us into Disorder in our Duties and utterly out of Frame Sometimes this wickedly bold and foul and wretched Spirit will give the vilest Names to the blessed God which are given to the worst of Men. Sometimes he will say that divine Favour and Fury are both contemptible and as if he were a mere Idol that 't is not in him to do good or to do evil Zeph. 1. 12. whereas indeed penal Evils are all from him Amo. 3. 6. Shall there be evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it And the Psalmist tells Psal 33. 5. He loves Righteousness and Judgment the Earth is full of the Goodness of the Lord. Sometimes Satan will deny the Providence of God and say how doth God know And is there Knowledge in the most high As if he did not regard Men or their Ways but that all things in this World fall out either according to blind Chance or fatal Necessity whereas the Psalmist with great Force and Evidence of Reason argues Psal 94. 9 10. He that planted the Ear shall he not hear He that formed the Eye shall he not see He that teacheth Man Knowledge shall not he know Nay sometimes this evil one though himself believes a God and trembles before him yet will inject atheistical Thoughts and confidently deny the very Being of a God that he may discourage all Religion and Application to him Whereas the Heavens declare the Glory of the Lord and as the Light of the Sun is evident so it is evident there is a God by whom that Sun was made and all things visible besides Finally this lying Spirit will bear in with great Violence blasphemous Falshoods against the Word and Gospel of Jesus Christ Christ was manifested to destroy the Works of the Devil and the Devil will endeavour to hinder the Word of Christ from being believed though God himself did bear witness to the Truth of this Word both with Signs and Wonders and with divers Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own Will Heb. 2. 4. and miraculous Operations of Grace cease not to this Day When a blind Mind is made to see when an Heart of Stone is turned into an Heart of Flesh when the dead in Sin are made alive to God and Righteousness is their Practice and their Conversation is in Heaven all this shews a divine Efficacy in the Word and its divine Authority and most certain Truth These hellish Injections must by no means have an undisturbed Abode in the Mind for if they have they will cut the Sinews of all religious Endeavours They will damp the Affections dead the Heart and eat out all manner of gracious Inclinations and Purposes These blasphemous Injections shew that there is a Devil for even Nature as bad as it is will rise against some vile Thoughts which he casts in and he is an Enemy to God to Righteousness to the Souls of Men and as great a Lyar as an Enemy therefore he is not at all to be credited but his Wickedness and Falshoods to be abhorred 4. The Heart is distracted when though its Thoughts are good they are unseasonable A good Thought becomes a bad one when 't is entertained at a time that is not proper for it If when we are confessing Sin a Thought good for the matter of it arises that is utterly alien that draws the Mind away from thinking of Sin and that has no Tendency to humble and break the Heart for it This Thought by its Unseasonableness becomes evil If when we are Petitioning for Mercy a good Thought should intrude and make us forget what we are doing and we neither mind what we are asking nor to whom we are speaking A good Thought in this Case causes a sinful Distraction Solomon says that every thing is beautiful in its time Eccles 3. 11. A Word spoken in due season how good is it And as Words so Thoughts are the better the more seasonable they are If the subtle Serpent cannot divert the Mind from the Duty performing by bad Thoughts he will endeavour to do it by good ones If when hearing the Word preached we fall a reading the Scripture to our selves or our Minds are upon a Piece of a Sermon hat we heard at another time and the Truths that are propounding and the Duties that are pressing are not at all regarded Alas we are but too much like the very high way ground and the Seed is catched away assoon as sown 5. The Heart is distracted when the Mind and Judgment are so carnal and perverted as to esteem earthly things above spiritual and eternal When our Lord says The Light of the Body is the Eye Mat. 6. 22. He intimates that what the Eye is to the Body the Judgment is to the Soul and indeed to the whole Man If the Judgment be rectified and apprehends things aright the actings of the Soul will be the better but if the Judgment be darkened and does not discern between Truth and Falshood between good and evil between Substance and Shaddows the Soul must needs wander away from God and lose it self quickly When the Judgment is perverted there is a very wicked Distraction of Mind for the Judgment gives Sentence against God and for the Creature as if a Portion in this Life were more worthy to be chosen and secured than an Inheritance that is eternal It was said to the rich Man in Hell Son remember thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things Luke 16. 25 They are called his good things because his mistaking Mind apprehended them to be the good things indeed and the best things of all were not in his Judgment so good as these How can the natural Man chuse but be distracted in all his Duties he performs to God since his darkened Mind thinks such Duties unprofitable and that the things of God are Foolishness 1 Cor. 2. 14. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are Foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned 6. The Heart is distracted when the Will and Affections withdraw from God and fasten upon Vanity A false Judgment being past no wonder that a foolish Choice is made This is an ill distraction indeed When the Biass of the Will turns away from God and it refuses to be subject to him though the best Lord and cares as little to enjoy him as to obey him The Lord observed and complained of this Psal 81. 11. My People would none of me He offered no less than himself to them who is so infinitely desirable who was so alsufficient and able to fulfil their Desires in whom the truest Delight was to be found yet this greatest and best Offer was contemned And when the Heart and Affections are thus denyed to God how are they bestowed Pleasures are loved more than God and even in his House and when there is an external Service yielded the Heart goeth after its Covetousness Ezek.
Trespasses dead to God and to any thing that is truly good employed in nothing but dead works and thereby fitted to destruction And how should your Thoughts be seized on by the obligation your Lord has laid you under in freeing you from Death and eternal Destruction by laying down his own Life a ransom for you Mat. 20. 28. When the Apostle said he determined not to know any thing save Jesus Christ and him crucisied 1 Cor. 2. 2. it shews upon whom his Thoughts were Our Thoughts at the Lord's Table should be fastned to Christ as he was to the Cross We should behold admire and be suitably affected when we behold him that is equal with God in the form of a Servant in the likeness of sinsul Flesh and humbling himself so low as to become obedient to Death even the Death of the Cross Phil. 2. 8. Let the worth of the Person suffering the Merit of the Sufferings themselves and the value of the Benefits thereby procured be believed and how can they chuse but be heedfully thought of 3. Take due notice that Christ when he was dying gave this charge to his Disciples that they should engage in this Ordinance as a Memorial of him Christ's Death was infinitely more than if all Creatures that have Life had lost their Lives to make an atonement Just when he was ready to make his Soul an Offering for sin he bids us to do this in remembrance of him 1 Cor. 11. 23 24. The Lord Jesus the same Night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he brake it and said Take eat this is my Body which is broken for you do this in remembrance of me The command of such a Lord that Lord dying and dying such a meritorious Death and in that Death expressing Love which passes Knowledge and the Command given on purpose that he might still be and live in our remembrance if well weighed will make us mind what we are doing and prevent distraction 4. The Sacramental Elements and Actions being understood with their signification will be a great means to fix the Thoughts of the Communicants When your Eyes behold the Bread let your Faith behold the Body of Christ When you see the Bread broken believe that Christ was wounded and bruised for your Iniquities and bare them in his Body on the Tree When the Bread is given you understand what a gift of God Christ is When you take the Bread into your hands let your Hearts be open more fully to receive Christ himself and to receive still more from him And when you eat the Bread be sure to feed upon Christ the Bread of Life by Faith Rely upon his Crucifixion as your reconciliation for says the Apostle We are reconciled to God by the Death of his Son Rom 5. 10. And as Bread is the staff of Life so let this Bread of Life be your Souls stay rest upon Christ for spiritual life and strength more and more abundantly to be given you When you perceive the Wine given a part from the Bread think with your selves that your Lord's Life was indeed though not against his Will taken from him Body and Soul were separated though neither from the Godhead Look beyond the Wine to the Blood of Jesus believe it to be more precious than Gold that perishes and that being the blood of him who is God it can do away the greatest guilt and the foulest spots and stains of the sins of Men. When you drink the Wine believe the Cup of Blessing to be indeed the Communion of the Blood of Christ 1 Cor. 10. 16. Rest on this Blood to justifie you from all things for which the Law condemns you Rest on this Blood to pacifie your Consciences and heal the Wounds which sin has made there to purifie and heal all the Plagues of your Hearts to make you perfect in every good work and to open a way for you into the holiest of all Heb. 10. 19. not only to procure constant access to the Throne of Grace but an abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdom Thus you will be helped against distraction in this Ordinance If what is visible to the Eye the Heart understands and improves 5. That you may be the more serious in this Ordinance of the Lord's Supper remember therein you solemnly renew Covenant with the God of Heaven you give your selves from your selves to him and disclaim all other Lord's and Owners and profess to take him to be your Lord your God your Guide your All. Oh mind what you do that you may be sincere in doing it God has no pleasure in Fools Eccles 5. 4. who consider not with whom they have to do who consider not what evil they do when they do that which is good after a distracted and deceitful manner In this Ordinance the Broad-Seal of Heaven is put into your hand to confirm your Faith in the New Covenant and that you may with greater confidence expect the accomplishment of its Promises He that rests on Christ and hungers and thirsts after righteousness may rejoyce in this Ordinance more than a Bankrupt would do that receives an Acquittance sealed of the release of all his Debts and with it a Will and Testament sealed whereby a plentiful Estate is made over and assured to him And the Communicants solemnly profess a Restipulation they tie themselves faster and more strictly to the Lord there is nothing you have or are but is his Will and Heart and Thoughts are to be ever in his Service and at his Command 6. Be sensible how dreadful guilt is contracted when you are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord and this guilt comes upon you by distracted careless and unworthy receiving 1 Cor. 11. 27. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. The Communicant whose Heart cares not how distracted it is how does he contemn the Son of God his Blood and Benefits If he does not count them worth serious thinking of surely he does not think them worth his thankful acceptance How precious is the Blood of Jesus and what an heavy load is the guilt of such Blood 'T is sad not to be saved by the Blood of Christ but much sorer under the guilt of it to sink lower into Damnation Temporal Punishments that are inflicted upon receiving amiss may be terrible but how much worse are eternal Judgments Oh give your Hearts into God's Hand that he may keep and order them at the Table and afterwards the more there is of his help in the performance the less will there be of distraction and of your own infirmities USE V. Shall be terrour unto Sinners and Hypocrites all whose attendance upon God is void of care and full of allowed distraction They freely grant their Hearts a liberty and their navghty Hearts take it to be whatever they please and to run upon
encouraging promise of Divine Aid and strengthning Grace Psal 27. 14. Wait on the Lord be of good Courage he shall strengthen thy Heart wait I say on the Lord. Psal 37. 34. Wait on the Lord and keep his way this way is true walking in it is holy and safe and the end is Peace In the handling of this Doctrine I shall First Shew you what is supposed in Man's Attendance upon God Secondly I shall tell you what is implied in this Attendance Thirdly I shall speak of several sorts of Attending upon the Lord. Fourthly I shall assign the Reasons why the Children of Men ought to give their Attendance upon God Fifthly Make Application In the first place I am am to shew you what is supposed in Man's Attendance upon God There are several pre-requisites unto this for Man is not easily perswaded to this Duty though the performance of it prove never so beneficial to him Now that there may be this Attendance 1. Man must firmly believe that there is a God Heb. 11. 6. But without Faith 't is impossible to please him for he that cometh unto God must believe that He is As God is to everlasting so he is from everlasting If he had not ever been and that of himself he would never have been neither could any thing else ever have had a Being Creatures Existence supposes there is a Creator and Attendance upon God supposes there is a God to be attended on The stronger the Assent to this is the greater will be the care to understand how the Attendance may be acceptable The Being of a God there are few that deny in words but there are abundance who deny him in their works even among them who profess to know him Tit. 1. 16. And being so foolish as to say in their Hearts there is no God No wonder that with their hearts they refuse to seek him Man should look upward and see how the Heavens declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy-work Psal 19. 1. The Visible Creation is not more obvious to the Eye than the Eternal Power and Godhead of him who made all things is clearly to be seen by the Mind of Man Rom. 1. 20. And if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Man will but look into his own Heart he may find this Truth deeply ingraven there that God is therefore the Apostle speaks thus of the Gentiles who had only the Light of Nature Rom. 1. 19. for that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them Let not any go about to obliterate this Truth concerning the Being of a God but undoubtingly credit it for 't is the first Stone in the Foundation of all truly Religious Service and Obedience 2. Man must have a sense that he had his Being from God and was made for him and truly he is made such a Creature that he will never be quite unmade so as to become nothing He is capable of knowing and serving his Maker and enjoying him for ever God has made all Men for himself and some way or other he will secure his own Honour and have Glory from the very worst But as for his own People he has formed bought and new made them for himself that they might shew forth his Praise Isa 43. 21. Man should Eye the Hand that made him and the End for which he was made Our Bodies will be found a curious piece of Divine Workmanship if the contexture variety and use of their parts are considered But though our Flesh is of God's Forming yet in a more immediate manner he is called the Father of our Spirits And wherefore have our Souls a thinking Faculty but that God may be thought of Wherefore have we Memories but that our Creator from our Youth may be remembred And if we live to Gray-hairs he in no wise is to be forgotten Wherefore are we capable of loving desiring and taking delight but that God may be the chief Object of these Affections In him we live and move and have our Being Acts 17. 28. that we might live to him move according to his Will and be indeed his Servants 3. Man must be perswaded that God is rightfully his Ruler and has given him a Law and Commandments by which he is to be governed Mammon and Satan are meer Vsurpers and where they reign they ruin The evil One is to be resisted not obeyed and Man was made to have Dominion over the Creatures not to be enslaved by them But God is Man's Sovereign by Right and may lay upon Man what Commands he pleases but has given them none but what are holy just and good Rom. 7. 12. And the better these are obeyed Man becomes more holy just and good himself and partakes more of the Divine Nature Would we attend upon God We must have respect unto his Commands David plainly intimates the gain of Obedience when he says more are they to be esteemed than Gold yea than much fine Gold He signifies the pleasure of Obedience when he adds sweeter also than the hony and the hony comb Psal 19. 10. 4. Man must be convinced that by sin he has departed from God and has justly incurred his displeasure The natural distance between God and Man as a Creature must ever remain God is and will be for ever infinitely above and superiour even to those that are in Heaven he humbles himself to behold the things that are there Psal 113. 6. But the moral distance that is between God and Man or the enmity that Sin is the cause of may be made to cease When Man attends upon God he should come with deep sense how he has provoked him that he is by Nature a Child of Wrath Eph. 2. 3. and in his practise a Rebel and as he has acted like one so he deserves to be dealt with as an Enemy When the Syrians came to the King of Israel they had Sackcloth on their Loins and Ropes on their Heads 1 Kings 20. 32. They had newly been in Arms against him and now they declare how ill they deserved to be treated by him For offenders to approach unto God without any trouble for their offences 't is not to Attend upon him but to Affront him Those are his own words Wo to them for they have fled from me destruction unto them because they have transgressed against me Hos 7. 13. And hear the Language of the penitent Church Lam. 5. 16. The Crown is fallen from our Head wo to us that we have sinned When we come for Mercy we must be sensible that Mercy is undeserved and that confusion of Face belongs to us Dan. 9. 8. A penitential Acknowledgment there should be that we have been foolish disobedient deceiâ—ed that we have served divers Lusts and Pleasures and in our selves are so hateful to God that we are unworthy to be admitted into the number of his Attendants 5. Man must hear the Call of God to return to
he refused to go out free at the year of release and had his Ear boared with an Awl to the Post of the Door to signifie his resolution to serve his Master continually To profess Service to the Lord and then to depart from him is highly to reproach and dishonour him and in effect to say that fleshly and worldly Lusts are better Lords than He 't is more notoriously to despise him and to harden others in their contempt of him and of his Word and Commandments Attenders upon God give not over following him in all those ways he has commanded them to walk in They follow on to know him they follow him fully and being upheld with the right hand of his Righteousness their Souls follow hard after him Psal 63. 8. And whom should they follow to whom else should they go The Lord has the words of Eternal Life He alone has Grace and Honour and Glory and all good things else to give and to go away from him is to lose all this and to tread the path which leads to Eternal Death Attenders upon God cannot change their Lord but they must change for the worse nay the very best for the very worst of all therefore they are unchangeably his stedfast and unmovable always abiding and abounding in his Work and Service In the third place I am to speak of several sorts of Attending upon God It will be needful to insist particularly on these that you may have a more distinct understanding of your Duty in the Extent and Latitude of it The Scripture makes a great difference between Attendance and Attendance upon God so that there are diverse kinds of it as shall be manifested in these following Distinctions I. There is an Attendance upon God which is with the lips and body only and that which is with the Heart also I begin with this distinction to prevent Hypocrisie and Formality in Religious Duties whereby the Jealous God is so much provoked and Professors deceive others but principally cheat and ruine their own Souls 1. An Attendance which is with the lips and body only God by the Prophet spake against this and by his own Son shews the vanity of it and how displeasing 't is to him Mat. 15. 7 8. Ye Hypocrites well did Esaias prophesie of you saying This People draweth near unto me with their mouth and honoureth me with their lips but their heart is far from me The body indeed is to give Attendance as being the Temple of the Spirit The Tongue is then most Angelical and Man's Glory when most enlargedly it does confess to God call upon and praise and magnifie his Name But if when the eyes are lift up towards Heaven the hands are stretched forth with great eagerness the knees bowe with seeming Humility and Devotion and the words of the mouth are serious and holy and with appearing fervency all this while the heart keeps aloof and at a distance from God values not his love his grace or Communion with him but goes after its pleasures lusts and covetousness Alas Here is only a dead and rotten carcass of a Duty without a Soul and 't is very loathsom and abominable In all Religious Performances if the heart does not at all care to draw near 't is certain the Lord will not draw near neither as to his gracious presence And if God be not found in the Duty nor the Heart of the performer found there how unprofitable must the performance needs be 2. There is an Attendance upon God not with the Body only but with the Heart also He speaketh unto us as unto Children and saith My Son give me thy heart Prov. 23. 26. Give him never so much without this you give him nothing that he cares for The Heart does the chief part in the pure and acceptable Worship of God The Heart must keep his Commandments else they are not kept Prov. 3. 1. My Son forget not my Law but let thy Heart keep my Commandments The Psalmist lifted up his very Soul to God Psal 25. 1. this the Lord look'd at and liked Those Graces which are to be acted in Attendance upon God as Faith and holy Reverence Love Desire and Hope and such like the Heart is the Seat of them and 't is by the Heart that they are exercised And when the Heart being cleansed from its Defilements and weaned from the Allurements of this World draws very near to God and God also draws very near these his nearer approaches how reviving how healing and confirming are they When the Spirit of a Saint does before the time in a sense return to God who gave it and converse with him in the heavenly places that converse how high and joyful and beneficial is it found When Moses came down from the Mount where he had been with God his Face did shine and when the Heart has been above in Heaven a clearer light does shine into it and 't is more gloriously transformed into the Divine Image and Nature II. There is an Attendance upon God which is voluntary and which is through constraint and forced 1. An Attendance which is voluntary When God by his powerful Grace inclines and determines the Will to himself so that He is chosen and his special Favour and Blessings are valued above all things A mighty strength is put forth and yet without coaction in bending the Will of Man towards God and to his Will which naturally is so perverse and obstinate in Evil that 't is fitly compared to an Iron Sinew What a Power is it which makes it pliable Psal 110. 3. Thy People shall be willing in the day of thy Power And when to will is thus wrought the Heart is then enlarged and at liberty to come to God and to do its Duty There is a renewed Nature which is principium motus a principle of spiritual Motion This is notably expressed Zach. 8. 21. And the Inhabitants of one City shall go to another saying let us go speedily to pray before the Lord and to seek the Lord of Hosts I will go also The like temper we find Jer. 50. 5. They shall ask the way to Zion with their Faces thitherward saying come and let us joyn our selves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant that shall not be forgotten 2. There is an Attendance which is through constraint and forced The Heart is not right with God nor taken with himself at all But pressing necessity drives the Soul to him for some benefit which none but he can bestow Or there are some indications of God's Anger and Displeasure The effects of which they which attend upon him feel or fear whereupon they are forced to cry for mercy Such kind of Attenders were those Psal 78. 34 35 36 37. When he slew them then they sought him they returned and enquired early after God they remembered that God was their Rock and the high God their Redeemer Nevertheless they did flatter him with their Mouth and lyed unto him
with their Tongues for their Heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant Had they not felt God's Hand he had not heard their Voice had not peril been extream they would not have run to this Rock for refuge had not enemies prest hard upon them they would not have cryed to this high Redeemer for deliverance But their cries were lies and flatteries As soon as the danger was in their apprehension over their naughty Hearts started aside like deceitful bowes and they soon returned to their corrupt way In Attending upon God let not Affliction Conviction and fear of punishment be the only cords that hale you to your Duty The more there is of God's Servants wills in his work the more acceptable and well-pleasing is the Service III. There is an Attendance upon God which is ordinary and extraordinary 1. An Attendance upon God which is ordinary As we are ordinarily to be employed in the works of our particular Callings so the works of our general Calling as we are Christians must in no wise be neglected As we have Bodies to feed and to cloath and some business about the World to mind and manage So we have Souls to look after and a God to serve and this is the main business of all To work out our Salvation with fear and trembling is that which should always be upon our Hearts That Man may truly say Diem perdidi I have lost a day if a day is gone and nothing at all of this work done Mary is commended who heard and heeded Christ's word and according to the direction of it minded the one thing needful and chose the good part which could not be taken away from her Whereas Martha is taxed and reproved for being careful and troubled about many things Luke 10. 41 42. All the Lord's Servants are to be Attendants in ordinary Religion is to be the constant business of their lives as being of greatest concern and most worthy of their time and labour 2. There is an Attendance upon God which is extraordinary When he goes out of the common way and course of his Providence his Servants ought to follow him and as He acts extraordinarily in a way of Judgment or of Mercy They are to do something extraordinary in the Duties they have such a signal and loud Call to Acts of severity are styled God's strange Acts Isa 28. 21. The Lord will rise up as in Mount Perazim that he may do his work his strange work and bring to pass his act his strange act Affliction is said to be strange either because his ordinary course is otherwise Kindness and Mercy is that which he delights in shewing or it may denote Judgments that are unusual and that have something more than ordinary of terror and instruction When the Lord is thus raised up out of his holy Habitation and comes forth to visit and punish Iniquity there should be great preparation to meet him Amos 4. 12. Because I will do this unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel There should be deep Humiliation before him 1 Pet. 5. 6. Humble your selves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time There must be strong cries unto him for pitty favour and a spirit suited to his dealings Psal 18. 6. In my distress I called upon the Lord and cryed unto my God he heard my Voice out of his holy Temple and my cry came before him even into his Ears Sin must be forsaken with more than ordinary sorrow and hatred as that which has provoked the Lord to be so very angry and Righteousness must be followed after with greater zeal and diligence Isa 26. 9. When thy Judgments are in the Earth the Inhabitants of the World will learn Righteousness On the other side when God does act extraordinarily in deliverance and salvation Songs suitable to Deliverance should be loud the Heart should be exceedingly well tuned to praise his Name His Attendants should call upon their Souls and all that is within them to bless him Psal 103. 1. Love should be extraordinarily ardent unto God the deliverer when extraordinary deliverance has been wrought And he that is so mighty to save should be both feared and believed in together Exod. 14. 31. And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians and the People feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his Servant Moses I might also add that when Falls have been foul and scandalous sins have been committed then there should be extraordinary contrition and supplication unto God for Pardon Healing for Establishment by his Spirit and for the Joy of his Salvation When David an eminent Saint and Prophet was of a sudden turned black as Hell and become a Monster of Ingratitude Impurity and Cruelty he comes unto God being awakened by Nathan's Ministry with great shame and brokenness of Heart Psal 51. 16 17. he implores mercy begs Ease and the healing of his wounded Conscience He cries for a clean Heart and a right Spirit and being sensible of his own weakness nay treacherousness and unfaithfulness to himself he intreats that the Lord would undertake for him and by his own free Spirit continually uphold him IV. There is an Attendance upon God which is Secret in the Closet Private in the Family and Publick in the Congregation 1. An Attendance upon God that is Secret in the Closet Our Lord was much in Prayer alone by himself sometime a great while before Day and sometime he continued in it all Night He commands and urges secret Prayer upon every one of his Disciples Mat. 6. 6. But thou when thou prayest enter into thy Closet and when thou hast shut thy Door pray to thy Father which is in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly God sees in secret and hears even whisper'd Confessions and Petitions And when 't is said that He is in secret it seems to intimate a special gracious presence that is vouchsafed to them that are often alone with him In this secret Attendance upon God we may use a greater 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 freedom of Speech and tell him all that we fear and feel and ayle and desire Secret Duties which Man can take no notice of have not those motives which are very prevalent with Hypocrites who lov'd to Pray standing in the Synagogues and in the Corners of the Streets where two Streets met that those in the one Street and in the other might behold their Devotions and applaud them God is pleased to listen and hearken after Prayer and there is not the closest homeliest Corner where there is a sincere Supplicant but God is really there to fulfil and grant the desire and to support the burthen'd if not to remove the burthens that are groaned under Psal 38. 9. All my desire is before thee and my groaning is not hid from thee As according to Solomon A gift in secret pacifieth
is there in Man by Nature to commend him to God The Apostle charges the whole World as guilty before God and proves Heart and Tongue and Hands and Feet of Man to be corrupt and that the way of Peace he knows not Rom. 3. 17. Why should such a Wretch be look'd upon and graciously called upon to return Here is indeed Eternal Misery that Man is in danger of for Divine Mercy to prevent Here is a great deal of Sin for the justifying Righteousness of a Mediator to cover Here are Heart-Plagues for Christ the Physician of Souls to heal Here is Stubbornness and Obstinacy in evil for the Spirit of Grace to overcome Here are innumerable wants for the All-sufficient God to supply But not the least jot of meritorious Worthiness Will the Lord admit such as we are indigent worthless vile Let us wonder that he will do it and keep no longer at a distance from him 2. Remember God refuses to be attended upon by multitudes of fallen Creatures which at first were better than Man We read that Man was made a little lower than the Angels Psal 8. 5. so that the Angels were in degree higher than Man in their first Creation Now a great Host of these Angels sinned and when they sinned they were not spared 2 Pet. 2 4. as soon as they fell into Sin they were thrown down and fell into Hell The Lord calls not to the Apostate Angels to repent of sin and return to himself There is no Throne of Grace for them to come to no Mercy offered the door of hope is lock'd up and fast barr'd against them for ever Our Lord took not on him the Nature of Angels Heb. 2. 16. The good Angels were indeed confirmed in their good State in their original Integrity by the Son of God who is the Head of all Principality and Power Col. 2. 10. But the Son of God redeemed and recovered not so much as one of the bad Angels but they are all in Chains of darkness reserved unto Judgment These reprobate Angels are of very great Capacity they excel in strength yet the Lord will accept of no service at their hands He forces them against their wills to be subservient to his purposes and pleasure but Worship and Obedience from them he admits not of But he calls after Man to return though fallen by his iniquity Hos 14. 1. He puts words into Man's Mouth and tells him what he should say and what he himself is ready to hearken to and grant Hos 14. 2. Take with you words and turn to the Lord say unto him Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously So will we render the calves of our lips This great difference which Grace does make between fallen Man and fallen Angels should be a mighty Inducement and Encouragement to Man to give most ready attendance upon God 3. 'T is the great endeavour of your Spiritual Enemies to hinder your attendance upon God or to disturb you in it Which shews they are well aware how beneficial this attendance if serious would be and they envy you the benefit of it 'T is Wisdom ab horte doceri well to mark and to receive some instruction from an Enemy What Satan urges you to pursue you may conclude is of little worth his Malignity is such that he will not truly consult your interest And since he uses so many Methods and so much Subtlety to stave you off from God you may reasonably argue that in coming to God lies your Duty and your Blessedness The Enemy of our Salvation has false glasses through which he misrepresents the Lord and his Service to us Sometimes he represents him as so High that he minds not what we do whether it be good or evil Sometimes he sets him forth as so indulgent that any careless Duties will please him and neglect of his Service will not much if at all provoke him Sometimes he sets before Man's Eyes God's Wrath and Jealousie and says that delays to serve him have rendred him unintreatable and that to seek him is now too late and in vain Thus he would obstruct Man's attendance on his Maker for he knows that the Lord is good to them that wait for him to the Soul that seeketh him Lam. 3. 25. and those that are far from God shall perish Psal 73. 27. But if by all these ways he cannot hinder attendance upon God he will endeavour to disturb them that do attend Zach. 3. 1. And he shewed me Joshua the high Priest standing before the Angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him How busie is Satan about us when we come to appear before God! He endeavours to fill the Mind with vain Imaginations to thrust violently the World into the Heart to make indwelling sin active to hinder the actings of Grace He endeavours to batter Faith to beat down Hope and to damp holy and spiritual Affections He cannot endure the Soul should meet with God in Duties he is troubled at its Communion with God and being bless'd with Spiritual Blessings But all this should but quicken your desires and diligence in seeking for what you seek after you may conclude is highly worth finding 4. How empty are all things that are apt to draw you away from attending upon God! The Egyptians of old were derided by the Poet because they made Gods of every thing O Sanctas Gentes quibus hoc nascuntur in hortis Numina The very Herbs and Plants that grew in their Gardens were deified And truly among many that are called Christians a multitude of things that are very mean and low are idolized Some make Idols of their Garbs by affecting and being proud of them Some idolize their earthly Treasures and sensual Pleasures by loving those more than God 2 Tim. 3. 4. Some make their Belly their God and how many Meat-offerings and Drink-offerings are sacrificed to this base Deity by the Wine-bibbers and riotous eaters of flesh How low is Man fallen How has he lost his Dominion over the Creature They make him not only their Slave but their Worshipper But pray bethink your selves and take notice what things they are that thus captivate and draw you away from God Such is the immensity of God that the whole World compared with him is not so much as the smallest Dust to the Globe of Earth not so much as a drop of Water to the whole Ocean And as the Being of God transcends all other Beings so his goodness excels all created goodness So that our Lord speaking in the highest sense affirms That there is none good but one that is God Matt. 19. 17. What then are the good things of this World which Sin has brought a Vanity nay a Curse upon and which are used by Satan as his great Baits to catch inconsiderate Souls that they may be lost and ruin'd 5. Be prevailed with to attend upon God who is the strongest Rock the surest Refuge Safety is desirable
be struck with godly Fear Thus was the Psalmist Psal 104. 1. O Lord my God thou art very great thou art cloathed with Honour and Majesty who coverest thy self with light as with a Garment Psal 96. 4 6 9. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised he is to be feared above all Gods Honour and Majesty are before him Strength and Beauty are in his Sanctuary O worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness fear before him all the Earth Now that you may the better understand with whom you have to do when you attend upon God You must know 1. God is Lord Creator of whom are all things The Man of God Moses with wonder and adoration cries out Psal 90. 2. Before the Mountains were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the Earth or the World even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God The Lord was before all and he was all of and in and to himself from Eternity The Father is of himself alone the Son is necessarily and eternally of the Father and the Holy Ghost as necessarily and eternally from both the Father and the Son And these Three are that one living and true God whom Christians believe in and in whose Name they are baptized But though God necessarily is yet Creatures are not so but have their being at his pleasure Rev. 4. 11. Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created It is the Lord whose Word of Power and Command brought all things out of nothing at first Heb. 11. 3. Through Faith we understand that the Worlds were framed by the Word of God Though some have imagined that Angels were created and many of them fell long before this visible World was made in Scripture there is not sufficient ground for such an Imagination It is probable those excellent Creatures were made the first day when 't is said Gen. 1. 1. In the beginning God created the Heaven The Heaven may take in the highest Heaven and the Host of Angels there Oh what a powerful Word was that which commanded Angels to be which before were nothing and gave them Spiritual and Immortal Natures indued with such mighty Strength and Understanding And when the Lord laid the Foundations of the Earth and stretched the line upon it these glorious Angels called Morning Stars sang together and all these Sons of God shouted for joy Job 38. 4 5 7. This Lord Creator did but say Let there be Light and there was Light The Sun the Moon the Stars the Earth and Seas and all their Hosts were what his Word made them And Man who was to have Dominion over this lower World God did make in his own Image his Body indeed was formed of the Dust of the ground but to shew that his Soul was not of earthly Original God is called the Father of Man's Spirit he breathed into his Nostrils the Breath of Life and Man became a living Soul Gen. 2. 7. This great Creator whom we attend upon made all things very good Gen. ◠31. and though Sin entring into the World spoiled much of his Workmanship he can easily new make what Sin has marred and he can easily and will certainly destroy those who are finally unwilling to be made new Creatures 2. God is Lord Preserver of what himself has made The word of his power sustains all things Heb. 1. 3. it continues things in those beings into which at first it brought them Psal 148. 5 6. Let them praise the name of the Lord for he commanded and they were created He hath also established them for ever and ever He hath made a Decree which shall not pass The same Lord who called things out of nothing by his word hinders their returning into nothing by the same word of command Psal 33. 9. For he spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast There is so much power exerted in upholding the Creation that the Preservation of the Universe is rightly called a continued Creation of it If God should totally draw back his supporting hand all the Luminaries in Heaven would presently lose their Light the Earth and Seas would become a Chaos of Confusion nay Men and Angels and all things else would immediately lose their beings and become nothing As the Creation so the Preservation of all things is of the Lord alone Neh. 9. 6. Thou even thou art Lord alone thou hast made Heaven the Heaven of Heavens with all their Host the Earth and all things that are therein the Seas and all that is therein and thou preservest them all How worthy is he to be worshipped by the Host of Heaven and by the Sons of Men the Inhabitants of the Earth God is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Almighty or All-sufficient and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Mamma a Pap or Breast all Creatures from the mightiest to the very meanest do hang and depend upon God as Children do upon the Breasts that he may nourish and sustain them And if God thus upholds all things surely he will not fail to preserve his Church and Saints they may with Confidence attend upon him for defence no Humane nor Hellish Force shall prevail against them 3. God is Lord Proprietor and Possessor of Heaven and Earth So Melchizedek called the most high God when he blessed Abram the Father of the Faithful Gen. 14. 19. Blessed be Abram of the most high God the Possessor of Heaven and Earth Psal 24. 1. we read The Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof the World and they that dwell therein All Persons and things are properly God's own and he may do with them what he pleases By Creation the Lord began and by Preservation he continues to be the Proprietor of all things Propriety is the ground of Power and Power of Government now a most absolute and universal Propriety and Power the Lord does rightly challenge to himself he is accountable to none not to be resisted by any none can stay his hand or say to him What doest thou It was a good answer that Elihu made to Job Ch. 33. 12 13. God is greater than Man Why dost thou strive against him For he giveth not an account of any of his matters It is a wise part to attend upon God who has a Propriety in us and in all things besides and all things are really in his Hands and Possession so that he can with-hold or bestow them according to his own Will If God be for us he can make all things for us if he be against us nothing shall be for our help and benefit There is nothing which we need but a superabundance of it is in God's hand The Possessor of Heaven and Earth has the Blessings of Heaven and Earth to give forth Every Beast of the Forest is his and the Cattle upon a thousand Hills Psal 50. 10. All Sheep and Oxen yea and
upon them that we may take heed of being like them 2. Distraction is a Fault that is most easily incurred as the Leaves of some Trees waver with the least stirring of the Wind so the Mind of Man is apt to waver and discover its natural Instability when Corruption stirs within or Satan endeavours to put the Heart into Disorder How far may the Heart if it be not strictly watched start of a sudden as far as the East is from the West nay as far as Earth is from Heaven 'T is natural to the Soul to lift up it self to Vanity This is intimated plainly by the Psalmist when he describes the acceptable Attendant on God to be one that hath not lift up his Soul to Vanity Psal 24. 4. By Vanity we may understand Idols which are called by that Name or the Vanities of this World which the Heart is so prone to gad and rove after even when Duties of the greatest Importance are performing and which ought to be performed with the greatest Fixedness of Thought and Seriousness imaginable 3. The longer the Distraction is it is the worse A Heart which is truly good and honest may be seized on by Distraction before it is aware The evil one may step into the Chariot and begin to drive it away from God deceitful Sin may suddenly arise in the Soul and begin to disturb and defile it But when this is quickly observed and the wakeful Conscience checks the Heart and the upright Heart is glad of the Admonition and presently checks it self and immediately returns to its Lord and to its Work and Duty Satan misses his Aim and the Duty shall not be lost The Soul which follows hardest after God may sometimes stumble but if assoon as 't is down 't is up again and runs the faster This running will not be in vain But when Distraction continues for a great while it argues the Conscience is not so vigilent and faithful as it should be in that it does not correct these vagrant Thoughts which come into the Mind There is a Fault also in the Heart that it can so patiently endure such vain Guests to lodge in it for so long a time before they are turned out of doors The Psalmist says that his Spirit made diligent Search Psal 77. 6. A Spirit that does so will quickly take notice of these roving Imaginations and there is an endeavour to thrust them out assoon as they are found out But if there is a Carelessness and too great a Connivance at these Wandrings though the Soul may not be quite dead in Sin yet there is much of a Spiritual Lethargy and Sleepiness which is the Image of spiritual Death 4. If Distractions in holy Duties are ordinarily allowed of they argue the Heart not right with God When the Heart is constantly absent from Ordinances and does not care to be better inclined and disposed to them when it willingly is at Mammon's and Satan's Command even then when the Body draws nigh to God and there is a Lip-honour and Service given to him this argues plainly that the Heart is unrenewed and remains alienated and estranged from the Lord. The Heart must needs be still carnal and wicked and Enmity against God that is like the eyes of Fools in the End of the Earth Prov. 17. 24. When things above should be sought and Heaven should be minded These things being premised I shall tell you what Distraction in attending upon God is in in these Particulars 1. The Heart is distracted in this Attendance when its Thoughts are impertinent and vain These kind of Thoughts may well be called Legion for they are many They are like the Motes in the Sun or the Bubbles in the Water on a rainy Day innumerable These Thoughts hover about the Minds of the best when they engage in holy Duties and will presently intrude if they are not kept out with a very strict Guard But where they are entertained they draw off the Heart from the Work in hand and the Lord sees it and is displeased Psal 94. 11. The Lord knoweth the Thoughts of Man that they are Vanity and Impertinency is not the smallest part of this Vanity Vain Man is compared to a wild Ass's Colt Job 11. 12. The Silliness of that Creature and its Frisks and Motions to little purpose are a fit Representation of the Mind of Man and of its foolish Sallies and Vagaries in the Lord's Service Who has not reason to cry out with the Psalmist Psal 69. 5. O God thou knowest my Foolishness and my Sins are not hid from thee If in the Performance of holy Duties the Tongue should fall a talking of some other matter and idle and vain Discourse should proceed out of the Lips this would be a scandalous Distraction that others might take notice of Now thinking is the Minds speaking and the Heart-searcher can and does more easily take notice when the Mind thinks impertinently than we can observe when the Tongue speaks so 2. The Heart is distracted when in religious Duties its Thoughts are wicked and vile Our Lord who well knew what is in Man tells us Mat. 15. 19. Out of the Heart of Man proceed evil Thoughts These are the first bad Offspring and the greatest Wickedness that is acted begins with them How great was Man's Wickedness upon Earth When God saw that every Imagination of the Thoughts of his Heart was only evil continually Gen. 6. 5. If Thoughts are evil continually they don't cease to be evil when Duties of Religion are engaged in When proud Thoughts or wanton filthy Thoughts or worldly Thoughts or envious malicious and revengeful Thoughts or any other wicked Imaginations have place in the Heart These as Swarms of noisome Flies corrupt Mens Services and make their Sacrifices unto God to become abominable By these the Mind does not only wander from God but is alienated and estranged from him The Heart is in Hell while the Eyes are looking up to Heaven and the Tongue is speaking to the God that dwells there When a Man with an Heart full of such sinful Thoughts approaches unto God how loathsome must he needs be unto his pure and piercing Eye The Lord beholds and knows him afar off Psal 138. 6. And indeed what Fellowship can there be between Holiness and Pollution It s much more unbecoming and dangerous for such an one to approach the Presence of God than it would be for the foulest Leper with the nastiest Garments to come before the greatest Emperor upon the Face of the Earth 3. The Heart is distracted in attending on God When hellish Injections are entertained Satan sheweth his deep and inveterate Enmity against God in these blasphemous Injections and he creates a very troublesome Disturbance to us in the Lord's Service he has fiery Darts whereby he does endeavour to cause Hell Fire in our Consciences by dispairing Agonies and Horrours And blasphemous Thoughts are like fiery Bombs which he shoots into our Souls to put
attendance upon God The Grace of God therefore should make you most to watch against and hate that sin which Nature did most of all delight in and love 7. Another cause of distraction is a zealous affection towards an erroneous way Errours are of several sorts some are praeter fundamentum off from the Foundation others are circa fundamentum about the Foundation a third sort are contra fundamentum against and rase the very Foundation of Religion these last are most dangerous The broachers and spreaders of them are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ravening Wolves that spare not the Flock and truly the propagators of lesser Errors do a great deal of harm they are called little Foxes and are often very prejudicial especially to young Converts and prove a great hindrance to the good work begun in them Therefore you read Cant. 2. 15. Take us the Foxes the little Foxes that spoil the Vines for our Vines have tender Grapes Errours how do they excite the zeal of the Soul And though they are but about smaller matters yet they so command the Tongue and Thoughts that they are more talk'd of and minded than the great things of Law and Gospel Erroneous Opinions do so possess the Heart that the main truths and things of Religion are little regarded and less improved They that are very fond of Errour when they are praying or hearing or engaged in other Ordinances Satan dresses up that error with a disguise of truth and so presents it to their Minds and their Minds are drawn away by the thoughts of it and Ordinances are ineffectual and lost to them No wonder that zealots for Errour are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jud. v. 13. wandring Stars they wander from the way of truth and this wandring makes them very much to wander from God in holy Duties whilst the eagerness of their Spirits is after their mistakes in which they are so very confident Beguiled Souls are called unstable 2 Pet. 2. 14. the Apostle tells us they are tost to and fro carried about with every wind of Doctrine The unsettledness of their Judgments and proneness to run from one errour to another mightily distracts their Thoughts and they are little if at all edisied by their Duties Errours are very apt to knock at the Door when you are attending upon God and Satan is very busie then to disturb and distract you with Thoughts about them The Lord would be served with greater intention if you did not trouble your Heads with doubtful Disputations which you are caution'd against Rom. 14. 1. and if you did follow that counsel 2 Pet. 3. 17. Beware lest ye being led away with the errour of the wicked fall from your own stedfastness 8. The sloth and loziness of the Heart in refusing to take pains with it self to keep close to God is another cause of distraction a cause it is which most commonly prevails there is therefore need of caution against it The Work of the Heart with its own self is very hard Work indeed in the doing of this to purpose lies both the difficulty and also the truth of Religion To be wicked and deceitful are the two bad properties of the Heart which are natural to it the wickedness of the Heart makes it backward to come to God the deceitfulness of the Heart makes it very ready to start aside like a deceitful Bow and to fly off from him Great pains and labour is absolutely necessary to engage the Heart to approach to the Lord and to abide with him These accesses to God are against nature like rowing a Boat against a swift Stream or rolling a Stone up a steep Hill If the Oar be not plyed the Stream carries the Boat back let the Stone but a little alone to it self and how presently and how far will it run downward The Poet observed the strength of Natures inclination Naturam expellas furcâ licet usque recurret Use greatest force ' gainst Natures Will It shall recoyl upon you still There is need of constant care and industry and the aid of supernatural Grace else the Heart will never be brought to acquaint it self with God or to delight in Communion with him Take heed of sloth in holy Duties and carelesness of Spirit which makes Men indifferent and unconcerned what frame their Hearts are in as if in these distractions there were no great sin or harm The Psalmist tells us The Lord is in his holy Temple the Lord's Throne is in Heaven his Eyes behold his Eyelids try the Children of Men Psal 11. 4. with a pleased Countenance he does behold the upright Heart but he frowns upon all careless Servants Take heed of imagining there is no need of striving again vain Thoughts in the Lord's Service If these are allowed of know that God allows not of them and if they have place in you what may they come to at last The greatest sin that ever was committed began with a Thought and if the first Thought had been utterly banished the sinful desire had not been kindled nor the Deed done I have spoken of the causes of distraction with great heed you are all of you to beware of them for if you give way to these they will corrupt all your Duties I read in the old Law that nothing that had a blemish was to be offer'd to God in Sacrifice this shews that Christ the great Sacrifice was without blemish and without spot and 't is an intimation what our Duties ought to be But if Distractions and the causes of them are not taken heed of your Services will be no better than a Sacrifice would have been that had all the forbidden blemishes Lev. 22. 22. Blind broken maimed with Wens Scurvy and Scabbed which must needs have been very hateful if it had been offer'd to the Lord. USE II. By way of expostulation I shall expostulate the matter with you about these distractions in your Religious Performances 1. Without distraction you can mind your Secular Affairs and why should you not be more intent and serious about your eternal concerns What is a small Cypher to the whole Circle of the Heavens What is Time which is ended almost as soon as begun to Eternity that will never end at all Temporal Afflictions are light and burthens only for a moment 2 Cor. 4. 17. Temporal felicity is but a pleasant and short Dream and is chased away as a night Vision But eternal Woes and Joys are Woes and Joys indeed they are perfectly possessed all at once altogether and as to the Woes there can be no hope of any release as to the Joys there is no room for any fear of deprivation 2. Without distraction you can hear or read News or a pleasant History and is not a Religious Duty of far greater importance to you Shall the pleasing of the fancy be minded more than the securing of the Soul Shall the State of Affairs in this World be asked after and will you not seriously
inquire into your own Spiritual Estate and mind what is likely to become of you when you go into the other World where you will be fixed in blessedness or misery that will be unalterable 3. Without distraction hertofore you have hearkned to the evil one and with great studiousness contrived to commit sin and if the worst Master was thus attended upon shall not now the best much more Have you not devised wickedness and set your selves in an evil way Psal 36. 4. and will you not now with as great thoughtfulness devise how to do good and with an undistracted purpose set upon the doing of it The Apostle would not only have you to change your Master and being free from sin become Servants of Righteousness Rom. 6. 18. but as you served sin so you should serve righteousness be as forward serious and diligent in holy Duties as ever you were in the Works of darkness 4. Without distraction you have thought upon injuries and meditated revenge and shall not reconciliation with God and your own Salvation be minded with greater intention Thou think est much of the wrongs that others do to thee think more of the injury thou hast done to God's Justice and how thou hast sinn'd against thine own Soul in provoking his Wrath against thee Jer. 7. 19. Do they provoke me to anger saith the Lord Do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces Let the Thoughts of the many many Talents which thou owest swallow up the Thoughts of the few Pence which are owing thee 5. How often and for how long a time together has meer Vanity commanded your Thoughts and Hearts And will you not watch with your Lord and in his Work for an hour Proud Imaginations silly Suppositions of your having that Wisdom Wealth Excellency and Esteem which you have not have prevailed and you have set your selves on high in your own fancies Divers sorts of Wickednesses how fixed have they been in your Speculations And why should not your Spirits be much more fixed upon God and your Duty towards him 6. Food and Raiment and providing for your Families are minded in good earnest and without distraction and should you not with far greater heedfulness seek the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness Why should there be so much distraction in minding the one thing needful If you do not mind the good part quickly you may miss of it eternally it may soon be too late to seek it But if now you chuse it your Hearts being seriously set upon it you shall have it and that good part shall never be taken away from you Luke 10. 42. USE III. Shall be of Direction I am to direct you to proper Remedies against distraction in Religious Performances The Disease I grant is difficult to be cured but with the great Physician no Distemper is impossible to be healed Having therefore your Eye and dependance upon him use these following Remedies 1. Let your first Thoughts every Morning be always good ones An Heart well seasoned with these in the beginning of the day is likely to be in the better frame in holy Duties and better inclined all the day long As soon as you are awake let your Souls work Heaven-ward and be lifted up to the God that is there Such Souls he is pleased with and delights to communicate his Grace unto If the Lord has the first fruits of your Hearts the first thoughts and desires you are likely to be blest with the better thoughts and desires afterwards as of old the first-fruits being offered to God his Blessing was upon the whole Harvest And tho you do take pains with your Hearts in the Morning remember at no time of the day you must let down your Watch and become utterly regardless of your own Spirits for if you are corruption will quickly though it has had never so great a Check return and that with great force and violence Thus when the Sea fled and Jordan was driven back within a little while they both returned to their former Course and Channel When I awake says the Psalmist I am still with thee Psal 139 18. He saw himself under God's special care and compassed with his favour as with a Shield and God's Thoughts about him so full of tender mercy and loving kindness and amounting to so vast a Sum were very precious and delightful to him to think of And how whenever he awaked did his Heart work towards the Lord in a way of gratitude and love Begin the Day well and all the Day long keep your Hearts with all keeping If you would not have your Thoughts vain in Duty let them not be allowed to be vain at any time In the space of time between your solemn Duties be frequent in holy Ejaculations and mental Applications unto God this will mightily help to keep a sense of him upon your Hearts and the more undistracted will your Service be when at your set times every day you attend upon him 2. Be sensible that the preparation of the heart in Man is from the Lord Prov. 16. 1. Look unto him therefore to prepare your Hearts for every Duty you engage in Cries for preparation should be the first Cries and Cries afterwards are likely to be to better purpose Preparation for Duty goes before profit by it and when the Lord vouchsafes to prepare he intends to bestow benefits His preparation causes Prayer to be so seriously and fervently made as that it shall in no wise meet with a denial Psal 10. 17. Thou wilt prepare their Heart thou wilt cause thy Ear to hear In this preparation the Spirit of the Lord affords a mighty help there is a liberty and freedom to the Duty that is to be performed and the more free the Heart is to the Duty the more free and enlarged 't is likely to be in the Duty Clogs and weights are removed and among these clogs distraction and deadness may well be reckoned * The prepared heart is a fully resolved heart and an holy and firm resolution made in a strength beyond our own will mightily help to banish distraction The prepared Heart by the Spirit and Grace of Christ is disentangled from the World stands aloof from it that it may draw the nearer to God It is made to see how worthy sin is of its most bitter Sorrow and utter detestation and with an holy indignation it says What have I to do any more with any of my iniquities The prepared Heart prizes the Blessings 't is about to petition for and longs to appear before God from whom alone they can be obtained 'T is delivered from the vain and injudicious Spirit of this World and by the Spirit which is of God knows the worth of those things which are so freely given of God And this preparedness of Heart must needs be a great preservative against distraction 3. Pray for the fulfilling of that Promise wherein the Lord has engaged to give you