Branch of Temperance on the one hand and the infinite Mischiefs of the opposite Vice on the other were seriously weighed and consider'd they would not fail in perswading Men to be more sober and moderate in their Diet and avoid that excessive Gluttony and the Vanity of pampering their Appetites which is every where too obvious in the World 2dly In Drinking We should use the like Measures of Temperance and Moderation in Drinking for the Health and Preservation for the Sustenance and Refection of our Souls and Bodies both as to the Quantity and Quality of Liquors The very Heathens who had no other Light nor Laws to direct 'em then those of Nature were highly strict in the Practice of this Virtue of Temperance in Drinking and avoiding the Sin of Drunkenness Even the Cretians who were much addicted to Gluttony made a Law against Drunkenness and inforc'd it by inflicting the severest Penalties upon Offendors Tit. 1.12 Plato de Leg. Lib. 7. Sen Ep. 84. Senecae was of an Opinion that Intemperance in Drinking is a voluntary Madness and he that doth accustom himself to guzle from day to day till he be drunk is possest with an absolute Frenzy Fabricus and many of the most moderate Heathens were great Proficients in this Virtue and declaim'd against those who know no other Measure to bound their Excess by than their Appetites as Beasts and Monsters rather then Men endued with Reason and Judgement What a shame then must it be to Christians and a Scandal to our excellent Religion that any Man amongst us should drink more than he is able to bear But 't is the highest Aggravation of Wickedness and Villany to become the Devils Factors for Damnation as too many do in striving not only to debauch themselves but to overcome others We that are of the Day and directed by the Light of Evangelical Grace and Truth 1 Thes 4.8 1 Cor. 9.25 Rom. 13.12 13. are more especially oblig'd to be sober and temperate in all Things to walk honestly as in the Day not in Rioting and Drunkenness c. The Creatures are only to be used as necessary Supplies and convenient Accessions to our present abode for we should neither make Food our Business nor pleasures our Aim but rather study and indeavour to wean our Appetites and Affections from all Excess that
we may have the stronger Gust and Relish of that Spiritual Food on which we should desire to live for ever And thus the Primitive Christians denied themselves the Delicacies of this World that their Souls being weaned from them they might be taught beforehand to live on the Delights of beatified Spirits and never desire to return again to their Bodies till they come to be glorified together in the happy Resurrection to the Life Eternal And here 't will be necessary to consider on the contrary The Mischiefs of this Sin that all manner of Excess in Drinking is extremely pernicious to and destructive of the Weal and Happiness of the Body both in this and a future Life For intemperate Drinking is the Fewel of all sensual and filthy Lusts it makes Men's Bodies sottish and unweildy and disposes them rather to Sleep and Idleness than a prudent Watchfulness and a religious Care over themselves In these extravagant Fits Jerem. 5.8 Rom. 13.13 't is no wonder to see Men like sed Horses neigh after their Neighbours Wives For St. Paul adds Chambering and Wantonness as the necessary Consequence and Effect of Rioting and Drunkenness And 't is notoriously evident that the most Drunkards Blaspheme Swear Lie Rail against and Back-bite their innocent Neighbours engage many times in irreconcilable Quarrels and do often kill one another so that in this Carrier of Drunkenness Men I should rather say Beasts seldom stop at any Sin which falls in their Way This is the most compendious Method for spending their Estates and ruining their Reputations and hereby they seldom fail of contracting an ill habit of Body and laying a sure Foundation for all lingering and mortal Diseases But that which is yet more fatal and mischievous an habitual Drunkenness doth so dull the Edge impair the strength and cloud the discerning Facultie of their Reafon and Judgement that 't is impossible for the customary Drunkard to practice any Virtue or Duty aright or resist the power and prevalence of any evil Appetite or Temptation Besides this sort of Extravagance is wholly inconsistent with the Gifts and Graces of God's holy and blessed Spirit and 't is utterly impossible saith St. Hierom that a Man should be filled with strong Drink and God's sanctifying spirit at the same time The Holy Ghost has always put them as Opposites in Scripture be not Drunk with Wine saith the Apostle wherein is excess Eph. 5.18 but be filled with the Spirit And how is it possible that any Man should serve these two arbitrary Masters whose Commands are so contradictory to each other To all which we might add the Consideration of those future and eternal Torments which must certainly be the Portion of intemperate and debaucht Persons in another World See and consider those apposite Texts of Scripture Luke 21.34 Gal. 5.21 c. Since then Temperance and Moderation in Eating and Drinking is a great Step to all other Virtues and seing the Consequences and Effects of this kind of Excess are so pernicious and destructive to the Souls and Bodies of Men both in this and another Life How are we oblig'd to keep our Appetites within the due bounds of Sobriety that we may enjoy the Benefits of the one and be exempted from the Inconveniencies and Mischiefs of the other And to this End I would advise my Reader to consider that short Rule of Pythagoras Above all things saith he be sure that you make your selves Masters of your Bellies And that you may do it to the purpose cut off all the unnecessary Supplies of Meats and Drinks and the Siege cannot last long Avoid and abandon the Conversation of debaucht and intemperate Persons Let neither their smooth Language nor their Scoffings and Railings against you allure or perswade you to a compliance with their inhumane and beastly Immoralities lest they perswade you to run with them to the same Excess of Riot 1 Pet. 4.4 These are the Devils Engines which he frequently sets on Work to precipitate inconsiderate Men from the Throne of Grace and Virtue And alas how many thousands have complain'd in their last Agonies that these Inchantments have decoy'd them into those Sins which they must eternally smart for Again it will be of great Use to consider how acute those Twinges of Conscience are which will rack and torment the Drunkard that has any Conscience at all of the Sin if he should outlive the extravagant Fit How must he who is so grievously perplext as the most Drunkards are with a yesternights Debauch be rackt and tormented if ever in a sober Mind with the dreadful apprehensions of those future and approaching Judgements How shall those bruitish Sensualists who have wallow'd in a Sea of delicate Liquors brook the peremptory refusal of a Cup of cold Water to cool their Tongues Luk. 16.24 Consider impartially those Woes denounced against this Sin by the Prophet Isa 5.11 12. And if neither the fear of God nor the Pleasures nor Advantages of this Virtue of Temperance can influence you into a compliance with it and perswade you to the practice of it yet let the consideration of those present and future Mischiefs oblige you to fly from the Wrath to come Matth. 3.7 and if all these Arguments will not awake you from your senseless Stupidity you must perish in your Sins and the Bloud be upon your own Heads 3dly The next Branch of Sobriety which concerns our Selves is the temperate and moderate Use of Apparel which is indispensably requir'd in both Sexes In the moderate Use of Apparel And if we consider the Ends for which Cloths are ordain'd I see no reason why Men and Women should be so curious and make use of so many strange Artifices to deck and beautifie their Bodies For 1 the Original Institution of Apparel after the Fall of Man was to cover their Nakedness and preserve them from the Violence and Extremity of Wind and Weather Which Consideration should rather humble us than by decking our Bodies imprudently and sinfully Act. 25.23 to glory in those things which are the Ensigns of our Shame and Sorrow 2 In the use of Apparel there must be a Distinction according to the Law of Nature and the Custom of all Nations between Men and Women That there be no design of Levity nor incentive to Lust in our Habiliments when we meet together 3 That both Men and Women should keep within their Faculties and Callings And tho' there be some difference allow'd between Persons of a higher and lower Rank yet there should be that Sobriety in the Habits of both that there be nothing of Novelty or Vanity or Superfluity which may tempt themselves or others to Lust or Pride or vain Glory Hence we may remarque that 't is most unbecoming Christians especially to use those disingenuous and unlawful Arts of Patching Painting and Perfuming their Bodies a vanity too much practic'd by those of the weaker Sex to the great scandal
which are prepar'd for the Devil and his Angels This charitable Frame and Temper which I 've thus recommended will dispose and qualifie us for Heaven wherein we shall enjoy the freest Intercourse with the holy Angels and the Souls of just men made perfect And upon these Terms we need not doubt to be receiv'd into their holy and innocent Communion where we shall be inconceivably happy and rejoyce with 'em for ever But as this Vniversal Love and Benificence will be every way so comfortable and advantagious both to our selves and others So on the contrary a froward rugged and uncharitable Disposition and those base Effects which spring and flow from it as Hatred and Revenge Pride and Insolence Injustice and Oppression Whispering and Backbiting Railing and Slandering Faction and Rebellion with all their other cursed Accomplices are not only inconsistent with that pacific and charitable Temper of Christianity but they are the very Bane of and Scandal to all civil and sacred Societies as well as a continual Disturbance to those that commit them And whosoever shall leave this world whilst he 's under the power and prevalence of these insolent mischievous and domineering Passions is fitted only for the Society of Devils and damned Spirits who having sinn'd with 'em by Compliance must expect to be punisht for ever by Sympathy And thus much of that Vniversal Love and Benificence which all Christians are oblig'd to practice one towards another We pass on 2dly To the Particular Duties incumbent upon us in all our Intercourse and Dealings with other Men. And they are such as concern either 1 the Persons or 2 the Possessions or 3 the Private and Public Peace and Happiness of all Christians And I begin 1st With that Love Mercy and Charity which respects the Persons of our Christian Brother-hood Which for Method's sake must be consider'd under a double Reference And 1 with respect to their Souls And 2 to their Bodies But 1 Mens Souls being of infinitely more value than their Bodies become the primary objects of our Care and 't is certainly the highest Instance of Christian Charity to rescue a Soul from Death and from the Peril and Punishment of Hell Torments Levit. 19.17 Therefore to this End we are oblig'd to discountenance Sin in all Persons we converse with since that 's the Cause of all the Maladies we suffer and we should use our stedfast Endeavour to reclaim and reform the Sinner by mild and serious Intreaties and if these will not do by severe yet seasonable Reproofs always aiming at the Conviction and Conversion not the Disgrace of the Offendor And herein we exert our Zeal for God's Glory our just hatred against Sin and our hearty Concernment for the Salvation of our fellow Christians Indeed all our Discourses should be season'd with something of Religion that they may minister Grace unto the Hearers St. Bernard complain'd in his Time and I am affraid 't is too applicable to ours Nihil de Scripturis Bern. nihil de salute Animarum agitur sed Nugae Risus verba proferuntur in ventum Christians now a days the more 's the pitty discourse little or nothing of Religion that they may edifie one another But of Toys and Trifles and so their Communication becomes either sinful or frothy and impertment whereas holy Conferences well tim'd would conduce much to the Credit and Interest of Religion And doubtless it would be of singular Advantage to communicate our Experiences to one another concerning the Power Mercies and Goodness of God to us in all the Straits and Exigencies which we 've met with in this Life prescribing also such Rules and Methods herein for their Support and Comfort as we have found most useful and beneficial to our Selves 1 Pet. 4.10 As every Man hath received the Gift so let him minister to another as it becomes a Steward of the manifold Grace of God Again that we may be happy Instruments in the promoting of God's Glory and our own Good by the practice of fervent Charity to the Souls of others Ur malus sermo inducit Peccarum sic malum silentium reliâ—quit in Peccato Aug. we must be careful to instruct the ignorant satisfie the doubtful strengthen the weak encourage and confirm the strong perswade sinners to Repentance comfort the comfortless and reprove the scandalous Offendor Studying hereby to make all men as happy as our selves by convincing them of the necessity of making their Peace with God through Christ and assuring them that there 's no Repentance to be expected beyond the Grave for the Concernments of the other World are fixt immoveable as the Tree falls so it lies and as Death leaves us so will Judgement find us that without a true Faith in God the Father Son and Holy Ghost with a sincere Endeavour to be and to do good and a hearty Repentance for all our sins past there can be no certain Hope of the comfortable Presence of God's Grace here nor any well grounded Expectancy of his Glory hereafter Heb. 10. â—7 but a fearful looking for of Judgement and endless Perdition Now if we desire to inforce these Methods and render 'em successful to others our Selves must be uniform so far as it may consist with the infirmities and indiscretions of humane Nature in the devout and serious practice of all the Duties of Religion We should study and strive to be pure and innocent in our whole Conversations and be extremely careful that we partake not of other mens sins either by conniving at consenting to complying with or vindicating of them in their vitious and ungodly Courses For unless we practice those Things our selves which we press on others â—ox praeterea â—ihil our most witty sayings closest Reasonings and all other Means which we can possibly use for the Conversion and Salvation of their Souls will have little or no Influence upon nor Authority to prevail with them And when we have thus conscientiously discharg'd our Duty and yet our most pious and charitable Endeavours prove insuccessful then we should mourn for their sins in secret pray earnestly and importunately for their Conversion and by a just complaint to their lawful Superiors we should see to the execution of Justice that they may suffer due and deserved Punishment for their Offences in this Life that their Souls and Bodies may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Since then the faithful Discharge of this Duty is a Business of such Advantage Necessity and Importance both to our own and the Souls of other Men and since the Glory of God and the Interest of Religion are so highly concern'd in it Then what account shall wicked Men be able to give for the total Neglect if not absolute contempt of this Duty And what extreme Punishments shall those ungodly Miscreants endure who by their vile and abominable Examples are so far from saving a Soul from Death that they lead them headlong
Custody for us 'till the great day of Account Mat. 25.34 35 36 40. When the King shall say to them on his right hand come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World And he assigns these Acts of Charity as the Motives and Reasons inducing him to advance 'em to this Honour and Happiness For I was an hungred and ye gave me Meat I was thirsty and ye gave me Drink I was a Stranger and ye took me in naked and ye clothed me I was sick and ye visited me I was in Prison and ye came unto me For verily I say unto you forasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me He interprets all those Acts of Bounty and Charity bestow'd on his poor members as done to himself 2 By Acts of Mercy and Charity we entail our Estates with a blessing upon our Posterity whereof they shall enjoy the Comfort and Benefit when we are dead The Widows Child was blest with the Fruits of his Mother's Charity to the Prophet 1 Kings 1â— 22. 2 Sam. 9.3 c. The Son of Jonathan was plentifully rewarded for his Father's Beneficence to David And 't was the Observation of that Kingly Prophet from a well grounded experience that he never saw the righteous that is the charitable Man forsaken Ps 37.25 nor his Seed begging their Bread All which might be further confirm'd if 't were necessary by innumerable Instances both ancient and modern And if Parents would be careful to put something into God's hands for their Children which they might do by relieving the Poor and Indigent for God acknowledges it as a Debt due from himself which he will certainly pay and with advantage whatever becomes of the rest of their Estates that part will be safe Thus by being merciful to others we shall obtain God's blessing for our Selves and our Children both in this and a future Life Therefore for the sake of our indigent Brethren for God's sake for Christ's sake and if not for theirs yet for our own and the Happiness of Ours let us be tender and affectionate charitable and compassionate to all Men of every Nation and Country Sect or Party whatsoever for the Command is indefinite if they be in Misery and Distress And all our Aims and Intentions of doing good to others should be sincere without any mixture of Pride Passion Interest Hypocrisie Ostentation or Vain-glory. What we give to the Poor must be without grudging murmuring or repining And Deeds of this nature must be done cheerfully freely and bountifully from the Conscience of our Duty to God and with a charitable Intention to do Good Since then this Duty of Charity and Mercy to the Poor is every way so beneficial to us and ours and can by no means be omitted without manifest Prejudice both to our present and future Concernments in this and another World And seeing we neither want Objects to relieve nor Opportunities of doing good for the Poor shall be alwayes with us let us therefore endeavour to make unto our selves Friends whilst we may of this Mammon of Vnrighteousness that when we are stript naked of all these temporal Enjoyments our merciful and gracious God may receive us into his everlasting Habitations Now if the Case stands thus with the Charitable and Merciful Christian which indeed it does as 't is fully and clearly represented for God is pleas'd with Mercy but inexorable to those that shut up the Bowels of Compassion against the Poor Then what shall become of those merciless cruel and uncharitable Men who have most wickedly spent their Estates in superfluous and intemperate Eating Drinking Gaming sumptuous Buildings costly Furniture of Houses gorgeous Apparel troublesome and vexatious Suits in Law Horses Dogs numerous Attendants and in many other Instances of Luxury and Debauchery which are every where obvious and God knows too common in this sinful Nation By which irreligious and wicked Extravagancies Charity to the Poor as well as Hospitality are dwindled into nothing and if the importunate Beggar does now and then squieze a Penny out of their Pockets to be freed from his Clamours yet they seldom give without some smart or scurrulous Reflections upon his Person and Condition whilst they can spend whole Lordships on their Luxury We have alas which is very sad too many deplorable Instances of Men of uncharitable Minds and unmerciful Dispositions that have ruin'd their Estates Honours Reputations Bodies Souls and all by intemperate Living who by a frugal and careful Management might have made themselves and ther Families whom they have utterly undone both happy here and for ever But there are another sort of griping Mammonists in the other extreme who have rais'd their own Fortunes by Fraud and Oppression upon the Ruines of other Mens But these Cormorants have little or no Enjoyment of what they have thus basely got and therefore it cannot be expected that they should be charitable to others Here and there one perhaps will dedicate some part of his ill begotten Estate to pious and charitable Uses to atone for those crimson and crying Sins which they have so wickedly and wilfully committed But as these specious Pretences to Piety and Virtue are no other then gross Hypocrisie Non remittitur peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum Aug. and abominable in the sight of God so they 'l find that without Repentance and Restitution all these Projects will prove fruitless and stand 'em in no stead at the great Audit To conclude this Point Let all unmerciful Men consider that if they continue so their Doom is already determin'd for they shall all go away into everlasting Torments Matth. 25.41 Jam. 2. And there 's nothing but Judgement without Mercy to be expected by those that will shew no Mercy All their Prayers and Tears c. without Charity are to no purpose Pro. 21.13 For whoso stoppeth his Ear to the crie of the Poor he shall also crie himself and shall not be heard Thus much of that Instance of Duty which respects the Persons of our fellow Christians We proceed 2dly To that other Branch of it which concerns their Possessions which is Justice and Honesty Now Justice is a comprehensive Term and in its full latitude implies the Conformity of the whole Man to the whole Will of God Or 't is more Particular and restrain'd to the Persons of which already or the Possessions of our Neighbours And those are either their Wives Children and Servants as before or their Gold Silver Houses Lands and that which may be as dear to 'em as all the rest viz. their Credit and Reputations But I shall treat of this Virtue or Duty now under Consideration with respect 1 to the Estates and 2 the Reputations of our Christian Brotherhood And for the better understanding of this Point 1st Justice respecting the Estates of Others is either That
really believe what they outwardly profess they would not incur the Hazard of Hell fire which they certainly do to gratifie a domineering Passion or please a petulent Humour for a few Moments but would rather practice those things which make for Peace tho contrary to the Bent and Tendency of corrupt Nature that they might inherit the Comforts and Rewards of it And as we lie under these pressing Obligations to promote and maintain Peace in all those Instances I 've mention'd So On the Contrary The opposite Vices forbidden Our eternal Law-giver does every where in Scripture expressy forbid all manner of Discord Unpeaceableness Emulation Provoking of one another Pragmaticalness medling in other mens Matters Tale-bearing Censoriousness Back-biting Revenge Bitterness Wrath Anger Clamour Detraction Suits in Law for Trifles c. and he brands these and all the spurious Brood of them as the Bane and Plague of all Humane Societies and he commands us further to hate and avoid all those turbulent and uncharitable Practices as being most agreeable to the Tempers and Dispositions of those factious Fiends who were excluded Heaven for their Mutinies and Disorders and shall live eternally in Broyls and Variance with one another Let all Christians then of all Ranks and Conditions study and endeavour to promote and propagate public and private Peace in Church and State in their Neighbourhood in their Families and in their whole Intercourse and Conversation with one another By which Means they shall not only please God and Man and discharge a good Conscience by endeavouring what in them lies to preserve Peace and Unity with both but this divine and excellent Frame of Spirit will dispose and qualifie 'em for the Society of the holy Angels and Saints glorified who do all unanimously concur in the same common Interests and Affections of praising and adoring the God of Purity and Peace in a perfect and harmonious Uniformity and are as sincerely one as if they were animated with the same Soul and Spirit Thus it will evidently appear from the Premisses that Christ our great Prophet has not only rectified the Mistakes and repair'd the Defects of all former Dispensations but has in great mercy to our Souls made a perfect Discovery of the eternal Will of God in what concerns his own Glory and our Good He has told us plainly what he has done already what he will do for us and what returns of Gratitude he expects from us in this Life that we may be for ever happy in a better And to enforce these saving Methods of Grace and Mercy he vouchsafes unto us the Assistances of his holy Spirit to restrain us from Sin to encourage us in and enable us to perform the Duties of Religion He has been pleas'd likewise to institute an Order of Men and invested them with Power and Authority to minister in holy Things and to be Ambassadors in his steade and has furnisht them with Abilities to instruct and govern his People and to guide them in the Ways of Salvation And to obtain an honourable Respect and Deference to their Persons and Offices that they might discharge their Duties and manage the Business of their Callings with Comfort to themselves and Success to others He tells the World that he will interpret the Respect given 'em and the Injuries done to them as if they were done to himself and to encourage them in the pious Administration of the Offices of their holy Function he has promis'd to assist 'em with his Grace and Spirit here and to recompence their holy Performances with a Crown of eternal Glory hereafter Hence we may understand by the Premisses what a Miserable Estate and Condition we were in and should have continued so had he not appointed this new and living Way for our escape and rescue Therefore we are indispensibly oblig'd not only in Duty but Interest to believe and practice that Heavenly Doctrine which has so many admirable Sanctions and powerful Motives to recommend and enforce it And indeed unless our Lives be the real Transcript of Christ's holy Example and Institutions and sincerely correspondent to what we profess the Title of Christianity will prove an empty sound nor can we expect to be dignified by that whilst we dishonour him that gives it Let every Man therefore 2 Tim. 2.19 that names the Name of Christ and expects Salvation by his Merits depart from Iniquity otherwise he undermines what he should endeavour to propagate and uphold And it would be a difficult Task to perswade others to believe that Doctrine which our own Lives and Practices are a flat Contradiction to For our Religion does not consist in the specious Pretences or the formal Appearances of being holy and devout Matth 7 2â— 't is not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into God's Kingdom but he that doth the Will of our Father which is in Heaven The most profound Knowledge of all the Principles and Duties of Christianity abstracted from the real Belief and Practice of 'em will prove a Scourge to and highly aggravate the Condemnation of the dissolute Christian Luk. 12.47 For he that knoweth his Master's Will and doth it not shall be beaten with many Stripes Our whole Lives then should be a Constellation of all those Gospel Graces which are recommended under this Head of Discourse And tho' there may be some mixture of Weakness and Imperfection and perhaps of Sin in all the Actions and Duties which we do yet if they be not impenitently liv'd and died in and if we use our utmost Endeavours to overcome and subdue 'em the imputative Righteousness of Christ our High-Priest will effectually interpose and accomplish our Peace and Pardon for all our Sins if we faithfully apply it CHAP. VII Of Christ's Priestly Office THat Christ Jesus the righteous might be sutably qualified for the great Work and Business of our Redemption 't was absolutely necessary as we 've seen that he should be a Prophet to dispense and accomplish that Part of his Mediatourship We shall proceed now according to our propounded Method to give you an account of the Importance of his Priestly Office Which does eminently consist in the offering up himself a real and perfect Sacrifice for the sins of the whole World and in his meritorious Intercession at God's right hand that the infinite Merits of that Sacrifice may be accepted and applied for the Comfort and Benefit of all sincere Christians that believe in and obey him Now by the Merits of this great Propitiation he has fully satisfied God's infinite Justice for Mans Delinquency and Disobedience obtain'd our Pardon and Peace with God deliver'd us from the Guilt Pollution and Punishment of all our sins and we are certain that upon some tolerable and easie Conditions he will vouchsafe unto us the powerful Assistances of his Grace and Spirit and enable us to comply with 'em to our comfort here and Salvation hereafter I shall endeavour to be very express
in the handling of this Point that I may inform and affect my Reader with the saving Truths and important Duties contain'd in it In order whereunto I shall observe this Method And 1st Titles Synonimous to his Priestly Office Heb. 5.10 Heb. 2.17 Heb. 9.11 1 John 2.2 1 Tim. 2.6 Rev. 13.8 1 Cor. 5.7 Rom. 3.29 Eph .2.14 We shall consider the several Titles ascribd to our blessed Saviour in holy Scripture which are synonimous and correspondent to his Priest-hood wherein he is said to be the great High-Priest the merciful and faithful High-Priest the High-Priest of good things to come the High-Priest over the House of God our Advocate with the Father the Price of our Redemption the Lamb slain from the beginning of the World Christ our Passover and the Propitiation for our Sins All which Passages and Compellations do necessarily imply that Christ our High-Priest assum'd our Nature that he might perform absolute unsinning Obedience to the whole Will of God and thereby fulfill the Conditions of the first Covenant which we had wilfully violated in Adam and yet being faultless to undergo and that voluntarily a shameful and painful Death for us upon the Cross to make our Atonement Who having seal'd this new Covenant of our Redemption in his Blood is now ascended into the Heavens where he sits at the right hand of God Heb. 7.25 as we noted before pleading his own Merits and Interceding powerfully for our Reconciliation We pass on 2dly From his Titles to his Office And this great Mystery of our Saviour's Priesthood will I hope be fully stated and consider'd by treating plainly and distinctly of these two Particulars 1 Of the Satisfaction which he made for us on Earth 2 Of his powerful Intercession for us in Heaven The former of these is purchaâ—â— by his Merits the latter is applied by his Mediation He satisfied for our Sins upon the Altar of the Cross and so became a Priest and Sacrifice for us according to the Order of Aaron he applies that Satisfaction and intercedes for us at the right hand of God where he becomes a Priest for ever by the Laws of an unchangeable Priesthood according to the Order of Melchisedec Heb. â— 6 Both these do plainly refer to and directly point at our blessed Jesus the true Priest of the New Covenant Heb. 7.3 〈◊〉 10.1 tho the Order of Melchisedec is far more excellent and honourable than that of Aaron both in respect of the Person and Office But to return I begin First With the Satisfaction which he made for us on Earth Of Christ's Satisfaction on Earth In the handling whereof and for the better understanding of this necessary Point of Faith we shall do these two Things 1 We shall prove that God's Justice is fully Satisfied for Mans Sin and Disobedience and we thereby restor'd to God's Grace and Favour 2 We shall consider by what Methods this great Business was brought to pass For the 1 Christ breathed forth his Soul God's Justice fully satisfied and offer'd up his dearest Life in Satisfaction to God's Justice for the Sins and Transgressions of lost Mankind For all the Projects and Contrivances of Men and Angels were insufficient for this Purpose and all those imaginary Sacrifices of Bulls and Goats c. under the Law tho of God's immediate Institution and Appointment were of little Significancy Heb. 10. For being only Types and Adumbrations of that real Sacrifice of Christ they could not purge the Conscience from Sin much less were they able to satisfie God's Justicie or make our Atonement But the Merits of Christ's Death were every way commensurate to those Ends as will most evidently appear if we consider 1. The Dignity of the Person by whom the Atonement was wrought being no other then God's most dearly beloved Son Who as we have fully prov'd is God co-essential co-equal and co-eternal with the Father 2. This Truth will be fully made out from the Consideration of those grievous Punishments and Indignities which he suffer'd for us from his Cradle to his Cross his whole Life being an entire Series of Miseries and Persecutions Of which more particularly hereafter 3. That God's Justice is fully satisfied by the Propitiation of Christs Merits is most obvious from his own Acknowledgement and Approbation of 'em who has declar'd himself well pleas'd both with the Excellency of his Person and the Sufficiency of his Obedience and Sufferings Consult at your leisure these several Scripture Arguments which are very apposite to our Purpose Viz. Rom. 6.9 Heb. 9.12 25. Heb. 10.10 14. 1 Pet. 3.10 And to inforce the Belief of this necessary Point of Faith See John 1.29 Isa cap. 53. 1 Cor. 15.22 1 Tim. 2.6 and 1 Tim. 4.10 1 John 1.7 and 1 John 2.22 To which may be added the Energy of the Vnion of his Active and Passive Obedience All which being put together are a clear Demonstration of that full and undeniable Satisfaction which Jesus Christ the righteous has made to God's Justice for the Pardon of our Sins and for the Purchase of our Peace and Reconciliation This important Truth being so firmly grounded must obtain and challenge our Belief and practical Assent to it notwithstanding the Cavils of some and the unreasonable Objections of others which have been fram'd against it for if Christ has not made a plenary Satisfaction for the sins of all Mankind then 't would follow that the Priviledges of the Gospel are not extensive to all and if this Hypothesis should be granted then the Guilt of Adam's Sin is of a larger Extent then Christ's Merits which is such a blasphemous Conceit as can never enter into the Thoughts of a sober Christian Again it would be Injustice to damn the Wicked for their Unbelief if Christ have done and suffer'd nothing for them which would also be dangerous to affirm But to put the matter out of Dispute 't is evident from holy Scripture that Christ died even for those that perish Rom. 14. â—â— Heb. 6.4 5 6. 2 Petâ— 2. â—â— And St. Peter complains that there were Hereticks in his time who denied the Lord that bought them Therefore whosoever shall appropriate these Texts of Scripture to believing Christians only must be guilty of great Mistakes in perverting the genuine Sense and Meaning of em for the defence and mentainance of their own erroneous and heterodox Opinions Thus much may suffice for the Confirmation of this Point namely that our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has fully satisfied God's Justice for the Sins of all Men indefinitely without exception and has put all Mankind in an undoubted Capacity of being sav'd 2 We shall enquire by what Methods and after what Manner this Atonement and Propitiation was wrought By what Means this great Propitiation is wrought that we may the more seasonably apply it for the Comfort and Benefit of our Souls And this could not be accomplish'd as we have hinted before by
him to Herod who was then Tetrarch of Galilee another Province in Judea This was very acceptable to the Jews for Herod being a fierce and bloudy Man they suppos'd that Innocency it self would be as little Security to him as 't was to his Harbinger John the Baptist Being conven'd before Herod who had desir'd of a long Time to see him he was question'd about many things and answer'd all their Interrogatories for he expected no Justice there with a profound Silence Then Herod and the Soldiers set him at naught clad him in a gorgeous Coat and when they had expos'd him to all the Obloquy and Contempt they could invent he was remanded to Pilate This egregious Polititian is now put to all his Shifts for he was fully convinc'd in his Conscience of our Saviour's Innocency and the Injustice of their Proceedings against him He was afraid of the Jews Displeasure and yet desires to save the Life of the Prisoner and therefore he must endeavour to find out an Expedient if possible to satisfie their Importunities and indemnifie himself from the Guilt of innocent Bloud Now having fully consider'd these things and to extricate himself out of this Mass of Contradictions he makes use of this politic tho' severe Project For he commanded him first to be stript naked Hierom. and then to be whipt saith my Author by six merciless and cruel Ruffians who beat him with at least three hundred Stripes till there was scarce any Skin left on his Body and having thus inhumanely scourg'd him they platted a phantastical Crown of Thorns and put it on his Head 't was a Crown to deride him and made of Thorns on purpose to torment him For the Bloud gusht out where the Pricks went in and now stream'd as fast down his Face in the Palace as it did down his back and shoulders at the Pillar But yet for all this neither the piteous Sight of this miserably distressed Object nor Pilat's Shifts nor Arguments nor Importunities could prevail with these desperately wicked and malicious Sons of Belial still die he must nor could any Engines of Cruelty satisfie their Revenge till they saw him breath out his last They would by no means remit the Punishment nor commute for his Life Crucifie him crucifie him was their constant Cry He is guilty of Blasphemy against God and Sedition against the King and therefore he that goes about to save his Life is no Friend to Cesar And to enforce their Plea beyond all Contradiction they would take the Guilt on themselves if the Sentence were unjust and they and their Posterity would answer it at the Peril of the Prisoner's Vengeance if he should really prove what he pretended to be and his Bloud be upon them and their Children Pilate was no longer able to resist the Dint of their Arguments and hereupon resolv'd that he would rather crucifie a thousand Christs than disoblige one Cesar Now we come to the Catastrophe of his dismal and Bloudy Crucifixion The eternal Son of God and Saviour of the World O horrendum nefas was for our sakes sentenc'd to die an accursed shameful and painful Death upon the Cross And that cruel inhumane Method which these vile Wretches proceeded in against that meek and innocent Person was this viz. In his way to Calvary they took off his purple Garment put on him in Scorn before and cloathed him with his own Then they loaded him with a heavy Tree and forc'd him to undergo the Burden till he could bear it no longer and when they perceiv'd that he was ready to faint and fall under it they commanded one Simon a Cyrenian a Gentile to assist him in the bearing of it till he came to Golgotha the Place appointed for his Execution Which must needs be a stinking and dreadful Place where the Skuls of dead Men and the putrified and rotten Limbs of Malefactors were dismal to the Eye and nauseous to the Smell Here it was that the Cross being a tranverse Piece of Wood was erected and the Son of God the saddest Spectacle that ever mortal Eye beheld nail'd unto it Thus I have given my Reader a Specimen of the Manner tho' we cannot comprehend the Measure of our Saviour's Sufferings in his Life and at his Death All which he patiently underwent for our sakes by a submissive Condescension to his Father's Will and the satisfying of his Justice for our manifold Transgressions and therefore as those Pains and Pressures must needs be terrible and afflictive to him so they should be a Monument of the greatest Sorrow and Compunction to us Especially in these two Respects 1st Because for our sakes he underwent a shameful and accursed Death Gal. 3.13 which was ordain'd for Slaves and Malefactors only and unworthy of any free Man tho the greatest Criminal And now the People who before were the greatest Admiters of his Person Doctrine Example and Miracles were scandaliz'd at his infamous Death so that tho' the most of them could not look on him but with Pity yet also with Scorn and Contempt This Shame then and Scandal of the Cross must needs add to the Bitterness of the Cup and the Loathsomness of the Affliction And yet for all this he considering the Glory of God the happiness of all Mankind which was so eminently concern'd in his Death and that future Crown of rejoycing which he should shortly enter upon He I say upon all these Considerations patiently submitted to the Torment and cheerfully underwent the Ignominy of that accursed Death for us that we might recover that Life Liberty Honour and Happiness which we had forfeited and lost by our enormous Sins and Transgressions But 2dly As he suffer'd a most cursed and shameful so a most bitter and painful Death For his Limbs being stretched out like Cloath upon the Tenters and his Hands and Feet the very Centers where all the Sinews met being pierced through with massy Nails must needs make the Tortures more exquisite and cruel Besides he did hang there three long Hours and because he could not die of Hunger in that time the Bloud must distill Drop by Drop 'till it was all drain'd out of his Body And to render his Death still more bitter and painful he not only suffer'd by all these Engins of Cruelty in his Body but by a worse and more afflictive Agony in his Soul For as those sensible Tortures which he felt in his Body were most pungent to him because 't was of all other Bodies the most tender being form'd only out of the Substance of his Mother without any commixture of the Male Nature So his Soul being proportionably delicate and his Spirit more apprehensive the Impressions of Pain and Sorrow must be so much the more severe and intolerable Again he was to grapple with and undergo the Fierceness of God's Wrath Psa 76.7 and 18.7 15. and the heavy Burden of our Sins which must needs press him down with almost insupportable Anguish No wonder
then that he swear great Lumps of Bloud Luk. 22.44 and well might he cry out in the great Bitterness of his Soul God having also withdrawn the Beams of his gracious Presence for a time Eli Eli c. Upon which Jeremiah prophetically complain'd that there was never any Sorrow either of Men or Martyrs like unto his Sorrow But because 't is impossible to recount the Number and express the Quality of those Torments which he suffer'd both in Body and Soul We will conclude this Point with that rapturous Petition inserted into the Litany of the Greek Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By thine unknown Sorrows and Tortures felt by thee but imperceptible to us have mercy upon us and save us O Lord our God Hitherto of the real Sacrifice which our faithful and most merciful High-priest offer'd up for our Sins and of the Means and Methods which he us'd both by his active and passive Obedience to perfect the great Work and Business of our Redemption We shall consider in the next Place the Benefits resulting from this great Propitiation and then deduce some Inferences from it by way of Application And 1 Christ our High-priest Benefits of this Propitiation by the infinite Merits of his Obedience and sufferings has purchas'd the Remission of our Sins the Sanctification of our Nature the Justification of our Persons and upon the tolerable and easie Conditions of Faith and Repentance we shall be restor'd to that Holiness and Freedom which we lost by the Fall and Defection of our first Parents But then we must be careful to perform the Conditions on our Part ere we can expect the Benefits of Christ's Mediatorship And if we seriously consider the sad Effects and mischievous Consequences of our original Apostacy we shall be more truly apprehensive of the Benefit and Necessity of a Redeemer and use all possible Endeavours to be Sharers in that Pardon and Peace which he has purchas'd for us as we 've seen at so dear a Price 2 By the infinite Merits of his Obedience and Sufferings he has raz'd out the Hand-writing and deliver'd us from the Curse and Condemnation of the Law We cannot be insensible of our manifold Transgressions both original and actual and that we have been guilty of the Breach of God's holy just and reasonable Commands in many thousand Instances both by Thought Word and Deed For all which 't is impossible that we should make our Atonement either by satisfying of Gods Justice for the Offences of our Lives past or by our perfect and unsinning Obedience to his Laws for the future And therefore 't would be but just with God to inflict the severest Punishments upon us and judge us according to those Laws which we have so wickedly and wilfully violated But our gracious God was pleas'd in great Mercy and Compassion to undone Sinners to send his own Son as we 've seen in the fulness of time Gal. 4. ◠to satisfie the Law for us and has thereby purchas'd Indemnity and Impunity for the Transgressors of it And we are hereby deliver'd not only from the burdensome Yoke of all the Mosaic Performances by nailing 'em to his Cross but he has so mitigated the Penalties and limited the Obligations of the moral Law that tho' we fail in our Duties and Obedience to it yet if we do not wilfully continue in a State of Impenitency but be truly sensible of and heartily sorrowful for the Offences of our Lives past if we exercise a true Faith in Christ our Redeemer and be watchful over our selves in the more pious and prudent Conduct of our Lives for the future Then I say upon our sincere Endeavours and hearty Compliance with these Conditions he will make up all our Defects and by his imputative Righteousness satisfie the Law for us For there 's now no Condemnation to those which are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8.1 who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit 3 By the efficacious Merits of Christ's Obedience and Sufferings we are deliver'd from the Sting and Terrours of Death Now Death is the Stipend and Wages of Sin which is due to every Man since the Fall of the first Adam and he that labours the whole day diligently and painfully in his Calling has not a more just Title to his Wages then the wilful and impenitent Sinner hath to temporal and eternal Death But the second Adam has conquer'd the Grave pull'd out the Sting of Death and given us a certain Title to a blissful Immortality So that tho' the Dissolution of our Bodies may be above all terrible Things most dreadful to Flesh and Bloud yet thro' the Merits of Christ's Death 't will be sanctified and made easie to us And the worst Office that Death can do to a sincere Believer is only to send his Body to the Grave a Place of Ease and Silence and his Soul to eternal Bliss Besides all its Harbingers and Concomitants as Afflictions Infirmities Diseases c. will not only prove tolerable and easie for a good man to bear but will turn to Advantage and become Matter of our greatest Triumph and Exaltation 4 Christ our High-priest has conquer'd the Devil and all his infernal Powers by the wonderful Efficacy of his Obedience and Sufferings This politic potent and malicious Enemy was such from the beginning and all the Sons and Daughters of Adam must expect the same Measures from him to the end of the World He knows that Christ the Seed of the Woman shall pronounce and execute that dreadful Sentence against him and therefore so many of his Friends and Relatives as come within his Clutches shall smart for it But the Son of God and High-priest of our Profession tho' he has not absolutely destroy'd yet very much limited his Power and Authority Those idolatrous Religions which he so much gloried in heretofore are since his Coming crept into some private Corners of the World His Oracles are silenc't and he seldom possesses the Bodies of Men or appears in their Shapes as formerly But seeing he is not yet bound up in those Chains of Darkness which shall eternally confine him he will lose no Opportunity in setting all his Engins and Instruments on Work to entrap and ensnare poor Sinners that he may make us if possible as unhappy and miserable as himself But this is our Comfort and Happiness that tho' the Devil may now and then tempt us to Sin yet our blessed Lord's so exceeding tender of our Welfare that he will cither countermine his Stratagems if we be good Christians or furnish us with a Sufficiency of Grace and Power to resist and repel them We have indeed some Instances in Sacred History of those who 've been yielded a Prey to him for a time yet for that very End and Purpose that their Victories over him might become more illustrious And their Examples are left us on Record as in the Case of holy Job c. that they might be
us How should these Considerations then affect our Souls with a deep Compunction and a hearty Contrition for our by-past Offences And how should we hate and aband on even the very Appearances of all Sin and Wickedness for the future More especially if we consider that If God did so signalize the severe Rensentments of his Wrath in the Punishment of his own most dearly beloved Son what then shall be the Doom of the impenitent and contumacious Offender What dreadful Impressions should this great Exemplar of God's Justice and Vengeance make upon our Lives How should we study and endeavour to mortifie our Flesh â— Pet. 4.1 2. and crucifie our Lusts which have been the immediate Causes of all those barbarous Cruelties and merciless Persecutions which he suffer'd How should we renounce all the superficial and extravagant Fooleries of this World according to the Example of Christ and his Followers Col. 3.3 5. Rom. 6.5 6. And indeed unless we thus crucifie the old Man and become conformable to Christ in trampling upon all the sinful Delights of this vain and transitory Life we have no real Title to the Blessings and Priviledges of this great Propitiation For if we Sin wilfully under the Gospel we crucifie the Son of God afresh Heb. 6.6 and react that dreadful Tragedy which we lately heard of This would be to despise and reject all his charitable and merciful Endeavours for our Peace and Welfare and if we continue in any one wilful Act of Sin and Disobedience unrepented of 't will render all his bitter Sufferings for our sakes not only vain and fruitless but destructive and pernicious Let us therefore flie from all Sin as the most deadly Contagion and when by a thro' Mortification of our Lusts and Appetites we have made our Peace with God we should dread the Danger Shame and Scandal of returning with the Dog to the Vomit or with the Sow that is washed 2 Pet. 2.22 to her wallowing in the Mire 4 We are strictly oblig'd by the Laws of Gratitude Interest and Duty to conform our Lives so far as we are able to the Doctrine and Pattern of Christ And our Respect and Reverence to the eternal Son of God our faithful High-priest should be attested with a sincere Obedience to all his holy Institutions He submitted to his Fathers Will in bearing the heavy Yoke Phil. 2.8 and drinking the bitter Cup for our Sakes How should we then study to imitate his holy and innocent Life alwayes looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith c. Heb. 12.2 For our pious Conformity hereto will not only recommend us to the Regard and Admiration of future Ages but will effectually dispose and qualifie us for all the blessed Priviledges and Advantages of his Grace and Glory In a word the Life and Death of Christ are an Inforcement and Recommendation of Patience Mat. 11. Math. 5.10 and Perseverance in well doing and suffering for his sake to the Glory of God and the Interest of Religion We should devote our selves therefore intirely to his Service and become most active Instruments in the promoting of his Glory and then 't will be impossible that we should fail of the Comfort and Benefit of our holy and vertuous Endeavours 5 And lastly Christ's infinite Love to us in all those Instances which I have mention'd should be a powerful Motive and Argument to perswade us to be kind and charitable to Others 1 Joh. 4.11 Did the eternal Son of God set such an infinite value on our Souls as to lay down his Life for them How then should we love those lively Images of his for whom he has paid so dear a Ransom and do always bear the Signature and visible Characters of his Grace and Favour Has he done and suffer'd so many things for us and cannot we prevail with our selves Rom. 15.1 Eph. 5.2 1 Joh. 3.16 to dispense with a petty Neglect bear some small Injuries from and Infirmities in our Brethren for his sake who has pardon'd us a Debt of more than ten thousand Talents Let all these things be duely consider'd and applyed that we may behold our Lord by the Eye of Faith standing upon the Cross not only as a resolute Sufferer but a glorious Conqueror to the infinite and unspeakable Joy and Comfort of our Souls in this and their infinite eternal Happiness in another World I have done with the first Part of our Saviour's Priestly Office namely the Satisfaction which he made and the Ransom which he has paid for the Purchase of our Redemption here on Earth which brings me to the 2d Branch of it viz. his meritorious Intercession for us in Heaven Christ our High-priest intercedes for us in Heaven Jesus Christ our most merciful Lord and Saviour is now entred into the Heavens where he is executing and administring his Melchisedekian Office for the Interest and Benefit of his Church and People here on Earth most especially in these two remarkable Instances 1 By interceding for us 2 In Blessing of us And 1st Christ our faithful High-priest For the supply of all our Wants Intercedes powerfully with the Father for the supply of all our temporal and spiritual Wants that we may live comfortaby here and be glorified with him eternally hereafter And to this End he is now presenting the Merits of his Bloud and Obedience to his Father's Acceptance representing all the Wounds Marks of his Sufferings and pleading 'em in full Satisfaction For the pardon of our Sins Heb. 12.24 1 Pet. 1.2 for all the Sins and Offences which his Votaries have committed The Bloud of Christ supplicates in Heaven for Mercy and Compassion for us And the sprinkling of it now is as necessary for the Sanctification of Believers as the shedding it upon the Cross was for the Salvation of them For altho' one Drop of it might be sufficient to save ten thousand Worlds yet it becomes efficacious only to those on whom 't is sprinkled This is that precious Bloud which speaks better things to us then that of Abel and it has such a rinsing and cleansing Property in it For sanctisying Grace as to purifie the Souls and Bodies of those who truly believe and apply it from all the Contagion Filthiness both of the Flesh and of the Spirit This only can render our Persons and Performances Sacrifices and Services acceptable to God So that when he beholds the Wounds and Sufferings of Christ he will think nothing too dear for us More particularly That our Hearts may be truly affected with a real Sense of the Comforts and Benefits of his meritorious and powerful Intercession 't will be of necessary and important Use to consider these following Instances of it For 1 He offers up his own Prayers to God the Father for us He offers up his own Prayers to the Father for us and stands like Aaron being truly sensible of our Wants
and every Name that is named both in this World and also in that which is to come And hath put all things under his Feet and gave him to be the Head over all Things to the Church This is he of whom St. John makes mention that he was clothed in a Garment dipt in Bloud Rev. 19.13 16. com Isa 63.2 3. the Ensign of his Victory and Triumph over all his and the Church's Enemies and his Name was called the Word of God and he has on his Vesture and on his Thigh a Name written KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS Many other Arguments and Authorities might be added from Scripture if 't were necessary to confirm and illustrate this Point Ioh. 1â— 37 But Pilate tho' a Heathen believ'd it upon his own single Testimony and may serve instead of many others as appeareth by the Inscription set over him on the Cross Ioh. 19.19 with the Sanction added what I have written I have written 2dly His Kingly Authority is asserted and confirm'd by the many strange and wonderful Miracles which he wrought For he manifested his Power on Earth in curing the Blind and the Lame and all manner of Diseases and in raising the dead Bodies of Lazarus and many others at his Resurrection He exerted it in the Sea when he asswaged its Storms and Tempests and walked on the Water without a Ship He gave a Testimony of it in the Air when he led Captivity captive drew Principalities after him and trampled upon them And lastly he exercis'd his Kingly Power in Hell in his Conquest over the Devil and all the infernal Furies Who in despight of all their Policy Power and Malice were forc't to confess that he was omnipotent Act. 19.15 and therefore they must submit to his Jurisdiction 3 We have the unanimous Consent of all pious and prudent Christians in all Ages who have cheerfully submitted themselves to the Sceptre of his Kingdom For they had their whole Dependance on his Power for their Safety on his Wisdom for their Guidance and Direction and on his infinite Merits and Mercy for their comfortable Living here and eternal Salvation hereafter But as Christ our King is invested with an absolute and unlimited Power and Authority so he has an unquestionable Right and Title to govern the whole World and all the Creatures in it And he holds this absolute Tenor of Empire and Soveraignty 1 By Inheritance Christ has an undoubted Right to this Office Mat. 2.2 1. By Inheritance This is clear from the Concessions of the Eastern Sages who came so far to see him and do him Homage And besides his Hereditary Power as the eternal Son of God he was of the Royal Race as Man St. Matthew derives his Pedigree from fourteen Kings successively and therefore his hereditary Title as Man to the Kingdom of Israel must needs be indisputable 2 He has an absolute and unquestionable Right to his Kingdom by Donation 2. By donation Mat. 28.18 Psal 8.7 Matth. 9.6 Ioh. 5.22 Ioh. 5.27 Mat. 16.27 and hence he derives his Power and Authority to rule and govern all things to forgive us all our Sins and to indemnifie us from the Punishment of them to pass Judgement upon Angels and Men not only in what concerns his Kingdom of Grace here but in determining their final Doom and Condition hereafter and in the Distribution of Rewards and Punishments to the faithful and disobedient 3 He has obtain'd an absolute Right to govern all the Creatures by Conquest For he has spoil'd all Principalities and Powers 3. By Conquest taken the Prey out of their Teeth and in despight of the Power and Policy of Devils and wicked Men the greatest Part of the known World have been reduc'd from their Heathenish and Idolatrous Superstitions in worshipping false Gods and have cheerfully and voluntarily submitted themselves to be govern'd by the just Laws and Constitutions of his Kingdom 4 He has a just claim to his Kingly Government by Purchase 4. By Purchase Rom. 2.23 c. For when by our Sin and Rebellion against God we had justly forfeited our Lives lost our Freedom contracted an universal Guilt and Stain and had not only depriv'd our selves of all the Hope and Possibility of any future Comfort and Happiness but were sentenc'd to Death and as condemn'd Slaves and Villains bound over to everlasting Torments When I say we were by our Sins plung'd into this desperate and damnable Condition 1 Tim. 2.6 Act. 20.28 2 Pet. 1.18 without the least prospect of Reprieve or Rescue Then it was that the eternal Son of God and our blessed Saviour purchased our Peace and Pardon by the Sacrifice of his dearest Life and has hereby restor'd all his faithful Votaries to the comfortable Enjoyment of God's Grace and Favour Hence 't is evident in all these several Respects that our Lord Jesus Christ is the most absolute King of Kings and Lord of Lords A King at whose feet all Prices and Emperors must cast down their Crowns and a Lord whose Authority supersedes the Power and Jurisdiction of all Earthly Princes and Monarchs They must all stoop to him all Nations shall do him service And thus much of the Original and Extent of our Saviour's Kingly Office We pass forward 2dly The Administration of Christ's Kingly Government To the Administration of his Government But for the better understanding of this Point we must consider the Government of Christ's Kingdom under a double Acceptation And 't is 1 Vniversal over all the Creatures which the School-men call the Kingdom of his Power Whereby he orders and disposes all things and rules all the Creatures visible and invisible within this vast frame of the Vniverse For he governeth the highest Heavens and appoints the holy Angels his ministring Spirits their several Offices and Imployments He rules the lower Orbs causing Day and Night Heat and Cold Summer and Winter He governs the Air the Winds and Seas Storms and Tempests raising and calming them again how and when and where he pleases He rules the Earth and all the Inhabitants thereof so that those things which seem casual and contingent to us are order'd and brought to pass by his determinate Councel and Providence He exerciseth his Power and Authority in Hell over-ruling those unruly Powers of Darkness keeping that disorderly Rout under a certain kind of Government well known to himself but inconceivable to us or to them who are rul'd by it So that from the glorious Angels to the crawling Worms from the highest Heavens to the lowest Hell all the Creatures are within the Sphere and Compass of his absolute and indeed unlimited Jurisdiction But 2 And more Particularly He exerciseth his Dominion over the Church his Body and every particular Member thereof His Kingdom is founded in the Souls and Consciences of all true Believers where he reigns by his Word and Spirit directing them in the Ways of Godliness by his Grace that
get the upper hand and lead us Captives to Condemnation 't is not imputable to any impotency in the Administration of Christ's Government but to our own Obstinacy and Cowardice We are not because we will not be happy We proceed 3dly The Benefits resulting from Christ's Kingly Government To the Benefits which flow from the Powerful Administration of Christ's Kingly Office Of which take this following Account Now it must be extremely happy for us Christians that we have such a King and live under the gracious Influences of that excellent Government which I have describ'd to you in several Particulars As 1 In respect of his Abilities For 't is said prophetically of our King I have laid help on one that is mighty Ps 89.18 and I will make him my first born higher then the Kings of the Earth Some indeed have a fit Capacity to dispose but want Power and Ability to put their just Laws in Execution for the Peace and Benefit of their Subjects Others have Power more then enough but want Wisdom and Discretion to contrive and manage the Affairs of Government But 't is said of our King Colos â— 19 that it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell Fulness in the abstract both of Wisdom and Power that he might dispose and order the Concernments of his Government for the Peace and Benefit of his People Earthly Princes may make their Subjects great but they cannot make 'em good But such is the Power of our absolute and supreme Monarch that he makes his Dependents first good and then great he makes them gracious here and eternally glorious hereafter For when he ascended on high he led Captivity captive Eph. 4.8 and gave Gifts unto men and the Doors of those heavenly Treasuries are still open to his Votaries and Servants He distributes Grace in proportion to their modest Desires and Necessities his holy Spirit leads them into all Truth inspiring them with Love Peace Patience Perseverance Joy in the Holy Ghost and all other needful Graces which may qualifie 'em for Heaven and make them glorious and happy for ever 2 The Government of Christ's Kingdom is Monarchical the very best of all Constitutions in which there 's an absolute Concurrence of all Power Wisdom and Righteousness without any Corruption or Diminution For as Christ is the Power of God Psa 45.6.7 and the Wisdom of God so the Sceptre of his Kingdom is a right Sceptre a Sceptre of Equity and a Rod of Direction say some Translations And as he lays his Commands on his Subjects so which is peculiar to the Subjects of his Kingdom only he gives them Directions and furnishes them with Abilities to comply with and obey all his Commands and Institutions Besides this Monarchical Government of Christ has these special Priviledges to distinguish it from all others 1 'T is Vniversal For he is the Head of the whole Body he rules the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant us who are here and those who are gone to Heaven before us 2 'T is Spiritual he sets up his Throne in the Souls and Consciences of Believers and does there effectually conquer and subdue all his and their Enemies 3 'T is Perpetual which is the greatest Priviledge and best Property that a well constituted Government can be capable of For he ruleth by his Power for ever All earthly Governments have been and are subject to many Alterations and Revolutions Not only from one Person to another but from one kind of Government to another and 't is very uncertain how long we may continue either under this Person or Form of Government under which we live But the Politie of Christ's Kingdom as well as his Person are unchangable For 't is constituted and establish'd by such an unerring Wisdom that a better cannot be devis'd nor desir'd and 't is supported by such an invincible Power that all the Grandees on Earth and in Hell shall never be able to destroy nor dissolve it Luk. 1.32 Vpon the Throne of David and upon his Kingdom shall he sit for ever to order and establish it with Judgement and Justice even for ever and ever 3 Christ our King has made an eminent Provision for the Weal and Safety of his Subjects For he gives them the Assistances of the holy Angels in Heaven and of his Ministers and Pastors on Earth By whose Ministeries and the concurrences of his Grace we are supplied with a sufficiency of Wisdom to make us Wise of Holiness to make us Good and Righteousness to make us Just He affords us a sure Protection liberal Maintenance and unspeakable Rewards for those little Tributes and Fealties of Service which we pay him In a word his loyal Subjects can want nothing which may be requisite for their Support and Convenience in this Life But if they should be at any time straitned by the want of these he will enrich them more abundantly with spiritual and eternal Blessings Let them but hold out a while with Patience and Perseverance in well doing and they shall have Kingdoms and Sceptres put into their Hands and Crowns set upon their Heads as Ensigns of their everlasting Triumph 5 and Lastly It may be added as a considerable Benefit and Priviledge of Christ's Kingdom that Satan's Power as before is dasht in pieces and we are safe under the defence and Protection of this mighty Monarch The other Enemies who oppose his Authority and do disease and trouble us are Atheists and Infidels without and Hereticks and Apostates within the Church and all these Adversaries have no small Advantage against us from that innate Corruption and Concupiscence in our own Bowels but all the hurt that Christ our King will suffer them to do us is only by some faint Encounters now and then to try and advance our Graces and prove our Integrity And tho' that last Enemy Death may be a present torture yet cannot deprive us of that Bliss which shall certainly be the Reward of all his Subjects in another World For these Oppositions will rather further than hinder us in our Journey and bring us perhaps sooner however with greater safety to the Haven and Happiness where we would be We go on to the 4th The Application of this Point and Last Particular Which is to make some practical Improvement of this Point by way of Application And 1 Seeing that Christ our King is advanc't to this high and honourable Office We are oblig'd both in Duty and Interest to pay that just tribute of Fear and Homage of Love and Obedience which is most deservedly due to so great and so good a Monarch And we are under the greatest Obligations to be most exact and uniform in our Services to him since the very Angels in Heaven and all other Creatures do not only acknowledge his Sovereignty over 'em but do in their several Capacities send up Acclamations of Blessing Praise unto him Therefore since we live under
Preservation of the King 's most excellent Majesty James the Second c. and all the Royal Family bless the whole Clergy but him especially whom thou hast appointed to watch over us in this Parish together with all the Nobility Gentry and Commonalty of this Realm that they may all become active Instruments for the Advancement of thy Glory the Safety and Preservation of the King's Person Honour and Interest and for the Comfort and Benefit of all his truly loyal peaceable obedient Subjects Visit we pray thee with thy Grace and Blessing all our Relations Friends and Benefactors forgive the Injuries committed against thee and us by all our Enemies Comfort and Support all distressed Persons with the stedfast Belief of sure Confidence in and a patient Submission to thy divine Will and Wisdom in all Straits and Sufferings whatsoever And now O Lord we return thee most humble and hearty Thanks for all those temporal and spiritual Blessings which make the time of our short abode in this Life more easie and comfortable to us But let our Souls for ever love adore admire and praise thee for thine infinite Goodness Bounty in sending thine own Son from the highest Region of Bliss to take our Nature upon him Who submitting to all the Indignities of a sorrowful Life and the Injuries and Tortures of a painful and accursed Death has not only deliver'd us from the dreadful and damning Effects of our Sin and Disobedience but puts us thereby into an undoubted Capacity of being sayed appointing the Use of such Means and affording us those most powerful Assistances whereby we may live comfortably here and be happy for ever We praise thee more particularly for the Safety and Refreshment of the Night past and since thy Providence has bless'd us with the Light of another Day keep our Souls and Bodies we beseech thee pure and undefiled and enable us to imploy it and the whole residue of our Lives to thy Glory and the real and mutual Benefit of of our selves and others So that after the few Dayes and Nights we have to pass in this World we may be happily translated from the short and troublesome Enjoyments thereof to the ravishing and immutable Pleasures of a future and better Life Grant these our most humble Suplications and what thou seest further needful and convenient for us we sincerely beg at thy hands for the Merits of Jesus Christ the righteous in whose holy Name and Words we pray unto thee Our Father c. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ c. An Evening Prayer for Families O Lord the Almighty Creator of the World and the merciful Redeemer of Mankind who seest our down lyings and uprisings and to whom the Darkness and Light are both alike Thou art a God of Infinite Purity and Holiness nor can any thing be added to thy admirable Perfections and essential Glory by us or any of thy Creatures for thou reprovest thy Angels of Folly and the Heavens are impure before thee much more might the sense of our wretched Estate and Condition make us justly asham'd and afraid to offer unto thee any Sacrifice yet in great Mercy to our Souls thou hearest Prayer and thy Power and Goodness are every where manifest in the visible Administrations of thy Providence We beseech thee therefore to accept of this Evening Oblation of our Souls and Bodies which we desire with all Humility to present a holy living and acceptable Sacrifice unto thee thro' Jesus Christ We do confess O Lord and in great bitterness of Spirit lament and bewail our detestable Impiety Unworthiness and hardness of Heart in that we have wilfully trampled upon thy Sovereign Power and Authority by violating and transgressing thy just and reasonable Commands rejecting all the bountiful Tenders of thy Grace and Mercy and obstinately despising the Riches of thy Forbearance and long suffering Patience which should lead us to Repentance But thou hast graciously spar'd us hitherto when we deserved Punishment and in the midst of Judgement thinkest upon Mercy Wherefore O Lord thy Mercy is our Sanctuary and unto thee do we flie for Succour Let the sense of our Vileness possess us with an holy Indignation against our Selves and give us Grace to look back upon the Offences of our former Lives with that horrour and regret hatred and detestation that neither our vile Lusts the illusions of Satan nor the alluring Enticements of this vain and transitory World may prevail with us to neglect the great Concernments of Eternity And for the perfecting of our present and future Happiness we beseech thee O heavenly Father to be gracious and merciful unto us in the forgivenness of all our Sins Pardon the vanity and impurity of our Thoughts the sinfulness of our prophane idle and impertinent Words and the Impurity injustice and Impiety of all our Actions Purge our whole Nature from the Stain and Pollution of the Old-man not only from grosser presumptuous Sins but even from our private Slips and more secret Corruptions Sanctifie us throughly by thy holy Spirit and we shall be clean wash us in thy Sons Bloud and we shall be whiter than Snow Bless all our Endeavours of Reformation and let the redundant Satisfaction of our meritorious Advocate and Intercessor prevail for our Release and Rescue for thy Grace and Acceptance Fix our thoughts our hopes and desires on Heaven and heavenly Things Make us watchful over our Ways and enrich our Understandings and our Wills with the love of Goodness and Knowledge of thy Truth Mortifie and subdue all our lustful Appetites and Passions by the Operation and Prevalence of thy Grace that we may submit our Selves entirely to the gracious and safe Conduct of rectified Reason and Religion And to this end we beseech thee strengthen our Faith confirm our Hope and give us a daily increase of Charity that we may serve thee sincerely fervently and constantly in Righteousness and true Holiness all the days of our Life Enable us to increase still more more and persevere in all the Instances of Piety Virtue that by adding Strength to Strength and one degree of Grace unto another we may have acomfortable Well-being in this Life and in the World to come Life everlasting We implore thy Mercies also for the Peace and Happiness of all Mankind Bless thy Church universal but more especially that part of it to which we stand so nearly related in these divided Kingdoms of great Brittain and Ireland Remember not O Lord our crying Sins nor the Iniquities of our Forefathers whereby these Nations have been involv'd in Bloud and Ruine and do still cry aloud against us for Vengeance But out of the Bowels of thy tenderest Mercy and for the sake of our Compassionate Redeemer let thy heavy Wrath and Judgements be turned away from us Bless our gracious Soveraign and all the Royal Family endue him with the Spirit of Wisdom and sound Judgement in thy Fear and make him successful in
against the Laws of Piety Temperance or Charity Supply my outward wants with health safety and success in my honest Calling and lawful undertakings give me true Friends and other temporal Blessings so far as thou seest them needful and convenient for my Support and Comfort Guide me with thy Wisdom in the Way wherein I am to walk cloth me with thy Sons Righteousness and seal me with thy holy Spirit unto the Day of Redemption that I may not be cast out of thy gracious presence with Hypocrites and Vnbelievers And since thou hast been pleas'd to enrich my Soul with divine and excellent Faculties so enable me to imploy 'em entirely to thy Service that neither Death nor Judgement may overtake me unawares And seeing thy Mercy O Lord is over all thy Works I beseech thee to be gracious to all Mankind Bless the universal Church especially the Churches of these Kingdoms And herein I intreat thee for all temporal and spiritual Mercies for the guidance and safety of the King 's most excellent Majesty the royal Family and the whole Clergy of this Realm but particularly for the Guide and Pastor of our Souls in this Parish Bless all the Nobility Gentry and Commonality in their several Capacities and Callings Be favourable and gracious to all my Relations Friends and Benefactors and extend thy Mercy and Goodness to all even my most inveterate and malicious Enemies Be propitious to those who want the blessings and comforts which I enjoy strengthen the weak confirm the strong instruct the ignorant deliver the oppressed relieve the needy pity and support the Fatherless and Widow and bring us all by the Waters of Comfort in the Ways of Religion to thy Kingdom of rest Glory The holy Angels and Saints in heaven praise thee O Lord extol thy Power bless thy Goodness and are astonished at thy Wisdom the whole Earth is full of the Riches of thy Grace and Mercy But thou hast blest and oblig'd me more especially by all the endeared Expressions of love and bounty in my Creation Preservation and all the Mercies and Comforts of this Life but above all by the infinite Riches of thy Grace and Goodness in fending thy Son to purchase my Peace and Pardon at so dear a price as the expence of his own bloud And herein I thank thee with all my Soul for his miraculous Birth his most holy and innocent Life for his bitter Agony and Passion his Glorious Resurrection and Ascension and his sovereign Power and Authority over all the Creatures for the sprinkling of his Bloud and his Intercession with the Father for us and for the coming of the holy Ghost for all the blessed Opportunities of Grace and Salvation here and assured hope of eternal Glory hereafter And to all thy other Mercies and Blessings thou hast graciously added the Protection of me and mine in our Persons and Possessions this Day from all Casualties and ill Accidents from the power prevalence of our Enemies and from thine infinite Wrath and Vengeance which might have deservedly faln upon us In like manner I beseech thee preserve my Soul and Body from all the Malice and Violence of the Spirits of Darkness and suffer not any vain Thoughts or Dreams to disturb or ensnare me Bless sanctifie my Sleep that it may be temperate holy and safe and that I and all thine may be refreshed from time to time with wholesome and moderate Rest that both our Souls and Bodies may not only serve thee with a never failing Duty but that whether we wake or sleep live or die we may be thine in Christ Jesus Our Father c. FINIS