THE Christian Monitor Containing an Earnest EXHORTATION TO AN Holy Life With some DIRECTIONS in order thereto Written in a plain and easie Style for all sorts of People Follow Peace with all men and Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Heb. 12. 14. Imprimatur C. Alston R. P. D. Hen. Episc Lond. Ã Sacris Domesticis The Second Edition LONDON Printed for Samuel Tidmarsh at the King's Head in Cornhill near the Royal Exchange 1686. Price 3 d. THE Christian Monitor c. CHAP. I. Exhortation to an Holy Life with Motives thereto IT 's very sad to consider not only how few Nations there are in the World which profess Christianity but also of those who do profess it how few there are comparatively that live according to their Profession Wherefore it well beseems all Christ's faithful servants especially the Ministers of his Gospel to use their utmost endeavours by Life and Doctrine by publick and private Exhortations by preaching and writing and by all the ways they are capable to promote true Piety and Holiness amongst all sorts of Men whether high or low rich or poor without which no Man can be happy either in this World or that to come And though I well know that thanks be to God we abound with multitudes of excellent Books written to this end yet are not such short Instructions as these that follow to be condemned as useless since they will it 's like he more generally dispersed and that amongst the very meanest of the People and may more easily be read and remembred by such as have neither time to read large Books nor Money to buy them With such as these I have occasion often to meet and for their sakes chiefly it is that I publish this little Paper being encouraged thereto by some pious Persons both of City and Countrey who intend to give some of them away to poor people about them and thought others might do the like And may it please God to give a Blessing to such a mean Undertaking as this and succeed it to the good of Souls I shall little regard the Censures of the curious Remembring the saying I have somewhere met with of a devout Writer to this purpose That he was desirous his Books should be scattered abroad upon Pedlers Stalls and thence come into the hands of common People for the encreasing of Knowledge and Piety rather than be solemnly laid up and buried in the Libraries of the Learned Wherefore without any more Preface I shall address my self to you for whose sake I write these Lines as a Perswasive to an Holy and Religious Life Now in order thereto let me beseech you to look back upon your Lives past and call your selves to account whether it has been your care and study to live in such a godly manner as becomes those who are baptized into the Name of Christ and after him are called Christians Have you well considered what is the meaning of this Name and what Engagement you lie under to an Holy Life by taking it upon you in Baptism And do you keep well in mind your Baptismal Vow wherein you renounced the Devil the World and the Flesh and promised to be Christ's faithful Souldiers and Servants and so to continue all the days of your Life Have you so far understood and considered these things that you have made it your chief business to walk accordingly Do you watch carefully and fight manfully against your spiritual Enemies Do you live as those that believe the Gospel sincerely endeavouring in all things to know the Will of God and do it Since you take Christ's Name into your mouth are you careful to depart from all iniquity In a word is this your greatest study and design to please and glorifie God and to work out your own salvation If your Conscience can truly witness for you that it is indeed so and that wherein at any time you fall short or do amiss you are heartily grieved for it and do daily labour to amend and grow better If it be thus with you I say then bless God for his grace and mercy hold on and prosper and fear not but God will be with you He will own you as his Children and for his Son Jesus sake will both pardon your sins and assist you by his Grace he will guide you by his Counsel and at length receive you to Glory But pray deal faithfully with your own Souls and tell me Has it not been quite otherwise with you Have you not contented your selves with the bare Name and Profession of Christianity and in the mean time led an ill course of Life directly contrary to your Profession Have you not lived in wilful ignorance of your Duty or in gross sins against your Knowledge Do not the temptations of the Devil the allurements of the World and the Flesh many times prevail more with you than the Commands of Almighty God and the voice of your own Conscience Are you not wont to neglect God's worship and service both in the Church and at home yea do you not profane his holy Name by swearing and cursing Are you not often guilty of lying and slandering of cozening and cheating if not of downright stealing Do you not in your anger use railing and reviling Language Or do you not live in Envy and Malice seeking for revenge of those that have done you any injury Do you not allow your selves in Drunkenness or Whoredom or some other known and wilful sin To be short Is there not something or other in this World that you love more than you do God himself and his Son Jesus Are you not much more concerned for your Bodies than for your precious Souls And do you not more earnestly seek after Food and Raiment and the good things of this Life than after that eternal Kingdom of Glory which God hath promised to his faithful Servants in the World to come If this indeed be your Case I beseech you make a stand and consider well what you have been doing what a sad and dangerous condition you have brought your selves into and what the end of it will be if you hold on in such evil courses Humbly beg of God to make you duly sensible of your sin and danger and to keep the sense thereof so close to your minds that you may be brought not only to mourn for your sins but to loath and abhor them and utterly to forsake the same henceforth resolving by the grace of God wholly to give up your selves to his service and to walk stedfastly in those holy and good ways which he has appointed you This is that to which I do most earnestly desire to perswade you And that I may do my utmost to prevail with you I shall lay before you some very weighty Arguments which I request you seriously to ponder of as you read them and God grant they may have due effect upon the heart of every Reader Amen 1 That you may
of Perfections If we believe that Je 〈…〉 Christ is the Son of God and the Redeemer of mankind who died for us and rose again and ascended to Heaven and will thence come to judge the quick and the dead and will grant to all penitent and obedient Believers the forgiveness of their sins and everlasting life but will sentence the wicked to everlasting misery Our belief of this must lead us to true Repentance and amendment of Life and to an humble dependence on the mercies of God and the merits of Christ for Pardon and Salvation And if we believe that it is the Office of the Holy Ghost to sanctifie us and all the elect People of God then ought we to pray to God for his holy Spirit and we must comply with his good motions and submit to his working upon our Souls that he may sanctifie us and make us holy that so we may be living members of Christ's Holy Catholick Church And in this Church are we bound to continue that so in the Communion of Saints we may enjoy the benefit of the Word Sacraments and Prayer by which means the Holy Ghost works Grace in us and encreases the same till it be perfected in eternal Glory to which good Men shall be advanced both in Soul and Body at the Resurrection as their Souls made entrance upon it presently after their death Thus you see how a right Belief leads a Man to holiness of Life And therefore in holy Scripture do we find so much mention made of Faith or of believing in God and in Christ. This in many places is highly extolled and most strictly required of us as the very summ of our Duty insomuch that we are often said to be justified or pardoned on account of our Faith and to be saved by Faith and all this chiefly as I suppose because true Faith produces Obedience and makes a Man become an humble and sincere Disciple of Jesus Christ and so makes us fit for the mercies of God in and through our Blessed Saviour But when faith does not bring forth the fruit of Holiness and good Works it 's of no value with God nor will stand us in any stead as you may see at large in the second Chapter of St. James to name no other places Wherefore you know we are engag'd by our Baptism not only to believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith but also to keep God's Commandments which I am to speak of next Now these Commandments are also plainly contained in the Holy Scriptures and therefore there is still more Reason why you should diligently read and study the same that you may know the Will of God and do it And all that is to be done by us I reckon is contained in the Ten Commandments as they are explained to us and urged upon us both by the Prophets in the Old Testament and by our Saviour and his Apostles in the New Especially in our Saviour's Sermon in the Mount in the fifth sixth and seventh Chapters of St. Matthew And therefore often read over these three Chapters There you will find what manner of persons the Disciples of Jesus ought to be even like their Master of an humble lowly Spirit meek and gentle pure and peaceable merciful and patient and the like Such as these he pronounces blessed in the beginning of that heavenly Sermon and these alone are they whom he will make most blessed with himself for ever But if you would have the summ of your Duty to God and to your Neighbour as required by the Ten Commandments briefly represented take it in the very words of our Church Catechism My duty towards God is to believe in him to fear him to love him with all my heart with all my mind with all my soul and with all my strength to worship him to give him thanks to put my whole trust in him to call upon him to honour his holy Name and his Word and to serve him truly all the days of my life My duty towards my Neighbour is to love him as my self and to do to all men as I would they should do to me To love honour and succour my Father and Mother To honour and obey the King and all that are put in authority under him To submit my self to all my Governours Teachers Spiritual Pâ—stours and Masters To order my self lowly and reverently to all my betters To hurt no body by word or deed To be true and just in all my dealings To bear no malice nor hatred in my heart To keep my hands from picking and stealing my tongue from evil-speaking lying and slandering To keep my body in temperance soberness and chastity Not to covet and desire other mens goods but to learn and labour truly to get my own living and to do my duty in that state of life into which it shall please God to call me Here you have your Duty in a little room which you may easily keep in memory but especially beg of God to write his Laws in your heart that you may freely and chearfully obey them in your Life and Conversation And for your further assistance I shall a little enlarge upon the chief of these Duties especially the love of God and your Neighbour and so conclude with some short and general Directions for the guiding of your steps more readily and constantly in the ways of Holiness all the days of your Life To love God with all our Heart and Soul is the first and great Commandment as our Saviour himself teacheth us Matth. 22. 37 38. This makes us more easily to obey all the rest of his Commands For if we truly love God we shall be very fearful to offend him and very careful to please him in all our ways And then do we truly love God with all our Heart when we love him more than all other things in the World more than Riches Pleasures Honours Friends or any other Enjoyments yea more than our very Lives so that we will part with all rather than lose the favour of God in which we account our happiness chiefly to consist This I take to be the very Essence of Religion and 't is that without which our Saviour tells us we cannot be his Disciples Matth. 10. 37 38. But when once we are got to this blessed temper we shall find it no very hard matter to deny our selves and take up our Cross and follow our Lord and Master both in well-doing and in patient suffering Wherefore let us earnestly beg of God by his holy Spirit to work this love in our Hearts And to our Prayers let us add our own diligent Endeavours and especially let us be much in thinking of all the goodness and loving-kindness of God manifested to us and to all the World Let us consider what he has done for us already both for Soul and Body and what he has promised to do in the Life to come And never let our Hearts be at rest till they
overcome evil by doing of good If another strike us we may not strike again if he rail upon us and revile us we must not return the same ill Language but either by silence or by gentle and soft answers endeavour to appease his wrath For the Rule is not to deal with others as they deal with me but as I in reason desire to be dealt with and another Man's fault will not excuse mine If he do me an injury I must not be judge in my own Cause nor take upon me to revenge it but in weighty Cases may fly to the Magistrate for relief But upon no account whatever may we bear any grudge or hatred in our Hearts against any Man though never so wicked or never so much our enemy but we must pity him and pray for him that God would give him a better mind If ever we hope to find mercy with God and have our trespasses forgiven we must forgive those that offend us as we learn from the Lord's Prayer and many most plain places of Scripture See Matth. 5. 44 c. Matth. 18. 21. to the end Rom. 12. 14. to the end We must shew meekness and gentleness to all men and never willingly say or do any thing to provoke another to anger nor should we be easily provoked but very easily appeased and reconciled It 's very sad to consider what wretched and miserable Lives many of the poorer sort lead by their continual brawling and scolding quarrelling and contending with one another and sometimes when they have scarce Money to buy Bread they 'l throw it away in vexatious Law-Suits meerly out of Spite and Revenge And the People of this Rank ought especially to beware of envying those that are in better Condition than themselves We ought to have that true kindness and good will for all Men that we should be glad of their prosperity though we our selves be in affliction as on the other hand we ought to have great compassion for those in misery though we be in prosperity And let such that are in want take heed that their Necessities put them upon no unlawful Course for their Relief Particularly beware of stealing any thing though of a small value By degrees it 's to be feared you will go on to greater matters and so may bring your selves to shame and punishment in this World as well as that to come The best way to avoid this is to be very diligent in your lawful Calling as the Apostle directs in that place before named Eph. 4. 28. If you are not able to work it 's lawful to beg But by no means betake your selves to this lazy unprofitable Life of begging if you are able to subsist by any other lawful course He that will not work when he can deserves not to eat But rather than either steal or starve you may seek for Relief from your Neighbour's Charity But do not go about to deceive him by borrowing what you know you are never like to pay for this is downright cheating Rather deal plainly and make known your Necessities If you trust in God and do your duty he will take care of you And though you may be in straits sometimes yet still you will find a supply And to prevent your poverty let me especially warn you against that common bruitish sin of Drunkenness which brings both this and many other mischiefs along with it as I have before told you Indeed it hinders every thing that 's good and leads Men into all manner both of sin and misery This Vice it is that makes more Beggars than any other cause Wherefore if you have any regard to your Families any love to Soul or Body avoid all riot and excess Eat and drink moderately as may tend to keep you best in health and make you most fit for the service of God and your own Callings And lastly beware of that filthy sin of Whoredom which very often goes along with Drunkenness and as often brings the curse of God both upon Men's Bodies and Estates And to keep you innocent avoid idleness as well as intemperance And flie from all lewd and wicked company where you are in danger of being enticed and ensnared and do not so much as allow your selves in any unclean thoughts or desires nor in filthy Discourses or in any wanton carriage and behaviour For the preventing of all wickedness in this kind God hath allowed Marriage which is said to be honourable in all but Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge Hib. 13. 4. Wherefore let them who are in that state keep strictly true to their Marriage Vow And all both Married and Single preserve both Body and Soul so chast and pure that the holy Spirit of God may now dwell in their hearts and they may be fit to dwell for ever in the presence of the most holy God And thus I have briefly given you an account wherein consists that holiness of life to which all Christians are obliged by the Precepts of our Blessed Saviour and by their Baptismal Vow which binds them to keep his Precepts and to follow his Example who himself lived in the same holy manner that he taught and hath commanded all that say they abide in him to walk as he walked 1 Joh. 2. 6. The summ of all you have in few words which the Gospel teaches even that we should deny ungodliness and all wordly lusts and live soberly righteously and piously in the World Tit. 2. 11 12. And now let me again beseech you seriously to consider whether it has been your care to live such holy and good lives yea or no. And whereinsoever your Conscience does accuse you that you have neglected the duties God has commanded or committed those sins which he hath forbidden do you humbly acknowledge and confess the same to Almighty God with true godly sorrow for the same earnestly begging Mercy and Pardon for Christs sake who dyed on the Cross for sinners and through whom all that confess and forsake their sins shall find mercy Wherefore do you henceforward resolve by his Grace that you will forsake your sins and amend your lives and make it your chief business to keep Consciences void of offence toward God and Man not allowing your selves in any known sin nor in the wilful neglect of any known Duty Do not object against this and say that it is impossible to lead such an holy Life For thousands in the World of all Ranks and Conditions have done it in all Ages by the assistance of God's Grace which you shall never want if you seek it earnestly and improve it diligently And though there may at first be some difficulty in leaving an ill course yet by degrees it will grow easie and you will then find nothing so sweet and pleasant as Religion and Vertue And do not I beseech you fancy that it is not for poor people to think of being so Religious and godly that this is only for the Rich who have
little else to do Why will not you that are Poor have as much care of your own Souls as the Rich and study to be happy as well as they By this means you will be even with them yea much happier than they even in this life except they be Good as well as Great What is there in all I have said but even the poorest may perform if they have but a willing mind May you not love God and your Neighbour be sober and chast meek and humble pray to God and praise his name c. Nay is not this the much better way to keep you from poverty or to help you out of it Is it not much cheaper to live soberly and honestly than to live in Drunkenness and Whoredom and such like wastful sins Does it not cost you much more to go to Law for revenge than to forgive an injury One vice costs more the maintaining than ten vertues And I am confident more Families are brought to Poverty by gratifying their Lusts than by providing for their Children how many soever they be Is it not think you much better for your selves and Families to spend the Lords-day in Gods service both in publick and private than to wast your time and mony at the Alehouse Daily experience shows that it is not Religion but the want of it that makes Men poor and miserable Besides that such good People have Gods blessing and favours as I have already shewed and therefore hee 'l be sure to take care of them and theirs And pray do not think that you shall be saved meerly because you are poor For if you be Wicked and Ungodly you will certainly be miserable in the next World as well as this Lazarus was not saved because he was poor but because he was a pious good Man And on the other hand Dives was not damn'd for being rich but because he was luxurious and proud and wholly given up to pamper and adorn his Carcase Let me further warn you against two or three dangerous mistakes that harden many Men in their sins Beware of thinking that it 's enough for a Man to be baptized and keep his Church and go to Prayers and Sermons and sometimes to the Communion and say his Prayers in private that this is enough to prove him a good Christian and make sure of Salvation All this is very good but this will not serve turn except our hearts be so thorowly sanctified by the Grace of God that we do truly love God above all and set our hearts on the joyes of Heaven and love our Neighbours and be true and just in our dealings Temperate and Chast in our Conversation as is before described And this is the great end of Prayers Sermons and Sacraments to make us more and more holy in heart and life without which we shall be rather worse than better for them Matt. 7. 21 22 23. Be not so weak as to think you may be saved by a good belief alone by your faith in Christ and trusting in God without obedience to his Commands It is for Christ's sake only you are saved but he will save none but those who obey him Heb. 5. 9. And that only is true saving Faith which purifies the heart and produces obedience as you have heard before And since God has plainly told us that we cannot be saved without holiness if we take up a foolish confidence that we may be saved without it this is not trusting in God but in our own fancies and the Devils delusions We may safely trust in Gods promises but then let us see to perform the conditions and become such an humble holy people as he has promised for Christs sake to own and save Take heed also of mistaking the nature of Repentance as if it were only being a little sorry for our sins and crying to God for mercy and then all will be well though we go on still in our old ways But this is a most dangerous mistake For a Man never truly repents till he forsakes his sin and changes his course When the Drunkard becomes Sober and the Profane Man a devout Worshipper of God and so continues True Repentance changes the heart and life of the sinner And lastly Do not think it enough to forsake some sins and keep others to do some good duties and neglect others and then excuse your selves by saying it is your failing Every Man has his failing and this is mine So says the Drunkard and the Whoremonger and so says the angry Man when he Swears or Curses or gives bad language But such sins as are committed against knowledge and Conscience and continued from time to time when we have leisure to think beforehand and prevent them these are to be reckoned as wilfull sins not as failings Especially such gross sins as Drunkenness Whoredom common Swearing or Lying and the like are not to be reckoned as failings Indeed whatever sin a Man loves and pleads for and allows himself in is not a meer infirmity but a wilfull transgression A good Man hates all sin as he does sickness and strives and watches and prays against it He hates every false way and has a respect to all Gods Commands A true Christian must be an entirely good Man all of a piece A great matter I find it is with many people that they do no wrong to no body nor have any malice in their heart and therefore they think themselves in good condition God-ward But though this is one good part of our duty yet it is but a part We must also see that we do not wrong Almighty God and our own Souls by setting our hearts chiefly on this World by neglecting his Worship and Service by living in excess or uncleanness or any other known sin We must be both pious toward God loyal to our Prince just and charitable to our Neighbour humble and sober every way holy and good if we will approve our selves to be Christians indeed He that wilfully offends in one point and allows himself therein is guilty in effect of breaking the whole Law For he despises Gods authority and if he meets with the same temptation will commit any other sin And as is commonly and truly said in this case one Stab though but with a Pen-kife may wound a Man as mortally as twenty thrusts with a Sword so one sin loved and delighted in may damn a Mans Soul as well as a thousand James 2. 10. Having thus endeavoured briefly to remove your Objections and Mistakes I do now again in the last place come to enforce my Exhortation that you would seriously and stedfastly resolve to cast away every sin and most entirely devote your selves to the leading such a godly righteous and sober Life as you are bound to by your Christian Baptism If you are in dispute with your selves whether you should resolve upon it pray look over the Arguments before laid down and ponder them in your mind and then certainly you cannot
but own that I perswade you to nothing but what is very just and reasonable and every way for your own greatest good And if you are convinced of this then proceed forthwith to this pious Resolution without trifling or delaying The sooner you do it the safer it is and the better for you Do not go on in sin at present on a pretence that you 'l repent hereafter when you are older or when you come to be sick and to die Do not put off the great business of Life to the end of your days when you are not sure of time or strength or of God's assistance or acceptance of you Do not plead the Example of the Thief upon the Cross for this Case was nothing like yours that have long enjoy'd the offers of grace and mercy If now from this present time you will heartily and sincerely return to God you have no reason to despair of his mercies how many or great soever your sins have been but if you still persist in sin presuming upon God's mercy hereafter you have just cause to fear that this bold presumption and horrid abuse of God's grace may end in your eternal ruin and damnation But if you are willing now speedily to enter upon this Resolution and Purpose then let me in a few words farther direct you by what means you may render it firm and lasting and may be best enabled to perform the same 1 And first I would advise you to take the next convenient opportunity to confirm this holy Resolution at the Table of the Lord. There solemnly renew your Baptismal Vow Dedicate and give up your self to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost renouncing the Devil the World and the Flesh and all those wicked ways they would draw you to more especially those sins which you have been formerly most guilty of Henceforth let the Lord Jesus that bought you with his Blood be taken for your only Lord and Master to govern you by his Spirit and by his Laws as ever you desire and hope to be saved by his Death and Resurrection And use frequently to think of this solemn Engagement after you have made it that it may have due force upon you when you are tempted to revolt to any wicked practice Often repeat the same betwixt God and your own Soul and especially renew it by frequent attendance on the Holy Commnnion there seeking for grace and strength from God to walk in his holy ways stedfastly and constantly 2 But that brings me to a second Direction that you should not resolve upon all this in a confidence of your own strength but in the most humble dependance on the grace of God which he is ever willing to bestow on such as seek it earnestly in the way he has appointed by a due attendance on the means of Grace the Word Prayer and Sacraments Wherefore as you have opportunity attend carefully to the reading and hearing of his Word and hide it in your Heart that you may not sin against him And be very much in Prayer to God for his holy Spirit to be given you through his Son Jesus who will powerfully interceed for you and make good his Promises to humble and devout Supplicants Luk. 11. 13. Joh. 16. 23 24. Whenever you are in danger and are assaulted by any temptation to sin or are backward to what is good then especially pray servently for quickning and strengthning Grace and your Prayers shall not be in vain 3 To your Prayers add constant watchfulness over your self at all times and in all places and companies Watch over your thoughts themselves and over your words and actions Satan is ever watching to deceive us and there are many snares and dangers in all our ways and we have corrupt Natures and treacherous Hearts and therefore had need to be very watchful to avoid all occasions of sin as much as possible and to suppress the very first beginnings Think before-hand what Temptations you are like to meet with and fortifie your self against what you cannot shun Do not wilfully run into Danger especially beware of bad Company by which many are drawn back to their former Loosness Be not led away by their Counsel or Examples nor be discouraged by their Jeers and Censures Use often to look back upon your Actions and if you have been drawn into any wilful sin do not make a light matter of it nor yet despair of Pardon if you be truly penitent Wherefore speedily and earnestly betake your self to God by true Repentance begging mercy for Christ's sake and more Grace to strengthen and assist you Renew your Purposes for amendment of Life and set your Watch more strictly for the future 4 To quicken and engage you to this Watchfulness Remember that Almighty God is ever present with you and observes all your ways and takes great delight in your Piety and Holiness but is of purer Eyes than to behold the least iniquity with any pleasure Wherefore always walk as in the presence of this Holy God whether you are alone or in Company 5 Think often how near you stand to another World and what an account you must give to God of all your Deeds done in the Body and so live now as will be most for your comfort at Death and Judgment When the Profits and Pleasures of Sin entice you compare them with the eternal Joys which they will deprive you of and with the eternal Torments they lead to Think whether ever any Man by sinning against God did gain somewhat that 's better than Heaven or that 's worth going to Hell for Let Eternity be very much in your thoughts and the fading Vanities of this World will have little esteem with you Often ponder of those weighty Words of our Blessed Saviour What will it profit a Man to gain the whole World and lose his own Soul Or what shall a Man give in exchange for his Soul Mark 8. 36 37. Lastly In stead of more Directions let me advise you to acquaint your self with your Minister and consult him in the great Concernments of your Soul as Men are wont to do the Lawyer and the Physician in matters that concern their Bodies and Estates Do not think it enough to hear his Sermons in publick but take Advice from him in private and open to him the state and case of your Soul so far as may enable him to give such Directions as are most proper to your Condition This especially you ought to do when you first make entrance upon an Holy Life and do first address your self to the Holy Communion or when you are under any great doubts and trouble of mind and are vexed with sore temptations either of one sort or other or when you are set upon by such that would draw you away from our Church either to Popery or to any other Sect amongst us Then presently betake your self to your Minister And in these or the like Cases take Direction from him and be sure to
follow his wholsom Counsel and desire his Prayers to God for you I know in large Parishes Ministers are not able to have a particular knowledge of every Person but yet all that know the worth of Souls and the price that was paid for them will be ready to give attendance to the meanest of their People that shall apply themselves to them for Advice and Comfort and will be glad of all opportunities to promote the Honour and Interest of their Saviour and the good of precious Souls committed to their Care And thus have I as plainly and as fully as I well could in so little room directed you in that holy way which leads to eternal Glory and have shewn you what great Reason you have to walk in that way and to continue therein to the end As to those who desire larger Directions next to the holy Scriptures which I beseeeh you to read frequently with humility and seriousness especially the New Testament next to them I shall referr you only to that pious and most useful Book The whole Duty of Man And heartily I wish that every poor Family in the Kingdom was furnished with one of those Books together with a Bible and Common Prayer Book which might all be purchased for much less than five Shillings and therefore it 's great pity they should be any where wanting Though alas I know there are many Families of poor People where none of them can read and so Books to them are useless Great Charity therefore it would be for rich Landlords and Gentlemen to see that the Children of their poor Tenants and Neighbours be put out to School and then to bestow at least Bibles upon them that the knowledge of God and Religion may be promoted amongst them which would make greatly for the good and welfare both of Church and State For though Brain-sick Opinions and false Principles may make Men proud and head-strong and troublesome to their Governours yet solid Knowledge and sincere Godliness will make Men humble and meek quiet and peaceable obedient to Magistrates and Ministers full of Charity to their Neighbours and ready to every good Work And I am sure an increase of this truly Religious Temper would be one of the greatest Blessings that can be bestow'd upon this Earth and would settle Kingdoms and Churches Towns and Families in Peace and Concord which almost every where are divided amongst themselves as well as against one another And by such blessed effects of true Religion something of Heaven would be brought down upon Earth and our Souls would be well fitted for Heaven when we are called off from this Earth into those happy Regions above where there is nothing else but Peace and Holiness and Love and Joy And may it please God to bless these plain and short Instructions for the enlightning of any minds with that Wisdom from above which is thus pure and peaceable then shall I obtain my Design and have great cause to be thankful And that the Reader may joyn with me in these Wishes I have annexed hereto a Prayer for Grace to lead an Holy Life And if he will but add diligent endeavours to frequent and servent Prayers neither his Labour nor mine will be in vain through the Grace and Blessing of Almighty God from whom comes every good and perfect Gift to whom be given all Honour and Glory both now and for ever Amen A PRAYER Chiefly for the assistance of God's grace in order to the leading an Holy Life O Most holy and ever blessed Lord God I do humbly cast down my self before thee acknowledging and lamenting my own sinfulness and earnestly begging thy grace and mercy through the Lord Jesus our only Mediatour and Advocate I confess O God I am a vile sinner polluted from the very Womb but since I came to the use of my Reason I have defiled my self with many wilful and hainous transgressions I have sadly neglected thy Service and dishonoured thy Name and have been greatly wanting in those Duties which I owe to thee my God to my Neighbour and to my own Soul and have not lived in such a godly righteous charitable and sober manner as I ought to have done But have often acted contrary to my own Reason and Conscience and to the plain Precepts of thy Word and contrary to my own Promises and Vows for better Obedience O Lord give me a clear sight of my sins and such a deep sense of the evil of my ways that my Heart may be truly humbled and broken in the remembrance thereof And for the Lord Jesus sake who died for Sinners be merciful to me O Father of Mercies pardon all my Iniquities and let them not be remembred against me to my Condemnation either in this World or that to come Nor is it only Pardon that I beg but most earnestly I beseech thee by thy Holy Spirit to sanctifie me both in Body and Soul that being made pure and holy on Heart and Life I may serve thee diligently all my days on Earth and so may enjoy thee for ever in Heaven I am fully convinced that it is both my duty and my happiness to fear and serve thee the great and glorious God who hast made me and redeemed me and hitherto graciously preserved me I acknowledge thy Service to be perfect freedom and all thy Laws to be holy just and good Wherefore I desire utterly to renounce and forsake every evil way and most entirely devote my self to serve and please thee in newness of Life But thou O Lord knowest the weakness and corruption of my Nature and how by evil customs I have made my self more prone to sin more backward to that which is good O do thou throughly change my Nature by thy Grace that I may hate and abhor all wickedness and take delight in the ways of Piety and Holiness Let no unmortified just remain in my Soul but do thou purifie and cleanse me from Pride and Covetousness from Envy and Malice and from all impure and sensual affections and desires and enrich me with all the Graces of thy holy Spirit Give me such a clear knowledge of thy infinite goodness and of all thy glorious perfections that I may ever humbly admire and adore thee and love thee with all my Heart and Soul and cleave to thee as my only portion preferring thy favour before all the enjoyments of this World Help me always firmly to trust in thee and freely to leave all my Affairs to thy wise and gracious Providence absolutely resigning my Will to thy holy Will in all things Make me truly thankful for all thy mercies and patient under afflictions By thy teaching let me learn to be content in all Estates and Conditions And good God suffer me not in the greatest difficulties and dangers to distrust thy mercies or take any unlawful course for my Relief I beg from thee my daily Bread and beseech thee to give me an Heart well satisfied with what thou seest
be prevailed with to become God's faithful servants consider first That this was the great end for which God made you and keeps you alive and gives you so many mercies of all sorts You can tell I hope that God made you and that he made you to serve him by living according to his Commandments These are some of those first things which Children learn and it were well if when they are grown up to be Men and Women they would use seriously to think of them and practise accordingly The wise God has made all Creatures for some good end or other and he has fitted them all for those ends and purposes for which he made them To Man therefore has he given the use of Reason chiefly to fit him for Religion and to render him capable of knowing loving and serving his great Creator and Benefactor And it is Religion which makes the great difference betwixt a Man and a Beast for bruit Creatures have no knowledge of God no regard to him but are wholly led by their senses and mind nothing else but what is before them here in this World But the poorest Man on Earth who has the use of his Reason is near akin to the very Angels themselves his nature is like theirs and but a little below them so that he may be much taken up in the same holy Works that they are employed in even in loving and praising and adoring the great and good God To this end he may study both the Works and the Word of God which reveal him to us and should continually put us in mind of him And all the good things we enjoy should still make us sensible of the goodness of God from whom they come and fill our hearts with love and thankfulness and our mouths with blessing and praise This is the most proper use of our Reason and this God most justly expects from us Reasonable Creatures and this even the poor man may render without any hindrance to his daily labours and may still keep such an awful sense of God upon his mind as may restrain him from wilful sin and make him careful always to please his Maker And so our Reason was given us to bridle and govern our Appetites our Lusts and Passions that we should not be led away into gluttony and drunkenness into wantonness and uncleanness nor into rage and fury like bruit Beasts that have no understanding but should live soberly and chastly quietly and peaceably with all Men doing them all the good we can For such holy purposes as these chiefly was our Reason bestow'd on us and therefore in this manner ought it to be employ'd Certainly since God hath made us of a nature so much better than Birds or Beasts he expects from us other works and services than he does from them They know nothing of God that made them nor have they any knowledge of another Life after this but when they die there 's an end of them But to us hath God given immortal Souls of more value than the whole World and for this end hath he created us that we might serve and honour him here in this Life and so may live with him and enjoy him for ever in the World to come Now if this be the end of our Creation ought we not to live up to it Do we not see all other things answer the end for which they were made The Sun gives Light by day and the Moon by night The Earth brings forth Corn and Grass and the Trees bear Fruit. The Horse the Cow and the Sheep with many other Creatures afford us much service and benefit And shall Man alone be useless and unfruitful and live to no good purpose When they are all so ready to serve us shall not we chearfully serve him that made us for his own service Surely we cannot think that the wise God sent us into the World only to eat and drink to sleep and play or to work hard for a poor Livelihood If this were all we had better have been made bruit Creatures or never have been made at all Much less can we think that the Holy God made us on purpose to sin against him to dishonour his Name and provoke him to anger He did not give us Reason to make us crafty and cunning for the World that we might know how to cozen and cheat our Neighbours He did not give us Tongues to swear and curse with or to talk foolishly and filthily let us not then use them to any such ill purposes Since God has given us precious immortal Souls let us not live like Beasts that perish wallowing in the mire of base sensual Lusts and Pleasures By this means we become worse than Bruits themselves for we debase our own Natures we abuse our Reason to our own shame and hurt and to God's displeasure Thus we cross the end of our Creation and are more stupid and ungrateful than the very Ox or Ass for they know their owner and do good service to those that keep and feed them Isa. 1. 2 3. O let us not give God cause to complain of us as he there does of the Jews that he nourished and brought up Children and they rebelled against him Think how grievous it is to you that have Children after all your care and kindness after all your cost and labour to have them pâ—ove stubborn and disobedient loose and idle Prodigals O see then that you be not such toward your heavenly Father who made you and preserves you and every day renews his mercies upon you He keeps us alive and makes our lives comfortable He gives and continues to us our Reason and Senses our Health and Strength Food and Raiment and all the good things we enjoy He supplies our wants and helps us in all our distresses He gives us light by day and rest in the night He enables us to follow our callings and gives a blessing to our labours that we may provide for our selves and Families And does not this good God well deserve all the love and service which we can possibly render him O how can we find in our hearts wilfully to offend him who thus delights in doing us good Foolish and unthankful Wretches we are thus ill to require the Lord for all his loving kindness We could not deal so with any Friend or Neighbour on Earth that had been always kind and loving to us Are not Servants bound to work for them who maintain them and pay them Wages And ought not Children to obey their Parents who begot them and brought them up How much more then ought we to obey God our Father who gave us life at first and still prolongs it from one day to another when he could in a moment cut us off in our sins and throw us into Hell But in much mercy he spares us and gives us space to Repent and is very unwilling to destroy us and therefore waits long to be gracious to us
O then let his patience and all his goodness at last have this happy effect upon us let it lead us to true Repentance and ever hereafter engage us to diligence and constancy in his service Rom. 2. 4. 2 Pet. 3. 9. 2 To which purpose consider again that this was the end for which God sent his Son Jesus into the World even to seek and save us lost and miserable sinners to bring us to Repentance and newness of life that so we might be restored to the love and favour of God which we had lost by sinning against him Our first Parents Adam and Eve were created in a very holy and happy Estate but they fell from it by sinning against God and so came all misery into the World And then did our Heavenly Father take pity on us and sent his own Son out of his bosom to be our Saviour and Redeemer to reform us from our Sins and so to deliver us from misery First he will make us Holy and then we shall be made Happy For as man lost his happiness by disobeying Gods command so he must recover it by becoming obedient to his will in all things To this end hath the Lord Jesus fully revealed Gods will to us when we were in ignorance and darkness He hath given us holy precepts for the rule of our Life And made most rich and precious promises to perswade us to our duty and denounced dreadful threatnings to affright us from Wickedness And when we had deserved the Wrath of God for our sins then did Jesus Christ shed his most precious Blood to make Atonement for us and to obtain our pardon and forgiveness He dyed for our offences and rose again for our justification Rom. 4. 25. And in his Gospel he has given full assurance of Gods good will to mankind that he will be merciful to us and pardon us if we truly repent of our sins and forsake them Thus hath Christ opened a door of hope for us to encourage us to return to God For if there had been no hopes of mercy we should never have been drawn to Repentance but even like the Devils themselves should have remained full of hatred and malice against God utterly despairing of relief from him But whilst the death of Christ does so much engage and encourage us to forsake our sins it gives not the least encouragement to our continuance in them Let us not think that Christ dyed for our sins that we might have liberty to live in them and yet be saved at the last No but he came to save us from our sins not in them He makes us blessed by turning us from our iniquities He dyed to redeem us from a vain and evil Conversation to purify our Hearts and reform our Lives and make us a peculiar People zealous of good works Matt. 1. 21. Act. 3. 26. Tit. 2. 14. 1 Pet. 1. 18. The death of Christ for us vile sinners shews the infinite love of God in finding out this way for our Salvation But then it shews also what an evil thing sin is and how hateful to God since he would not pardon us without the suffering of his own dear Son on our account And therefore if the consideration of all this does not bring us to hate and abhor our sins and to love and serve our God and Saviour we are never like to have any benefit by Christs death All our professions of loving him and believing in him will stand us in no stead without obeying him True saving Faith in Christ is that which works by love both to God and our Neighbour Christ accounts none to be his friends but those that keep his Commandments and to such only will he grant pardon and Salvation Gal. 5. 6. Joh. 15. 14. Heb. 5. 9. 1 Joh. 3. 8. Since then the ever-blessed Jesus the Son of God came down from Heaven became a Man and dyed a most painful death upon the Cross that he might save us from sin and misery shall we not accept of him as our Lord and Saviour who comes to deliver us from the power of the Devil and our own Lusts to make us the Children of God and heirs of Glory which is a thousand times greater deliverance than that of the Israelites from the Aegyptian bondage Will you not be moved by all that Christ has done and suffered for you Shall not his love constrain you to love him and to hate all sin which was the cause of his sufferings Will you tread under foot his most precious Blood and even crucifie him afresh and again put him to open shame Thus in some sort do wicked men use their Saviour whilst they go on in their sins which are so displeasing to him They that lie and cozen for a little gain what do they but with Judas sell away Christ for Money They that live in hatred and malice and do mischief to their Neighbours do in effect run the Spear into Christs side and drive Nails into his hands and feet And they that give themselves to Riot and Drunkenness do even mingle Gall and Vinegar for him to drink They do all that in them lies by their sinful pleasures to put him again into Agonies and Pains But on the other hand it is a delight to our Saviour to see us humbled for our sins and resolved to forsake them He will readily and effectually interceed for us with our heavenly Father who is most willing to receive returning Prodigals There is joy in Heaven when sinners on Earth repent Even this our return to God by true repentance is the best recompence we can make to our Blessed Saviour for all his pains and sufferings When the pleasure of the Lord prospers in his hand by the conversion of sinners he then sees the travel of his Soul and is satisfied Isa. 63. 10 11. And shall we not afford this satisfaction to our Redeemer who hath undergone so much for our sakes and still out of his tender love to our Souls follows us with such earnest invitations to come to him for life and happiness Could we deny him this most reasonable request if we saw him now in person standing before us beseeching us to turn and live And this he now does by his Spirit and by his Ministers But that leads me to the next 3 Consider therefore that this also was the end for which the Holy Ghost is given and all the means of grace afforded even to sanctifie our hearts and make us an holy and obedient People God knows the weakness and corruption of our Natures and therefore in great mercy he affords the assistance of his holy Spirit to enlighten our minds and purifie our hearts to renew and change our natures and guide us in ways of holiness here that so we may be fitted for eternal happiness with the most holy God in the life to come Joh. 3. 3 5. Rom. 8. 9. And for this end were the holy Scriptures written by men assisted
was not in vain And to this day will all God's faithful servants find the good effects of thus devoutly applying themselves to God by Prayer For his eyes are ever upon the Righteous and his ear open to their cry He takes pity on them comforts and supports them He 'l lay no more upon them than he enables them to bear and in his good time he supplies their wants and delivers them from their afflictions yea he turns them into blessings and makes all work together for their good as he has promised to them that love him Rom. 8. 28. O what an happiness is it to be acquainted with God to have a due sense of his Providence so as to live upon it and improve it Job 22 21. But how sad is the condition of a wicked Man who has no such knowledge of God no love to him nor any expectations of help and relief from him Even in his greatest prosperity he 's a very miserable Man whilst he lives without God in the World but he feels himself to be so indeed when he falls into any great calamity and knows not which way to turn himself for help and comfort For as wickedness still brings Men into misery as I have before shewn so there it leaves them in the most wretched forlorn condition And the ill temper of their minds adds weight and load to their calamities and grievously encreases the smart of them The sense of their own guilt sometimes torments their Consciences and fills them with fear and horrour Sometimes they rage and fret against those that help'd on their sufferings and sometimes they even blaspheme God himself and murmur against his Providence Whilst the good Man with Job blesses God in all his afflictions these are ready to follow the counsel of his Wife even to curse God and die For being full of anguish and despair they are at their wits end and weary of their very lives as we read of Cain and Judas and such like both in Scripture and other History For my part I do verily think that next to the Devils and those in Hell there are no Creatures in the World more miserable than wicked ungodly People and whilst we see what the common fruit of Sin is here on Earth we may easily be convinced that it leads to Hell and damnation hereafter And all this do men madly and wilfully run into by their own evil doings even as a Man that thrusts his hands into the fire is like to feel pain and smart By forsaking of God they forsake their own mercies and by sinning against him they wrong their own Souls yea their Bodies too and all their Concerns Thus you see that an holy Life is most profitable for us even in this present World preventing much evil and bringing all manner of good along with it Or if a Man should fall into such hard times as to suffer meerly for Religion and a good Conscience he shall then commonly find such wonderful comfort and satisfaction of mind that he will even triumph and rejoyce in the midst of his sufferings as we know the Apostles and primitive Christians did and that especially in hope of the glorious Rewards laid up for good Men in the Heavens But that brings me to the last Consideration I shall mention Lastly Namely That an Holy Life through the rich mercy of God will render us perfectly and eternally blessed in the World to come whereas a wicked course of Life leads to eternal misery and torment According as we live in this World so must we fare in the next for this Life is a state of trial in order to Eternity Even at Death a good Man has ground of much comfort having the testimony of a good Conscience and the sense of God's love so that with Saint Stephen he may commit his Soul into the hands of the Lord Jesus who is ready to receive him But how sad is it with a wicked Man when beside all the pains of his body his mind is tormented with the remembrance of his sins and with the fears of God's wrath But the great difference will be made at the day of Judgment when the sheep shall be set at Christ's right hand and the goats on the left as you have it described Matth. 25. 31 c. To those on the right hand that is the pious and good will be pronounced that joyful Sentence Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World And then shall they enter into that most glorious Kingdom where neither sin nor sorrow shall ever disturb them more where they shall never feel nor fear any manner of evil or pain either of Soul or Body but shall be admitted into the immediate presence of God where there is all fulness of joy for evermore They shall have such a clear knowledge of the ever-blessed God and such a lively sense of his infinite Perfections as will fill them with Admiration Love and Praise and they shall feel the love of God and their Saviour so fully shed abroad upon them as shall raise their Hearts to the very utmost heights of joy and thankfulness and their mouths shall be filled with Hallelujahs and Songs of Praise and in this most delightful Employment shall they joyn with all the blessed company of Heaven for ever and ever That 's the perfection of all that the joys of Heaven shall never have an end It 's both a most exceeding and an eternal weight of glory that 's promised 2 Cor. 4. 17 18. For ever shall we remain with the Lord 1 Thes. 4. 17. The eternal God will be the portion of his people and their joy in him shall never be lessened or abated through all eternity They shall be always blessing and praising him always satisfied and ravished with the beholding of his Glories and the enjoyment of his love always delighted with the most pleasant and agreeable society of Angels and Saints And never more shall dear friends and companions be separated from each other when once they are met in Heaven Death has now no power over them They are become in some measure even like to Christ himself and there shall see him as he is in all his glory Phil. 3. 21. 1 Joh. 3. 2. But what it is thus to be made like to Christ to see God and enioy him we are not able fully to express or conceive whilst we are here in the body to compare the glories of Heaven to all the riches and honour of Courts and Pallaces here below were greatly to lessen and disparage them So great are those heavenly glories and joys that they can never be clearly known till they are enjoy'd As a blind Man can never well tell what light is till his Eyes are open to discern it It 's enough for us that we have full assurance from the promises of the Gospel that such a state of unspeakable happiness there is provided for good
Men in the life to come And as the Lord Jesus is gone before to prepare it for them so now by his holy Spirit he prepares them for that blessed place by working in them that grace which fits them for glory and is the very first-fruits and beginnings of it in their Souls True holiness is the most certain pledge of eternal happiness and makes us meet for it Eph. 1. 13 14. Col. 1. 12. Since then such a glory there is so infinitely great so sure and certain shall we not all be perswaded to seek after it by walking in those holy ways that lead thereto Surely we shall if we have any belief of Gods word any regard to our own interest Must our Souls live for ever in another World and shall we not use our utmost care and diligence to make them happy for ever there Are they not our own Souls And do they not then deserve our love and care If we be wise and good is it not for our selves for our own happiness And is there any other way to make our selves happy but by gaining the love of God and eternal life Do we not see that all worldly comforts are short and uncertain They wither in our hands and perish in the using Our Neighbours and acquaintance are daily dying round about us many of our dearest Friends and Relations are already gone before us and we our selves are swiftly following after We are just upon the borders of eternity liable to a thousand diseases and mischances that may soon stop our breath and then we are gone Since then we cannot make sure of this life nor the enjoyments of it O let us see to make sure of eternal glory which we may do by Gods assistance even the poorest Man on Earth if he will become sincerely pious and good For God is no respecter of persons Christ died for poor Men as well as rich and they that have no inheritance on Earth may be Heirs of the heavenly Kingdom if they be rich in faith and love to God Jam. 2. 5. And methinks they that have so much trouble and sorrow in this life should be moved to seek after riches and glory in the life to come There the poorest Lazarus shall have a thousand times more pleasure and joy than any of the proud Dives's or rich Gluttons and Epicures have now in their delicious fare and gorgeous Apparel Nay the very hopes of this glory may fill the good Mans mind with so much joy that he will even forget his poverty and not count his afflictions worthy to be compared with the happiness he hopes for nor would he change Estates with the greatest Prince upon Earth who is a stranger to these hopes Thus it was with the holy Apostles and their followers 2 Cor. 6. 10. 1 Pet. 1. 6 7 8. Thus have I briefly told you somewhat of the happiness of the godly in the world to come But on the other hand consider what will be the portion of the wicked who despise the mercies of God and the offers and promises of the Gospel these will at last fall under his heavy Wrath and Vengeance and there must remain for ever in the most intolerable terments of Soul and Body set out by the most dreadful things such as Fire and Brimstone and a never dying Worm that perpetually gnaws and stings their hearts They are cast into outer darkness where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth not the least glimmering of hope or comfort to all eternity Matt. 25. 30. 41 46. Mark 9. 43. to the end 2 Thes. 1. 7 8 9. These are the Goats that being set on the left hand must hear that doleful sentence Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels An heavy doom and yet most just For they departed from God and neglected his service here on Earth and therefore now must they depart from his presence in which their corrupt minds can take no delight They preferr'd the Tavern and the Ale-house before the house of God and took more pleasure in Feasting and Drinking in Roaring and Revelling amongst their wicked Companions than in worshipping of God in the communion of Saints they loved not prayers and praises in the assemblies of his people nor had any mind to come to the Lords Table though often invited thereto and therefore must they now be shut out from such holy company and from such high and heavenly employments for which they are altogether unfit They were many of them greatly given to Cursing and now it 's come upon them That curse of God which they in their rage often wished to their Neighbour is now fallen upon themselves Nay did not many of these prophane wretches even call for this curse upon their own heads in that hellish Language of God damn me And what wonder if their petition be now granted and they sentenced to that damnation which they thus called for By the Devil they were led and guided and by his wicked instruments and their own brutish lusts and therefore now they must have the Devil and his Angels and damned sinners like themselves to be their companions in torment who are so far from pitying or comforting each other that rather they curse one another now in their misery who before tempted one another to sâ—n O sad meeting of the Drunkards the Whoremongers and the Harlots there together in those scorching flames Where in vain they cry out for a drop of water to cool their Tongue It must not be granted their good things are all past and gone And the remembrance of all their riot and lewdness serves but to encrease their torment And now also they may remember how God did again and again call upon them and they would not hear neither therefore will he now hear their cries when pain and anguish is come upon them Prov. 1. 24. to the end And though they may cry out against their companions and accuse the Devil and in their rage blaspheme God himself yet will their consciences fly with greatest fury upon themselves who in spite of all the warnings that were given them did by their own wilfull and impenitent continuance in sin plunge themselves into this misery from whence they must never be released O dreadful word Everlasting fire Eternal torment How does the thought of this sink and break their hearts and fill them with deepest horrour and despair Who can dwell with everlasting burnings Who can And yet the damned sinner must though in the most raging and impatient manner After they have lain thousands and millions of years in that place of torment yet is there not a moment less to come there is a whole eternity still behind The worm never dies the flame is never quenched Nor is God to be accused of severity in all this since it was the sinners own doing the fruit of their own choice For they knew that sin would sink them into Hell and yet
they would venture upon it And indeed it sinks them thither as naturally as a stone falls to the ground Even here on earth the proud and covetous the malicious and revengeful the profane and sensual do kindle somewhat of Hell in their own Souls and whilst they carry along with them the same wicked temper of mind it must still needs make them most wretched and miserable in another World as long as ever their Souls live and these vices stick to them that is to all eternity Let not him that carries fire in his bosom accuse Gods providence for making the fire hot when he feels it burn him but let him blame his own folly and wilfullness And so must self-condemned sinners be forced to do And now tell me I beseech you Is there not all the reason in the World that you should speedily repent you of your sins and cast them from you with loathing and detestation and henceforward set upon a course of serious holiness that so you may escape all this misery threatned to the wicked and may partake of that glory which is promised to the pious and good Does not a thousand pound a year deserve the labour of one day And will not all the joys of Heaven that shall last for ever and ever abundantly reward our diligence in Gods service for this short life time And are not the eternal torments of Hell enough to restrain Men from a loose and sinful life though it were never so profitable or pleasant here for a little while But you have before heard it fully proved that even at present an holy life is in all respects most for our benefit and comfort So that without doubt a good Man finds more sweetness and satisfaction in the way to Heaven than sinners do in the way to Hell Our gracious God appoints us an easie and honourable service and gives glorious rewards But the Devil is a most cruel Master and sets his slaves to the vilest drudgery and afterward paies them very sad wages Rom. 6. 21 22 23. Whether then will you be Christ's freemen or the Devil's bondslaves Whether will you walk in the good ways of God that bring peace and comfort here on Earth and eternal glory in Heaven or in the crooked paths of sin which now bring sorrow and shame and pain and hereafter will plunge you into eternal misery and torment in Hell Thus are life and death happiness and misery set before you What choice then will you make One would think there was no great difficulty in the case to a Man that has the use of his reason if he will at all make use of it in the affairs of his Soul A little thinking serves turn to convince Men that there is no reason why they should chuse poverty and reproach pain and imprisonment if they can honestly avoid them rather than Riches and Honour ease and liberty But I am sure there is a thousand times less reason for a Man to disobey God and damn his Soul for ever rather than to please and serve him and to make sure of eternal Salvation Wherefore let me again beseech you to take the matter into consideration and think seriously what is most reasonable and most for your own interest and then chuse accordingly And I pray God direct your hearts to make so wise a choice that you may never have cause to repent of it either in this World or that to come Amen CHAP. II. A brief description of an holy life with some short Directions in order thereto IF you now demand of me wherein consists this Holiness of life to which I have been thus long and earnestly exhorting you that I hope you may in some measure understand by reflecting on what I said at the beginning and by attending to what I have intimated all along my Discourse Yet for your assistance I shall somewhat more plainly represent it to you though but very briefly as no other can be expected in this little Paper In the general then as I have before exprest it I am only perswading you to live as becomes true Christians according to your Baptismal Vow in the keeping of which consists your Christianity Now by your Baptism you are engaged to believe in and obey God the Father the son and the Holy Ghost You must sincerely and heartily own God the Father as your maker and Preserver the son of God as your Redeemer and the Holy Ghost as your Sanctifier Guide and Comforter And accordingly must you behave your self both in heart and life And therefore you must renounce the Devil the World and the Flesh which would draw you off from God and must stedfastly believe the Articles of your Christian Faith and carefully keep Gods holy will and commandments all the days of your life Your faith is required in order to obedience For if you do not believe Christ's Gospel you are not like to obey it In these two things then consists the Religion of a Christian to which he is engaged by his Baptism viz. in Believing what Jesus Christ hath revealed and in doing what he hath commanded In short he is a good Christian who does firmly believe his Creed and carefully keep the Commandments The doctrines which we are to believe are indeed more largely and fully delivered in the Holy Scriptures which were written by Men inspired by the Holy Ghost and accordingly ought to be received as the word of God and to be diligently read and stedfastly believed But the chief articles of the Christian Faith are briefly sum'd up in that which we call the Apostles Creed I believe in God the Father c. This I hope you are well acquainted with it being so short and plain and daily repeated in the Church Service and therefore I shall not set it down at large And this also I hope you do believe to be most true You would take it ill if I should question your belief of the Creed without which you are not to be reckoned as Christians But let me advise you to consider seriously and frequently of these great truths contained in the Creed that you may more clearly understand them and be more affected with them And pray see that your belief of them be very firm and deep-rooted in your Soul that so the fruit of your faith may appear in the holiness of your life Without this the bare knowing of the Creed and repeating it never so often will stand us in no stead For as I told you obedience is the end of Faith And all the Articles of our Belief do most plainly tend to make us holy and good if we will but carefully attend to them and consider well of them To shew it in few words If we bâ—â—ieve that God the Father Almighty made us and all the World then are we bound to love and honour him to worship and obey him as our maker and preserver who is Almighty in Power infinite in Wisdom goodnes and all manner
pleasant But be sure to set some time apart every day for solemn Prayer Very fit it is to begin the day with Prayer to God as soon as we rise out of Bed blessing his Name for our preservation and quiet rest begging his gracious Presence with us all the day that we may be kept from all evil especially from sin the worst of all And at the Evening let this be our last work before we lie down to sleep humbly to commit our selves to God by Prayer Psal. 92. 1 2. Exceeding useful it is for those who have Families to joyn together Morning and Evening in Prayer to God and in reading some part of his holy Word for which purpose there are many good Books of Devotion and though they have none of them yet they may use such of the Prayers of the Church as are proper for their purpose which are to be found in the Morning and Evening Service and in other places Before you sit down to Meat beg Gods blessing upon it and afterward return thanks for it But beside our Devotions in the Family or Closet our great Duty is to worship God in the publick Assemblies of his People which by no means we ought to forsake Heb. 10. 25. Suffer not your selves therefore by any Pretences whatever to be drawn away either by Papists or Sectaries from the publick Worship of God as it is now by Law established in the Church of England But see that you duly resort to your Parish Churches and that not only on Holy-days but on the Week-days when you have opportunity and leisure More especially see that you constantly frequent the Church on the Lord's Day if not hindered by sickness or some other very great and urgent Cause Let not that Excuse keep you from Church which would not keep you from the Market Bring as many of your Family along with you as can possibly be spared Come to the very beginning of Service and stay quietly till the end of it not running away before the Blessing as many careless People rudely do as if they were glad to get away as from a Prison Behave your selves with all due reverence both of body and mind considering the Majesty of that God in whose presence you stand before whom the very Angels vail their faces Always kneel at your Prayers if there be convenience or stand at least Psal. 95. 6. Above all look well to the temper of your Soul and keep up an awful sence of the great God to whom you are praying and mind well what is said as you go along with the Prayers and offer up your desires to God otherwise though you may speak much you do not pray at all Avoid all vain and wandring thoughts as much as possible When you joyn in the Confession of Sins think of your own particular faults and be deeply humbled for them and be unfeignedly thankful for all God's mercies whilst you are praising his Name and earnestly long after that Grace you pray for Attend with care and reverence to God's Word when it 's read from the Desk and also to the preaching and explaining of it from the Pulpit that you may both be diligent hearers and faithful doers of the Word Neglect not the Church in the Afternoon though you should live where there is no Sermon Catechising may be as useful to you and this ought to be in all places And besides that you will hear the holy Scriptures read and have the benefit of the publick Prayers When you come from Church spend not the remainder of the day in sports and idleness much less in drinking and gaming as too many do but if you have a Family let some time be spent with them in praying in reading God's Word and some good Book and let Children and Servants be instructed in their Catechism Examine them about what they have heard that so it may make them more attentive and do you meditate on the same that it may sink into your Heart Works of mercy and necessity may be done on the Lord's Day but by no means allow your selves in any needless Labours nor in travelling upon the Road or wandring about to make idle Visits God allows us six days in the Week for our own Employments let us devote the Lord's Day to his service readily and cheerfully When the Sacrament of Baptism is administred do you attend to it Remember your own Engagement by having received it in your Infancy and resolve to live answerably thereto Joyn in Prayer for God's blessing on the Children then received into the Church And when you bring your own Children to be baptized see that you do most sincerely give them up to God and devote them to his Service with firm Resolutions to bring them up in his fear if God spare your Lives and theirs and earnestly pray for his Grace to be given in to their Souls And those to whom you stand as Sureties you ought to do your utmost toward their good Education in the knowledge of God and Religion according to the Charge given you especially if the Parents die or prove negligent And pray beware of a very wicked practice which is common in some places that after a Child is baptized the Neighbours that are invited spend the rest of the day in Riot and Drunkenness forgetting that even now they renounced the lusts of the Flesh those who stood at the Font and all the rest are under the same obligation Whenever you are invited by your Minister to the holy Communion do not willingly neglect the Invitation but come with a thankful Heart to keep up the remembrance of Christ's love in dying for sinners according to his express Command Luk. 22. 19. Take care to prepare your selves by true repentance for all your former sins and stedfast purposes by God's grace throughly to forsake the same See that you be in perfect Charity with all Men freely forgiving those who have offended you and offering satisfaction to those whom you have offended If after this they will not be reconciled that 's not your fault but theirs and therefore may not keep you from the Sacrament Stay not away out of a Pretence that you want time to prepare your self For a constant holy Life is the best Preparation If you are fit for Prayers you are fit for the Communion Do not think that the Communion is only for rich People The Souls of the poor are as precious as the rich and as much concerned in Christ's death and they have as much cause to remember it and seek after the benefits of it If you have not Money to offer at the Collection see that you offer up your selves to God and that will be of more value Complain not that you want Clothes and therefore you absent both from the Church and Communion but see that you come in the Wedding Garment required in the Gospel with humble penitent thankful Hearts and then you will be welcome Guests at Christ's Table For