the passion of our blessed lord and saviour jesus christ: or, cries of the son of god digested from the works of the late reverend dr. horneck. licens'd and enter'd according to order. horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 1700 approx. 29 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 14 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44538 wing h2847 estc r215362 99827260 99827260 31676 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44538) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 31676) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1890:3) the passion of our blessed lord and saviour jesus christ: or, cries of the son of god digested from the works of the late reverend dr. horneck. licens'd and enter'd according to order. horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. [24] p. : ill. printed for s. bates in gilt-spur-street, london : [1700?] publication date conjectured by wing. running title reads: the cry of the son of god. signatures: a b⁴. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng jesus christ -passion -early works to 1800. 2005-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-04 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-05 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2005-05 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the passion of our blessed lord and saviour ▪ jesus christ : or , cries of the son of god. digested from the works of the late reverend dr. horneck . licens'd and enter'd according to order . london : printed for s. bates in gilt-spur-street . the love of a dying saviour what makes this dreadful sound , eli , eli , lamasabachthani ? what is it makes the earth to shake ? who is it makes the earth to quake ? jesus . ) 't is i , poor soul , that 's lifted up to drink my father's litter cup : 't is i must die the death o' th' slave , from sin and hell thy soul to save , look , see how i am crucify'd . behold im pierced thro' the side ! my tender head with thorns is crown'd , and with the jews encompass'd round . whilst dryed with grief 's my tender throat , and soldiers for my seemless coat cast lots . — father , thy will be done , forsak'st thou , why thine only son ? see , sinner , see my hands are nail'd , my trickling side , and legs , exhal'd from natures length ! can'st thou believe ? do and thou shalt mercy receive . soul ) ah , lord my trembling so●l relents , and with each faculty repents : lord , i believe , my unbelief help thou , and with the blessed thief , afford me mercy , lord , that i , may dwell with thee eternally . and since 't is so , to thee i 'll bring whole hecatombs of praise off'ring . my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me ? the passion of our most blessed lord and saviour jesus christ : or , cries of the son of god. oh my soul , what anxious thoughts disturb thy peace ! why art thou cast down , and why art thou so disquieted within me ! is there no ground of hope left to cast the anchor of thy faith upon ? drop on holy jesus , who will uphold and sustain thee . nay tho' i have search'd all the city thro' , yet i can hear no tidings of him . arise , o my soul , come let 's up once more , make enquiry , perhaps he hath lain him down to sleep , till the morning break . watchmen , watchmen , did you see my beloved go this way ; tell me , tell me quickly , for my soul hath long desired to speak with him , and my heart thirsts after my love , my dove , and undefiled one. who is your beloved ; that we cannot but take notice of him , i pray now , what is your beloved more than another ; oh , my beloved is a bundle of myrrh , like a cluster of camphire in the valley of engiddi ! my beloved is fair , having dove's eyes , and is the chiefest of ten thousands . o that i had my beloved , i would not let him go , but he should lye all night betwixt my breasts . o therefore , tell me quickly , good watchmen , that i may find him whom my soul longs for , why truly , you seem to be much troubled , and we pity thee ; we must confess ; a rude multiude ran this way with staves , clubs , and halberts , and a candle and lantern , whispering as they went , but know not what they said or meant , but this we heard them say , he 's in the garden of gethsemane . aye , and are ye sure they said so ? then my beloved is there , i will follow hard after him , lest the rabbles find him whom my soul loves . hark , hark my soul , methinks i hear his voice most bitterly crying out lord , where art thou ; what are they a doing to thee ; o my soul run to his relief , aye , but whether ; 't is dark , and the voice comes from far , and i know not the way . o good watchmen , pray now lend me , tell me , or shew me the way . we can't go from our rounds , nor will we , to seek out we know not who , but keep on this road which leads to the garden of gethsemane , and you 'll find him , we believe . well , i will haste away as fast as i can . what , lord have i found thee overflow'd with bloody , sweat , pleeding with thy father , doth the heavy loads of grief overwhelm thy heart ; can'st not speak my dear lord ? why so sad , o holy jesus . who has injured my love ; what no comfort yet ? speak lord , i pray thee , lest i faint for want of one word proceeding from thy precious lips to my poor drooping soul. behold , sinners , see what i am now doing for thee . behold , every faculty and power of my body and soul is almost spent , in wrestling with my father for thy salvation ! but his wrath is great , and be my passion never so great , yet there is nothing will do ; nothing can make attonement but my life . the cup must not pass from me , my father's will must be doue ; and i am very ready it should be so ; nay , i the lord of life , am willing to stoop to death , hell , and the grave , to free thee from the just wrath of an angry god. look , sirs , behold the hour is come , wherein i must be betrayed ? gentlemen , who do ye want ? my name 's jesus of nazareth ; d' ye seek me ? hark ye , you have a sign whereby you know the person you want . come kiss . me : judas , for lo , i long till all be fulfilled . o my dear god , what shall i do ? i 'll go along with thee , o lord , where ever thou art , there let me be also . o wicked soldiers forbear ; what draw their swords ! lord , i fear they 'll kill thee . what judas hast thou no remorse of conscience at the betraying of thine own lord and master , who suffered thee to eat and drink with him at his sacred table ; thou wantedst not money , for thou hadst thy master's purse and all at dispose , therefore why didst thou s●ll him ? o covetous judas , for the lucre of money , thou hadst sold thy ever blessed jesus , and thy own salvation too ? better had it been if thou hadst never been born . and then malchus , can'st thou not believe it is the lord of life , the king of isreal , the king of glory , since thy ear is healed , but at the stretching out of his hand ? o lord , stretch forth thy hand , and put the finger of mercy into my soul , thro' the key-hole of my heart , that i may be healed of all my sins and infirmities ? lord , if thou wilt thou can'st make me clean . ah , soldiers , where are you hailing jesus ? peter wilt thou not go along with thy master ? what stand off , to deny him ; o come , and let us follow hard after him ? perhaps with our earnest cries and entreaties we may persuade him to let him go . well peter if thou wilt not go , i'l● go by my self . o blessed jesus , what art thou led as a lamb to the slaughter ! ( not by the way . that soul which would enjoy the blessings of a christ , must be contented to bear his cross. sure thou never didst offend or injure them in the least , for thou wert all meakness , when reviled , reviled not again . but my dear lord , where are we now ? what , vile rebels , smite your saviour , and spit i●●is face like bruits ! o lord , why dost thou not cut them off . peace , silly soul , ( saith christ ) know ye not that i have a baptism to be baptiz'd with ! and lo , how i long till it is accomplished ! thinkest thou not , if i would resist , i would pray to my father , and he would give me more than twelve legions of angels to rescue me ! but how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled , and his will be done ! all this is nothing to what i must undergo for thy salvation . ah , my dear god , my blessed jesus , let me participate of thy afflictions , let me resign up all to thee who art king over all , blessed for ever . but , my bless●d jesus , what hall is this we are in ! what the judgment-hall ! surely lord , their feet are swift to shed innocent blood , and their hearts thirst after destruction . o annas , thou high prist , what take counsel again jesus of nazareth , and deliver out of the treasury thirty pieces of silver to cursed judas , to betray his master ! better hadst thou delivered out of the treasury of thy heart , all thy evil corruptions , and implore mercy at his feet . and now my soul attend to their proceedings against thy lord , and see how unmercifully they are with him . first they carried him to annas , in order to get counsel against him ; but he finding the witnesses were not fully agreed , ( for one said this thing , another that , and a third quite contrary ) gave them longer time to confer about it , that they might one and all , bring in an accusation to the purpose . and the better to effect this he sends them to caiaphas the high priest. but he , upon examination , finding them confus'd in their evidence was willing to release him . upon this rusht into the assembly many false witnesses , but they contradicting one another also , made a very tumultuous uproar among them . at last came in some few who affirmed , that he raised lazarus from the grave after he had been four days dead and began to stink , which miracle drew many of the jews to believe on him , and this said they , we do not affirm only as a report , but matter of fact ; for some of us not only heard him say at the grave's mouth , lazarus , come forth bound hand and feet , with grave cloaths about him , and a napkin on his head. lo , this we have both seen and heard , with many other things besides . o my dear lord , what is it they witness against thee ? do they affirm thou raised lazarus from the grave ? what then , ye faithless and perverse generation , is it not lawful to do good rather than evil ? verily , your hearts are seared , otherwise they would not act contrary to law and reason . and o holy jesus , who raised up lazarus to life , raise thou my soul out of the grave of sin , to live the life of righteousness . then the chief priests and elders with the scribes and pharisees , farther consulted and said , what do we ? this man doth many miracles , and if we let him alone , all men will believe on him , and the romans will come and take away our place and nation . miserble jews how fearful are you lest any should venture on him , and believe , seeing his miracles ! lord , i will freely part with all for thy sake , yea , let who will come and possess this earthly substance , i am content , so i may enjoy the influence of thy blessed spirit , which none can rob me of . but caiaphas said unto them , ye know nothing at all , nor consider that it is expedient for us , that no man should die for the people , and that the nation perish not . and this he spake not of himself , but god ordered it so , that the prophecy should come out of his own mouth , to condemn him at the last day . and from that time forward , they took counsel to put him to death . hitherto all they did , could not accomplish their wicked designs . at last mad at heart , they , with a detestable and wicked resolution , contrived to hire two impudent soldiers to swear against him in the high priest's hall. accordingly the wretches came , and with loud voices and open mouths , cryed , saying , this fellow said , i am able to destroy the temple of god and raise it in three days . and so indeed he was ; for he sp●ke nothing but the truth , ( meaning his body as the apostle paul s●ys , our bodies are the temple of the holy ghost ) and that in three days he sh●●ld raise it ●●●m the grave . but neither these fellows , nor his judges had as yet known the scriptures , ●or power of g●d . then said the high priest. it is true what these t●o witness against thee ▪ ●ut jesus h●ld his peace . then said the high priest , i con●ure the● by the ●iving g●d to tell us whether thou art christ the s●n 〈◊〉 the living god. and jesus , when it was put 〈…〉 to him in these three great truths , art thou chr●●● the son of the living god! answered i am then the high priest rent his cloaths and said , what need we any farther witness against him ; ye have all heard how he hath blasphemed ; what think ye ; and they all with one consenting voi●e , c●ndemn'd him to be guilty of death . then they began to spit on him , and to buffet him , and strike him with the palms of their hands , reviling him as a seditous fellow , blindfolding and smiting him on the face , saying , prophecy now unto us , thou , christ , who is it that smote th●e . at last , finding they could not agree together , as to putting him to death , and to pass sentence on him , ( for they all agreed in the just merits of his condemnation ) yet he must first be sent to pontius pilate their chief governor . and now , o my soul , didst thou ever hear such arrogance , malice , and envy before ! could any imagine their hearts should be so hardened , who void of any pity and compassion , hunted and worried the lord of hosts from one place to another . well might he say , foxes have holes , and birds of the air have nests , but the son of man have no where to lay his head. o my soul , doth it not make thee tremble to see christ , thy god , king , and redeemer , haled by rude soldiers to condemnation . ah , my dear jesus , what made thee descend from heaven to earth , become man , and be born in an open stable , in such poverty and misery , but love , celestial love , to make satisfaction to thy father , for all my heinous sins committed against thy ever blessed majesty . o dear and wonderful lord , how shall i require thy love ! o let me never fall away from thee , nor thy faith , but be stedfast to the end ; and happy are all they that after they have denied with peter their redeemer , find a door of mercy open to receive them again . o peter , dost thou not remember thy master's words now ! what curse and swear you know him not , when but a little before you said , though i should dye with thee , yet will i not deny thee ! how hast thou forgotten thy own promise and ingagement made to thy departing and dying saviour ! now peter art thou in the gall of bitterness , and in the blood of iniquity doth not the arrows of the almighty wound thy soul , now thou seest thou art fallen ? o let him that standeth , be cautious lest he fail in the same manner as thou hast done ! and now , my soul , hark , what are they going to do ? o dear lord god , precious jesus , what will nothing appease the tumult , but thy death ? o pilate , proceed not to condemn thy redeemer , but rather suffer thy body to be torn in pieces by the multitude . and pilate , seeing nothing would avail , nor would they suffer him to be released , after he was scourged , buffetted , smitten , spit upon , reviled , mocked , and hist at , with his head crowned with sharp thorns , which like needles pierced his tender brain ; and his body is scorn cloathed with a purple robe . thus dealt with , they admitted no plea for him , but cryed out , release unto us barabbas , and crucify this seditious fellow jesus ; away with him , away with him . pilate seeing this , and that the uproar was great , called for water , and washing his hands , said , i am innocent of the blood of this just person , see you to it . then answered all the people , his blood — nay , hold gentlemen , ( saith pilate ) here your king stands , i have examined him , and endeavoured to trap him in his replies , and lo ! i find no fault at all in him . but they cried out the more outragiously , crucify him , crucify him : his blood be upon us , and on our children . then released he barabbas , and scourging jesus delivered him to be crucified . ah , cruel pilate , who hast thou condemned ? the lord of glory , the son of god , and redeemer of the world. see yonder , how he 's haled away from thee , stooping under the burden of his cross , and his feeble legs trembling by reason of its weight ; so that with the dust , dirt , crowd , sweat , blood , and want of sustenance , to revive his fatigued drooping spirits , the blessed jesus is ready to sink . can'st thou look after him , pilate , and see all this , and thy heart and soul not faint and bleed ? o lord , let me with the happy cyrenian , help to bear thy cross. and , after they had abused him , and put many indignities upon him , they led him towards golgotha to crucify him ? where they gave him vinegar and gall to drink , and when he had tasted thereof , he would not drink . and now , o blessed jesus , what eye can endure to see or behold thee ? how with rude , brawny fists , and sear'd hearts , they force , twist , pull , hale , and extend thy sacred hands , which were always doing good , and healing diseases , now nailing to the cross ? what heart cannot but mourn , and lament bitterly , as not being able to behold thee ? surely , our very souls must be pricked , and our hearts break within us , to see thy ever blessed side pierced , springing out streams of blood. nailed to the cross his arm out-stretch'd , thro ag●ny a sigh he fetch'd ; whose voice all thunders did out-do , rending the temple's vail in two ; making the earth to shake , and those who slept in graves , forthwith arose and after he aloud had cry'd , gave up the ghost , thus crucify'd between two thieves they did him rear , piercing his body with a spear , whilst soldiers thro' base avarice , do for his seamless coat cast dice . how , lord canst forbear ? when i consider every sigh , every groan , every cry and tear , every drop of blood , every pain , every twitch , besides g●nvulsions and extortions that thou endurest , are the products and effects of my sin ? lord let not a minute nor thought be spent in vain , now thou art dying and bleeding on the cross. and now , o holy jesus , help my poor crippled soul thro' the crowd , to lay it self at the foot of thy cross , to receive the drops of blood , as they come trickling down from thy wounds upon my defiled soul that not one drop of thy precious blood may spil on the ground , or the sacred liquor of eternal life be wasted or lost . o lord , who is able to behold thee longer ? o that i could bleed , dye , and pour out my very soul with thee . lord , remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom ! o lord , o lamb of god , and redeemer of the world , hear me ! remember me now thou art giving up thy precious life , and pouring out thy innocent , harmless ; and compassionate s●ul . but stay , o blessed jesus , what is it i perceive and see in this black and dismal hour ? lord , is it thee , in thine agony and bloody sweat ? it is so dark i can but just see thee . is it not finish'd yet ? what say'st thou lord , to a poor fainting , dying soul ? speak , lord , speak one word of comfort to me notwithstanding thine adversaries and implacable enemies about thee . wilt thou speak , lord , and my soul shall hear ? if thou art so faint thou can'st not ●●eak , let thy good prophet speak for thee . wherefore when i came , there was no man to h●lp : when i called there was none to hear ? do you think i am past saving you ? tho' you all forsake me in this hour of my crucifixion , yet i do not forsake you , my children , and my flock , my poor lambs , my redeemed and purchas'd of my soul : is my hand shortned at all , tho' nailed to the cross , that i cannot save , or that i cannot redeem ? beh●ld , at my rebuke i dry up the sea : and i , tho' dying at the cross , this moment make the earth to shake ; and it would immediately tumble down into the eternal bottomless pit , but that i bear up the pillars thereof . let the jews have as mean and vile thoughts of me as they please , yet it is i that makes the rocks to rent , the sun to gather paleness , and the moon to turn into blood. but to set at liberty the purchas'd of my soul , i freely give my back to the smiters , and my cheeks to them that pluck off my hair. up , o my soul , or else thou wilt lose the sight of thy saviour ; darkness hasten 〈◊〉 pace . o holy jesus , is it not thee ? let me wipe and drain my dim and almost spent eyes , and look again ; lord , it is thee : i still perceive the tears distilling down thy sacred face , the temples boyling out spirituous blood ; and thy sacred hands and feet blubbering up and venting from behind the nails great bladders of blood and froth from the expulsive ●●rts of the most exquisite torments . what from the sixth till almo●t the ninth hour , is my dear saviour in the heighth of this vehement agony , and not over yet ? what sin am i guilty of that is not atton'd yet ; that god is so incensed at , that he will not yet pardon ? o quickly , quickly help me , o my god , to find it out , that thou may'st no longer be extorted and convul●'d in these grievous torments . look upon me , jesus ; one glance , sweet jesus . what dost ●ook ? lord , that one languishing dying look has brought all to remembrance , lord , humbly resign it all up , that thou mayst be delivered from the t●rments and bondage of death , that my soul may be saved thereby . o but hark , hark my soul ! what 's that which sounds thus in my ear ? i am sure it is no usual cry : it can come from none but my tortur'd redeemer . silence , hark ! what is 't ? eli , eli , lameaesabac●hani : my god , my god , why hast thou f●rsak●n me ? o god , o lord , o ever blessed redeemer , o saviour , o son and lamb of god , where shall i ●ide my self from the wrath and dreadful displeasure of thy father ? if thou cry'st out so , what then can i do ? if the son of god cries our so bitterly , what must a poor , vile , wretched , miserable sinner do ? what , still persist , ye incredulous jews ! see , the lord of life prays for you , father forgive them for they know not what they do . do you begin to have some remorse ? doth your conscience smite you , and compel ye to cry out , surely this is the son of god! can't ye find in , ●our hearts to take him down bef●re ●is last breath expires ? behold his arms stretcht out along time to embrace sinners , and now he bows his head to kiss ' em ? lord , one sweet kiss before thou givest up the ghost . and when jesus cried with a loud voice , he said , father into thy hands i commit my spirit , and having thus said , he gave up the ghost . ah my soul , where is thy redeemer gone ? behold here hangs his body besmear'd with blood ! with skin all torn with knobs and wheals of stripes , hanging down his head , crown'd with a garland of thorns , trickling thro' his skull to the tender brain , and nailed to the cross. what so henious a fault could he do to deserve it ? what judge could be so cruel to put him to it ? what man could have so butcherly a mind as to deal so outragiously with him ? ah , dear love , where art thou ? thou art the comfort of my heart , the sola●e of my mind , the true content and joy of my afflicted soul , where art thou to be found ? let me but know , and thither speedily will i go ; for where thou art , there is all treasure , true peace , true rest and happiness to be had , how shall i find thee ? ah where shall i find thee , my dear lord ? when shall i requite thy labour ? how shall i be able to requite thy woful pain and death for me ? ah how shall i do something acceptable and grateful unto thee ? ah how shall i subsist without my life , or live without my love ? thou art my life and love ; and it is worse than death to me here to live , and not to live in thee . ah , love divine , shew now thy power , and carry me beyond my self ! o endless light , illuminate my understanding , to know what and where thou art ! o burning fire of endless flames of love , consume me quite , and let me hear no more what yet i am , but transform me to be somewhat like thy sweet self , that i may live in thee , both here and to all eternity . ah thou that excellest all the children of men in beauty ; in whose lips grace was shed so plentifully , yea even with god's own hand , where is that beauty of thine ? where is that grace of thy lips ? i find it not , i see it not ; fleshly eyes conceive not such a mystery ; open thou the eyes of my mind ; b●ing thy divine light ne●r ●o me , and give me power to look more wisely upon thee . i see it is jesus the son of god , the unspotted lamb , without sin , without fault , without offences , which took my wickedness upon him , to the intent that being set free from sin , might be again brought into god's favour ; rise again from my fall ; return home from banishment , and that which i deserv'd he suffered , and that which i could never attain unto he freely giveth . ah , me redeemer , deliverer and saviour , draw me to thee , that being always mindful of thy death , trusting always in thy goodness ; and being always thankful for thy unspeakable be●efits , i may be made a pertaker of so great a reward , and not seperated from thy body through my own unthankfulness , so as thou should'st have been born in vain in respect of me , and in vain have suffered so many torments , and most cruel death , of thine own accord , for my sake . and now raise up thy head , my soul , and look up to heaven , and behold the glory of thy crucified saviour , f●r why should my he●●t still dwell upon earth , since the treasure thereof is return'd to heaven ▪ and since my glorify'd jesus is ascended above , to prepare me a place in his own kingdom . o heaven ! to thee i lift up my languishing head , stretching ●ut my trembling hands to reach at thy g●ories , for so he that was dead , and laid in the grave low enough to prove himself m●n , is risen again , and asc●nded into heaven , high enough to prove himsel god. dr●w me , dear lord , af●er thee , and the odours of thy sw●etness , that i may run with delight th●o ▪ all the paths of thy pr●cious and pleasant c●mmands , and not crucify thee afresh daily in sinning against thy most sacred majesty . and , o my dear jesus , carry me safely through this word , and when i depart , let thy angels convey me to thy blissful throne , to behold thy glorious fa●e , and rejo●ce with thee in thy kingdom to all eternity . an hymn . and now , my soul , canst thou forget that thy whole life is one long debt of love to him , which on the tree paid back thee f●esh he took for thee . see how the streams of precious blood flow from five wo●nds into one fl●od . with these he washes all thy stains ; and by thy ease with his own pains . live , o for ever live and reign , blest lamb , whom thy own love hath slain , and m●y thy lost sheep live to be true followers of thy cross and thee . the conclusion . sing halleluiah to our lord , who nobly entertains his friends with bread of life , and wine that issu'd from his veins . he gave his body to be broke , and unto death bleed : that we his sacred blood may drink , and on his flesh might feed . a bitter cup with terror fill'd he drank off for our sake , that we might of these heav'nly sweets his table yields , partake o save us ; lord to thee we cry , from whence all blessings spring ; we on thy grace alone rely , alone thy glory sing . for 't is not this alone , nor that , thou hast bestow'd on me ; but all i have , and all i hope , i have and hope from thee . but more i have , and more i hope , than i ●an speak or think ; thy blessing first refresh , then fill , then overflow the brink . jesus sweet jesus is the name my heart shall still adore , sweet jesus is the charming word which doth my ●ife restore . live then , o christ , o lamb of god , thy throne establishd be ▪ for ever m●y all hearts and tongues 〈◊〉 p●a●ses unto thee . n●w glory to the eternal lord , thrice blessed three in one ; t●y name at all tim●s be ador'd , till time i●self be done . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44538-e570 the contrite heart of an humble soul falls in love with the excellency of jesus , and thirsteth after him . the answer of all. the soul finde its saviour praying and sweating in the garden . the nature of true christian righteousness in a sermon preached before the king and queen at whitehall, the 17th of november, 1689 / by anthony horneck ... horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 1689 approx. 42 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44537 wing h2846 estc r17538 12865976 ocm 12865976 94732 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44537) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 94732) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 384:9) the nature of true christian righteousness in a sermon preached before the king and queen at whitehall, the 17th of november, 1689 / by anthony horneck ... horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. [4], 32 p. printed by e. jones for sam. lowndes, and published by r. taylor ..., in the savoy : 1689. "published by her majesties special command" reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. marginal notes. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng church of england -sermons. bible. -n.t. -matthew v, 20 -sermons. christian life -sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2005-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2005-04 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion doctor horneck's sermon preached before the king and queen at whitehal , nov. 17. 1689. the nature of true christian righteousness , in a sermon preached before the king and queen , at whitehal , the 17th of november 1689. by anthony horneck d. d. chaplain in ordinary to their majesties . published by her majesties special command . in the savoy , printed by e. jones for sam. lowndes ; and published by r. taylor near stationers-hall . 1689. matth. v. xx . for i say unto you , that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees , ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven . a preface , or introduction , will be needless . it 's enough , that these words are part of christ's famous sermon on the mount : the method , i shall observe in handling them , shall be this following , to enquire , and consider , i. who these scribes and pharisees were . ii. what their righteousness was , and wherein it consisted . iii. how and in what our righteousness is to exceed their righteousness . iv. the danger , if we do not , ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven . i. who these scribes and pharisees were . 1. the pharisees . you have often heard of three famous sects among the jews , when christ appeared in the world , the pharisees , the essenes , and the sadducees . the pharisees were an order of men , who distinguished themselves from the vulgar , by certain austerities and mortifications , and a seemingly preciser way of living ; yet they convers'd , and lived in cities , and towns , and were so far from avoiding , that they seemed to affect places where there was a great concourse of people . when they began , or , who was the first founder of them , is uncertain ; but it 's probable , the institution of the nazarites of old , and the order of the rechabites afterward , or the strictness of the hasideans , might give occasion to this peculiar way of living , though the votaries , in progress of time , deviated and degenerated from those sober patterns ; and , as it was with monckery in the christian church , improved , or , rather abused , the preceding , pious , and well-meant self-denials , into superstition . the essenes were a kind of hermits , who chose to dwell in the country , as far from crouds as they could ; and , though they had procurators in cities , and populous places , to receive , and entertain , those of their sect , whose occasions led them to pass that way , yet , their chief abode was in a wilderness not far from jericho ; from whence , as they grew in number , they dispers'd themselves , and planted colonies in other places . these , were a modester and soberer sort of people , and studied self-denial too , but to better and greater purposes than the pharisees ; and therefore possibly it is , that christ passes no censure upon them , because , their service for the most part was reasonable , and in their morals , they came very near the christian institution ; and it 's likely , that most of them turned christians afterward , being so well qualified , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , prepared for that excellent discipline ; and this might give occasion to eusebius , and others , to think , that the essenes , philo speaks of , were christian asceticks . the sadducees were sensualists , and epicureans , and denied the being of another world ; pretended indeed to keep close to the letter of the law of moses , rejected traditions , and derided the pharisees , who were great admirers of it ; but were men loose , and profane , debaucht and cruel , a temper agreeable enough to their principle ; which was , that men die like beasts , and that there is no resurrection of the dead , though it must be confess'd , that these impious tenets took not much with the common people , the persons who espoused these doctrines , being chiefly men of great estates , and dignities , who are apt , without very great circumspection , from an over-admiration of things present and visible , to be drawn into contempt of things invisible and eternal . to return to the pharisees , the men the text speaks of ; this order was subdivided into seven sects , who all obliged themselves to several sorts of austerities , too tedious to be told here ; and so taking , it seems , were these external rigors , that there were women pharisees , as well as men pharisees . the name pharisee , is as much as a separatist , for so the pharisees were , separating themselves from the rest of mankind , by an affected piety , which passed for great strictness in that age , and gave occasion to the apostle , to say , that before his conversion , he lived after the strictest way of the jewish religion , a pharisee , act. xxvi . 5. 2. the scribes ; these were in the nature of secretaries , or clerks , or publick notaries to the sanhedrin , or great council of the jews ; which council , in those days , consisting of sadducees and pharisees , these two factions had their distinct secretaries , or notaries , as appears from act. xxiii . 9. the scribes , or advocates , who were of the pharisees side , having entirely addicted themselves to their cause , and service , were of the same opinion with the pharisees in all things ; stifly maintaining their doctrines , principles , and traditions , and being commonly men of learning , were in equal esteem with the pharisees ; the rather , because what the pharisees boldly and proudly asserted , the scribes endeavoured to prove from records , and monuments of antiquity , and such writings , as they judged proper for their purpose : i know some think , they were the elders of the sanhedrin , and the chief expositors of the law ; but if we compare the account , the scripture gives of them , with what the talmudists say of them , they seem to have been such men , as i have described them ; nor did their office , and learning debar them from being interpreters of the law , but qualifie them rather for that employment . in a word , what the canonists are , and have been of late years to the pope , the same were the scribes to the pharisees , defending their pretended rights , and priviledges , and authority and traditions , with all the zeal , and passion , as is common to men , who designedly espouse an interest or faction ; and indeed , one egg is not liker another , than pharisaism , and popery are , as were an easie matter to prove in several instances , but that i have more material thing to tell you. let us go on therefore , and ii. consider , what their righteousness was , and wherein it consisted . and to understand the mystery of it , i shall in the first place , represent to you the particulars of their righteousness , as they are recorded by the evangelists ; and then shew , wherein it was defective , that we may be the better able to distinguish , and see , how our righteousness is to exceed theirs . 1. the particulars of their righteousness ; and they were these following . they gave alms , matth. vi . 2. they pray'd , matth. vi . 5. and pray'd very long , matth. xxiii . 14. they fasted , and when they fasted , disfigured their faces , and looked ruefully , matth. vi . 16. they fasted two days in a week , luc. xviii . 12. they praised god , and gave him thanks for his mercies , luc. xviii . 12. they were no scandalous offenders , extortiorers , unjust , adulterers , luc. xviii . 11. they were very ready to resolve cases of conscience , matth. xxiii . 16. they taught the doctrine , and maintained the law of moses , matth. xxiii . 2 , 3. they garnish'd , adorned , and beautified the sepulchres of the prophets of old , matth. xxiii . 29. they had a great veneration for the traditions of their church , marc. vii . 2 , 3 , 4. they were very punctual in paying tithes , or the tenth part of the fruits of the earth , that fell to their share , matth. xxiii . 23. they carried their phylacteries about with them , where-ever they went , which were certain pieces of parchment , wherein were written some sentences , or sections of the law , particularly of exod xii . and xiii . and deut. vi . and xi . and these they tied to their wrists and foreheads , and made them very broad , matth. xxiii . 5. they were often purifying and washing themselves , not only their hands and wrists , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as theophylact speaks , up to the elbow , but their whole bodies too , especially , when they came from the market-place , being fearful , lest some filthiness , contracted by converse , should stick to them , mark vii . 3. they took great pains to make proselytes , and converts to their religion , for they compassed sea and land to do it , matth. xxiii . 15. they were so strict , or so nice rather , that they were afraid of touching a person , who was counted an open , and scandalous sinner ; would not only not eat with him , but not so much , as touch him , which was the reason , why the pharisee , in whose house christ dined , found fault with our saviour , for suffering himself to be touch'd by a woman , who had been a notorious sinner , luc. vii . 39. and this is the account the scripture gives of them . st. epiphanius adds , that many of them would vow very strict chastity , and abstinence from the partners of their beds , some for four years , some for eight , and some for ten. they were very watchful against all nocturnal accidents , and partly to prevent them , and partly to awake the sooner to prayer , they would sleep upon boards not above nine inches broad , that falling or rolling off from those boards on the ground , they might go to their devotion ; some would stuff their pillows with stones and pebles , and some would venture even upon thorns , for that purpose . besides their tythes , they separated their first-fruits , and the thirtieth , and fiftieth part of their incomes to pious uses ; and , as to all vows , and sacrifices , no persons were more punctual to pay or discharge them , than they . this was the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees . all this looks well , and hath a very good gloss. and one would wonder at first sight , how christ could find fault with these performances . one would think , that in stead of blaming , he should have commended them for so doing : how many thousands are there in the world , that do not do half so much in matters of religion ; and some would look upon themselves as extraordinary saints , if they came up to what the scribes and pharisees did , so far are they from dreaming of going beyond them . but have not you seen some counterfeit pearls , so artificiously contrived , that the ignorant spectator hath taken them for truly oriental ? have not you seen some curious limner , draw infects and butterflies , with that life , that one would take them for living animals ? the same may be said of the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees . as specious , as glorious as it look'd , it was perfectly of the nature of the glow-worm , and shined bright in that dark night of ignorance , but view'd by day-light was nothing but a squallid worm , a mere skeleton of devotion ; which leads me , 2. to shew you the defects of their righousness , and they will appear from the following particulars . 1. they laid the stress of their devotion upon the opus operatum , the bare outward task and performance , without any regard to the inward frame ; very indifferent whether their minds at the same time were season'd with a due sense of gods greatness , and their own imperfections : just as the people of the church of rome at this day will say so many credo's , so many pater noster's , so many ave maria's , and fancy , they have done admirably well , when they have absolved their task , though their minds , or thoughts all the while , like the evil spirit in job , have been wandring to and fro in the earth : and i wish , too many , who profess themselves members of the best church in the world. i mean , the church of england , did not split their vessel against this rock ; i am sure , the scribes and pharisees did : they made no account of the inward frame , but rested in the shell , and thought god would be pleased with the staying of a bullock , or lamb , or he-goat ; and they measured the goodness of their prayers by their length and number more , than by the great sense they had of the shekinah , or divine presence , whereas an humble and devout mind in the religious service , was the thing god required at their hands , matth. xv . 8. 2. they were very zealous for the ceremonial part of religion , but very reguardless of the moral , and more substantial part of it , hot as fire , for the one , cold as ice , with respect to the other . the neglect of a ceremony , anger'd them more , than the omission of a sober , and pious conversation , much as the greeks at this day look upon breaking a fast of the church , as a more heinous crime , then killing , or murthering a man , and to this purpose christ tells the pharisees , matth. xxiii . 22 , 23. wo to you scribes , and pharisees , hypocrites , who strain at a gnat , and swallow a camel : ye pay tithe of mint , and cummin , and anise , and have omitted the weightier matters of the law , judgment , mercy and faith. 3. they were abominably selfish in all their religious undertakings , for , all their works they do to be seen of men , saith our saviour , matth. xxiii . 5. this was the worm that corrupted their alms , their prayers , their fasts , their self-denials , their mortifications , and all they did , even a design to advance , and promote their profit , interest and credit , and to gain the applauses , and admirations of men , and though they made long prayers , yet it seems , it was to devour widows houses , matth. xxiii . 14. their very doctrines were suited to their profit and interest , as transubstantiation , purgatory , private masses , indulgences , auricular confession , &c. in the church of rome are invented to aggrandize the honour and profit of the priest , so the tenents , they held , were accommodated to their gain and lucre , for they taught the people , that there was greater holiness in the gold of the temple , than in the temple , and greater sanctity in the gift upon the altar , than in the altar it self , thereby to oblige the people , to bring gold , and gifts into the temple , whereby the priests , who were of the order of the pharisees , suckt no small advantage , matth. xxiii . 16 , 17. 4. they took care to purifie the outward man , but took none to cleanse the heart and the soul. such acts of piety and devotion , as were stately , and savour'd of pomp , and served to attract the eyes of spectators , they were for , and of this nature were all their external severities , and rigors , and revenges , they used upon themselves . but , as to mortifying their inward pride , and rancour , and hatred , and malice , and covetousness , and love of the world , they were so great strangers to it , that they did not think it part of their religion , which makes christ tell them , thou blind pharisee , cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter , that the out side of them may be clean also : wo unto you scribes and pharisees ; for ye are like unto whited sepulchres , which appear fair unto men , but within are full of rotten bones ; even so , ye appear outwardly righteous unto men , but within , are full of covetousness , matth. xxiii . 26 , 27. 5. though they own'd , professed , and taught the law of moses ; yet in effect , they preferr'd their wild and phantastick traditions before it . not to mention their common proverb , that the words of the scribes , i. e. of their traditionary divines , were more lovely than the words of the law , where it was so , that the law , and the tradition clasht , they interpreted the law by the tradition , not the tradition by the law , and hearken'd more to the dictate , and suggestion of a groundless and whimsical tradition , then to an express text of the written word of god ; as is evident from what christ tells them , matth. xv . 3. why do ye transgress the commandment of god , by your tradition , for god commanded , saying , honour thy father and thy mother ; and , he that curses father and mother , let him die the death ; but ye say , whosoever shall say to his father , or to his mother , though ready to starve and perish , for want of necessaries , it is corban , it is a gift , i have dedicated it to the temple , by whatsoever thou mightest be profitted by me , and honour not his father , or his mother , he shall be free. thus have ye made the commandment of god of no effect , by your tradition . indeed , where men invent new doctrines and articles of faith , there the good old word of god will do them no service , but they are forced to make , and run to traditions , and broken cisterns which can hold no water . 6. to sum up all . they were very severe and strict in keeping some commandments of god , but very supine and negligent as to others . they hated extortion , but were malicious to a prodigy ; they would not be drunk , but were abominably proud ; they were for giving alms to people of their own sect , but look'd upon it as sinful , to releive a poor samaritan . they were for strictness of life , before people , and spectators , but loose and wicked in secret , they abhorred adultery , but were slaves to ambition and vain-glory : they bound heavy burthens on other mens shoulders , but would not touch them with one of their fingers , and while they pressed a severe observance of the sabbath day , forgot , they were to rest from sin , and envy , as well , as from servile labour , matth. xii . 12 , 13 , 14. indeed this was one of their pernicious traditionary principles , that if a man or woman were but industrious in the practice of any one command of god , though they neglected the other precepts , that service was sufficient to entitle them to a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the portion of the blessed in another world. to be short , they served god at the best , by halves , were quick-sighted as eagles , in spying out other mens faults ; but blind as moles in discovering their own , and while they divided their affections , betwixt god and the world , allow'd the world the far greater share . these were the distempers and diseases of the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees , and how we are to exceed them , is the third particular , i am to speak to . iii. except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees ; and how , or , in what things we are to exceed them , is soon guess'd at ; for 't is evident from the preceding discourse , that it must be in sincerity , in simplicity , in humility , in charity , and in universality of obedience . 1. in sincerity , in being that within , which we seem to be without . christ is not against external devotion , hath no dislike of an outward profession , never declared against decent external ceremonies ; but he requires , we should be devout and serious within , as well as without , and take care that what we do without , do arise from a sense of god within ; and that a rellish of spiritual things in the soul within , do put us upon devotion without ; that the heart and the lips , and the hands , be all of a piece ; and moreover , that we use the same diligence to mortifie our inward lusts , which we use to restrain our selves from evil actions in company , or , in the presence of men. in a word , that we do not only pretend to religion , but practice it ; not only talk and dispute , and entertain our selves with speculations , and discourses of it , but live up to the holy rules of it ; not only make profession of it , but shew out of a good conversation , our good works with meekness of wisdom , as it is said , jam. iii. 13. 2. in simplicity , and having pure and holy ends in our religious actions , and particularly in our religious severities , and self-denials , ends suitable to the holiness of god , and the edification of our neighbours ; in a word , ends rational , and such as may be justified before god and man. this is part of the single eye , we read of , matth. vi . 22. indeed , the ends and designs of actions , make a strange alteration in their worth and value , render them either good or bad , either commendable or abominable , either sacrifices of righteousness , or , sacrifices of fools . christ is so far from discouraging his followers from religious self-denials and severities , that his doctrine and discipline presses nothing more , insomuch , that the greater your self-denials are , the better christians you are . but , the right end , is the thing our master presses , and insists upon . fast and pray , and continue in prayer a long time , spend whole hours in it , if your strength , and sense , and affections will serve ; give alms , and give very liberally ; deny your selves in a thousand vanities , the world doats upon ; mortifie your bodies in a decent manner , but take heed of secret hopes of meriting by all this , and of secret designs , either to promote your worldly profit and interest , or , to gain the commendations and admiration of your neighbours , or , to make god amends for some sins , you are loath to part withal . have no worldly ends in all this , but let a sense of your duty , and your gratitude to god , and and an earnest desire to crucifie the flesh , to die to the world , to imitate the saints of old , to encourage your selves in a spiritual life , and to prepare for heaven and happiness . let these be the principles and motives that put you upon all this , and you will undoubtedly exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees . 3. in humility ; not only in having a just sense of our errors , and many infirmities , which render us unworthy to appear before god , without the assistance and intercession of a mediator ; not only in abhorring our selves for those many defects , which cleave to our best services , not only in accusing our selves before the all-seeing eye , as wretched , naked , poor , blind and miserable , from a sense of his infinite majesty and purity , but also in having low and humble thoughts of our religious performances , acknowledging that by the grace of god , we are what we are , and that by the influence of that grace , those performances are wrought , and confessing from the heart , when we have done all that we are commanded to do , that we are unprofitable servants , and have done no more , then what was our duty to do . this humble temper the scribes and pharisees were very great strangers to , who look'd upon their religious services , as things which god was obliged in honour , and equity to look upon and reward ; pride , self-conceitedness , and self-admiration , mingling with almost all they did ; and they did not , would not know , what a contrite and humble heart meant , and what it was to lie low before god , with a deep sense of their un-worthiness , and of the great imperfection of their services ; and though they fasted often , yet that was not so much to arrive to an humble sense of their corruptions and infirmities , as to increase their merits , and to do things which might challenge gods kinder inclinations ; and this was the rock against which these men stumbled : and , as they were unacquainted with true humility toward god , so they understood not , what it was to condescend to men of low estate . in humility therefore we are to exceed them ; in humility toward god and man ; for , as there is nothing that separates more betwixt the creator , and the creature , than pride and self-conceitedness , for which reason , god is said to behold the proud afar off , so nothing unites heaven and earth , god and the soul , more than humility ; for thus saith the high and lofty one , who inhabiteth eternity , i dwell in the high and holy place , with him also , that is of a contrite , and humble spirit , es. lvii . 15. 4. in charity , or , a compassionate temper toward all sorts of distressed persons , i say , all sorts , for that of the pharisees was narrow and sneaking , and confined to people of their own sect. i need not tell you , that charity consists not only in giving alms , that 's but one part of it ; nay , it may happen so , that it may not be so much , as a part of it , according to the case st. paul puts , 1 cor xiii . 3. where he makes it possible , for a man to bestow all his goods to feed the poor , and yet to have no charity . had almsgiving been all the charity , that was necessary to salvation , the scribes and pharisees had been considerable men , for they were free and liberal enough of their purses toward men of their own party ; but charity is a larger and nobler virtue ; if it be of the true eagle-kind , an unfeigned love of god is the cause of it , and the effect is ever answerable to the beauty which produces it . st. paul hath given so genuine a character of it , 1 cor. xiii . that it 's impossible to mistake the nature of it , except men be willfully blind . it extends its arms not only to all sorts of objects , whether friends or foes , whether relations or strangers , but as far as its ability reaches , and opportunity offers it self to all sorts of distresses : it doth not only feed and give drink , and cloath and visit , but admonish too , and reprove , and teach , and entreat , and counsel and advise , and help and assist , and sometimes correct and punish . it embraces enemies , and like the wounded earth , receives even those that cut , and digg'd it , into its bosom ; and like the kind balsom tree , heals those , that made incisions upon it . it judges favourably of pious heathens , much more of pious christians , though differing from it in opinion ; it damns none , whom god hath not damned ; in a word , it works no evil to its neighbour , but is ready unto every good word and work. and in this charity , we are to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees . 5. in universality of obedience ; or , in making conscience of the several commands of the gospel , of one , as well as of another . then , we exceed them , without any danger of being over much righteous , when at the same time , that we are fervent for circumstances in gods worship , we are not forgetful of the substantial part of religion , when we do not let our publick devotion justle out our private , nor the private the publick ; when we do not make the practice of one precept , an argument to justifie our neglect of another , nor excuse our not doing good , by our not committing of evil , but are impartial in our obedience , and cheerfully submit , not only to the gentler , but harder injunctions of the gospel , not only to such as are agreeable , but to those also , which are contrary to our natural temper and inclination . the pious christian will not easily get the better of the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees , except his obedience becomes larger , and spreads more than theirs . had these men carried on their obedience to that extent , i speak of , as st. paul , a pharisee , and the son of a pharisee afterward did , there would not have been greater men in the world then they ; and the proverb , which was unjustly made concerning them , would not have been altogether palse , viz. if there were but two men to be saved , the one would be a scribe , the other a pharisee . and these are the particulars in which our righteousness is to exceed that of the scribes and pharisees . if it doth not , we shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven . the danger , and the last part , which will deserve our examination . iv. the danger . except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes , and pharisees , ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven . this word , one would think , should rouze every soul here present , and put us all upon a serious inquiry , whether our righteousness doth actually exceed the righteousness of the scribes , and pharisees : if it doth not , we hear our doom . and can any man think , christ was very serious in saying so , without being concerned , how to prevent , and escape that fatal exit ? all ye , that have any care of your salvation , and beleive another world , and know , what the terrors of the lord mean , and what it is , not to enter into the kingdom of heaven ; awake , awake , ( why should you not , when your great redeemer calls ? ) and take this threatning into serious consideration . either it will be fulfilled , or not : if it will not be fulfilled , where is christ's veracity ? if it be , where is your security ? i say unto you ; thus the commination begins ; which shews , the thing is firm , and like the laws of medes and persians , unalterable . our master , even he whom we believe to be god , as well as man , hath spoke the word . he that is truth it self , hath said it , and thus it must be , nor will all the intreaties of men and angels oblige him to depart from his peremptory declaration . you that hear , and now read all this , cannot pretend ignorance , that you did not know the dreadful consequence of this neglect . we suggest , we intimate so much to you ; we pull you by the sleeve , we proclaim these words in your ears , as poor , as mean , as inconsiderable creatures , as we are ; i would to god , they might sink into your hearts ! we beg of you , to lay aside your divertisements , and your businesses for a while , and allow this threatning some attention of mind . if you go no farther in your righteousness , than these unhappy men did , not all your cries at last , lord , lord , open to us ; not all your tears , and calls , lord , have mercy upon us ! not all your arguings , and pleadings with god ; not all your dying groans , not all your mournful accents , will open the kingdom of heaven to you if you go no farther than these men , by this rule of christ , you must inevitably be miserable , and all your wealth and grandeur and estates and relatives , cannot help you : if you go no farther , you sink into a state of hypocrisie , and i need not tell you , that the portion of hypocrites , is a very sad portion , for it is to be cast into outward darkness , where there is howling and gnashing of teeth , so saith your master and mine , matth. xxiv . 51. in speaking to you , i speak to christians , even to men , who believe , that to enter into the kingdom of heaven , is beyond all the bliss , that this , or ten thousand worlds do afford ; and , that not to enter into the kingdom of heaven , is to be wretched and miserable , odious and contemptible , beyond expression , and to groan in torments to eternal ages : this is the notion you have of these things , as you own your selves christians . men , fathers and brethren , do you believe the prophets ? do you believe the apostles ? do you believe the son of god , that came into the world to save sinners ? i know you believe , and surely this is motive sufficient to suffer the word of exhortation ▪ if therefore any of you have hitherto laid the stress of your devotion , upon the external task , and been strangers to the inward frame of mind , which is in the sight of god of great price : if you have been zealous for small , little , inconsiderable things in matters of religion , and have wilfully neglected the more substantial and self-denying part of it : if you have been selfish in your acts of piety and righteousness , and been devout and good , for wordly ends more than from a sense of your duty : if you have taken some carc to purifie your outward man , from clamorous and scandalous sins , and have been careless of rectifying what is amiss within you , even of subduing that immoderate love of the world , and pride , and revengefull thoughts and desires , and anger , and wrathful temper , and other secret sins , which do so easily beset you : if you have thought it your duty , to observe some of the greater commandments of the gospel , and made no conscience of the lesser . all this fabrick must be pulled down , undone and unravell'd , and you must turn over a new leaf , and apply your selves to a true gospel life and temper ; else , there is no entring into the kingdom of heaven . flatter not your selves with the merits and sufferings , and death of christ jesus , for poor sinners . i grant , i own , this is a very glorious , and comfortable truth , and there is no sincere beleiver , but confesses to thy praise and glory , o blessed jesu ! that there is no name under heaven given , whereby men may be saved , but thine alone . but still it is this exceeding the scribes and pharisees in their righteousness , that must give you a title to the benesits of the death of jesus christ : by this the pardon of your sins , which was purchased by that death , must be sued out , and applied , and rendred comfortable to your souls ; and , if the death of christ doth not kill in you that hypocrisie and partiality , which made the righteousness of the pharisees defective , that death cannot , will not , profit you . all the christian world knows , that the design of christ's dying for sinners , was , that they which live , should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him , that died for them , and rose again . they are the express words of the holy ghost , 2 cor. v. 15. and it is as certain , that you cannot live unto him , that died for you , except your righteousness be a righteousness without guile , and therefore beyond that of the scribes and pharisees . i suppose you are sensible , that christ cannot contradict himself ; when he spake these words , he knew he was to die for sinners , yet to these sinners , for whom he was to die , he protests , except your righteousness shall exceed , &c. and therefore certainly , the mercies of his death cannot clash with our duty ; and whoever means to enjoy the benefits of that death , must die to the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees , and a righteousness more rational , an evangelical righteousness must live in him , even that which st. paul speaks of , phil. iii 9. and that 's the life of god , as it is called , ephes. iv . 18. if we are to exceed these men in their righteousness , we must do more than they did and if we do more , can we do less , than what hath been hinted in the preceding particulars of sincerity , simplicity , humility , charity , and universality of obedience ? for these qualifications rectifie what was amiss in the righteousness of these men , and set us in the right way , from which those self-conceited men deviated , and wandred in a wilderness of vulgar errours . should any of you be so unfortunate , ( what i say here , is nothing but a plain and easie comment upon the commination of the text ) i say , should any of you be so unfortunate , as to come before the gate of the kingdom of heaven , and be denied entrance there ; how like a thunderbolt would this strike you ! and yet i see not , how it is possible to prevent it , if these words of christ make no impression upon you , or do not oblige you to go beyond these men in their acts of devotion and piety . their righteousness was an external , mechanical , starcht kind of righteousness ; it was not free , not natural , and they took no care to reform their thoughts , desires , lusts , affections , and such things as human laws take no notice of ; and it 's to be feared , that this is the disease of too great a number of christians : nay , thousands there are , which do not come up to so much , as the negative virtues of the scribes and pharirisees : they were no drunkards , no swearers , no whoremongers , no adulterers , and yet , how many that profess themselves illuminated by the gospel of christ , are so , and worse than so ? and if even those , who do not exceed the righteousness of these men , shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven , how shall those , that are not so good as they ? and but that unbelief , and stupidity reigns so much in the hearts of men , certainly here is enough to fright them from the carnal life they lead . there stands before the gate of the kingdom of heaven , an angel with a flaming sword , as much , as there did before the gate of paradise , to keep out all those , who voluntarily chuse death before life , and do not you chuse death before life , when you had rather forfeit your share in the kingdom of heaven , then exceed the scribes and pharisees in their righteousness ? surely it must be a dismal and deplorable condition , when men have flattered themselves all their life time , with hopes of entring into the kingdom of heaven , to find themselves at last thrust out , and may not this be the condition of some of you ? and is not the very possibility of it enough to oblige you to purifie and cleanse your righteousness , and to take care , that none of the leven of the scribes and pharisees stick to it ? here on earth , men fight for a great estate , and venture fortune , friends , interest , honesty , life , and all : strange ! the kingdom of heaven should lie under that misfortune , that men must be entreated to enter into it , and yet will not be prevailed with after all to enter . yes , you 'll say , we all are very ready to enter into it , were it not for the hard conditions that are required ; and do you really think the conditions so hard ? would you think them so , if you lay howling in eternal flames ? certainly , nothing would seem hard then , and why should it seem so now , when it is evident and apparent , you are in danger of those flames ? behold ! god is ready and willing , to succour , to assist , to support , and to strengthen you , that your righteousness may triumph over righteousness of these hypocrites . the same spirit , the same grace , the same influences , the same assistances , he hath afforded to st. paul , to st. peter , to lydia , to martha , to mary , to magdalene , to the jaylour , to the penitent publican , to zachaeus , to others , the same he offers to you all . but then , if these kind offers be slighted and rejected , and a farm , a yoak of oxan , or some thing worse be preferr'd before it , it is not god so much , that deprives you of the kingdom of heaven , as you your selves . were you actually possess'd of this kingdom of heaven , you would wonder at the folly and madness of men , who can complain , that the conditions are hard , when such a glory , such a bliss , such a kingdom is to be had , a kingdom for which the apostles , and the primitive beleivers , whose faith , and constancy , we admire , forsook father and mother , and lands , and houses , and all that was dear to them in this world. i could give you such a description of that kingdom , as should make all the glories of this world look pale , and dim , and dark , in comparison of it : but i forbear . were such considerations as these , made use of in the cool of the day , i mean , when your thoughts are cool and composed , and the grace of god upon your endeavours , earnestly implored , they would inspire you with courage invincible , to go not only beyoud heathens and philosophers , but beyond scribes and pharisees in righteousness , and in the serious exercises of virtue and self-denial . it 's possible , you may not remember all the motives , i have given you , but one thing you will be able to remember , which contains all that i have said , and that 's the text , and therefore i repeat it once more , except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees , ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44537-e190 numb . 6. 2. jerem. 35. 2. euseb. hist. l. 2. c. 16. 17. vide lights . in matth. ii 4. maldon●in c 2. matth. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . epiph. l. 1. adv . haer. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . epiph. ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 luk 17. 10. joh. 15. 14. a sermon preached at fulham in the chappel of the palace, upon easter-day, mdclxxxix, at the consecration of the right reverend father in god gilbert, lord bishop of sarum by anthony horneck ... horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 1689 approx. 46 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44542) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 99986) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 790:30) a sermon preached at fulham in the chappel of the palace, upon easter-day, mdclxxxix, at the consecration of the right reverend father in god gilbert, lord bishop of sarum by anthony horneck ... horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. [5], 36 p. printed for ric. chiswell ..., london : 1689. running title: a sermon at the consecration of the bishop of sarum. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng burnet, gilbert, 1643-1715. bible. -n.t. -timothy, 2nd, i, 6 -sermons. 2005-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-06 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-07 simon charles sampled and proofread 2005-07 simon charles text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion imprimatur , z. isham , r.p.p. henrico , episc. lond. à sacris . apr. 4. 1689. a sermon preached at fulham , in the chappel of the palace , upon easter-day , mdclxxxix . at the consecration of the right reverend father in god , gilbert , lord bishop of sarvm . by anthony horneck , d.d. london : printed for ric. chiswell , at the rose and crown in st. paul's church-yard . mdclxxxix . to the right reverend father in god , gilbert , lord bishop of sarvm . my lord , after your lordship had desired me to print this sermon , i met with a discourse upon the very same subject , and upon an occasion of the same nature , by an abler hand , which made me look upon the printing of mine as needless , and had almost prevailed with me to lay aside all thoughts of publishing what i deliver'd in your lordship's presence ; but considering , that obedience would be better resented than excuses , and a man had better see himself out-shined by persons of greater parts and abilities , which is a comfort to an humble mind , than be guilty of disrespect to those whom we look upon both as our friends and superiors ( not to mention that our matter and method are different ) i was resolved to venture ; and tho these courser meditations may not give that satisfaction that more elaborate orations do , yet since there must be vnder-workmen , as well as master-builders , and both may be useful in their several stations , i was willing to appear before your lordship with this present , in which i must beseech you to regard the heart with which it is offer'd , more than the gift it self ; which if you do , you will not only let the world see , how great your charity is in over-looking defects and blemishes , but increase the obligations you have already laid on , my lord , your lordships most affectionate and most humble servant , a. horneck . 2 tim . i. 6 . wherefore i put thee in remembrance , that thou stir up the gift of god , which is in thee , by the putting on of my hands . they that think , that every christian may be a preacher ; and that the ministry , considered as a distinct calling or employ , is nothing but usurpation , and some ambitious mens affecting a superiority over their brethren , like the cynick of old , trampling upon plato's cloak , make themselves guilty of greater pride than that which they pretend to condemn . they not only contradict the universal sense of mankind , which from immemorial times have had their distinct officers of religion , but set up their conceits against the wisdom of god himself , who did no sooner plant a church in the world , but took care the priesthood should be in a certain order of men ; and as before the law , the first-born was to have that priviledge , as all the ancient jewish records do witness , so under the law , the family of aaron was p●…ched upon to attend the altar . and tho the whole jewish nation was a royal priesthood , or a kingdom of priests , in a metaphorical sense ; yet properly speaking , none could officiate in publick , either in the tabernacle or temple , but the levites , and the sons of aaron . and under the new testament , tho the spirit was poured out upon all flesh , yet even then men were separated , and set apart for preaching the word , administring the holy sacraments , and exercising church-censures : and to invade the office , was counted presumption and sacriledge , and no less than resisting the holy ghost . the church is called a building , and we know , that every flint or pebble is not fit to be a foundation , or corner-stone ; much less to be set into the ephod , and there to shine in oracles and responses . it 's call'd a body too , and this hath various members , and these , various offices , which cannot be all eyes , and overseers ; if they were , where would be the hearing ? it was therefore that the apostles , in the places where they preach'd the gospel , before they left them , or took their final leave of the people , ordain'd them bishops and elders , to succeed them in the ministerial function ; such a bishop was timothy , the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the president , and overseer of the church of ephesus ; and not only of the church in the city , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the diocess ; of ephesus , saith eusebius : and if we may believe st. chrysostom , of all asia , whose office was , besides his other ministerial labours , to inspect the clergy under his charge , and other officers belonging to the house of god , whereof the fifth chapter of the first epistle to timothy , seems to me a very clear evidence ; for it speaks of an ecclesiastical jurisdiction lodged in timothy , an overseer constituted and appointed by st. paul , even by the laying on of his hands , whereof he puts him in mind in the text , and of the gift , that was bestow'd upon him by that imposition of hands , and of his duty to exercise it . wherefore i put thee in remembrance , that thou stir up the gift of god , which is in thee , by the laying on of my hands . and here , before i enter upon the apostle's exhortation , or the duty contain'd in it , i cannot but take notice of the softness and gentleness of his address , i put thee in remembrance . practical discourses , and salutary admonitions , to men of learning and good education , are a refreshing of their memories , rather than teaching or illuminating their understandings : timothy could not be ignorant of the duty recommended to him here by his spiritual father ; for from a child he had known the holy scriptures , which made him wise unto salvation , through faith , which is in christ jesus , perfect , and throughly furnish'd unto all good works : yet the apostle preaches to him a very familiar duty ; and this preaching he calls putting him in remembrance . the same may be said almost of all sermons deliver'd in mixt auditories , where judicious and intelligent persons are mingled with vulgar capacities . the morals , and common principles explain'd and taught , and inculcated there , may be as useful to those of a higher , as well as to those of a lower form ; for tho they came not attended with new notions to instruct them , yet they may serve to put them in mind of the solid truths they know , and give them opportunity to enlarge and ruminate upon them , to their spiritual profit and edification . the things which tend to make us eternally happy , are the plainest , the most known , and the most familiar doctrines improv'd into practice of godliness ; and he that makes the articles of the catholick faith , motives and engagements to self-denial , and strictness of life , is more likely to arrive in the harbour of a blessed immortality , than the greatest literati , who think it below them to employ their parts and understandings about things which every ploughman knows as well as they : it was the custom of a very learned prelate of our church , when he had talk'd with his friends of some nicer points of divinity , or history , or chronology , to close his discourse with this friendly exhortation , come , let us now talk a little of jesus christ , being sensible , that , however learning may enlighten , or refine the understanding , the doctrine of the cross , and christ crucified , and such plain notions of christianity , are the things , which being affectionately ponder'd , will conduct the soul to eternal life and glory and therefore , how impertinent soever it may be , to make an oration of war before hannibal , it cannot be improper to discourse of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the common things which accompany salvation , before the learnedest of you all ; not to make you more knowing and intelligent , that were to hold a taper to the sun , but to give you opportunities to be better . discourses of this nature may put you in remembrance of a duty , which multiplicity of business would not suffer you to think of , or contemplations of other matters tempted you to overlook . the learneder you are , the fitter you are to improve the meaner performances of the orator ; and while you apply your larger understandings to the common truths deliver'd by the inconsiderab●… speaker , and make comments upon them in your minds , by richer meditations , your edification is signal , being hereby put in a capacity of saving both your selves and others . and having premised this observation , i may now with greater chearfulness and courage , exhort you who are here present , not only those of the third , and second degree , or order of priesthood , as optatus milevitanus , calls deacons and priests , but even you the very apices , the principes , the chiefs and heads of the church of god , to stir up the gift of god , which is in you , by the imposition of hands : for this is no more than putting you in remembrance of the things you have learn'd and known , and are eminently vers'd in ; and that i may proceed orderly , i shall enquire , i. what the gift is which was in timothy , and may still be suppos'd to be in all those whom god calls to the same office. ii. how that gift was anciently , and is still bestow'd and convey'd , or communicated . iii. how this gift is to be stirr'd up , and what are the most proper means and ways to do it . i. what the gift is which was in timothy , and may still be suppos'd to be in all those whom god calls to the same office. this gift is the holy ghost , a gift known already before , and under the law ; but which , by the confession of the jews themselves , ceased in the synagogue , after the death of haggai , zachary , and malachy , as well as the fire from heaven , the ark of god , the urim and thummim , and the shekinah , or divine presence ; a gift which revived , and rose again , and with greater lustre and splendor too , when christ jesus came into the world , himself being the anointed of the lord , to whom god gave the spirit without measure , that of his fulness we should all receive grace for grace : a gift poured out in those glorious days , according to joel's prophecy , upon all flesh ; i. e. on all sorts of men , even some times by drops at least , upon christ's enemies ; for it was by this spirit , that caiaphas prophesied , that christ should die for the people : a gift most visibly and most eminently conferr'd on the apostles , christ's friends , and domesticks , and who were to preach the gospel to every creature under heaven , and therefore consecrated by miracles , and such a descent of the holy ghost upon them , as put not only the spectators , but the apostles themselves , that felt the inspiration , into extasie : a gift which in the primitive times , wonderfully illuminated those who were baptiz'd , sometimes before their baptism , as in the case of cornelius , that famous 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or proselyte of the gate ; a gift bestow'd more particularly on persons who were chosen out of the people to exercise the ministerial function , whether as apostles or bishops , who succeeded those stewards of the house of god , or as priests , or as deacons : in a word , men separated to holy offices ; and this is the gift to which the text hath relation . when christ ordained his apostles , or rather confirmed their former ordination , john xx . 22 . he ordained them with this motto , receive ye the holy ghost ; with an intent , no doubt , that after his decease , and before their leaving the world , they should ordain elders in every city , whether bishops , or inferior ministers of the word , and entitle them to the same gift , so far , at least , as it was conducive to the effectual exercise of their ministry ; for it was not necessary that this gift , as it brake out in miracles and prophecies , and speaking in unknown tongues , raising the dead , and opening the eyes of the blind , and healing the sick , &c. should be propagated or continued in those who were to succeed the apostles in their ministry , that demonstration of the spirit by signs and wonders , being proper only for those days , when the new law was to be established , and jews were to be called away from moses to jesus , from an external to a spiritual service , and the heathens from their gods and idolatries . it was enough that the substantial part of the gift was to be continued in the church , and in its officers , to bring people in the unity of the faith , unto a perfect man in christ jesus ; and this gift is said here to be in timothy . this phrase , the holy ghost , being of a large extent , standing sometime for the person , sometime for the miraculous gifts , sometime for the saving graces of the holy ghost ; and even these gifts and graces are different ; for there are diversities of gifts , but the same spirit , saith st. paul , 1 cor. xii . 4 . i shall therefore particularize the gift communicated to timothy ; and if we take st. paul for our guide , we shall find this gift was a divine power vouchsafed to this man of god , which enabled and disposed him to teach , and live , and act , and do , answerably to the duties incumbent upon him , as a governour of the house of god. the apostle in the following verse , calls it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the spirit of power , of love , and of a sound mind ; the spirit of christian fortitude , of charity , and of sedateness and tranquillity of temper . 1. the spirit of fortitude , which consists in being undaunted at danger , fearless of the frowns of men , while we do no more than our duty , and a steddy freedom to vindicate the truth of the gospel , and the honour of christ jesus , whatever may be the effect or consequence of it : in a word , an humble boldness , such as hosius , st. ambrose , st. athanasius , st. hilary , st. chrysostome , st. basil , and others , were famous for , who talk'd to kings and emperors , when god's cause was concern'd , like persons who feared nothing but the anger of the king of heaven ; and tho pride and passion do sometimes shelter themselves under the name of christian fortitude , yet the counterfeit ware may soon be distinguish'd from the true and genuine , by examining the cause and principle , from which the boldness rises ; which if it be contempt of the world , and a pure sense of god's glory , it sanctifies the temper , and speaks it to be derived from the holy ghost . 2. the spirit of love. it was not without very great reason , that our saviour ask'd st. peter thrice , lovest thou me ? and , lovest thou me more than these ? we may very rationally infer , that in saying so , he shew'd what manner of spirit those should be of who were to be pastors , and teachers , and overseers in the house of god. nothing renders them more amiable to god and man , than this spirit of love , love to the lord jesus , love to god's glory , love to the souls of men , love which makes them willing to spend , and to be spent , even to die for the name of the lord jesus . it is the mark of christ's disciples in general , and therefore must be so more eminently of those who are to go before the sheep and lead them to green pastures . from this love have proceeded the almost incredible pains that holy men of god have taken for the conversion of souls , whereof ecclesiastical history gives us very considerable instances . 3. the spirit of a sound mind . this seems to be a temper able to curb the passions , inordinate lusts , desires and perturbations of the mind , an admirable spirit ! to know when to be angry , and when to be calm ; when to be severe , and when to be moderate and gentle ; when to use the rod , and when to use the staff ; to have the brutish part in subjection to the rational , the body to the soul , the flesh to spirit ; this is wisdom beyond all worldly policy whatsoever . plato makes this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or soundness of mind , the opposite of madness . indeed indulging our passions , and letting loose the reins of our carnal and sensual affections , is no better ; for it 's an argument that reason is dethroned , and the ruling part of the soul is become subject to the ignobler principality ; and surely this is madness . the mind is then sound , when it keeps the lower faculties in good order , and it is an argument of wisdom to judg of things without heats , or prejudice , or prospect of self-interest , and to keep the wild desires of corrupted nature in awe , and to do things with prudence and moderation . this is the gift here aim'd at , a gift very necessary for the discharge of so great , so weighty an employ as is intimated in the text ; a gift which not only timothy was partaker of , but which as i said may justly be supposed to be in all , and to be given in some degree or other to those whom god calls to the same office. for , if this spirit was bestow'd on timothy upon the account of his office , and god intends that office should continue to the world's end , we may justly conclude , that he will not deny the same gift now to those whom he calls to the same office. he that conferr'd another heart and another spirit upon saul when he call'd him to be king over his people israel ; can we think he 'll deny so useful , so necessary a gift , to the rulers of his church , who have his call , his summons , his vocation ? i say , his call , for no man takes that honour unto himself but he that is called , as also was aaron . those who call themselves , whom either ambition or interest , or a worldly , sensual mind , or fondness of being great , and to be called of men rabbi , puts upon thrusting themselves into this sacred office , are call'd indeed , but it is by that spirit whose name is legion , not by him who gave some apostles , some prophets , some evangelists , and some pastors , and teachers , for the perfecting of the saints , for the work of the ministry , for the edifying of the body of christ ; ephes. iv . 11 . this call of god which our church accounts requisite and necessary upon such occasions , is no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bath kol , no daughter of the voice , no audible sound or language dropp'd from heaven , as it was act. xiii . 2 . separate me paul and barnabas ; no sudden passion , or warm fancy , no violent impulse , which melancholy causes , or a turbulent temper doth infuse , but it appears by proper parts and abilities , by learning suitable to the office , by being skilful in the word of truth , by a secret sense of the weight and importance of the calling , by christian wisdom and prudence , by a vehement desire to do good , to win souls , to gain proselytes to righteousness , and to advance the glory of christ's kingdom , by unfeigned love to good men , and being enamour'd with those christian vertues and perfections , without which that name is only assumed and usurp'd , and a man is dead while he lives . those who are thus qualified , have not only one , but all , or most of these characters , and carry this whole constellation in the heaven of their souls , are , and may truly be said to be called to this office by him , who tells the number of the stars ; for these are such , even stars in christ's right-hand , and calls them all by their names . and on such men we may expect the spirit , and the gift of the text will descend when an external call invites them to put their shoulders under the burthen : and as the spirit came on elisha●… when the minstrel plaid ; so such men , having this harmony in their souls , may look for the illapse of this spirit , especially when seconded with the external musick of veni creator spiritus . when st. paul 1 tim. iii. 1 . speaks of a person who desires the office of a bishop , and then subjoyns the accomplishments of the man who desires it , he doth in effect require this internal call , and setting down the particular marks of it , the design without all peradventure is , to shew that he who thinks to enter into that station , must enquire of himself , whether those ingredients are found in him ; he ●hat finds them not , and yet boasts of a divine vocation , may indeed deceive and blind the eyes of men who can see no farther than the outside of the cup and platter , but surely cannot impose upon a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an all-seeing eye , which doth not only see the unsoundness of the heart , and want of the wedding garment , but will revenge it too in that day , when he shall judg the secrets of mens hearts by his gospel . the holy gho●… loves a cleanly habitation , the terms and epithethes by which that gift is sometimes expressed in scripture , fire , and water , import so much . it is another spirit that enters into the swine . the holy spirit of discipline , as it is said wisd. i. 5 . will flee deceit , and remove from thoughts , that are without understanding , and will not abide when unrighteousness comes in . but though a person thus qualified for timothy's office , and the sacred function , may be thereby disposed for the receiving of the holy ghost , the spirit of power , of love and of a sound mind , or a greater portion of it , if he had something of it before , yet it seems this gift is not actually bestowed , except persons of the same office and station , men that have been thus initiated themselves , lay their hands on him , which calls me to examination of the second query . ii. how this gift was anciently , and is still bestowed and communicated : by the putting on of my hands , saith st. paul ; and 1 tim. iv . 14 . he adds , by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery , i. e. of the whole apostolical colledge , or the greater part of the apostles , who it's like were present upon the place : for the apostles are called presbyters sometimes , ' nay deacons too , names in those days not of office , at least not constantly , but of age , and honour , and service . this rite or ceremony of imposition of hands on a person designed for church-offices , and the service of the tabernacle , isidore and others derive from isaac's blessing his son jacob , which they suppose was one by the patriarch's laying his hands upon jacob's head , from jacob's laying his hands on his grand-children , and blessing them ; from moses's laying his hand on joshua , and communicating part of his spirit to him . and indeed there are very few but will grant that it came from the jews , who at the preferring or promoting a person to the degree of rabbi , or doctor of their law , laid their hands upon him , a ceremony performed by three , and call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 semicah , and this was a symbol that the holy ghost rested upon the person thus ordained . the ancient romans used to lay their hands upon their slaves when they made them free ; and numa pompilius had hands laid on him , when he was made high pontiff ; but it 's probable that even these fetcht it from the jews . the christian churches , who retain'd what was good and praise worthy among the jews , seeing nothing in this rite but what was grave , and decent , and solemn , and serious , adopted it into their service . the three orders , bishops , priests and deacons were in imitation of the synagogue , which had her high-priests , her priests , and her levites , and so was this imposition of hands . in sacrificing beasts to the honour of god , the priest laid his hands on the victims head , to shew he dedicated it to god , and from common , separated it to a holy use , and dismiss'd it from the service of men into that of the most high god ; all which significations did wonderfully well agree with the end of the ministerial function under the gospel , and therefore the christians had no reason to reject this useful and decent custom . our blessed saviour first practised this ceremony upon the children that were brought to him for his blessing ; and it 's not unlikly he laid his hands on the apostles before he left the world ; for we read , that a little before his departure , he lifted up his hands and blessed them ; luke xxiv . 50 . after our saviour's ascension into heaven , the apostles constantly used it after baptism in confirmation , as an external mark , to signify the descent of the spirit upon the persons wash'd with water . but more especially , when they separated any persons to holy offices , and they laid their hands on such , as a sign or pledg that the holy ghost , or a spirit , and temper suitable to their calling , and employment , and profession , was and would be conferr'd upon them , to guide , and assist , and direct them . this imposition of hands was no physical cause of conveying the holy ghost , but an external assurance , that as surely as the hands were laid on the head of the person ordain'd , so surely would the spirit of power , of love , and of a sound mind , light upon his soul , if he did not obstruct it by wilful departing from the living god. and yet all this doth not make order a sacrament ; for tho we grant here is a sign , and something spiritual and unseen , represented by that sign , yet there is something more required to the making of a sacrament , and those must necessarily think so , who believe that the apostles could institute no sacraments , by their authority . that this rite hath lasted in the church from the apostles times unto this day , is what the concurrent testimonies of all ages , witness . those that would confine it to the apostles times , are injurious to the church of christ , which would be in an uncomfortable condition , if her guides and pastors came not in the same way , their predecessors did ; and why should we think the lord's hand shortned , or believe he will not let his spirit accompany the pious ceremony , when his church now hath as much need of it , as heretofore ? and it 's hard god should vouchsafe his spirit to persons on whom holy hands were laid in the jewish , and refuse that favour to the guides and pastors of the christian church , those especially , who keep themselves unspotted from the world. the maronites in their office of ordination , make out the original and succession of this rite , thus : the most high god , ( say they ) came down on mount sinai , and laid his hands upon moses , moses laid his upon aaron , aaron upon his sons , his sons successively on those that follow'd them , until john the baptist ; john the baptist laid his hand upon our saviour , our saviour upon his apostles , his apostles on the bishops that succeeded them , and they ever since on those who are admitted into holy orders . how true , or how just this calculation is , i shall not now enquire : but that which i hinted before , i must touch here again , viz. that this ceremony , as it relates to orders , and particularly to timothy's office , must be performed by those , upon whom holy hands were laid before , in order to their lawful ministring before the lord. the secular magistrate , and laity , may name and propose candidates , but cannot by their imposition of hands , ordain bishops and elders , for no such power was ever given them . in the purest , and best , none would , nay in the most corrupt ages , none durst presume to do it ; the power ecclesiastical as it was distinct from the secular , before the empire was christian , so they have continued distinct , since crowns have stoopt to the cross ; and though they live lovingly together , and are helpful one to another , yet the one ought not to interfere with the other's essential rights , and constitutions . the apostle emphatically says , by the putting on of my hands ; himself had been separated to the office of teacher and apostle , by imposition of hands ; and what was conferr'd on him , he confers on timothy the same way ; and yet , though he had assistants in the ordination of his beloved son , and though others laid their hands on him , as well as st. paul , that 's no argument , that therefore one without the help of more , cannot convey the power and authority of timothy's office to others . i know , the church requires three at least to lay their hands on the man of god , who is to be consecrated to the churches service ; and most of the ancient canons press it , nay some churches have been so stiff in this point , that they have pronounc'd that ordination of a bishop unlawful , which hath been perform'd by one only ; and several ancient decrees and constitutions there are that require ordination of a bishop by all the bishops of the province ; yet all this can have relation only to the ordinary course of things , and where such plenty may easily be had . cases of necessity are not excluded here ; nor is that ordination invalid , where there is but one to bless the party , who is admitted to the office , in the name of the lord. nor need we wonder , that by the imposition of hands , the holy ghost , even the spirit of power , of love , and of a sound mind should be conferr'd ; for as this imposition of hands is always seconded by prayer , which makes st. austin look upon imposition of hands and prayer to be one and the same thing ; so we know what promises are made to fervent and importunate prayer . luke . xi . 13 . if ye being evil , can give good gifts unto your children , how much more shall your heavenly father give his holy spirit to them that ask him ? but , it 's time i should in the last place shew , iii. how this gift is to be stirr'd up , and what is the best and most proper way to do it . in the original it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is as much as stirring up the fire , or blowing the coals , and making the fire burn that lies mingled with the ashes , a word much used by plato , which hath made some fancy , that the apostle was well vers'd in plato's writings ; but there is no necessity for that conjecture , for the lxx . make use of the expression , and with their translation , it 's likely , the apostle was better acquainted than the ideas of that philosopher . so that the spirit of god conferr'd upon sacred persons by the imposition of hands , is lodged in the soul , as the treasure in the gospel was hid in the field , which required digging and searching to make it useful . it 's like gold in the oar , which requires melting , and cleansing , and purifying ; like a stock of money which requires improvement by trading ; like seed sown in the ground , which requires watering and other labour and industry to make it come forth , and grow , and spread , and yield fruit , and strengthen man's heart . this stirring up the gift of god , respects either the means that are to be used , or the duty it self . the means hinted in this and the preceding epistle , are chiefly three , prayer , reading , meditating . 1. prayer . who can live without it ? who can act or do any thing of moment without the assistance of this spiritual engine ? nature teaches mankind to begin their works of concernment with god ; grace therefore must be supposed to press this duty infinitely more , on you particularly , the heirs of timothy's office , in order to this stirring up the gift of god that is in you , by the imposition of hands . god that gives you talents , intends not that you should bury them in the earth , or lay them up in a napkin , but occupy , and traffick with them , and be gainers by them ; and to do this , his help is necessary , who gives strength to the weak , and power to the feeble ; and this help is not to be had without importunate cryes and sollicitations . these prayers must have fire ; it 's their fervour , that unlocks the secret cabinet of the almighty , as jamblicus phrases it ; they must be in the nature of gorgonia's devotions , must even storm , and threaten heaven , as it were ; so that god cannot withstand their force and power ; and such were the prayers of moses , and aaron , and samuel among his priests , that called upon his name , they call'd upon the lord , and he answer'd them , psal. xcix . 6 . 2. reading . this the apostle expresly recommends to timothy , 1 tim. iv. 13 . in order to his stirring up the gift of god. reading what ? no doubt , the holy scripture , and therefore our church prescribes , delivering a bible into the hands of the person , upon whom episcopal hands are laid ; and the maronites lay the book of the gospel upon such a person 's breast as the nestorians in syria do upon his back or shoulders ; not but that other books are useful in their times and seasons ; but st. paul knew what profit was to be got by reading this library of the holy ghost , these pandects of christianity , and being greedy after this food of the soul. the great examples you meet with here , the industry of moses , the zeal of elijah , the fervour of st. paul , the vigour of st. stephen , the courage of st. peter , the assiduity of apollo , the sincerity of barnabas , what are these , but so many motives to stir up the gift of god that is in you . add to all this the glorious , the precious , the large , the sweet , the wonderful promises , promises of christ's assistance , promises of comfort , of support , of eternal life and glory , which will animate , and enliven , and prompt you to blow up the fire of the sanctuary , and the coal of the altar , that it may consume the dross , and tin , not only that which cleaves to your own souls , but that also , which sticks to others , that see and hear you , and converse with you . 3. meditating . this is also urged among the means , not to neglect the gift of god , 1 tim. iv. 15 . meditate upon these things , give thy self wholly to them ; the bare reading will make no great impression ; mediation digests , and rouzes the soul from her slumber . this quickens the faculties , sets all the wheels a going , incites to labour , prompts to industry , and moves and even compels us to imitate the great examples set down in the word of god , and to follow their faith , and wisdom , and hope , and love , and charity . meditation is spiritual seeing . seeing the fight , made homer's hero join in battel . meditation surveys the combats of the prophets , apostles , martyrs , and christ himself , and from hence arise incentives and encouragements to stir up the gift of god that is in you , by the imposition of hands . but in what doth the stirring up of the gift of god consist ? chiefly in these three particulars . 1. feeding the flock of god , which is among you , taking the oversight thereof , not by constraint , but willingly , not for filthy lucre , but of a ready mind , neither as being lords over gods heritage , but being ensamples to the flock ; this is st. peters charge , and we cannot well conceive , how this spirit , or gift can be stirred up more profitably , than this way ; for this end the holy spirit is bestow'd upon you , that you should feed the flock committed to your charge , and cause it to be fed by persons not only learned but pious , and devout , and such as have a great sense of god , and of the worth of mens souls ; for this cause the holy ghost moves upon your inward man , that you should feed the sheep by preaching the word , by your sweet and gentle government , and by your exemplary lives . these will be evidences , and arguments , and demonstrations , that the spirit of glory , and of god rests upon you , that you walk after the spirit , and are filled with it , and that the weapons of your warfare are not carnal , but spiritual , mighty through god to the pulling down of the strong holds of iniquity . feeding implyes giving food convenient to your masters family , ruling the house of god according to the dictates of reason , the word of god , and the best examples , and making your selves paterns of meekness , humility , charity , self-denial , and of all good works . the external honours , providence bestows upon you , and the respect men pay you , are to encourage you to a chearful performance of your work , and intended not to swell you , not to puff you up , not to tempt you to please and tickle your selves with your grandeur , but to infuse greater alacrity into you to fight the good fight , and to shed blessed influences on all , that are round about you . ye are the captains , the generals in christ's army , while you bear the heat and burthen of the day , detrect no labour , spare no pains , live like faithful stewards of the mystery of god , vindicate your masters honour , act like persons , who have renounc'd the hidden things of dishonesty , and by manifestation of the truth , commend your selves to every mans conscience in the sight of god ; you make good the glorious titles , and the lofty names , which are given you , such as angels , and stars , and lights of the world , and the salt of the earth , and a city set on a hill , &c. titles of a proud sound , but which are intended to make you humble , and to tell you ▪ you are only exalted , that you may with greater facility , take your people by the hand , and lift them up to heaven : this is the way to do good , and to make religion glorious , and well spoken of . this will even convince infidels , that religion is something more than a name , something more than policy , and interest , that it is able to transform tempers , to change hearts , and to make men act contrary to their natural inclination , and that instead of debasing humane nature , it exalts and polishes , and refines it , and leads it to solid bliss and happiness ; and this as well as your learning will make you , as it was once said of the english clergy , stupor mundi , the wonder of the world. 2. labouring and making it your business to reform abuses . thus did the primitive prelates , the men , whose names we rise up to , and whose memories we admire , and in whom the spirit of power , of love , and of a sound mind did shine : indeed we have some later examples of magnanimous persons , within the kingdoms , to which we belong , who finding the field , over which they were set , over run with bryars , and thorns , with abuses , which peace and plenty , and connivance , and love to an easie quiet life , and the corruption of the age , and the covetousness , and partiality of worldly men , and a slavish fear of superiours had brought in , have resolutely set themselves to weed the deformed , and dismal field , and to pull out the tares , that incommoded , and annoy'd the wheat . this is a work , which requires more than ordinary courage , and therefore fit for you , whom providence places at the stern , and constitutes chief watchmen over the house of israel , and who are in credit with god , and with your prince . your commission like jeremy's reaches to destroying , and pulling up , as well as to planting , and building , not such a destroying , as he , who pretends to be the vicar of christ , hath made in kingdoms and nations , but tearing up those obstructions and impediments , which put a stop to the chearful progress of religion amongst us : here the zeal of phin●es will be necessary , especially , when the evil is grown so dangerous , that it s come to an ense rescindendum . fear of displeasing men , or of being ill spoken of , or of being contradicted by equals , or superiors must here be banish'd , as a thing that renders you unfit for the kingdom of god , and great enterprises . had christ and his apostles insisted upon such excuses , judaism had triumph'd to this day , and idolatry maintain'd its post and station ; i need not name here the particular abuses , which require your cognisance and censures , they are too obvious , and a holy mind , that judges by the word of god , and the rules of primitive discipline will soon perceive , where the sword of the spirit , even this reformation is to be made use of . i know its easier to spy faults than to mend them , and what seems intollerable to one man , appears harmless in anothers eye , but such evasions will not do with a person , whose soul is touch'd with a sense of god's glory , whose delight is to do good , who examines impartially what is required of him in the station he is in , whom the love of god constrains to do great things , for the honour of the gospel , and i may add , who knows the terrours of the lord , and believes the threatning of christ pronounced against the unfaithful steward . matth. xxiv . 50 the lord of that servant shall come in a day , when he looks not for him , and in an hour , that he is not aware of , and shall cut him asunder , and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth . 3. enduring hardness as good souldiers of jesus christ , a duty very warmly recommended to our bishop , 2 tim. ii. 3 . in discharging your duty faithfully , you must expect obloquy , and slanders , and reproaches , and other inconveniences , troubles and adversities ; but to bear them patiently , to maintain your integrity in the midst of all such storms , your sweetness in the midst of all the salt waters , not to flinch from your good profession , not to sink under your burthen , to hold out to the end , to continue with christ in his temptations , and to be faithful unto death upon a prospect of the crown of righteousness , this is masculine and heroick , and a certain argument , that the spirit of god is sent into your hearts , which is the earnest of your future inheritance . thus the apostles baffled the temptations of the world , and vanquished the stratagems of hell and devils , and thus the world must be taught , that neither death nor life , neither superiorities nor powers , neither things present nor things to come can separate you from the love of god , which is in christ christ jesus our lord. were the future glory ( saith one ) believ'd as firmly as the things which are seen , it would be a kind of martyrdom to live here . to be sure the more lively our faith and our apprehensions are of that future bliss ▪ the more cheerfully we shall stir up the gift of god , that is in us , to our great redeemers glory , and the more patiently we shall bear the crosses that befal us in our good and great attempts , crosses , which must turn into crowns at last , crowns , that wither not , that tarnish not , crowns , which time doth not change , and ages do not alter , for so we read , 1 pet. v. 4 . when the chief shepherd shall appear , ye shall receive a crown of glory , which fades not away . and now , o timothy , whom god hath called , and the king hath called , and the church doth call ; god by extraordinary parts and abilities , the king , who understands the merit of those , who are near , and dear to him , the church which considers , who are like to be most useful to the edifying of the body of christ ; o timothy , i say , upon whom the sacred unction is to be poured forth , and the hands of blessing to be laid ; remember , that jesus christ , of the seed of david , was raised from the dead according to the gospel ; an argument , i make use of not only because of its relation to the day , but because st. paul makes it an incentive to a bishops duty , 2. tim. ii. 8 . remember therefore , how our great master laboured for the good of mankind , for the salvation of souls , how he suffered , and how he died , and then rose to an immortal glorious life , the emblem of thy office and reward ; for when thou shalt have gone about doing good , and healing those , that are possess'd of sin , and of the devil , and hast born , and hast had patience , thy mortal part , which hath been tired , and worn out with labour , must fall indeed , but then after the example of christ's body , a creature must rise at last glorious , and angelical , and triumphing over hell , and devils , seeing , we all look for a saviour , who shall change our vile body , that it may be like unto his glorious body , according to the mighty working , whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself . finis notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44542-e190 mr. y. in the year 1685. notes for div a44542-e320 exod. 20.6 . l. 3. c. 4. hom. 15. in 1. tim ▪ 3. v. joh. xi 49. morin in ordin . maron . lib. 2. contr . donatist . c. 16 . the blessed advantages of peace and peace-makers in a sermon preach'd at the savoy in london upon the fifth of st. matthew; ver. ix. blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of god. by anthony horneck, d.d. late preacher at the savoy. horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 1697 approx. 57 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 26 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44512 wing h2820 estc r215358 99827256 99827256 31672 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44512) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 31672) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1889:17) the blessed advantages of peace and peace-makers in a sermon preach'd at the savoy in london upon the fifth of st. matthew; ver. ix. blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of god. by anthony horneck, d.d. late preacher at the savoy. horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 48 p. printed for b. aylmer at the three pigeons against the royal exchange in cornhill, london : 1697. at foot of title page: price six pence. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -n.t. -matthew v, 9 -sermons -early works to 1800. sermons, english -17th century. 2005-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2005-04 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the blessed advantages of peace and peace-makers . in a sermon preach'd at the savoy in london upon the fifth of st. matthew ; ver. ix . blessed are the peace-makers , for they shall be called the children of god. by anthony horneck , d. d. late preacher at the savoy . london , printed for b. aylmer at the three pigeons against the royal exchange in cornhill , 1697. price six pence . the bookseller's advertisement . the late worthy and pious doctor anthony horneck , the author of this seasonable discourse , hath left behind him fairly writ , many excellent sermons upon most practical subjects in divinity , particularly on all our blessed saviour's sermon on the mount ; contained in the fifth , sixth and seventh chapters of st. matthew's gospel ; having been preached to his beloved people at the savoy with great approbation ; which will be printed with all convenient speed by the consent of his widow . fifteen sermons , being the first volume , upon part of the said fifth chapter ( of which this is one ) is now in the press . but for the seasonableness upon the happy conclusion of the peace , 't was thought convenient to publish this alone . b. a. st. matth. ch. v. ver. 9. blessed are the peace-makers , for they shall be called the children of god. as in this divine sermon of our saviour , men and women are pronounced blessed and happy , with respect to things which the dull sensual world spies no felicity in ; or as here , those are counted happy whom the world counts miserable , and those miserable whom the world counts happy ; so it fares with the persons mention'd in the words before you , and the blessedness which attends them ; the world , you know , magnifies great generals , and soldiers , and martial men who can fight well , and are very skilfull in besieging towns , and in scaling walls , in bombarding castles , and surprizing forts , and defeating armies , and slaying men ; and he , that with saul hath kill'd his thousands , and with david his ten thousands , is cry'd up , and the bells ring at his entrance into a conquer'd town , all sing his praises , flowers of rhetorick and applause are strow'd in his way , publick intelligences are fill'd with his commendations ; and who so much talk'd of , as the man who is very expert in making , maintaining , and managing a war. our blessed master over-looks all these partial verdicts of the world , and knowing that nature , and vice , and profit , and honour , ambition and lust are enough to inspire a man with courage and wisdom to fight , and to cause disorders and disturbances among men , instead of commending men , who are skilfull in making war , set a peculiar mark of favour on those who are skilfull in making peace in the words i have read to you , blessed are the peace-makers for they shall be called the children of god. blessed are the peace-makers ; what ? all peace-makers ? then turks , and infidels , heathens , and pagans , and the most licentious of christian princes do all come into the number of the blessed , and all must be children of god. for there is no prince , though never so great a tyrant , though he hath spilt blood like water in his conquests , though he hath made no more of destroying mens lives , than tarquinius did of taking off the heads of poppies , or domitian of killing flies , yet makes peace sometimes , and tired with the toyl and fatigue of the war , concludes a truce at last with his enemy ; and what ? do all these come into the society of the blessed ? to give you light into this affair , i shall enquire , i. who these peace-makers are that are pronounced blessed here . ii. i shall examine the reasons of the supposition , or the thing supposed and implied here , that those who have an aversion from this peace-making , cannot be blessed . iii. i shall take the blessedness of these peace-makers into consideration , and shew how , and upon what account they are , and shall be call'd the children of god. i. who these peace-makers are , that are said to be blessed here . the word in the original is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which as interpreters observe in greek authors signifies and denotes strictly those who make or procure peace among persons who disagree , and unite those who are at variance , but in scripture the expression is of a larger extent , and includes a great deal more than a bare reconciling of enemies , and the persons here aimed at are as follows . 1. such as do make peace with god and with their consciences . to this purpose is the exhortation , job xxi . 22. acquaint now thy self with him , and be at peace , and great good shall come unto thee : and from this peace with god , arises that peace in believing , we read of rom. xv. 13. man naturally is at enmity with god , rom. v. 10. to be sure , an enemy of the cross of christ , for the law of the cross is directly opposite to the principles and dictates of sinfull flesh , phil. iii. 18. and this enmity still grows greater and greater , as corrupt nature is improved or abused into more corrupt practices , and from hence flows man's misery . so that to be happy , a man must be at peace with god , which is a maxim so natural , that heathens do not think themselves safe without appeasing their angry deities , and this puts them upon offering sacrifices to them . but this doth not take with the true god , who delights not in burnt-offerings . the sacrifices of god , which unite the soul to him , and establish a peace betwixt god and the sinner , are a broken and a contrite heart , and laying aside voluntarily and deliberately , and from a sense of the madness of the attempt , even of resisting and clashing with an omnipotent being , those things which god professes and declares his hatred and abhorrency of , and a chearfull compliance with his revealed will ; and you all know that the things he hates are our sinfull customs , practices and inclinations , for your iniquities have separated betwixt you and your god , and your sins have hid his face from you , saith god , isa. lix . 2. to be at peace with god , a man must be at war with his sinfull inclinations . to live in peace with these , is to fall out with god , and the longer we maintain friendship and familiarity with these , the greater becomes the distance betwixt god and our souls , the breach is still made wider , till we sin away at last all hopes of reconciliation ; where the soul hath any reasonable assurance that god is at peace with her , there joy , and gladness , and serenity flows naturally into her bosom , and that is the peace of conscience st. paul speaks of , rom. xiv . 17. and indeed there are no persons more likely to be successfull in making peace among men , than those who first make peace with god , and with their own consciences . 2. such as make it their business to live peaceably in humane societies , and seek to maintain that peace , which either nature , or religion , or friendship , or neighbourhood have settled among men , with whom we live ; and concerning this sort of peace-making , st. paul speaks , rom. xii . 18. if it be possible , as much as in you lies , live peaceably with all men . to maintain peace , is part of peace-making , for this is to make that peace which is begun , and which we find settled in our hands to continue and flourish ; in a word , to preserve it , and according to the old saying , non minor est vertus , &c. it is as great a vertue to preserve the good thing which we have purchas'd , as to purchase it ; and while we behave our selves inoffensively , unblameably , and keep a conscience void of offence toward god and man , we take the readiest way to live peaceably . it 's granted , that the most inoffensive actions , nay even acts of duty and devotion may stir up the wrath and fury of cholerick and prejudiced men , as we see the apostles by preaching the gospel , and attempting to reclaim men from their vices , and telling them their duty , rais'd all the world against themselves ; but this is not our fault , as long as we give no just occasion to men to quarrel with us , or give no just offence ; while we are ready to do good offices , do by others as we would have others do by us , and in our discourses and behaviour observe the rules of modesty , decency , sobriety , and charity ; if after all , men will speak ill of us , and be angry , because we will not run out with them into excess of riot , as it seems those did st. peter speaks of , 1 pet. iv. 4. we have discharged a good conscience , and may comfort our selves with this , that we have given no just occasion to break the peace . 3. and here comes in the stricter signification of the word , such as from a sense of christian love and charity endeavour to reconcile disagreeing persons , and neighbours , and their fellow christians that are at variance : and concerning this peace-making , st. paul gives this grave and serious admonition , 1 cor. vi. 5 , 6. i speak to your shame . is it so , that there is not a wise man among you ? no not one that is able to judge between his brethren . but brother goes to law with brother . and this must needs be his meaning in that other exhortation , rom. xiv . 9. where he bids us follow after the things which make for peace . and indeed , where there is true christian compassion , a man will not only be ready to run to make up differences , when he is entreated , but of his own accord , and before he be entreated , especially , where either friendship and a long acquaintance , or some near relation gives the invitation . it was barbarous language of cain , gen. iv. 9. am i my brother's keeper . such a word must not drop from the hearts and mouths of those who are adjured by bowels of mercy , not to look every one on his own things , but every man also on the things of his neighbours , as all christians are , phil. ii. 4. the common laws of humane societies , require this peace-making , much more the laws of christianity ; and since we are bound to love our neighbours as our selves , how is it possible to obey that law , without endeavouring to soder and join the clashing and dis-jointed members of christ's mystical body ; in doing so we love our neighbours as our selves , even in endeavouring to keep others from disagreeing , as we would keep our selves from being at variance with others . how good and how pleasant a thing is it for brethren to dwell together in unity ; it is like the precious ointment that ran down from aaron's head into his beard , and so on to the skirts of his cloathing , saith the royal psalmist , psal. cxxxiii . 1 , 2. as christians we are all brethren , and then it must be our duty to see the beauty , order and harmony of that brotherly society preserved , which is impossible to be done , without actual and personal endeavours of reconciling those who are at difference , and this argument moses made use of , when he saw two israelites striving together , and would have set at one , why do you wrong one to another , seeing ye are brethren ? act. vii . 26. 4. such as endeavour to make others like themselves , and do instill this christian principle of reconciling persons , that quarrel and live in enmity , into others . this is still making peace , when we labour to make others enamour'd with this duty of peace-making , which is done either by exhortation or entreaty , or representing to others the nobleness , excellency , and profitableness of this peaceable and peace-making temper . it 's natural for men to endeavour to make others of the same temper and principles with ourselves , which is the reason that men of all persuasions do what they can to make proselytes . a truly good man cannot forbear saying with st. paul , i wish that all men were even as my self , 1 cor. vii . 7. i mean with respect to the good things the grace of god hath infused into him : and as no man can be sincerely good , without endeavouring to unite , and reconcile his disagreeing neighbours , so that goodness will farther prompt him to bespeak those of his acquaintance in st. paul's language , brethren , be followers together of me , and mark them that walk so , as you have us for ensamples , philip. iii. 17. and from hence it will be an easie matter to give a just answer to the objection i proposed at first ; whether all peace-makers are indifferently concerned in the blessedness of the text ; it 's plain from hence , that not every one that makes peace either by force , or of necessity , or for profit and interest , or being tired with a long and tedious war. not every one of these comes into the number of those blessed men . all the four qualifications i have mentioned are requisite to entitle a man to this happiness ; making peace with god , and our consciences , living peaceably , and from a sense of christian love and charity , endeavouring to reconcile disagreeing neighbours , and instilling this reconciling principle into others . and having thus laid down the true characters of these peace-makers , whereby you may examine your selves , let 's go on , and , ii. enquire into the reasons of the supposition , or that which is implied here , that those who have an aversion from this peace-making , cannot be blessed or happy . the reasons are , 1. selfishness is plainly predominant in such persons , and that 's no good character of bliss , so far from it , that the apostle reckons it among the plagues of the last days , 1 tim. iii. 1 , 2. this know also , that in the last days perillous times shall come , for men shall be lovers of themselves . it 's true , to love our selves is a natural principle , but to love our selves so as not to be concerned for the good of others , is a sinfull self-love , which renders us contemptible to god , and despicable to rational men . he that matters not whether his neighbours fight or agree , whether they live in love or wrath , and sees a fire kindled in their breasts , a fire lighted by the flames of hell , a fire which breaks forth , and threatens to lay their consciences wast , and doth not offer his helping hand to quench it , hath a soul base and low , a poor pitifull spirit , guilty enough to suffer in hell , but alienated from that life which must give him a title to heaven . 2. he that doth not make peace with god or with his own conscience , and cares not for it , robs himself of the greatest comfort ; and surely that man can never be happy . to be at peace with god , is to be at peace with our judge , with him who hath the same power over us , that the potter hath over his clay , and is able to destroy both soul and body into hell ; with him whose voice breaks the cedars , divides the flames of fire , shakes the wilderness , and makes the mountains tremble , and who hath a prison to tame men in , a prison from whence there is no coming out till they have paid the uttermost farthing . to be at peace with this almighty and sovereign being , must needs be a mighty satisfaction to the soul that knows what god is , and looks beyond this world : to enjoy his friendship , to be sure of his favour , to be secured of his good will , this establishes the soul , and gives her courage in the time of the greatest danger . he that is indifferent , whether he be at peace with god or not , not to mention that he is a sot and a fool , and understands not his true interest , he deprives himself of that which ought to be the greatest stay and staff of his life , and therefore whatever his outward conveniencies , and accommodations may be , he is unhappy . 3. he that doth not or will not live peaceably with his neighbours , i need not tell you that he is unhappy , for he himself finds by sad experience , that he is so . the disorders and tumults he finds within , the uneasiness of his condition , the danger he is in from without , and the vexation and discontent he runs into are sufficient items that he is as far from being happy , as he is from being wise : his lusts war within his members , as st. james speaks , jam. iv. 1. his soul is like the troubled sea , when it cannot rest , isa. lvii . 20. he is no kin to god , for he is the god of peace , rom. xvi . 20. no kin to angels , for they rejoyce in peace on earth , luk. ii. 14. no kin to good men , for they seek peace and ensue it , 1 pet. iii. 11. if he be related to any thing , it is to the prince of darkness , who delights in wrath and envy , rev. xii . 17. 4. such men are no children of god , and therefore cannot be blessed ; that 's the argument of the text , blessed are the peace-makers , for they shall be called the children of god ; therefore those that have an aversion from this peace-making are not blessed , because no children of god ; surely no children of god , when so much of that spirit reigns in them , which rules in the children of disobedience : he particularly that seeks not to be at peace , or to live peaceably with his neighbour , most certainly doth not love his brother , and he that loves him not , is by the holy ghost in scripture put into the number of strange children , for so we read , 1 joh. iii. 10. herein the children of god are manifest , and the children of the devil : he that works not righteousness is not of god , neither he that loves not his brother . not to love our brother , and to hate him in scripture are equivalent , different expressions for the same sin ; and if any man say , i am in the light , and hate his brother , he is in darkness , and walks in darkness , and knows not whither he goes , because the darkness hath blinded his eyes , 1 joh. ii. 11. so that true blessedness lies altogether in the opposite temper , viz. the peace-makers , and of these it is that it 's said , they shall be called the children of god ; and how , and upon what account they shall be called the children of god , is the iii. and last particular , i am to speak to . and here i must premise , that in scripture language , to be called so , is very often as much as to be so ; and thou child shalt be called the prophet of the most high , i. e. thou shalt be a prophet , luk. i. 76. and after the same manner , that holy thing which shall be born of thee , shall be called the son of god , i. e. shall be the son of god ; so matth. i. 23. they shall call his name emanuel , i. e. he shall be so , god with us , god and man. and after this stile , you are to understand the phrase of the text , they shall be called the children of god , i. e. they are and shall be so . children of god! why ? what great blessedness is there in this title , beyond what other men enjoy ? are not princes and great men , who are commonly none of the best , called the children of god , psal. lxxxii . 6. and is not god the father of all mankind ? it is very true , but still there is a very great difference between children and children . all rational creatures , both men and angels , are god's children , as they are the works of his hands , and with this respect , even devils come into that number , because they owe their being to an omnipotent god. princes and great men particularly are the children of god upon the account of power and grandure , and authority god communicates to them , but for all these respects , they may be everlastingly miserable . to be a child of god by regeneration , to be born again , to be born of god , to be begotten again through a lively hope , by the word and spirit , this is it that makes the title truly comfortable , and such children are the peace-makers commended here . to be a child of god in this sense , is more , and a greater honour , than to be related to all the greatest princes in the world. for , 1. such children of god have higher marks of favour set upon them . they enjoy the blessings of god's left hand in common with the rest , but besides these , they have blessings of the right hand heap'd upon them . besides the preservation , protection , provision for their bodies , and common deliverances from dangers , they participate of with the greater number , their souls are visited by very magnificent guests ; for if any man love me he will keep my words , and my father will love him , and we will come unto him , and make our abode with him , saith our saviour , joh. xiv . 23. god governs them by his spirit , and feeds them like a shepherd , gathers the lambs into his arms , carries them in his bosom , and gently leads those that are with young , isa. xl. 11. they are made partakers of the divine nature , love what god loves , hate what he hates , desire what he desires , and aim at the same end god himself aims at , to wit , the glory of god , blessed for evermore . 2. to such children of god belong the promises of the everlasting covenant ; and there is no condemnation in them . they are deliver'd from the wrath to come , and christ intercedes for them in heaven . for them the balm of gilead flows , and when their souls are sick , physick is administred to them from the clouds . they are wash'd , they are justify'd , they are sanctify'd , and shall at last be glorify'd . to such power is given to tread on serpents , and upon all the powers of darkness : for their sakes god spares whole nations . to go no farther than our own : all sober men believe we are ripe for god to put in the sickle of vengeance . the atheism , prosaneness and hypocrisie , the dull formality we are sunk into under the greatest encouragements , together with other crying sins , which are among us , are enough to make a rational man wonder , that the viols of the wrath of god are not yet poured out upon us , but it 's for the children of god's sake , who are among us , that we are spared thus long ; for their sakes it is that god brings the strangest things about , and though they are try'd often by affliction , yet the fire that proves them , doth only cleanse , not crush the frame . to protect them , god sends his own guard , a troop of angels to surround their persons and habitations ; and if so , the blessedness of such must infinitely exceed the happiness of those , who are called children of god , upon the account either of their creation , or power and authority . but to come closer to the words , the peace-makers are in a very special manner the children of god , if you consider them either with respect to this life , or with regard to that to come , for to both these states , as i have told you often , does the recompences mentioned in these beatitudes relate . as to this present life . 1. they are children of god , because they are like him . they express his nature in their own : for god is the god of peace , philip. iv. 9. his divine essence is the true pattern of peace and order . the ever-blessed trinity is the grand exemplar of concord and unity . it 's god that makes peace within thy borders , saith david , psal. cxlvii . 14. he speaks peace to his people , ps. lxxxv . 8. he creates peace , isa. lvii . 19. and calls to peace , 1 cor. vii . 15. and is the author of peace , 1 cor. xiv . 33. and is the lord of peace , 2 thess. iii. 16. the peaceable , and such as are of a peaceable temper , resemble this god of peace ; he lives in them : there is a great similitude betwixt that inexhausted spring , and these little rivulets ; a great conformity betwixt these copies , and that original . the features and lineaments of peace , that appear upon their souls , discover that they are the children of god. 2. they are the adopted children of god in christ jesus . christ is the true , natural , and only begotten son of god. the peaceable , and such as are of a peace-making temper , tread in the steps of christ , imitate his peaceable nature , and upon that account are admitted to the honour of his filiation , and son-ship . the spirit of peace , which dwelt in christ jesus , dwells in them , col. iii. 15. christ is the prince of peace , so he is call'd , isa. ix . 6. nay he is our peace , who made both one , and pull'd down the middle wall of partition between us , having abolish'd in his flesh , the enmity , even the law of commandments , contain'd in ordinances , making in himself of twain , one new man , so making peace , eph. ii. 14 , 15. and he came and preach'd peace to them that were a far off , and to them who are nigh , vers . 17. he is the great peace-maker , who made peace betwixt heaven and earth , which makes the angels sing at his nativity ; glory be to god on high , and on earth peace , luk. ii. 14 , nor doth christ's saying , matth. x. 34. think not that i am come to send peace upon earth , i am not come to send peace , but a sword. i am come to set a man at variance against his father , and the daughter against the mother , &c. i say , this oracle doth not at all invalidate , or weaken the character , or title given him , which is prince of peace ; for in so saying , he only describes the natural events and consequences of his gospel . 1. when a man is truly converted to the gospel of our lord jesus christ , there is immediately infused into him a mighty hatred and indignation against sin , and vice , where-ever he meets with it , though it be in a father , or mother , or brethren , or sisters . to find it in such relations , doth not make him like it the better , nor can all their persuasions make him have any good opinion of it ; and therefore if the father be carnal and wicked , he will hate his son for being so holy and precise , and keeping such a stir about religion ; or if the father be good , and the son naught , the son will be either secretly , or openly angry with his father , for having so strait-lac'd a conscience . hence arise quarrels and dissensions , which are not the natural effects of the gospel , but of men's vitious humours , which hate to be controll'd by the gospel ; and hither must be referr'd the persecutions that befell the primitive believers , when they would not offer incense to the heathen gods , whereupon they were imprison'd , harrass'd , persecuted with fire and sword. the son rose against his father , if he were a christian , and the daughter did her best to throw the believing mother into the fire , and the nearest relations became mortal enemies one to another ; not that christianity made the christians hate their heathen relations , but it made the heathen relations hate their christian kindred . 2. this christ speaks with relation to those carnal and hypocritical professours of his religion , who in after-ages pusht on by pride and by the devil under a pretence of zeal for his honour and glory , would kill , butcher , burn , massacre thousands of their brethren , who retain'd the substantials of christianity , only differ'd from them in things which carnality , and pomp , and superstition , and ambition to regulate the church by the court of princes , should add to the ancient faith deliver'd unto the saints , and of this we have seen very sad instances : but still , these are only accidental effects of men's pride and passions , not the natural products of the design and tendency of the gospel ; so that notwithstanding all these quarrels and dissensions ill men raise about the gospel , christ is still the prince of peace , and the peaceable , and such as are of a peace-making temper , are upon that account his brethren , for he is not ashamed to call them brethren , heb. ii. 11. and therefore the children of god. as to the life to come . these peace-makers shall be , and shall be treated like darling children of god. this st. john assures us of , 1 john iii. 2. beloved , now are we the sons of god , and it doth not yet appear what we shall be , but we know , that when we shall appear we shall be like him . like him ! how ? like him in eternal glory and honour , and splendour . they were like christ in their peace-making temper here , and they shall be like him in a glorious immortality . their father which is in heaven will let men and angels see , that they are his children , that they are so not in name only , but in deed. he will give the unbelieving world a visible demonstration , that they are so in the last day , in the great day of account ; he will place them at christ's right-hand , and the men that would not believe and repent , shall behold how dear they are to him ; for the great redeemer shall carry them up into his father's kingdom : if sons then heirs , heirs of god , and joint heirs with christ , saith the apostle , rom. viii . 17. christ as man , and mediator , became heir of his father's royalty , and power ; so shall they in the right of adopted children . as christ ascended into heaven so shall they ; as christ was exalted so shall they ; as christ was enthron'd so shall they ; as christ was advanced from a low estate to the highest dignity so shall they ; as christ lives for ever so shall they ; as christ cannot be hurt by the second death no more shall they ; as christ had power given him over the nations , over hell and devils , so shall they reign over all their enemies ; as christ shall judge the world , and the apostate angels so shall they ; being fellow-sons , fellow-heirs , they all share in his authority and grandeur : it 's true , all this must be believed , for it is not seen yet ; but who can forbear to believe it , when we have the word of the living god for it ? in a word , they shall be possessours of heaven and earth ; for not only their father , but their elder brother is so . crowns and diadems are preparing for them ; crowns which fade not away , crowns which the moth cannot corrupt , nor thieves break through and steal ; crowns made of beams of eternal light ; crowns which not only adorn their heads , but fill their faces with incomparable beauty ; crowns such as angels wear ; crowns which cannot be viewed , cannot be thought of , without eternal admiration . inferences . 1. it is easie to guess what tempers and actions are contrary , and directly opposite to the admirable qualification recommended , and commanded in the text. peace being either publick or private , and the publick either political , or ecclesiastical , either of church or state ; whoever they be that wilfully pusht on by pride or passion , or some worldly carnal design , without a just , lawfull , or warrantable cause , disorder or disturb that peace , cannot be true disciples of christ , because they have an aversion from that peaceable , peace-keeping , and peace-making temper , which christ with all the pathetick adjurations imaginabe hath enjoyn'd his followers . i shall not here reflect on secular estates and princes , who either begin or maintain an unjust war , either to enrich themselves by the spoils of their neighbours , or to advance their own glory , or to enlarge their empire and dominion ; for the very light of nature confutes these practices , and he that is but a novice in religion , may see nothing is more contrary to the design of the gospel . however , i cannot but spend some considerations on the sad divisions and quarrels that are among those who call themselves christians upon the account of religion . i wonder not to see mahometans and jews scandaliz'd at these divisions , the jews especially , when they read such lofty promises of the peace and unity of the church that was to be under the messiah , as isa. ii. 4. they shall beat their spears into plough-shares , and their swords into pruning-hooks . nation shall not lift up sword against nation , neither shall they learn war any more ; and isa. xi . 6. the wolf shall dwell with the lamb , and the leopard lie down with the kid , and the calf , and the young lion , and the fatling together , and a little child shall lead them . though these prophecies have been in a great measure fulfill'd , not only in the apostles times , when the jews and gentiles , who were mortal enemies before united into one church under their common head christ jesus ; but afterward when the empire became christian , and the heathen powers , who had most violently persecuted the christians , submitted to the gospel , and embraced those whom they had burnt before ; and though these prophecies may moreover be said to be exactly fulfilled , partly with respect to the design and tendency of the christian religion , the design and intent of christ's laws being to make men peaceable , and partly with respect to the signal change that 's actually wrought upon those who are truly , not only in profession , and outwardly , but inwardly too , converted to the faith of christ ; for upon this conversion their former hatred and enmity to others is laid aside , and they are all for peace and concord ; though i say these prophecies are actually accomplish'd in despite of all the sects , that profess christ's religion ; yet the jews , a dull , hard , inconsiderate sort of people , and who are guided much by their senses ; seeing the everlasting quarrels that are among christians , and how one party persecutes and abuses the other , and upon what slight occasions they quarrel and fall out , and break peace and communion one with another ; i wonder not to see them offended at these doings , and harden'd in their unbelief ; for not to mention the divisions , heresies and schisms in the ancient church , at this day the eastern churches stand divided against the western ; the western is broke into several parties ; the church of rome against the protestants , and the protestants against the church of rome , and the protestants are divided among themselves . in these divisions the church of rome erects her head , and pretends she is the only true and catholick church , because they are united among themselves . but to shew the weakness of this boasting : 1. at this rate every particular church must be the catholick church , because the members of every particular church are united among themselves . so in the church of england , her members and pastors all subscribing to the articles of her communion , and professing the same doctrine , ceremonies and worship , whether they be in europe , or africa , or asia , or america ; and there is no particular church , that 's constituted by any publick authority , but may boast of this unity . 2. it is not a bare union of men that makes a church a true church , but that union must have truth for its foundation ; else you know , thieves , and robbers , and high-way-men , and pyrates , and buccaneers , because they agree among themselves , might lay claim to this title , and the most perverse hereticks , because they agree in certain points , might say they are the true church , and heathens and pagans , because they agree in superstition , and in believing a multitude of gods , might bid fair for this character . however , 3. the unity the church of rome boasts of , is only a pretence ; for all the world knows the mighty differences that are within her own bosom , of the scotists and thomists , of the franciscans and dominicans , of the jansenists and jesuits , who stick not to call one another hereticks ; not to mention the late divisions betwixt the disciples of molinos , and their opponents ; and were it not for fear of fire , and prisons , and the inquisition , some of these would break out into open war against their adversaries and competitors . nay , 4. there is no christian church that hath been more guilty of breaking the peace of christendom , than the church of rome ; and because several churches would not satisfie or gratifie her ambition , would not put their necks under her yoke , nor believe the falsest and idlest thing in the world , her supremacy and infallibility , she hath boldly separated her self from their communion ; this was the reason why she separated from the eastern churches , and by this insolence she hath forced the protestant churches from her communion , and not he that is forced away , but he that forces is the schismatick . and indeed , that which justifies the protestant churches separation from her , or breaking peace and communion with her , is 1. because she would impose that upon the consciences of men , which christ and his apostles never imposed . 2. because she hath turned the spiritual worship of the gospel , into carnal and mechanical devotion , and introduced innumerable superstitions , which have no foundation in the word of god , and would have them believ'd as firmly as the gospel it self . 3. because she hath brought in a worship , which with all the favourable interpretations imaginable , cannot be excused from idolatry ; even the worship of dead men and women , of the bread in the eucharist , of images and pictures , and reliques , &c. contrary to the design of the gospel . 4. because , though she hath been often entreated , admonished , and exhorted to reform these abuses , for some hundred years together , yet she is obstinate , and instead of reforming , hath harden'd her self in them , and thinks to hector men by her power and authority into a belief of that , which cannot be defended with solid arguments . 5. because rejecting the supreme authority of the scriptures , which are the sole rule of faith , she hath made her pretended head , and such councils as he shall call , or approve of , the sole dictators , and expositors , of the doctrine of christ , requiring blind obedience to their decisions , contrary , not only to the word of god , but to the sense of all true antiquity : so that there can be no peace , i mean no peace of communion with rome ; for though we are commanded to live peaceably with all men , yet we are withall to have a due regard to truth , eph. iv. 15. nor must peace be bought at so dear a rate , as to comply with men in their sins and errours , which is the reason why peace and holiness are join'd together in that known exhortation of the apostle . follow peace with all men , and holiness , without which no man shall see the lord , heb. xii . 14. indeed an external peace we are to maintain with all mankind , but this differs much from peace of communion in divine worship and sacraments . the divisions among protestant churches are to be deplored so much the more , because the points they differ in are inconsiderable , and might easily be composed , if men had but peaceable tempers , and were resolved to lay aside interest , and carnal respects , and punctilio's of honour , and credit , &c. for they all agree in fundamentals , all are satisfied that the church of rome hath notoriously deviated from the simplicity of the gospel ; and the matters in difference , are things in which salvation is not concerned . and upon that account their labours deserve great commendations , who heretofore , and very lately have endeavour'd to reconcile the protestant churches into a perfect union : a blessed work. blessed are the peace-makers , that endeavour to make peace among the jarring members of christ's body ; and though they may fail of success , yet they shall not lose their reward . in the mean while those who widen , or heighten these differences , and incite the respective parties to hatred , and wrath , and animosities one against another , to be sure are no children of the god of peace , and had need at least before they die , make publick satisfaction for the dreadfull effects , their heats and passions do produce . but as this peace among protestant churches is very much to be wish'd and pray'd for , so i despair to see so glorious a work take effect , except the differing parties would resolve to stand to the rules following . 1. that the respective parties which agree in the chief points of religion do not make any of those points they differ in , fundamental , as if the fortune of religion depended upon it , or as if those different points were so many different religions . 2. that the differing parties do not damn one another for those differences , there being nothing that hath done religion more hurt , than men's damning one another for things , which christ and his apostles have affixed no damnation to . 3. that notwithstanding the little differences that are among them , they make one church , and endeavour after the welfare and prosperity of it , and join together in publick prayer , and in the sacrament of the eucharist , which is the badge and symbol of fraternity , and amity . 4. that one party be not presently jealous , and suspicious of the other , as if the opinion which one party espouses were embraced , or maintain'd in a humour , or for worldly ends , but that they charitably believe , it 's conscience , that puts them upon it , at least , till either the party espousing that opinion confesses , that conscience is not at the bottom of it , or that it appear by undeniable evidences , that a worldly or sinister design is the foundation of it . 5. that the differing parties do not multiply the controversies , which are amongst them , make them neither more numerous nor greater than really they are , and that they do not interpret an accidental unwary expression , that may drop from the pen , or mouth of one party , as a new controversie . 6. that one party do not charge the other with consequences , which they do not own , nor with doctrines and positions , which they detest from their hearts . 7. that each party defending , or proving their opinion do it with great modesty , without provoking or exasperating , or approbrious language , and revilings , or bitter reflections on the other . 8. that of these differing parties none do vye with the other , except it be in living up to the precepts of the gospel , particularly those of patience , long-suffering and charity . these rules i apprehend to be the foundation of peace and concord of protestant churches , that differ in points of no great concernment ; and were these maxims once put in practice , the particular controversies might soon be compromised . to this purpose is that saying of the apostle : nevertheless , whereto we have already attained , let 's walk by the same rule , let 's mind the same things ; and if any be otherwise minded , god will even reveal that unto you , phil. iii. 15 , 16. but however , ii. if we cannot mend the publick , let 's endeavour to reform particular persons . it is a sad sight to see christians divided among themselves , but it is as dismal a spectacle to see so many of us at war with god. this i know will hardly be believed by the guilty , and because they do not blaspheme god , or do not trouble their heads much about god , or religion , they know nothing to the contrary but that they are at peace with god , and that they and god are very good friends . this is true stupidity , and were the stupidity invincible as it is in beasts , such men would be safe , safe as the wild ass , or the dromedary in the wilderness , safe i say from the danger of god's wrath. but this cannot be the case of any of you , that live in a country where the gospel is preach'd , where you are told , that not to love god , is to hate him ; and that not to delight in his ways , is to incurr his displeasure ; that to live in those sins , which exclude from the kingdom of heaven , is to bid defiance to him ; that to be neglectfull of his will , is to wage war with him ; that to slight the admonitions , and entreaties of his messengers , is to be at enmity with him ; and that to mind the world more than his service , or to seek to please men more than him , is to provoke him to anger . and hath not this been the temper , and is not this the complexion of many of you ? how many years have some of you born arms against god ? your wilfull sins are the weapons whereby you fight against him ; and though like the giants in the fable , you do not heap mountain upon mountain to pull him out of his throne ; yet by espousing that life , which is odious to him , you affront his sovereignty , and by living contrary to the gospel , you despise and dishonour him who hath the greatest right to command you . and is it not high time to make peace with him ? if god be not at peace with you here , he will never be at peace with you hereafter . what peace while the whoredoms of thy mother jezabel , and her witchcrafts are so many ? said jehu , 2 kings ix . 22. so here , what peace can there be betwixt god and you , while you continue in that pride and vanity , and intemperance , and other sins , against which the wrath of god is revealed from heaven ? do you think you are at peace with god , because you thrive and prosper in the world ? do not the wickedest of men do so , and is that an argument that god is their friend ? will you make his patience a sign of his being reconciled to you , when it is only a motive to a reconciliation ? there is no peace , saith my god , unto the wicked , isa. lvii . 20. let them be never so potent , never so rich , never so wealthy , their impiety takes away all peace betwixt god and them . he hath declared so much , and will not you believe him ? will you give no credit to his word , till with dives you lift up your eyes in hell , and see that god is not your friend ? if you do thrive and prosper in the world , cannot those blessings move you to be at peace with him ? do you believe he is kind to you , and shall his kindness provoke you to be his enemies ? nothing can settle a peace betwixt god and you , till you change your lives , and make conscience of your ways , and abhorr that which is evil , and cleave to that which is good . then indeed were your sins as crimson they shall be as wool , were they of a scarlet dye , they shall be as white as snow ; but till then , your sin , like that of judah , is written with a pen of iron , and with the point of a diamond , as it is said , jer. xvii . 1. and you do as good as say to god with those desperadoes , in job , chap. xxi . 14. depart from us , we desire not the knowledge of thy ways . till then you can never be at peace with your own consciences , carnal security you may have , but peace of conscience is another thing , for this can never be at rest , while it hath reason to believe god frowns upon it ; but being sure of the light of his loving kindness , a man walks in paradise , and dwells in the garden of god. but , iii. when christ in the text professes and declares how pleasing and acceptable a peaceable , and peace-making temper is to god ; would not one think that every one that believes the gospel , should be ambitious of those qualifications , which god not only approves of , but promises to reward with the highest honour and dignity ? yes , did men love god indeed and in truth , they would not only be glad to know what is pleasing to him , but even run to do it , as good natured children that observe their father's temper , and endeavour to gain his love by a deportment and behaviour they know he delights in . peace among men god delights in , peace among christians especially ; to whom he hath vouchsafed a higher dispensation . among these , no noise , no clamour , no railing , no quarrelling , no swords , no cannon should be heard ; these profess themselves disciples of christ jesus , the prince of peace ; and there is no command that is more strictly , or more frequently injoin'd , than that of peace . this they are to pursue , to follow , and to endeavour after by all possible lawfull means . this is their livery , and the very mark whereby they are to be distinguish'd , even their peaceable behaviour . this is the salt which is to keep them sweet , as christ calls it , mark ix . 10. but you all know , how contrary to this character the generality of men live , upon the least provocation they break the peace , and all friendship is renounced ; especially where they have a purse to maintain the dispute ; many a man that was humble and peaceable before , when poor ; no sooner doth he find his purse swell , but his temper alters ; and now if his neighbour doth displease him , though there be no malice in the case , presently he talks high , and big , and he cares as little for his neighbour , as his neighbour doth for him . this is the humour of the age , and instead of repenting of their heats , and divisions , they justify their contentions , and oppose the reasons of flesh and blood , and the circumstances of their birth and quality , of their honour and grandeur , to the laws of that saviour , by whose blood they say , they are redeemed . strange christians these that will be so , in despight of christ , though they have nothing of the character in them . and let us but consider what trifles they are men quarrel about , and how frivolous the things for which they break forth into flame , and fury , and break the peace which they should maintain and keep , things , which a philosopher would put by with a smile , and a wise man think below himself to take notice of . but what shall we say ? till men come to stand in awe of the gospel , more than of the laws of the land , and the threatnings and punishments of the magistrate , thus it will be , and when opportunity serves will be carried away with the stream of their passions , and sinfull inclinations ; and upon such i cannot hope to do any good , though the arguments were never so convincing , or powerfull . but if there be any here , as i hope there are several , that look upon this peaceable , and peace-making temper as their duty , are perswaded that they are in danger of god's displeasure , if they want this qualification , and are concern'd about it , and desire to be inform'd of the way and method they are to take , how to compass it ; to such i shall recommend these following directions . 1. be injurious to no man , wrong no man , defraud no man , oppress no man , speak evil of no man. this is the way to make peace , and to keep peace . it 's the wrong that men apprehend is done to them by another , that causes quarrels and dissensions . remove the cause , and you remove the effect , a remedy prescribed by the apostle , in order to a quiet and peaceable life , tit. iii. 2. 2. love to do good . this strangely obliges , and wins , and charms , and moves even our enemies to be at peace with us , and makes people desirous to live in friendship with us , and not only so , but hereby we weaken our quarrelsome disposition , and become more tractable , and gentle , and heap coals of fire upon the heads of our enemies , i. e. melt them by kindness into a better nature , rom. xii . 20. 3. watch against selfishness , and covetousness , for it's greediness after profit , and an over fondness of our temporal interest , that puts us into heats , if we are crost in it . moderation in our desires after these outward things composes the mind , quiets the passions , and keeps the blood from boiling over . the apostle therefore very much insists upon this vertue , 1 tim. vi. and phil. iv. 5. 4. believe not every ill thing that is said of you , for we see daily how little credit is to be given to reports . a too easie belief of ill things said of us , is an instigation to break the peace , to harbour hatred , and secret grudges , and tempts to strangeness of behaviour , to revenge , to moroseness , and watching opportunities to be even with the supposed offendour ; charity believes the best , 1 cor. xiii . 7. 5. be not ashamed to confess your faults , when it 's evident you are in the wrong ; an obstinate defence of a fault , is apt to make persons , who take notice of it , angry and furious , because it argues a very ill temper of mind ; whereas an ingenuous acknowledgment of our errours , reconciles and prevails with persons of ingenuity to be friends with us , and that 's the reason why st. james is so earnest for it , james v. 16. 6. bear with infirmities in others , with such particularly , which appear to be invincible . i do not say , bear with wilfull sins , and habits of vice and folly , but with failings and imperfections , which cannot well be remedied ; either when the understandings of your neighbours are shallow , or not so quick as yours , or when their wisdom and sagacity doth not reach so far as yours , and this according to the command of the holy ghost , rom. xiv . 1. 7. for peace sake be content to recede sometimes from your own right : where two parties are stiff , and neither will yield , or abate any thing of their demands , the quarrel must needs continue . but concessions and relinquishing part of our right prepares for peace , and so did the father of the faithfull , to prevent dissensions betwixt him and lot ; though upon the account of seniority , it belong'd to him to determine where he should pitch his tent , yet he leaves it to lot to chuse , which part of the country he would go to , gen. xiii . 8 , 9. 8. in order to promote peace in families , david's method must be taken , ps. ci. 6. mine eyes shall be upon the faithfull of the land. one great means to promote , and preserve the publick peace of the nation , is to do our own business , to be followers of that which is good , to do our own duty , and not to speak evil of dignities ; for it is written , thou shalt not speak evil of the rulers of thy people . consider after all how your interest is bound up with this peaceable , and peace-making temper ; for as christ says of a kingdom divided against it self , that it cannot stand ; so if by quarrels , and clamours , and dissensions , you divide the society you live in , you undermine your own ease and happiness . to this purpose solomon , prov. xvii . 1. better is a dry morsel , and quietness therewith , than an house full of sacrifices with strife . besides , by this you avoid innumerable sins , such as ill language , odious names , envy , hatred , malice , and revengefull sins , and desires , and engaging other men in sin with you , and doing mischief to men , &c. but is not the title in the text , given to the peaceable , and peace-making christian , enough to make you endeavour to attain to this character ? what ? children of god ? and do you feel no desire to be so ? did you ever seriously examine the privileges which attend the children of god , and are these no motives to you to come into the number ? suppose the children of god are not much regarded here , but is there not a time coming , when they shall be honoured before the whole world ? is there not a life to come , which shall manifest their dignity , and their glory ? the peace of heaven shall fall to their share : do not you reflect sometimes on that peace , which the children of the everlasting kingdom shall enjoy ? or is that peace so inconsiderable , that it deserves no consideration ? what is the future felicity , but perfect peace , everlasting peace , uninterrupted peace ? the peaceable christian shall feel it , feed upon it , possess it , live upon it , peace with god , peace with the prince of peace , christ jesus , peace with all the angels of god , peace with all the spirits of men made perfect . no war shall disturb it , no tumult discompose it , no sedition annoy it , no rebellion disfigure it . the god of peace shall live in him , and he in the god of peace ; god will tell him that he is his friend , and one with him , and that no men , no devils shall pluck him out of his hands . there rivers of peace shall flow upon him , rivers where no wind doth blow , no storms do come , no tempests rise , no hurricanes molest . i conclude with st. paul's obtestation , colos. iii. 15. and let the peace of god rule in your hearts , to the which also ye are called in one body : and be ye thankfull . amen . finis . an account of what happen'd in the kingdom of sweden in the years 1669, and 1670 and upwards in relation to some persons that were accused for witches; and tryed and executed by the kings command. together with the particulars of a very sad accident that befel a boy at malmoe in schonen in the year, 1678. by the means of witchcraft, attested by the ablest and most judicious men of that town. both translated out of high-dutch into english, by anthony horneck d.d. horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 1682 approx. 56 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44509 wing h2817 estc r216940 99828653 99828653 33084 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44509) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 33084) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1966:06) an account of what happen'd in the kingdom of sweden in the years 1669, and 1670 and upwards in relation to some persons that were accused for witches; and tryed and executed by the kings command. together with the particulars of a very sad accident that befel a boy at malmoe in schonen in the year, 1678. by the means of witchcraft, attested by the ablest and most judicious men of that town. both translated out of high-dutch into english, by anthony horneck d.d. horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. [16], 24, [2] p. : ill. printed for s. lownds, [london] : 1682. with a final errata leaf. reproduction of the original in the bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng witchcraft -early works to 1800. sweden -history -17th century -early works to 1800. 2003-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-10 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-11 paul schaffner sampled and proofread 2004-11 paul schaffner text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an account of what happen'd in the kingdom of sweden in the years 1669 , and 1670 and upwards . in relation to some persons that were accused for witches ; and tryed and executed by the kings command . together with the particulars of a very sad accident that befel a boy at malmoe in schonen in the year , 1678. by the means of witchcraft , attested by the ablest and most judicious men of that town . both translated out of high-dutch into english , by anthony horneck d. d. printed for s. lownds , 1682. the translators preface to the reader , shewing what credit may be given to the matter of fact related in the ensuing narrative . that we are to believe nothing , but what we have seen , is a rule so false , that we dare not call our selves rational creatures , and avouch it ; yet as irrational as the maxim is , 't is become modish with some men , and those no very mean wits neither , to make use of it ; and though they will hardly own it in its full latitude , yet when it comes to particulars , let the reasons to the contrary be never so pregnant or convincing , they 'll hugg it as their sacred anchor , and laugh at all those credulous wretches , that without seeing , are so easily chous'd into an imprudent confidence . and this pitiful stratagem we find practised in no affair so much , as that of spirits and witches , and apparitions , which must all be fancies , and hypocondriack dreams , and the effects of distempered brains , because their own are so dull as not to be able to pierce into those mysteries . i do not deny but the imagination may be , and is sometime deluded ; and melancholy people may fancy they hear voices , and see very strange things , which have no other foundation but their own weakness , and like bubbles break into air , and nothing , by their own vanity . yet as no man doth therefore take unpolisht diamonds to be pebbles , because they do look like them , so neither must all passages of this nature , we hear or read of , be traduced as self-conceit , or derided as old wives fables , because some smell strong of imposture and sophistication . we believe men of reason and experience , and free from fumes , when a person of ordinary intellectuals finds no great credit with us ; and if we think our selves wise for so doing , why should any man so much forget himself , as to be an infidel in point of such phaenomena's , when even the most judicious men have had experience of such passages ? it seems to me no less than madness to contradict what both wise and unwise men do unanimously agree in ; and how jews , heathens , mahometans , and christians , both learned and unlearned , should come to conspire into this cheat , as yet seems to me unaccountable . if some few melancholy monks , or old women had seen such ghosts and apparitions , we might then suspect , that what they pretend to have seen might be nothing , but the effect of a disordered imagination ; but when the whole world , as it were , and men of all religions , men of all ages too , have been forced by strong evidences , to acknowledge the truth of such occurrences , i know not what strength there can be in the argument , drawn from the consent of nations in things of a sublimer nature , if here it be of no efficacy . men that have attempted to evade the places of scripture , which speak of ghosts and witches ; we see , how they are forced to turn and wind the texts , and make in a manner noses of wax of them , and rather squeeze than gather the sence , as if the holy writers had spoke like sophisters , and not like men , who made it their business to condescend to the capacity of the common people . let a man put no force at all on those passages of holy writ , and then try what sence they are like to yield . it 's strange to see , how some men have endeavoured to elude the story of the witch of endor ; and as far as i can judge , play more hocus-pocus tricks in the explication of that passage , than the witch herself did in raising the deceased samuel . to those straits is falshood driven , while truth loves plain , and undisguised expressions ; and errour will seek out holes and labyrinths to hide it self , while truth plays above-board , and scorns the subterfuges of the sceptick interpreter . men and brethren , why should it seem a thing incredible with you , that god should permit spirits to appear , and the devil to exert his power among men on earth ? hath god ever engaged his word to the contrary ? or is it against the nature of spirits to form themselves new vehicles and visible shapes , or to animate grosser substances to shew themselves to mortals upon certain occasions ? i am so much a prophet , as to foresee what will be the fate of the ensuing story , nor can i suppose that upon the reading of it , mens verdicts will be much changed from what they were , if they have set up this resolution , to believe nothing that looks like the shadow of an apparition , though the things mentioned here , cannot be unknown to any that have been conversant with foreign affairs of late years . and though there cannot be a greater evidence , than the testimony of a whole kingdom , yet your nicer men will think it a disparagement to them to believe it ; nor will it ever extort assent from any , that build the reputation of their wit upon contradicting what hath been received by the vulgar . the passages here related wrought so great a consternation , not onely on the natives , but strangers too , that the heer christian rumpf , then resident for the states general at stockholm , thought himself obliged to send away his little son for holland , lest he should be endangered by those villanous practices , which seem'd to threaten all the inhabitants of the kingdom . and be that doubts of it , may be satisfied at dr. harrel's in st. james's park , to whom the letter was written . and a friend of mine in town , being then in holstein , remembers very well that the duke of holstein sent an express to the king of sweden to know the truth of this famous witchcraft : to whom the king modestly replied , that his judges and commissioners had caused divers men , women , and children to be burnt and executed upon such pregnant evidences , as were brought before them ; but whether the actions they confessed , and which were proved against them , were real , or onely effects of strong imagination , he was not as yet able to determine . add to all this , that the circumstances mentioned in the ensuing narrative , as i am informed , are at this day to be seen in the royal chancery at stockholm ; and a person of my acquaintance offered me to procure copy of them under the hands of publick registers , if i desired it : not to mention that in the year 72. baron sparr , who was sent embassador from the crown of sweden to the court of england , did upon his word aver the matter of fact recorded here , to be undoubtedly true , to several persons of note and eminency , with other particulars , stranger than those set down in these papers . and to this purpose divers letters were sent from sweden and hamburgh to several persons here in london ; insomuch , that should a man born in , or acquainted with those parts , hear any person dispute the truth of it , he would wonder where people have lived , or what sullen humour doth possess them , to disbelieve that , which so many thousands in that kingdom have felt the sad effect of . since the first edition , it hath been my fortune to be acquainted with the lord leyonberg , envoy extraordinary from the king of sweden , living in york buildings , with whom discoursing about these affairs , i found that the account he gave , agreed for the most part with what is mentioned in the narrative ; and because his testimony , being a publick person , may be of some moment in a thing relating to that kingdom , i have here set it down in his own words . having read this narrative , i could do no less , then upon the request of the translator and publisher of this story , acknowledge , that to my best remembrance , and according to the best reports that have been made to me , the matter of fact mentioned in it , is true , and that the witches confessed such things , and were accordingly executed . witness my hand , leyonbergh , london , march 8 , 1682. i do not take upon me to justifie the truth of what the witches said , for dealing with the father of lies , it 's probable , veracity is not a vertue , that they greatly study , yet that the devil speaks truth sometimes , is a thing so far from being impossible , that if we give credit to the sacred history , we must grant that all , he saith , is not false , or erroneous . all , i design at this time , is only to suggest , that it is not altogether irrational to conceive , that he or his emissaries are capable of such actions and pranks , as are related in these papers . that a spirit can lift up men and women , and grosser substances , and convey them through the air , i question no more , than i doubt that the wind can overthrow houses , or drive stones , and other heavy bodies upward from their centre . and were i to make a person of a dull understanding , apprehend the nature of a spirit , i would represent it to him under the notion of an intelligent wind , or a strong wind , informed by a highly rational soul ; as a man may be called an intelligent piece of earth . and this notion david seemed to favour , when speaking of these creatures , psal. 104.4 . he tells us , that god makes his angels wind , for in the original it's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and most certainly , if they be so , they must be reasonable windy substances ; nor doth the expression , which immediately follows in that verse , cross this exposition , viz. that he makes his ministers a flaming fire ; for it 's no new opinion , that some of those invisible substances are of a fiery , and others of an airy nature ; and as we see , god gives rational creatures here on earth , bodies composed of grosser matter , why should it seem incougruous for him to give rational creatures above us , bodies of a subtiler and thinner matter , or such matter , as those higher regions do afford ? and if wind breaking forth from the cavernes of hills , and mountains have such force , as makes us very often stand amazed at the effects , what energy might we suppose to be in wind , were it inform'd by reason , or a reasonable being ? and though i cannot comprehend the philosophy of the devils committing venereal acts , and having children , and those children upon their copulation bringing forth toads and serpents , yet i can very rationally conceive , that having more than ordinary power over matter , he can either animate dead bodies , and by the help of them commit those villanies , which modesty bids us to conceal ; or some other way compound , and thicken atomes into what shape he pleases , especially if he meet with no hinderance from a higher power . and he that was permitted , as we see in the gospel , to possess and actuate living men , and do with them almost what he pleased , why may not he commit wickedness by such instruments , and cast mists before the witches eyes , that they may not know who they are ? and he that could in aegypt produce frogs , either real or counterfeit ones , why may not he be supposed to be able to produce such toads and serpents out of any mishapen creatures , and lumps of matter , of his own compounding , at least represent the shapes of them to the deluded witches , that they shall imagine them to be really such things , as they seem to be . nor is this to be admired in the devil more than tricks are in juglers , who by slight of art can represent things to the ignorant spectator , which he shall be ready to swear to be real , though they are nothing less , and i suppose we may allow the the devill a greater degree of cunning , than an ordinary jugler . however , spirits that know the nature of material things better than the deepest philosophers , and understand better , how things are joyned and compounded , and what the ingredients of terrestrial productions are , and see things ( grosser things at least ) in their first principles , and have power over the air , and other elements , and have a thousand ways of shaping things and representing them to the external senses of vicious men , what may not they be supposed to be able to do , ( if they have but gods permission to exert their power ) and that god doth sometimes permit such things , we have reason to believe , who read what signs and wonders simon magus , and apollonius tyanaeus wrought by the power of darkness , and how not a few men sin to that degree , that god suffers them to be led captive by the devil , and dooms them to that slavery we read of in the revelation , he that is filthy , let him be filthy still . spirits by being devils do not lose their nature ; and let any man in sober sadness consider , what spirits are said to be able to do in scripture , and what they have done , and compare those passages with what is said in the following relation , and he will not think those things , the witches confessed , altogether impossible . yet still , as i said before , i do not pretend to be their advocate , but shall leave it to the reader to judge of the truth , or untruth of their confessions , as he sees occasion , only beg of him not to condemn every thing as a falshood , before due consideration of what spirits are capable of doing . that in so great a multitude as were accused , condemned , and executed for witches , there might be some who suffered unjustly , and owed their death more to the malice of their neighbours , than to their skill in the black art , i will readily grant ; nor will i deny , that when the news of these transactions , and how the children bewitched , fell into fits , and strange unusual postures , spread abroad in the kingdom , some fearful and credulous people , if they saw their children any way disordered , might think they were bewitched , or ready to be carried away by imps ; this happens in all consternations , and our fears make us see that , which unbyassed eyes cannot perceive ; and of this a gentleman who was an ear-witness , gave me this instance , of a ministers child of his acquaintance not far from stockholm , who being told , and assured by his wife , that the child was carried to blockula every night , and convey'd back into his bed again , resolved to sit up with the boy , and see whether any devil durst be so bold as to snatch him out of his arms . the child went to bed , and between twelve and one of the clock at night , began to groan in his sleep , and seemed to shiver a little , at the sight whereof the mother began to weep and mourn , thinking that the child was just going to be snatcht away , but her husband smiling at the conceit , and pleading with her , that the childs laying his arms out of bed might be the cause of these symptomes , took the child in his arms , and there kept him till towards two or three of the clock , but no spirit came or medled with him , yet was his wife so possessed with the conceit , or fear of transportation , that his strongest arguments could scarce make her believe the contrary ; and the same person , ( a near relation of the aforesaid envoy ) added , how much malice and ill nature was able to effect , whereof he gave this example , which himself saw , and could testifie the truth of , viz. how in the year , 1676. at stockholme , a young woman accused her own mother of being a witch , and swore positively , that she had carried her away at night ; whereupon both the judges and ministers of the town exhorted her to confession and repentance ; but she stifly denied the allegations , pleaded innocence , and though they burnt another witch before her face , and lighted the fire , she her self was to burn in , before her , yet she still justified her self , and continued to do so to the last , and continuing so , was burnt . she had indeed been a very bad woman , but it seems this crime she was free from , for within a fortnight , or three weeks after , her daughter which had accused her , came to the judges in open court ( weeping and howling ) and confessed that she had wronged her mother , and unjustly out of a spleen , she had against her for not gratifying her in a thing , she desired , had charged her with that crime which she was as innocent of , as the child unborn ; whereupon the judges gave order for her execution too . there is no publick calamity , but some ill people will serve themselves of the sad providence , and make use of it for their own ends , as thieves , when a house or town is on fire , will steal and filch what they can ; yet as there is no fable , but hath some foundation in history , so when wicked people make use of such arguments against the persons they hate , it 's a sign there was such a thing , that gave them occasion to fix the calumny ; and had not such things been done before , they could not have any colour for their villany . i could add a known passage , that happen'd in the year 1659. at crossen in silesia , of an apothecary's servant . the chief magistrate of that town at that time was the princess elizabeth charlotta , a person famous in her generation . in the spring of the year one christopher monigk , a native of serbest , a town belonging to the princes of anhalt , servant to an apothecary , died and was buried with the usual ceremonies of the lutheran church . a few days after his decease , a shape exactly like him in face , clothes , stature , meen , &c. appeared in the apothecaries shop , where he would set himself down , and walk sometimes , and take the boxes , pots , glasses off of the shelves , and set them again in their places , and sometimes try , and examine the goodness of the medicines , weigh them in a pair of scales , pound the drugs with a mighty noise in a mortar , nay , serve the people , that came with their bills to the shop , take their money , and lay it up safe in the counter ; in a word , do all things that a journey-man in such cases uses to do . he looked very ghastly upon those , that had been his fellow servants , who were afraid to say any thing to him ; and his master being sick at that time of the gout , he was often very troublesome to him , would take the bills that were brought him , out of his hand , snatch away the candle sometimes , and put it behind the stove ; at last , he took a cloak that hung in the shop , put it on and walked abroad , but minding no body in the streets , went along , entred into some of the citizens houses , and thrust himself into company , especially of such as he had formerly known , yet saluted no body , nor spoke to any one but to a maid servant , whom he met hard by the church-yard , and desired to go home to his masters house , and dig in a ground-chamber , where she would find an inestimable treasure ; but the maid amazed at the sight of him , sounded ; whereupon he lift her up , but left such a mark upon her flesh with lifting her , that it was to be seen for some time after . the maid having recovered her self , went home , but fell desperately sick upon 't , and in her sickness discovered what monigk had said to her ; and accordingly they digged in the place , she had named , but found nothing but an old decayed pot , with a haematites or blood-stone in it . the princess hereupon caused the young mans body to be digged up , which they found putrified with purulent matter , flowing from it ; and the master being advised to remove the young mans goods , linnen , clothes , and things , he left behind him when he died , out of the house , the spirit thereupon left the house , and was heard of no more . and this some people now living will take their oath upon , who very well remember they saw him after his decease , and the thing being so notorius , there was instituted a publick disputation about it in the academy of leipsig * by one henry conrad , who disputed for his doctors degree in the university . and this puts me in mind of an apothecary at reichenbach in silesia , about fifteen years ago ( i had it from a very credible witness ) who after his death appeared to divers of his acquaintance , and cryed out , that in his life time he had poisoned several men with his drugs . whereupon the magistrates of the town after consultation , took up his body , and burnt it ; which being done , the spirit disappeared , and was seen no more . but if the stories related in the preceding book are not sufficient to convince men , i am sure an example from beyond sea , will gain no credit . it 's enough that i have shewn reasons which may induce my reader to believe that he is not imposed upon by the following narrative ; and that it is not in the nature of those pamphlets , they cry about the streets , containing very dreadful news from the country , of armies fighting in the air. a relation of the strange vvitchcraft discovered in the village mohra in swedeland , taken out of the publick register of the lords commissioners appointed by his majesty the king of sweden to examine the whole business , in the years of our lord 1669. and 1670. the news of this witchcraft coming to the king's ear , his majesty was pleased to appoint commissioners , some of the clergy , and some of the laity , to make a journey to the town aforesaid , and to examine the whole business ; and accordingly the examination was ordered to be on the 13th of august ; and the commissioners met on the 12th instant , in the said village , at the parsons house , to whom both the minister and several people of fashion complained with tears in their eyes , of the miserable condition they were in , and therefore begg'd of them to think of some way , whereby they might be delivered from that calamity . they gave the commissioners very strange instances of the devils tyranny among them ; how by the help of witches , he had drawn some hundreds of children to him , and made them subject to his power ; how he hath been seen to go in a visible shape through the country , and appeared daily to the people ; how he had wrought upon the poorer sort , by presenting them with meat and drink , and this way allured them to himself , with other circumstances to be mentioned hereafter . the inhabitants of the village added , with very great lamentations , that though their children had told all , and themselves sought god very earnestly by prayer , yet they were carried away by him ; and therefore begg'd of the lords commissioners to root out this hellish crew , that they might regain their former rest and quietness ; and the rather , because the children which used to be carried away in the county or district of elfdale , since some witches had been burnt there , remained unmolested . that day , i. e. the 13 th of august , being the last humiliation-day instituted by authority for removing of this judgment , the commissioners went to church , where there appeared a considerable assembly both of young and old : the children could read most of them , and sing psalms , and so could the women , though not with any great zeal or fervor . there were preached two sermons that day , in which the miserable case of those people , that suffered themselves to be deluded by the devil , was laid open ; and these sermons were at last concluded with very fervent prayer . the publick worship being over , all the people of the town were called together to the parsons house , near three thousand of them . silence being commanded , the kings commission was read publickly in the hearing of them all , and they were charged under very great penalties to conceal nothing of what they knew , and to say nothing but the truth ; those especially , who were guilty , that the children might be delivered from the clutches of the devil . they all promised obedience ; the guilty feignedly , but the guiltless weeping and crying bitterly . on the 14th of august the commissioners met again , consulting how they might withstand this dangerous flood ; after long deliberation , an order also coming from his majesty , they did resolve to execute such , as the matter of fact could be proved upon ; examination being made , there were discovered no less than threescore and ten in the village aforesaid , three and twenty of which freely confessing their crimes , were condemned to dye ; the rest , one pretending she was with child , and the other denying and pleading not guilty , were sent to fahluna , where most of them were aftewards executed . fifteen children which likewise confessed that they were engaged in this witchery , died as the rest ; six and thirty of them between nine and sixteen years of age , who had been less guilty , were forced to run the gantlet ; twenty more , who had no great inclination , yet had been seduced to those hellish enterprizes , because they were very young , were condemned to be lash'd with rods upon their hands , for three sundays together at the church-door ; and the aforesaid six and thirty were also doom'd to be lashed this way once a week for a whole year together . the number of the seduced children was about three hundred . on the twenty fifth of august , execution was done upon the notoriously guilty , the day being bright and glorious , and the sun shining , and some thousands of people being present at the spectacle . the order and method observed in the examination was thus : first , the commissioners and the neighbouring justices went to prayer ; this done , the witches , who had most of them children with them , which they either had seduced , or attempted to seduce , from four years of age to sixteen , were set before them . some of the children complained lamentably of the misery and mischief they were forced sometime to suffer of the witches . the children being asked whether they were sure , that they were at any time carried away by the devil ; they all declared they were , begging of the commissioners that they might be freed from that intolerable slavery . hereupon the witches themselves were asked , whether the confessions of these children were true , and admonished to confess the truth , that they might turn away from the devil unto the living god. at first , most of them did very stifly , and without shedding the least tear deny it , though much against their will and inclination . after this , the children were examined , every one by themselves , to see whether their confessions did agree or no ; and the commissioners found that all of them , except some very little ones , who could not tell all the circumstances , did punctually agree in the confession of particulars . in the mean while the commissioners that were of the clergy examined the witches , but could not bring them to any confession , all continuing stedfast in their denials , till at last some of them burst out into tears , and their confession agreed with what the children had said . and these expressed their abhorrency of the fact , and begg'd pardon ; adding , that the devil , whom they call'd loeyta , had stopt the mouths of some of them , and stopt the ears of others ; and being now gone from them , they could no longer conceal it , for they now perceived his treachery . the confession which the witches made in elfdale , to the judges there , agreed with the confession they made at mohra : and the chief things they confessed , consisted in these three points . 1. whither they used to go . 2. what kind of place it was , they went to , called by them blockula , where the witches and the devil used to meet . 3. what evil or mischief they had either done , or designed there . 1. of their journey to blockula . the contents of their confession . we of the province of elfdale , do confess that we used to go to a gravel-pit which lay hard by a cross-way , and there we put on a vest over our heads , and then danced round , and after this ran to the cross-way , and called the devil thrice , first with a still voice , the second time somewhat louder , and the third time very loud , with these words , antecessor come and carry us to blockula . whereupon , immediately he used to appear , but in different habits ; but for the most part we saw him in a gray coat , and red and blew stockings : he had a red beard , a high-crown'd hat , with linnen of divers colours wrapt about it , and long garters upon his stockings . then he asked us , whether we would serve him with soul and body . if we were content to do so , he set us on a beast which he had there ready , and carried us over churches and high walls ; and after all , we came to a green meadow , where blockula lies . we must procure some scrapings of altars , and filings of church-clocks ; and then he gives us a horn with a salve in it , wherewith we do anoint our selves ; and a saddle , with a hammer and a wooden nail , thereby to fix the saddle ; whereupon we call upon the devil , and away we go . those that were of the town of mohra , made in a manner the same declaration : being asked whether they were sure of a real personal transportation , and whether they were awake when it was done ; they all answered in the affirmative , and that the devil sometimes laid something down in the place that was very like them . but one of them confessed , that he did onely take away her strength , and her body lay still upon the ground ; yet sometimes he took even her body with him . being asked , how they could go with their bodies through chimneys and broken panes of glass , they said , that the devil did first remove all that might hinder them in their flight , and so they had room enough to go . others were asked , how they were able to carso many children with them ; and they answered , that when the children were asleep they came into the chamber , laid hold of the children , which straightway did awake , and asked them whether they would go to a feast with them ? to which some answered , yes , others , no ; yet they were all forced to go . they only gave the children a shirt , a coat and a doublet , which was either red or blew , and so they did set them upon a beast of the devils providing , and then they rid away . the children confessed the same thing ; and some added , that because they had very fine clothes put upon them , they were very willing to go . some of the children concealed it from their parents , but others discover'd it to them presently . the witches declared moreover , that till of late they never had that power to carry away children , but onely this year and the last , and the devil did at this time force them to it ; that heretofore it was sufficient to carry but one of their children , or a strangers child with them , which yet hapned seldom , but now he did plague them and whip them if they did not procure him children , insomuch that they had no peace nor quiet for him ; and whereas formerly one journey a week would serve turn , from their own town to the place aforesaid , now they were forced to run to other towns and places for children , and that they brought with them , some fifteen , some sixteen children every night . for their journey , they said they made use of all sorts of instruments , of beasts , of men , of spits and posts , according as they had opportunity : if they do ride upon goats , and have many children with them , that all may have room , they stick a spit into the back-side of the goat , and then are anointed with the aforesaid ointment . what the manner of their journey is , god alone knows : thus much was made out , that if the children did at any time name the names of those that had carried them away , they were again carried by force either to blockula , or to the cross-way , and there miserably beaten , insomuch that some of them died of it : and this some of the witches confessed ; and added , that now they were exceedingly troubled and tortured in their minds for it . the children thus used lookt mighty bleak , wan , and beaten . the marks of the lashes , the judges could not perceive in them , except in one boy , who had some wounds and holes in his back , that were given him with thorns ; but the witches said , they would quickly vanish . after this usage the children are exceeding weak ; and if any be carried over-night , they cannot recover themselves the next day ; and they often fall into fits , the coming of which they know by an extraordinary paleness that seizes on the children ; and if a fit comes upon them , they lean on their mothers arms , who sit up with them sometimes all night ; and when they observe the paleness coming , shake the children , but to no purpose . they observe further , that their childrens breasts grow cold at such times ; and they take sometimes a burning candle and stick it in their hair , which yet is not burnt by it . they swoun upon this paleness , which swoun lasteth sometimes half an hour , sometimes an hour , sometimes two hours , and when the children come to themselves again , they mourn and lament , and groan most miserably , and beg exceedingly to be eased : this two old men declared upon oath before the judges , and called all the inhabitants of the town to witness , as persons that had most of them experience of this strange symptome of their children . a little girl of elfdale confessed , that naming the name of iesus as she was carried away ▪ she fell suddenly upon the ground , and got a great hole in her side , which the devil presently healed up again , and away he carried her ; and to this day the girl confessed , she had exceeding great pain in her side . another boy confessed too , that one day he was carried away by his mistress , and to perform the journey he took his own fathers horse out of the meadow where it was , and upon his return , she let the horse go in her own ground . the next morning the boys father sought for his horse , and not finding it , gave it over for lost ; but the boy told him the whole story , and so his father fetcht the horse back again ; and this one of the witches confessed . 2. of the place where they used to assemble , called blockula , and what they did there . they unanimously confessed , that blockula is situated in a delicate large meadow , whereof you can see no end . the place or house they met at , had before it a gate painted with divers colours ; through this gate they went into a little meadow distinct from the other , where the beasts went , that they used to ride on : but the men whom they made use of in their journey , stood in the house by the gate in a slumbering posture , sleeping against the wall. in a huge large room of this house , they said , there stood a very long table , at which the witches did sit down : and that hard by this room was another chamber , where there were very lovely and delicate beds . the first thing they said , they must do at blockula was , that they must deny all , and devote themselves body and soul to the devil , and promise to serve him faithfully , and confirm all this with an oath . hereupon they cut their fingers , and with their bloud writ their name in his book . they added , that he caused them to be baptized too by such priests as he had there , and made them confirm their baptism with dreadful oaths and imprecations . hereupon the devil gave them a purse , wherein there were filings of clocks with a stone tied to it , which they threw into the water , and then were forced to speak these words ; as these filings of the clock do never return to the clock from which they are taken , so may my soul never return to heaven . to which they add blasphemy and other oaths and curses . the mark of their cut fingers is not found in all of them : but a girl who had been slashed over her finger , declared , that because she would not stretch out her finger , the devil in anger had so cruelly wounded it . after this they sate down to table ; and those that the devil esteemed most , were placed nearest to him ; but the children must stand at the door , where he himself gives them meat and drink . the diet they did use to have there , was , they said , broth with colworts and bacon in it , oatmeal , bread spread with butter , milk , and cheese . and they added , that sometimes it tasted very well , and sometimes very ill . after meals they went to dancing , and in the mean while swore and cursed most dreadfully , and afterward went to fighting one with another . those of elfdale confessed , that the devil used to play upon an harp before them , and afterwards to go with them that he liked best , into a chamber , where he committed venereous acts with them ; and this indeed all confessed , that he had carnal knowledge of them , and that the devil had sons and daughters by them , which he did marry together , and they did couple , and brought forth toads and serpents . one day the devil seemed to be dead , whereupon there were great lamentations at blockula ; but he soon awaked again . if he hath a mind to be merry with them , he lets them all ride upon spits before him ; takes afterwards the spits and beats them black and blue , and then laughs at them . and he bids them believe , that the day of judgment will come speedily , and therefore sets them on work to build a great house of stone , promising , that in that house he will preserve them from god's fury , and cause them to enjoy the greatest delights and pleasures : but while they work exceeding hard at it , there falls a great part of the wall down again , whereby some of the witches are commonly hurt , which makes him laugh , but presently he cures them again . they said , they had seen sometimes a very great devil like a dragon , with fire round about him , and bound with an iron chain ; and the devil , that converses with them tells them , that if they confess any thing , he will let that great devil loose upon them , whereby all swedeland shall come into great danger . they added , that the devil had a church there , such another as in the town of mohra . when the commissioners were coming , he told the witches , they should not fear them ; for he would certainly kill them all . and they confessed , that some of them had attempted to murther the commissioners , but had not been able to effect it . some of the children talked much of a white angel , which used to forbid them what the devil had bid them do , and told them that those doings should not last long ; what had been done , had been permitted because of the wickedness of the people , and the carrying away of the children should be made manifest . and they added , that this white angel would place himself sometimes at the door betwixt the witches and the children ; and when they came to blockula , he pulled the children back , but the witches , they went in . 3. of the mischief or evil which the witches promised to do to men and beasts . they confessed , that they were to promise the devil , that they would do all that 's ill ; and that the devil taught them to milk , which was in this wise : they used to stick a knife in the wall , and hang a kind of a label on it , which they drew and stroaked ; and as long as this lasted , the persons that they had power over , were miserably plagued , and the beasts were milked that way , till sometimes they died of it . a woman confessed , that the devil gave her a wooden knife , wherewith , going into houses ; she had power to kill any thing , she touched with it ; yet there were few , that would confess , that they had hurt any man or woman . being asked whether they had murthered any children , they confessed , that they had indeed tormented many , but did not know , whether any of them died of those plagues . and added , that the devil had shewed them several places , where he had power to do mischief . the minister of elfdale declared , that one night these vvitches , were to his thinking , upon the crown of his head , and that from thence he had had a long continued pain of the head. one of the witches confessed too , that the devil had sent her to torment that minister : and that she was ordered to use a nail and strike it into his head , but it would not enter very deep ; and hence came that head-ach . the aforesaid minister said also , that one night he felt a pain , as if he were torn with an instrument , that they cleanse flax with , or a flax-comb ; and when he waked , he heard somebody scratching and scraping at the window , but could see no-body . and one of the witches confessed , that she was the person that did it , being sent by the devil . the minister of mohra declared also , that one night one of these witches came into his house , and did so violently take him by the throat , that he thought , he should have been choaked ; and waking , he saw the person that did it , but could not know her ; and that for some weeks he was not able to speak , or perform divine service . an old woman of elfdale confessed , that the devil had holpen her to make a nail , which she struck into a boys knee , of which stroke the boy remained same a long time . and she added , that before she burnt , or was executed by the hand of justice , the boy would recover . they confessed also , that the devil gives them a beast about the bigness and shape of a young cat , which they call a carrier ; and that he gives them a bird too as big as a raven , but white . and these two creatures they can send any where ; and where-ever they come , they take away all sorts of victuals they can get , butter , cheese , milk , bacon , and all sorts of seeds whatever they find , and carry it to the witch . what the bird brings they may keep for themselves ; but what the carrier brings , they must reserve for the devil , and that 's brought to blockula , where he doth give them of it so much , as he thinks fit . they added likewise , that these carriers fill themselves so full sometimes , that they are forced to spew by the way , which spewing is found in several gardens , where colworts grow , and not far from the houses of those witches . it is of a yellow colour like gold , and is called butter of witches . the lords commissioners were indeed very earnest , and took great pains to perswade them to shew some of their tricks , but to no purpose ; for they did all unanimously confess , that since they had confessed all , they found that all their witchcraft was gone , and that the devil at this time appeared to them very terrible , with claws on his hands and feet , and with horns on his head , and a long tail behind , and shewed to them a pit burning , with a hand put out ; but the devil did thrust the person down again with an iron-fork ; and suggested to the witches , that if they continued in their confession , he would deal with them in the same manner . the abovesaid relation is taken out of the publick register , where all this is related with more circumstances . and at this time through all the countrey there are prayers weekly in all churches , to the end that almighty god would pull down the devils power , and deliver those poor creatures , which have hither to groaned under it . an account of what happen'd to a boy at malmoe in schonen in the year 1678. supposed to be done by witchcraft , and attested by the ablest , and most judicious men of that town . having in the preface to the foregoing narrative taken notice of the swedish envoy extraordinary , it may not be unsuitable to the subject , these papers treat of , to give the world an account of a very strange passage , which the said envoy hath taken very great pains to satisfie himself in ; and of which he hath the publick testimony of the town , where it was done , by him . no longer ago than in the year 1678. an alderman or senator's son of malmoe in schonen , a city belonging to the king of sweden , the boy being then about thirteen years of age , his name abraham mechelburg , going to school one morning , as the custom is in that place about six of the clock , stay'd there till eight , and then went home for his breakfast , which when he had eaten , he was going back to school again , when just before the door close by the lowermost step , there lay a little bundle of linen rags , which the lad out of curiosity took up and open'd , but found nothing in it , but partly pins , some crooked , some laid across , some without points , partly broken horse-nails , and nails without heads , partly horse-hair , and such trash , which when it answered not his expectation , he rent asunder , and threw away . some few days after , the boy fell ill , and continued so for some time , no physician being able to guess what ailed him . at last he began to void little stones , at the orifice of the penis , which by degrees came forth bigger and bigger , some were perfect pebles of all sorts of colours , and in process of time , there came forth great uneven stones like pieces of rocks , as if they were broken off of a greater stone , whereof the envoy hath two by him , one given him by the father of the boy ; and the other by the kings chirurgeon , both which i have thought fit to give the reader the dimensions of . before the stones came forth , there was a strange motion in his belly , as if something were alive in it , the stones seemed to crack within , and something they heard , as if a great stone were violently broken , and at this time he felt the greatest pain . when the stones were ready to come forth , the penis was drawn in so deep , that the standers by could not perceive any thing of it ; and after that , it dropt those prodigious stones , which seem rather to be fetch'd from quarries , than produced by any saline or nitrous matter in the body . the stone i have given the figure of , is of a reddish colour , with some grains of white in it , heavy , and such as lie in common roads and highways . when the stones came forth , the boy felt no pain , the pain being most upon him , when the stones within seem'd to crack , and a little before ; and the fit was then so violent , that four or five men were forced to hold him . the boy in the mean while slept well at night , eat , and drank as heartily as ever , discomposed at no time , but when the fit of voiding these stones was coming upon him . this lasted two years : the parents had the boy pray'd for at church , and instantly besought god at home , whenever any of those fits came upon him , to turn the stream and to stop the devils power . the boy is now as well as ever , rides abroad , and doth all things as he used to do before this accident befel him . the envoy spoke both with the father and the boy , and tells me , they are no indigent people , but well to pass , and persons of very good reputation in the town of malmoe . while this misfortune lasted , the king of sueden being then but a little way off , sent some of his chirurgeons to the place , to know the truth thereof , who were by , when the lad voided very strange stones at the orifice of the penis , and gave the king an account of it : one of them to be throughly satisfied , held his hand under the penis after it was drawn in , and there dropt a very odd stone , broad and angular into his hand . the envoy being upon the place last year , enquired of all people , whom he thought might not be very credulous , who unanimously bore witness of the thing ; and upon his request gave him the following account , which i have translated out of the original . a. h. be it known , that during the years , 1678. and 1679. a very wonderful thing happened in this city of malmoe , to one of the aldermen of the town , his name john mechelburg , and his wife 's abla kruthmeyer ; for god having blessed them with three sons , one of them abraham by name , a boy at this time aged about sixteen years , hath been very strangely afflicted with a praeternatural voiding of stones , insomuch that during the space of those two years , he hath through the virga of the penis voided several hundreds of stones great and small , which being weighed together , weighed no less than one and twenty pound , averdu-poise some weighing 6 , some 7. some 8. some 9 ounces , full of angles , and much like pieces of a rock that 's broken by force , or instruments fit for that purpose . these broken stones sometimes came forth at the boys mouth , sometimes he voided them by siege , and the parents of the child have confidently assured , us that before this misfortune , the boy had been sick several weeks together , and kept his bed ; during which sickness something was seen moving in his body , as if it had been some live thing . after this sickness there appeared the stones aforesaid ; the first that came forth , exceeded not the bigness of half a pea , but in a short time after , they increased to a greater bulk ; when they were ready to come away , the boy complained much of the spine of his back , where , as he said , he found incredible pain . while this lasted , he neither made water , nor went to stool sometimes in two months , sometimes not in a quarter of a year ; sometimes the stones , when they were past through the virga appeared bloudy , and upon one of them there appeared a kind of talch . notwithstanding all this misery , the boy continued to eat his meat very heartily , nor was he troubled with this pain at all in the night , but slept quietly , as he used to do . about the latter end of this unexampled passion and misery , a matter of 64 stones , for the most part small , came forth very fast one upon the neck of another , and since the 20th of september 1679. this misfortune hath totally left him , and he is as well as ever ; nor is there after all those torments any defect to be found , or perceived either in his body , or the aforesaid member of the boy , but he continues safe and sound unto this day . and whereas in all probability , abundance of men , because they have not been eye-witnesses , will deride these passages , as fabulous , we whose names are under-written , upon the request and desire of the lord john leyonberg , envoy extraordinary of sueden , have once more spoken and conferred with the parents of the boy , who have shewed us the abovesaid stones , and given us one of the biggest , as a present , and do hereby testifie that the passages related in the premises , are undoubtedly true , which testimony we have also signed with our own hands , that in case the aforesaid envoy coming into foreign parts , shall have occasion to speak of these things , men may give credit to his relation . given at malmoe this 20th of september , 1680. christophorus rostius , med. d. & prof. nicolaus hambraus , pastor & praepositus malmoy . wilhelmus laurembergius , v. d. m. malmoy . martinus torstorrius , comminister , ibid. sigismund aschenborn , consul malmoy . primar . john caspar heublin consil. malmoy . ephraim koldewey , chirurgion to the garison . the dimensions of the two stones mentioned in these papers . advertisement . when the boys father , gave the envoy the bigger stone , he added this testimonial or certificate under his own hand , in the year of our lord , 1678. novemb. 30. this stone came away from my son abraham mechelburg through the virga of the penis , weighing three ounces , and upward . malmoe april 26. 1680. john mechelburg . the lesser stone was given to the envoy , by one of the king of sueden's chirurgions , that held his hand to the orifice of the penis , and felt and saw it drop into his hand . finis . the chief errata of the first part correct them : in the postscript . pag. 46. 1 , 19. r. might give , p. 47. l. 30. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . in the considerations about witchcraft . the epistle dedicatory . pag. 2. l. 25. r. whisling . p. 4. l. 15. r. not need . p. 22. l. 10. r. contact . p. 25. l. 2. r. improbability . p. 31. l. 14. r. as those . p. 42. l. 28. r. portents . p. 67. l. 23. r. on a. p. 72. l. 4. r. why sheuld . p. 100. l. 19. r. symmt●t● . p. 101. l. 28. r. with what p. 104. l. 14. r. specifically different . p. 105. l. 15. r. as if . p. 113. l. 16. r. at least . p. 118. l. 17. r. sited . p. 119. l. 20. r. into it . p. 121. l. 30. r. object . p. 126. l. 14. r. of it self . p. 127. 1. 9. r. differentia . p. 135. 1. 30. r. contraction . p. 144. 1. ●5 . r. so many . p. 152. l. 9. r. hole●merians . p. 153. l. 14. r. syner●ergics . p. 159. l. 12. r. is not . in the answer to a letter . &c. pag. 2. l. 25. r. impenetrability . p. 3. l. 6. r. impenetrable . ibid. r. penetrable . l. ●●3 . r. sympathy . p. 4. l. 25. r. in that . p. 10. l. 16. r. brought for . p. 11. l. 16. r. quiescence . p. 15. l. 10. r. can be . p. 17. l. 4. r. in it its . l. 10. r. self-activity , of . p. 19. l. 13. r. inseparably , 1. 16. r. same . whether . p. 23. l. 18. r. this . p. 31. l. 29. r. observing . when. p. 34. l. 10. r. better nature . p. 36. l. 5. r. to consist . p. 37. l. 23. r. of matter . l. 27. r. really such . p. 40. l. 2. r. atomick . p. 45. l. 5. r. so relaxated . l. 24. r. is , no. l. 33. r. if we be . p. 46. l. 5. r. or other . p. 51. l. 18. r. 〈…〉 p. 70. l. 10. r. by its . p. 78. l. 9. r. to of . the errata of the second part correct thus . pag. 33. l. 2. r. whip ! the. p. 47. l. 8. r. samuel l. 29. r. covered with . p. 49. l. 2. r. it was . p. 74. l. 17. r. 1661 , p. 76. l. 10. r. 1661 , p. 92. l. 7. r. was no. l. 22. r. ever . p. 95. l. 18. r. women . p. 138. l. 15. r. the said . p. 164. l. 17. r. metamorphosis . p. 167. l. 29. r. modifie . p. 171. l. 9. r. august . p. 177. l. 5. r. he saw . p. 179. l. 22. r. uncoffined body . l. 29. r. memory . p. 183. l. 1. r. be neither . p. 198. l. 5. her mistress . p. 237. l. 16. r. ceased p. 238. l. 18. r. no noises . p. 241. l. 26. r. his saying . p. 242. l. 12. r. of spirits . p. 252. l. 9. r. ban-water . p. 257. l. 16. r. her . p. 258. l. 2. r. 1677. p. 273. l. 12 r. verae . in the continuation , &c. p , 49. l. 19. r. horblin . in his whip for the droll , p , 43. l. 3. r. scene of things . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44509-e100 * by reason of my absence from the press , there was a mistake in the former edition where it is wittemberg . a sermon preached at the solemnity of the funeral of mrs. dorothy st. john, fourth daughter of the late sir oliver st. john, knight and baronet, of woodford in northamptonshire, in the parish church of st. martins in the fields, on the 24th of june, 1677 by anthony horneck ... horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 1677 approx. 82 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44540 wing h2849 estc r7942 13518602 ocm 13518602 99893 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44540) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 99893) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 790:29) a sermon preached at the solemnity of the funeral of mrs. dorothy st. john, fourth daughter of the late sir oliver st. john, knight and baronet, of woodford in northamptonshire, in the parish church of st. martins in the fields, on the 24th of june, 1677 by anthony horneck ... horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. [4], 34, [1] p. printed for james collins ..., london : 1677. "published at the desire of her relations." advertisement: p. [1] at end. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng st. john, dorothy, d. 1677. bible. -n.t. -romans viii, 20 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2005-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-04 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-05 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2005-05 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon , preached at the solemnity of the funeral of m rs . dorothy st. john , fourth daughter of the late sir oliver st. john , knight and baronet , of woodford in northamptonshire . in the parish church of st. martins in the fields , on the 24 th of june , 1677. by anthony horneck , preacher at the savoy . published at the desire of her relations : london , printed for james collins , in the temple passage from essex street , mdclxxvii . imprimatur , guil. sill , r. p d. episc. lond ▪ a sac. dom. julii 26. 1677. to the honorable the lady barbara st ▪ john . madam , upon your request i have adventured to appear in publick , and expos'd that to common view , which i thought would never have gone farther than my study . not to have yielded to your desires had been uncivility ; and though i am sensible of the weakness of the discourse , yet to pleasure you , i have resolv'd to deny my self in that thing we call credit and reputation ; the rather because in this sermon i have prov'd it to be vanity . the text was of your daughters choosing ; whether she regarded the sound more than the sense , i will not enquire ; but as the different sentiments of divines about this passage , have allow'd it a place in the catalogue of the sublimer mysteries of the gospel ; so if i had had more time to view and correct my comment , it might have come abroad more polish'd , and fitted more to the palate of the age. what nicer men would have made the scene of curious speculations , i have endeavour'd to make as practical as i can , being sensible that our work is to convert souls , not to paint them . in an age so loose as ours , so full of vanity and sin , we had need be very serious and earnest with men to come away from these idols , to serve the living god , and as this shall be my sincere endeavour , while the great master of my life is pleas'd to continue me in the station i am in ; so if i can contribute any thing , either to your ladyships , or your relations spiritual advantage and edification , it will be no small satisfaction to madam , your ladyships most humble servant , anthony horneck . rom. viii . 20. for the creature was made subject unto vanity , not willingly , but by reason of him , who subjected it unto the same in hope . the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or things hard to be understood in this epistle , would almost justifie a man's wish , for st. paul's return to this valley of tears , to explain them . as this epistle hath occasion'd more differences in the world , than any other book of scripture : so we seem to want some heavenly interpreter , more infallible than st. peter's pretended successor at rome , to compose them ; and yet i cannot deny , but that by prayer , and industry , and assiduous reading , and laying aside partiality , and prejudice , and superstitious reverence to our education , and by attending to the scope and drift of the writer , and the circumstances he then was in , and the controversies that vex'd the church in that age ; the mind of the holy ghost , though not in every particular , yet in most things may be known to our comfort and satisfaction . in this chapter the apostle partly directs the roman christians , and partly comforts them , shews them their duty , and their cordial ; lets them see how they must be qualified , if they claim an interest in christ jesus , and how much god is concern'd in the midst of all their afflictions , and persecutions . in his directions which reach from the 1. to the 16. v. he acquaints them , that if they lay hold on the love and favour , and merits of christ jesus , they must mind spiritual things more than temporal , change their bvass , and the spirit of god must be predominant in their souls , govern their inward man , make all their passions stoop , and all their desires bow to his command . in his comforts he is ever stately and magnificent , and doth as it were empty heaven , to bring the blessed trinity , and all the treasures of that glory down into their souls , and having mention'd heavens glory , the reward of all troubled and weary souls ; he knows not how to be large and copious enough upon so rich , so illustrious a subject : and therefore by way of a prosopopoea or figure , whereby we ascribe actions and postures of rational creatures to things either inanimate , or sensitive , he brings in the whole creation longing for that glory , as if the universe sympathiz'd with all the suffering servants of god , and together with them breath'd after that splendid manifestation of god's power , and majesty , v. 19. for the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of god ; and because the more curious among the christians , he writes to , might ask how creatures corruptible and vain come to pant after that glorious day , he in my text lets them know that it is the great commander of heaven and earth , that hath so ordered it , and intends to bring light out of that darkness , and make that vanity they are subject to , subservient to their future perfection . for the creature was made subject unto vanity , not willingly , but by reason of him , who subjected it unto the same in hope . in which words we find , 1. a peremptory assertion of a signal change made in the creature . the creature was made subject unto vanity . 2. the manner of this change , or rather the cause of it . not willingly , but by reason of him , who subjected it unto the same . 3. something which qualifies and mitigates that change , or vanity . it is subjected in hope , and of these in order . i. a signal change made in the creature . the creature was made subject unto vanity . there is hardly any word in holy writ , that expositors have toiled more to find out the meaning of , than that of creature in the text. not to mention , that some by it have understood mankind in general , others the christian world , others the blessed angels , who minister unto those that shall be heirs of salvation ; some eminent men of late have undertaken to make out , that the apostle means the gentiles , or heathens , which were to be brought over to the christian faith. but if we admit of this sense , it must follow , that the apostle in the foregoing verse , where he begins to speak of the creature , falls abruptly upon a new subject , which seems altogether improbable , that verse being joyn'd by the particle for to v. 18. in which we have him comforting the afflicted christian with that glory , which ere long should be revealed in him , and then immediately it follows , the earnest expectation of the creature , &c. so that what is said v. 19. and in my text , must have relation to the same subject he had spoke of v. 18. and if by the creature we understand all creatures in this visible world , in a word , heaven and earth , and the things that are therein , the coherence is elegant , and the sense perfect , easie , and natural ; and it is an argument , à minori ad majus , from the less to the greater : if the whole creation hopes to be delivered from her bondage and oppression , you may with far greater reason both look for a happy deliverance and comfort your selves with the thoughts of it . and indeed , he will soon be convinced , that the creature was made subject unto vanity , that shall observe how much its gloss , and beauty decay'd after the fall of adam ; how the earth , that before was a stranger to all noxious herbs and plants , brought forth thistles and thorns now ; how her former fertility was lost in a dismal barrenness , and the ground that before required no labour , would yield little now , but what men forced and squeezed out of it by the sweat of their brows ; how the blessing that enrich'd and adorn'd it before , exspir'd into a curse ; and nature , which before knew no poison , no enmity to man , degenerated now into hostility , and from a friend became a foe ; how her former lovely face is all disfigured with spots and freckles now , and that which was all charm to a rational soul before , is now become an object , which few wise men , indeed none but fools delight in ; how the heavens which before dispens'd their kindly influences to man , and seem'd to be proud of the employment , soon after became gods arsenal , from whence he sometimes fetches water to drown , as he did the first world , sometimes fire to consume , as he did sodom and gomorra , sometimes hailstones to kill , as he did the amorites , sometimes winds to overturn , as he did job's houses ; how the creatures which were commission'd only to seed , and cherish man , are now very ordinarily made use of to punish him , and they that before served him for the noblest uses in his integrity , at the best do now relieve him in his misery ; how the creatures , which before did reverently observe and bow to him , do now as often seize on him , as if nature were inverted , and they had got the dominion over him , whose primitive right it was to have dominion over every living thing that moves upon the earth ; and how many things , which before might have made him truly happy , serve only now to make him an object of scorn to god and his holy angels . so much of this change . ii. the manner of the change , or rather the cause of it . not willingly , but by reason of him that subjected it unto the same . men and the apostate angels indeed were made subject to vanity with their own consent , and their own wilfulness lost them that glory they once enjoy'd ; but the other creatures in a manner against their will , because it was not for any fault of their own , but for man's sin that god doomed them to ▪ their vanity ; cursed be the earth for thy sake ( saith god to adam ) gen. 3. 17. and that no man may think it strange that the curse of god should light on things innocent and incapable of sinning , we must remember that god in punishing the creatures with their vanity , punished man himself for whose use and service chiefly they were created ; as a magistrate that confiscates the offenders goods , inflicts justice on the offender , and puts him in mind of the error he hath committed , and of the injury he hath done to the publick : so that he that hath subjected the creature unto vanity , is god , by whose just sentence it came to pass , that the creatures all glorious before , became sutable to man's corrupt and miserable condition , and were permittied to be stings and thorns in his side , and so far from yielding true content and satisfaction , that they ordinarily lead to trouble and vexation of spirit . i will not here enlarge upon adam's sin , nor shew you what unbelief , what pride , what contumacy , what ingratitude , what want of love , what apostacy may be discover'd in it . we may be confident , god had reason for what he did , and that he saw the crimson dye of the transgression , which made him issue out this order , that upon this great princes fall , the whole creation should go into mourning . iii. that which in a great measure qualifies and mitigates this vanity , the creature hath been suffer'd to sink into , is this ; that it is subjected in hope . god hath as it were endow'd the creatures our eyes behold with hopes of their restitution to their pristine beauty , usefulness and glory ; for according to his promise we look for new heavens and a new earth , wherein dwelleth righteousness , the old heavens shall pass away with a great noise , and the elements shall melt with fervent heat ; the old earth also , and the works that are therein , shall be burnt up , 2 pet. 3. 10. 13. thus the creature will one day undergo a kind of glorification and participate of the splendor which shall encircle all righteous and sanctified souls ; and as gold in the fire is refin'd , it 's dross purged away and comes out more splendid than it was before : so the world that now lies under corruption , purified by that future fire , will put on a face more pleasant and beautiful than now it hath ; and let no man scoff at this assertion under a pretence that the earth at that time will be of no use , for good men will be in heaven , and the wicked in hell , and consequently the earth will have no need of renovation ; for can any man be so irrational as to think that there is no use of the creature , but what consists in eating and drinking and sensual pleasure ? and though i will not say with tertullian , who favours the millenary opinion , that the new heavens and the new earth will be in compensationem eorum , quae in seculo vel despeximus , vel amisimus , to make amends for what we have either lost or despis'd in this world ; yet how are we sure that the glorified saints shall be so confined to that place we strictly call heaven , as not to descend upon this glorified earth , which for ought we know will be fill'd with god's glory in a manner as much as heaven , and will together with heaven , make one great theatre of bliss and happiness ? and who knows but these triumphant saints , as at that time they 'll know things perfectly , and see through a glass no more , are to read the wisdom , and goodness , and bounty of the great creator in the several creatures that shall adorn that new world ? and this is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that restistution of all things , foretold of all the holy prophets since the world began , mention'd act. 3. 21 that this stately fabrick of the world is to be at last consumed by fire , and whatever we see before us to be lost in an universal conflagration , is not only the import of the apostles discourse here , but hath been the opinion of the most ancient heathen philosophers , pythagoras , heraclitus , zeno , and of all the stoicks , who therefore talk'd much of an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and seem to have receiv'd it by an immemorial tradition from adam himself ; who as josephus tells us , prophesied that the world should once be drown'd by water , and another time destroy'd by fire . and this conflagration whereby the world shall be renew'd and reinstated into its primitive splendor ; all the creatures groan for , and travel as it were in pain together until now : to use the apostles phrase v. 22. with hopes to be deliver'd from the bondage of corruption , into the glorious liberty of the children of god. thus far the sense of the words , which sense i do the rather pitch upon , because both ancient and modern divines , some few only excepted , agree in 't . and now what subject of discourse can be fitter for this present occasion , than the vanity of the creature . can we see a curious fabrick here all broke to pieces , and a creature that was made a little lower than the angels , cut off before half her race was run , and tumbling down as she was going up the hill , and forbear crying out with solomon , vanity of vanities , all is vanity ? there are few men that pretend either to sense or reason , but will freely acknowledg the vanity of all sublunary objects , and yet to see them dote on things , which by their own confession are fickle , inconstant , and unsatisfactory ; to see them hug this vanity , as if it were mount sion , which shall never be moved , as if it were the rock of ages , against which the gates of hell shall not be able to prevail , would make any contemplative man bless himself , and wonder — quis daemon subiens praecordia flammam concitat , & raptam tollit de cardine mentem : what evil spirit makes them act contrary to those convictions , cross those principles , give themselves the lie , and love such contradictions . but it 's no new thing to speak well , and to act ill , and to make a learned harangue of the emptyness and weakness of things below , while the affections are so set upon the world , that you had as good attempt to move the pyramids of egypt out of their places , as hope to disentangle the heart from these bryars and thorns . the great idols of this earth , riches , honors , pleasures , life , health , children , &c. which the world adores with preposterous devotion , alas ! what are they all but vanity in grain ? i. riches , when the magnificent croesus sat upon his throne , deck'd with beaten gold , adorn'd with a thousand jewels and precious stones , he had the curiosity to ask solon , whether he had ever seen a more glorious sight ? yes sir , saith solon , for i have seen hens and phesants , and partridges more gloriously array'd than you . the philosopher saw the vanity of all this wealth and cost , and laught at it . the covetous man indeed , that son of the earth , sees with other eyes , and cannot think himself solidly happy , except he swims in wealth : this is it engrosses the secret wishes of his mind , and to have as much as other men , is that his soul doth chiefly long for : so have i heard a man in a feavor wish for a cup of cold water , which when he hath obtain'd , hath prov'd his death and ruine . what happyness doth the wretch fancy in a little shining clay ! he sees no vanity in great possessions , and he thinks that man liv'd like a god , that could say , i will pull down my barns and build greater , and there i will bestow all my fruits and my goods : what ever other men think of nabal , he commends him , and calls that living like himself , when he scrapes what wealth he can together to feed his appetite and luxury . have not you read of whited sepulchers , which indeed appear beautiful outward , but are within full of dead mens bones , and of all uncleanness ? so here there is a veil drawn over this glittering dust , and the veil is painted and gaudy , and takes the eye ; but that man which hath courage to lift it up and to see what is underneath , will quickly find that these are things , which to day caress their favourite , and to morrow make themselves wings and flee away ; and that they can neither preserve the body from disasters , for in despight of all my treasures lightning from heaven may strike through my sides and kill me , and vapours of the earth may infect my spirits and blow my life away , and sickness may breed in my bones and rack me ; nor afford any real content to the soul , for when i see a judas tremble with his purse full of money , and gehazi walk in fear while he brings home his talents of silver , and an alexander in the midst of all his opulency dissatisfied and tor●ured with ambition , and belshazzar with all his golden cups about him , grow pale as ashes , and quake at the sight of the fatal hand ; when i see how their outward plenty entices men to that which will undo them , and how strong a temptation it proves to run away from him who is the proper center of their souls ; how it doth teach men to sin , and fills their carnal minds with car●s , and carkings , and anxieties , makes man , the noblest work of the creation , a slave to dust ; dethrones his reason , thrusts him into vassallage , and trrnsforms that part which is like to angels , in o a beast , and consequently prepares him for shame and confusion in the end , and by degrees breeds in him the worm that dies not : what name , what title can i bestow upon it , but that of the apostle , deceitful riches , which lead men into snares , and drown them in destruction and perdition , 1 tim. 6. 9. not but that our of this mercury , a wholesom medicine may be drawn , and men may lay up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come , that they may lay hold on eternal life ; but where one prepares an elixir of it , thousands makes nothing of it , but sublimate , so strong a poyson , as doth not only kill the body , but lays force on the soul , makes it sick to death , and which is strange , for morte carent animae , murther that part , which the great creator hath blessed with immortality . ii. honour . what a stir do men make about greatness and reputation in the world , and what is it all but the breath of dying men ! he that sees the ambitious clamber that mountain , as if it were the hill of god , and there lay the way to heaven , would wonder what the man means to labour so hard , when in good truth he only leaps to catch an atom tumbling and playing in a sun-beam . he stands on firm ground , and nothing will serve him but a slippery place , from whence the least frown of a monarch throws him down . consul bibulus surrounded with acclamations and euge's knows not where he is , whether he is riding in his chariot , or treading air : but see the sad reverse which waits on humane triumphs , while his fond thoughts and the numerous multitude , with their praises , swell him above himself , a tilestone falling accidentally from a house , puts an end to his life and all his glories together before he can reach the capitol . sejanus is honored like a god to day , to morrow kick'd by scullions and serving-men . belisarius that commands an army this year , the next is forced to cry date obolum belisario , pray remember the poor . it was therefore ingeniously said by one of the royal slaves that drew sesostris his triumphing chariot ; when the king asked him why he look'd back so often upon the wheels ; that he could not but with a great deal of pleasure observe how that spoke which was uppermost now , was lowermost by and by , giving the haughty tyrant to understand that he who wears a crown to day , may handle a spade to morrow . where are the mighty honorable men , who have made whole nations tremble , and shook the habitable world into subjection ? was their dignity able to preserve them from the burning lake , or hath vengeance been afraid to fling them into hell , because they were clad with silk and purple ? so airy , so transitory a thing must needs be vanity , and to build upon 't , is to make a nest on the waves of the sea , which the least angry billow shatters into nothing . what signifies a chair of state while the colick rages in my bowels ! or what ease can my soul find by the bowing of a thousand knees , while my own must bow to pain and anguish ! and indeed the greatest emperor makes no better dust than the meanest slave , and in the grave it 's impossible for menippus to tell the son of jupiter which was the potter and which the lofty macedonian hero. honor ! this is the goddess to which hecatombs are offered , and most of the wars and battles that are fought , are but to vindicate her cause . this is it that tempts the man of birth to sacrifice himself , and estate , and family ; and if his credit be sullied never so little , to wash away the stain with his neighbours blood ; and he that can see with what care and trouble popular applause and a changeable princes favour is acquired , with what fear it 's kept , what enemies it raises , what dangers it precipitates it's clients into , and how it causes them to prefer a punctilio of honor before all the laws of heaven , and a great man's smiles before the courtships of the blessed trinity , and makes them careless of that incorruptelae superindumentum , the carthaginian father speaks of , i. e. of being cloathed upon with their house from heaven , and regardless of that splendor and kingdom , which the mighty rewarder of them that diligently seek him , hath to bestow on those that obey him more than men . he i say , that can see all this , and fancy real and solid bliss in these castles of air , must have a heart of lead , a soul altogether immerst in sense , drown'd in sensuality ; and it may more truly be said of him , than of the man in the gospel , that travell'd from jerusalem to jericho , that he is fallen among robbers , who have plunder'd him of his reason . iii. pleasure . there is indeed a pleasure which arises from a serious and consciencious discharge of our duty to god and man , which hath nothing of vanity in it , for it is a foretaste of heaven , a glimps of paradise , and a preface to those joys which no eye hath seen , no ear hath heard , no heart hath conceived . this pleasure makes us men and partakers of the divine nature . t●●s is the water of life , whereof whoever drinks , shall never thirst again after broken cisterns which can hold no water . this pleasure hath substance in it , and the soul moves then in her own proper element , when bathing in rivers of such delight . this pleasure drop● from above , and is restless till it mingles again with those c●●e●tial joys , from which treasury it 's sent into the soul. but the pleasure which we condemn as vain , consists in gratifying the flesh in all its extravagant wishes and desires . this is the sensual man's darling , and he despairs of any satisfaction except he can crown his days with rosebuds , and walk in the way of his heart , and in the sight of his eyes , and fan his senses , and give them that liberty and elbow-room they crave : so the great solomon thought , and tryed it , but found by sad experience that this was the way to the chambers of death , prov. 7. 27. pleasure , like the harlot spoken of v. 13. catches the heedless youngster , and kisses him , and with an impudent face , says unto him , i have deck'd my bed with coverings of tapestry , with carved works , with fine linnen of egypt ; i have perfumed my bed with myrrh , aloes , and cinnamon . come let us take our fill of love until the morning ; let us solace our selves with loves , for the good man is not at home , he is gone a long journey ; he hath taken a bag of money , and will come home at the day appointed . with her much fair speech she causes him to yield , with the flattering of her lips she forces him : he goes after her straightway , as an ox goes to the slaughter , or as a fool to the correction of the stocks , till a dart strike through his liver ; as a bird hasteth to the snare , not knowing that it is for life . like a fatal pit which some spreading flowers have cover'd and hid from the eyes of the unwary passenger , it tempts , but kills , laughs upon you , but gripes , invites , but betrays ; it never offers honey without a sting ; and if it courts the weak sinner with milk and butter in a lordly dish , it is but to strike a nail into his temples , and to mingle that milk with his blood . the wine it presents him with , is to bite him like a serpent , and when it shews him the blood of the grapes in a crystal glass , the intent is to sting him like an adder , prov. 22. 31 , 32. what are these sensual delights but burthens to a rational soul ! beasts have greater enjoyment of them than we . the modish gallant that courts them , and obtains his desires , too often like actaeon , is devoured by his own hounds , and the roses he smells to leave nothing but pricks behind them to wound and tear his conscience ; and like phalaris that dangerous host , when they have feasted him , they torture him , fill him with infamy and diseases , with pain and poverty ; and he that went joyful out comes mourning home , and is ready to curse the day that he listen'd to these deceitful sirens , which did but sing , first to lull him asleep and then to poison him ; like dalila , flatter'd him , that his strength might depart from him , and as judith did holofernes , made him drunk , the better to exercise their cruelty upon him . hannibal a that could not be overcome by arms , is overcome by pleasure ; and he whom all the roman forces could not weaken , is made feeble by luxury . by this rome it self fell ; and long before , the macedonian empire perish'd . this is it hath ruin'd kingdoms ; destroy'd the most flourishing monarchies ; and forein enemies have not done them so much harm as this inward and homebred adversary . aelian b tells a strange story of his pardalis , a beast of a sweet scent , but dreadful shape ; and as the one attracts company , so the other frights them . therefore to get prey to feed on , she retires to a place which nature hath adorn'd with trees and bushes ; and there covers her self with leaves , so that her scent is only perceiv'd ; but her body remains unseen . the wild goats and such other creatures ranging in the wood , and delighted with the rich perfume , approach , and now outleaps the mighty murtherer , and leads the captive wretches in triumph home . whether st. chrysostome's libyan monster be a fable or no , i will not dispute , the moral i am sure cannot be improper for our purpose . this creature he represents to be of a shape partly humane , partly serpentine : the upper part of its body like a woman , its face beautiful , its skin white , its breasts large , a strange liveliness and briskness in its eyes ; but the the lower part full of scales , and rough , ugly , and intractable , and its tail like that of a viper , swift and running very fast , having no voice but that of a hiss , laying force on all animals it meets withal , except man , whom alone it deceives by guile and cunning ; for to him it threatens no danger , makes no noise , fixes its eyes with some modesty on the ground , now and then looks up to allure man into its embraces , and if any be so ignorant as to come near and handle it , it then leaps upon his back , and shoots its poison through his bowels , and when he falls the rest of its companions come all out of their dens and help to devour so fair a prey . the application of these passages is easie enough , and who sees not that sensual pleasure is that panther and that dragon , that in the end destroys the fond man , that is either delighted with its smell , or with its glorious outside . and here i remember what the noble plutarch saith , pleasure ( he means that pleasure which lust and luxury affords ) is a brute , but not a savage one ; it tears indeed like a wild one , but doth not seem to be so ; did it appearin its proper colours , it would be shun'd as bears and leons ; and there would be no difficulty in catching and killing of it ; but coming in the habit of a friend , it doth both hurt and cheat , murthers by adulation , and while it pretends to give liberty , makes a prisoner of the man ; and enslaves him to a prodigy , the man doth not so much buy pleasure as sell himself to it ; and his reason is turn'd out into exile ; and he is banish'd from himself , for it makes him venture upon the basest , most childish , most sneaking , and most impertinent actions , things below a man , and below those excellent faculties he is endow'd withal , and like some ill natured physician , gives a pleasant potion and cures him for the present , keeps up his spirits , and supports him , that he may abuse his body more , and venture upon new diseases . xerxes knew what he did when he forbad the babylonians the use of arms , and permitted them to give themselves over to wine and women , and all manner of luxury . he was sensible this would emasculate their vertue and make them objects of scorn , who once had made the most puissant monarchs tremble . indeed this is it which dissolves courage and makes the greatest valour melt into cowardice . it debases a sardanapalus to a spindle , and roots out all sense of greatness and ingenuity : whatever conceits men have of it , in the end it leaves them miserable , and instead of pity , their neighbors cannot but laugh at them , as much as the world did at the attempts of that prince , who tired with variety of pleasures at land , had a mind to try their sweetness in a more unruly element , the sea. a ship is built , liker a palace than a vessel ; here are erected chambers for himself , there apartments for his concubines , a garden is planted too , set out with aromatick trees and herbs , no splendor is wanting , no cost spared , all the rooms dazle the spectators eyes with the gold that glistered there ; the egyptians admire it , all are ambitious to go aboard of it ; the mighty vessel being launched , the king enters , and while the calm lasted , nothing could appear more glorious ; but a boisterous wind soon turns that calm into a tempest , and now the vast bulk sinks , and the world seems to suffer shipwrack ; so that it may be truly said of pleasure what was said of the honey that was given to pompey's souldiers ; it drives men into madness , and what they intended for their cordial , proves their death , and that which they hoped would have refresh'd them , doth but intoxicate them , and the sweetness turns into gall and wormwood . iv. life . this hath in all ages been counted so vain a thing , that wise men have been at a loss for words to express its vanity . a shadow , a dream , a bubble , a tragedy , a wheel , a vapour have been thought epithets too great for it ; and therefore some have adventured to call it nothing . i confess i cannot but smile when i find what admirers of long life the chineses are , and what pains they take to preserve themselves here on earth from mortality . it 's pleasant to read how one of their kings being by some impostor promised a cup of liquor to make him immortal , would by no means be discouraged from his strong persuasion , that upon the drinking of it he should certainly be freed from death for ever , till a friend of his more , wise than he , snatched the cup from the place where it stood , and drank it off . the king mightily incens'd at the insolence , immediately drew his sword to kill him , to whom the gentleman wittily replied : either upon the drinking of this liquor , i am immortal , or i am not ; if i am , then in vain do you attempt to kill me ; if i am not , you have reason to thank me because i have deliver'd you from a cheat . which answer pacified the king , and made him commend his friends prudence and fidelity . yet , it seems , so bewitching a thing is this desire of immortality here on earth in that kind of men , that this very king not long after that modest reprehension of his friend , attempted the impossibility afresh , and commanded a house to be built of all sorts of fragrant and odoriferous trees , as cedar , cypress , camphire , &c. the scent whereof perfumed the air for two or three miles together . in this large and splendid palace , was placed an ample bason , togather the soft dew that fell , in which dew , pearls were every day dissolv'd , and from this rich draught the unwise king promised himself no less than eternity on this side heaven ; but his death which soon after follow'd , manifested the folly of the attempt , and discover'd the vanity of the king , and of his life together . where men live in contempt of a better world , no marvel if they magnifie this present life and wish for the longevity of the ancient patriarchs , and would be glad if they might arrive to the age of methuselah , but these are sickly desires which their blind appetite causes , desires as vain as the life they praise , for in praising that , what do they commend but misery and calamity ! and he that protracts his age to some hundreds of years , doth but protract it to labour and sorrow . who can express the innumerable disasters , discontents , and vexations life is subject and expos'd unto ? we come crying into the world and go weeping out . the various masters and tutors we are forced to have while young and tender , do but make us a better sort of slaves ; soon after our houses and hearts are fill'd with cares and contrivances , what we shall eat , and what we shall drink , and wherewithal we shall be cloathed ! and these waste our marrow and the flame that burns in our breasts . here an injury we receive , torments us ; there a loss we sustain , afflicts us . here our endeavours are cross'd ; there our expectations disappointed . here our hopes decay in the bud ; there the most promising flower in our garden withers . here a friend deceives us , there an enemy pursues us , now a thousand fall at our side ; by and by ten thousand at our right hand , we are neither free from the terror by night , nor from the arrow that flies by day ; we have no security against the pestilence that walks in darkness , nor against the destruction that wastes at noon day ; when one trouble is over , another comes , and the wave we have passed , is seconded by another . the messenger that brings us word , that the oxen were plowing , and the asses feeding besides them , and all on a sudden taken away by the sabeans , hath no sooner done speaking , but another is ready to acquaint us , that the fire of god fell from heaven , and burnt up the sheep and the servants , and consumed them : the words are hardly out of his mouth but another tells us a sad story of the chaldeans , that fell upon the camels and carried them away , and when he hath finished his dreadful news , the fourth comes running in with a message , that a great wind from the wilderness hath smote the four corners of the house , and that it is fallen upon our sons and daughters , and they are dead . he that hath escaped perilsl by land , soon is forced to make a trial of perils by sea ; and to a deliverance from robbers succeeds a new danger from our own countrymen . afflictat fortuna viros per bella , per aequor , iras insidiasque , catenatosque labores mutandos semper gravioribus . the candle of the lord that shines over our heads to day , exspires , may be , into darkness before the morrow ; and the rivers of oil , which the rocks pour us out this hour , are turned into streams of blood the next ; our root , which now is spread out by the waters , by and by is dried up ; and the dew that lay upon our branch all night , before we are aware , changes into a moth to consume what we have gathered ; and he whose glory was fresh in him this moment , is soon forc'd to cut up mallows by the bushes , and juniper roots for his meat ; and thus the greatest contrartieties plenty and poverty , love and hatred , peace and anger , rest and trouble , quietness and rage , right and wrong , justice and injustice make up mans life ; and what is all this but a sea , where opposite winds continually blowing endanger the ship , and the passenger that is in it , and then sure this must be vanity . v. health . this indeed is a jewel which men pass great commendations on , but it's inconstancy shews it's vanity , and he that trusts to it , relies but on a broken reed , on a sceptre of glass , and will soon be convinced , that like april weather it 's dashed and changed in the twinkling of an eye . if it be true what the poet says , that of all creatures nature hath produced , there is nothing so weak and tender , and infirm as man , he hath but small encouragement to glory in his strength : when a draught of drink can discompose him , when a fly can choak him , when a puff of pestilential air can cause a civil war in his constitution , when the least disorder can unsettle him , how little reason hath he to boast of the harmony and agreement of humours in his body ? how should he continue sound long that hath so many enemies within , and without him , to shatter his earthly tabernacle into dust and atoms ? nothing for ought i see deceives the unwary sinner more than his state of health , this tempts him to offer violence to his nature , and run out into extravagancies , and because he feels no distemper for the present , he flatters himself with a perpetual freedom from it , goes on in his debauches , and while he pleases himself , that his nature is made of iron , he finds , when it is too late , that it is weaker than clay , and thus precipitates himself into perpetual groans ; one would think he is weary of his health , and tired with continuing so long without a change ; one would think he hath his health given him for no other use , but to shorten it , and that he finds pleasure in having it checkered with diseases . indeed health is a thing of so nice a contexture , and heat and cold must be mingled and tempered to that degree , and the scales must hang so even , that we may justly wonder , that so many men enjoy it , and that they enjoy it so long as they do . what can we judg of so curious a frame , in which so many slender wheels and veins do move , but that the least jog should put the clock out of order , and spoil the musick , which is so pleasing and ravishing to the ear ? there is but a paper ▪ wall betwixt health and sickness , and how soon may that wall be broken down , and the fair summers morning turned into clouds and tempests ? how have i known men hug themselves for carrying a sound mind in a sounder body , and what care have they taken to preserve it ! they have ransacked nature for restoratives , forced metals into spirits , dissolved minerals into antidotes , distill'd herbs and plants into a quintessence ; pounded pearls into powder , used themselves to such a diet , eaten their meat by weight , avoided the coldness of the air , shun'd those dishes that might tempt them to a surfeit . but alas ! in despite of all their care , maugre all the preventing medicines they have used , how hath a distemper they neither feared , nor dreamed of , seiz'd on their limbs , and deliver'd them up to the king of tertors , and unexpectedly sent them to their long home , from whence there is no returning ? meer fancy sometimes breeds diseases , and the sight of a disfigured face causes an illness , which brings as great a disfigurement upon the spectator ; if we may believe men that have made observations of that nature , the very looking on sore eyes will cause an inflammation in our own , and sitting on the seats of persons diseased will bring the same distemper into our bones ; and how many are the daily accidents which crush the healthiest bodies into the greatest pain and anguish ! how doth death arrest a samson with all his vigour and sortitude about him , and how little is sickness afraid to enter into rooms where the various odours seem to be intended as spells to keep out the enemy : so that it may be said of health , as of jonas's gourd , it comes up in a night , and perishes in a night , jon. 4. 10. and those with whom it continues longer , are every hour in danger of losing it . vi. children . see how the fond parent dotes on those pictures , and how enamoured he is with those representatives of his person ! one would think he had found cut something that will satisfie the great soul of man , and lighted upon that which can give an immortal spirit true and solid satisfaction . see how he views these lively images of himself , as if he had eyes for no other use but to look on them , and how his soul seems to be bound up with theirs ! but while his sparkling eyes convey , and shoot all their rays on these darlings of his affections , grim death , unmannerly as it is , a stranger to respect of persons , steps in , marrs all his triumphs , and snatches the fondlings out of his hands . how have i seen a tender mother carry her babe in her arms , feed him with her breasts , dandle him in her lap , and embrace the comely boy with a love as strong as death , and which many waters cannot quench ! she breeds him up , watches his steps , her eyes are over him , and like the angels of god , she preserves him in all his ways , and with his age her affection grows , and she is concern'd for his welfare , she studies how to advance him , plots how to make him great , rejoyces to hear her neighbours speak in commendations of him : and now the lad being grown up , and understanding what the tenderness of a mother means , the mother justly expects some returns answerable to the mighty expressions of her love : but we see too often that when all these pains are taken , and all this industry and care is bestow'd , and the kind mother hopes that the measure of his love to her will be good measure press'd , and shaken together , and running over ; behold the inhumane wretch , viper-like , preys upon the bowels that did feed and nourish him , grows surly to her that bare him , and it is not all her fire that can kindle any reciprocal flames in his breast ; and thus he that was expected to have been her greatest comfort , proves her scourge , and the staff that in her old age was to support her , turns into a serpent to hiss at her , and to sting her . he whom she look'd upon as her glory , becomes her shame ; and he whom once she did rejoyce in , brings her down with sorrow into her grave . and this it 's like eve had experienc'd in her eldest son cain , and therefore when abel was born she call'd him vanity , for that 's the true import of the name , gen. 4. 2. augustus at last is forced to put that daughter from his sight whom formerly he look'd upon with a favourable eye , and her lewdness makes him hate that name which once he delighted in . absolom , formerly his fathers darling , at last invades his crown and scepter , and the indulgent prince lives to see that son he doted on , attempt his life , and defile his bed. and suppose the kind son with coriolanus doth that for his mother , which neither the peoples tears , nor the senators prayers could effect , and with cotta rescues his father from death , yet the losses , reproach , disgrace , and disasters which often befall even the most dutiful and best natur'd children make wounds in their parents breasts . and thus these certain cares and uncertain comforts by the instability and mutability of their condition proclaim to the world , that they are but vanity . and having thus with as much brevity as the subject would bear , led you to a prospect of the vanity , the creature is involv'd in , i must not dismiss you without some practical reflections . we see how necessary illumination of gods holy spirit is in matters of religion ; without it the generality of men ixion . like , embrace a cloud for juno , and are so far from seeing vanity in the creature , that they do securely build tabernacles here , and make the creature their highest and their chiefest good , which was only intended for stairs to raise them into contemplation of the glory , and goodness , and power of their maker . this irradiation from above , the consequent of earnest prayers , clarifies the mind , dispels the clouds and mists that are upon it , teaches the soul to examine the inside of things , as well as the outside , and by that means to discover the cheat , if there be any in the alluring object ; and where this day-spring doth not visit the mind , men must necessarily continue in ignorance and folly , and call darkness light , and light darkness , and count that gold which is nothing but guilded brass , and look upon that as satisfactory to their souls , which indeed leavs them empty and destitute of proper food . it 's for want of these beams , which he may be blessed withal , if he will but open the door , and let them in . it 's for want of admitting these heavenly beams , i say , that the drunkard , the lascivious , the proud , the glutton laughs at the preacher discoursing of vanity , because he sees not with our eyes , and his intellect is not so clear as ours ; therefore he thinks that vanity a fable : and how should he perceive it , whose eyes of understanding are not enlightned into contemplation and observation of the nature , quality , imperfection , and insufficiency of all sublunary objects : so that we may speak our spirits away into the air , and read all solomon's ecclesiastes to him , and we do but talk to him as we do to a blind man of colours , he hears our notions , but like empty notions they go in at one ear , and out at another . vanity , saith the sinner ! i know nothing that 's more solid , more pleasing , or more charming , than those riches , and honours , and pleasures , and the other comforts you brand with an odious name . these are things i can grasp and feel , and i know the satisfaction they will afford , my eyes see how happy these things make the men that can creep out of dust , and advance themselves above the common level ; i have not seen that glorious eternity you speak of , nor was i ever wrapt up with saint paul into paradise ; i never took a view of those spiritual crowns and scepters , you talk of . shall i leave a certain satisfaction for i know not what ? for a thing uncertain and out of sight ? these outward conveniences i see must help me in distress ; and if i hope for ease and content , it must arise from these . it 's not a notion i can feed upon ; and i may starve if i have nothing but your spiritual food to rely on . it 's the world , as you call it , that must refresh , maintain , and feed me : and it 's but reason it should have my choisest thoughts and affections : and do you charge that with vanity , which alone deserves my industry and care ? and doest thou talk like a man of reason , sinner ? if a beast could speak , would not this be his language ? hath god given thee no higher faculties ? hath not he endow'd thee with nobler desires ? are these o●●ward goods indeed the things thou chusest for thy treasure ? how brutish is thy soul , that thou canst fancy any proportion betwixt that and the creature ! hast thou a soul capable of grasping a god , and dost thou run into the embraces of an idol ? thy soul wants an everlasting object ; and are these the things that will endure for ever ? thy soul must have an all-sufficient being in her arms ! and are these butterflies , that perish in the handling , fit to ingross thy affections ? thy soul must have an anchor that can give it rest , and will these thorns and bryars do it ? thy soul must have an individual companion that will never leave it nor forsake it , and will these deceitful props stand by it at the great tribunal ? thy soul must have a friend that must conduct it to everlasting mansions , and will these miserable comforters , that shake hands with it at the brink of eternity , serve for guides ? rouse , rouse thy slumbering soul , vain man , and let not thine eyes be always shut . thy blindness is not incurable ; if thou wilt not stand in thine own light , thou maist see through all these shadows , and burst these entanglements . there is certainly vanity in the creature , and god will discover it to thee , if thou wilt but call upon him with the same earnestness that blind bartimaeus used to christ jesus . god is pleased with the cry of him that longs to be deliver'd from his misery . o the wonderful difference that is betwixt an illuminated and darkned understanding ! one pities the creature , the other admires it ; one looks upon it with tears in his eyes , the others heart leaps at the sight of it for joy ; one uses it soberly , the other gluts himself with it ; one sees so much of its weakness as drives him from this barren wilderness to make his nest among the stars of heaven , the other so adores its beauty that he can be contented to sweat and toil , and labour in its service for ever ; one salutes it as a stranger , the other embraces it as a wife ; one looks beyond it , the other sixes his eyes upon it as if he were in an ecstasie . so great a difference doth illumination make ; and indeed without it , you must needs continue strangers to god's designs and your own duty ; you walk in the dark and see not how the devil imposes upon you , how your lusts cheat you , and how the world cozens you , how far you run from heaven , and how near the burning lake you come ; you run on blindly upon eternity , and delude your selves with a few formalities of religion , you know not how the case stands betwixt god and your own souls , and cannot avoid falling into errors ; you prepare for endless sorrows , and make way for bitter , though vain lamentations at last : o that i had known in my day what belonged unto my peace ! but it was hid from mine eyes : you delay your conversion , because you know not the great importance of it , and make light of that which , were your eyes but open'd , would make you tremble to think what pains you have taken to procure your own ruine . ii. men , fathers , and brethren , if you do believe that the creature is subject to vanity , let me intreat you to act like men , that do believe it . let your faith be known by your works , and let 's but see you live like persons that do despise this vanity and seek a better world. when the primitive christians ( o happy , o blessed times ! ) gave out that they look'd upon this world as vain and transitory , their enemies saw that they were in good earnest when they said so , for they saw them forget what was behind them , and press towards the mark for the high prize of god's calling in christ jesus . they saw it , and thought them mad . they saw how they fled from the satisfactions of this world into flames , as if those were the fiery chariots , they were proud to ride to heaven in . their faith lay not in talking , and as they believed the creature to be subject to vanity , so they raised their thoughts from earth to heaven , and lived as much above the world as mortality would give them leave . they made no more of the honors and preferments of this life , when inconsistent with god's honor and a good conscience , than they did of glasses and rattles , and the prince that offered them riches to be enamour'd with vanity as much as he , was repuls'd this heroick answer ; offer these things to children , and not to christians . they made their houses oratories , and their dwelling-places were but so many churches , where you might hear the praises of god resounding day and night . the husband-man that follow'd his plough , fancied himself in heaven , and sung psalms as cheerfully as if he had been placed in the quire of angels : the injuries they suffer'd for the testimony of jesus , they smiled at , and they that had an incorruptible crown to look after , justly thought it below them to be concern'd at the slanders and reproaches of a poor envious world ; as if heaven had been the countrey from which they had been banish'd , and which they hoped they should be shortly restored unto , they made all the provision they could for it , secured the riches of another world , and bestowed a great part of their goods on christ's distressed members , because they knew they should find them again after a few years in heaven : they believ'd christ's promises , and looking upon him as the son of god , they had as great a confidence that they should be recompenced in the resurrection of the just , as if they had the reward already in their hands . they could keep a calm and serene mind under the wars and tumults of this world ; and while men raged about them , they fed upon peace of conscience , and joy in the holy ghost . they used the world as if they used it not , and one might see that they had practically learnt the great lesson , you cannot serve god and mammon . this earth they looked upon as a desert , and their perpetual wishes were , when shall we come to appear before god in sion ! the great things of this world , which their heathen neighbours magnified , they made light of ; and well might they renounce the glories of this earth , when they were assured from the word of god that they had a greater inheritance laid up for them in god's paradise . they regarded not the censures of their carnal friends and relations , and were contented to be made a spectacle to the world , and to ange's , and to men. they rejoyced when they could express their love to christ , and were troubled when the world made any encroachment upon their affections . they denied themselves in all superfluities , that they might have the more to give to pious uses ; nay , would not allow themselves conveniencies , that they might be in a better capacity to cloath the naked . they stooped to the meanest offices , and were not ashamed to converse with men of the lowest rank , as with brethren . they laid aside their grandeur , to obey the precepts of the gospel , and would not suffer any outward respects to take them off from a close adherence to god's will. they would visit hospitals , and with their own hands dress meat for them that lay upon the bed of languishing . this world seem'd so contemptible to them , that they prayed day and night to be deliver'd from it ; and it might be truly said of them , that the world was crucified unto them , and they unto the world ; and thus they despis'd the vanity of these sublunary objects , and by despising , believ'd it . disparage not your great immortal souls , beloved hearers ; they are capable of another happiness than this world can afford ; and when god hath provided for them angels food , and bread of heaven , why should you feed them with trash and husks to impoverish and weaken them for ever ? arise christians , and depart , for here is not your rest. advance into yonder regions of bliss , and live there where you may hope to live for ever . let the world be your slave , and god your only master . let it not be said that your souls are subject to vanity as well as your bodies , and do something to convince the world that you dare to have your conversation in heaven . the creature was made subject unto vanity , on purpose that you might flee away from it , and breath after a more solid good . will you do less than pagans ? will you fall short of men that never heard the gospel ? will you sink beneath those that never had any other light but what the glimmering candle of nature gave them ? can you see philosophers contemn this vanity , and dare you be in love with it ? shall a diogenes , to shew how little these things , which sensual men admire , ought to be valued , take as much delight in his tub , as xerxes in his babylon , and in dry bread , as much as smindyrides in his sauces ; in ordinary spring-water , as much as cambyses in his richer fountains ; in common sun-shine , as much as sardanapalus in his purple ; in his staff , as much as alexander in his spear ; and in his mallet , as much as craesus in his treasures ? shall a pagan look on these outward glories as unworthy of his affections , and will you suffer yours to be entangled with them ? shall a plato , a socrates , an agesilaus , a spartan , look upon these outward things as dross and dung , trample them under his feet , look upon them between anger and scorn , and think it below a creature made after the image of god , to dote on earth , and dust ; and can you that pretend to have learn'd christ , and pretend to be followers of the humble self-denying jesus , come behind heathens , whom you call blind and wretched ? will not they be your judges one day ? will not their temperance and abstinence condemn your greediness after these perishable objects ? will not they shame you , that did more by the strength of nature , than you with all the encouragements of the holy ghost ? will not this aggravate your neglect , and change your rods into scorpions ? will not this make your furnace hotter ? will not this fill your faces with greater confusion ? will god let your unprofitableness under the richest means of grace go unpunish'd ? and doth the clearest manifestation of heaven add no weight to your guilt and stubborness ? if you turn the grace of god into wantonness , will god play with it , do you think , as you do ? it was a mahometan king , could cause the following words to be written upon the gates of his pleasure-house , and the story saith his life was answerable to the grave sentences . this world will not continue long ; it 's pride and lustre will soon be gone . remember , brother , and apply thy heart to him , who only intended this world for our inn. let not thy life be united to this bitter sweet , for it hath drawn in many ; first jested with them , and then butchered them . if thy soul can but come away from her prison , pure and undefiled , and reach the mark , it 's no great matter whether thou diest on a throne , or on a dung-hill . o christians , delude not your own souls , god is resolved they shall be withdrawn from this world while you live here , or they shall never arrive to the inheritance of the saints in light : god is resolved they shall be loosened from this earth , even in the midst of your strength , and health , and plenty , and liberty , or they shall never ascend his holy hill. away then with those fond conceits that glue your hearts to things below . let god be the great and dear object of your souls . let the rivers of your delight run all into that ocean . for him spend your strength , your labour , and your care . make room for him in your hearts , and whatever hath had supremacy or priority there , pull it down , and shew it the ruler it must for the time to come obey . breath after another country where true and lasting pleasures are , where the presence of god makes hearts chearful , and ravishes souls for ever ; where the society of angels gives content , and endless bliss shuts out all imperfection and vanity ; and as they say of boleslaus king of poland , that he used to wear his fathers picture in his bosom , and whenever he was to do any thing of moment , he pull'd out the picture , lookt upon it , and begg'd of god that he might do nothing unworthy of so great , so good , so wise a father : so you , let the landskip of that celestial country hang always before your eyes , and whatever you are doing , whether you are rising or sitting down , whether you are walking or standing , whether you are travelling or conversing with men , still look upon that pourtraiture , and let this be your resolution to do nothing unworthy of that heaven you are aiming at . and then when you come to die , and no friend , no relation , no acquaintance , no riches , no honours , no children can give you ease ; this remembrance , that your mind hath been endeavouring to extricate it self from the vanity of the creature , and that you have lived like persons , that have indeed looked for a city which hath foundations ; this remembrance i say will give you ease , this will make you die with joy at the kiss of god , as the jews say of moses , and enable you to triumph over death , o death where is thy sting ! o grave where is thy victory ! but thanks be to god , that gives us the victory through our lord jesus christ. iii. the creature is made subject unto vanity ; but what shall we say to those , that subject the creature to greater vanity than ever it was condemn'd to . the idolater , that melts his gold , and makes a god of it , as the israelites in the wilderness , breaks down the limits of that vanity , outdoes adam that was the occasion of it ; nay , goes beyond the judg , that doom'd that gold to corruption . the creatures labour under vanity enough , because they cannot serve us in that innocence and integrity we once stood in , but to abuse them , now they are under a state of misery , and to force them to serve us in our sins , is a bondage which will bear witness against the daring sinner in that day , when god shall judg the secrets of mens hearts by the gospel of jesus . sinner , that wine thou abusest to besot thy understanding suffers violence from thee ; thou dost ravish it serve thy lusts , and it groans as it were under thy oppression , and thou makest it vainer than heaven ever made it . god made it serviceable to thy infirmity , and intended it as a remedy against the weakness of thy nature ; but when thou swallowest it to destroy thy nature , to throw down the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that which must guide thy actions , and shed discretion into thy speeches and converse ; forcest it to make thee a beast , and leave nothing in thee but the brutal part , indeed scarce to leave thee sense and appetite ; thou dost offer greater insolence to it than amnon did to thamar . surely every man is vanity , saith the psalmist , psal. 39. 11. but he that tempts his neighbour to run with him into excess of riot , makes him worse than vanity ; the adulterer and fornicator , that is restless till he hath caressed his mistress , as he calls her , to consent to his folly ; the ill companion that solicits his associates to be lewd and prophane with him : such persons make the creature so vain , that a devout soul cannot but stand amazed at the enterprize : vain indeed , for they double and treble its misery ; and he that entices his friend into sin , makes him besides his vanity a creature of the devil . the man before this sin was born to trouble as the sparks fly upward , but the sin he is drawn into makes his burden greater , increases his load , and makes his pound of vanity , a talent , and as if his weakness and frailty here on earth were too little , sinks him into hell , and as if the curse of god of old were too light a punishment , makes him obnoxious to gods everlasting malediction . and such men must necessarily be of the first form in the devils kingdom ; for these make devils , help to increase the number of the fiends , and are familiars , that make men sinck with them into endless torments . the covetous , who confines his money to his chest , and makes that lie still in his coffers , which like blood should have its circulation , and as it is given him from heaven , should return to heaven again by way of charity , and doing good , seems to be angry with god for giving that creature so small a touch of vanity ; and therefore as if god had not made it frail enough , makes himself gods officer , renders the dye deeper , drowns it in misery , and inflicts vanity upon it with a witness , and gods little finger he makes heavier than his loyns , for he wants in the midst of plenty , and is indigent , while he knows not how to consume that which he hath already : and this vanity increases if extortion and oppression joyn with it , and tempt hm to wade through orphans tears , and widows blood , through the necessities of the fatherless , and through the cries and lamentations of the needy , to make his heap much greater ; and certainly , if the creature is to be purged from its vanity by fire , it 's but reason his body should be the fewel , who hath loaded the creature with so much vanity and misery , and against gods will and order too . his stripes will be iustly doubled , for his sin was so , and he deserves to be punished , both for his cruelty and disobedience . the scripture excludes such men from the kingdom of heaven , and good reason , for they are so given to vanity , that they would attempt to make gods joys and hallelujahs so . iv. in the vanity of the creature , let us behold our own , and whenever we take a view of the decay of terrestrial glories , and see day die into night , and summer into winter , one hour , one moment into another , and herbs and plants shed their blossoms , let us reflect upon our own death and departure hence . the stoicks were in the right , when they defined philosophy or religion to be a meditation of death . he that is frequently engaged in such meditations , embitters his sensual delights , crushes his fondness of the world , dares not live in those sins which other men allow themselves in , and takes the readiest way to overcome himself ; for how should he be enamoured with earth that looks upon himself as leaving of it ! and what delight can he take in the laughter of fools , or in jovial company , that expects every hour to be summon'd to the bar of christ ! how should he set his heart upon his farm and oxen , that looks every moment to be call'd to give an account of his stewardship , and knows not how soon the arch ▪ angels trumpet will sound , and the judg of quick and dead awaken the world with his thundring voice , arise ye dead , and come to judgment . this even the heathens were so sensible of , that the egyptians , as every man knows , had a sceleton , or death's head set on amidst their greatest dainties , and at their greatest feasts , to check vain mirth , and to put their guests in mind , what they were shortly to come to . this made the patriarchs of old dig their sepulchers in their gardens , while their glory was yet fresh in them , that neither the pleasure of a garden , nor their business might take them off from a continual contemplation of mortality . this made others order their winding ▪ sheet to be carried before them ; others command their servants to call to them every night they went to bed , that their life was spent ; for their going to sleep they looked upon to be but a kind of going to their graves . and indeed he that thus thinks of death , cannot be surprized when it comes , for it is but what he look'd for , and when it knocks at his chamber door he can let it in , and embrace it as a welcome messenger with simeon , lord , now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace , for mine eyes have seen thy salvation . v. in the vanity of the creature , let us take notice of the odiousness of sin , and it 's large demeri●s ▪ when god for mans sin hath subjected the creature unto van●●y , it shews what an abhorrency he hath from sinful actions , and how displeased he is with transgression of his laws , in that he confines not the punishment to man alone , but extends it to the creatures , or to his servants too . to the generality of men sin seems but an inconsiderable thing , and they fancy god to be altogether such a one as themselves ; they will not believe that sin hath that poison in it , which all true penitents find , nor that there is that hell in it , when ever the conscience awakes , which cain , and saul , and judas found . they apprehend god childishly merciful , and because he knows their frame forsooth , that they are frail and weak , he cannot be angry with them for not observing his injunctions . they make him a being without justice , and though they could wish he would revenge their quarrel , whenever they receive any signal affront of their neighbours , yet they would not have him revenge their ingratitude to him , and because they would not have him angry with them , therefore they believe he will not ; and from their loose behaviour infer his good nature , and please themselves with thinking that he will overlook their wilful errors , because their nature abhors every thing that looks like pain and torment . but these fancies , sinner , are so far from extenuating , that they but aggravate thy folly . alas ! it is not thy unwillingness to suffer that will allay gods wrath , nor thy tenderness to thy self that will make him express less hatred and indignation against thee . if unwillingness to endure pain were a sufficient bar to justice , what malefactor would be put to death ? and if this plea will not serve on earth , sure i am it will be insignificant in the court of heaven ; and as light as sin seems now , there will a time come when it will be weightier than rocks and mountains . though thou losest the sense of it , yet god doth not forget the dishonour done unto him by it ; and when the monstrous load sunk the son of god , and pressed him that was infinite into a sweat of blood , and made the immortal die : think what a pressure it will be for thy impenitent soul ( for from such christ hath not taken away gods anger ) when the whole burden shall be thrown upon thee at the revelation of the righteous judgment of god. vi. doth the whole creation hope to be deliver'd from her bondage ? then lift up your heads , ye mourners of sion , and learn to imitate the creature in its hope . doth the creation as it were support it self with this hope from sinking into its primitive chaos , and cannot this hope of your everlasting deliverance keep your hearts from fainting under the darkest providence ? behold the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth , and hath long patience for it , until he receive the early and the latter rain , jac. 5. 7. you sow in tears now , the day will come when you shall reap in joy ! it 's but a little while , and he that shall come , will come : the hope of a kingdom keeps a captive prince from murmuring , and should not the hopes of that kingdom which fades not away , bear up your spirits against despair ? have you fought the good fight so long , and will you give over now ? are you within reach of the crown , and will you lay down your weapons ? are you within sight of the haven , and will you suffer shipwrack ? behold that jesus , who was dead and is alive , and is the king of the princes of the earth , is hastening to your rescue ; you 'll see him ere long coming in the clouds of heaven , and all his holy angels with him , your afflictions then will all be changed into eternal freedom , your waters of marah into rivers of delight , which make glad the city of god , your prison into perfect liberty , your lions den into a palace , your fiery furnace into the light of god's countenance , your dungeon into heaven , your poverty into plenty , your sickness into eternal health , your losses into solid possessions , your shackles into kisses , your setters into the kindest embraces , your bryars into glory , your thorns into a crown . o joyful day , when this corruptible shall put on incorruption , and this mortal shall put on immortality , and your rags be changed into splendid robes ! who would not suffer a while to enter into that rest ! who would be afraid of being destitute , tormented , afflicted , when these storms are all to expire into eternal sun-shine ! the spirit and the bride , say , come ; and let him that hears , say , come ; even so , come lord jesus ! having thus led you from the creature to the creator , i must crave leave to lead you back again from the creator to the creature , viz. to the party deceased . and here i could wish i were able to give you that account of her life and deportment , which in all probability you expect upon this occasion ; but when i shall have told you , that it was not my happiness to be acquainted with her before she died , you 'll soon pardon my silence in her commendations ; and yet i dare not be so injurious to her memory , as to conceal the character , which those that knew her intimately , were pleased to give of her . her piety it seems was great and early , and her soul big with devotion in an age which is exposed to the greatest temptations . what solomon learn'd by sad experience in his latter years , she practised in the days of her youth ; and the fear of god which he found to be the only true happiness , when he had run through all the risks of sin , she embraced before she had tasted any of the worlds pleasures . she no sooner came to years of discretion , but she saw that her greatest interest lay in loving god , and understood that to remember her creator , before the evil days do come , was the greatest prudence and policy . as young as she was , her eyes were fix'd upon a better world , and it was hard to say which had her greatest care , god's glory , or her own salvation . her affection to goodness appear'd in her , when vice begins to flourish in other persons , and she began to shoot out buds of grace , when others look upon 't as a piece of necessity to run out into sin and vanity . the word of god was the food , her soul delighted in , and she thought no provision comparable to the bread of life , which feeds men into eternal content and satisfaction . she had learn'd , that god was one that did hear prayers , and to address her self to him , was not the least part of her employment . in these tender years she was already arriv'd to that knowledg , which philosophers formerly attained not unto , till they were grown aged , and was become mistress of the greatest vertues at a time , when others are apt to laugh at strictness and severity as a mellancholy humor . she had already learn'd to scorn reproaches for righteousness sake , and did clearly apprehend that her greatest glory must be religion and god's favour . at those years when others hardly know what heaven means , she had already felt it in her soul , and she could guess at what angels did above by her praising and magnifying the beauty and bounty of her maker . the fruits of the spirit which are not seen in others before fifty , appeared in her at eighteen , and the joys of the holy ghost , which are not counted modish till fourscore , became familiar to her , as soon as her reason began to exert it self into action . she had already practised to lay up her treasure in heaven , and as if she had foreknown her death , she made preparation for it at a time , when others make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof . what would this plant have come to , if it had grown up to its full height and stature , and how glorious would this tree have been , if it had been permitted to spread its branches like the cedars in lebanon . she that did already , like aarons rod , bud and blossom , and bear fruit ; how rich would the fruit have been , if it had been warm'd some years longer by the sun of righteousness ! but the flower was too costly for this valley of tears , and the soil here below too course for this curious plant to thrive in ; god therefore cropt it to transplant it into paradise , and withdrew it from the eyes of men , because it was a fitter spectacle for angels . finis . some books printed for james collins . the duke of albermarl's compleat body of military discipline , fol. the great law of consideration in order to a serious life , by anthony horneck preacher at the savoy , octavo . essays on several important subjects in philosophy and religion , by joseph glanvil chaplain in ordinary to his majesty , quarto . two discourses , viz. a discourse of truth by dr. rust , lord bishop of dromore in the kingdom of ireland , and the way of happyness and salvation rescued from vulgar errors , by joseph glanvil chaplain in ordinary to his majesty , twelves . bishop wards sermons before the king , and other occasions , oct. doctor parkers answer to marvel , oct. bishop bramhall's vindication of the church of england , oct. private conference twixt a rich alderman and poor countrey vicar , by dr. pettis , oct. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44540-e370 2 pet. 3. 16. tertuli . lib. 3. adv . marc. luc. 12. 17 , 1● matth. 23. 27. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . diog. laert. lib. 6. de diog. de 300 statuis demetrii phalerei null● corrupit aerug aut situs , sed omnes vivent ipso eversae sunt . demadis statuae co● flatae sunt in matulas . plutarch . de rei● ger. praec . tertullian . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 philo. voluptas bonum pecoris est senec. a campana luxuria perquam utilis ci●itati nostrae ●uit . invi●tum enim artis hanniba●em , illicebris ●uis complexa , ●incendum romano militi ●ibuit . val. max. lib. 9. ● 1. b aelian . lib. 5. de animal . c. 40. max. tyrius dissert . 21. in strab. lib. 1● . vid. trigant . com. de exped . apud sinas . et martin . hist. sin. lib. 8. vid. plat. in axioch . job 1. 14. & seq . 2 cor. 11. 26. job 29. 3. 6. 19. &c. 31. 4. vid. senec. consil. ad polyb . c. 28. hom● ▪ via . helmont . ●● sympath . vid. valer. max. lib. 5. c. 4. vid. olear . rosar . p●rs . lib. ● . c. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 debarim rabba . a letter from a protestant gentleman to a lady revolted to the church of rome horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 1678 approx. 96 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 82 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44536 wing h2845 estc r1400 12013069 ocm 12013069 52472 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44536) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 52472) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 568:1) a letter from a protestant gentleman to a lady revolted to the church of rome horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. [2], 181, [1] p. printed for james collins ..., london : 1678. errata: p. [1] at end. advertisement: p. 178-181. signed: n.n. [i.e. anthony horneck] attributed to anthony horneck. cf. halkett & laing (2nd ed.). reproduction of original in cambridge university library and bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholic church -controversial literature. 2005-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-05 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-07 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2005-07 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a letter from a protestant gentleman to a lady revolted to the church of rome . london , printed for james collins , in the temple passage from essex-street , 1678. a letter of a protestant gentleman to a lady revolted to the church of rome . madam , and are you indeed got into the onely catholick church ? and are you sure the men you have lately believed have not deceived you , as you fancy we have done ? ( for tho you may be so charitable , as to think , that we have not intentionally couzened you , yet since you cannot suppose us to be both in the right , you must necessarily conclude , that we have at least ignorantly abused and imposed upon you ) and did you ever rightly consider what a truely catholick church does mean ? men of sense and reason always believed , that a church which hold's the truely catholick faith is a true and sound member of the catholick church , and dares malice it self say , that we do not hold the apostles , the nicene , and athanasius's creed ! the church of rome her self confesses , that these creeds contain the truely catholick faith : and most certainly when the nicene councel was celebrated , and in athanasius's time that church was counted a sound member of the catholick church , that held that catholick faith , which is expressed in those creeds ; and do we not hold that faith ? do we not stand up at it to express our readiness to defend it ? and what have we done , that we must not be counted a catholick church ? is it because we will not receive things which the church of rome hath since added to the catholick faith ? is it because we will not admit of the doctrines which that church was first induced to believe by the darkness and ignorance of the ages it lived in , and at last loath to part withal for fear they should be thought to have been so long in an error ? is it because we will not yield to things which we apprehend to be directly against the word of god and destructive to that catholick faith the christian world hath professed in all ages ? is it because we will not deceive the people of the cup in the blessed sacrament , which christ intended as a mighty comfort to them ? is it because we will not believe the miracle of transubstantiation against four of our senses and reason , and scripture to boot . is it because we will not suffer the worship of god , or that which is very like it to be given to creatures , because of the very appearance of the evil of idollatry , which we are commanded to shun , as much as idollatry it self ? i● it because we will not believe a purgatory fire , which cleanseth little , but peoples purses of their money ? is it because we will not indulge the pride and arrogance of a man at rome , who having first wheadled the christian princes out of their means and power , hath at last made that power and riches hereditary to his successors , under a pretence of a legacy from christ ? is it because we will not beleive contrary to the apostles rule , that publick prayers which are intended for the benefit and understanding of the multitude , must be said in a ▪ tongue unknown to the people ? these must certainly be the reasons , why we cannot now passe with the church of rome for members of the catholick church ? that these things were not in the ancient catholick creeds , i hope , you are convinced , for you have read them over , and found none of all these additions in them : and now i beg of you , in the name and by the mercy of that jesus in whom you beleive , to judge , which is most likely to be the truly catholick church , our's or their's ? our's that keeps to the truly antient catholick faith , or their's that hath added things contrary to scripture and reason and antiquity ? and dare you continue in a church where your very communion with it , is an approbation of their actions which are directly contrary to the command of christ ? can there be any thing more contrary to it than their denying the cup to the laity ? and when you receive the sacrament but in one kind , contrary to christs command , do not you sin and allow of the sin of that church you are in ? is not your disobedience to christs command a sin , or can you imagine that you are more obliged to obey men than christ himself ? you confess you dare not live in any one sin ; but how dare you live in this sin ? you talk of the benefit of confession and absolution , when that very priest to whom you conf●sie , and who absolves you , lives in that sin you are guilty of , and neither absolves himself nor you from it , and you both continue in it , as if the blind had a mind to lead the blind ? how dare you act thus against your reason and conscience ? are you not affraid when you are going to co●f●ss● , that god will laugh at your mock confe●sion , since you neither confesse that sin of living contrary to christs command about the cup , nor are willing to part with it ? tell me not here that you drink the blood of christ in eating his flesh , it so , to what purpose doth the priest consecrate wine for himselfe , if he drinks the blood of christ in eating his flesh ; but suppose the bread were transubstantiated into the flesh and blood of christ , you know that the not giving the cup of blessing to those that come to the lords supper , is contrary to christs institution , who distinctly consecrated the cup , and gave that to his disciples , who were representatives of all believers , as well as the bread , and peremptorily commanded , drink ye all of this , and i hope you do not call eating the consecrated wafer drinking the wafer . but let us grant you your strange doctrine , that you do participate of the blood of christ in eating the consecrated wafer , who gave you church authority to alter christ's institution ? how can men dispense with an express law of god ? can they annull what god would have established , and continue to the worlds end ? and can you consent to so great a sacriledge ? doth not some horrour seize on you , when you seriously think that you approve of the priests sinning against so notorious a precept , and which he that runs may read ? and pray madam , wherein have you bettered your self in going over to the roman church ? is this your proficiency in religion to forsake a church , where you felt the lively oracles of heaven coming warm upon your soul , and to joyn your self to a church , where you hear nothing but latine prayers , and where the priest , if he be not a good man , may as well curse you as bless you , for any thing you understand of his language or devotion ? is this your proficiency in religion to leave a church where you were taught to worship god in spirit and in truth , and now to cleave to one where they teach your prayers to go upon crutches of crucifixes , beads , and images ? doth this look like that noble religion which christ taught the world , and whose design was to advance our rational souls by contemplation and meditation ? o madam , you are too young to know the tricks of that church you live in ; they are more politick heads than yours is , that had the contriving of it . bold men , that had learnt not to blush at a lye , and then thought it their interest to hector the world into a belief of it . we that can read books as well as they , and know the history of the church as well as they , can see through all these devices , which they perceiving are angry with us for discovering the cheat. what was it madam , that you wanted in our church to carry you to heaven ? did you want that which the apostles and the primitive christians never wanted ? i mean did you want more articles of faith than they subscribed and believed ! if you wanted that , we confess we could not supply you , for we dare say nothing and believe nothing with divine faith , but what moses , and the prophets and christ and his apostles have taught us . if the scripture contains all things necessary to salvation , then we teach all that . if the church of rome knows more articles than christ or his apostles knew of ; we will admire her insolence , but cannot satisfie her unreasonable desire . did you want strictness of life in our church ? if all the commands of the gospel can make you holy , we teach them all , and press them upon the people , and i presume you do not aim to be holier than christ and his apostles would have you to be . hath the church of rome another gospel to teach you than we did instruct you in ? if they have , much good it may do them , we are not fond of the apostle's curse , should an angel from heaven bring another gospel to you let him be accursed . i know your common plea that we protestants cannot rightly interpret the scripture , because we pretend to no infalliblity . and do you blame us for not being so impudent as the church of rome ? there is no protestant but would be glad there were an infallible interpreter of scripture instituted by god and recommended to mankind . but where shall we find him ? who is it that god hath imparted this honour to ? if you say the fathers , you know not what you say , for the fathers differ many times as much in interpretation of the scripture , and are as contrary to one another as any men. if you say the church that 's a hard word ; if you mean christs universal church , dispersed all the world over , you must tell us where it is that this church hath left an infallible comment upon the bible , and how it is possible for a man that will be resolved in a point to go to all christian people in the world ; if you say the church of rome , you must first shew us her commission for this infallible interpretation . secondly you must prove she hath infallibly interpreted the scriptures , and that those interpretations are infallible in all places . thirdly you must agree among your selves what part of your church is infallible , whether the pope , or an universal councel , or all christian people , or whether all these together . to say that this infallibility lies in the church , though you know not where , is to say a needle lies in a bottle of hay , and he hath good luck that finds it . nay i think the church of rome hath been so modest , that notwithstanding all her pretences to infallibility , she never hath dared to obtrude a comment on the bible as infallible , nor did i ever see any interpretation of the bible made either by pope or councel which hath pretended t● infallibility . if that churc● be infallible why do not thei● own divines agree in interpretation of scripture ? i● there be an infallible sense o● the scriptures in that church ▪ then the members of tha● church are mad not to keep t● that infallible sense , especially if they know where t● fetch it , and they offer grea● injuries and affronts to thei● church in differing so muc● about interpretation of scripture , when their chur●● can give them an infallib●● sense of it . for that churc● having as they pretend th● holy ghost to guide them in all things , i suppose that spirit assists her in interpretation of one place of scripture as well as in another : if they say it doth infallibly assist them in some places and not in all , they destroy their own principle , and how shall a man be sure , that just in those points that are in dispute between us and them , they are infallible ? is the spirit divided ? or is he not alwaies the same ? or doth not he exert his power upon all occasions ? madam , who so blind as those that will not see ? who sees not that the pretence of infallibillity is nothing but a juggle , a device to maintain a triple crown , and an engine to carry on a temporal authority ? god indeed hath promised that his church dispersed through the world , shall last to the world's end , and that the gates of hell shall not prevail against he● , but that promise differs very much from a promise of infallibility , and suppose it did infer an infallibility , how comes the particular church of rome to ingross it to her self , that is at the best but a member , and a very unsound one , of christ's universal church ? it is one thing to be secured against being destroyed , and another to be free from all possibility of errour . there is no doubt but a sober rational man , that prays earnestly for illumination , and reads the scripture much , and considers the circumstances , the holy writers were in , when they writ , and the occasions of their writing , and hath the advantage of learning , of languages , and history , may give a very true interpretation of scriptures , such an interpretation as no man can rationally contradict , though he hath not recourse to a visible in●allible guide , and though himself be not infallible . things may be very certain , though they are not infallibly so , and he that can make things out so , that a prudent man cannot but give consent to them , and hath no just cause to doubt of their truth , may justly challenge beleif from other men . but i will not insist upon this point because i never heard you speak much of it . i will come a little closer to those reasons , that moved you to goe over to the roman church , whereof the principal was this , that you were troubled in mind upon the account of your sins , and could get no satisfaction in our church , though you sought it like esau with teares ; whereas you did no sooner confess to a roman priest , and receive absolution but you presently found unspeakable comfort . and are you sure madam , that the peace and satisfaction , you found in that church was not delusion ? you tremble at that word ; but le ts consider the nature of your peace . when you were in our church , either you did truly repent of all your sins , or you did not . if you did not ▪ most certainly you could have no solid peace , but if you did truly repent , as you say you did , what could hinder you from applying the promises made to penitent sinners to your self , which are the true grounds of comfort and satisfaction ? may be you wanted a voice from heaven to confirm the promise of the gospel but have you since heard 〈◊〉 voice from heaven in the church of rome ? i think not ; if you truly repented in our church , then certainly by the word of god you were assured that your sins were pardoned , and if they were pardoned , why should you not comfort your self with that pardon ? that which makes you rejoyce now , is because you believe your sins are pardoned , but if when you were of our church , you verily believed ; you truly repented , you could not but believe that your sins were pardoned and consequently you might have taken as much comfort , as you do●●yw . but the ministers some church of engl●nd , you say , gave me no absolution , which the roman priest did . why , madam , did any of our ministers deny you absolution , when you could assure them that your repentance was sincere ? did you ever ask absolution , and were you refused ? nay i appeal to your conscience , did not those ministers you conversed withal assure you over and over , that you need not doubt of the pardon of your sins so long as you did detest and abhor them and watch , and strive , and pray against them , and were sincerly resolved to commit them no more , and did avoyd the very occasions of evill ? and what was this but absolution , which however you might have had performed with greater ceremony , if you had had a mind to it . it is no very hard matter to guesse at the rise and progress of your peace and satisfaction in the roman church . all new things please , and provided they have but a good face , allure our fancy , and this being pleased , it s very natural to defend them , and having once defended them , our love to them advances , and by degrees we think our honour and credit is too far engaged to part with them . we see how children are quieted with new trifles ( pardon the uncourtly comparison , i know not how to shun it ) and the new object , they never saw before , surprizes and charmes them , makes them fix their eyes upon it and cry , if they cannot have it . in the nature of children we see our own , and embraceing new objects , which our sickly fancy is roving after , is but the scene of childrens longing for new play things , changed ; the novelty of the thing you were venturing upon , the new church ( new indeed , new to you , and new to almighty god ) which you were to joyn your self to , the stool of confession in the church , and the priests new habit , and mortified face ( which perhaps he owes more to his country , than to his vertue ) and affected gravity , and assuring of you that their absolution had a wonderful vertue and efficacy , all these together surprized you , and raised your expectation , and struck some kind of reverence into you . your mind being thus possessed with the idea's of these new thing 's you never tried before , and working upon your affections , and moving your will to confess to this man of wonders , you naturally fell into a fancy , that so much formality and ceremony different from that you had been used to in our church , had more charmes in it , than our plain and honest way , and then laid the stress of your pardon upon the new priests absolution in that formal manner wherewith your fancy being impregnated , it soon diffused a cheereful air in your countenance , and raised some gladness in your heart , because you had now done something more than ordinary , as an antidote against your sin. and from hence arose your pretended peace and satisfaction , or delusion rather , because you layd the stress of your pardon upon the absolution of that roman priest , and not upon the sincerity of your repentance . if a priest could forgive sinn 's whether men repent or no , then indeed you might have layd the stress of your pardon on that forgiveness of the priest , but since by your own confession , that absolution of the priest signifies nothing except people truly repent , for you to build your comfort on that absolution , when it should have been founded upon your sincere repentance , cannot but be a false fire and a conterfeit comfort , if you say ; you did not fetch your peace from that absolution , but from the sincerity of your repentance , you catch your self , for if your true repentance must be the foundation of it , then you might have taken the same comfort in our church ▪ if you still reply , you could not , you only mean , you would not , for true repentance is true repentance in any church , and if true repentance causes true comfort , it would have caused true comfort in our church , as well as in the roman , and therefore there must be some cheat in this comfort . the fancy you have since taken up , that the reason , why you found comfort in the church of rome upon your confession and absolution , and none in ours , must needes be , because the priests of that church are true priests and those of ours are not , is as solid as your peace . if we have no true priests in the church of england , then most certainly the church of rome hath none . the bishops , which in the beginning of our reformation did ordain bishops , priests and deacons among us , were ordained by bishops of that church , and if the character of orders by their own confession be indeleble , then it was not all the thunders and lightenings of excommunication at rome could annul it . it 's true your ghostly father very confidently tells you ( a quality incident to that sort of men ) that our first protestant bishops never received orders from bishops of the church of rome , but one would admire what spirit doth possess these men , that they dare contradict all the publick authentick records we have of their being consecrated by bishops of the church of rome ; they might as well deny , that there were no such kings of england , as henry 7th . and henry 8th . ( for we have nothing but publick records to shew for it ) as deny that the bishops of the reformation were never consecrated by bishops of the roman perswasion . i am perswaded that if any papist should come into trouble about the title of an estate , he hath , and did but know that the name of his ancestors , the manner of the conveyance and his just title were in some publick record or register , he would soon make use of it , alledge it as a sufficient proof , and thank god for preserving a record , that is so much for his advantage . i know not , what can be a better testimony in matters of fact next to revelation , than publick records and registers , and we dare venture our reputation upon it , that in the authentick registers of the respective arch-bishops of canterbury , where fear of being counted knaves , and fools , for putting in things contrary to what was publickly known may justly be supposed , to have kept the publick notaries from asserting things notoriously false . in these registers i say it will be found , what succession our first protestant bishops had , how arch-bishop parker the first arch-bishop of canterbury under queen elizbeth ( to go no higher ) was consecrated december . 17. 1559 by four persons then actually bishops , and who had formerly been ordained by bishops of the church of rome ( viz. ) william barlow in henry the 8th . dayes bishop of st. davids , under edward the 6th . bishop of bath and wells , under queen mary driven into exile and returned under queen elizabeth , john scory formerly bishop of chichester , miles coverdale formerly bishop of exeter , and john hodgkins bishop suffragan of bedford , not to mention that the queens letters patents ( in case any of the other should be sick or forced to be absent ) were directed to three bishops more , that had formerly been popish bishops and were turned protestants ( viz. ) anthony bishop of laudaff , john bishop suff●agan of thedford and john bale bishop of o●●ery but all this hath b●en s●●learly demonstrated out of 〈◊〉 ●ublick records , first by mr. mason , and ●nce by ar●●-bishop brambal , that h● that writes of it can onely transcribe out of them , and those that deny these records must be men of strange foreheads , and of the greatest disingenuity . from these men that had their priesthood from the church of rome , our priesthood is lineally derived , so that if our priesthood be not valid , theirs cannot be ▪ and if heresie doth not make the episcopal office void , nor disable a man from conferring episcopal order on other men ( as is evident from the second councel of nice , with your church an oecumenical counsel , which received bishop anatolius tho consecrated by dioscorus a heretical bishop ( if i say heresie doth not make the episcopal order void , then suppose , we were hereticks our priesthood which is derived from popish bishop that turned protestants must be a true priesthood still , and to thi● purpose i remember one o● your church said lately , once a priest , for ever a priest. madam , if your desire to know the truth , be honest and sincere , you should act like a person that hath a mind to be satisfied , and search the publick records , and til● then believe not every tal● that 's told you ; the common plea of your priests , that ou● records are sophisticated ▪ and that we have put in what we please , argues only boldness , and ignorance , when they can shew neither where , nor when , nor by whom they they were corrupted . those that talk so , seem neither to understand what a publick solemne thing the consecration of a bishop is in england , nor to reflect , how difficult it is to fill a publick register with falsities as to matters of fact , when there are so many hundered men , that know what is done at such a time , and view the records , and would most certainly speak of it , if they found a flaw in the relation . but if we should deal thus with the church of rome , question all their registers in the vatican , and say , which we might do with far greater reason , tha● they are things packed and invented by men , that have a mind to keep up a faction , ● know what language we should meet withal . but will you boast , say you , o● having derived your orders from the chuch of rome , when you believe the church of rome to be an idolatrous chuch ; madam , it is not the office of a bishop in you● church we find fault withal , but the abuses of it . a church that 's guilty of very great corruption both in doctrine and manners , may have something that 's good and allowable , and he that retains that , is not therefore guilty of her corruption , nor espouses her errours , your idolatry is one thing , and your orders are another . the jews did take many good things from the heathens , and the christians many commendable things from the jewes , but that neither made the jewes approve of the heathenish worship , nor the christians allow of the jewish errours . we are not so disingenious , as to make the breach between you and us wider then needs . so far as you go with scripture and true antiquity we hold with you , where you contradict both , we cannot with a safe conscience bear you company . he that sees a pearl lye among a great deal of trash , if he take the pearl , is not therefore obliged to take the rubbish too , and if we have derived our orders from you , that inferrs no necessity , that we must therefore consent to your notorious depravations of the ancient simplicity of the gospel . the christians heretofore , that approved of the baptism of the donatists , did not therefore presently acknowledge the truth of their opinions , and he that should take a good custome from the turks , cannot be therefore said to approve of all things that are in the alcoran . madam , there is nothing more easie than to cavil at the most prudent action in the world , especially where people take a slight survey of things , and do not with seriousness and deliberation weigh the circumstances of the fact , and do not examine the inside as well as the outside , and i must confess upon the best examination of your actions and proceedings in this revolt to the church of rome , you never took the right way to be satisfied , for instead of pondering the arguments and motives of our departure from the church of rome , and of the reasons we alledge for our church and doctrine ; you made it your chief imployment to read their books , and believed what they said to be oracles , for no other reason but because they talked with greater arrogance and confidence . if you say , that you could not judge of arguments having never been bred a schollar , i would but ask you how you durst change your religion then ? did you change it without reason and without ground ? and if you are not able to weigh the strength of arguments , how can you be sure that you are in the true church at this time ? it is not talk , but arguments that must demonstrate the truth of a religion , and if you have not sufficiently weighed the arguments of both sides , it is a thousand to one , you may still be in the wrong way , and you know not but you may be as much out now , as you were formerly ; m●dam , so great a thing , as the change of your religion , upon which no less then eternity depends , might justly have challenged some years study , before you had resolved upon it . to do a thing of this nature upon so slight a survey , consider whether it doth not argue rashness , and weakness , rather than piety and devotion . to leave a religion you have been bred and born in , a religion founded upon the word of god , and which you had liberty to examine by the scripture , upon reading a popish book or two , without diving to the bottom of the several controversies , without reflecting on the importance of the points in question , without studying a considerable time which religion comes nearest to scripture , and which goes farthest off , is such an argument of impatience , that you only seem to have yeilded to a dangerous temptation of the devil . if the controversies , between the church of rome and us , are so intricate , as you say , and above your capacity to dive into them , you have then run over to that church in the dark , and have as little reason to be satisfied with your proceedings , as you believe you have with our way of worship . you plead that you have been sitting up whole nights , and weeping and praying , that god would discover to you , which is the true way to salvation , and from that time forward you found inclinations to go over to that church ; and is this a sufficient argument to justifie your forwardness ? when you had already begun to doubt , whither our church were a true church or no , because you found not that satisfaction in it , your sickly desires wanted , it was then an easie matter to give ear to confident people , that magisterially and peremptorily assured you , that you would find satifaction in their church , and being fed with this hope , your inclinations to that church grew stronger every day , as our mother eve , the hopes of being like god , suggested to her by the serpent , did egg and spur her on to eat of the fatal tree . we do not forbid people to pray to god to lead or direct them into the right way : ( though sometimes it may be a perfect tempting of god , when people are in the right way to desire god to discover to to them , by a sign of their own choice , whether they are in it or no. ) but then , if we pray to god to direct us , we must not neglect the means , god hath appointed in order to our satisfaction , but must compare scripture with scripture , and books with books , and arguments with arguments , and search , which religion agrees most with the doctrines and practices of christ and his apostles , and as the noble berrheans did , examine all the doctrines , obtruded to our beleif , by the scripture ; and doing thus , and continuing this search , and these prayers together , no doubt but god , in his own good time , will answer us and direct us . but to pray to god to direct us , and not to use the means , in the use of which he hath promised to direct us , we do in a manner mock him , or desire him to work a miracle for us , or to vouchsafe us some extroardinary revelation , when we have moses and the prophets , and may hear them . and i am confident , had you joyned this way with your prayer , examined the doctrines of the church of rome , and compared them with the gospel of our lord jesus christ , seen whether there be any thing like it in the bible , and se●●ched whether christ and his apostles ever taught such doctrines , and done all this , not slightly , but seriously and solidly , it s impossible , you could ever have turned papist , for if our gospel be true , that religion can never be true , for there is nothing in the world can run more counter to the gospel , than the doctrines of that church , wherein we differ from them , and they had need put the bible among pro●●bited books , for should the people have liberty freely to peruse it , the church of rome would grow very thin and despicable . i am sensible your priests find fault with our translation of the bible , and cry out , that there are great defects in it , but when they talk so , they had need talk to women , not to men of learning , and that understand greek and hebrew , the languages , in which the word was originally written . the honesty of our translators appears sufficiently from hence , because , if any sentence in the bible be capable of a double sense , they express the one in the text , and the other in the margin , and where they do but in the least , vary from the original , they either discover it by the italick character , or give you notice of it in the margin , then which there can be nothing more honest . and let any papist of you all shew us , wherein any thing in our bibles is ill translated out of malice or design , or expressed in words , which the original will not bear . if we examine translations by the original , then sure i am , there is few translations go further from it , than the vulgar latine , or the rhemist testament , as were an easie matter to prove , if i intended more than a letter . you are much taken with their mortifications and pennances , which , you say , we have not in our church ; but it 's a signe , madam , you did not rightly understand our religion ; we are so far from condemning mortification and severity of life , that we do commend it , provided it be in order to subdue the body of sin , and to raise our selves to a greater pitch of vertue , provided these severities be sepa●ated from all opinion of merit , and from an opinion of their being satisfactory , and expiatory , and used only as helps , to work in us a perfect detestation of sin. and i will assure you there are more in the church of england , that use severities in this humble holy way , than you are aware of . we indeed do not ordinarily inflict them on all persons , because we know not their constitution , nor what their n●ture will bear , nor have we any command for it in the word of god , but these things we leave to every mans discretion , urging , that where sins require stronger remedies , there men ought to make use of them , and if their corruptions will not be gone by reasonings and arguments , that there they must inflict mulcts and penalties on themselves to drive the unclean spirit out . though i must say still , that religious severities and austerities are not certain signs of a true religion , for heathens do use them , as much as christians , nay more than christians . witness the brahmanes in the indies , and the religious pagans dispersed through all the eastern parts , and if you conclude , that therefore the church of rome must be in the right , because they inflict great pennances , and severities and make daily use of them , i am afraid you only forbear turning turk or heathen , because you never saw their far greater severities in religion , than the church of rome can boast of : but still the protestant church hath not the real body and blood of christ in the holy sacrament , which the church of rome hath : and are you sure the church of rome hath it ? i am perswaded you did never tast it , nor see it , nor feel it , nor smell it , and how do you know it ? what ? because the priests of that church do tell you so ? no , say you , it is , because christ saith in express termes , this is my body . and here , i confess , i stand amazed , that men , with learning and reason about them , can sink into an opinion so contradictory , that , if all the consequences of it be considered , there is nothing in nature can be more absurd , or irrational , and the church of rome had need oblige men to deny both their reason and senses to beleive a transubstantiation . here indeed a faith is necessary , strong enough to remove mountaines , and though never any miracles were wrought , but were wrought on purpose to convince our senses , yet here we must believe one which neither sence nor reason can discover . when christ gave the sacrament to his disciples , saith the apostle , 1 corinth . 11.24 , he brake the bread , and said , take eat , this is my body , which is broken for you . it is a wonderful thing , that the word is , in the first sentence , this is my body , should have a litteral sense , and in the very next sentence , pronounced with the same breath , cannot admit of a litteral sense ; for the word is in the second sen●ence must necessarily stand for 〈◊〉 h● , because christs body , when he gave the bread , was not yet broken : if it will not admit of a litteral sense in the very next sentence , because of the absurdity that would follow , that christ was crucified , before he was crucified , why should we understand it in the first sentence litterally , when the absurdity is far greater ; nay that the word is should not be capable of being understood litterally in the second essential part of the sacrament , this cup is the new testament , that here i say it should import , and can import nothing else , but signifies or is a sign of the new testament , and yet must not be understood so , in the first part of the sacrament , is a thing we cannot comprehend : and when the apostle , speaking of the lords supper or eucharist , 1 cor. 10.16 . the cup of blessing which we bless , is it not the communion of the blood of christ , and the bread which we break , is it not the communion , of the body of christ , let the rigidest papist , that hath not quite banished his reason , tell me , how he will make sense of the word is here , except he understand it figuratively ; most certainly it cannot be understood literally ; for the cup is not that communion , but is a sign of it : one would admire , how m●n can be so obstinate in a thing as clear as the sun , and you might as well conclude , that christ is a door made of boards and nailes , because the scripture sayth , he is a door , and that he is a real vine with green leaves and grapes about him , because the scripture saith he is a vine . but suppose the word is in these words , this is my body , must be understood literally , how doth this make for transubstantiation ? are the words is and is transubstantiated all one ? a thing may be said to be a thousand ways , and yet without transubstantiation , so that , if by the word is you understand transubstantiation , you your selves must go from the literal sense , and assume a sense , which is not expressed in that saying . all the jews are so well versed in the sense of sacramental expressions , that by the word is they understand nothing but signifies or represents , and therefore it s a horrid shame , that christians meerly for fear of being laughed at , for departing from an absurd opinion , and losing the credit of a pretended infallibility , should make themselves ignorant in that , which the meanest jew , even before the gospel , understood without a teacher ; for we may confidently beleive , that no jew , before christs time , was so sottish to think , when it 's said , the flesh is the passeover , exod. 12.11 . that the flesh or blood was really the passeover , but only a sign and representation of it , or a token to them , as moses calls it , ver . 13. i will not here put you in mind of the strange absurdities that must follow from this doctrine of transubstantiation , viz. that christ , when he did eat and drink in this sacrament , must have eaten his own fl●sh , and that the apostles must have eaten his body , while he was at the table with them , and before it was crucified , &c. i could tell you , that this doctrine is against the great article of our faith , that christ is ascended into heaven , and there sitteth at the right hand of god until the day of judgment . that it is against the nature of a real body to be in a thousand places at once . and that from hence it must follow , that the body and blood of christ is capable of being devoured by vermine , capable of being poisoned , and instead of giving life may be so order'd , that it shall kill and murther ; witness victor the third , pope of rome , and henry the vii th . emperour , who were poisoned in the sacrament , not to mention a thousand more of such monstrous consequences : but since , madam , you do insist so much upon that place of scripture , john 6.53 . except you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life in you . i le but breifly shew you , how ill a logician you are , to conclude that this is spoke of the sacrament , or that these words infer a corporal manducation of christs real body and blood ; if they be meant of the eucharist , it will necessarily follow , that christ oblig'd the jews , and his hearers to come to the sacrament at the time he spake these words , for he speakes of their present eating and drinking , ( except ye eat , &c. ) but this he could not possibly do , for the sacrament of his body and blood was not instituted till at least a whole twelve months after , nor did any of his disciples , at that time , dream of any such thing , as his dying , and being crucified , nor doth christ speak the least word of it in the whole chapter , which he must necessarily have done , if he had intended the sacrment by it , which is all together founded in his crucifixion . for this sermon of christ , concerning eating and drinking his flesh and blood , was delivered just about the feast of the passeover , ver . 4. after which feast , as it is said , john. 7.1 , 2. the jews celebrated the feast of tabernacles , and after this they kept another feast of the passeover , the last , which christ was at , which was no less than a twelve month after , john. 11.55 , john. 12.21 . so that the sacrament of christs body and blood , not being instituted before the last passover , as all the evangelists agree , it was not possible , that either the believing jews , or the apostles could understand it of the sacrament ( and i suppose christ intended to be understood ) because there was no such thing as yet instituted . besides , it is impossible , that it can be understood of the sacramental eating and drinking of the body and blood of christ , for without this eating and drinking there is no salvation to be had , as i● is said , joh. 6.53 , 54. and if it were to be understood of the eucharist , we must exclude all christians from salvation , that are not in a capacity , nor in a possibility of receiving it , which , i am sure , your own church will not do . and that these words of christ cannot possibly be understood of a corporal eating christs flesh , and drinking his blood , but must be understood of a spiritual eating and drinking , that is , believing in him , and obeying him , and hoping for pardon through his death , which is the spiritual food of the soul , is evident from the 54 th . and 56 th . verse , where every one that eats of his flesh and drinks of his blood , is said to have actually eternal life in him , and christ dwelling in him , and he dwelling in christ. that is , christ loves him with a love of complacency , he is a child of god , and beloved of him , and an heir of heaven ; but since wicked men come to the sacrament , not only in our church , but even in the church of rome , it would follow , if a corporal eating were understood , that wicked men , eating christs body , and drinking his blood , have eternal life in them , and that christ dwels in them , and are true children of god , and heires of heaven , contrary to the unanimous consent of the holy prophets and apostles , who call wicked men children of the devil , and blinded by the devil , the god of the world , and heirs of damnation . and indeed it is strange , that people should contend for this corporal and sensual eating of christs flesh , and drinking his blood , when christ himself saith , v. 63. that the flesh profiteth nothing , and that this eating and drinking must be understood spiritually , i.e. of spiritual eating and drinking , which is believing , as it is said , v. 64. you see , madam , what it is not to make use of your own reason , but to enslave it to the faith of a church , which loves to act in the dark , and would have her children colliers , and believe what the church believes , and know little more than the great mystery of an ave maria , or a rosary . time was , when you were pleased to tell our ministers that though you were gone over to the church of rome , yet you had liberty not to pray to saints , nor to fall down before images , for that was not thought necessary by the church of rome , which only recommends praying to saints , and veneration of relicks , and images , as a thing useful , and which men have received much benefit by . and indeed i remember , i was told , you thought , that praying to saints was a kind of idolatry , and therfore were glad they would excuse you from that worship ; but since , i hear , that you are grown as devout a worshipper of saints , and peculiarly of the virgin mary , and do prostrate your self before them , as much as the most tractable papist in the world. i confess , i did smell a rat at first , when your priests assured you , that invocation of saints was not a thing commanded but recommended as useful , and was then confident that before a year came to an end , for all these soft expressions and dispensations with your omission of this worship , they would perswade you to that worship , which then you thought unlawful : my prophecy is come to pas● , and the pill , which seemed very bitter at first , is swallowed , and become sweeter than hony , and look'd upon as an excellent medicine . and this , i must needs say , is more than you could have in our church . but this is our comfort , that the more ingenuous men of the church of rome confess , that this praying to saints or angels was not heard of , or used in the christian church , for the first three hundred years after christ : and if the christian church , for the first 300 years , did not think it useful at all , it is a strange degeneration from their principles , to press it now as useful : certainly , if god had thought this invocation so useful , as your church pretends , it is , he would not have so peremtorily commanded , call upon me in the day of trouble ; i will deliver thee , and thou shalt glorifie me . psalm . 50.15 . and it 's probable , the apostles , in prescribing so many useful things of far less concern , would not have left us in the dark as to the mighty usefullness of this invocation ; especially , when they had occasion to mention the spirits of men made perfect , and did so often converse with angels . the angel , revel . 22.8.9 . thought it a very useless thing , and would not admit of so much as a religious prostration of the evangelist before him , because it look'd like sacriledge , and robbing god of his due . but since your church in this adoration takes pattern so much by the courts of princes , give me leave to suggest to you , how you think , a soveraign prince would take it , if a subject should give any of his servants the title of majesty , or any other title , which properly belongs to him . there are few titles , that god hath , and inspired men have given to him , but you give them to the blessed virgin , and though , when you are charg'd with it , you fall to distinctions , and turn , and wind your selves to get out , yet that shews only a bad cause , because it requires so much artifice and cunning to defend it : but , alas ● it must be children , that are perswaded and coaxed to believe , that the church of rome onely counts it useful not necessary , when it is well known , that the generality of that communion pray to saints more than to god ( which in the scripture phrase is honouring the creature more than the creator ) and they never leave that person , that goes over to them , till they have brought him to that worship of saints and angels . it s pretty to hear these men talk , that it is only recommended as useful , when the bishops and preachers of that church are injoyned , and take their oath upon 't , to commend this invocation to the people , as profitable ; and the people are obliged to hearken to their priests in all things ; so that though a man at first may think this invocation not necessary , upon the account of its being onely useful , yet from that other obligation he hath , to obey the priest in all spiritual things , it becomes necesssary : but from this scruple we are delivered , madam , by the confession of faith , which the roman catechisme doth prescribe , for there it is , that it is not only useful , but that we ought to pray unto saints , and indeed should any man live in that communion , and omit it , he would soon be looked upon as prophane , and but a half convert to their church ; they would soon let him know their displeasure , and either fright or flatter him into conformity . and is this the worship , madam , which christ and his apostles have injoyned the world ? are not you afraid of doing things , that do so nearly border upon robbing god of his honour and glory ? idolatry is a frightful word , and you do not love to hear it , and therefore i will trouble you with it as little as i can . but when god hath commanded you to come to him directly , without mentioning the intercession of saints and angels , how dares your church of her own head , bring in a worship so dangerous ? who should prescribe the way how god is to be worshipped , but god himself ? and if god requires you to address yourself to him without any other mediator , but christ jesus , have not you just reason to be afraid , that god will reject your prayers , which are addressed to saints , as mediators ▪ contrary to his order and injunction ? what kings suffer here on earth , in letting their subjects address 〈…〉 to them , can be no example here , for god , as he intends not to regulate his court by the court of princes , so we know it is against his order , to go to his servants , when we are commanded to come directly to him , and it is such a voluntary humility as deprives us of our reward , as the apostles expresly tells us . coloss. 2.18 . god knew well enough if men addressed themselves to his servants , to have access to him , something of the worship due to him would stick by the way , and rest upon his servants to his dishonour and disparagement , and therefore he mentioned nothing of this mediate address . it s true we desire our neighbours here on earth to pray for us , but for that we have a command ; for the invocation of saints departed we have none , and in vain do they worship me ( saith god ) teaching for doctrines the commandments of men , mat. 15.9 . but besides , when you desire your living neighbours to pray for you , i hope you do not fall down upon your knees to them , nor use the same zeal and devotion to them , as you do to god , and for whole hours together , as you do to saints departed . but why will you blind your self in a thing which your own practice contradicts you in , you know you do not onely pray to saints departed to pray for you , but you do many times , without making any mention of their prayers for you , beg of them , with the same reverence , and prostrations you use to god ▪ to deliver you from all evil , and consequently you beg the same blessings of them you beg of god. and it is but a weak excuse to say , that you intend by those prayers nothing else , but that by their intercession they may get those blessings for you , for you go contrary to the nature of things , and whereas words ordinarily are interpreters of the mind , you make your minds interpreters of your words and actions , which is a strange evasion , and if such a thing be intended , why do you lay a snare before the common sort of people ? who , being ordered to pray to saints for such and such blessings , know nothing to the contrary , but that they are able to dispense those blessings to them , and thus commit idollatry by your willful connivance , whose blood will certainly be required at your churchmens hands one day . examine but your prayers to the virgin mary in your own manuals , when you have prayed to her , and begged of her all that you can pray of god , you add a word or two of her intercession , which in good truth is nothing but a blind , that you may not be said to commit down right idolatry . you know those prayers to the virgin mary , which in the latine , and i think in the english manual too , are ordered to be said to the virgin morning and evening , the one , o my lady , holy mary , i commend my self , my soul and body to thy blessed care and singular custody , and to the bosome of thy mercy this day , and every day , and in the hour of my going out of the world. all my hope , and all my comfort , all my afflictions and miseries , my life , my end i commit unto thee ( speak seriously what can you say more to god ) that by thy most holy intercession , and by thy merits , all my words and actions may be directed and disposed according to thine , and thy sons will , amen . where it 's worth noting , that first you do put as much trust in the virgin as you do in god , and then afterwards , to make these harsh expressions softer , you desire her to interceed for you , that your works may be directed according to christs will , nay and her own , as if she were a law-giver too ? then follows maria mater gratiae &c. o mary , mother of grace , mother of mercy , protect us from the enemy , and receive us in the hour of death , which st. stephen thought was fitter to be said to christ , when he cryed , lord jesu receive my spirit . then followes the evening prayer to the virgin mary . o mary , mother of god , and gratious virgin , the true comforter of all distressed creatures that call upon thee ( this epithete by the way the scripture gives to the holy ghost ) by that great joy whereby thou wast comforted , when thou didst know that jesus christ was risen the third day from the dead impassible , be thou the comforter of my soul , and by the same , who is thine and gods only son in the last day , when with body and soul i shall rise again , and give an account of all my actions , do thou vouchsafe to help me , that i may escape the sentence of perpetual damnation by thee pious mother and virgin , and may come happily with all the elect of god to eternal joyes , amen . then follows , vnder thy protection we flee , holy mother of god , despise not our prayer in our necessities , but deliver us from all dangers alwayes , o glorious and blessed virgin . not to mention any more prayers of this nature , whereof there is a vast number . if god be a god jealous of his glory , how can he like and approve of such doings ? it 's true the honour done to his servants is done to him , but then it must be such honour , as they are capable to receive ; so to honour them , as to give them the epithetes and titles which the scripture gives to none but god , so to honour them , as to use in your prayers to them the same outward prostrations , that you use to god , when you pray to him , so to honour them , as to spend more time in your addresses to them than you do in supplications to god , as is evident from your rosary ; so to honour them , as to say more prayers to them than to christ , so to honour them , as to joyn their merits with christs merits : this is an honour which , i believe , will oblige god to say one day , who hath required these things at your hands ? and how unlike the worship of the true god is that veneration you express to the images and pictures of saints , and to relicks ? how unlike that plain and simple worship which the gospel enjoynes . ? one would think it should a little startle you , to see , that your church is afraid to let the second commandement be known to the people , you know they leave it out in their primmers and catechismes , or if they mention it , they do so mince it , that one sees plainly , they are afraid the people should see the contrariety of their worship to the express word of god. in the beginning of the reformation , the very sight of this commandement made people run away from the church of rome as much as any thing ; indeed to consider the general termes god uses there , thou shalt not make to thy self any graven image , &c. thou shalt not only not worship them but not so much as fall down before them , would make a person , that is not taken more with the golden legends , than with scripture , afraid of prostrations before images , upon the account of devotion ; it is not all your plea , that you do not terminate your worship on the image , but on the person represented by the image , that will excuse you at the great tribunal , for not to mention , that in the same manner the heathen used to defend their grossest idolatry , and that you are forced to borrow their very arguments , your own authors do confesse , that the common people are apt to pay adoration , and do pay adoration to the images themselves , and why will you lay such a stumbling block before the people ? much might be said of the adoration you pay to the consecrated hoste ; you confess , that the worship you give to it , is the same worship , you give to god ; what if that wafer should not be turned into the body and blood of christ ? what if it should remain as very a wafer , as it was before consecration ? what if it should not be god , as you have all the demonstration that sense or reason can give you , that it is not changed into another substance ? what monstrous idolatry would this be ? ay , but we believe it to be god ; why , madam , doth your belief , that such a thing is god , or christ , excuse you from idolatry ? should you believe a stone to be god , and adore it , might not you justly be charged with idolatry ? you look upon the heathens as idolaters , because they adore the sun ; ay , but they believe that sun to be god , and how then , according to your plea , can they be idolaters ? if there be such a transubstantiation in the sacrament , as you fancy , and an adoration of the hoste so very necessary , what 's the reason , the apostles of our lord , that saw christ before their eyes , ( only could not believe that there were two christs , one sitting at the table , the other reached out to them ; ) what 's the reason , i say , that they sate still and paid no adoration to the bread , which according to you was transubstantiated into christ ? if they did not adore it , what a presumption is it in you to give the highest worship to the consecrated bread upon a pretence , that that bread is god under the accidents of bread ? but of this i have said enough before , and could you but find time to read what our authors have written upon this subject , it could be nothing but hardness of heart , and resolution to be blind , could keep you in a church , that fills your head with doctrines , contrary to the nature of a sacrament , contrary to all that moses , and the prophets , nay and all sound philosophers have said . i will not say any thing here of your strange unbloody sacrifice of the mass , a thing unheard of in the purer ages of christianity , and which the scripture is so great a stranger to , that one would wonder how mankind came to light upon the notion . nor of your doctrine of merits , because , i find your priests have two strings to their bow , and tell the people one thing , and their adversaries , when they dispute with them , another ; affirme and deny it as they see occasion , and necessity requires . only one thing i must needs take notice of before i take my leave , and that is the gigantick argument , that some of your gentlemen boast of , and which strikes all protestants dead at the first hearing of it . if there be any thing true , this must be true , that there is a god , if there be a god , there must be a true religion , if there be a true religion , there must be a true revealed religion , if there be a true revealed religon , the christian religion must be that true revealed religion , and if the christian religion be true , then the religion of the church of rome must be true , for the argument , that proves the christian religion to be true proves the religion of the church of rome to be true , which is this , either the christian religion was propagated without miracles or by miracles , if by miracles then it must be divine , if without miracles , then it is the greatest miracle , that a religion , so contrary to flesh and blood , should prevail with sensual men . the same , say they , is true of the religion of the church of rome . for if it be propagated by miracles , it must be divine , if without miracles , it must be so much more , because it prescribes things contrary to flesh and blood , as penances , austerities , &c. and thousands of people do embrace it . i will not make my self merry here in a thing so serious , else i could have told you , that i have hard of an argument , when i was at school , somewhat like this , he that drinks well , sleeps well , he that sleeps well , commits no sin , he that commits no sin will be saved ; therefore he that drinks well will be saved . but i forbear ; and as to the aforesaid argument , whereby one of your priests , that hath printed it , thinks to end all controversies , i will say no more but this . first , that as there is no christian , but must readily confess , that the miracles christ and his apostles wrought , were a confirmation of the divinity of their doctrine , so there is no man of any brains , can admit of the other part of the dilemma as universally true , that a religion that goes against flesh and blood , if propagated without miracles , must therefore be necessarily divine . secondly , that so far as the religion of the church of rome agrees with the truly christian religion , so far it is undoubtedly true , and it will naturally follow , that ▪ if the christian religion be true , the religion of the church of rome , so far as it agrees with the christian religion , must needs be true . and the same may be said of the protestant religion , but that the roman religion must therefore be true , where it goes away and differs from the truly christian religion , revealed to us in the gospel , is a consequence , which none but children can approve of . thirdly with this argument , a man might prove the divinity of almost any religion in the world. he that is no stranger to history , must needs know , what severities , what austerities of life the brachmans , or the heathen friers in the indies do both prescribe , and practise , and what proselites they make , and how full the kingdom of the great mogol is of them , how some wallow in ashes day and night , how others go charged with heavy iron chaines all their dayes , how others stand upright upon their leggs for whole weekes together , &c. how in japan and other places of the indies , the priests perswade the people to fast themselves to death , to go long pilgrimages , to give all they have to the priests , to throw themselves down from steep rocks , and break their necks , and all to arrive the sooner to the happiness of another world , &c. i think there cannot be things more contrary to flesh and blood , than these , and yet we see these doctrines are propogated daily without any force of armes , only by example and perswasion , to be sure without any miracle , but , i hope , that doth not prove their religion to be divine . it 's a dictate of the light of nature , that the way to heaven is strait , and therefore people , that are religiously inclined , are easily won over to those men ▪ whom they see exercise such severities upon themselves . to conclude , madam , when all is done , what the true church is , must be tryed by the writings of the evangelists , and apostles . we see , that even in the apostles dayes , corruptions crept into the church , witness the churches of corinth , galatia , and colosse , &c. and the simplicity of the gospel began even then to be perverted and mingled with idle and foolish opinions and practises , and therefore we must needs think , that after the apostles , decease , the church of christ was subject to the same fate , so that if there be any standard or touchstone left , whereby the truth and sincerity of a church can be tried ( and we must needs think so well of gods providence that he would not leave his church without some rule to rectifie their errors by , in case she should be infected with any ) it must be the primitive institution of the christian religion , and that church , as i said before , which teaches things , that approach nearest to that primitive institution , must be the true church . and , madam , do but once more for your souls sake , and for your salvations sake , compare the doctrines and practises of the church of rome , with the doctrines and practises of the gospel , the fountain of christianity , and try whether you can find there , the doctrines of communion under one kind , of publick prayers in a tongue unknown to the people , of purgatory , of the mass , of transubstantation , of the church of rome's supremacy and infallibility , of worshipping and adoring the virgin mary , and praying to saints , of veneration of relicks and images , of adoration of the hoste , &c. do not force any places of scripture , and try whether you can make sense of any of these doctrines by scripture ? view the stream of the gospel , and search whether there be any thing like these doctrines in it ? why will you make your reason a slave to your priests magisterial sentences ? how can you answer it to god , that you did not improve your reason more ? what have you your reason for , but to judge what is agreeable to the word of god , and what is not ? is not this acting like a creature void of reason , to be guided altogether by what a few blind guides say to you , without enquiring at the law and testimony , whether things are so as they say or no ? wonderful stupidity ! i stand amazed at it . it is not all the seeming holiness of those priests you converse withal , that make the church you are in , a true church . there is no sect in the world , but when they are under a cloud , necessity and the discouragment they are under , and their desire to make proselytes , makes them outwardly religious . there may be , and no doubt are zealous and outwardly pious men in all religions in the world , but that doth not make every religion true , and divine . an outward shew of piety is the only way of propagating any religion . the devil himself could not propagate heathenisme and idolatry , but by the pretened zeal , and piety , and abstinence , and mortification of apollonius tyaneus , who yet by the confession of the whole christian world , was no better then a wizard and conjurer ; i make no application to any particular priest in the church of rome ; i do not deny , but men may be in great errors , and be very zealous for their errours , and seemingly very pious in their zeal , and when their errors are not very wilful , and destroy not the true worship of god , for ought i know , they may find mercy in the day of our lord. i grant there is a great shew of outward piety in the church of rome very dazeling and very moving , but the great danger lyes here , that the worship they give to god with one hand , they strike and pull down with the other : i know too well the practise of their churches , and a heathen that should come into their temples beyond sea , would verily , believe , that they worship a multiplicity of gods as well as he , whatever their pretentions may be to the contrary ; it is not what people say , so much as what they do , that god takes notice of , and though you should ten thousand times protest , that you worship and adore god alone , yet while god sees you adore the virgin mary , with as great zeal and reverence , as you do him , pray to her oftener then you do to him , make as many bowes to her , and other saints , as you do to him , and other things of that nature , how can he believe you ? religion is a thing that will not bear jests and hypocrisy , god will not be put off with contradictions between speeches and practiess . madam , i do from my heart pitty you , and as it might be the weakness of your judgment , that might lead you into this erroneous church , so i beseech you , for christs sake , to return to the church , you have rashly left , where you cannot run a hazard if you will but follow the plain doctrines of the gospel , besides which , we preach nothing , and enjoyn , nothing as necessary to salvation . should these entreaties and beseechings be alledged against you in the last day , as things which you have , contrary to reason , refused and slighted , how dreadful would your condition be ? i have discharged my duty , and given you warning , i would not have your guilt lye at my door , and therefore have let you know my real thoughts and sentiments concerning your condition , and the church you are in . the great god of heaven open your eyes , that you may see and fear . time was when you would have believed us as much as you do now the priests of the church of rome . it 's strange , that now they should speak nothing but truths , and we nothing but fa●shood . do you think , we do not understand the scriptures , and fathers , and antiquity , as well as they ? and can we all be so besotted with interest and passion that none of us should yied to the dictates of their church , if we could prevail with our sense and reason to believe , that the things wherein they differ from us were agreeable to the gospel ? sure we have a great many men among us that are great lovers of peace , and would be glad that the whole christian world were agreed , and would these men stand out against that union , if it could be done with a safe conscience ? certainly we have men as learned among us , as ever the sun did shine upon , nay the church of rome hath at this day few men to equal ours for learning and knowledge . and would all our learned men be so stubborne and obstinate , as not to agree with the church of rome , if they did not see plainly , that there is death in that pot , and that the errours in that church cannot be subscribed to without hazarding the welfare of their souls ? i will but use your own argument , when you went over to the church of rome , and were perswaded by the earnestness of her priests to yeild to their reasonings , what pleasure can we take in promoting your damnation ? what can be our interest in deceiving you ? you used that argument on their side , why will you not use it on our side , judge you , whither we , that have the gospel on our side for what we teach , are not in a safer way , than that church , which for all the new doctrines they have added to the old creedes , are forced to run to the broken cisterns of tradition , and i know not what fathers , whose writings they know not whether they be genuine or no ? as you are now , you live in willful opposition to the doctrine and precepts of the gospel , and o remember what st. paul doth say 2 thes. 1.7 , 8. that the lord jesus will ere long come down from heaven with all his holy angels to take vengeance on those who have disobeyed the gospel of our lord jesus christ. once more therefore i charge you before almighty god , and our lord jesus christ , to repent of your errours , and to return to the bosome of that church , in which you received your life , and being , and the principles of religion and christianity . but if all this seem to you no more but bugbears , i have delivered my own soul , and should be sorry that this discourse should stand as a witness against you in the last day , which god knows was only intended as a motive to draw you back to that fold from which you have wandered and gone astray . i am madam , your faithfull friend to serve you. n. n. feb. 20. 1677. finis postscript madam , as in the publishing of this letter i had no other design , but to prevent the fall of others into the like dangers , so i have particularly insisted on those motives , which have of late tempted some persons to go over to the roman church , and though i have represented these motives as yours , yet in this i have been so far from doing any thing against the laws of private discourse , or friendship , or acquaintance , that i have only touch'd upon the common stumbling-blocks , which make unwary people joyne themselves to that church ; blocks , which might easily be removed , if men or women would but give themselves leave to think , and would prefer the solid dictates of their reason before the suggestions of their soft , and sickly passions . one thing i had almost forgot , and which indeed is the great bug-bear , whereby your church men fright their people from running over to us , and that is , that our church began but about an hundred and fifty years ago , that luther and zwinglius were the authors of it , and that we had no church before ; pittiful shists indeed to keep people from seeing the sun at noon ▪ suppose our religion did but begin then , why , must people be alwayes in an errour ? must they never reform when they have done amiss ? if there were monstrous errors in the church of rome , which the aforesaid persons saw would be the death of christianity , and which they could not subscribe to without debauching their reason , or wronging both their own and other mens consciences , was it not rational , they should protest against such things , to give their fellow christians warning ? when the house is on fire , would you have no body awake to alarm the neighbours to look to themselves ? did they see so many thousand men ready to be drown'd , and would you have had them hold their tongues , and barbarously suffered them all to be drown'd ? did they see the christian religion like to be swallowed up by darkness and ignorance , and was it not time to rouze the slumbering world ? but however , that these men were the first broachers of our rel●gion , is notoriou●●y false ; first , because long before them , there were men that lived in the external communion of the church of rome , but dislik'd the errours , as they crept in , and grew dangerous , and though they were overaw'd and silenc'd many times by the higher powers of the roman-court , yet they both detested those corruptions , and as they had opportunity , protested against them , as were an easy matter to prove from age to age , if it had not been done already over and over by divines of our church , so that though these men , that lived long before luther , and whom god still rais'd to vindicate his truth as it grew more , and more polluted , were not ●call'd protestants by the people , yet in effect they were so , and consequently there were protestants many years before luther and zwinglius ; and though they were not suffered by the ignorant , and imperious ecclestiastical powers to meet and assemble themselves in publick , yet they made a church , as much as the followers of holy athanasius did , when the whole world was turned arrian , as much as elijah , and those seven thousand , the oracle mentions , made a church , when the whole country was over run with idolaters . these seven thousand we read lay hid , and durst not appear in publick , being oppress'd by the idolatrous powers , that sat at the stern , and thought there was no good fishing but in troubled waters . and indeed in this manner our church was dispers'd long before luther , among the greater multitude of the followers of the corrupted roman church , as a hand-ful of wheat lies scatterd in a bushel of chaff , and though it did not appear in pomp and grandeur ▪ yet that external splendour is not essential to the truth of a church , your own men may be convinced by the aforementioned examples . secondly ; if your champions speak strictly of the religion , which we profess in the church of england ▪ they are under a mistake , when they make luther or zwinglius the authors of it , ●or our reformation began some time after , and was both begun , and carried on with great delib●ration and consideration under edward the 6. by publick authority , whose proper province it is to take notice of what is amiss in a kingdom or common wealth , whether it be in church or state , and to reform and mend it . it 's no great matter , when a reformation begins , so the reformation be but just ; and if such a reformation had begun but yesterday , that would not have made it unlawful , and that our reformation was just and necessary hath been prov'd by our divines beyond all reasonable contradiction , and how could it but be just , when the decrees of the church of rome control'd the word of the living god , and vyed with the oracles of the gospel . how and when ▪ the several errours crept into that church , is not material to determine , it 's enough we found them there , and it was gods mercy not to give all the learned men of that age over to beleive a lye . but it 's pretty to hear your church-men talk of the novelty of our religion , when it is evident to all the understanding world , that our first reformers began no new religion , but desired only to keep to the old. all their endeavour was to keep to the religion of the bible , and to cut off all supe●fluities , and things prejudicial to salvation , and was there any hurt in that ? they saw , that many things then in use in the church of rome were diametrally opposite to the doctrines and practises of the primitive chucrh , and they justly thought it their duty to reduce the church to the antient pattern ; the prouder clergy of the roman church would not yield to it , but would have all their new fangles , and all their additions to the antient symbols received as articles of faith , though all perish'd , and the coat of christ were rent into a thousand pieces ; the more humble , and more moderate of the clergy , saw the pride and insolence of the other , and trembled , and thus we and they parted , we kept to the old religion , and your men chose the new , and much good it may do you with it , and pray judge by this , which is the schismatick church , we or they ? we that would have healed israel , or they that would not be healed ; so that it is not our religion that began so lately as 150 years ago , about luthers time , but it 's yours that commenced then ; for you then embraced the new additions to the antient catholick creeds with greater greadiness , and were resolv'd to maintain that by bravado's , which you were not able to defend with arguments . it s a very ordinary thing for people , who once incline to the communion of the roman church to demand of us , before they go over , whither a person may be saved in that church . the charity and moderation our divines usually express in their answer to this query , i am sensible hath done our church some harm , whereas the roman priests , being bold in their uncharitableness , and damning all that are out of their communion , make some weak people believe , that they must be in the right , because they are more daring in their asseverations . we have far greater reason to be peremtory in excluding the members of the church of rome from salvation , than they have to exclude us , for if that church be guilty of idolatry ( as i see , your divines find it a very hard task to answer the arguments of our learned men , that prove it ) those hat are guilty of this crime may soon be resolved by the apostle what their lot is like to be in another world ; for no idolater ▪ saith st. paul , meaning one that lives , and dies so , shall inherit the kingdom of god. 1 cor. 6.9 yet we are modest , and whatever the principles of that church may lead men to , we hope , there may be many in that church , that either , while they live in the communion of that church , have an aversion from the dangerous , and idolatrous practices of it , or sometimes before they die do heartily repent of the absurd , and unreasonable doctrines , and worship , they have too long asserted , and complied with , and of such we cannot but entertain a very favourable opinion , and indeed i could name you some very famous men both in france and italy , who , though they have continued in the communion of that church , i. e. have not joyn'd themselves to any particular publick protestant church , yet have not approv'd of such things in the roman church , as manifestly obstruct mens salvation , and though like nicodemus they have not dared openly to avow their dislike of such errous , for fear of danger , yet in their hearts they have abhorr'd them , and declared so much to their friends , and intimate acquaintance . and though their seemi●g communion with a church so erroneous , cannot be totally excused , because it looks like a t●cite approbation of her errours , yet since we read of joseph , that he was a disciple of christ secretly , and notwithstanding his not confessing christ publickly , accepted of god , we hope such mens continuing in the external communion of the roman church is not a willful errour , but rather a pardonable infirmity , a timorousness which hath nothing of malice in it , and therefore will not hinder them from salvation . we know not what mercy god may shew to many poor people in that church , who are invincibly ignorant , and never saw a bible , from whence they might rectify their mistakes , and do live honestly in this present world ; but we must withal confess , that the servant , who hath known his masters will , and hath not done it , shall be beaten with many stripes , and whether those that have been enlightened in our church , and have tasted the good word of god , and cannot but see our agreement with the gospel , and after all this embrace the errors of the roman church , whether these will be excesable at the last day , we justly doubt of ; to live in great errours is to live in sin , but where that living in errours is joyn'd with resist●nc● of great light , and knowledge , there the sin becomes all crimson , which was but of a faint red before ; and if this be the character of christs friends to do whatsoever he commands us , then the inference is very easy , that those cannot be christ's friends , nor reign with him in heaven , that wilfully leave undone , what they know he hath commanded , and set up a new worship , which he hath no where commanded : madam , had you never seen such a thing as the scripture , your going over to that church might have deserved some apollogy , but when you were surrounded with the beams of that light which shines in darkness , as st. peter calls the word , with all those rayes about you , to shut your eyes , and desperately to venture upon a church , which enjoines men to live against some of gods laws , as against exod. 20.5 , 6. and matth 26.27 &c. and consequently obliges them to prepare for gods displeasure , this , i confess , is an action , which , as it favours of great willfulness , so i question , if you dye in 't without serious repentance , whether the joys you hope for , will ever fall to your share . if your church-men do mean honestly , and do truly aim at the peace of christendom , and in good earnest design the union of of men that profess the name of christ , why will not they part with those doctrines that are so great an offence , not only to all protestants , but to jews and mahometans too ? if that worshipping of saints and images be not necessary , but only useful , why will not they quit that worship , which by their own pretences is needless , especially when they might do so much good by it ; if the cup was formerly given to the laity , why will not they to effect the aforesaid union restore it to the laity ? if the substance of the sacrament , and the comfort arising from it may remaine entire , without obliging men to beleive a transubstantiation , or adoration of the consecrated wafer , why will not they for peace sake lay aside such doctrines , which neither themselves , nor any creature understands ? if heaven and hell are sufficient motives to a holy life , why will not they for quietness sake renounce their doctrine of purgatory , which by their own confession hath no ground in scripture ? madam , i have that charitable opinion of you , that if you had but taken a view of the worship of the church of rome , as it is practic'd beyond sea in places , where there is no fear of contradiction from any hereticks , where they may freely and securely act according to their principles , had you seen the mode of worshipping the virgin mary at rome , or in spain , or italy , the sight of it would have certainly discourag'd you from embracing that religion , which now you seem to be mainly delighted with , for indeed the religion of the church of rome at this time , if a man were to guess from that , which hath the greatest outward veneration , is little else , then a worship of the virgin mary . the very beggers beyond-sea in begging of alms , beg more for the virgin marie's sake , then for christ's sake . this , madam , i know to be true , who am no stranger to forreign parts , and i will assure you , that in those cities or towns , where both papists , and protestants have the free exercise of their religion , you shall live twenty years in a town , before you hear that any protestant is turned papist , ( so few charms are there in the exercise of their religion beyond sea ) but you shall not be above a year or two in such a town , before you hear that several papists are turn'd protestants ( such a force hath truth ; ) the religion of the church of rome , as it is practis'd in england , lookes harmless . now and then upon some great festival they shew you a picture of the virgin mary , or of some other saint , and the honest priest qualifies every doctrine , makes the errours soft , and plausible , and they dare not , living in a protestant country , serve the host of heaven , i mean saints and angels with all their appertenances as they do in places , where there are no protestants to watch them . here their religion seems to be without a sting , and is clad in the fleece of sheep , but if you could but make a voyage into spain or italy , i doubt not but you would see the venome of it , and avoid it and the only way not to be of the church of rome , would be to go to rome , provided you do not g● w●thout your ●ible ▪ in good truth that church hath turn'd christianity into a meer outward pomp and splendor , which ravishes the eye , but can never content a mans reason . the glistering gold in their temples , the curious images of saints and angels , the numerous and stately altars , the mighty silver statues , the rich , and glorious vestments you see up and down in their churches , strike the senses into a kind of ectasie , and it must be sense only , for a considerate mind , that searches the inside of things as well as the outside , cannot be so easily gull'd and deceiv'd ; and this outward pomp they make not the least sign of the truth of their church , not remembring , that if this be a good signe , the idolatrous people in japan , and china , whose temples are infinitely more shining , and glorious , will have a better title to the true church than they ; i must confess , that in policy , and worldly craft , and cunning the church of rome exceeds ours , for they have not only turn'd the spiritual worship of the gospel , into a sensual service , into outward religious formalities , a thing strangely pleasing to flesh and blood , but they have shooes that will fit all sorts of feet , great and small , and have remedies for all distempers , and you may go to heaven in that church either through the straight way , or through the broad , which you please , they can fit the melancholly person , and the jovial , they have monasteries , and nunneries , and severities to content the one , and know how to allow greater liberty to the other ; they can either send a man to happiness through a tedious task of mortification , if he likes that method best , or help him thither by a quicker dispatch , by confession , attrition , and absolution upon a death bed , when the man can hold sin and the world no longer : live , or die , you cannot do amiss in that church , for living you may be forgiven , and after death you may be pray'd out of purgatory , sooner or later , according as you will spend mony upon masses , for gold doth strangely quicken these supplications . such a church , madam , you have espoused , and divorced your self from one that prefers the wisdom of god , and of the gospel before the wisdom of the flesh , and glories in dealing plainly and honestly with all men , that keeps close to the scriptures , and yet is not against those pious customes of antiquity , which are not contradictory to the scriptures , that generously maintains the prerogative of god , and gives no other honour to saints and angels , but what may consist with the glory of her creator , that hath made no new articles of faith , but keeps to the old , and thinks it rebellion against god , to enjoyn things as necessary to salvation , which god never made so ; that urges the strictest life , and encourages nothing , but what may promote true piety and devotion , that hath no more ceremonies , but what are decent , and labours to free religion at once from slovenliness and superstition , that secures the right of soveraign princes , and teaches her children to live like good subjects and good christians , and though it be her misfortune , that too many of her pretended members live like enemies of christianity , yet that 's not long of her doctrines and constitutions , but long of the stubborness of men , who will not be reform'd by her precepts ; as no man blames christ or his apostles , because judas was a hypocrite or because simon magus profess'd their religion , so they betray great ignorance and simplicity , that for the monstrous impieties of many , that profess themselves members of our assemblies despise and slight our church , which in her principles is most averse from all such practices , a church , which as , for mine own particular i have deliberately and premeditately embraced , and chosen , so , i hope , i shall never be so much forsaken of god or of my reason , as to quit it to become a papist . i have not been altogether a careless observer of the several christian churches , dispers'd through the world . desire of mine own salvation hath made me take particular notice , what corruption there is in them , and what affinity they have with the primitive professors of christianity ; and i must freely confess upon a serious examination of the scripture , and the fathers of the three first centuries after christ , that from my heart i think , there is no church this day in all the christian world , be it eastern , or western , that in her principles and constitutions bears so much of the image of the truly primitive church , or comes so near it , as the church of england , a church , which as your fore-fathers had courage to burn for so i verily beleive , that he understands not her innocent designes , and excellent rules , that dares not dy a martyr in her cause . once more your faithful friend to serve you. n. n. finis some books printed for and sold by james collins at his shop in the temple passage in essex street without temple-bar . the art of war by the most honorable george late duke of albemarle . fol. seven sermons preached at white hall by seth lord bishop of sarum . his sermon at the funeral of george duke of albemarle . his sermon , entituled jorams case before the peers the 30 of january . quarto . an exact table to sir. john davis reports . fol. the voice of the light unto the people called quakers in relation to tithes . 8 o. a discourse of truth by the late reverend dr. rust bishop of dromore in ireland , together with a discourse of the way to happiness by jos. glanvil chaplain in ordinary to the king. twelves . a sermon preached at the funeral of mrs. dorothy st. john by anthony horneck preacher at the savoy . a private conference : twixt a poor country vicar and a rich alderman : by dr. pettis . pia philosophia , or the religious tendency of experimental philosophy by joseph glanvil . dr. parkers answer to mr. andrew marvels book , called the rehearsel transpros'd . bishop bramhals confutation of mr. baxters grotian religion with dr. parkers preface annexed . 80. bishop sandersons seven cases of conscience , in oct. dr. fords blessedness of being bountifull . 8 the capucin fryer exactly described in all his wayes and practices . 80. advertisement . there is a library in the hands of the said james collins to be sold consisting cheifly of history , philosophy , and politicks &c. in divers languages , and a set of magick , formerly the books of the famous riolanus in divers languages . finis . errata . pag. 25. lin . 18. read eighth's , p. 38. l. 4. r. bishops p. 65. l. 7 r. or to conclude , that . p. 66 ▪ l. 9. r. sacrament . p. 69. l ▪ 19. r. and that they are . p. 158. l. 18. r. that are . p. 163. l. 17. r ▪ scripture . p ▪ 170. l. 9. r. numerous . other litteral faults , and mistoppings the reader is desired to correct at his leisure . the honesty of the protestant and dishonesty of the popish divinity in a letter to a lady revolted to the church of rome / by anthony horneck. horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 1681 approx. 99 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 78 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44535 wing h2844 estc r28116 10409901 ocm 10409901 44977 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44535) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 44977) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1386:13) the honesty of the protestant and dishonesty of the popish divinity in a letter to a lady revolted to the church of rome / by anthony horneck. horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. the second edition. 181 [i.e. 151], [1] p. printed for james collins, london : 1681. numerous errors in pagination. reproduction of original in the union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholic church -controversial literature. anti-catholicism -england. 2005-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-04 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-05 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-05 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the honesty of the protestant , and dishonesty of the popish divinity , in a letter to a lady revolted to the church of rome . by anthony horneck , preacher at the savoy . the second edition . london , printed for james collins at his shop , by the temple church , 1681. a letter of a protestant gentleman to a lady revolted to the church of rome . madam , and are you indeed got into the onely catholick church ? and are you sure the men you have lately believed have not deceived you , as you fancy we have done ? ( for tho you may be so charitable , as to think , that we have not intentionally couzened you , yet since you cannot suppose us to be both in the right , you must necessarily conclude , that we have at least ignorantly abused and imposed upon you ) and did you ever rightly consider what a truely catholick church does mean ? men of sense and reason always believed , that a church which hold's the truely catholick faith is a true and sound member of the catholick church , and dares malice it self say , that we do not hold the apostles , the nicene , and athanasius's creed ! the church of rome her self confesses , that these creed's contain the truely catholick faith : and most certainly when the nicene councel was celebrated , and in athanasius's time that church was counted a sound member of the catholick church , that held that catholick faith , which is expressed in those creeds ; and do we not hold that faith ? do we not stand up at it to express our readiness to defend it ? and what have we done , that we must not be counted a catholick church ? is it because we will not receive things which the church of rome hath since added to the catholick faith ? is it because we will not admit of the doctrines which that church was first induced to believe by the darkness and ignorance of the ages it lived in , and at last loath to part withal for fear they should be thought to have been so long in an error ? is it because we will not yield to things which we apprehend to be directly against the word of god and destructive to that catholick faith the christian world hath professed in all ages ? is it because we will not deceive the people of the cup in the blessed sacrament , which christ intended as a mighty comfort to them ? is it because we will not believe the miracle of transubstantiation against four of our senses and reason , and scripture to boot . is it because we will not suffer the worship of god , or that which is very like it to be given to creatures , because of the very appearance of the evil of idollatry , which we are commanded to shun , as much as idollatry it self ? is it because we will not believe a purgatory fire , which cleanseth little , but peoples purses of their money ? is it because we will not indulge the pride and arrogance of a man at rome , who having first wheadled the christian princes out of their means and power , hath at last made that power and riches hereditary to his successors , under a pretence of a legacy from christ ? is it because we will not believe contrary to the apostles rule , that publick prayers which are intended for the benefit are understanding of the multitude , must be said in a tongue unknown to the people ? these must certainly be the reasons , why we cannot now passe with the church of rome for members of the catholick church ? that these things were not in the ancient catholick creeds , i hope , you are convinced , for you have read them over , and found none of all these additions in them : and now i beg of you , in the name and by the mercy of that jesus in whom you beleive , to judge , which is most likely to be the truly catholick church , our's or their's ? our's that keeps to the truly antient catholick faith , or their's that hath added things contrary to scripture and reason and antiquity ? and dare you continue in a church where your very communion with it , is an approbation of their actions which are directly contrary to the command of christ ? can there be any thing more contrary to it than their denying the cup to the laity ? and when you receive the sacrament but in one kind , contrary to christs command , do not you sin and allow of the sin of that church you are in ? is not your disobedience to christs command a sin , or can you imagine that you are more obliged to obey men than christ himself ? you confess you dare not live in any one sin ; but how dare you live in this sin ? you talk of the benefit of confession and absolution , when that very priest to whom you confesse , and who absolves you , lives in that sin you are guilty of , and neither absolves himself nor you from it , and you both continue in it , as if the blind had a mind to lead the blind ? how dare you act thus against your reason and conscience ? are you not affraid when you are going to confesse , that god will laugh at your mock confession , since you neither confesse that sin of living contrary to christs command about the cup , nor are willing to part with it ? tell me not here that you drink the blood of christ in eating his flesh , if so , to what purpose doth the priest consecrate wine for himselfe , if he drinks the blood of christ in eating his flesh ; but suppose the bread were transubstantiated into the flesh and blood of christ , you know that the not giving the cup of blessing to those that come to the lords supper , is contrary to christs institution , who distinctly consecrated the cup , and gave that to his disciples , who were representatives of all believers , as well as the bread , and peremptorily commanded , drink ye all of this , and i hope you do not call eating the consecrated wafer drinking the wafer . but let us grant you your strange doctrine , that you do participate of the blood of christ in eating the consecrated wafer , who gave your church authority to alter christ's institution ? how can men dispense with an express law of god ? can they annull what god would have established , and continue to the worlds end ? and can you consent to so great a sacriledge ? doth not some horrour seize on you , when you seriously think that you approve of the priests sinning against so notorious a precept , and which he that runs may read ? and pray madam , wherein have you bettered your self in going over to the roman church ? is this your proficiency in religion to forsake a church , where you felt the lively oracles of heaven coming warm upon your soul , and to joyn your self to a church , where you hear nothing but latine prayers , and where the priest , if he be not a good man , may as well curse you as bless you , for any thing you understand of his language or devotion ? is this your proficiency in religion to leave a church where you were taught to worship god in spirit and in truth , and now to cleave to one where they teach your prayers to go upon crutches of crucifixes , beads , and images ? doth this look like that noble religion which christ taught the world , and whose design was to advance our rational souls by contemplation and meditation ? o madam , you are too young to know the tricks of that church you live in ; they are more politick heads than yours is , that had the contriving of it . bold men , that had learnt not to blush at a lye , and then thought it their interest to hector the world into a belief of it . we that can read books as well as they , and know the history of the church as well as they , can see through all these devices , which they perceiving are angry with us for discovering the cheat. what was it madam , that you wanted in our church to carry you to heaven ? did you want that which the apostles and the primitive christians never wanted ? i mean did you want more articles of faith than they subscribed and believed ! if you wanted that , we confess we could not supply you , for we dare say nothing and believe nothing with divine faith , but what moses , and the prophets , and christ and his apostles have taught us . if the scripture contains all things necessary to salvation , then we teach all that . if the church of rome knows more articles than christ or his apostles knew of ; we will admire her insolence , but cannot satisfie her unreasonable desire . did you want strictness of life in our church ? if all the commands of the gospel can make you holy , we teach them all , and press them upon the people , and i presume you do not aim to be holier than christ and his apostles would have you to be . hath the church of rome another gospel to teach , you than we did instruct you in ? if they have , much good it may do them , we are not sond of the apostle's curse , should an angel from heaven bring another gospel to you let him be accursed , i know your common plea that we protestants cannot rightly interpret the scripture , because we pretend to no infalliblity . and do you blame us for not being so impudent as the church of rome ? there is no protestant but would be glad there were an infallible interpreter of scripture instituted by god and recommended to mankind . but where shall we find him ? who is it that god hath imparted this honour to ? if you say the fathers , you know not what you say , for the fathers differ many times as much in interpretation of the scripture , and are as contrary to one another as any men. if you say the church that 's a hard word ; if you mean christs universal church , dispersed all the world over , you must tell us where it is that this church hath left an infallible comment upon the bible , and how it is possible for a man that will be resolved in a point to go to all christian people in the world ; if you say the church of rome , you must first shew us her commission for this infallible interpretation . secondly you must prove she hath infallibly interpreted the scriptures , and that those interpretations are infallible in all places . thirdly you must agree among your selves what part of your church is infallible , whether the pope , or an universal councel , or all christian people , or whether all these together . to say that this infallibility lies in the church , though you know not where , is to say a needle lies in a bottle of hay , and he hath good luck that finds it . nay i think the church of rome hath been so modest , that notwithstanding all her pretences to infallibility , she never hath dared to obtrude a comment on the bible as infallible , nor did i ever see any interpretation of the bible made either by pope or councel which hath pretended to infallibility . if that church be infallible why do not their own divines agree in interpretation of scripture ? if there be an infallible sense of the scriptures in that church , then the members of that church are mad not to keep to that infallible sense , especially if they know where to fetch it , and they offer great injuries and affronts to their church in differing so much about interpretation of scripture , when their church can give them an infallible sense of it . for that church having as they pretend the holy ghost to guide them in all things , i suppose that spirit assists her in interpretation of one place of scripture as well as in another : if they say it doth infallibly assist them in some places and not in all , they destroy their own principle , and how shall a man be sure , that just in those points that are in dispute between us and them , they are infallible ? is the spirit divided ? or is he not alwaies the same ? or doth not he exert his power upon all occasions ? madam , who so blind as those that will not see ? who sees not that the pretence of infallibillity is nothing but a juggle , a device to maintain a triple crown , and an engine to carry on a temporal authority ? god indeed hath promised that his church dispersed through the world , shall last to the world's end , and that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her , but that promise differs very much from a promise of infallibility , and suppose it did infer an infallibility , how comes the particular church of rome to ingross it to her self , that is at the best but a member , and a very unsound one , of christ's universal church ? it is one thing to be secured against being destroyed , and another to be free from all possibility of errour . there is no doubt but a sober rational man , that prays earnestly for illumination , and reads the scripture much , and considers the circumstances , the holy writers were in , when they writ , and the occasions of their writing , and hath the advantage of learning , of languages , and history , may give a very true interpretation of scriptures , such an interpretation as no man can rationally contradict , though he hath not recourse to a visible infallible guide , and though himself be not infallible . things may be very certain , though they are not infallibly so , and he that can make things cut so , that a prudent man cannot but give consent to them , and hath no just cause to doubt of their truth , may justly challenge beleif from other men . but i will not insist upon this point because i never heard you speak much of it . i will come a little closer to those reasons , that moved you to goe over to the roman church , whereof the principal was this , that you were troubled in mind upon the account of your sins , and could get no satisfaction in our church , though you sought it like esau with teares ; whereas you did no sooner confess to a roman priest , and receive absolution but you presently found unspeakable comfort . and are you sure madam , that the peace and satisfaction , you found in that church was not delusion ? you tremble at that word ; but le ts consider the nature of your peace . when you were in our church , either you did truly repent of all your sins , or you did not . if you did not , most certainly you could have no solid peace , but if you did truly repent , as you say you did , what could hinder you from applying the promises made to penitent sinners to your self , which are the true grounds of comfort and satisfaction ? may be you wanted a voice from heaven to confirm the promise of the gospel , but have you since heard such a voice from heaven in the church of rome ? i think not ; if you truly repented in our church , then certainly by the word of god you were assured that your sins were pardoned , and if they were pardoned , why should you not comfort your self with that pardon ? that which makes you rejoyce now , is because you believe your sins are pardoned , but if when you were of our church , you verily believed ; you truly repented , you could not but believe that your sins were pardoned and consequently you might have taken as much comfort , as you do now . but the ministers of the church of england , you say , gave me no absolution , which the roman priest did . why , madam , did any of our ministers deny you absolution , when you could assure them that your repentance was sincere ? did you ever ask absolution , and were you refused ? nay i appeal to your conscience , did not those ministers you conversed withal assure you over and over , that you need not doubt of the pardon of your sins so long as you did detest and abhor them , and watch , and strive , and pray against them , and were sincerly resolved to commit them no more , and did avoyd the very occasions of evill ? and what was this but absolution , which however you might have had performed with greater ceremony , if you had had a mind to it . it is no very hard matter to guesse at the rise and progress of your peace and satisfaction in the roman church . all new things please , and provided they have but a good face , allure our fancy , and this being pleased , it s very natural to defend them , and having once defended them , our love to them advances , and by degrees we think our honour and credit is too far engaged to part with them . we see how children are quieted with new trifles ( pardon the uncourtly comparison , i know not how to shun it ) and the new object , they never saw before , surprizes and charmes them , makes them fix their eyes upon it and cry , if they cannot have it . in the nature of children we see our own , and embraceing new objects , which our sickly fancy is roving after , is but the scene of childrens longing for new play things , changed ; the novelty of the thing you were venturing upon , the new church ( new indeed , new to you , and new to almighty god ) which you were to joyn your self to , the stool of confession in the church , and the priests new habit , and mortified face ( which perhaps he owes more to his country , than to his vertue ) and affected gravity , and assuring of you that their absolution had a wonderful vertue and efficacy , all these together surprized you , and raised your expectation , and struck some kind of reverence into you . your mind being thus possessed with the idea's of these new thing 's you never tried before , and working upon your affections , and moving your will to confess to this man of wonders , you naturally fell into a fancy , that so much formality and ceremony different from that you had been used to in our church , had more charmes in it , than our plain and honest way , and then laid the stress of your pardon upon the new priests absolution in that formal manner wherewith your fancy being impregnated , it soon diffused a cheereful air in your countenance , and raised some gladness in your heart , because you had now done something more than ordinary , as an antidote against your sin. and from hence arose your pretended peace and satisfaction , or delusion rather , because you layd the stress of your pardon upon the absolution of that roman priest , and not upon the sincerity of your repentance . if a priest could forgive sinn 's whether men repent or no , then indeed you might have layd the stress of your pardon on that forgiveness of the priest , but since by your own confession , that absolution of the priest signifies nothing except people truly repent , for you to build your comfort on that absolution , when it should have been founded upon your sincere repentance , cannot but be a false fire and a conterfeit comfort , if you say ; you did not fetch your peace from that absolution , but from the sincerity of your repentance , you catch your self , for if your true repentance must be the foundation of it , then you might have taken the same comfort in our church : if you still reply , you could not , you only mean , you would not , for true repentance is true repentance in any church , and if true repentance causes true comfort , it would have caused true comfort in our church , as well as in the roman , and therefore there must be some cheat in this comfort . the fancy you have since taken up , that the reason , why you found comfort in the church of rome upon your confession and absolution , and none in ours , must needes be , because the priests of that church are true priests and those of ours are not , is as solid as your peace . if we have no true priests in the church of england , then most certainly the church of rome hath none . the bishops , which in the beginning of our reformation did ordain bishops , priests and deacons among us , were ordained by bishops of that church , and if the character of orders by their own confession be indeleble , then it was not all the thunders and lightenings of excommunication at rome could annul it . it 's true your ghostly father very confidently tells you ( a quality incident to that sort of men ) that our first protestant bishops never received orders from bishops of the church of rome , but one would admire what spirit doth possess these men , that they dare contradict all the publick authentick records we have of their being consecrated by bishops of the church of rome ; they might as well deny , that there were no such kings of england , as henry 7th . and henry 8th . ( for we have nothing but publick records to shew for it ) as deny that the bishops of the reformation were never consecrated by bishops of the roman perswasion . i am perswaded that if any papist should come into trouble about the title of an estate , he hath , and did but know that the name of his ancestors , the manner of the conveyveyance and his just title were in some publick record or register , he would soon make use of it , alledge it as a sufficient proof , and thank god for preserving a record , that is so much for his advantage . i know not , what can be a better testimony in matters of fact next to revelation , than publick records and registers , and we dare venture our reputation upon it , that in the authentick registers of the respective arch-bishops of canterbury , where fear of being counted knaves , and fools , for putting in things contrary to what was publickly known , may justly be supposed , to have kept the publick notaries from asserting things notoriously false . in these registers i say it will be found , what succession our first protestant bishops had , how arch-bishop parker the first arch-bishop of canterbury under queen elizbeth ( to go no higher ) was consecrated december . 17. 1559 by four persons then actually bishops , and who had formerly been ordained by bishops of the church of rome ( viz. ) william barlow in henry the 8th . dayes bishop of st. davids , under edward the 6th . bishop of bath and wells , under queen mary driven into exile and returned under queen elizabeth , john scory formerly bishop of chichester , miles coverdale formerly bishop of exeter , and john hodgkins bishop suffragan of bedford , not to mention that the queens letters patents ( in case any of the other should be sick or forced to be absent ) were directed to three bishops more , that had formerly been popish bishops and were turned protestants ( viz. ) anthony bishop of landaff , john bishop suffragan of thedford and john bale bishop of ossery but all this hath been so clearly demonstrated out of the publick records , first by mr. mason , and since by arch-bishop bramhal , that he that writes of it can onely transcribe out of them , and those that deny these records must be men of strange foreheads , and of thegreatest disingenuity . from these men that had their priesthood from the church of rome , our priesthood is lineally derived , so that if our priesthood be not valid , theirs cannot be , and if heresie doth not make the episcopal office void , nor disable a man from conferring episcopal order on other men ( as is evident from the second councel of nice , with your church an oecumenical counsel , which received bishop anatolius tho consecrated by dioscorus a heretical bishop ( if i say heresie doth not make the episcopal order void , then suppose , we were hereticks our priesthood which is derived from popish bishop , that turned protestants must be a true priesthood still , and to this purpose i remember one of your church said lately , once a priest , for ever a priest. madam , if your desire to know the truth , be honest and sincere , you should act like a person that hath a mind to be satisfied , and search the publick records , and till then believe not every tale that 's told you ; the common plea of your priests , that our records are sophisticated , and that we have put in what we please , argues only boldness , and ignorance , when they can shew neither where , nor when , nor by whom they they were corrupted . those that talk so , seem neither to understand what a publick solemne thing the consecration of a bishop is in england , nor to reflect , how difficult it is to fill a publick register with falsities as to matters of fact , when there are so many hundered men , that know what is done at such a time , and view the records , and would most certainly speak of it , if they found a flaw in the relation . but if we should deal thus with the church of rome , question all their registers in the vatican , and say , which we might do with far greater reason , that they are things packed and invented by men , that have a mind to keep up a faction , i know what language we should meet withal . but will you boast , say you , of having derived your orders from the church of rome , when you believe the church of rome to be an idolatrous church ; madam , it is not the office of a bishop in your church we find fault withal , but the abuses of it . a church that 's guilty of very great corruption both in doctrine and manners , may have something that 's good and allowable , and he that retains that , is not therefore guilty of her corruption , nor espouses her errours . your idolatry is one thing , and your orders are another . the jews did take many good things from the heathens , and the christians many commendable things from the jewes , but that neither made the jewes approve of the heathenish worship , nor the christians allow of the jewish errours . we are not so disingenious , as to make the breach between you and us wider then needs . so far as you go with scripture and true antiquity we hold with you , where you contradict both , we cannot with a safe conscience bear you company . he that sees a pearl lye among a great deal of trash , if he take the pearl , is not therefore obliged to take the rubbish too , and if we have derived our orders from you , that inferrs no necessity , that we must therefore consent to your notorious depravations of the ancient simplicity of the gospel . the christians heretofore , that approved of the baptism of the donatists , did not therefore presently acknowledge the truth of their opinions , and he that should take a good custome from the turks , cannot be therefore said to approve of all things that are in the alcoran . madam , there is nothing more easie than to cavil at the most prudent action in the world , especially where people take a slight survey of things , and do not with seriousness and deliberation weigh the circumstances of the fact , and do not examine the inside as well as the outside , and i must confess upon the best examination of your actions and proceedings in this revolt to the church of rome , you never took the right way to be satisfied , for instead of pondering the arguments and motives of our departure from the church of rome , and of the reasons we alledge for our church and doctrine ; you made it your chief imployment to read their books , and believed what they said to be oracles , for no other reason but because they talked with greater arrogance and confidence . if you say , that you could not judge of arguments having never been bred a schollar , i would but ask you how you durst change your religion then ? did you change it without reason and without ground ? and if you are not able to weigh the strength of arguments , how can you be sure that you are in the true church at this time ? it is not talk , but arguments that must demonstrate the truth of a religion , and if you have not sufficiently weighed the arguments of both sides , it is a thousand to one , you may still be in the wrong way , and you know not but you may be as much out now , as you were formerly ; madam , so great a thing , as the change of your religion , upon which no less then eternity depends , might justly have challenged some years study , before you had resolved upon it . to do a thing of this nature upon so slight a survey , consider whether it doth not argue rashness , and weakness , rather than piety and devotion . to leave a religion you have been bred and born in , a religion founded upon the word of god , and which you had liberty to examine by the scripture , upon reading a popish book or two , without diving to the bottom of the several controversies , without reflecting on the importance of the points in question , without studying a considerable time which religion comes nearest to scripture , and which goes far thest off , is such an argument of impatience , that you only seem to have yeilded to a dangerous temptation of the devil . if the controversies , between the church of rome and us , are so intricate , as you say , and above your capacity to dive into them , you have then run over to that church in the dark , and have as little reason to be satisfied with your proceedings , as you believe you have with our way of worship . you plead , that you have been sitting up whole nights , and weeping and praying , that god would discover to you , which is the true way to salvation , and from that time forward you found inclinations to go over to that church ; and is this a sufficient argument to justifie your forwardness ? when you had already begun to doubt , whither our church were a true church or no , because you found not that satisfaction in it , your sickly desires wanted , it was then an easie matter to give ear to confident people , that magisterially and peremptorily assured you , that you would find satisfaction in their church , and being fed with this hope , your inclinations to that church grew stronger every day , as our mother eve , the hopes of being like god , suggested to her by the serpent , did egg and spur her on to eat of the fatal tree . we do not forbid people to pray to god to lead or direct them into the right way : ( though sometimes it may be a perfect tempting of god , when people are in the right way to desire god to discover to to them , by a sign of their own choice , whether they are in it or no. ) but then , if we pray to god to direct us , we must not neglect the means , god hath appointed in order to our satisfaction , but must compare scripture with scripture , and books with books , and arguments with arguments , and search , which religion agrees most with the doctrines and practices of christ and his apostles , and as the noble berrheans did , examine all the doctrines , obtruded to our belief , by the scripture ; and doing thus , and continuing this search , and these prayers together , no doubt but god , in his own good time , will answer us and direct us . but to pray to god to direct us , and not to use the means , in the use of which he hath promised to direct us , we do in a manner mock him , or desire him to work a miracle for us , or to vouchsafe us some extroardinary revelation , when we have moses and the prophets , and may hear them . and i am confident , had you joyned this way with your prayer , examined the doctrines of the church of rome , and compared them with the gospel of our lord jesus christ , seen whether there be any thing like it in the bible , and searched whether christ and his apostles ever taught such doctrines , and done all this , not slightly , but seriously and solidly , it s impossible , you could ever have turned papist , for if our gospel be true , that religion can never be true , for there is nothing in the world can run more counter to the gospel , than the doctrines of that church , wherein we differ from them , and they had need put the bible among prohibited books , for should the people have liberty freely to peruse it , the church of rome would grow very thin and despicable . i am sensible your priests find fault with our translation of the bible , and cry out , that there are great defects in it , but when they talk so , they had need talk to women , not to men of learning , and that understand greek and hebrew , the languages , in which the word was originally written . the honesty of our translators appears sufficiently from hence , because , if any sentence in the bible be capable of a double sense , they express the one in the text , and the other in the margin , and where they do but in the least , vary from the original , they either discover it by the italick character , or give you notice of it in the margin , then which there can be nothing more honest . and let any papist of you all shew us , wherein any thing in our bibles is ill translated out of malice or design , or expressed in words , which the original will not bear . if we examine translations by the original , then sure i am , there is few translations go further from it , than the vulgar latine , or the rhemist testament , as were an easie matter to prove , if i intended more than a letter . you are much taken with their mortifications and pennances , which , you say , we have not in our church ; but it 's a signe , madam , you did not rightly understand our religion ; we are so far from condemning mortification and severity of life , that we do commend it , provided it be in order to subdue the body of sin , and to raise our selves to a greater pitch of vertue , provided these severities be separated from all opinion of merit , and from an opinion of their being satisfactory , and expiatory , and used only as helps , to work in us a perfect detestation of sin. and i will assure you there are more in the church of england , that use severities in this humble holy way , than you are aware of . we indeed do not ordinarily inflict them on all persons , because we know not their constitution , nor what their nature will bear , nor have we any command for it in the word of god , but these things we leave to every mans discretion , urging , that where sins require stronger remedies , there men ought to make use of them , and if their corruptions will not be gone by reasonings and arguments , that there they must inflict mulcts and penalties on themselves to drive the unclean spirit out . though i must say still , that religious severities and austerities are not certain signs of a true religion , for heathens do use them , as much as christians , nay more than christians , witness the brahmanes in the indies , and the religious pagans dispersed through all the eastern parts , and if you conclude , that therefore the church of rome must be in the right , because they inflict great pennances , and severities and make daily use of them , i am afraid , you only forbear turning turk or heathen , because you never saw their far greater severities in religion , than the church of rome can boast of : but still the protestant church hath not the real body and blood of christ in the holy sacrament , which the church of rome hath ; and are you sure the church of rome hath it ? i am perswaded you did never tast it , nor see it , nor feel it , nor smell it , and how do you know it ? what ? because the priests of that church do tell you so ? no , say you , it is , because christ saith in express termes , this is my body . and here , i confess , i stand amazed , that men , with learning and reason about them , can sink into an opinion so contradictory , that , if all the consequences of it be considered , there is nothing in nature can be more absurd , or irrational , and the church of rome had need oblige men to deny both their reason and senses to beleive a transubstantiation . here indeed a faith is neeessary , strong enough to remove mountaines , and though never any miracles were wrought , but were wrought on purpose to convince our senses , yet here we must believe one which neither sence nor reason can discover . when christ gave the sacrament to his disciples , saith the apostle , 1 corinth . 11. 24 , he brake the bread , and said , take eat , this is my body , which is broken for you . it is a wonderful thing , that the word is , in the first sentence , this is my body , should have a litteral sense , and in the very next sentence , pronounced with the same breath , cannot admit of a litteral sense ; for the word is , in the second sentence must necessarily stand for shall be , because christs body , when he gave the bread , was not yet broken : if it will not admit of a litteral sense in the very next sentence , because of the absurdity that would follow , that christ was crucified , before he was crucified , why should we understand it in the first sentence litterally , when the absurdity is far greater ; nay that the word is should not be capable of being understood litterally in the second essential part of the sacrament , this cup is the new testament , that here i say it should import , and can import nothing else , but signifies or is a sign of the new testament , and yet must not be understood so , in the first part of the sacrament , is a thing we cannot comprehend : and when the apostle , speaking of the lords supper or eucharist , 1 cor. 10. 16. the cup of blessing which we bless , is it not the communion of the blood of christ , and the bread which we break , is it not the communion , of the body of christ ; let the rigidest papist , that hath not quite banished his reason , tell me , how he will make sense of the word is here , except he understand it figuratively ; most certainly it cannot be understood literally ; for the cup is not that communion , but is a sign of it : one would admire , how men can be so obstinate in a thing as clear as the sun , and you might as well conclude , that christ is a door made of boards and nailes , because the scripture sayth , he is a door , and that he is a real vine with green leaves and grapes about him , because the scripture saith he is a vine . but suppose the word is in these words , this is my body , must be understood literally , how doth this make for transubstantiation ? are the words is and is transubstantiated all one ? a thing may be said to be a thousand ways , and yet without transubstantiation , so that , if by the word is you understand transubstantiation , you your selves must go from the literal sense , and assume a sense , which is not expressed in that saying . all the jews are so well versed in the sense of sacramental expressions , that by the word is they understand nothing but signifies or represents , and therefore it s a horrid shame , that christians , meerly for fear of being laughed at , for departing from an absurd opinion , and losing the credit of a pretended infallibility , should make themselves ignorant in that , which the meanest jew , even before the gospel , understood without a teacher ; for we may confidently beleive , that no jew , before christs time , was so sottish to think , when it 's said , the flesh is the passeover , exod. 12. 11. that the flesh or blood was really the passeover , but only a sign and representation of it , or a token to them , as moses calls it , ver . 13. i will not here put you in mind of the strange absurdities that must follow from this doctrine of transubstantiation , viz. that christ , when he did eat and drink in this sacrament , must have eaten his own flesh , and that the apostles must have eaten his body , while he was at the table with them , and before it was crucified , &c. i could tell you , that this doctrine is against the great article of our faith , that christ is ascended into heaven , and there sitteth at the right hand of god until the day of judgment . that it is against the nature of a real body to be in a thousand places at once . and that from hence it must follow , that the body and blood of christ is capable of being devoured by vermine ; capable of being poisoned , and instead of giving life may be so order'd , that it shall kill and murther ; witness victor the third , pope of rome , and henry the viith . emperour , who were poisoned in the sacrament , not to mention a thousand more of such monstrous consequences : but since , madam , you do insist so much upon that place of scripture , john 6. 53. except you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life in you . i le but breifly shew you , how ill a logician you are , either to believe that this is spoke of the sacrament , or that these words infer a corporal manducation of christs real body and blood , if they be meant of the eucharist , it will necessarily follow , that christ oblig'd the jews , and his hearers to come to the sacrament at the time he spake these words , for he speakes of their present eating and drinking , ( except ye eat , &c. ) but this he could not possibly do , for the sacrament of his body and blood was not instituted till at least a whole twelve months after , nor did any of his disciples , at that time , dream of any such thing , as his dying , and being crucified , nor doth christ speak the least word of it in the whole chapter , which he must necessarily have done , if he had intended the sacrment by it , which is all together founded in his crucifixion . for this sermon of christ , concerning eating and drinking his flesh and blood , was delivered just about the feast of the passeover , ver . 4. after which feast , as it is said , john. 7. 1. 2. the jews celebrated the feast of tabernacles , and after this they kept another feast of the passeover , the last , which christ was at , which was no less than a twelve month after , john. 11. 55. john. 12. ●1 . so that the sacrament of christs body and blood , not being instituted before the last passover , as all the evangelists agree , it was not possible , that either the believing jews , or the apostles could understand it of the sacrament ( and i suppose christ intended to be understood ) because there was no such thing as yet instituted . besides , it is impossible , that it can be understood of the sacramental eating and drinking of the body and blood of christ , for without this eating and drinking there is no salvation to be had , as it is said , joh. 6. 53 , 54. and if it were to be understood of the eucharist , we must exclude all christians from salvation , that are not in a capacity , nor in a possibility of receiving it , which , i am sure , your own church will not do . and that these words of christ cannot possibly be understood of a corporal eating christs flesh , and drinking his blood , but must be understood of a spiritual eating and drinking , that is , believing in him , and obeying him , and hoping for pardon through his death , which is the spiritual food of the soul , is evident from the 54th . and 56th . verse , where every one that eats of his flesh , and drinks of his blood , is said to have actually eternal life in him , and christ dwelling in him , and he dwelling in christ. that is , christ loves him with a love of complacency , he is a child of god , and beloved of him , and an heir of heaven ; but since wicked men come to the sacrament , not only in our church , but even in the church of rome , it would follow , if a corporal eating were understood , that wicked men , eating christs body , and drinking his blood , have eternal life in them , and that christ dwels in them , and are true children of god , and heires of heaven , contrary to the unanimous consent of the holy prophets and apostles , who call wicked men children of the devil , and blinded by the devil , the god of the world , and heirs of damnation . and indeed it is strange , that people should contend for this corporal and sensual eating of christs flesh , and drinking his blood , when christ himself saith , v. 63. that the flesh profiteth nothing , and that this eating and drinking must be understood spiritually , i.e. of spiritual eating and drinking , which is believing , as it is said , v. 64. you see , madam , what it is not to make use of your own reason , but to enslave it to the faith of a church , which loves to act in the dark , and would have her children colliers , and believe what the church believes , and know little more than the great mystery of an ave maria , or a rosary . time was , when you were pleased to tell our ministers that though you were gone over to the church of rome , yet you had liberty not to pray to saints , nor to fall down before images , for that was not thought necessary by the church of rome , which only recommends praying to saints , and veneration of relicks , and images , as a thing useful , and which men have received much benefit by . and indeed i remember , i was told , you thought , that praying to saints was a kind of idolatry , and therfore were glad they would excuse you from that worship ; but since , i hear , that you are grown as devout a worshipper of saints , and peculiarly of the virgin mary , and do prostrate your self before them , as much as the most tractable papist in the world. i confefs , i did smell a rat at first , when your priests assured you , that invocation of saints was not a thing commanded but recommended as useful , and was then confident that before a year came to an end , for all these soft expressions and dispensations with your omission of this worship , they would perswade you to that worship , which then you thought unlawful : my prophecy is come to pass , and the pill , which seemed very bitter at first , is swallowed , and become sweeter than hony , and look'd upon as an excellent medicine . and this , i must needs say , is more than you could have in our church . but this is our comfort , that the more ingenuous men of the church of rome confess , that this praying to saints or angels was not heard of , or used in the christian church , for the first three hundred years after christ : and if the christian church , for the first 300 years , did not think it useful at all , it is a strange degeneration from their principles , to press it now as useful : certainly , if god had thought this invocation so useful , as your church pretends , it is . , he would not have so peremtorily commanded , call upon me in the day of trouble ; i will deliver thee , and thou shalt glorifie me . psalm . 50. 15. and it 's probable , the apostles , in prescribing so many useful things of far less concern , would not have left us in the dark as to the mighty usefullness of this invocation ; especially , when they had occasion to mention the spirits of men made perfect , and did so often converse with angels . the angel , revel . 22. 8. 9. thought it a very useless thing , and would not admit of so much as a religious prostration of the evangelist before him , because it look'd like sacriledge , and robbing god of his due . but since your church in this adoration takes pattern so much by the courts of princes , give me leave to suggest to you , how you think , a soveraign prince would take it , if a subject should give any of his servants the title of majesty , or any other title , which properly belongs to him . there are few titles , that god hath , and inspired men have given to him , but you give them to the blessed virgin , and though , when you are charg'd with it , you fall to distinctions , and turn , and wind your selves to get out , yet that shews only a bad cause , because it requires so much artifice and cunning to defend it : but , alas ! it must be children , that are perswaded and coaxed to believe , that the church of rome onely counts it useful not necessary , when it is well known , that the generality of that communion pray to saints more than to god ( which in the scripture phrase is honouring the creature more than the creator ) and they never leave that person , that goes over to them , till they have brought him to that worship of saints and angels . it s pretty to hear these men talk , that it is only recommended as useful , when the bishops and preachers of that : church are injoyned , and take their oath upon 't , to commend this invocation to the people , as profitable ; and the people are obliged to hearken to their priests in all things ; so that though a man at first may think this invocation not necessary , upon the account of its being onely useful , yet from that other obligation he hath , to obey the priest in all spiritual things , it becomes necessary : but from this scruple we are delivered , madam , by the confession of faith , which the roman catechisme doth prescribe , for there it is , that it is not only useful , but that we ought to pray unto saints , and indeed should any man live in that communion , and omit it , he would soon be looked upon as prophane , and but a half convert to their church ; they would soon let him know their displeasure , and either fright or flatter him into conformity . and is this the worship , madam , which christ and his apostles have injoyned the world ? are not you afraid of doing things , that do so nearly border upon robbing god of his honour and glory ? idolatry is a frightful word , and you do not love to hear it , and therefore i will trouble you with it as little as i can . but when god hath commanded you to come to him directly , without mentioning the intercession of saints and angels , how dares your church of her own head , bring in a worship so dangerous ? who should prescribe the way how god is to be worshipped , but god himself ? and if god requires you to address yourself to him without any other mediator , but christ jesus , have not you just reason to be afraid , that god will reject your prayers , which are addiressed to saints , as mediators , contrary to his order and injunction ? what kings suffer here on earth , in letting their subjects address themselves by their servants to them , can be no example here , for god , as he intends not to regulate his court by the court of princes , so we know it is against his order , to go to his servants , when we are commanded to come directly to him , and it is such a voluntary humility as deprives us of our reward , as the apostles expresly tells us . coloss. 2. 18. god knew well enough if men addressed themselves to his servants , to have access to him , something of the worship due to him would stick by the way , and rest upon his servants to his dishonour and disparagement , and therefore he mentioned nothing of this mediate address . it s true we desire our neighbours here on earth to pray for us , but for that we have a command ; for the invocation of saints departed we have none , and in vain do they worship me ( saith god ) teaching for doctrines the commandements of men , mat. 15. 9. but besides , when you desire your living neighbours to pray for you , i hope you do not fall down upon your knees to them , nor use the same zeal and devotion to them , as you do to god , and for whole hours together , as you do to saints departed . but why will you blind your self in a thing which your own practice contradicts you in , you know you do not onely pray to saints departed to pray for you , but you do many times , without making any mention of their prayers for you , beg of them , with the same reverence , and prostrations you use to god , to deliver you from all evil , and consequently you beg the same blessings of them you beg of god. and it is but a weak excuse to say , that you intend by those prayers nothing else , but that by their intercession they may get those blessings for you , for you go contrary to the nature of things , and whereas words ordinarily are interpreters of the mind , you make your minds interpreters of your words and actions , which is a strange evasion , and if such a thing be intended , why do you lay a snare before the common sort of people ? who , being ordered to pray to saints for such and such blessings , know nothing to the contrary , but that they are able to dispense those blessings to them , and thus commit idollatry by your willful connivance , whose blood will certainly be required at your churchmens hands one day . examine but your prayers to the virgin mary in your own manuals , when you have prayed to her , and begged of her all that you can pray of god , you add a word or two of her intercession , which in good truth is nothing but a blind , that you may not be said to commit down right idolatry . you know those prayers to the virgin mary , which in the latine , and i think in the english manual too , are ordered to be said to the virgin morning and evening , the one , o my lady , holy mary , i commend my self , my soul and body to thy blessed care and singular custody , and to the bosome of thy mercy this day , and every day , and in the hour of my going out of the world. all my hope , and all my comfort , all my afflictions and miseries , my life , my end i commit unto thee ( speak seriously what can you say more to god ) that by thy most holy intercession , and by thy merits , all my words and actions may be directed and disposed according to thine , and thy sons will , amen . where it 's worth noting , that first you do put as much trust in the virgin as you do in god , and then afterwards , to make these harsh expressions softer , you desire her to interceed for you , that your works may be directed according to christs will , nay and her own , as if she were a law giver too ? then follows maria mater gratiae &c. o mary , mother of grace , mother of mercy , protect us from the enemy , and receive us in the hour of death , which st. stephen thought was fitter to be said to christ , when he cryed , lord jesu receive my spirit . then followes the evening prayer to the virgin mary . o mary , mother of god , and gratious virgin , the true comforter of all distressed creatures that call upon thee ( this epithete by the way the scripture gives to the holy ghost ) by that great joy whereby thou wast comforted , when thou didst know that jesus christ was risen the third day from the dead impassible , be thou the comforter of my soul , and by the same , who is thine and gods only son in the last day , when with body and soul i shall rise again , and give an account of all my actions , do thou vouchsafe to help me , that i may escape the sentence of perpetual damnation by thee pious mother and virgin , and may come happily with all the elect of god to eternal joyes , amen . then follows , vnder thy protection we flee , holy mother of god , despise not our prayer in our necessities , but deliver us from all dangers alwayes , o glorious and blessed virgln . not to mention any more prayers of this nature , whereof there is a vast number . if god be a god jealous of his glory , how can he like and approve of such doings ? it 's true the honour done to his servants is done to him , but then it must be such honour , as they are capable to receive ; so to honour them , as to give them the epithetes and titles which the scripture gives to none but god , so to honour them , as to use in your prayers to them the same outward prostrations , that you use to god , when you pray to him , so to honour them , as to spend more time in your addresses to them than you do in supplications to god , as is evident from your rosary ; so to honour them , as to say more prayers to them than to christ , so to honour them , as to joyn their merits with christs merits : this is an honour which , i believe , will oblige god to say one day , who hath required these things at your hands ? and how unlike the worship of the true god is that veneration you express to the images and pictures of saints , and to relicks ? how unlike that plain and simple worship which the gospel enjoynes . ? one would think it should a little startle you , to see , that your church is afraid to let the second commandement be known to the people , you know they leave it out in their primmers and catechismes , or if they mention it , they do so mince it , that one sees plainly , they are afraid the people should see the contrariety of the●r worship to the express word of god. in the beginning of the reformation , the very sight of this commandement made people run away from the church of rome as much as any thing ; indeed to consider the general termes god uses there , thou shalt not make to thy self any graven image , &c. thou shalt not only not worship them but not so much as fall down before them , would make a person , that is not taken more with the golden legends , than with scripture , afraid of prostrations before images , upon the account of devotion ; it is not all your plea , that you do not terminate your worship on the image , but on the person represented by the image , that will excuse you at the great tribunal , for not to mention , that in the same manner the heathen used to defend their grossest idolatry , and that you are forced to borrow their very arguments , your own authors do confesse , that the common people are apt to pay adoration , and do pay adoration to the images themselves , and why will you lay such a stumbling block before the people ? much might be said of the adoration you pay to the consecrated hoste ; you confess , that the worship you give to it , is the same worship , you give to god ; what if that wafer should not be turned into the body and blood of christ ? what if it should remain as very a wafer , as it was before consecration ? what if it should not be god , as you have all the demonstration that sense or reason can give you , that it is not changed into another substance ? what monstrous idolatry would this be ? ay , but we believe it to be god ; why , madam , doth your belief , that such a thing is god , or christ , excuse you from idolatry ? should you believe a stone to be god , and adore it , might not you justly be charged with idolatry ? you look upon the heathens as idolaters , because they adore the sun ; ay , but they believe that sun to be god , and how then , according to your plea , can they be idolaters ? if there be such a transubstantiation in the sacrament , as you fancy , and an adoration of the hoste so very necessary , what 's the reason , the apostles of our lord , that saw christ before their eyes , ( only could not believe that there were two christs , one sitting at the table , the other reached out to them ; ) what 's the reason , i say , that they sate still and paid no adoration to the bread , which according to you was transubstantiated into christ ? if they did not adore it , what a presumption is it in you to give the highest worship to the consecrated bread upon a pretence , that that bread is god under the accidents of bread ? but of this i have said enough before , and could you but find time to read what our authors have written upon this subject , it could be nothing but hardness of heart , and resolution to be blind , could keep you in a church , that fills your head with doctrines , contrary to the nature of a sacrament , contrary to all that moses , and the prophets , nay and all sound philosophers have said . i will not say any thing here of your strange unbloody sacrifice of the mass , a thing unheard of in the purer ages of christianity , and which the scripture is so great a stranger to , that one would wonder how mankind came to light upon the notion . nor of your doctrine of merits , because , i find your priests have two strings to their bow , and tell the people one thing , and their adversaries , when they dispute with them , another ; affirme and deny it as they see occasion , and necessity requires onlyone thing i must needs take notice of before i take my leave , and that is the gigantick argument , that some of your gentlemen boast of , and which strikes all protestants dead at the first hearing of it . if there be any thing true , this must be true , that there is a god , if there be a god , there must be a true religion , if there be a true religion , there must be a true revealed religion , if there be a true revealed religon , the christian religion must be that true revealed religion , and if the christian religion be true , then the religion of the church of rome must be true , for the argument , that proves the christian religion to be true proves the religion of the church of rome to be true , which is this , either the christian religion was propagated without miracles or by miracles , if by miracles then it must be divine , if without miracles , then it is the greatest miracle , that a religion , so contrary to flesh and blood , should prevail with sensual men . the same , say they , is true of the religion of the church of rome . for if it be propagated by miracles , it must be divine , if without miracles , it must be so much more , because it prescribes things contrary to flesh and blood , as penances , austerities , &c. and thousands of people do embrace it . i will not make my self merry here in a thing so serious , else i could have told you , that i have hard of an argument , when i was at school , somewhat like this , he that drinks well , sleeps well , he that sleeps well , commits no sin , he that commits no sin will be saved ; therefore he that drinks well will be saved . but i forbear ; and as to the aforesaid argument , whereby one of your priests , that hath printed it , thinks to end all controversies , i will say no more but this . first , that as there is no christian , but must readily confess , that the miracles christ and his apostles wrought , were a confirmation of the divinity of their doctrine , so there is no man of any brains , can admit of the other part of the dilemma as universally true , that a religion that goes against flesh and blood , if propagated without miracles , must therefore be necessarily divine . secondly , that so far as the religion of the church of rome agrees with the truly christian religion , so far it is undoubtedly true , and it will naturally follow , that if the christian religion be true , the religion of the church of rome , so far as it agrees with the christian religion , must needs be true . and the same may be said of the protestant religion , but that the roman religion must therefore be true , where it goes away and differs from the truly christian religion , revealed to us in the gospel , is a consequence , which none but children can approve of . thirdly with this argument , a man might prove the divinity of almost any religion in the world. he that is no stranger to history , must needs know , what severities , what austerities of life the brachmans , or the heathen friers in the indies do both prescribe , and practise , and what proselites they make , and how full the kingdom of the great mogol is of them , how some wallow in ashes day and night , how others go charged with heavy iron chaines all their dayes , how others stand upright upon their leggs for whole weekes together , &c. how in japan and other places of the indies , the priests perswade the people to fast themselves to death , to go long pilgrimages , to give all they have to the priests , to throw themselves down from steep rocks , and break their necks , and all to arrive the sooner to the happiness of another world , &c. i think there cannot be thingsmore contrary to flesh and blood , than these , and yet we see these doctrines are propogated daily without any force of armes , only by example and perswasion , to be sure without any miracle , but , i hope , that doth not prove their religion to be divine . it 's a dictate of the light of nature , that the way to heaven is strait , and therefore people , that are religiously inclined , are easily won over to those men whom they see exercise such severities upon themselves . to conclude , madam , when all is done , what the true church is , must be tryed by the writings of the evangelists , and apostles . we see , that even in the apostles dayes , corruptions crept into the church , witness the churches of corinth , galatia , and colosse , &c. and the simplicity of the gospel began even then to be perverted and mingled with idle and foolish opinions and practises , and therefore we must needs think , that after the apostles , decease , the church of christ was subject to the same fate , so that if there be any standard or touch stone left , whereby the truth and sincerity of a church can be tried ( and we must needs think so well of gods providence that he would not leave his church without some rule to rectifie their errors by , in case she should be infected with any ) it must be the primitive institution of the christian religion , and that church , as i said before , which teaches things , that approach nearest to that primitive institution , must be the true church . and , madam , do but once more for your souls sake , and for your salvations sake , compare the doctrines and practises of the church of rome , with the doctrines and practises of the gospel , the fountain of christianity , and try whether you can find there , the doctrines of communion under one kind , of publick prayers in a tongue unknown to the people , of purgatory , of the mass , of transubstantation , of the church of rome's supremacy and infallibility , of worshipping and adoring the virgin mary , and praying to saints , of veneration of relicks and images , of adoration of the hoste , &c. do not force any places of scripture , and try whether you can make sense of any of these doctrines by scripture ? view the stream of the gospel , and search whether there be any thing like these doctrines in it ? why will you make your reason a slave to your priests magisterial sentences ? how can you answer it to god , that you did not improve your reason more ? what have you your reason for , but to judge what is agreeable to the word of god , and what is not ? is not this acting like a creature void of reason , to be guided altogether by what a few blind guides say to you , without enquiring at the law and testimony , whether things are so as they say or no ? wonderful stnpidity ! i stand amazed at it . it is not all the seeming holiness of those priests you converse withal , that make the church you are in , a true church . there is no sect in the world , but when they are under a cloud , necessity and the discouragment they are under , and their desire to make proselytes , makes them outwardly religious . there may be , and no doubt are zealous and outwardly pious men in all religions in the world , but that doth not make every religion true , and divine . an outward shew of piety is the only way of propagating any religion . the devil himself could not propagate heathenisme and idolatry , but by the pretened zeal , and piety , and abstinence , and mortification of apollonius tyaneus , who yet by the confession of the whole christian world , was no better then a wizard and conjurer ; i make no application to any particular priest in the church of rome ; i do not deny , but men may be in great errors , and be very zealous for their errours , and seemingly very pious in their zeal , and when their errors are not very wilful , and destroy not the true worship of god , for ought i know , they may find mercy in the day of our lord. i grant there is a great shew of outward piety in the church of rome very dazeling and very moving , but the great danger lyes here , that the worship they give to god with one hand , they strike and pull down with the other : i know too well the practise of their churches , and a heathen that should come into their temples beyond sea , would verily believe , that they worship a multiplicity of gods as well as he , whatever their pretentions may be to the contrary ; it is not what people say , so much as what they do , that god takes notice of , and though you should ten thousand times protest , that you worship and adore god alone , yet while god sees you adore the virgin mary , with as great zeal and reverence , as you do him , pray to her oftener then you do to him , make as many bowes to her , and other saints , as you do to him , and other things of that nature , how can he believe you ? religion is a thing that will not bear jests and hypocrisy , god will not be put off with contradictions between speeches and practises . madam , i do from my heart pitty you , and as it might be the weakness of your judgment , that might lead you into this erroneous church , so i beseech you , for christs sake , to return to the church , you have rashly left , where you cannot run a hazard if you will but follow the plain doctrines of the gospel , besides which , we preach nothing , and enjoyn nothing as necessary to salvation . should these entreaties and beseechings be alledged against you in the last day , as things which you have , contrary to reason , refused and slighted , how dreadful would your condition be ? i have discharged my duty , and given you warning , i would not have your guilt lye at my door , and therefore have let you know my real thoughts and sentiments concerning your condition , and the church you are in . the great god of heaven open your eyes , that you may see and fear . time was when you would have believed us as much as you do now the priests of the church of rome . it 's strange , that now they should speak nothing but truths , and we nothing but falshood . do you think , we do not understand the scriptures , and fathers , and antiquity , as well as they ? and can we all be so besotted with interest and passion that none of us should yied to the dictates of their church , if we could prevail with our sense and reason to believe , that the things wherein they differ from us were agreeable to the gospel ? sure we have a great many men among us that are great lovers of peace , and would be glad that the whole christian world were agreed , and would these men stand out against that union , if it could be done with a safe conscience ? certainly we have men as learned among us , as ever the sun did shine upon , nay the church of rome hath at this day few men to equal ours for learning and knowledge . and would all our learned men be so stubborne and obstinate , as not to agree with the church of rome , if they did not see plainly , that there is death in that pot , and that the errours in that church cannot be subscribed to without hazarding the welfare of their souls ? i will but use your own argument , when you went over to the church of rome , and were perswaded by the earnestness of her priests to yeild to their reasonings , what pleasure can we take in promoting your damnation ? what can be our interest in deceiving you ? you used that argument on their side , why will you not use it on our side , judge you , whither we , that have the gospel on our side for what we teach , are not in a safer way , than that church , which for all the new doctrines they have added to the old creedes , are forced to run to the broken cisterns of tradition , and i know not what fathers , whose writings they know not whether they be genuine or no ? as you are now , you live in willful opposition to the doctrine and precepts of the gospel , and o remember what st. paul doth say 2 thes. 1. 7 , 8. that the lord jesus will ere long come down from heaven with all his holy angels to take vengeance on those who have disobeyed the gospel of our lord jesus christ. once more therefore i charge you before almighty god , and our lord jesus christ , to repent of your errours , and to return to the bosome of that church , in which you received your life , and being , and the principles of religion and christianity . but if all this seem to you no more but bugbears , i have delivered my own soul , and should be sorry that this discourse should stand as a witness against you in the last day , which god knows was only intended as a motive to draw you back to that fold from which you have wandered and gone astray . feb. 20. 1677. i am madam , your faithfull friend to serve you. n. n. finis postscript madam , as in the publishing of this letter i had no other design , but to prevent the fall of others into the like dangers , so i have particularly insisted on those motives , which have of late tempted some persons to go over to the roman church , and though i have represented these motives as yours , yet in this i have been so far from doing any thing against the laws of private discourse , or friendship , or acquaintance , that i have only touch'd upon the common stumbling-blocks , which make unwary people joyne themselves to that church ; blocks , which might easily be removed , if men or women would but give themselves leave to think , and would prefer the solid dictates of their reason before the suggestions of their soft , and sickly passions . one thing i had almost forgot , and which indeed is the great bug-bear , whereby your church-men fright their people from running over to us , and that is , that our church began but about an hundred and fifty years ago , that luther and zwinglius were the authors of it , and that we had no church before ; pittiful shifts indeed to keep people from seeing the sun at noon ; suppose our religion did but begin then , why , must people be alwayes in an errour ? must they never reform when they have done amiss ? if there were monstrous errors in the church of rome , which the aforesaid persons saw would be the death of christianity , and which they could not subscribe to without debauching their reason , or wronging both their own and other mens consciences , was it not rational , they should protest against such things , to give their fellow christians warning ? when the house is on fire , would you have no body awake to alarm the neighbours to look to themselves ? did they see so many thousand men ready to be drown'd , and would you have had them hold their tongues , and barbarously suffered them all to be drown'd ? did they see the christian religion like to be swallowed up by darkness and ignorance , and was it not time to rouze the slumbering world ? but however , that these men were the first broachers of our religion , is notoriously false ; first , because long before them , there were men that lived in the external communion of the church of rome , but dislik'd the errours , as they crept in , and grew dangerous , and though they were overaw'd and silenc'd many times by the higher powers of the roman court , yet they both detested those corruptions , and as they had opportunity , protested against them , as were an easy matter to prove from age to age , if it had not been done already over and over by divines of our church , so that though these men , that lived long before luther , and whom god still rais'd to vindicate his truth as it grew more , and more polluted , were not call'd protestants by the people , yet in effect they were so , and consequently there were protestants many years before luther and zwinglius ; and though they were not suffered by the ignorant , and imperious ecclestiastical powers to meet and assemble themselves in publick , yet they made a church , as much as the followers of holy athanasius did , when the whole world was turned arrian , as much as elijah , and those seven thousand , the oracle mentions , made a church , when the whole country was over run with idolaters . these seven thousand we read lay hid , and durst not appear in publick , being oppress'd by the idolatrous powers , that sat at the stern , and thought there was no good fishing but in troubled waters . and indeed in this manner our church was dispers'd long before luther , among the greater multitude of the followers of the corrupted roman church , as a hand-ful of wheat lies scatterd in a bushel of chaff , and though it did not appear in pomp and grandeur , yet that external splendour is not essential to the truth of a church , your own men may be convinced by the aforementioned examples . secondly ; if your champions speak strictly of the religion , which we profess in the church of england , they are under a mistake , when they make luther or zwinglius the authors of it , for our reformation began some time after , and was both begun , and carried on with great deliberation and consideration under edward the 6. by publick authority , whose proper province it is to take notice of what is amiss in a kingdom or common wealth , whether it be in church or state , and to reform and mend it . it 's no great matter , when a reformation begins , so the reformation be but just ; and if such a reformation had begun but yesterday , that would not have made it unlawful , and that our reformation was just and necessary hath been prov'd by our divines beyond all reasonable contradiction , and how could it but be just , when the decrees of the church of rome control'd the word of the living god , and vyed with the oracles of the gospel . how and when the several errours crept into that church , is not material to determine , it 's enough we found them there , and it was gods mercy not to give all the learned men of that age over to beleive a lye . but it 's pretty to hear your church-men talk of the novelty of our religion , when it is evident to all the understanding world , that our first reformers began no new religion , but desired only to keep to the old. all their endeavour was to keep to the religion of the bible , and to cut off all superfluities , and things prejudicial to salvation , and was there any hurt in that ? they saw , that many things then in use in the church of rome were diametrally opposite to the doctrines and practises of the primitive church , and they justly thought it their duty to reduce the church to the antient pattern ; the prouder clergy of the roman church would not yield to it , but would have all their new fangles , and all their additions to the antient symbols received as articles of faith , though all perish'd , and the coat of christ were rent into a thousand pieces ; the more humble , and more moderate of the clergy , saw the pride and insolence of the other , and trembled ▪ and thus we and they parted , we kept to the old religion , and your men chose the new , and much good it may do you with it , and pray judge by this , which is the schismatick church , we or they ? we that would have healed israel , or they that would not be healed ; so that it is not our religion that began so lately as 150 years ago , about luthers time , but it 's yours that commenced then ; for you then embraced the new additions to the antient catholick creeds with greater greadiness , and were resolv'd to maintain that by bravado's , which you were not able to defend with arguments . it s a very ordinary thing for people , who once incline to the communion of the roman church to demand of us , before they go over , whither a person may be saved in that church . the charity and moderation our divines usually express in their answer to this query , i am sensible hath done our church some harm , whereas the roman priests , being bold in their uncharitabl●ness , and damning all that are out of their communion , make some weak people believe , that they must be in the right , because they are more daring in their asseverations . we have far greater reason to be peremtory in excluding the members of the church of rome from salvation , than they have to exclude us , for if that church be guilty of idolatry ( as i see , your divines find it a very hard task to answer the arguments of our learned men , that prove it ) those hat are guilty of this crime may soon be resolved by the apostle what their lot is like to be in another world ; for no idolater , saith st. paul ; meaning one that lives , and dies so , shall inherit the kingdom of god. 1 cor. 6. 9 yet we are modest , and whatever the principles of that church may lead men to , we hope , there may be many in that church , that either , while they live in the communion of that church , have an aversion from the dangerous , and idolatrous practices of it , or sometimes before they die do heartily repent of the absurd , and unreasonable doctrines , and worship , they have too long asserted , and complied with , and of such we cannot but entertain a very favourable opinion , and indeed i could name you some very famous men both in france and italy , who , though they have continued in the communion of that church , i. e. have not joyn'd themselves to any particular publick protestant church , yet have not approv'd of such things in the roman church , as manifestly obstruct mens salvation , and though like nicodemus they have not dared openly to avow their dislike of such errous , for fear of danger , yet in their hearts they have abhorr'd them , and declared so much to their friends , and intimate acquaintance . and though their seeming communion with a church so erroneous , cannot be totally excused , because it looks like a tacite approbation of her errours , yet since we read of joseph , that he was a disciple of christ secretly , and notwithstanding his not confessing christ publickly , accepted of god , we hope such mens continuing in the external communion of the roman church is not a willful errour , but rather a pardonable infirmity , a timorousness which hath nothing of malice in it , and therefore will not hinder them from salvation . we know not what mercy god may shew to many poor people in that church , who are invincibly ignorant , and never saw a bible , from whence they might rectify their mistakes , and do live honestly in this present world ; but we must withal confess , that the servant , who hath known his masters will , and hath not done it , shall be beaten with many stripes , and whether those that have been enlightened in our church , and have tasted the good word of god , and cannot but see our agreement with the gospel , and after all this embrace the errors of the roman church , whether these will be excusable at the last day , we justly doubt of ; to live in great errours is to live in sin , but where that living in errours is joyn'd with resistance of great light , and knowledge , there the sin becomes all crimson , which was but of a faint red before ; and if this be the character of christs friends to do whatsoever he commands us , then the inference is very easy , that those cannot be christ's friends , nor reign with him in heaven , that wilfully leave undone , what they know he hath commanded , and set up a new worship , which he hath no where commanded : madam , had you never seen such a thing as the scriptnre , your going over to that church might have deserved some apollogy , but when you were surrounded with the beams of that light which shines in darkness , as st. peter calls the word , with all those rayes about you , to shut your eyes , and desperately to venture upon a church , which enjoines men to live against some of gods laws , as against exod. 20. 5 , 6. and matth. 26. 27. &c. and consequently obliges them to prepare for gods displeasure , this , i confess , is an action , which , as it favours of great willfulness , so i question , if you dye in 't without serious repentance , whether the joys you hope for , will ever fall to your share . if your church-men do mean honestly , and do truly aim at the peace of christendom , and in good earnest design the union of of men that profess the name of christ , why will not they part with those doctrines that are so great an offence , not only to all protestants , but to jews and mahometans too ? if that worshipping of saints and images be not necessary , but only useful , why will not they quit that worship , which by their own pretences is needless , especially when they might do so much good by it ; if the cup was formerly given to the laity , why will not they to effect the aforesaid union restore it to the laity ? if the substance of the sacrament , and the comfort arising from it may remaine entire , without obliging men to beleive a transubstantiation , or adoration of the consecrated wafer , why will not they for peace sake lay aside such doctrines , which neither themselves , nor any creature understands ? if heaven and hell are sufficient motives to a holy life , why will not they for quietness sake renounce their doctrine of purgatory , which by their own confession hath no ground in scripture ? madam , i have that charitable opinion of you , that if you had but taken a view of the worship of the church of rome , as it is practic'd beyond sea in places , where there is no fear of contradiction from any hereticks , where they may freely and securely act according to their principles , had you seen the mode of worshipping the virgin mary at rome , or in spain , or italy , the sight of it would have certainly discourag'd you from embracing that religion , which now you seem to be mainly delighted with , for indeed the religion of the church of rome at this time , if a man were to guess from that , which hath the greatest outward veneration , is little else , then a worship of the virgin mary . the very beggers beyond-sea in begging of alms , beg more for the virgin marie's sake , then for christ's sake . this , madam , i know to be true , who am no stranger to forreign parts , and i will assure you , that in those cities or towns , where both papists , and protestants have the free exercise of their religion , you shall live twenty years in a town , before you hear that any protestant is turned papist , ( so few charms are there in the exercise of their religion beyond sea ) but you shall not be above a year or two in such a town , before you hear that several papists are turn'd protestants ( such a force hath truth ; ) the religion of the church of rome , as it is practis'd in england , lookes harmless . now and then upon some great festival they shew you a picture of the virgin mary , or of some other saint , and the honest priest qualifies every doctrine , makes the errours soft , and plausible , and they dare not , living in a protestant country , serve the host of heaven , i mean saints and angels with all their appertenances as they do in places , where there are no protestants to watch them . here their religion seems to be without a sting , and is clad in the fleece of sheep , but if you could but make a voyage into spain or italy , i doubt not but you would see the venome of it , and avoid it , and the only way not to be of the church of rome would be to go to rome , provided you do not go without your bible . in good truth that church hath turn'd christianity into a meer outward pomp and splendor , which ravishes the eye , but can never content a mans reason . the glistering gold in their temples , the curious images of saints and angels , the numerons and stately altars , the mighty silver statues , the rich , and glorious vestments you see up and down in their churches , strike the senses into a kind of ectasie , and it must be sense only , for a considerate mind , that searches the inside of things as well as the outside , cannot be so easily gull'd and deceiv'd ; and this outward pomp they make not the least sign of the truth of their church , not remembring , that if this be a good signe , the idolatrous people in japan , and china , whose temples are infinitely more shining , and glorious , will have a better title to the true church than they ; i must confess , that in policy , and worldly craft , and cunning the church of rome exceeds ours , for they have not only turn'd the spiritual worship of the gospel , into a sensual service , into outward religious formalities , a thing strangely pleasing to flesh and blood , but they have shooes that will fit all sorts of feet , great and small , and have remedies for all distempers , and you may go to heaven in that church either through the straight way , or through the broad , which you please , they can fit the melancholly person , and the jovial , they have monasteries , and nunneries , and severities to content the one , and know how to allow greater liberty to the other ; they can either send a man to happiness through a tedious task of mortification , if he likes that method best , or help him thither by a quicker dispatch , by confession , attrition , and absolution upon a death bed , when the man can hold sin and the world no longer : live , or die , you cannot do amiss in that church , for living you may be forgiven , and after death you may be pray'd out of purgatory , sooner or later , according as you will spend mony upon masses , for gold doth strangely quicken these supplications . such a church , madam , you have espoused , and divorced your self from one that prefers the wisdom of god , and of the gospel before the wisdom of the flesh , and glories in dealing plainly and honestly with all men , that keeps close to the scriptures , and yet is not against those pious customes of antiquity , which are not contradictory to the scriptures , that generously maintains the prerogative of god , and gives no other honour to saints and angels , but what may consist with the glory of her creator , that hath made no new articles of faith , but keeps to the old , and thinks it rebellion against god , to enjoyn things as necessary to salvation , which god never made so ; that urges the strictest life , and encourages nothing , but what may promote true piety and devotion , that hath no more ceremonies , but what are decent , and labours to free religion at once from slovenliness and superstition , that secures the right of soveraign princes , and teaches her children to live like good subjects and good christians , and though it be her misfortune , that too many of her pretended members live like enemies of christianity , yet that 's not long of her doctrines and constitutions , but long of the stubborness of men , who will not be reform'd by her precepts ; as no man blames christ or his apostles , because judas was a hypocrite or because simon magus profess'd their religion , so they betray great ignorance and simplicity , that for the monstrous impieties of many , that profess themselves members of our assemblies despise and slight our church , which in her principles is most averse from all such practices , a church , which as , for mine own particular i have deliberately and premeditately embraced , and chosen , so , i hope , i shall never be so much forsaken of god or of my reason , as to quit it to become a papist . i have not been altogether a careless observer of the several christian churches , dispers'd through the world . desire of mine own salvation hath made me take particular notice , what corruption there is in them , and what affinity they have with the primitive professors of christianity ; and i must freely confess upon a serious examination of the scripture , and the fathers of the three first centuries after christ , that from my heart i think , there is no church this day in all the christian world , be it eastern , or western , that in her principles and constitutions bears so much of the image of the truly primitive church , or comes so near it , as the church of england , a church , which as your fore-fathers had courage to burn for so i verily beleive , that he understands not her innocent designes , and excellent rules , that dares not dy a martyr in her cause . once more your faithful friend to serve you. n. n. finis some books printed for and sold by james collins at his shop in the temple passage in essex street without temple-bar . the art of war by the most honorable george late duke of albemarle . fol. seven sermons preached at white-hall by seth lord bishop of sarum . his sermon at the funeral of george duke of albemarle . his sermon entituled jorams case before the peers the 30 of january . quarto . an exact table to sir. john davis reports . fol. the voice of the light unto the people called quakers in relation to tithes . 8. a discourse of truth by the late reverend dr. rust bishop of dromore in ireland , together with a discourse of the way to happiness by jos. glanvil chaplain in ordinary to the king. twelves . a sermon preached at the funeral of mrs. dorothy st. john by anthony horneck preacher at the savoy . a private conference : twixt a poor country vicar and a rich alderman : by dr. pettis . pia philosophia , or the religious tendency of experimental philosophy by joseph glanvil . dr. parkers answer to mr. andrew marvels book , called the rehearsel transpros'd . bishop bramhals confutation of mr. baxters grotian religion with dr. parkers preface annexed . 80. bishop sandersons seven cases of conscience , in oct. dr. fords blessedness of being bountifull . 8 the capucin fryer exactly described in all his wayes and practices . 80. advertisement . there is a library in the hands of the said james collins to be sold consisting cheifly of history , philosophy , and politicks &c. in divers languages , and a set of magick , formerly the books of the famous riolanus in divers languages . finis . errata . pag , 35. lin . 18. read eighth's . p. 38. l. 4. r. bishops p. 65. l. 7 r. or to conclude , that . p. 66. l. 9. r. sacrament . p. 69. l. 19. r. and that they are . p. 158. l. 18. r. that are . p. 163. l. 17. r. scripture . p. 170. l. 9. r. numerous . other litteral faults , and mistoppings the reader is desired to correct at his leisure . gods providence in the midst of confusion set out in a sermon preach'd at the savoy, january the 30, 1681, being the anniversary of the martyrdom of king charles i / by anthony horneck. horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 1682 approx. 99 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 28 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44523 wing h2832 estc r13705 11835988 ocm 11835988 49763 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44523) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 49763) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 497:26) gods providence in the midst of confusion set out in a sermon preach'd at the savoy, january the 30, 1681, being the anniversary of the martyrdom of king charles i / by anthony horneck. horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. [2], 52 p. printed by t.n. for samuel lowndes ..., london : 1682. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -o.t. -psalms xcix, 1 -sermons. providence and government of god -sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2005-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-04 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion gods providence in the midst of confusions . set out in a sermon preach'd at the savoy , january the 30. 1681. being the anniversary of the martyrdom of king charles i. by anthony horneck d. d. in the savoy , printed by t. n. for samuel lowndes , and are to sold at his shop over against exeter-exchange in the strand , 1682. psal. xcix . vers. i. the lord reigneth , let the people tremble . whether this psalm was written by moses , as the jewish rabbins think , or by some other prophet , or why this psalm with four and twenty more is destitute of a title , when all the rest have suitable inscriptions , is not material to enquire . the psalm contains a rehearsal of gods wonderful works in the desert , when he went before his people in the wilderness , when god wrought miracles every hour , and the cloudy pillar by day , and the other of fire by night , like a guardian angel protected the mighty host , and rendred them formidable to all nations that heard of their name , or had notice of their approaches ; or , we may call it a spur to fervent devotion , and profound veneration of the infinite majesty of heaven , who never leaves such devotional prostrations unrewarded ; and if sincere , crowns them usually with loving kindnesses and tender mercies : instances whereof are given in moses , aaron , and samuel , men who by their prayers bowed the heavens , and made god come down , and as it were forced the almighty into pity , and compassion by their supplications . to excite our attention , the psalmist begins his hymn with an expression great , and lofty , becoming the supream being , and worthy of an infinite majesty ; in a few words he gives us the best description of gods providence , that reason can desire , and there could be nothing more magnificent , than to say of him , the lord reigneth , let the people tremble . that which will oblige me to deviate , or vary a little from the received translation , is the ambiguity of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the original , which we render tremble . the word in other places of scripture stands for being tumultuous , or in a rage , inconfusion , or in great disorder , and this signification seems to me to be most proper here , and to render the sense much clearer , and if you ask me , what that sense is , i shall deliver it in this preposition . propos. in the midst of the greatest tumults and disorders , the divine providence is awake ; in the midst of the most lamentable confusions , gods management of things is orderly , and regular . this must necessarily be the result of the text , if we construe the words according to the interpretation i have given , and the words will naturally bear , viz. the lord reigneth , let the people in a commonwealth , or kingdom be never in so great disorder , or confusion ; even then , when all things seem to be turned upside down , the lord reigns by his providence . let heathens and epicureans fancy that god is asleep , when things go contrary to our carnal wishes , and fond expectations , we that enjoy gods revelations are better taught ; and though the vast ship of this inconstant world were sinking , we have reason to believe , that the great pilot who sits at the helm , is broad awake , and hath pregnant reasons for the dispensation . it 's a weak argument , that god is careless , because we cannot pry into the reasons of his actions ; nor can the inference be less than childish ; to conclude that the almighty enjoys his ease , regardless of things below , because our selves are not omniscient ; we could not be creatures if we were so , and should lose our dependance upon the god above , if our wisdom did equal his , or could know all the depths of his actions . yet so great is his goodness , that he hath not left himself without witness , and as mysterious as his goings in the sanctuary seem to be , he hath let his servants know the order of his providence . so great an advantage are the scriptures , that while pagans , like moles , grovel in the earth , unable to apprehend what is done above ; we like children of light , can unfold gods darker proceedings , and inform the world of the equality of his ways . when the ten tribes revolted , and shook off their obedience to their liege lord rehoboam , we may easily guess what disorders the jewish commonwealth then laboured under , and what confusions that juncture of affairs produced . judah fought against israel , and israel against judah , and in both parties without all peradventure were discontented men , who added fewel to the fire , and threw brimstone into the flame to make it soar the higher ; yet while the republick lies in that convulsion-fit , god dispatches a prophet to the tribe of judah , shemaiah by name , with order to tell them , 1 kings 12. 24. thus saith the lord , ye shall not go up , nor fight against your brethren the children of israel , return every man to his own house , for this thing is from me ; i. e. let no man wonder at these disorders , for i have a hand in them , and my providence doth manage them ; and to this purpose , amos brings in god speaking , am. 3. 6. is there any evil , i. e. any evil of confusion in the city , and the lord hath not done it ? this , even jehoram , as wicked as he was , could not but be sensible of , and therefore when in the great famine of samaria people were ready to devour one another , and things were come to that extremity , that women fell a dressing their own children for their dinner , the king desperate and melancholick , cries out , this evil is of the lord , i. e. how dismal soever the state of things appears , the almighty hath given order for it , and it 's he , whose power and wisdom manages this calamity . but this subject will require some elucidation , and therefore i shall consider here , 1. what those disorders , and confusions are , which seem to infer a carelesness of providence . 2. why god suffers , and permits such confusions and disorders . 3. how his providence appears in them , and which way he manages these seeming contradictions . 1. what these disorders and confusions are , which seem to infer a carelesness of providence . 1. oppression of the innocent and poor , such as we find among the jews in the time of amos and jeremy , am. 6. 12. c. 8. 6. jer. 7. 6. and no doubt a dismal sight it is , to see the rich invade the poors little all without control , and great men crush those of an inferiour rank by their lawless power ; to see ahab take possession of naboth's vineyard ; and ziba because in favour with the king , wrong the lame and harmless mephibosheth ; to see the widdow scorn'd , because she hath no potent friends ; and the orphan trampled on , because his injurious adversary can out-bribe him ; to see a jeremy thrown into a dungeon , because he speaks the truth ; and a daniel hurled into a lyons den , because he cannot conform to the looser customes of the persian court ; to see an aristides driven into exile , because of his justice , and an alcibiades deposed from his office , because the rash lysander lost the field . oppression as it is enough to make even a wise man mad , according to solomon , eccles. 7. 7. so it is an argument , that justice hath forsaken the tribunal ; and without justice , human societies become cages of ravenous birds , and the band , which is to hold mankind together , must necessarily be dissolved . it 's this maintains the health and vigour of the body politick , and this once taken away , must on the other side cast it into violent distempers ; distempers which render it not only weak , but deformed and odious , and must at last be the death of it . it 's this whereby god intended kingdoms , and cities should be governed , and men no sooner receive their being , but at the same time receive the principles of this vertue . nature obliges them to it , as much as it doth to self preservation , and with their mothers milk they imbibe these inclinations ; and on these inclinations the wholesom laws of all nations are grounded ; and whatever orders are contriv'd by wise men for the well governing of societies , do all go upon this supposition . nay , god himself is concerned to see this justice maintained in commonwealths , and it is part of his prerogative to preserve its laws inviolable , so that it 's being lost in a corporation , seems to reflect upon him ; and as it was he alone , that first taught men to gather into societies , so to let oppression come among them , which is the bane , that kills them , to a sensual eye seems to be no small disparagement to his providence . 2. such another disorder is , when a covetous , ambitious prince is suffered to spoil and harrass the countrey of his neighbour prince , who is at peace with him , and not so much as dreams of any hostile approaches , an instance whereof we have in benhaded , who without any other cause but that of interest , and his own glory , fell upon baashah king of israel , being in league with him , and surprizing his territories , plundered , and made himself master of ijon , and dan , and abelmaine , and all the store-cities of naphtali , 2 chron. 16. 3 , 4. a strange way of war ! to fall upon his confederate for no other reason , but because he is more potent , and to deprive the other of his right and inheritance , because he is too weak and feeble to oppose him : to fancy because i have got a numerous army , that therefore i may do what i list ; and because i can be more wicked than another , that therefore i may lawfully be so . to imagine because i am a king , that therefore i am exempt from all laws , and because there is no man above me , that therefore i may crush whomsoever i have a mind to , to flatter my self , because god hath advanced my throne above other potentates , that therefore the rest must be my vassals , and because they cannot easily resist me , that therefore i may make them fall a sacrifice to my lust and glory . conceits monstrous and odious , even to pagans and infidels ! and which deserve not only the sharpest satyrs , but gods severest vengeance : we look upon joab as a villain , because he killed amasa kissing , and david justly called him the worst of men , because he murthered abner under pretence of friendship , and shed the blood of war in peace . thus ninus takes what he can get , because his neighbours are unarmed : and sesostris of aegypt discontented that he hath so little , makes even his familiars a prey to his ambition : actions which in private men would be punished with the hangmans sword , and in persons of a lower condition , revenged with the most exquisite racks and tortures ; yet it is not power , can justifie a sin , nor the greatness of a man turn a vice into vertue . robbery is a crime in a prince as much as in a subject , and stealing other mens goods the greater injustice in a king , by how much he stands higher , than other mortals . no prince hath power to act against the law of nature , and what is intrinsically evil , can never be made good by the most specious pretences of authority . princes that are given to such injustice are enemies of mankind , and no marvel , if the disorders they cause in the neighbouring dominions are astonishing , for the sin it self is prodigious . that which amazes the spectator more , is , that such unrighteousness very often prospers , and the disorders it causes , tends to the renown and splendour of the perfidious conquerer , for it makes him not only more adored by parasites , and flatterers at home , who call him , great , invincible , and a demy-god , but formidable to nations afar off , which like innocent animals , at the approach of the ravenous hawk , quake as the rumour spreads of his speedy , though treacherous victory ; a scene of affairs , which providence seems to suffer in , and while he , in whose hands the hearts of princes are said to be , le ts loose the reins , and suffers them to do what they list , men guided by sense can suspect no less , than that the lord doth not see , neither doth the god of jacob regard it ; as those ; psal. 94. 7. 3. civil wars ; when men of the same countrey and nation breaking into factions , imbrue their hands in one anothers blood , and thrust their swords into one anothers bowels , as the midianites , jud. 7. 22. when neighbour fights with neighbour , and those of a man 's own house prove his greatest enemies ; when members of the same commonwealth first run into discontents among themselves , and thence into open hostility one against the other ; when different parties first give one another reproachful names , from reproachful names come to animosities , and feed their envy and malice so long till it break forth into a consuming fire . there is hardly any nation but some time or other hath felt the smart of these intestine divisions ; and if any have escaped the blow , it must be , because there was nothing in the country worth contending for . how many mens lives were lost at rome in the contentions betwixt marius and sylla , betwixt catilines party , and the senate , betwixt pompey and caesar , every school-boy knows , that hath read the history . this was the fate of the hot disputes at thebes , betwixt ismenias and archias , at jerusalem betwixt jason and menelaus , in greece betwixt the dorians and jonians , at athens betwixt thucidides and timon , in italy betwixt the guelphs and gibellines , at constantinople betwixt hypatius and the court party , at carthage betwixt hannibal and hanno , at florence betwixt the people and the house of medices , in france betwixt the hedui and sequani , and he that shall peruse our own chronicles , take a view of the quarrels betwixt the white and red rose , and all the seditions , rebellions , and divisions under the several kings of this island , and add to all this what he remembers of the late civil war , that set ephraim against manasseh , and manasseh against ephraim , and they both against judah , cannot but behold a very sad landskip of horrour and confusion . to see men drunk with their prosperous fortunes , and angry with their own happiness ; to see them fall foul one upon another , and they that might live in ease and safety , like mad dogs bite and devour one another ; to see them enraged one against another upon a punctilio of state , and as if their lives were nothing worth , throw them away because both parties cannot be of the same judgment ; to see them not only begin their quarrels upon slight occasions , but pursue them unto death and ruine , as it is an argument of intolerable pride and self-conceitedness , so it 's like , the careless spectator , that sees the tremendous effects of it , will wonder , what 's become of providence in such disorders . 4. massacres : when the true religion is persecuted , as a pestilent heresy , and mighty endeavours are used to extirpate its renown and glory : when fire and faggot become arguments to confute it , and swords and the gallows are made use of as the only syllogisms to batter its fortifications : when it is not only contemned and derided , but the professors of it severely handled , and those that dare be so bold as to own it , put to most cruel torments : when the floods of ungodliness threaten to overwhelm it , and the malice of men rises to that height , that nothing will serve their turn , but its ruine and destruction . such was the massacre of the jews under antiochus , when to live up to the law of moses , was present death , and to observe gods statutes the readiest way to be tortured , when to believe in one god was to be broken on the wheel ; and to abhor idolatry involved the votary in the danger of most barbarous usage . thus was the true religion treated in the first ten persecutions by the heathen emperours , when to have a bible in the house , and to be thrown to the lyons was all one , and not to offer incense to the heathen gods , was cause enough to be torn in pieces by bears and tygers ; when multitudes of christians were driven like so many sheep to the slaughter , and the hangmen were sooner tired with executing , than the professours of christ's doctrine with the variety of their tortures . thus the church of rome dealt with the waldenses and albigenses , from the year of our lord 1334. to 1340. and upward , when those innocent creatures for contradicting the corruptions of that church , were hurled into the fire ; and not to be subject to the pope in his unlawful decrees , was counted as bad as witchcraft ; when flames were the portion of men , that would not believe a purgatory , and a dungeon the reward of adhering close to the oracles of the holy ghost . such was the massacre at paris in the year 1572. when in one night many thousands were murther'd for no other reason , but because they were protestants : and vast numbers of men and women murthered like beasts , because they would make the bible the only rule of their faith and manners , when at rome they triumphed at the inhumane fact , and like the jews , thought they had done god service by sacrificing the lives of his servants to their rage and malice . this was the lot of the protestants in ireland in the year 1641. when 200000 of them were destroy'd to make the popish clergy sport , and men that professed themselves to be of the catholick church out-did indians and cannibals in their cruelty ; when the more protestants a papist killed , the more he merited , and might tell the pearls of his crown in heaven , not by his beads , but by the number of christs disciples , which as he thought , he had sent to hell , and offered to the devil . if god takes care of any thing , thinks the sensual man , it must be of the true religion , this we must conceive to be his darling , and if he hath more tender affections for one thing than another , this we must suppose is the chief object of his sollicitude : this makes most for his honour , and his glory is advanced by nothing so much as by true , and genuine worship ; this therefore he must be thought to mind and cherish most , and to look upon with the kindest aspect : but to see this jewel scorned , derided , affronted , and its lustre darkened by clouds of ignorance and malice : to see this pearl broken , shattered , and the dust of it dispersed into the various corners of the earth : to see its foes live great , and those that touch this apple of his eye , brave it in their pleasures : to see them erect their throne on the necks of gods servants , and securely trample on these supposed favourites of heaven ; what can we conclude , but that either this is not the true religion , or that providence is careless , and supine in its protection ? 5. such another disorder is , base and contemptible mens climbing up to the thrones of kings , and displacing the true owners , and usurping their authority ; when the vilest of men are advanced to royalty , and they that were but subjects a little before , come to sit in their lords tribunal : vvhen persons of the dregs of the people get up to the highest povver , and they that vvere but scum before , come to svvim like oyl on the top , and throvv dovvn gods anointed ; when a jeroboam from surveyor of the kings works , rises up to be king himself ; and a zimri that dvvelt in a cottage before , comes to possess himself of the royal palace . such vvas the sudden advance of the famous or rather infamous massinello , vvho from a fisherman , in a day or tvvo comes to be a prince , and from mending of nets , in a weeks time is advanced to be more than vice-roy of naples , whose contemptible condition is on a suddain changed into adorations , and his converse with the meanest of his fellow subjects , turned into bows and cringes from the greatest of the people : he that before had scarce a dog to attend him , in a few hours is followed by a crowd , and receives the courtships and caresses of an incredible multitude : he that knew little but obedience a little before , now commands armies , and from a slave , comes to give law to the proudest of the spaniards . they that before would scarce vouchsafe to look upon him , now are glad of his kinder smiles : and his threats , that before were accounted little more than the noise of a hound , are now dreaded more than the almighties thunder . such was the prodigious rise of the late usurper , whose crimes , and wonderful successes in his bloody attempts , have given occasion to the sad solemnity , and the sackcloth , and ashes of this day . a man , ( if it be not a crime to call him so , for he outwent devils in hypocrisy ) by whose contrivance the royal crown fell down , and with the crown the church , and with the church the nations happiness : a man , whose crimes must be detested while time is measured by the intervals of day and night , and who by his actions hath fixed such a blot on christianity , as perhaps the tears of many ages cannot wipe away : a man , who in pursuance of his dreams was restless , till he saw what the evil spirit had revealed , accomplished ; and first poisoned the peoples loyalty , and then made advantage of their perfidiousness . who made religion a stalking-horse to invade the throne , and when he had possessed himself of it , was more lawless than the person , whom he pretended to expel for being so ; who forced his way to greatness through a thousand lives , and knowing no means to arrive to it , but injustice in the highest degree , cut down all the trees that stopt his prospect ; who made the bible subservient to his sword , and held it in one hand , that he might only do greater execution with the other ; who under a pretence of liberty , made the nation a greater slave to him than they are in turky , and while he gave out , that he would set them free , bound them but the faster in their shackles : who to reform the church , pulled it down to the ground , and while he made purity the watch-word , brought in darkness greater than the aegyptian ; for he taught men a new religion , how they might be devout and yet rob and steal , and commit sacriledge without fear , or remorse of conscience : who in the worst sence became all things to all men , to make them all his prey , and complied with several parties , to make them all his devoted vassals ; who could weep to deplore the misfortunes of the time , while he was the chief instrument to bring them in ; and cry out against monarchy , while nothing less was the object of his ambition ; who waved the title of a king meerly because he saw it was not safe , and seemed humble , thereby the better to compass his dangerous designs and purposes . who to stop the clamours of the people , did them right , thereby to wrong his prince the better : and to make his murther legal , caused him to be condemned by a law of his own making : who first promoted the parliaments independency of the king , and then made himself independent of their power : who first gulled the simpler party into an opinion of his sanctity , and when he had done so , wallow'd securely in the shades of the greatest villany : who made himself great , by daring to do that , which heathens would have trembled at , and so his glory might be set on the pillars of fame , was content to make lucifer both his instrument and general . thus lived the proud vsurper , but what is more , died in his bed , lamented by the crew that had served him in his sins , disposed of three kingdoms to his son , who wanted besides right , his fathers cunning , and personal qualifications ; yet he saw his successor applauded , and fawned upon by men that were then in power , and had the satisfaction to behold a man of his own line in a probability to carry on his own usurped authority , which was all that a dying tyrant could desire , and greater felicity a man could not possibly aim at , that believed no other life , or if he did , could not expect a share in its happiness : yet with his death his hellish laurels did not wither , for his funeral was royal , as if it had not been enough to have lived a king , except he died so too , and the pomp of his interrment such , as attracted the eyes of the most curious spectators ; nay , as after the storm is past , there remains some agitation of the waves , so the agents of foreign princes , that had dreaded this neptunes trident , while alive , retained some awe of his power after death , which was the reason , that with their forced presence they graced his affected : funeral : an accident uncommon , and exceeding rare ; and if asaph seeing the prosperity of private wicked men , his feet had almost slipp'd , and he very near sunk into a slight opinion , and low thoughts of gods providence , what would he have said , had he seen impiety thus publickly honoured , not only in life , but in death , as if heaven had applauded the heroick sin , and loved to bestow rewards on men , not only for their great attempts in vertue , but for daring to be more than ordinarily profane and impious ? but as great as these disorders are , or seem to be , they are no blemish of providence , nor doth that golden chain look the less lovely , because all the links are not distinctly seen by men , whose eyes by staring upon sensual objects , as people that look much on snow , have contracted a vicious dimness . and so much will appear from what we shall propose in the second general , viz. 2. why god suffers such disorders and confusions to happen in commonwealths or kingdoms . 1. god doth it to punish a nation or people for their sin. when the sins of a people are come to a fatal pitch , and the measure grown full , it 's time for god , by sending such disorders to lash the generality into better manners ; not that god doth instigate them to these disorders , but it 's just with him to withdraw his restraining grace , and not to hinder their wicked inclinations : and when the prop that upholds the house is charity , and that charity is abused , if the prop be removed , and the house fall , it 's to make the inhabitant sensible of his ingratitude . when pride and idleness ; and fulness of bread , and its usual concomitants , wantonness and luxury come once to rage and reign , god justly takes away the partition that kept the fire and tinder asunder , and then no marvel , if being committed and let loose to fall one upon the other , they cause a combustion which is not easily quenched . when the body is grown pletharick , and the humours abound , the wise physician breaths a vein , and though the ignorant spectator thinks he is going to let out life , yet it 's only to preserve the whole from perishing . god sometimes afflicts a good king for his wicked peoples sake , so he permitted the excellent josiah to be slain , because though himself was one of the best of men , yet his subjects were hypocritical to a high degree ; and while they seemed to comply with the king in the true worship of god , continued idolaters in their hearts : so god suffered the martyr of the day to fall , because the nation that lived under his shadow , were grown extravagant in their manners . and that you may not wonder , how god comes to punish the innocent , and let the guilty go free , i must answer , that the innocent , though seemingly afflicted , yet lose nothing by the adversity , but only anticipate heaven , and exchange their temporal for an everlasting bliss a few years sooner , while the sinners , though seemingly prosperous , suffer signally in the loss of their great representative ; for hereupon they must necessarily fall into confusion , and while they send sometime to the vine , and sometime to the fig-tree to reign over them , and know not where to fix , they at last inconsiderately , yet by gods wise permission , fix upon the bramble for their prince , whence fire comes forth , and either disperses or consumes the giddy multitude . sometimes god punishes the people , for their irreligious princes sake , as he sent a famine on the land in the days of david , 2 sam. 21. 1. because king saul had committed perjury , and slain the gibeonites : and so he would not depart from his anger against the jews , because of the sins of manasseh , 2 kings 23. 26. where with he had provoked him to anger : for kingdoms are bodies politick , whereof princes are the heads , and if either head or body be put to streights and inconveniencies , the design of providence is fulfilled , which is resolved , when heinous offences are committed in the whole , one principal part should smart for the boldness , that the other may take warning : and though that which suffers may not be so guilty as the other , yet as they sympathize together , so it s seldom seen but that they do contract something , or participate of one anothers corruptions , and consequently , justly share in one anothers sufferings : and where the prince suffers for the people , though it 's confest , the providence is more astonishing and surprizing , yet it is more godlike and majestick , and an imitation of the death of jesus , who consented to die for the people , that the whole nation might not be undone . god never punishes a nation as a nation , but only in this present life ; for indeed that relation extends no farther : when people in the next , come to be judged before the great tribunal , they are not judged as a nation , but as single persons ; for every one shall give an account of himself to god ; and therefore if god chastises a nation as a nation , it is only in this world , and if in such chastisements , either the generality or some principal members suffer , it s enough to answer the design of the divine equity , which is to let the nation see his displeasure against the cursed thing that is in the midst of them ; so that in this case , the almighty uses a kind of decimation , he being too pitiful , and too great a lover of humane societies to destroy every individual , especially in ample commonwealths , wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons , that cannot discern between their right hand and their left , jon. 4. 11. but , 2. as in all these disorders and confusions , there are some , who though notoriously guilty , yet escape , and are not so much as singed by that devouring fire , nay , prosper , and thrive best in such combustions : so providence lets them go free , to convince men of reason , that there is another world , where their insolence and unrighteousness shall be punished with a witness , psal. 50. 21 , 22 , 23. god gives men a taste of his justice here , that they may not think in their hearts , there is no god ; and yet but a taste , that they may not imagine , that what he doth here , is all he intends to do . some judgments he is obliged to send down now , to let the world see , there is a god that judges in the earth ; and yet he sends not all he means to send , to teach them , there are far more dreadful ones to come . some careless and debauched men he lashes here , to hint to us , that there is an all-seeing eye ; and yet others he lets alone , to assure us , that there is a future and everlasting vengeance . there is not a greater argument of another life , than gods being silent now , and not executing judgement against an evil work speedily ; especially , where the crimes threaten omnipotence , and men attempt to mingle heaven and earth together , dare be giants in transgression , and make gods patience an encouragement to their irreligion : for god , being a righteous governour , cannot but be just ; and since he awakes not to vengeance here , he will certainly pay the sinner home with interest hereafter . when frederick the emperor heard of a nobleman in his dominions , who had run through all the fallacious labyrinths of sin , tasted of all its luxuries , lived the life of a beast , or of a devil rather , had spared no woman in his lust , and no man in his anger , had been drunk and intemperate to a prodigy , yet had never had any cross or sickness , and at last died softly and quietly without pain or trouble , with age more than with sickness , being then above fourscore ; the intelligent prince smote upon his breast , and said , either there is no god , or after this comes a life of reward and vengeance : concluding peremptorily , that this man having escaped gods rods and axes here , must necessarily be tormented hereafter . so that prosperous villains are gods witnesses , that men do not cease to be when they die , and carry marks about them of gods future vengeance . god in suffering them to thrive , confirmes what he hath said in his word , and their flourishing condition here , is an item , that when this life is ended , they shall be destroy'd forever ; which is a truth so important , and which the world is so highly concerned to know , that it is in a manner necessary , impiety should be prosperous here , that their strength should be firm , and there should be no bands in their death , that they should not be in trouble as other men , nor plagued like other men , that their eyes should stand out with fatness , and that they should have more than their hearts can wish , since it is an infallible argument , that god hath appointed a day , wherein he will render tribulation and anguish to every soul that doth evil , to the jew first , and also to the gentile , rom. 2. 9. 3. such disorders come to convince men , that true happiness is not to be had in this valley of tears , but must be sought in heaven . to this end the greatest glories in the vvorld are subject to decay , and scepters and diademes are suffered to tumble down , to shew , there is a greater felicity to be gotten elsewhere . to this end the greatest calm is suffered to die into a storm , and halcyon days into threatning vvaves and billows , to assure us the prophet was in the right , when he cryed , arise and depart , for here is not your rest , mic. 2. 10. to this end gilimer the vandal was overcome , and led in triumph through the streets of constantinople ; to this end , andronicus from an emperor is made a slave , and infamously dragged through common-shores and kennels ; to this end the great vitellius hath dirt thrown in his face , and is haled to the market-place to be executed ; to this end the mighty croesus is like to fall a sacrifice to flames , and the sturdy bajazet is imprisoned in a cage : king boleslaus made a skullion , and dionysius forced to turn schoolmaster ; to this end valerianus is flead by the persian souldiers , and salted as if he had been bacon ; to this end john the twenty third , though a pope , is at last constrained to eat his own clothes , and to feed upon the flesh of his own arms , for hunger ; to this end adonibezeck after the conquest of seventy kings , hath the extremities of his hands and feet cut off , and all to teach men , that these outward gaudes are vanity of vanities , all is vanity . and indeed the aforesaid gilimer was so sensible of this , that being after long , but fruitless resistance necessitated to yield himself to the enemy , sent to his conqueror for three things , for bread , for a spunge , and for a cittern : for bread to support his fainting body , for a spunge to wipe away the tears , he had shed for the loss of his royal grandeur , and for a cittern , to rejoyce in his experience that all is vanity . the fickleness of these outward glories is an argument of their emptiness , and in that like glasses , they are so easily broke and crackt , wise men see , that they are but bubbles ; were they lasting , men would fancy them to be heaven , and their uninterruptedness would tempt poor mortals to say of them , as the surpriz'd disciple of mount tabor , it 's good for us to be here , let 's make tabernacles . indeed in the midst of their inconstancy , men are apt to promise themselves substantial satisfaction : and while they see them slip through their fingers , they are so unwise as to adore them ; what would they do , were they really what they seem to be , and had they beside their dazling dress , eternal duration to make them amiable ? god hath laid up other felicities for rational creatures , and they lie out of the common road , that men might take pains to get them . we must not think god bestow'd immortal souls upon us , that we might fix them on sensual objects , and when we find , that they are capable of securing such riches and pleasures as fade not away , we must suppose , that to do so , was the principal end of their creation . god hath made these lower things changeable as the moon , that like the woman in the revelation , chap. 12. vers . 1. we may set our feet upon them , and aim at delights which transport souls , ravish angels , and force seraphim into extasies . the deceitfulness of outward glories appears no where so plain , as in publick disorders and confusions , and they are the best glass to shew us , what unsatisfactory things they are ; for though in private families disappointments and changes happen every day , yet they are too inconsiderable for a multitude to take notice of them ; but publick disorders convince a kingdom of the imperfection of these external comforts , and the more notorious they are , the more all sorts of men are perfwaded into a belief of that imperfection ; so that confusions of this nature are sermons preach'd to a whole nation , and speeches from heaven , whereby god intends an universal reformation . 4. sometimes it is to try the good , and to brighten their faith , and hope , and constancy , which like gold , is best polished and refined by fire . and this reason god himself gives , ps. 81. 7. it is in this case , as in matter of heresies , which must be , that those which are approved , may be made manifest , 1 cor. 11. 19. to adhere to a good cause , when it sleeps under the soft wings of peace and order , may be policy , but to espouse it when discouraged , is an argument of true honesty and ingenuity . he that can defend it , when it meets with opposition , we may conclude , is guided more by its equity , than his own interest : and he that sticks to it , when tempests threaten to overwhelm it , discovers , that it hath not only his bare approbation , but his heart and affections too . to salute christ when all jerusalem cries hosannah , may be a piece of civility ; but to speak for him when he is crucified , is a sign of true christian simplicity . till persecution came , the son of god had innumerable flatterers ; but when that fire began , the number soon dwindled away into a small company of followers . it happens so sometimes , that the good cannot be distinguished from the counterfeit professors of religion , and while all meet in the publick assemblies , the wheat and chaff seem to be one , but troubles and disorders like the wise shepherd make a distinction between the sheep and the goats , and discover the integrity of the one , and the deceit and hypocrisie of the other . to follow david , when all israel runs after absalom , is a mark of loyalty , but with achitophel to shrink , when heaven seems to frown on the right side , is base treachery . troubles , like aqua fortis , make a separation betwixt metals , and shew which is the silver , and which the contemptible mineral . those that are good grow better by them : those that seem only to be so , in the hour of temptation fall away . that sap certainly is strongest , which preserves the leaves of a tree green and verdant all the winter , and nothing is so great a sign of strength and hardiness , as to be able to endure the rude assaults of frost and snow , and unseasonable weather . it 's a character of infamy , the evangelist imprints on the chief rulers among the jews , who indeed believed in jesus , but for fear of the pharisees , durst not confess him , joh. 12. 42. true goodness like lillies thrives , though thorns and bryars do surround it , and salamander like can live in fire . the late kings piety shines the brighter , because he durst maintain it under temptations to forsake it . the troubles that came upon him , it 's confest added little to his outward pomp , but rendred his goodness more charming and amiable to the prudent spectator : it had never arrived to that renown and glory , if those confusions had not been the touchstone : and when like lawrel it could stand those thunders , it was evident that an almighty power did uphold it : had he lived prosperously all his days , his vertue would have made him a saint , but the constancy of it in the severest tryals , gave him the character of a martyr : had he professed and express'd meekness , while his subjects were submissive and respectful , the excellent qualification might have challenged suitable commendations ; but to practice it when his servants became his masters , and instead of honouring , loaded him with indignities and reproaches , this deserves our wonder : to be true to the church against his temporal interest , was that , which gave him the greatest credit , and to forgoe a crown rather than part with his religion , an act which force the world into admiration . the greater man he was , the greater was the tryal , and for such a tryal , perhaps , nothing was so fit as royal vertue . the disorders he lived to see , made him more sensible of gods assistance , than all his sunshine did , and he had never tasted of that degree of sweetness in gods favour , if persecution and a prison had not increased the relish . this gave him a clearer sight of gods goodness , than the high specula of his palace , and his solitariness afforded him such contemplations , as he must never have hoped for in the crouds of courtiers . this made him look into paradise , and see the suffering jesus on his throne , and taught him , that a man might be the son of god in the very garden of gethsemane . this furnished him with lessons , which the greatest kings are strangers to , and with moses , directed him to behold him that was invisible . this made his faith with abraham , believe even contradictions , and raised his confidence , that though he died , he should live for ever . this made him stand amazed at his own vertue , and while he saw he was able to do , what he thought had been impossible , admire the immense power and goodness of god , when grace was thus sufficient for him , and made his strength proportionable to his burden . this made him find by blessed experience , what the saints of old felt in their chains and tortures , and assured him , that to rejoyce with joy unspeakable , and full of glory in the midst of flames , was no fable . this made him see , that the things invisible are the most desirable objects , and find with the great apostle , that there is a great difference between being persecuted and forsaken . 5. such disorders are sometimes permitted to discover the ill principles of some mens religion , who are like to seduce others by their specious pretences , that men who are in good earnest resolved to be saved , may be aware of them , and not fall into the same condemnation , 2 tim. 3. 1 , 5 , 9. men who suppose that gain is godliness , when troublesome and perillous times do come , and disorders rise , serve themselves of these tumults , and under a shew of piety , grasp what they can , and betray their carnal ends , which in such times cannot be hid , when there are opportunities and temptations to call them out into action ; for as in such disorders commonly the right cause , or the party that have most justice on their side , are oppressed and come by the worst , so the other make advantage of their misery , and their blood and tears give the other growth and stature . it 's possible , beloved hearers , you may remember times , when men walked in sheeps cloathing , but within were ravening wolves , and while their voice was exactly like jacobs , their hands continued rough as esau's ; when men cryed , the temple of the lord , and yet at the same time murthered those that opposed their insolencies , and talked of the good cause , while they meant nothing else by it , but enriching their own purses ; when men pretended a thorough reformation , and made their own souls as black as hell , and gave out that they fought for god , when it was only to maintain , what they had unjustly purchas'd ; when men sighed and groaned to get the prey into their net , and laboured much for a spiritual kingdom , to make a surer settlement of their temporal possessions . when men under a shew of seeking a world to come , did what they could to enjoy this present , and left no stone unturned to establish religion , that thereby they might establish themselves the better in their unrighteous acquists ; when men to pull down idolatry , as they called it , set up robbery and sacriledge in the room of it , and instead of doing things better than they had been , exchanged only one sin for another ; when men call'd that zeal , which was in good earnest nothing else , but inordinate passion , and termed that charity , which was no more but kindness to their brethren in iniquity ; when men called others dumb dogs , that they might more securely bark at them , and represented them as lazy droans , that they might carry the honey , those bees had made , to their own hives ; when men undertook to resolve cases of conscience , while themselves had seared their own , and under a pretence of taking scruples out of other mens breasts , felt none for the monstrous injuries they had been guilty of to their neighbours ; when men gave out , they pittied the divisions of the church , while themselves were the causes that began them , and talk'd of works of mercy , while they shew'd none to those they had turned out of their livings ; when they trampled on the pride of prelates with a greater of their own , and ran like mad from babylon to be consumed in the fire of sodom and gomorrah . so i have seen some gaudy flowers arrayed more gloriously than solomon , but when dismantled , have been nothing but unsavoury and unprofitable stalks ; so the deadly night-shade looks fresh and green , as other plants , but carries poison in its bowels ; so the prince of precious stones , the diamond , by its rayes , promises so many springs of light , but its powder kills without remedy ; so gold and silver dazle the eye , yet are no steams more odious or loathsom , than those which rise from the mines , they are digg'd out of ; so the butterfly is striped with several paints , yet is no more but a squallid animal ; so the glow-worm looks like a creeping star , yet if you behold it by day light , it is a very homely creature . these are the true emblemes of some mens religion in the world , and their partial obedience in times of disorder and confusion , tells the considerate part of mankind , that what they profess is varnish not substance , glass not natural chrystal , shadow not reality ; for how can that be true religion , where i give to god the things which are gods , and deny to caesar the things which are caesars ? where i am conscientious to the creator , and unjust and perfidious to the creature ? where i offer sacrifice , and envy my brother in my heart ? where i express love to my maker , and yet do not give all their due , custom to whom custom ; tribute to whom tribute , fear to whom fear , and honour to whom honour ; or in st. peters phrase , fear god , and do not honour the king ? and these sophistications god commonly discovers in confusions , intending them as sea-marks , to give warning to the ships that see them afar off , not to come near those sands , lest they split their vessel , and lose their goods , which with great cost and labour they have purchased . but it 's time we proceed , and enquire , 3. how gods providence appears in these disorders and confusions . 1. god puts bounds and limits to the rage of men , that cause and encourage those disorders . the proud senacharib , es. 37. 24. talks big , he had already put jerusalem into consternation , and boasted of greater mischiefs he intended ; by the multitude of my chariots , saith he , am i come up to the height of the mountains , to the sides of lebanon , and i will cut down the tall cedars thereof , and the choice fir-trees thereof , and i will enter into the height of his border , and the forest of his carmel . but he that sits in heaven laughs at him , and the great jehovah derides the little talking insect , assures the prophet , that beyond such a field he shall not step , and as he saith , he doth ; because thy rage against me , and thy tumult is come up into mine ears , therefore will i put my hook in thy nose , and my bridle in thy lips , and i will turn thee back by the way which thou camest . when maxentius had filled rome with murthers , and the people feared not only greater injuries to their persons , but a total desolation , ( so great was the fury of the monster ) the almighty sets bounds to his brutish courage , and sends the great constantine to remove him , and with him the yoak , he had laid on the trembling people . and thus hath god dealt with most tyrants , who have thought to crush the world by their power , when they have threatned heaven it self , and gone on securely for a considerable time , insomuch that they have flattered themselves , that all was their own , an invisible hand hath stopt their progress , and allotted them their limits , hitherto shalt thou come and no farther . and this hath been gods method with the most pestilent hereticks , whose business it hath been to ruine the church , and to render it , as the first mass , a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a thing without shape or figure ; not only arrius himself was stopt from belching out blasphemies against the son of god , by being struck with a fatal loosness before he could reach the council , but his heresie too , when the world was afraid of its inundation : for after such a term of years , the true religion flourished again maugre all the opposition , from constantius , valens , and the goths and vandals . 2. sometimes god disappoints such men in their highest hopes and expectations . benhadad sends to king ahab , to tell him , 1 reg. 20. 3. thy silver and thy gold is mine , thy wives also and thy children , even the goodliest are mine , and accordingly dispatches his servants to take their choice of what they liked . ahab gives the messengers a resolute denial , at which the syrian storms and swears , v. 10. the gods do so unto me , and more also , if the dust of samaria shall suffice for handfuls , for all the people that follow me ; hereupon he marches with two and thirty kings , his vassals at his heels , and hearing that some of the israelites were come out against him , he scorns to fight with them , but like a god , at whose nod people must either live or die , bids his men take them alive : but behold how the phantastick king is disappointed in his hopes , while he thought all samaria would come out to him with ropes and halters about their necks to acknowledge his sovereign power of life and death , he and his vast armies , which filled the land , are not only chased and beaten , but himself is taken prisoner , and forced to come crouching and cringing to the king of israel . selimus the turk in the year of our lord 1569. sets out from constantinople with 25000 horse , and 3000 janizaries , and joins an army of the precopian tartars consisting of 80000 horse more , besides a navy at sea of 150 gallies manned , and provided of suitable ammunition to invade the kingdom of astracan ; he had already swallowed the empire in his hopes , distributed the various provinces to his basha's , and consulted how to govern the kingdom , conquer'd already in imagination . it 's true , the inhabitants of astracan were in great confusion , but the mighty god , who sets up one , and pulls down another , comes in , dashes all the swelling hopes of the haughty sultan , and beyond expectation , all that mighty army pines and dwindles away in their march , some of them come as far as azeph , and of that vast multitude 2000 only return to constantinople . vitiges the goth besieges rome , makes use of all the stratagems , that his wisest and cunningest men can think of , and doubts not of success , but in despight of all these contrivances , he is forced to retire , and acknowledge a providence . the spaniards in the famous year 1588. set out their invincible armada against england , fright the inhabitants of the land with their titles and numbers , and promise themselves a perfect victory , but on a suddain that vast navy is scattered and torn , and only a few ships return home to bring king philip the news , that the rest were lost , insomuch that the spaniards thought , that god was become a lutheran . so unexpectedly doth god change the scene of affairs in such disorders . the amalekites plunder ziklag , 1 sam. 30. and then sit down and play , and praise their gods for the conquest , while david and his men are almost distracted with fear and grief . on a suddain , the clouds clear up , god directs them to the camp , where the enemy lay , secure of his prey , the foe is beaten , and david recovers all , v. 17 , 18 , 19. theodosius provoked by eugenius the tyrant , encamps against him ; the enemies numbers and valour fright the emperors men , who look'd upon themselves , as lost ; but behold theodosius prays , and on a suddain a mighty wind arises , insomuch that the enemy is forced to turn his back , and yield . so in aurelius his army , when those vast numbers of men were ready to die for thirst , the christian legion calls upon god , and on a suddain the heavens brake forth in lightning and rain , the tumults among the souldiers are stilled , and all drink , and are refreshed by gods kindly showers . 3. sometimes god works a mighty deliverance from such disorders by very inconsiderable means . what misery there was in samaria in the time of that dire famine , we read of , 2 reg. 6. 25 , 28 , 29. any one may guess that hath felt the straights of hunger ; that in one day there should be so great a change , that a measure of fine flower should be sold for a shekle , one of the kings servants thought to be a thing so impossible , that he ventured to say , if god should rain down corn from heaven , it could not be , yet it happened so as the prophet had said , and the deliverance was effected by four inconsiderable lepers , who despairing of life , fled to the syrian camp , and found such affluence and plenty , that all samaria was immediately relieved and stored with provision ; thus was the roman capitol saved by geese , and the roman army chased by poisoned birds from the parthian walls ; thus the young corvinus beat the gauls with the help of a raven ; and immo henry the emperors general was delivered from the danger threatned him by gisilbert of lorrain , by swarms of bees let loose upon the enemy , which stung both horse and rider , and made them unfit for action ; thus fridlevo the dane's army was saved by a dog ; and hannibal got a signal victory over eumenes by the help of serpents . the more inconsiderable the means are whereby deliverances are effected , the more they proclaim the divine power and providence ; and when gideon conquers a numberless host of the midianites with three hundred men , it 's a sign , the lord of hosts hath a hand in it . that sampson smites a thousand philistines with the jaw-bone of an ass , shews that god governed his arm ; and when jonathan and his armour-bearer make the philistines flee , it 's an argument , that the lord reigned in the midst of the frights and fears , which possessed the cowardly israelites . if men believe it not , it is because they do not consider the weakness of the instruments upon such occasions , and the only thing that makes them infidels , is , because they conclude not from the contemptibleness of the means , that there must be a higher power , which gives them strength and vertue . 4. sometimes god causes divisions and dissentions to arise among the prevailing party , that were the cause of such disorders , that they may fall into great disasters and misfortunes . abimelech , judg. 9. sets upon his brethren , threescore and ten persons , murthers them all , and fills the city of shechem with confusion ; things go on merrily , and he fears no evil , but when he had reigned , saith the sacred writer , v. 23. three years over israel , god sent an evil spirit between abimelech and the men of shechem , and the men of shechem dealt treacherously with abimelech , which proved both his and their undoing , v. 40 , 54. as great as their friendship was before , god doth but pull out a pin , that held them together , and the whole frame breaks in pieces , and while they see no foreign power to revenge their former wickedness , themselves are made the instruments to do it . god in this case made use of the law of retaliation , and the judgment that came upon them was suitable to their sin. ephraim's righteousness , hos. 6. 4. is as the morning cloud , and as the early dew it passes away , therefore themselves shall be as a morning cloud , and as the early dew they shall pass away , hos. 13. 3. so these men had sown divisions , and dissentions among the people , at last their sin becomes their punishment , and that which before had been their delight and pleasure , proves in the end their yoak and burthen ; they divide themselves , and are lost . this was the case of the arcadians , troezenians , and thessalonians of old , and hath been re-acted in our days ; for though such jealousies and dissentions seem to come by chance , yet there is nothing more certain , than that god thereby visits the sins of those , that have been the causes of publick disorders and confusions ; and when those , who have assisted them in their attempts , begin to suspect either their fidelity or honesty , and thereupon plot , how to remove the mushrooms , they have raised , its providence disposes their hearts to it ; not that he , who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity , prompts them to sin , but justly sends blindness on their minds , whereby their eyes become dim to their interest , and they tempted to undermine their own foundations . 5. sometimes god so orders it , that the authors of such confusions shall hearken to ill counsel , whereby they may be ruined . ahab by the prophets testimony , was a person , that signally troubled israel , 1 kings 18. 18. but behold how providence deals with him . a fancy takes him , that he must needs go up , and retake ramoth gilead out of the hands of the syrians ; yet before he adventures upon the enterprize , he consults both with his confederates and such prophets as he had , whether the expedition were safe or no. all but micah advise him to it , and to this advise he hearkens ; but see , how providence laid the scene . i saw the lord , saith micah , 1 kings 22. 19 , 20 , 21 , 22. i saw the lord sitting on his throne , and all the host of heaven standing by him , on his right hand and on his left , and the lord said , who shall persuade ahab , that he may go up , and fall at ramoth gilead ? and one said on this manner , and another said on that manner , and there came forth a spirit , and stood before the lord , and said , i will persuade him ; and the lord said unto him , wherewith ? and he said , i will go forth , and i will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets ; and he said , thou shalt persuade him , and prevail also , go forth and do so ; and so it came to pass , he was perswaded , went , and was shot , and died. and though at this day , we see no such visions as micah did , yet we may justly imagine , when we see the same events , that they are compassed and effected the same way , i. e. by gods permitting some evil spirit to put ill counsel into the heads of those , with whom such firebrands advise , that acting according to those counsels , they may come to that woful end , which their crimes and follies do deserve . were our eyes quick enough to behold the transactions and consultations in the kingdom of spirits above us ; could we pry into their secrets , order , proceedings , and management of this lower world , we should be able to resolve a thousand phaenomena , and mysteries of events , which now seem strange and uncouth to our darker understandings ; for on the molehills of this world , where myriads of little ants do run , those spirits exercise their power , and that which we call accidental , hath been , and is contrived by their deliberate resolutions . thus we may suppose they acted , when rehoboam follow'd the counsel of his young men , and rejected the grave advice of his elder senators ; the very cause of his succeeding danger . thus they blinded the carians of old , who rebelling against darius , set up for themselves , but by neglecting the excellent counsel of pixodorus , were conquer'd by the persians ; thus they deceiv'd the tumultuous athenians , who following the dangerous advice of aristagoras , drew the fury of darius upon them , and laid the foundation of their ruine . thus they couzen'd that unwary and seditious people , in their conflicts with the lacedaemonians , while they obliged them to hearken to cleophon , who encouraged them to a vigorous prosecution of the war , of which they repented , when it was too late ; for they lost not only all their power and greatness , but became subject to domineering tyrants , and lost all their ease , and conveniencies too . thus the seditious zedekiah was served by them : advised by jeremiah the prophet to yield himself to the chaldean monarch , and expect his mercy ; he desperately hearkens to the turbulent counsels of men as vicious as himself , to stand out against the babylonian army , which proved his overthrow , and the utter destruction of jerusalem . but still those evil spirits , as they are gods executioners , so they all must attend his command and order , and they cannot thus impose on sinners here on earth , till the almighty gives them a warrant for to do so : and he may do it , as he is the judge of heaven and earth , and it 's just he should do so , to lash the insolencies of men , that would confound kingdoms or societies . 6. sometimes he sends upon men , who are the causes of such disorders , a worm to gnaw their breasts , even a tormenting conscience . such a turbulent spirit was pashur the son of immer the priest , in the time of zedekiah , a man who set both the king and nobles against the prophet jeremiah , whereupon god threatens him , to make him a terrour to himself , which without all peradventure came to pass , when nebuchadnezzar took the city , jer. 20. 4. so that when no visible judgment appears in such men , there is an enemy many times within them , which frights them worse than all external violence . cain , who was the first that brought disorder into the world , behold , how after his brothers murther his conscience haunts him ! though there were no people in the world , but his nearest relations , yet he fancies every place he goes to , full of men and enemies , and is afraid they 'l kill him . tiberius , who scarce let a day pass without some villany , and seemed to be born to the confusion of the roman state , cries out , when no man pursues him , trembles , when no enemy is near him , and feels terrours within , while without , all seems to be calm and quiet . nero kills his mother agrippina , sets rome on fire , persecutes the christians , but what ails him ? in the midst of his guards he is frighted , fancies he sees dreadful shapes before him , feels arrows in his breast , while his flatterers fawn upon him . constans the grecian emperour , dispatches his brother theodosius , soon after he cannot sleep ; what 's the reason , was it sickness ? was it a fit of the gout , or stone , or collick that troubled him ? no , something within opens his eyes , and shews him his brothers ghost , coming towards him with a cup of blood , and saying to him , drink inhumane brother ; it was his wicked conscience . theodorick king of the goths uses symmachus very barbarously , and falls sick upon it ; was it any disorder of the blood ? was it a surfeit ? was it a fever that discomposed him ? no , he sees a fish opened , and sees symmachus his head in it , and having seen it , cannot put the strange sight out of his mind ; his conscience rolled and worked within , and drew the dismal picture before his eyes , and in such frightful colours , that in torments of mind he dies . thus it happened to rudolphus , that engaged in hildebrands faction against his master henry the 4th . emperour ; his conscience tore him within , and the remembrance , how he had sworn an oath of allegiance to his prince , and perfidiously broke it , lay upon his spirits , and rackt him , and in that rack his polluted soul expires . richard the third , who for some years had put england into combustion , the night before bosworth-field , in his sleep fees all the devils in hell about his ears , ready to tear his cursed soul away . those devils were the reflections of his conscience , foreboding the flames that waited for him in the black kingdom of infernal furies ; and if history and fame doth not belie the late usurper , for all his borrow'd glories he slept but uneasie , ●nd as soft as his pillows were , something harder than lead or iron lay upon his heart , which made him start in his sleep , and betray an unruly guest within , upon other occasions . this way god lets even the wickedest of mankind know , not only that there is a living justice , but that they do but get little by all their desperate enterprizes ; this way he makes them see , that there is no place so private , but he is present there , and that there is no design so intricate , but it 's naked and open before him ; this way they must come to know , that the darkness doth not hide from him , and that though no creatures can reach them with their eyes , they cannot abscond from the all-seeing one of the great creator . 7. such disorders , god not only designs , but manages for his peoples good ; for theirs is the promise , that all things shall work together for their advantage , rom. 8. 28. so great a lover is god of holy men , that though i will not say with the jews , that for their sakes he created the world , yet certainly for their sakes he preserves it , as much as he would for their sakes have spared sodom and gomorrah , had any tolerable number of them been found in those corrupted places ; nay , more than that , for their sakes he not only suffers publick disorders to arise , but when they arise , so directs and over-rules them , that they shall receive no small advantage by them . do men gather grapes of thorns , you will say , or figs of thistles ? can a fountain at the same place send forth both bitter and sweet water ? yes , here this seeming contradiction is true ; and as great as the mischiefs are , that issue from such confusions , the good god's servants reap by them , is as remarkable ; in prosperity their prayers are apt to slacken ; in such disorders , their aspirations become loud and vehement , and whereas before a cloud of dulness and laziness hung upon their spirits , now it 's shaken off with scorn and indignation ; ease and plenty made their piety lukewarm ; disorders give them fire , and tumults make them look more carefully to their souls . their hatred of sin before was sincere , may be , but such confusions make them zealous ; these make their faith more lively , their hope more vigorous , and their love more fervent ; these whet their charity and confidence , and when the storms are gone , make them not only rellish their deliverance better , but engage them to greater gratitude . but this is not all ; as godliness hath the promise of this present life , as well as that of a future , so the good that arises to gods people from such disorders , hath respect to their temporal felicity too ; for this way a lasting foundation many times is laid for their future tranquility , and as trees shaken with the wind , take the deeper root , so these disorders make way for a firmer settlement of their outward peace plenty . by the troubles which happened to the israelites in aegypt , they are fitted for a quiet settlement in the land of canaan , the land that flow'd with milk and honey ; and whereas their captivity lasted but 400 , their possession of that promised land continued at least 800 years . thus the first persecutions of the christian church under heathen emperors made way for their free enjoyment of the comforts of this life , after the empire began to be christian , and though it was now and then interrupted partly by the arrians , and partly by julian the apostate , yet it settled again after a little while , upon its former basis , and hath continued , at least in the west , unto this day ; and what we say of the universal , is true also of particular churches , whose tranquillity by such disorders comes to be more durable , as were an easie matter to instance in the reformed european churches , when they had for some time struggled under the seditions and tumults raised by the roman church ; and though i do not take all those , who are members of a particular reformed and visible church to be gods true servants , yet even they who are sincere , share in the tranquility , peace and plenty , and temporal prosperity of the church they are of , and consequently the disorders which are suffered to arise , may reasonably be said to promote the durableness , even of their particular prosperity . having thus asserted the order , regularity , and watchfulness of gods providence in the midst of disorders and confusions , it will not be proper to dismiss this subject without some practical inferences ; 1. the lord reigneth ; let all sinners tremble ; be afraid ye workers of iniquity , there is a king above , who as patient as he is , will make you know erelong he hath a trumpet of war , as well as a scepter of love. good god! how little do men regard thy power and revenging arm ! if they can but save themselves from the wrath of men , and the lashes of the law , how little are they concern'd at thy indignation ! thou hast magazines of vengeance , store-houses of curses , and canst undo a thousand ways ; thou hast waters to drown , fire and brimston to consume , arrows to wound , pestilence and famine move by thy direction , nay , thou canst destroy both soul and body into hell ; thou hast threatned desolation , and howling and gnashing of teeth , outward darkness , and what is more , fire , that is not quench'd , to men that chuse rather to gratifie their sinful humours , than obey thy laws ; yet they look not pale upon it , their colour changes not , they find no alteration in their dispositions , thy terrours fright them not , thy anger moves them not ; how securely do they laugh and quaff , and sing fear and care away ! how merry notwithstanding all this , is the drunkard over his cups ! how unconcerned doth the fornicator and adulterer lie in the embraces of his harlot ! how chearfully doth the covetous hug his bags ; and how boldly doth the swearer send up his fearful oaths to heaven ! how undisturbed doth the oppressour , extortioner , and murtherer sleep ! and all because they think thou art patient and merciful : thy mercy makes them wanton , and thy patience causes sin to live in their souls ; thy goodness tempts them to be foolish , and thy compassion prompts them to affront thy glory ; thy kindness proves their bane , and the meat thou givest them , encreases their corruption ; thy oyl they turn into poison , and thy corn and wine feeds them into contempt of thy majesty ; the ease thou givest them , they make use of to fight against thy laws , and the plenty , they enjoy by thy providence , gives them courage to make war with that heaven , from whence that plenty flows . monstrous abuse ! strange stupidity ! when ever gods indignation breaks forth , how violent will the torrent be ? deluded men ! what pains do you take to treasure up wrath unto your selves ! were there but the least spark of ingenuity in you , how durst you make infinite goodness the object of your scorn ! how could you find in your hearts , to declare your selves rebels and enemies to your greatest benefactor ! shall goodness harden you , or patience make your breasts impenetrable ! shall bowels of mercy make you hard as rocks , and compassion be the opiate to lull you asleep in your follies ! if your children served you so , what plagues would you think too big for them ! or , if your servants should recompence your kindnesses thus , would not you hate the very sight of their persons ! and must god put up affronts which you will not ! must he be contented under scorns and abuses , which you will not bear ! can such ingratitude be pleasing to him , which is so odious to you ! what conceptions do you entertain of god , that you deal with him thus ! if you believe him to be jealous of his glory , will not be vindicate these injuries ? see how loath he is to punish you , and will you force him to it ! see how slowly he proceeds to vengeance , and will you hasten him ! see how he waits for your repentance , and will you make him despair of it ! he is patient , because he would have you prevent the blow , and will you pull it down on your heads ! he delays his anger , because he would have you kiss the son , and will you still fight against him , that you may perish in good earnest ! by your trespassing upon his patience , you aggravate your guilt , and must necessarily aggravate your condemnation too ; you make mercy a witness against you , and gods goodness your accuser , and are these arguments to be answered ! i mean , the arguments , that the mercy and patience of god will alledge against you in the last day ; if you allow god but the ordinary wisdom of a great man , you must needs think , that his mercies abused thus , will prove your ruine . doth not every wise man , if he have entrusted his steward with an estate , demand of him , how he hath employ'd it , and will not you allow god so much wisdom , as to be concern'd about the talents , he hath entrusted you withall ? his mercy and patience are those talents , he gave you to improve into seriousness , and hatred of sin , and resistance of temptations , will you bury them under ground , or lay them up in a napkin , or what is more , misuse them to dishonour the omnipotent god , and his law , and expect an euge ? will you turn his grace into wantonness , and believe , you shall be applauded at last , with a well done good and faithful servant ? have not you read of the unprofitable servant , that was deliver'd to the tormentors , till he should pay what he ow'd ; and is not this your case , that make light of gods anger , because he doth not power it out upon you , so soon , as your sins deserve it ? therefore art thou inexcusable , o man , whosoever thou art , who despisest the riches of his goodness , and forbearance , and long-suffering , not knowing , that the goodness of god leads thee to repentance , rom. 2. 1 , 5. 2. the lord reigneth , let 's admire the wisdom of god , who can draw light out of darkness , and wholsom medicines from the rankest poison ; the brutish man knows it not , neither doth a fool understand this , and hence come the rash censures of gods actions ; a man who is no careless observer of things , will find very strange and uncouth passages , and dispensations in this world , which possibly he cannot reconcile to the principles of that reason , god hath given him ; yet may he be confident , that as absurd as some dispensations seem to him , they are carried on with singular wisdom and providence , by the supream mover of all , it being impossible , but the all-wise , god , who sees and knows , and takes care of all , must act , and suffer things to be acted upon very weighty and prudential motives ; and i question not , but should god be so kind , as to give us a key to open the cabinet of some of his mysterious providences , i mean , communicate his reasons to us , why he disposes and martials things in that order , method , and manner we see he doth , we should be forced with the apostle to cry out , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , o the depth of the riches , both of the mercy and wisdom of god! that the holy ghost should be bestow'd on the uncircircumcised gentiles , was a thing which to the jews seemed not only impossible , but in a manner impious to believe , it having been a maxim with them from immemorial times , that the divine presence rests on none , but an israelite , yet when they saw the thing effectually done , and understood the reasons , they could not but break forth into admiration of the infinite wisdom of god , and praise and magnifie him whose understanding is infinite , and whose wisdom cannot by searching be found out . it 's a very strange dispensation , that the greatest part of the world should continue heathenish and idolatrous , and the mahometans exceed the christians in number by three parts at least , yet he that shall consider seriously , how christians are sunk , as to the holiness of their lives , and how unfit by reason of that decay they are for propagating that holy religion , they profess ; how careless and negligent christian princes are grown , as to the enlarging of christs kingdom , and those that have made some attempts that way , have gone about it with sinister designs ; how others had rather spend their time at home in picking and feeding quarrels in the church , than advance the unity of the faith abroad ; and how the generality of christians have learn'd to mind the world more than heaven , and are become lovers of pleasures , more than lovers of god : and the religion that is left among them , is either mixt with idolatry or gross superstitions , or some other notorious abuses , and is become a carnal , rather than a spiritual worship , and a formal rather than a rational service ; and how many of the heathens and mahometans exceed christians in vertue and morality , and how that charity , love , and peace , which was once the great character of christs disciples , is banished , and the seamless coat of christ torn in a thousand pieces , and those dissentions cherish'd , maintained , encouraged , and how religion is become a meer politick thing ; i say , he that shall consider all this , will not wonder so much , that there are no more christians in the world , as admire , there are so many , and that the greatest part of them are not consumed or led into captivity , when they abuse , and so grosly abuse the best , the noblest , and the most excellent religion , and reproach and dishonour that god , who sent his son into the world to reveal it , thinking , surely , they will reverence my son. it was self-denial , contempt of the world , and invincible patience under injuries , stupendous charity , and very great strictness of life , that first spread the christian religion ; and the apostles having shewn us the way , we should have trod in their steps , and if we had , we should without all peradventure have had the same success ; for god works by means , and those having been the means in the beginning of christianity , they may justly be supposed to be the genuine means at this day , and where those are neglected , it 's part of vvisdom to punish men for their wilful neglect of those means , by suffering heathenism and mahometanism , not only to continue unmolested , but to grow and advance every day more and more , to the weakening of the christian interest ; for no wounds provoke so much as those which are given god in the house of his friends , as we see by gods proceedings with the jews , both in their first and second captivity . so that notwithstanding this seeming inequality of providence , gods vvisdom continues unspotted , and we have reason to give it the highest encomiums and celebrations . 3. the lord reigneth ; let 's not despair , when either publick or private calamities fall upon us . god is our refuge , a present help in the time of trouble , therefore will we not fear , though the earth be moved , and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea , though the vvaters thereof roar , and be troubled , though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof , ps. 46. 1. with this psalm , pachomius is said to have chased away a legion of devils from his cell , and i see no reason , but it may serve to support the soul in the greatest dangers . however things go , god is still good to israel , to them that are of a clean heart ; what ever tumults arise , go tell the righteous , saith god , it shall be well with him . what comfort must this be to a serious christian ! though every thing goes contrary to his wishes and expectations , yet he may be cofident , that from those contrarieties of providence his soul shall be refresh'd . the prophet therefore had reason to cry , es. 50. 10. who is among you that feareth the lord , that obeyeth the voice of his servant that walks in darkness , and hath no light , let him trust in the name of the lord , and stay upon his god. from such a chearful confidence we may promise our selves great matters , for god looks upon himself as concerned to reward our extraordinary faith with an extraordinary providence , as we see in the poor vvidow of sarepta ; who had the courage to give the remainder of the meal and oyl she had , to the man of god , and was therefore miraculously supplied in the time of famine . christ could do no mighty works in his own countrey , because of the peoples unbelief , mark 6. 5 , 6. it 's our diffidence in the time of danger , that makes god stay his hand , and our unbelief keeps the former and latter rain of his favour from us . to trust god , when the figg-tree doth not blossom , and to rely upon his goodness , when the labour of the olive doth fail , is the way to see miracles , and a preparative for the richest mercies . let come , what will come upon us , nothing can come , but by the order and providence of god , infinitely good , and infinitely vvise ; and what is there , that can come amiss , if it come from these two fountains ? if infinite goodness sends that , which the vvorld calls misery upon me , most certainly there can be no hurt in it ; and if infinite vvisdom sends it , most certainly , it must be best for me , for if infinite vvisdom thinks it so , my shallow understanding hath reason to submit to its most solid judgment : god denies me what i would have , because he would fain give me , what i should have . that which he takes away , may be i do not want , and that grace , i stand in need of , may be i cannot have , without the other be taken away . a temporal blessing sometimes stands in the way of a spiritual one , and if the lesser be taken away to make room for the greater , it 's no more , but what mine own vvisdom would approve of in more trivial concerns . god would have me follow him , not for the loaves , but for the miracles of his love , and if to make me enamoured with him , he sees it necessary to take away the loaves , it 's no more than what a vvise physician doth to a patient , from whose lips he takes away the pleasant draught , to make way for a more wholsom potion . the lord reigneth : rejoyce christian ; let israel rejoyce in him that made him , and let the children of zion be joyful in their king : fear not thou worm jacob , when affliction , when trouble , when anguish comes , when the vvaves and billows of the vvaters of marah rise . thy god reigneth , thy king watches over thee , the all-sufficient god is thy refuge , and thy hiding place . surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler , and from the noisom pestilence : he shall cover thee with his feathers , and under his wings shalt thou trust , his truth shall be thy shield and buckler ; thou shalt not be afraid for the terrour by night , nor for the arrow that flieth by day , nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness , nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day ; a thousand shall fall at thy side , and ten thousand at thy right hand , but it shall not come nigh thee . nothing can hurt a good christian , for whom is reserved the crown righteousness in heaven ; men may prejudice his body , but they cannot hurt his soul ; they may rob him of his goods , but they cannot take away his graces ; they may imprison him , but they cannot keep god out of his heart ; they may beat him , but they cannot ruine him ; they may make this world bitter to him , but they cannot hinder him from feeding on the sweet promises of the gospel . god is thy shepherd , christian , therefore thou shalt not want . he will anoint thy head with oyl , and spread a table for thee in the midst of thy enemies , nay , thy cup shall run over goodness and mercy shall follow thee all the days of thy life , and thou shalt dwell at last in the house of god for ever , even in that house , made without hands , eternal in the heavens . 4. the lord reigneth : let 's chearfully submit therefore to his government ; shall we pretend to be his ●ubjects , and not be ruled by him ? shall we call him our king , and follow our own imaginations ? shall he only have the name of our ruler , while we are resolved to be guided by the flesh , and by the world ? this were to call him king in jest , as the jews did our saviour , and to bow the knee before him , while we buffet him , or run our sword into his bowels . kings on earth , though they can give protection to their subjects , yet they cannot give them being , nor keep their souls in life , nor protect them from outward and inward troubles . god who is your king , not only can do all this , but actually doth it , and consequently the motives to be ruled and governed by him , are far greater . i will not launch out here into the vast sea of his mercies , what he hath done for our souls and bodies , how he hath been with us , when we have gone through the waters , and with us , when we have passed through the fire , how he hath loved us in christ jesus , and what pains he takes with our immortal souls , to make them happy ; what a bountiful , what a charitable , what a condescending prince he hath been to us upon all occasions ; what benefits we reap by his government , and how every moment he gives us instances of his kindness . it 's enough to put you in mind , that you acknowledge him to be your king , and that word imports obedience to his laws , else he is either no king to you , or you are rebels and apostates . but while i exhort you to be ruled and governed by him , i must not forget , to tell you the measures , you are to observe in your submission to his government , and they are these following ; 1. take heed of thinking , that you please the great king of heaven , by disobeying your king here on earth in things lawful , and not contrary to the word of god. it 's impossible you can believe the truth of the thirteenth chapter of st. pauls epistle to the romans , and think so . obeying god , and being subject to the higher powers , are not contrary , but subordinate duties . to think you are saints , when you have courage to control the orders of your superiors , is a sign of a graceless heart ; and to fancy , it 's religion , to laugh at what the supream magistrate commands , is to exclude your selves from the kingdom of heaven . such divinity was never heard of in the world , till vice and hypocrisie had debaucht it , and had such doctrines been broacht in the primitive church , they would have called them rebellion and heresie . the primitive saints never contradicted the laws of their superiors , but where god gave an express command to the contrary , and they look't upon 't as pride and peevishness to shew disrespect to that order of men , which god intended as his vice-gerents . it was not the wickedness of their prince , made them neglect their duty to his person , nor could the injuries he did them , tempt them to forget their obedience . they remembred , what authority there was in the country they lived in , it was of god , and because it was so , thought themselves obliged to be subject , not so much for terrour , as for conscience sake . that dominion is founded in grace , was a principle , the apostles had never taught them , and they justly found fault with those that tore the orders of the magistrate , which were given for their persecution and banishment ; where they could not comply , they suffered , and thought it a greater piece of devotion , to be patient under affronts and oppositions , than to be their own carvers , by repelling force by violence . christ had taught them not to resist evil , and they rationally believed , they were no christians , except they did whatsoever he did command them . the wisdom which is from above , is without partiality , and he that assents to what god saith , in one thing , but not in another , shews , that the love of the father is not in him . where the conscience suspects the magistrates command , as unlawful , it must suffer it self to be informed , not only by persons that serve an interest , but impartial men ; and care must be taken , that what we call conscience , is not unwillingness to cross our pride or humour . conscience is too often pretended , when we have hardened our selves into prejudice , and therefore the best rule to go by , in such cases , is to lay by interest , and hearken to the clear dictates of unbyassed reason . when the magistrate commands a thing that 's doubtful , it 's safer to keep our selves to a known duty , which is submission to their orders , than to be obstinate in an uncertain conclusion ; and that christian is likest to have the greatest peace , that walks on the surest side of the hedge . 2. then you submit to him , when you reign over your inordinate desires and passions ; when you curb your anger , restrain your lusts , moderate your joys , bid your grief and sorrow break forth into tears for your sins , watch over your sensual delights , and keep them within bounds , mortifie your hatred to your fellow christians , grow eminent in the love of god , and advance in charity to your neighbours , kill your covetousness , and give flame to your desires after grace and mercy . this government in your little world , is that , which pleases the king of heaven , and you then live like his subjects , when you reign and triumph thus over your lusts , and force your hearts into such religious and reasonable services . he serves not god , but himself , that lets his evil desires reign over him , and is so far from being submissive to the king of heaven , that he makes himself a vassal of the devil ; this is the mighty priviledge of all the loyal subjects of the king of heaven ; their being so , makes them kings , and their inordinate passions , are the slaves on which they exercise dominion and authority ; over these god gives them power , and it hath been acknowledged by all wise men , that he that conquers these rebels , is a greater commander , than he that lays whole cities and countreys waste ; for in wasting these , he acts according to his brutish desires , but in conquering those desires , he overcomes himself , and in that consists the perfection of vertue . without a serious attempt of this self-conquest , your prayers prevail not in heaven , and the little devotions , you pay the immortal king , are rejected , as sapless services . without this , your new moons , and solemn assemblies are abominations , and your treading the courts of the lord is looked upon , as the sacrifice of fools . the king above is not for outward shews , and he that doth not give him the inward man , as well as the outward , instead of paying homage to him , turns his grace into wantonness . the restraining of one inordinate desire , is more valued in heaven , than twenty formal prayers , and the curbing of one passion , receives greater applauses from the holy angels , than a hundred lord have mercy upon me 's . that one act of joseph , in resisting the temptations of his mistress , and his own natural desires , god approved of more , than of all the peace-offerings of the harlot in the proverbs , chap. 7. vers . 14. and mary magdalen's tears and sorrow for sins , melted christs heart more , than all the pompous devotions of the pharisee , for in this sorrow , she reigned gloriously over her sinful inclinations , while the other continued a slave to his desire of vain-glory. 3. then you submit to him , and acknowledge him for your king , when you seek first his kingdom , and his righteousness ; when you offer unto god the best of your flock , and let the world have his refuse , and leavings . to give god the sleepiest hours of the day , and to bestow the most lively upon the world , is not to acknowledge him for your king , but to make him the vvorlds servant ; and to give him the lame and maimed , while your profit , and gain engrosses the sound , and the fat of your thoughts , is preposterous devotion . to sin as long as you can , and then to turn to him , is to play with religion , and most certainly , nothing looks so like mockery , as to think of being serious , when you can serve the vvorld and the flesh no longer . either god is not the best of beings , if he must not have our principal adorations ; or if he be , our warmest affections must of necessity be his due . first to secure our temporal interest , and then to think of making sure of the everlasting riches , is to imagine , that death will stay for us ; and to give our youth and tender years to the devil , is to say our lesson , as they say , vvitches do the lords prayer , backward . to be sure , this is not to be subject to that king , who in his actions , is ever orderly and regular , and therefore requires his subject ; should be so too . no man serves him , that doth not serve him orderly , and to begin our day , and all our lawful vvorks , and enterprizes with him , to consecrate to him the morning and strength os our age , and to make our carnal and temporal interest , truckle to his vvill , is true canonical obedience . those that do so , shall reign with him in that life , his son hath promised in the gospel ; who died for this end , that such as yield to these terms might wear crowns in heaven , crowns not like those of perishable gold , which decay with age and time , but crowns immarcescible , crowns which angels wear , crowns of glory , crowns which are made splendid by the light of gods countenance , crowns made of everlasting light , crowns which will shine , when the sun shall shine no more , crowns which will glitter , when the stars shall have done twinckling ; in a word , crowns , the thoughts of which , will transport the souls that are incircled with them , into everlasting comforts and consolations . finis . the first fruits of reason, or, a discourse shewing the necessity of applying our selves betimes to the serious practice of religion by anthony horneck ... horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 1686 approx. 108 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 72 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2006-06 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44521 wing h2830 estc r4566 13470290 ocm 13470290 99683 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44521) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 99683) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 790:25) the first fruits of reason, or, a discourse shewing the necessity of applying our selves betimes to the serious practice of religion by anthony horneck ... horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. [12], 132 p. printed by f. collins for d. brown ... and are to be sold by john wild ..., london : 1686. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -o.t. -ecclesiastes xii, 1 -sermons. 2005-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-08 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-01 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2006-01 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion imprimatur . c. alston r. p. d. hen. episc. lond. à sacris domesticis . the first fruits of reason : or , a discourse shewing the necessity of applying our selves betimes to the serious practice of religion . by anthony horneck d. d. preacher at the savoy . london : printed by f. collins , for d. brown at the black swan and bible without temple-bar ; and are to be sold by john weld at the crown between the temple-gates in fleet-street . 1686. the preface to the reader . the following discourse was occasioned by a young man's being unfortunately kill'd in bartholomew fair , whose friends , led partly by natural affection , partly by love to the young mans vertues , were pleas'd to desire me to preach a sermon at his funeral , and because they would thereby be serviceable to the living , and more especially to men of the same age with the deceased , entreated me to pitch upon the text which appears in the front of the ensuing treatise . having gratified their desire in that particular , they gave me some motives and arguments to publish it , which i could not well resist . but the discourse , as it was deliver'd at st. sepulchres church on the 20 of september being too short to make any thing like a book of it , i resolved upon second thoughts to enlarge it , and with these enlargements & additions it comes now abroad ; though in an age so fertile of excellent sermons , i might be discouraged from adding any of mine own , yet since every man in his station is bound to contribute to the common interest of religion ; having this opportunity , i was willing to embrace it , because it 's possible , that some or other who lights upon these papers , may think of the contents , and by the assistance of the divine spirit , be perswaded early to consecrate himself to unfeigned and impartial devotion . the great debauchery and looseness of the youth of this age , is enough to oblige us , and a sufficient call to do all we can to stem the floud of impiety , which rages so much in the younger sort , and proves too often the occasion both of their temporal and eternal ruine . all i shall add is this , to entreat the reader to become a supplicant with me at the throne of grace , that both this and other mens endeavors of this kind , may prove effectual to recal both young and old from the errours of their ways , and that god ( as it is our liturgy ) would shortly accomplish the number of his elect , that we with all those who are departed in the true faith may have our perfect consummation and bliss in his eternal and everlasting glory . the first fruits of reason . eccles . 12.1 . remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth . this book of ecclesiastes is generally looked upon as solomon's recantation sermon , in which he renounces his former follies , and having seen the vanity of the world , and the pleasures of it , like a man come to himself again , aspires to nobler delights , and after a woful fall , lifts up his sinking head , and beholds , and re-embraceth the true and glorious liberty of gods children . curiosity had led him not onely into a search of nature , but into that of sin and impiety too ; and while greatness , and riches , and a sawning court flattered him with power to do what he pleased , he at once forgot the baseness of his slavery , and over-looked the heinousness of his iniquity : as if it had been too mean for a soveraign prince to commit puny sins , he transgressed above the ordinary rate of mortals , and if it be true what the jewish rabbins say , that his inquisitive humour made him even venture upon the mystery of the black art , it 's like , that , together with his fondness of heathenish women , enticed him to idolatry . if this book be his penitential monument , we may believe his repentance was great , and signal , and that after this , his cloathing was sackloth , and he mingled his drink with weeping . sins of a deep dye require profound contrition ; and it is impossible to be truly sensible of monstrous , and unparalell'd ingratitude , and not to express that sence by very visible and eminent humiliations . one great character of true repentance , is a hearty endeavour after the conversion of others , and this excellent sign we find in this convert or returning prodigal . for not to mention the counsel he gives to all degrees of men in the foregoing chapters ; in that before us , his kindly calls and admonitions to young men , speak a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 koheleth , or a soul earnestly desirous to gather all men into the sheepfold of grace and mercy . and of these calls that in my text , is not the least : remember now thy creator in thy days of thy youth . by way of explication , i shall only tell you first , that what we render here in the days of thy youth , is in the original in the days of thy choice . so youth is called . 1. because in that age man chuseth his employment , and when he first enters upon the stage of the world , after he comes from under tutors and governours , he determines , what calling , or profession he shall take to . 2. because in that age particularly , when reason exerts its full strength , god sets the tree of life , and the tree of knowledge of good and evil before us , heaven and earth , paradise and the world , righteousness and sin , life and death , and leaves us to our choice , according to which our portion and reward will be , when the soul appears before gods dread tribunal . secondly , as our youth is the age wherein a choice must needs be made , so the wiseman here bids us chuse , remembring our creator . which the chaldee paraphrast expounds , remember thy creator so as to glorifie him in the days of thy youth , which paraphrase is so sound , that we need not search out for another interpretation ; for as the serious practice of religion is meant by that remembrance , so that practice , is in a manner nothing else but glorifying god in our souls and bodies , called so by the apostle 1 cor. 6.20 . and herein is my father glorified , that ye bear much fruit , saith our saviour , joh. 15.8 . nor need we wonder how god can be glorified by fruits of righteousness that we bring forth ▪ for as these point at the sun which warms them into being , or at god , by whose word , and power , and influence they grow , and ripen , and come to perfection , so they proclaim the glory of his grace , and discover how kind , how merciful , how bountiful , and how liberal that supreme being is in bestowing such gifts on men , gifts which nature cannot confer , nor angels distribute , nor the greatest monarchs impart to their favorites . and hereby the happy person , whose life bears such fruits is encouraged to glorifie the spring and fountain of them . others also , that see them , and receive comfort or benefit by them , cannot but adore and admire the divine goodness , which is pleased to display its glory in such communications of his holiness ; and as angels rejoyce at a sinners conversion here on earth , so they cannot but magnifie and glorifie god for the fruits , and good works which after their conversion such men bring forth . those ministring spirits are entirely intent upon gods glory , and the greater the number is of those that contribute to gods glory , the greater is their joy , and with their joy , their praises , and celebrations of the divine wisdom , and power , and goodness , are advanced . this being premised , it will be easie to guess at the subjects of the ensuing discourse , which if we follow the text close , can be no other than these . 1. what it is to remember god ; for that 's implied here . 2. what force there is in remembring god under the notion of our creator . 3. why the strict observance of these two lessons is particularly necessary in the days of our youth ? first , what it is to remember god. 1. so to remember his omniscience and omnipresence , as to stand in awe of him : for this is no speculative , but a practical remembrance . the name of god speaks his being present in all places , and knowing whatever passes in heaven and in earth . a truth which even the wiser heathens were sensible of ; and when they said , that jovis omnia plena , that all places were full of the supreme deity , no doubt they meant , that god was present in heaven by his glory , on earth by his providence , and in hell by his justice ; that above us he stands as judge , under us as our supporter , and on both sides of us as an assessor and speculator of our actions whether they be good or evil . so that he who remembers god , must necessarily remember his omniscience , and omnipresence ; and in vain are these remembred , except we stand in awe of him . and this was it , which god thought fit to put among the first lessons he gave to abraham his friend , gen. 17.1 . i am the almighty god , walk before me and be perfect . i. e. behave thy self in all places , like a person sensible of an all-seeing eye above him , like one who believes god sees him , and hears him , and is not far from him ; that knows his down-sitting and his uprising , and understands his thoughts afar off ! this remembrance is a necessary and essential part of the fear of god , and he that lays this remembrance by , will stick at no sin he can commit with safety , without exposing his credit , or honour , or interest . this remembrance is a bridle for our lusts , and he that sees god , where ever he walks or sits , or stands or lies , will not be easily taken with the beauty of sin and vanity . it was therefore an ingenious , as well as a religious reply , which st. ephrem made to the harlot , who enticed him to be naught with her , and was very urgent with him to assign her a place where she should meet him . in the market-place , saith he , tomorrow at noon-day . fye , answered the harlot , are not you ashamed to be taken notice of of men , that will pass by , and see us . to this , st. ephrem : art thou asham'd to be seen by men , and dost thou not blush to venture upon this villany in the sight of god ? can the eyes of men make thee afraid , and is the revenging eye of god no disswasive from thy wickedness ? 2. to remember god , is so to remember his goodness , his mercies , and gracious providences , as to live a life of love and gratitude . we cannot name god , but we must understand by that expression , one from whom every good and perfect gift descends , by whom all creatures are fed , maintain'd , and cherished , and preserved ; who opens his hand , and filleth , the desire of every living thing , and to whom we in particular are beholding for all the necessaries , conveniencies , accommodations , and superfluities we enjoy . but this remembrance is insignificant , and like sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal , except it touches the heart , with a strong desire and endeavour of gratitude . kindnesses like fire must give heat , and as among men he is supposed not to remember what such a great man hath done for him , that shews him no respect , or doth what is prejudicial to his honour and interest , so god looks upon him as a person that remembers neither him , nor his mercies , in whom this remembrance works no earnest care to please him . and whatever the pretences of remembring may be , where it doth not influence the life , nor produces love in the inward and outward man , it 's contempt , not remembrance , hypocrisie , not gratitude . he properly remembers god , that takes notice of his works , and the operations of his hands , sees his finger in the blessings he enjoys , and clings to his great benefactor with ardent affections , that never thinks of his goodness without admiration , and whenever he considers how kind god hath been to him , ruminates in his mind with david , what reward shall i render unto the lord for all his benefits ? psal. 116.12 . it was therefore with respect no doubt to this practical acknowledgement that the same psalmist gives this exhortation , psal. 105.5 . remember ye his marvellous works , the wonders and the judgements of his wrath . they that heretofore painted the graces with hand in hand , intimated , that one good turn requires another , and to neglect such returns among men , hath ever been counted odious monster hath been the best name that hath been given to such persons in all ages , and therefore none can suppose , that the neglect of them with respect to god , our kindest friend , will pass for a tolerable infirmity . he that doth not return acts of love upon the remembrance of gods preservations , deliverances , and munificence , will have the whole world and his own conscience to boot for his accusers , and the crime is inexcusable , because the wretch eludes the force of the greatest charms , and the strongest motives to love and reciprocal affection . 3. to remember god , is so to remember his laws , and injunctions , as to yield actual obedience . he that acknowledges a god , must acknowledge him to be the governour of the world , and consequently that he governs by laws agreeable to his greatness , and holiness ; and therefore when god tells the israelites , how they should remember him , he chuses to word it thus : remember ye the law of my servant moses , which i commanded him in horeb , with all the statutes and judgements . mal. 4.4 gods laws would signifie nothing , if they were not intended , as a rule for his subjects , and the impertinency of remembring god , as our law-giver , without suitable obedience , is sufliciently shewn in that expostulation of christ , luke 6.46 . why call ye me lord , and do not do the things which i say . wonderful was the care god took , that the jews should remember his injunctions . they were not only to be in their frontlets and wrist-bands , but the fathers of their respective families , were commanded to teach them diligently unto their children , to talk of them when they were sitting in their houses , and when they walked by the way , and when they lay down , and when they rose again . they were to write them also upon the posts of their houses , and upon their , gates , deut. 6.7 , 8 , 9. and what could be the design of it , but to shew , that in vain we remember him , except we remember his laws so as to be ruled and governed by them . and therefore we may justly conclude , that he who being tempted either to uncleanness , or drunkenness , or lying , or injustice , or dissembling , or pride , or ill-language , or neglect of alms , and prayer , and consideration of his ways , remembers the words of the lord , and what god hath said in his gospel , and trembles at it , and bids the devil depart from him , will be applauded in heaven for an admirable memory more , than if with themistocles he could tell all the names of the citizens of athens ; or with mithridates remember two and twenty languages . to arrive to such a remembrance , there is no need of studying the art of memory . the laws are generally known : the application is all in all ; and he that knowing his masters will applies the rules of it to the particular actions of his life , and by them regulates his thoughts , and desires , and words , and actions , is the happy man that remembers god to the comfort and edification of his soul. and to all this , he will be engaged more readily if he remembers that god is his creator , which brings in the second point . secondly , what force there is in remembring god under the notion of our creator . 1. to remember god as our creator , is to think of him as the author of our being and well being , that we have nothing we can claim as our own , and that all we are and have is his charity ; that originally he did frame us of nothing , and by and in him we live and breath , and move in the sphere appointed for us . that we as well as the vast fabrick of the world , are the product of his exuberant goodness , and that all things in heaven and in earth were formed by the word of his power . he that seriously thinks of this , will think no service too costly , no incense too sweet , no present too great , no sacrifice too pretious to lay upon his altar . he that raises a slave out of dust , and advances him to an honourable employment , expects he should think nothing too good for the promoting of his interest , who hath so generously lifted him up from the dunghil , much more may he , that speaks a creature from nothing into being , and gives him a view of all the glorious things , his powerful hand hath wrought , which he must have been forever ignorant of , if he had continued in the shades of nothing . he that creates gives all that the creature hath ; and it 's hard , if he that makes the tenant and gives him lands and houses , may not reserve to himself a quit-rent , or a pepper-corn rather , as an acknowledgement , that the creature is the usufructuary of his possessions . all the service man can do , or that god requires of us , is nothing but a small and inconsiderable rent , our great landlord reserves , whereby we may own him the maker and author of our welfare . creation imports , that we are made for his glory , and a wonderful dignity it is , that god will make use of such poor worms to promote and advance his glory . to be made for his glory , and to dishonour him ; to receive our breath on purpose that we may shew forth his praise , and to act , as if we had no relation to him , are things inconsistent , and imply a contradiction . he denies that he hath his being from god , that will not consecrate himself to do him service , and is an infidel under the divine influence , while he refuses to hearken to his counsels . it was therefore a very rational inference which david made , psal. 100.2 , 3. serve the lord with gladness , come before his presence with singing . know ye that the lord he is god , it is he that hath made us , and not we our selves , we are his people and the sheep of his pasture . 2. to remember god as our creator , is to be importunate with him to create in us clean hearts , and to renew right spirits within us , that we may be capable of conversing with him forever . the innocence which the first creation gave us , was lost and tarnished by the fall. the glory of righteousness and holiness in paradise , the joy of angels , and the envy of devils , went off , and vanished with our apostacy , and only some ruines of it do remain , to shew how bright and splendid our souls were in that state . hence comes a natural proneness to evil , and that sinful inclination prompts us to greater contempt of god. hence it is , that an aversion from goodness sits heavy on our souls , and when we would do good , evil is present wi●h us , and in this state we cannot please god ; this is the bar which forbids access to his throne ; and the soul that continues in this condition to the end , is out of all hopes of ever enjoying his beatifick presence in heaven . this misery discovers the necessity of a new creation , the rather , because with god neither circumcision availeth any thing , nor vncircumcision , but a new creature , gal. 6.15 . when i say , a new creation , i do not mean it of new faculties , but of new qualities and endowments of a new byass , and bent , and inclination of our better part ; and this is the work of god , and to effect it , the same power must be employed that spoke the world into being ; for as there , so here the chaos and the shapeless matter must be separated and divided , the power of darkness dissipated , and a new light must 〈◊〉 our understandings , a light whereby spiritual things and th●●● excellency , necessity , and t●●●●●endency above sublunary comforts may be discerned , and the soul look into things that are not seen . the spirit of god must move here too , and upon waters too , even on the waters of repentance , and penitential tears . this spirit must supple , and warm , and cherish the feeble parts , make the soul brisk and agile , and ready unto every good word and work , and a new face of all things must appear , new thoughts , new desires , new breathings , new notions , a new language , new delights , and new affections too . the sins that were loved before , must be hated now ; and the follies which caused laughter , must now cause grief and sorrow . and this new creation god is ready to bestow , if our earnest addresses knock at heaven gate . the soul that watches at his door , shall not be sent away empty ; he that is able to create this new heart , hath promised it too , if our laziness and love of the world , and contempt of the mercy , doth not discourage him . so that to remember our creator , is not onely to reflect upon his power , but our duty too . 3. to remember our creator , is to think , that he who hath created a heaven for the tractable and docile , and sincere , hath created a hell too , where he means to lash the stubborn and impenitent man. this solomon alludes to in the last verse of this chapter , where he tells us , that god shall bring every work into judgement with every secret thing , whether it be good , or whether it be evil . tophet is ordain'd of old , saith the prophet , isai. 30.33 . and when god provided mansions sweet and pleasant for his favourites , it was but necessary to create and make a goal too , where the despisers of his grace might to eternal ages bewail the loss of infinite and eternal mercy ; mercy which now entreats , and courts them , and comes to them in all the soft dresses of comfort , and sues to them in the still voice of a tender father , offers them crowns , and empires , and an endless felicity , lies weeping at their feet , runs after them , pulls them by the sleeve , and beseeches them not to neglect so great salvation . he that seriously thinks of this , surely cannot run into the devils arms , nor be in love with the broad way , where so many thousands post into perdition . these thoughts must needs be great motives to prevent the accomplishment of gods threatnings , who will not let that prison he hath created stand empty , when so many do deserve it , and in despight of all his endeavours to the contrary , run into it , and make haste to be miserable . the creator of all things beholding every thing that he had made , saw that all was very good , and therefore you 'll say , surely he did not create a hell , for that cannot be reconciled to the standard of goodness . but it 's one thing what sufferers or malefactors , and another what magistrates and wise men do say . there is scarce a prisoner but finds fault with his confinement . but doth any wise man therefore judge that prisons are not for the common good , or that they are needless in a common-wealth ? if god were to take advice of men , that make themselves vessels of his wrath , not one but would condemn him for making or ordaining a place of torment ; but his justice requires other things , and that 's a good attribute as well as his mercy , and punishment makes for his honour and glory , as well as his gentleness and compassion . he that remembers god as his creator , must view the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels , as well as the house made without hands eternal in the heavens ; and if he do both , he is in the greatest probability of entring into invincible resolutions , to shake off the yoak of ungodliness and worldly lusts , that he may be capable , of entring into his masters joy . but then these resolutions , if they shall be to any purpose , must be made in the days of his youthful vigour , which leads me to the last particular . thirdly , why the strict observance of these two lessons is particularly necessary in the days of our youth . 1. because sin is more easily mortified , when these motives are applied early in the days of our youth . the load that hinders us from entring in at the strait gate , may then be thrown off with greater facility than afterward . the tenderer the branch is , the sooner it is bowed ; and the softer the rust is , the more easily it is scoured away . sin in the youthful age , is but in its bud as it were , and therefore more easily nipt ; and corruption not being come to any great hardness yet , is the sooner dispersed , and discountenanced . the devil doth but then begin to act his part in the soul , and therefore is more easily dislodged ; and though one or two evil spirits may have already taken up their habitation there , yet the number not being advanced to a legion yet , they may be crushed with greater ease . but sin being by age , as it were , caked and baked together , mocks the fullers-earth , and the help of soap and snow-water . the blackness becomes purely ethiopian , and the spots turn into tokens of the leopard , which makes the change more difficult , if not impossible . it 's true , some that have streamed out their golden days in voluptuousness and luxury , have yet at last proved eminent saints ; but as this is an argument of the extraordinary grace of god , so no consequence can be drawn from it , that what god doth for special reasons for some , he will do for all . some few grow rich after fifty , but that gives but small encouragement to men that do not thrive in the world before ; and whatever lucky hits some may have , that makes but few expect the like : the sooner the antidote is applied , the greater hopes there is that the power of the poison will be weakned ; and the longer it lies in the bowels , the more difficult grows the cure . this stands to reason , when sins are young , the children of edom may soon be dash'd against the stones ; but being become men of war , they defie all opposition . habits become a second nature , and when follies are become natural , and mingle with the complexion and spirits , they are over look'd as harmless , or men despair of rooting of them up . the horrour of any sin goes off by custome , and when men are used to it , they are so far from repenting that they are apt to look upon themselves as innocent ; when lions are not yet used to range abroad for prey , they may be tamed ; but being become lusty and strong , all endeavours of cicuration are vain ; and though we are told of androdus his lion , that grew tame when he was of full age , yet as one swallow doth not make a summer , so neither is it advisable to venture into the sea without skill in swimming , because one or two , ignorant of the art , have been saved from drowning by a miracle . men give god but little encouragement to employ his miraculous power to convert them , when during the vigour of their age , they have mocked all his stratagems , and defeated his methods of compassion , and whatever god hath done upon extraordinary occasions , and under extraordinary circumstances , we are assur'd by the psalmist that he sware in his wrath , that they who had grieved him forty years in the wilderness should never enter into his rest , psal. 95.10 , 11. 2. except a man remember his creator in the days of his youth , he is not in a likely way to compass all those graces which are fit and proper for a candidate of eternity . the vertues which the holy ghost faith , are necessary for a christian , are not to be acquired or purchased but by long striving , frequent encountring of temptations , assiduous labour , and constant endustry , and indefatigable circumspection . shadows of graces are compassed in a shorter space , but habits of goodness are the work of time . one virtue may possibly be got this year , another the next , another the third . of ammonas we read , that he was fourteen years conquering his anger and passion , and others have laboured many more before they arrived to a habit of meekness and patience . before a man can say that he is master of such a virtue , he must have several tryals , and those tryals , occur not all in one week , or in one month . he that is free from a temptation this year , may have enough of it three years hence . by little conquests way must be made for greater , and he that overcomes his little peevishnesses for some time , prepares for overcoming bigger affronts and injuries . we read of no ex tempore saints , and those who have arrived to qualifications which have made them fit for the bliss of another world , have spent many years to bring themselves to a spiritual relish of the power of godliness . heaven is not to be gained by a single vertue , but there must be adding unto our faith vertue , unto vertue knowledge , unto knowledge temperance , unto temperance godliness , unto godliness patience , unto patience brotherly kindness , and unto brotherly kindness charity , 2 pet. 1.4 , 5. he is no christian that knows not what it is to grow in grace ; and when we are to labour after perfection , it 's evident that we must begin betimes . so that if a man doth not begin this practical remembrance of his creator in the days of his youth , he hath not time enough to become master of this art , or to commence graduate in this piece of philosophy . 3. this early remembrance of the great creator invites the early manifestations of gods love , and is the key to the choisest comforts and consolations . of all the apostles st. john alone is called the disciple whom jesus loved . he loved them all , but this with greater tenderness than ordinary , because , as most divines observe , he was the youngest , and in the days of his youth remembred his masters will and his own duty . when israel was a child , i. e. when in his tender age he followed me with all his heart , studied my laws , and walked with god , i loved him , that is with a higher love of complacency than others , faith god , hos , 11.1 . the youthful david , when in the wilderness he liv'd retired from the world , contemplated things celestial and sublime , made the creator of all things the darling of his soul , and found no such delight any where , as in meditating of gods testimonies , felt what the kinder influences of gods spirit were , and what was the exceeding greatness of his power , whereof that extraordinary assistance he speaks of to king saul , was a signal testimony : thy servant kept his fathers sheep , and there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock , and i went out after him , and delivered it out of his mouth ; and when he arose against me i caught him by his beard , and smote him and slew him , 1 sam. 17.34 , 35. when joseph's innocence and tender years led him to the fear of god , and made him have that aversion from sin in himself and others , that he told his father of his brethrens faults ; god favour'd him with more than ordinary tokens of his love , which appear'd afterward more visibly , by his making him vice-roy of egypt . early fruit is ever most acceptable , and an early remembrance of our creator comes before him as incense , smells sweets as the morning sacrifice , and vies with the morning rose for fragrancy . practical inferences . first , though we allow not of the platonick notion , that all our knowledge is nothing but reminiscence , yet religion may justly be called a remembrance of things we knew and heard of before . the lines of good and evil are engraven upon our hearts . the finger of god hath written them upon our souls , and education together with the various sermons we hear , make these characters much brighter . so that if at any time we are to abhor that which is evil , or to cleave to that which is good , if we are tempted to actions doubtful and uncertain , whether they be agreeable or disagreeable to the will of god , it 's but remembering what an almighty hand hath imprinted on our hearts , or what formerly we have treasured up there , and thus we may by the grace of god resist and overcome the temptation . nay , if we remember how at such time our consciences checkt us for such actions , and what reluctancies we felt , when prompted to the commission . if we remember how at another time our pious neighbour reproved us for such a fault , told us , it was as affront offered to god , and a snare to ruine our immortal souls . if we remember how vehemently the minister of the ordinances of god declaimed against such a sin , what arguments he alleadg'd against it , what disswasives he produced , what obtestations and entreaties he used to discourage us from the offence , all this will signally help to restraine us from yielding to the evil motion . for this we need no extraordinary memories we make use of in our civil affairs , when we remember what we did or what hapned such a year , will serve to put us in mind of our duty . it 's love to a thing that makes us remember what may contribute to the promoting of it . and if our love to religion were but as strong as it is to our riches , we should very easily remember the arguments that god and his ministers have given us to disswade us from the sins we are inclined to . were we truly concerned for our souls we should soon remember what we have heard out of the word of god , and which makes for the practice of the vertues , necessary to salvation . when we are tempted to pride or anger , if we did but remember how we have hated these sins in others , and how odious they have appeared to us , when we have seen our neighbours fall into them , it would be a sufficient discouragement from the commission . that we have no memories in this case , is not so much a defect of nature , as our will. we are wilfully forgetful of our duty , and that makes us excuse the neglect of it ; we will not remember our sins , and that tempts us to impenitence . thus we cheat our souls , and that 's but an ill preparative for the tremendous audit at the bar of gods justice . the day will come when we shall remember our offences and neglects whether we will or no. there is not a sinner now , who willingly forgets what he hath been going against god and his own soul , but will be forced to remember it to his cost and sorrow , when an angry god shall look him in the face . and is it not our greatest interest then to remember now in this our day the things which belong unto our peace ; to remember our errours , that we may turn from them ; to remember our duties to god and man , that we may conscienciously discharge them ; to remember what our creator , our father , our greatest benefactors requires of us ; to remember the exhortations , the entreaties , the expostulations , the adjurations of a merciful god , that the great jehovah may remember us in that day when he makes up his jewels , and spare us as a man would spare his son that serves him ? secondly , there is hardly any place of scripture that is more vulgarly known than this i have discoursed of ; our very children learn it almost as soon as they can speak , and imbibe it with the ordinary questions , who made you ? who redeem'd you ? who sanctifies you ? but when men are grown up to just strength , and vigour of age , it fares with this motto as it doth with scripture sentences written upon walls in country churches ; not one in forty minds it . youth ( thus pleads the age ) must have its swing ; and what should the sprightly lad do , but follow his amours and vanities ? the bloud that dances in his veins prompts him to gayety ; and to restrain him in his frollicks , would be to torment him before his time , and looks like an intolerable affront offered to his blooming years . young men must be merry ; and though that mirth for the most part is nothing but licentiousness , yet as extravagant as it is , it is but a trick of youth . religion is generally accounted only as a proper attendant of the aged and feeble ; and when men are unfit for any business in the world , they then think themselves fit to think seriously of the kingdom of heaven . but surely this is no gospel-divinity , but a doctrine taught by the father of lies the prince of devils . those that can think so , never considered the import of christ's law , nor the pains the primitive believers took to arrive to happiness . the whole bible is against these dangerous positions , and the holy ghost knows of no other repentance , but what is begun betimes , and prosecuted by a strict obedience . there is not a word of comfort in all the scriptures for men who have been baptiz'd into christ and never begin to remember their creator seriously , till either old age or a death-bed refreshes their memories . we read indeed of fruits brought forth in old age , and those highly commended too ; but then it is in such men as have been early planted in the house of the lord , and flourish in the courts of our god , like cedars and palm-trees , that discovers their early verdure and fragrancy , and continue it to the last , psal. 92.12 , 13 , 14. and let no man tell me here , that this is to drive old penitents into despair . no , it 's rather a motive to double their pains , to redeem their time , and to give all diligence to make their calling and election sure . what should men do who have lost much time , but husband the remainder to the best advantage ? and indeed if they seriously consider what opportunities they have lost , how many years they have thrown away upon things that do not profit ; what calls they have rejected , what checks of conscience they have baffled , what mercy , and love , and pity they have despised , and how refractory they have been under the most powerful arguments that have been suggested to them , they have no reason to loiter much , nor to cry a little more sleep a little more slumber in the ways of sin . they had need pray harder than other men , and labour more than others , and give greater demonstrations of love and charity than their neighbours , who have been wise much earlier , that if they cannot arrive to any high degrees of glory , they may however save themselves from the wrath to come , and from everlasting burnings . thirdly , hear this all ye , in whose veins healthful and vigorous bloud doth slow . fancy you hear the deceased party here call to you from his grave , or rather from the regions of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , from the other world . fancy you hear him say , o ye sons of men , how long will ye turn your glory into shame , how long will ye love vanity and seek after leasing ? in this other world , where my soul is now , the scene is changed , and all things look with another face . here all things appear big and dreadful , and in amazing shapes . here is a glorious god , that will not be put off with forms and schemes , and little complemental devotions , but expects conformity to the image of his son , even to the same mind , and temper , and contempt of the world , which was also in christ jesus . o flatter not your selves with hopes of easie accounts , or fancies that god will not be so cruel as to condemn a company of poor sinners to the bottomless gulph . rest assur'd he is no respecter of persons . he is not frighted by crowds , and numbers , and multitudes from making them feel the weight of his anger . be advised , be entreated , be perswaded to remember your creator in the days of your youth . o do not put the evil day far from you ! let the great creator be ever in your minds . where-ever you are carry his image in your bosom , that you may do nothing unworthy of his goodness and holiness . make him your dearest and your greatest treasure . cling to him as your onely refuge in the evil day . make it your business to be guided by his eye , and to be instructed and governed by his counsel . be ye not as the horse and mule that have no understanding . be not afraid of any troubles that may befal you upon the account of your obedience . be confident , he hath rewards infinite , unspeakable , incomprehensible rewards , to recompense all your losses , though you should lose life it self for his names sake . remember your reason was given you on purpose to remember him . remember that therefore he distinguished you from bruits and beasts , that you should think of his will and do it . remember you are his creatures , and he your lord , your master , your king , and your supreme governour . remember you have not a better friend in all the world than him . remember with what tenderness and gentleness he uses you , what offers he makes you , and how dreadful it will be to undervalue such expressions of love . remember the thousand deliverances , preservations , and gratious providences he hath sent you . remember the danger you are in . the devil like a roaring lyon walks about seeking whom he may devour . you have enemies on every side of you : all lie in wait to devour you . remember the veracity of god ; he will not vary one tittle from his word . o do not trespass upon his patience any more . abuse his mercy and long-suffering no longer . but let his goodness lead you to a serious , speedy , and universal reformation . the judge is at the door , and seeing that all these things shall be dissolved , what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation , and godliness ! should the person deceased appear to you at this time , and preach these lessons to you , would not you tremble and fear , and stand astonished , and go home , and take care that you might not be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our lord jesus christ ? why sirs ? these things are as true , as if a ghost from the other world did repeat them to you . and if they be eternal truths , o foolish galathians , who hath bewitched you , that you should not obey the truth , before whose eyes jesus christ hath been evidently set forth , crucified among you ? and therefore fourthly , if the remembrance of your creator cannot melt your hearts , o let the remembrance of your redeemer make you wiser . remember what the son of god hath suffered for you . remember what agonies , what torments , what bitter scoffs and reproaches he endured to rescue and free you from the bondage of sin and of the devil . remember you are brought with a price , with the precious bloud of the immaculate lamb. remember you were bought to be his peculiar people , and bought that you should be your own no more ; that you should not live to your selves , but to him that bought you at the expence of his bloud and labour . remember he bled for you . remember he laid down his life for you . remember , greater love can no man shew than that he lay down his life for his friends . remember he died for you when you were enemies . remember he thought nothing too good for you . remember who it was that did all this for you , even the king of kings , the lord of lords , the eternal son of god , that could have glorified himself in your endless misery , but would no ; and to let you see the exceeding riches of his grace , humbled himself to the death of the cross , that the astonishing mercy might work in you a loathing of every weight , and every sin , which doth so easily beset you . can you remember all this , and feel no resolutions within , to shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light . can you remember all this and forbear crying out with the apostle , i count all things dross and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of christ jesus my lord ? fifthly , would we know , how we may lay a foundation for a long and healthy life . the principle here laid down is it . remember thy creator in the days of thy youth . in youth we commonly lay the foundation of future diseases , which shorten our days , and fill our lives with various distempers ; and while people trespass upon the vigour of their age , and offer violence to nature when young , they consider not how by this means they give death an opportunity to enter , and the bloud in that age is commonly so corrupted , that all the medicines afterward cannot abolish the corruption , or eradicate it out of the bowels . this early remembrance of god will help to restrain that extravagance , and as it contributes to the soundness of the body , so it cannot but be an excellent preparative for the long continuance of it . set aside some distracted persons , the desire and endeavour of mankind is to live long . to this end they use preventives , preservatives , catharticks , diureticks , emeticks , restoratives , shun all things that they apprehend noxious , and hearken to every little story that directs them how to free themselves from too early approaches of fullen death , that king of terrours . indeed under violent pain , or extream poverty , or intolerable disgrace , some do wish for death , but that 's only a sudden passion caus'd by the present pressing misfortune , but if that were once over , they would be content with the collier in the fable , to carry their burthen , even the burthen of their flesh about them a little longer . we are told of strange endeavours used in india by the pagan kings , and the grandees in their courts to prolong life . some do even spend their patrimonies to find out the vniversal medicine , and an antidote against death ; some with pearls dissolved in the purest dew of heaven seek to lengthen out our days ; but this remembering our creator in the days of our youth , will do more than all drugs and medicines , more than all the cordials and julips in the world , and whatever either the wisdom or folly of man hath invented to procure longevity . it 's evident , that by this remembring our creator is meant nothing but the fear of god , for thus solomon explains himself , v. 13. of this chapter ; where to reinforce the admonition v. 1. he onely changes the phrase , but means the same thing , fear god , and keep his commandments , for that 's the whole duty of man ; and to assure us , that this early remembrance of god in the way to long life , he adds , prov. 10.27 . the fear of the lord prolongs days . but because this truth is believed but by very few , it will not be amiss to give such demonstrations of it as may convince any rational man of the weight . and moment of it . and 1. the duties religion enjoyns , if seriously and conscientiously practised , tend to health and prolongation of life , as will appear from an induction of particulars . religion enjoyns temperance in eating and drinking ; and all the world agrees in this , that temperance is not onely the best physick , but the best physician too . gluttony , and drunkenness , and excesses in meat and drink , are fruitful parents of diseases , and how men do thereby precipitate themselves into gouts , dropsies , surfeits , fevers , &c , which are great promoters of an early death , none can be supposed ignorant . religion forbids all extravagant passions , which being let loose hugely debilitate nature . it enjoyns meekness , patience , contentedness , and a reasonable service ; and where the passions are kept in good order , in all likelihood the temper and frame of the body will be preserved in health , and a sweet and admirable harmony . from letting the passions run beyond their just bounds and limits , innumerable mischiefs flow ; some by immoderate & inordinate love have kill'd themselves , others by inordinate anger have fallen into epilepsies : some by immoderate grief consume the marrow in their bones ; and history tells us of several , such as leo x , pope of rome , and some roman ladies , that have in fits of immoderate laughter expired , and given up the ghost . religion forbids all anxious and tormenting cares , and carkings , great enemies certainly to health and life ; for they not only make the bloud stagnate , clog the spirits , hinder a free circulation , but too often have been , and are , the causes of mens laying violent hands upon themselves . this administers ingredients which make up a good conscience , and that 's a perpetual feast . it bids us rejoyce in the lord always , and a constant cheerfulness cannot but be a very great preservative of health , and the vital flame within . it forbids all fornication , adultery , lasciousness , and exorbitant lusts ; prescribes the modest and moderate use of marriage , or commends perpetual virginity ; all which is very conducive to health and longevity ; and this we need not doubt of , when we see men , who give themselves liberty in hankering after strange flesh , what work they make for surgeons and physicians , how they poison their bloud , and are so many walking graves . religion prescribes frequent fasting , and abstinence , and how beneficial this is to health and a long vigorous life , the examples of the ancient hermits , and since their time , of other religious men , are ample testimonies . simeon stylites by this means arrived to the age of 109. anthony the great to 105. paul the first ascetick to 103. arsenius to 120. venerable bede to 92. remigius the famous archbishop of rhemes ( who enjoy'd his bishoprick 70 years , which is more i think than can be said of any man in publick office for a thousand years ) to 96. epiphanius ( not the cyprian bishop , but another ) to 115. not to mention any more , and most historians agree in it , that one great means to prolong their years was their spare diet and frequent abstinence , and fasts in obedience to religion . besides , religion commands obedience , respect , and tenderness to parents , and to that a special blessing of long life is affixed by promise in the fifth commandment . honour thy father and thy mother , that thy days may be long , in the land which the lord thy god gives thee . it bids us also shun all apparent occasions of mischief , particularly of evil company , where great rudenesses , insolencies , debaucheries , and many times murthers are committed , to the endangering both of health and life . add to all this , that religion doth peremptorily prohibit all ill language , which is too often the unhappy cause of quarrels , strife , fighting , blows , duelling , and assassinations , which signally shorten the life of man ; in allusion to which david tells us , psal. 34.12 , 13. what man is he that desires life , and loves many days , that he may see good ? keep thy tongue from evil , and thy lips that they speak no guile . so that if a man remembers his creator betimes , makes conscience of the duties religion prescribes , and continues in doing so , he lays a foundation for a long and healthy life . 2. this early remembrance of god , gives a man a title to gods special providence , and what the effect of that is , the psalmist will inform us , psal. 91.14 , 16. because he hath set his love upon me , therefore will i deliver him , with long life will i satisfie him , and shew him my salvation . that there is a special providence attending those who fear god , is the unanimous voice of all the inspired writers ; and they all agree in this , that the eyes of the lord run to and fro through the world , to shew himself strong in the behalf of those whose heart is upright toward him , as it is said , 2 chron. 16.9 . and with respect to this special providence it is that solomon gives this advice to the disciple of wisdom , prov. 3.1 , 2. my son forget not my law , and let thy heart attend unto my commandment , for length of days , and long life , and peace shall they add unto thee . by this special providence a man is preserved from numberless dangers , which otherwise would crush both health and life . it s this blesses his meat and drink to him , be it more or less , wholesom or unwholesom , removes from it what is noxious and pestilential , gives it a nutritive power , and many times preserves him without meat and drink ; for man doth not live by bread alone , but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of god , as we are told matth. 4.4 . however , this serious remembrance of our creator , or which is all one , the fear of god makes a man immortal , more effectually than books and monuments , or pillars , or tombstones , or fabricks , or pyramids . for these onely keep up an empty name ; but this conscientious fear makes the man himself immortal . such a person leads a happy life here , and his natural death makes no other alteration in that happy life , than that it gives it greater brightness , greater splendour , greater lustre , and adds to it higher degrees of happiness . and of this fear , or serious remembrance of god , it may be said , as it was of the bread which came down from heaven , that it is meat indeed , and drink indeed , and he that feeds upon it shall never die . for such a mans soul , which is the principal part of him , at the end or period of his days here , is onely transplanted into a richer ground , and conveyed to a nobler soil , to better land , to a larger house , to more pleasant mansions , and to a more ample theater : and being removed from hence , it doth not change its nature , but onely her abode ; from a prison , from a cave , from a cottage , from a dungeon , to a more spacious pallace , where she hath more elbow-room , and like a bird freed from her cage , acts with greater liberty , and sings with greater cheerfulness . and her body too , sleeps onely for a few years , lies down upon a bed of turf , till the soul is throughly setled in her new habitation , and then even that at the sound of the arch-angels trumpet shall awake to a happy immortality , as christ assures us , job . 11.26 . and though it 's true that many who sincerely remember their creator , and fear him , are cut off in the prime and flower of their age , and live but a short time in this world , yet that early removal contradicts not the natural tendency of the fear of god. still this is the natural course of that stream , and if it met with no extraordinary stop , it would certainly prolong life even here upon earth . but god for special reasons puts a stop sometimes to its natural course , as he hindred the sun from going down in joshua's time , and from shining out at noon-day in our saviour's time , and the iron from sinking in elishah's time , and the fire from scorching in nebucadnezzar's time , and the greedy whale from consuming or devouring jonas . these creatures , had they been left to their , natural course , would have acted otherwise ; but an almighty hand interposing its power and influence , they were restrained in their natural bent and inclination . so the fear of god , though its natural tendency be to prolong health and life , yet god doth not so tie himself to the natural course of things , but that sometimes , for reasons best known to himself , he may and doth make an alteration in that natural tendency : nor is that alteration any just discouragement from the fear of god , no more than a mans being sometimes disappointed in his designs is a discouragement from prosecuting his trade , or calling , or profession . so that when god makes an alteration in the natural course or tendency of this holy fear , and cuts off men that conscientiously remember him , in the prime and slower of their age , it may be either to advance his own glory , or to accelerate their happiness , or to keep them from the evil to come , or to chastise their relatives , who were too fond of these outward comforts , or to wicked men , who as they are by the death of such persons deprived of examples and monitors , and means of grace , so through just judgement of god , thereby hardned in their sins , which brings on their everlasting misery . though if we consider the happiness of the next world , in conjunction with this present , as it makes one entire thred or web in a person that truly fears god , still there can be no greater truth than that the fear of god prolongs life , for it prolongs it to all eternity . not to mention that abundance of persons who seem to fear god , do fear him very imperfectly , or not exactly according to the rules before laid down , which may be the reason , why they do not see this promise fulfilled to them in all the measures of its latitude . it is confest , that even men that do not trouble their heads about religion , swearers , drunkards , atheists , blasphemers , beasts and brutes , live to a prodigious age sometimes without the fear of god , yet is not therefore the conscientious man that lives long in the world a loser by his fear ; for though he that fears god , and he that lives in contempt of his laws , do both enjoy the same blessing , even long life , yet there is a vast difference in the causes of this blessing ; for in the former blessing comes from a father's hand , in the other from a judges in the former it is a gift of love in the other of meer generosity in the former it comes by promise , in the other by a large and diffusive bounty . to the former it is given , that he may be a blessing to his neighbours , to the other , that he may be a scourge and rod to those who live neer him . in the former it is an effect of vertue in the other of natural constitution . the former receives it because of his universal obedience the other hath may be done some little inconsiderable service to gods church or servants , which god scorns to leave unrewarded , and as the service will bear no bigger reward , so god puts him of with a blessing of his left hand . and from hence it follows , that there must be a great difference in the comforts of this blessing . in the former this long life is in order to greater mercy ; in the other , in order to his greater condemnation . in the former , like a gentle river , which hath run many miles and enriched the neighbouring grounds , it mingles at last with the vast ocean of glory ; in the other , though like the river jordan it hath extended its course a great way , yet falls at last into the dead sea , into endless howlings . in the former it is a spiritual blessing as well as a temporal ; in the other only a temporal . in the former it is a sign that a great deal more is to be added to it ; in the other , that after that , all his blessings are at an end , and that he shall have no more . by all which it appears , that this remembrance of god is no useless thing . it is profitable to the body as well as the soul ; and by what i have said , it should seem it is the best physick in the world . so wisely hath god ordered his laws and precepts , that they signally advance the welfare not onely of the inward , but outward man too . o the blindness of poor mortals that will not see this truth ! how calmly , how sweetly , how contentedly may a man live with the fear of god , while sin , and pleasing his extravagant lusts hurries the sinner on to a thousand troubles and inconveniencies ! nay , the unwary man sees how his sinful courses , his drinking , and keeping ill company breaks his estate , his body , and his health , and perhaps the heart of his wife and children . the fear of god would preserve all these , yet the heedless wretch will take no warning . do these men believe another life do you think ? no , if they did , they durst as well eat fire , as we say , as venture upon sins , to which the almighty judge hath affixed damnation by an irreversible decree . but what do we talk of another life ? if their temporal interest , and the interest of their bodies , and estate , and health cannot make them wiser , i know nothing but feeling the flaming anger of a just god , that will do it . to see men run into death and misery , and diseases , as if they were angry with their lives , and took it ill that god hath given them a being in the world , what can a man think but that they are distracted and out of their wits ? but it were well if their madness were invincible , and that they could not help it ; but now have they both seen and known , and might prevent their danger and will not ; therefore their sin remains . but i will not stand upon the long and healthy life , which the remembrance of god or a holy fear of his name procures in this life . i will carry this motive farther , as this long life relates to everlasting and endless life . behold christians , this prize , this mighty commodity we set before you in his name who hath sent us to be embassadours for christ jesus . men , fathers , and brethren , and ye that fear god , give audience : the god of our fathers , the god of abraham , and the god of isaac , and the god of jacob , hath raised his son jesus from the dead , who hath brought life and immortality to light . this immortal life he offers you , and by us entreats you to accept of it . he doth promise you , that you shall live eternally in his bosom , in the sunshine of his favour , in the beams of his inaccessible light. he doth promise you , that you shall live eternally without fear , without want , without poverty , without trouble , without sickness , without care , and without anxiety . he doth promise you , that vou shall live eternally in all the ease , and plenty , and prosperity that reason can desire . he doth promise you all , this , not that he stands in need of you , or is in distress for your company , or that this eternal life lies like a drug upon his hands , or that he knows not what to do with it . no , but his almighty , immense , and infinite love moves him to offer all this ; and by way of exchange , he requires not an oblation of the beasts of the field , or of a thousand rivers of oyl ; but all he expects at your hands , is this early remembrance of your creator ; a remembrance without which you cannot live happy here , without which you can never relish that eternal life he doth promise you , without which you are incapable of conversing with him , and without which it is impossible you should ever be his friends and favourites . and have you no ambition to live as long as angels live ? are you so low-spirited that you have no desire to live eternally ? ye young people , ye are loth to die , behold , this conscientious remembrance of your god will make your days like the days of god , whose years do not fail , and who endures from one generation to another . ye that are stricken in age , as old as ye are , ye are unwilling to die . if you are loth to die , behold here is a tree of life , if you stretch forth your hand and eat of this tree , you shall live for ever . this remembrance of god , this fear of his name , is the true antidote again death , aye , and the gates of hell shall not prevail against you . and will ye refuse so great a mercy , and a pearl of that inestimable value ? did any of the damned see you loth and unwilling to embrace this offer , what strange creatures would they take you to be ? o then , see that ye refuse not him that speaketh ; for if they escaped not that refused him who spake on earth , much more shall not we escape , if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven , heb. 12.21 . sixthly . it is rational to believe , that if god were always in our thoughts , we should not dare to sin . we put him out of our minds , are loth to reflect on him , loth to think of him ; or if he thrust himself into our understandings , we force him out again , and that 's the reason why we venture to offend him . god hath done all that was fit for a wise creator to do , to make us always remember , and always think of him : his impress and stamp is upon every visible and created object . we see him in heaven and in earth . how can we look upon the sun , and not behold him by whose order he shines , and warms this nether-world ? how can we view the moon and stars , and not see him that calls them all by their names ? he is to be seen in every flower , in every tree , in every sprig of herb , in every shrub , in our souls and bodies ; and whatever we touch or handle , we may see him in whom , and for whom , and through whom are all things ; and then surely here are great opportunities to think of him , to have him in our minds , and to keep him in our thoughts , and with that remembrance to banish all things that are contrary or offensive to his nature ! but so stupid are the generality , that though god as it were thrusts himself upon them , and hath made the way to forget him in a manner unpassable , yet they look not upon him , see him not , pierce and dive no farther than the shell or outward rind , think only on the effect , and dis-regard the cause , fix their eyes on what is before them , but mind not him that is invisible . they can do it , but they will not , they have reason given them to take notice of him , but they use it not . and while god is not in all their thoughts , how should they fear , how should they stand in awe , how should they be restrained from doing ill ? not thinking of him , they dread him not . taking no notice of his majesty , and greatness , and power , and goodness , they pay him not that respect which is due to that everlasting being . banishing him out of their minds , they reflect not on his laws , do not mind his threatnings , and remember not what the consequences of this neglect will be , which makes them rush into sin , as a horse rushes into the battle . this is to have eyes , and not to see ; which as it is at first a mans sin , so it becomes afterwards his punishment , as pharaoh's induration was first his crime , but came to be seal'd upon him afterward by a decree from heaven what a philosophical , or rather angelical life might we lead if we would taste and see in every thing , how sweet and how gracious the lord is ! this would not onely fright us from breaking his holy and wholesome laws , but become a treasury , a repository of admirable comforts . this would qualifie every affliction , give an allay to our sorrows , mitigate every trouble , support us in distress , relieve us in our wants , and direct us in perplexities . this would make us submit to the divine will in all things , and say with him , i was dumb and opened not my mouth , because thou did'st it , psal. 39.9 . this is to converse with god , and never to want company . this way solitude may be improved , and he that where-ever he is , beholds the divine wisdom , goodness , and power , which he may see in every animal , in his meat , and drink , and clothing , but chiefly in his reason , can never be in distress for want of company . for god is always with him , and by seeing him in the various objects before him , and admiring his powerful arm , and the excellent designs he hath in these dispensations , he doth as it were speak to him , address himself to him , and gets assurance that god is pleased with him : for whoso is wise and will observe these things , even they shall understand the loving kindnesses of the lord , psal. 107. ult . seventhly , remember now thy creator . sinner , it must be now or never . thou hast no time but the present time . what is past and what is to come is out of thy power . this is all the stock thou hast : if thou neglect this , thou art not sure thou shalt have any more . now when thou readest these things ; now , when thou hearest these truths ; now , when these admonitions are suggested to thy mind ; now , when the voice of god sounds in thine ears ; now is the time to give earnest heed unto the message of grace and mercy . now thy memory serves , now thy reason is strong , now every thing invites thee to close with thy god , dare to do it . now is god ready to seal thy pardon . now he is willing to give thee an interest in his love . now he calls , now he entreats , now thy conscience checks thee ; now thou hast good inclinations , now thou may'st make thy self now thou may'st be advanced to heavenly places . now work , now labour , now resist , now fight , now strive , now contend , now bestir thy self , now rise ; now take pains . now secure gods loving kindness , and thy happiness . after this life there is no purgatory , no middle state , where the prayers of the living , or masses said by priests can attone for your past or former errours . they that can feed themselves with such popish dreams , or have any opinion of these fancies of nuns and friars , must be wofully forsaken of god and of their reason . neither st. francis's girdle , nor st. simon stocks , his scapulary , nor the rosary of st. dominick , nor all the trinkets and rellicks the roman church doth boast of , will do ye any service here . to hope for such helps , contrary to scripture , and ridiculous in the eyes of rational men , is an argument of a distempered brain , and unaccountable stupidity . thou confessest the scripture to be the word of god , and to contain the perfect will of god ; and if so , god having revealed not one syllable of his intent of being entreated by the prayers of the living , or thine own after thy departure , why should'st thou feed thy self with wind and air , or believe that when thy now hath been neglected , thy hereafter will save all . this is to play with religion , not to believe it , if now thou remembrest not the great work thou hast to do , thou onely art , but livest not . thou hast onely a being in the world , but art a useless thing . thou livest not , except thou livest in a sense of the future account , and securest gods favour , and the safety of thy soul , by departing from the way that leads to destruction . and if the roman in dio thought no years part of his life , but those he had spent in retirement , and conversing with god and himself , and therefore caused it to be engraven on his tomb-stone ; here lies similius , who hath been seventy six years in the world , but lived but seven , what must be written on thy monument who regardest not the example jesus , nor the lives of saints , nor the precepts of the gospel , now in this thy day ? what must be written i say , on thy monument , but that thou hast lived pondus utile terra ; that thou hast been a dead weight in the world , and hast not lived one day to the comfort and welfare of thy immortal soul ? this present time is the , time that god prescribes thee to watch against sin , to resist temptation , to get the ornament of grace and vertue . if thou fanciest any other time may do better , thou reckonest without thy host , buildest castles in the air , and only deceivest thy self with pleasant illusions . who should know it so well what time is fittest for this work as the all-wise god ? shall thy shallow brain pretend to know better than he who made thy frame , or considers and ponders things in the ballance of his eternal wisdom ? canst thou imagine that a god bent so much upon thy good , would prescribe any thing prejudicial to thy interest ? doth he affirm , and protest , that the present time is the best and only time , and darest thou contradict him , or act as if he were mistaken , and thy choice were best ? what insolence , what rudeness is this ? and if it were no sin , can any thing be more contrary to good manners ? what time would'st thou set apart for this necessary work ? what! the age of infirmity , of sickness , or of dotage ? go and offer it to thy governour , and see whether he will accept of such weak endeavours ? nay , art thou so fond of weak services , that thou wouldest expect none from thy servant but when his strength fails him ? wilt thou give that to god , which man would scorn , and thy self do'st not care for ? hath thy god deserved so little at thy hand , that thou canst serve him so ? is this the return thou makest him for the thousand mercies he bestows upon thee ? doth he take care of thy soul and body with all his strength , and shall such a crawling worm refuse to offer him that which is found and whole ? hath he given his son for thy ransome , broke down the gates of hell to free such a slave as thou art from the prison , and shalt thou think much of remembring him with all thy heart ? wilt thou make bargains with him , as pharaoh did with the children of israel , and limit him how much he shall take at thy hands ? canst thou think so and be fearless of his anger ! is vengeance asleep , or is his justice , do'st thou think , sunk into a fatal slumber ? can god see thee thus refractory , and forbear preparing his arrows upon the bow against thee ? need he court his servant to do his work , who hath flames enough to force him to it ? wilt thou deal so basely with him who hath acted so generously for thy good ? what mighty purchase doth he get by thy remembring of him ? is it any advantage to him when thou workest in his vineyard ? is it not thy profit he seeks ? and shall he after all be scorned and under-valued for his pains ? hast thou any spark of reason left , and dost not thou blush at these doings ? what vanity , or what frenzy rather hath possessed thy mind , that thou talkest of being serious hereafter ? mightest not thou as well say , that thou wilt forbear wholesom food some years , and eat and drink hereafter ? if thou wouldest not cheat thy body in this manner , what hurt hath thy soul done thee that thou wilt wrong it thus ? must thy body feed , and thy soul be starved ? hath not that need of nourishment , as well as thy corruptible flesh ? or do'st thou think that thy soul will be contented with the trash thou feedest thy body with ? thy soul stands in need of the love of god , as much as thy body doth of meat and drink ; that 's her food as much as bread is of the ignobler part ? if she wants this she dies , and falls a prey to wolves , to ravenous birds , even to hellish furies . and shall so noble a creature be undone for want of a little care ? sinner ! do'st thou know what salvation means ? is being happy for ever nothing ? is it so light a thing that thou needest deliberate , whether thou shalt prepare for it ? when the saints of old have left father and mother , and lands and houses , and lost life it self for it , dost thou stand musing whether thou shalt accept of it upon the conditions of the gospel ? art thou afraid of remembring thy creator , when everlasting treasures depend upon the choice ? do'st thou believe salvation is the confluence of all felicity , and dost thou dread an early consideration how thou shalt arrive to it ? is it the mercy that ever was mankind , and dost not thou think it worth accepting upon any terms ? was it purchased by the bloud of god , and shalt thou think any thing too dear for it ? it is that which angels wonder at , that god should condescend to take a handful of dust and ashes into his bosom , and dost not thou think it worth while to enquire what thou shalt do to be saved ? salvation ! which to get , and to attain to , st. paul runs through fire and water , through honour and dishonour , through a good report and an evil report , and counteth all things dross and dung in comparison of it , dost thou prefer dross and dung and a sinful careless life before it ? what a contempt dost thou put upon god in valuing that so little which he prizes at the highest rate ? do'st thou contemn god , and hope to escape ? do'st thou make nothing of his promises , and threatnings , and think to go unpunished ? if thou allowest god to be a greater prince than thy king , will he sit silent dost thou think while thou tramplest his authority under thy feet ? a temporal prince will not suffer himself to to be baffled thus , and canst thou imagine that a jealous god will connive at it ? it 's true , god is merciful , but art thou a fit object of mercy , that despisest the riches of his goodness ? will he have mercy on a sinner , that had rather wallow in mire and dirt , than be washed , and justified , and sanctified in the name of our lord jesus christ , and by the spirit of our god ? why should he shew mercy to a person that thinks his mercy a buthen , and his kindness troublesome ? it is mercy that calls thee to remember thy creator now . it 's mercy that would save thee from perishing in the deluge with ungodly men . it 's mercy that would draw thee away from thy vanities , from thy admiration of the world , and from sinful compliances . it 's mercy that invites thee now to chuse the better part , and to lay up thy treasure in heaven . if this mercy be counted a drug , and instead of being priz'd , look'd upon as a thing needless , and impertinent , how shall mercy plead for thee in the last day ? or what apologies can mercy make for a person that had rather have the wrath of god than that mercy for his portion ? how must this please the enemy of mankind , to see a creature whom god would love , run away from him , and instead of remembring his creator , forget him and his laws , which are his cordials and restoratives ? god surely cannot be pleased with it . he protests against thy refusal . he complains of it , he sees the wrong thou dost to thy soul , and seems even at a loss for a reason why thou wilt do so . he that puts thee upon the neglect of this early and serious remembrance of thy god and creator , he it is that rejoyces at it : his agents thy evil companions , may rejoyce at it ; men as senseless as thy self may rejoyce at it , but angels mourn , and all good men grieve to see thee so obstinate . the devil onely takes delight in it : it doth him good to think that the number of his infernal companions will be encreased by thy company . he lays snares for thy soul , and is glad when thou art taken . his envy is gratified to see thee averse from this early fear of god. he was afraid thou wouldest chuse the wisdom which is from above ; and to see thee chuse that which is earthly and sensual , that 's it , which is some ease to him in his torments . why ? wilt thou be worse than other creatures ? all other creatures betimes prosecute the end for which they are created , and wilt thou alone forget the end for which thou camest into the world ? the end for which thou wert created was to seek the things which are above , and wilt thou directly contrary to that design , and in that age too , which is most proper to do it in , like a beast seek the things which are below ? sure thou must take god to be some strangely tame and easie deity , that can see thee cross his designs , reverse his intentions , and walk opposite to the scope of all his wonderful works , and set thy self against his purposes in thy creation , and sit down quietly under these abuses . thou believest some persons in the world , why shouldest not thou believe good men , who have tried this early remembrance of god , found the greatest comfort , and the strongest support in it , and can testifie by experience , that nothing is so beneficial , so pleasant , or so useful , as an early self-denial ; such men are too honest to deceive thee , they dread lying , as thou dost the severities of religion ; and they would not for a world assert and affirm these things , but that they know these ways to be ways of pleasantness , and these paths end in peace . indeed that 's the happy exit of these ways , and when so many thousand wise men have said , and do say so ; o remember them which have spoken to you in the name of the lord , whose faith follow , knowing the end of their conversation . eighthly , our remembring our creator here is the way to have god remember us hereafter . it is not with him as with pharaoh's butler , who being lifted up to his former place , forgot what joseph had done for him . his turn was serv'd , and the others kindness signified nothing to him now . god remembers what hath been done here for his honour and glory , and this remembrance he will at last express in rewards suitable to his greatness and majesty . darius , before he sat on the throne of his ancestors , had received a garment , as a present from syloson . he remembred it when he was king , and made him governour of samus . thus god will remember our remembrance of him here . not that we ascribe gratitude to god , which would suppose him indebted to man , a thing impossible ; for who hath first given to him , and it shall be recompensed to him again ? rom. 11.35 . but his remembrance of our services is gratuitous : he remembers them , not because they deserve it , but because he will , not that they merit it , but that he is pleased to do so . it is not their worth , but his goodness ; not their intrinsick value , but his abundant mercy that moves him to this remembrance . the last day , the great day of judgement , is that day of remembrance , and even a cup of cold water given to a disciple in the name of a disciple , shall be remembred then , matth. 10.42 . rejoyce christians , for god is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love , which ye have shew'd toward his name , in that ye have ministred to the saints , and do minister , heb. 6.10 . your tears , your prayers , your alms , your feeding the hungry , your clothing the naked , your visiting the sick , your going to prisoners , will all be remembred one day , not one of these works shall be forgotten . god sets them down in his book , and they shall be proclaimed in the last day . the chronicles shall be open'd , and the faithful mordecai shall be remembred ; though for many years his good works have lain dormant , yet at last they shall be brought forth as the light , and his righteousness as the noon day . there is nothing that christ seems to remember in the last day more effectually than our bounty to the poor and needy , and the way and manner of his remembring it , is lofty and great . come ye blessed of my father , receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world , matth. 25.34 . he remembers our charity here , if it be great and signal , and from a cheerful heart , for the liberal soul shall be made fat , and he that scatters in a charitable way , increases ; and of this , experience is a sufficient witness ; so that it may well be said , that alms-giving is the gainfullest art , and the right course to thrive . but after death god remembers it more solemnly . i shall not lay any great stress here upon the examples of stephen king of hungary , and oswald sometime king of england , of whom it is reported , that their right hands after after their death never putrified ; but while the rest of their bodies mouldred into dust , this part was preserved sound and entire , because in their life-time they had made much use of their right hand in bestowing their goods on the indigent . these may be reckoned among gods miraculous providences , which though they appear but seldom , yet may serve to confirm our faith , of gods remembring hereafter what we do here for the houshold of faith. of this nature is the famous story of euagrius , recorded by credible witnesses . this heathen philosopher , being a great acquaintance of synesius bishop of cyrene , the bishop frequently argued with him about the truth of the christian religion , and was often at him to receive baptism , but all in vain . one day the bishop being very earnest with him to use no further delays or excuses , the philosopher told him , there were several things in the christian religion which his reason could never digest , and among the rest these two , that men shall rise at last with the same bodies that they carried about them here on earth ; and that what a man gives to the poor here , god will repay it him in the other world . the bishop told him that all this was very true , and that they had all the reason in the world to believe it ; insomuch , that what with the bishops confidence , and what with the arguments he used , the philosopher at last was perswaded to be baptized ; and though he wavered much in his belief , yet the bishop thought it convenient to wash him with water in the name of the lord jesus , not doubting but in a little time he would come to a full assurance of faith. some weeks being past , the philosopher comes to synesius and deposites three hundred pounds in his hand , ordering him to distribute it to the poor ; yet with this proviso , that synesius should give him a bill under his hand , that christ should repay it him in the other world . the bishop cheerfully writ him a bill , and subscribed it , and euagrius goes home . not long after the philosopher falls sick , and finding death approaching , calls his two sons to him , charging them to put the bill synesius had given him betwixt his fingers , and so bury him , which was done accordingly . three days after his death a ghost in euagrius's shape appears to synesius by night , bids him not be afraid , but gives him thanks , assuring him , that the bill was abundantly paid , orders him to go to his grave , and in the coffin he should find his receipt subscribed with his own hand . synesius astonished at the sight , and more at the spirits words , immediately repairs to the philosophers sons , asks them what they had done to their father ? they replied , that they had performed his will , and according to his order put a bill he named to them betwixt his fingers . the bishop desirous to know the utmost of it , causes the grave and coffin to be opened , and there finds the philosophers acknowledgment of having received what synesius had promised him , and his name euagrius written under it . the spectators wondring at the mighty providence , run presently to church , and sing a kirieleison or lord have mercy upon us . though this passage may be of some use ; yet we have a surer word of prophecy to establish our belief of gods remembring our acts of charity in the life to come . he that is the truth , and the life , hath given us so many promises of it , that there is no room left to doubt of it . nor is it onely our alms that god will remember in the next life , but all the good we have done : our repentance , our turning from our evil ways , our contempt of the world , our contemplations of the future inheritance , our love to god , our prayers and praises , our obedience , our watchfulness over our hearts , our endeavours to convert and comfort our neighbour , the admonitions and exhortations we gave them , the mortifications we used , the pains we took to subdue our lusts , our attempts to follow the best examples , our self-denials , our temperance , our meekness , our humility , our sighs and groans under the burthen of our sins , our hunger and thirst after righteousness , our peaceableness , our sufferings for righteousness sake , our doing his will , our self-resignation , our affection to his ordinances , our delight in the house of god , our rellish of his word , our frequent use of the holy communion , and our readiness to every good word and work . there is a register kept in heaven of all these performances : men may forget them , and our neighbours may take no notice of them when we are dead and gone , but god doth not forget them . he takes notice of them here , and he 'll take notice of them hereafter . he 'll remember them , to crown them , to reward them , to glorifie them . in the parable of barlaam and josaphat there is mention made of a country , where every year the people chuse a new king , and whoever is chosen reigns for a year , and after that is banished into some howling desart , or barren island where he perishes with hunger . a silly fellow being chosen one year , surprized with the sudden alteration of his fortune , gave himself over to all manner of debaucheries , and spared no cost , no pains to satiate his lustful desires and brutish appetite ; the present plenty made him forget the years of sorrow , that were to ensue , and when his year expired , he was sent according to custom to the unfortunate island , where he spent and ended his days most miserably . another year a wiser man than ordinary being elected by the multitude , he began to use his royalty with great moderation , and the thoughts of the dismal years that were to come , made him reflect how he should live when all the present pomp and grandeur should vanish . having therefore a counsellor of great prudence about him , and demanding of him what he should do to make his future solitatary life easie to him , he received this advice , to engross what treasures he could during his splendid fortune , and send it away by trusty officers to the place he was to be in till he died . he did so , and when he was forced to quit all his magnificence , and commanded away into a desolate country , his exile proved his happiness , and he lived in great content to his dying day . he that remembers his kind creator here , sends his goods away before him into another world , makes provision for his soul , when it enters into lands unknown and invisible , and by the carriages that arrive there , the man is known and remembred by god & his holy angels . his good works mount up to heaven before him . these keep him from starving when he quits his accommodations here . these are the food he lives on when he leaves this world ; not that their natural strength and vertue is so great , as to give him eternal life , but being perfumed with the merits of the son of god , they are remembred by god with praises and commendations , and made everlasting food . ninthly , notwithstanding all these encouragements , we cannot but with grief behold how little god is remembred by young and old ; and though he be in the midst of us , and by his providence upholds and supports us every moment , how wretchedly he is forgotten by most men . it 's true , he is not so forgotten that his name is never so much as mentioned ; some will do that if it were onely in their oaths and imprecations . but how few will or have courage to remember him in their actions , and think ; this god hath forbid , and i must not do it ; this is against his law , and i must not venture upon it ; this clashes with his word , and i must avoid it ; this will displease his purer eyes , and i must abhor it ; or this is acceptable to him , and i will embrace it ; this is to act like the children of god , and i will follow them ; this is my great master hath expressly commanded , and i will obey . all other remembrances without this are complements , not devotions . this remembrance god values more than a thousand formal devotions , repeated as papists do their ave's . this is to remember him rationally , like persons who understand the right use and end of their reason . he that doth not so , forgets him ; and whatever his pretences may be of remembring him , god looks upon it as oblivion while in his conversation abroad , and at home his greatness and holiness is not thought of ; and those that forget him thus , cannot expect god should remember them in the day of recompense as a father doth his children . great will be the terrour , when the thoughtless soul comes to appear before an all-seeing god , and greater yet , when to such forgetful sinners he shall say , i know you not ; for so we are told matth. 7.23 . then will i profess unto them , i never knew you ; depart from me ye that work iniquity . how ! i never knew you ? how can any thing be hid from him , when it is expresly said , known unto god are all his works from the beginning of the world , acts 15.18 . true , he knows them as his works , but not as his friends . he knows them as traitors , but not as faithful subjects . he knows them as creatures , but not as his children . he knows them as prodigals , but not as heirs of heaven . he knows them as strangers , but not as domesticks . how should he know them when they have lost the character of his sheep , the mark whereby the flock must be distinguished , which is to hear his voice ? and what a dismal condition must that man be in , whom god will take no notice of , and whom he doth not remember , that ever he was of his family ! if god knows him not , no angel in heaven will know him , no saint , no spirit made perfect will know him . he is shut out from heaven , excluded from the best and noblest company ; no society will receive him , but that of hellish spirits . you may laugh at these terrours now , but when they come to pass , what wise man would be under your circumstances ? as a father plagued with a disobedient son , forgets that ever he had such a child , so god will forget that ever you had any relation to him . he will remember your sins indeed , he 'll remember how you have fought against him , how you have doted upon the world , how you have pleased your flesh , and counted his laws as strange things , how you have slighted his thunders , and looked upon his offers of mercy as words in course ; how you have enslaved your souls to your lusts , and made the mistress wait upon a pitiful hagar ; how you have gone on in sin when your hearts have smitten you for it , and thought your jolly life would never be at an end ; how you have loved unrighteousness more than goodness , and turned the truth of god into a lie ; how you have thought the duties of religion below you , and put off god with the lame and with the blind for sacrifice ; how soon you have been weary of serving him , and how you have looked upon your duties , as things needless and unprofitable , how you have had mens persons in admiration because of advantage , and hearkned more to the perswasions of a sot , than to his wholesome counsels ; how dear your credit and honour hath been to you , and how you have valued it above his honour and glory ; how you have derided him that hath reproved you in the gate , and been wise to do evil ; how you have made the riches of the world the great end of all your endeavours , and set your affections upon things perishable and inconstant . this he 'll remember with a witness , and none of all the hard speeches you have vented against him , or the power of godliness shall be forgotten : but this remembrance will be your misery , and his thinking on your faults and wilful errours , your condemnation . flatter not your selves , that once you did remember his will , and laws , and mercies with great sincerity , though afterward tempted by the devil , and enticed by the frailty of your flesh , you departed from the holy commandment delivered to you ; for he hath made already a proviso against that plea , and protested , that if the righteous man turn away from his righteousness and commit iniquity , and doth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doth , shall he live ? all his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned , in his trespass that he hath trespassed , and in his sin that he hath sinned , in them shall he die , ezek. 18.24 . , he 'll forget all your little services , and your petty hypocritical devotions ; indeed they are not worth remembring , fitter to be scorned than to be remembred . to remember them so , as to crown them with bliss , is a thing they are not capable of , for love , the great principle and sap that must feed them , is wanting . suppose you were in danger of losing all you have , even life it self , and stood in need of some great princes assistance who had formerly expressed more than ordinary kindness to you , and should he upon your address turn away his face from you , not onely make himself strange to you , as joseph did to his brethren by way of tryal , but be really so , what a fright and confusion would you be in ? behold god is that puissant prince , who hath formerly courted you by kindnesses , and mercies , and entreaties . if you forget him in your conversation here , you will certainly be in danger of losing , not onely all your goods , but eternal life to boot . before this powerful prince , who alone can save you from perishing , you must stand e'er long , his help and assistance will be more needful and advantageous to you than all the advocates that heaven and earth can afford . and if this immortal king , instead of remembring you , shall frown upon you , be strange to you , acknowledge no such forgetful creatures for members of his family , or objects of his paternal care and tenderness : can any language express the astonishment your souls will be in ? when he shall put you in mind of all the sins you have forgotten , and of all the secret follies you kept concealed from the world and the eyes of men , when he shall remember , and lay open all that you have buried in oblivion , and make the wounds you gave to your souls , and skin'd them over , bleed afresh , how dumb , how pale , how surpriz'd will ye be at the tremendous charge ! o consider this ye that forget god , lest i tear you in pieces , and there be none to deliver , psal. 50.22 . but after all , methinks this discourse is incompleat , except i add something concerning our deceased brother , whose death hath brought us hither . though i had no personal acquaintance with him , yet i have some reason to believe that the account given me of him is impartial , and agreeable to truth . he was , it seems , a person faithful in his generation , a man of conscience , a pious christian , a good church-man , a loving brother , and an excellent servant . onely of his death it may be said as david said of a far greater man : did the lad die as a fool dieth ? thy hands were not bound , nor thy feet put into fetters , but as a man falleth before wicked men , so fellest thou . in a word , murthered he was , by men bruitish and barbarous ; and who , like the judge in the gospel , neither feared god , nor regarded man. i will not be too inquisitive into the reasons of this providence , though it be natural enough when such accidents befall good men , to wonder at the strangeness of the dispensation . but when we see a good prophet killed by a lion for a meer mistake , as it appears to us ; and josiah an excellent prince , slain in battle for a rash act ; and an vzzah struck dead upon the spot for stretching forth his hand to uphold the tottering ark , all admirable men , and whose salvation we do not question , we need not wonder that providence hath permitted a murther to be committed upon this innocent person ; for as in the aforesaid examples , their violent death was onely a temporal affliction , such as sicknesses and other diseases are , so the accident in our deceased friend was of the same nature , and such calamities in good men do but help and advance them the sooner to their everlasting harbour . and yet i cannot altogether excuse our brother here departed . for as the murther was acted in a publick fair , where great disorders , rudenesses , and insolencies are committed , and excesses , and vain shews are all the entertainment , so it 's probable , and i fear , that when he went to this place , he ventured into one which he had no lawful call to be at . the primitive bishops and christians were very much against such vain and foolish shews , and forbid their disciples to frequent them ; and as peter fell by going into the high priests hall , so it might be very just with god to let so sad a providence befal our deceased friend , to give warning to other good men to keep ever in gods ways , that they may be confident of the angels bearing them up in their hands , lest they dash their foot against a stone . but though there might be inadvertency , and infirmity , in our deceased brothers going to a place he had nothing to do at ; to be sure it was onely a single act , not a habit of juvenile vanity ; and though he was thereby deprived of the farther comforts of this life , yet that can be no impediment to his enjoyment of a better ; for god judges of us not by an accidental incogitancy , but by the stream and current of our lives . his mortal wounds , though procured and caused by very bad instruments , yet did not put him into a rage and passion , but he freely forgave his murtherers , and like st. steven pray'd that god would not lay this sin to their charge , and when he had said so he fell asleep . his death is a sermon to us all ; and though he be dead , yet he calls to us in christ's language , watch therefore , for ye know not when your lord comes , whether in the evening , or at midnight , or at cock crowing . and what i say unto you i say unto all , watch . the prayer . great , glorious , and incomprehensible god! with thee is terrible majesty ; touching thy essence ▪ we cannot find it out ; thou art excellent in power , in judgement , and in plenty of justice . thy ways are always equal , and the most piercing , as well as envious eye can spy no fault in thy proceedings . thou art infinitely pure and holy , and the light , thou art deckt withal , admits no spots , no variableness , no shadow of turning : thou art the most worthy object for my thoughts and memory to fix upon . thou deservest to be remembred in all the actions of my life . and to forget thee , without whom i cannot breathe is an indignity , i cannot answer , i have too long pass'd by thee as if i had no relation to thee . i have been able to remember a frivolous story of my neighbour , and my memory hath serv'd me well enough , to preserve a wrong or injury done to my name and person ; but thy loving kindnesses and gracious providences , and what ever concerns my everlasting welfare , i have suffered to slip out of my mind . how many years have i spent in the world without any serious thoughts of the great mystery of godliness ? thou hast given me line upon line , and precept upon precept , and how like water have i suffer'd them to be spilt on the ground ! i have looked upon my remembring thee as a thing indifferent , which i might observe or neglect at my pleasure ? i have lived thou knowest , as if the world had been the onely object of my hopes and desires ! my best and golden days , how have i squandred them away as if they were things too precious to be consecrated to thy service ! how vain hath my mind been ! how hath it ranged and roved , and fluttered up and down among the contents and comforts of this present life ! how greedily hath it applied it self to these fading flowers , and thought , that here lay all the sweetness i could hope for ! how late do i begin to love thee ! how late do i begin to be wise ! had i improved the talents thou hast given me betimes , assoon as i was capable to understand what religion and an everlasting interest meant , what good might i have done ! how many might i have drawn by my example to thy pleasant ways ! how great a portion of thy love and favour have i lost ! and how much earlier might i have enjoyed the influences of thy charity ! how justly mightest thou have doomed me to a reprobate mind , or struck me dead in my vanities ! i remember lord , how thou hast called , and i have refused ; how thou hast stretched forth thy hands unto me , and i have not regarded ! how justly mightest thou laugh now at my calamity , and mock when my fear comes ; when my fear comes as desolation , and my destruction like a whirlwind ! but o my god , in the midst of thine anger remember mercy ! remember o lord , thy tender mercies , and thy loving kindnesses , for they have been ever of old ! remember not the sins of my youth , nor my transgressions ; according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness sake , o lord ! good and upright is the lord , therefore will he teach sinners in the way . o my god! i am dull , i am ignorant , i have stood in the way of sinners . o teach thou me , teach me to remember thee at my lying down , and mine uprising . teach me to remember thee in my going out , and in my coming in ! let thy remembrance for the future be very sweet to me , and let me never think of thee but with pleasure and delight . let me forget what is behind me , and put me always in mind of the recompense that is before me . call not my sins to remembrance ; and as for my transgressions , forget them , and cast them behind thy back . teach me to remember what thou hast done for me , and make that remembrance powerful to engage me to gratitude and obedience . in death there is no remembrance of thee , and who will give thee thanks in the grave ? the living , the living , they shall praise thee . o let my life be a continual remembrance of thee . morning , evening , and at noon , let me remember thee ; and in the night let my song be of thee , who art the god of my salvation . let me remember thy love , and how thou hast humbled thy self for my sake . i am apt to forget thee , o refresh thou my memory with a sense of thy goodness ; and when the world would drive any serious thoughts out of my mind , keep them in , o lord , by thy mighty power , and make them agreeable to my memory and vnderstanding . remember how frail i am , and uphold me with thy free spirit . forget me not , o my god , though i have forgotten thee . deal not with me according to mine iniquities , neither reward me according to my transgressions . remember thy promise unto the penitent , and how graciously thou hast offered pardon and salvation to those that turn from their evil ways . o god , it is the desire of my soul , and the real purpose of my heart , to turn to thee , to seek thy face , to walk in thy ways , and to bid farewel to all the sinful pleasures of this life . put me in mind of all the motives , and arguments thou hast given me to make my calling and election sure . when they wear out in my mind , write them there afresh , and renew them still , that being ever before me ▪ they may lead me to thy holy hill : o bring to my remembrance every precept and every duty i am to perform , and when ever i am to perform any , say unto me , call to me , this is the way , walk in it , and turn neither to the right nor to the left , then shall i praise thee with joyful lips , and give thanks at the remembrance of thy holiness , through jesus christ our lord , to whom , with thee and the holy ghost , be all honour and glory , for ever and ever . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44521-e310 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vid. mosch . prat . spir. c. 195. damasc. hist. barl. & jos. the exercise of prayer: or, a help to devotion being a supplement to the happy ascetick, or best exercise. containing prayers and devotions, suitable to the respective exercises with additional prayers for several occasions. by anth. horneck d.d. horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 1685 approx. 123 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 127 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44516 wing h2825 estc r213484 99825854 99825854 30245 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44516) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 30245) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1795:18) the exercise of prayer: or, a help to devotion being a supplement to the happy ascetick, or best exercise. containing prayers and devotions, suitable to the respective exercises with additional prayers for several occasions. by anth. horneck d.d. horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. [28], 34, [6] p. printed for mark pardoe at the black raven, over against bedford-house in the strand, ondon[sic] : 1685. as the title says, intended as a supplement to his happy ascetick. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng prayer -early works to 1800. devotional literature, english -early works to 1800. 2005-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-05 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2005-05 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the exercise of prayer : or , a help to devotion . being a supplement to the happy ascetick , or best exercise . containing prayers and devotions , suitable to the respective exercises with additional prayers for several occasions . by anth. hornick d. d. ●ondon printed for mark pardo● at the black raven , over against bedford-house in the strand . 1685. the preface to the reader . the book-seller being upon printing a second edition of the happy ascetick , or best exercise , i thought it might not be amiss , in order to make those exercises more effectual , to adde some prayers , and aspirations , whereby souls enamour'd with those pleasing severities , might be enabled to arrive to a greater facility in the practice of them . i intended at first to adde them to the book , but the devotions , swelling under my hand , i was upon second thoughts prevailed with , to let them come forth in a treatise by it self . though the age we live in be full of dangerous diseases , and impiety be mounted up to a very great height , yet in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation , there are persons , and those of the church of england too , who seem ambitious to emulate the holiness of martyrs , and the sanctity of the primitive christians ; and as we have reason to bless god , who lets such wheat thrive in the large spot of ground that is over-run with weeds , so it is but necessary , we should upon all occasions , strengthen and help their faith , who like lot in sodom , do not onely preserve their innocence , but by a secret fire working in their hearts , rise to more than ordinary fervours . as in all other sciences , there are young beginners , as well as persons , who are arrived to perfection , so it is in religion ; there are children in grace , as well as young men and fathers ; and as no man can be so weak , as to imagine , that i design these helps for the greater proficients in goodness , so without my telling him , the reader may guess , that these crutches are intended for the weaker christians , who , if they receive any benesit by them , i have my wish . to assist such , i was willing to let these devotions come abroad , not for the goodness of the composure , but to put more oyl to those lamps , which already shine before men , that they may go on like the sun unto a perfect day , and preserve their brightness , till the coming of the bridegroom , and be ready , against a cry is made at midnight ; behold , the bride groom comes , go ye out to meet him . books printed for , and sold by mark pardoe at the sign of the black raven over against bedford-house in the strand . the happy ascetick , or the best exercise ; to which is added a letter to a person of quality concerning the holy lives of the primitive christians , by anthony horneck , d. d. in octavo . delight and judgement ; or a prospect of the great day of judgement and its power , to damp and imbitter sensual delights , sports , and recreations . by anthony horneck , d. d. in octavo . a sermon preached before the king on the fifth of november . by george hooper , d. d. in quarto . a sormon preached before the lord mayor on the 30th of october . by george hooper , d. d. in quarto . another essay in political arithmetick , concerning the growth of the city of london , with the measures , periods , causes , and consequences there of 1682. by sir william petty , fellow of the royal society . in octavo . observations upon the dublin bills of mortality , and the state of that city . by sir william petty , fellow of the royal society , in octavo . novels of queen elizabeth queen of england , containing the history of queen ann of bullen , of bassa solyman and the princes eronima , in two parts , in twelves . observations on fevers und febrifuges . twelves . the plain mans way to worship and practice . in twelves . becheri minera arienaria . in 4. — de nova temporis . 4. the exercise of prayer . a prayer relating to exercise 1. which is to pray without ceasing . o god gracious and merciful ! who givest power to the weak , and strength to the feeble ; who knowest the backwardness of my heart , and the unwillingness of my soul to spiritual duties ; who understandest all my wants , and art acquainted with all my weaknesses , behold how loth my soul is to have her conversation in heaven , and what excuses my flesh makes to hinder my mind from frequent addresses to thy mercy-seat . i entreat thee to apply thy healing hand to my sickly soul , and to fill it with spiritual desires . oh give me a praying spirit , and let my soul follow hard after thee ! teach me to make a spiritual use of every thing , and instruct me to see the creator in the creature . lord , free my spirit from the bondage of the flesh , that it may mount up cheerfully to thy throne upon all occasions . direct my mind to look up in all my actions , and let me take notice of the operations of thy hand in all occurrences whatsoever . let thy good spirit help my infirmities , and when i know not what to say , my dearest lord , suggest unto me how to fill my mouth with arguments . acquaint me with the art of extracting good out of every thing . o that i had that spiritual temper , which might incline me to think of god , whenever i behold the works of creation and providence ! how sweet is it to walk with god! o let no company be so pleasing to me as thine ! make me desirous to embrace all opportunities to reflect on thy perfections and excellencies . thou hast both commanded and promised spiritual wisdom ; o bestow upon me that excellent gift , that i may know , how to glorifie thee in this world , and arrive at last to that glory which thou hast promised to them that overcome , and continue faithful unto death , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer , relating to exercise 2. which is , every morning to resolve to tie our selves that day to certain rules of living . othou who dwellest in the heavens , and yet humblest thy self to behold the ways of the children of men ! thou hast been graciously pleased to reveal thy will to me , and given me rules to walk by ; rules , which if a man follows , he shall live for ever . how sweet are thy testimonies ! they enlighten the eyes , and give understanding to the simple . how glorious is that soul in thy sight , that makes thy will a lanthorn to her feet , and a light unto her paths ! lord in these pleasant paths i desire to walk ; there is nothing like them . they end in peace . i read of those who have found it so , they could not be mistaken . thy spirit inflamed their souls . they have ventured their lives to attain unto it . o the serenity ! o the calmness of mind ! o the inward joy , they found by walking in the paths of righteousness ! why should not i take of this tree of life , as well as they , and live ! this , o lord , i often think of , and see great loveliness in all this , but my will is weak , my resolutions faint : when i resolve , i meet with waves and billows , that dash my resolutions . o thou , whose power is infinite , open thy store-house , and furnish me with weapons to defend my self against all assaults from the world , or the devil ! o strengthen these feeble knees : hold up these weary hands . i desire to follow thee ; let thy spirit list me up , and cause me to run . touch my will with thy scepter , that it may bow to thy commands . manifest thy power in my weakness ; give me courage to purpose , and to fulfil my purposes . when i would flinch in my resolutions , do thou support me . when my will would start back like a broken bow , come in with thy salvation . endow me with power from on high ; through thee i shall do valiantly : through thee i shall be able to overcome all difficulties . o leave not my soul in misery : send from above and take me , draw me out of many waters ; send out thine arrows , and scatter my vain imaginations . with thee i will run through a troop , by my god will i leap over walls and impediments . quicken me , o lord , for thy names sake , and for thy righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble . teach me to do thy will , for thou art my god , thy spirit is good , lead me into the land of uprightness , for thy mercies sake , for christ's sake . amen . a prayer , relating to exercise 3. viz. every day to spend half an hour , or some such time , in thinking of good things . o thou whose wisdom cannot by searching be found out ! who hast made me a rational creature , and given me power to think of all thy wondrous works . what excellent objects dost thou set before me ! objects to delight , and edifie my soul ! o that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes ! o that my soul might ever dwell beside those still waters ! o teach me the art of meditation . give me a large and apprehensive mind . awaken my slumbring soul. encourage it to fix upon adequate objects . my soul is a spirit , o let it delight in things agreeable to its nature . since my mind must be busie about something , let it be employed in things that make for its everlasting peace . oh! how fickle are my thoughts ! how inconstant my contemplations ! how soon , and how easily is my mind drawn away from spiritual things ! to thee i flee , o hide me to save me . let my treasure be in heaven , that my heart may be there also , o spiritualize my affections , that they may delight to be where thou art . let spiritual objects become lovely , amiable , and charming in my eyes . did i love them , i should think of them : were they dear and precious to me , how could i forbear contemplating of them ! o let their beauty appear to me . take away the veil from my face , which hinders me from seeing him that 's altogether lovely . encline my heart to thy testimonies . anoint mine eyes with eye-falve , that i may see greater loveliness in things that are not seen , than in those which are seen . my understanding is dark , o enlighten it . clarifie it with thy beams . let me hate vain thoughts ; but thy law let me love . o let me not grudge the time that i spend in meditation . assure me , that this is balsom to my soul , and that by these means the lines will fall to me in pleasant places , and i shall have a goodly heritage . the righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting , o give me understanding and i shall live . there is beauty , there is satisfaction , there is life in spiritual objects . o let me find them sweeter than honey unto my taste . discover those riches to me , that i may look upon them , and despise the glittering treasures of egypt . these are deceitful things : these allure indeed , but afford no lasting comfort . o give me a fight of that wealth , which is not liable to corruption : i shall find it in the mysteries of the gospel . thou hast said , the pure in heart shall see god. o purifie my soul from fleshly lusts which war against it , that i may see , and discern what thou hast laid up for them that fear thee : and seeing it , may long after an eternal fruition of the light of thy countenance , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer relating to exercise 4. viz. to study deep humility . o thou lofty and holy one , who inhabitest eternity , and dwellest in the high and holy place , with him also that is of an humble spirit ! whether shall i go , but to thee who hast the words of eternal life ! how shall i get this humble spirit , but by thy power and influence ! ah! how proud is my heart ! how loth am i to submit to thy will ! how loth to think ill of my self ! how loth to bear injuries ! how loth to converse with thy poor members ! how loth to be sensible of my errours ! how loth to acknowledge a fault ! and yet all this while , i believe that thou beholdest the proud afar off , and that nothing is more abominable in thy sight ! how apt am i to admire my self ! how apt to harbour high conceits of my endowments ! how apt to hunt after the praise of men ! and what is all this but wind ? what is it but smoak , and air , and vanity ? how suddenly do these things grow , and how suddenly do they die again ! how sensual , how carnal must that soul be , that minds such things ! how void of a sense of greater beauties ! how little affected , how little touched with the honour that comes from god! how weak in grace ! how feeble in religion , that hath not learned yet to leap over such straws ! this is my case , o lord ; i am that weak , that empty soul , and yet unwilling to confess that i am proud , and vain , and lifted up : pity me , o my god ; make me sensible how far i am from the kingdom of god , till humility brings me neerer . crush whatever proud thoughts and desires thou spyest in me . o put me in mind of my duty , whenever any vain thoughts rise in my soul. pull down in me all imaginations that exalt themselves against christ jesus . o let not my heart be haughty , nor mine eyes lofty ; neither let me exercise my self in things too high for me . give me a sight of mine own vileness . let me not be cheated with false colours . let thy greatness overaw my soul. let the example of my saviour work upon me . how shall i be his disciple , and think of my self above what i ought to think . let god arise , and let all my vain conceits of mine own worth be scattered . what am i but a handful of dust ! what am i but a beggar , and thy pensioner , and who lives upon thy charity ! o let these thoughts subdue my soul. make me as ambitious of an humble spirit , and lowly mind , as others are of the greatness and admiration of the world . humility will make me great and honourable in thy sight . let that honour content me , let that priviledge satisfie my soul. o let a deep sense of my guilt humble me ; then shall i with the penitent prodigal be welcome in my fathers house , and my soul shall live , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer relating to exercise 5. viz. to bridle our tongues . o god , by whom i am fearfully and wonderfully made , who hast beset me behind and before , and laid thine hand upon me , such knowledge is too wonderful for me ; it is high , i cannot attain unto it : how have i abused that tongue thou hast given me to shew forth thy praise ! how long have i employed it about things which do not profit ! i am ashamed of it . o teach me to blush ! o let me see how i have perverted thy gifts , and misimproved my talents ! o let me value thy mercies better , and give me thy grace to remember that i am not mine own . assure me that i am bought with a price , to shew forth the glory of him that died for me . and can i shew forth thy glory , if my tongue be not cautious of offending thee ? can it look like glorifying thee , if that member , which of all the organs of this mortal frame , is most fitted for thy glory , fails in its duty ? the volubility , quickness , nimbleness , readiness , thou hast planted here , were all intended to trumpet forth thy glorious attributes . o my god! i will not hide thy righteousness within my heart , i will declare thy faithfulness , and thy salvation . i will not conceal thy loving kindness and thy truth from the great congregation : let me speak of thee with reverence and godly fear . give me discretion to know how , and when , and what to speak . lord , give me motives and arguments to speak as i ought to do . let my speech be always with grace seasoned with salt , that i may know how to answer every man. let no corrupt communication proceed out of my mouth , but that which is good , to the use of edifying , that it may minister grace unto the hearers . set a watch , o lord , before my mouth , and keep the door of my lips. let me keep my mouth , as it were with a bridle , and teach me to punish my self for my great neglect with gracious and savoury discourses . let me delight to speak of thee , and make me afraid of every idle word . lord , rule my tongue , and let even that member be dedicated to thy service . in all my speeches and answers let me study veracity , sobriety , and modesty . open thou my lips , o lord , and let my tongue be filled with thy praise all the day long , and in the night season let me not be silent . fill me with a profound sense of the great day of account , when my words will be examined as well as my actions . season my tongue with conscientiousness , and let me not be rash with my lips. let my heart smite me , when i am going to speak things , which are not after thy law. let thy statutes be my songs in the house of my pilgrimage , and let the law of thy mouth be better unto me than thousands of gold and silver . amen . a prayer , relating to exercise 6. viz. to watch against little sins . o thou who art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity with the least approbation ! how have i been deceived ! how have i been imposed upon by the world and my treacherous heart ! how securely have i wallowed in lesser sins , and made a mock of them . i see , lord , what circumspection is necessary in a christian-life . i repent of making so light of things which have been offensive , and contrary to thy holiness . fool that i was , to imagine that any thing can be trivial and light which thou hast forbid ! can any order or precept proceed from thee , but what is the product of eternal deliberation ? can any thing be needless which thou set'st thy hand & seal to ? what low thoughts must i have of thy wisdom ! what mean conceptions of thy omniscience , if i harbour such imaginations ! dull blockish creature that i am , when every law thou makest , and every work thou doest , and every providence that comes to pass , is done according to the eternal counsel of thy will , built upon the strongest pillars of reason , and is an effect of the brightest , clearest , and most unbyassed understanding , how can any thing be little and inconsiderable that thou do'st command . but alas ! these are but the pretences of my lusts ! they are loth to be deprived of their pleasures , and therefore suggest such feeble arguments . a little sin ! what nonsence is there in that word ! why shouldest thou prohibit it ? why shouldest thou warn , entreat , and beseech me not to do it , but that thou who knowest all things , knowest it to be prejudicial to my soul. it 's a sign i esteem , i prize thee not . did i truly look upon thee as the loveliest being , and my onely and greatest benefactor , i should be afraid of a disorderly thought . o let me never judge of sin any more by the sickly fancies of carnal men , but by the holiness of thy nature : and as thou , my god , who hast called me , art holy , so let me be holy in all manner of conversation . o let me not dally with sin any more , nor make sport with it because the world calls it little , but let it be sufficient to me , that thou my god dislikest it , and make me entirely conformable to thy will. give me , o thou giver of every good thing , just apprehensions of my duty . increase my love to thy name , and my hatred of sin will encrease . o that i were more ravished with thy beauty ! how odious would every thing be to me that is injurious to thy glory ! o the infinite obligations i have to love thee , and yet how cold is my heart ! and because it is cold , i startle at nothing but the greater sins . o let me remember that i am a christian , and have vowed my self to thy service , and let me serve thee in keeping even of the least of thy commandments . discover to me the equity and reasonableness of every precept , that i may plead no excuses , no impediments , but break through all obstacles , to express my love . o let me esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right , and let me hate every false way . nothing can be lovely that thou forbiddest . nothing can be sound that thou accusest of rottenness . nothing can be safe that thou warnest me against ! i have found the ways of sin false indeed ; false as hell. when i have thought to step into the bed of pleasure , i have rush'd into a gulph of misery . when i have hoped to fill my self with content and satisfaction , i have run into briars and thorns , and filled my heart with heaviness , and i find i have been flattered into ruine . o let me dread the very appearance of evil , and be thou my everlasting sweetness , my everlasting delight , my everlasting comfort , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer relating to exercise 7. viz. to keep a strict guard over our eyes . o thou whose eyes are like flames of fire , and whose feet like brass glowing in a furnace , who art brighter than the sun , & clearer than the stars , whose eyes run to and fro through the world to shew thy self strong in the behalf of those whose heart is upright before thee : i have deserved that no eye should pity me , because i have not used my sight with that moderation , modesty , decency , and piety thou justly requirest of me . i have had eyes , and have not seen those things i should have taken notice of : it were just with thee to strike me blind , and to deprive me of that mercy which i have so often turned into wantonness ! i have stared upon objects that have inflamed my lusts , irritated my passions , and kindled hell fire in my breast . ah! what impure , what disorderly thoughts have i let in through these windows ! wonder , o my soul , that vengeance hath not pulled them out , or that darkness hath not yet seized on them . what discontent , what mistrust of thy providence , what pride , what envy , what malice , what revenge hath crept into my soul through these glasses ! how ill a use have i made of the gift of god! how have i dishonoured my creator with these eyes ! how covetous , how vain , how sensual hath my sight of the riches and pleasures of the world made me ! o look upon me , and have mercy on me . open thou mine eyes , that i may see wondrous things out of thy law. o let nothing be so pleasant to mine eyes as thy marvellous works . teach me to see thee in thy providence , and in thy works of grace and nature . o let me remember that where-ever i am , i am before the eye of thy glory , and let mine eyes be ever toward the lord. if my right eye offend me , let me pull it out . give me courage to turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity , when that vanity would make me enamoured with the world . quicken the eyes of my mind , that i may behold thy power and glory , as i have seen it in the sanctuary . shew me the danger of walking in the fight of mine eyes , and guide me by thine eye . destroy in me all lofty looks , and the lust of the eye do thou remove far from me . see o lord , and consider my wants , and teach me to offer unto thee my reasonable service . let my outward as well as inward man be thy servant . o let me see , and taste , how sweet and how gracious thou art . thou hast given me my eye-sight , cause me to see thy salvation ; and let me see that i walk circumspectly , as wise men , and not as fools , redeeming the time , because the days are evil . consider , and hear me . o lord my god , lighten mine eyes , lest i sleep the sleep of death . keep me as the apple of thine eye , hide me under the shadow of thy wings : then shall i behold thy face in righteousness , i shall be satisfied , when i awake with thy likeness . o glorious sight , when i shall see thee as thou art ; how ravishing will that prospect be ! how transporting that vision ! o let me not miss of it ! o let me not lose that charming spectacle ! i will look upon thee here . i will behold thee in the blessings i enjoy . i will see thee in thy mercies , and admire thee . i will look to my self , that i may not erre from thy commandments . i will look for the new heavens and the new earth , wherein dwells righteousness . i will look up , and please my self with the thoughts of mount sion , which fades not away . i will look unto the lord , that i may be enlightened , and my face may not be ashamed , thorough jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer relating to exercise 8. viz. to make good use of the virtues & vices of our neighbours . most merciful father , creator of heaven and earth , who hast given me a soul apt to be led by examples , and hast set most excellent patterns before me , that i might follow their steps , encline my heart , i beseech thee , to consider the large provision thou hast made for my better part , and let me not stand in mine own light , and continue blind in the midst of so many shining and burning lights . arise , o lord , and deliver me from the wicked , from the men which are thy hand , o lord , from the men of the world , who have their portion in this life , and whose bellies thou fillest with thy hid treasure . o let me see with other eyes than carnal men do see . o raise my mind , and carry it up to the holy mount , to the mount of god , and from thence let me behold the portion of thy children , of those excellent souls , that despise the world , and labour for honour and immortality . discover to me the comforts and satisfactions they enjoy in thy bosom ; and how thou makest them drink of the rivers of thy pleasures . let their faith encourage me to believe in hope , against hope , that as they are made perfect in love , so i may be perfect too , and may be one with thee , even as thou and they are one . i cannot have a better example than thy self , o make me partaker of thy divine nature . give me a holy ambition to be like thee . make me merciful , as my father in heaven is merciful . o let that mind be in me , which was also in christ jesus . o jesu attract my soul with thy beauty . teach me to tread in thy steps . let thy example be ever before me , and where-ever i am , let me do nothing unworthy of it . if i follow thee , i cannot erre : thou art the way , the truth , and the life . lord do thou appear very amiable to my soul , that this sight may constrain me to learn of thee . transcribe thy graces on my soul , and life , that my conversation may shew that i am thy disciple indeed , resolved to live , and die , and rise with thee to eternal glory . give me the spirit of st. paul : give me the excellent temper of those saints , who through faith subdued kingdoms , wrought righteousness , obtained promises , stopped the mouths of lyons , quenched the violence of the fire , out of weakness were made strong , and were tortured , not accepting deliverance , that they might obtain a better resurrection . o deny me not the same spirit of faith , that at last i may obtain the end of my faith , the salvation of my soul , through christ our lord. amen . a prayer , relating to exercise 9. viz. to put a charitable interpretation upon what we see or hear . o god , who art infinitely compassionate , and charitable love it self , and goodness it self ! ah! how selfish is my heart ! to whom shall i complain , but to thee , who alone canst heal me ! thou hast balm , thou hast plaisters for all sores , medicines for all diseases . thy store-house is full of blessings . how uncharitable are my thoughts sometimes ! how censorious my tongue ! how apt am i to think and speak ill of my neighbour ! how doth my blood boyl with revengeful desires , when either a real , or an imaginary injury is offered me ! o thou god of peace , o father of mercy ! melt , melt this stubborn heart ; how loth is it to yield to thy injunctions ! i am encompassed with all the rays of gods charity imaginable . thou bearest with me , when i deserve punishment , thou dealest not with me after my sins , neither rewardest me after mine iniquities . even my best actions thou mightest justly except against ; but thy charity covers a multitude of faults . how often do i provoke thee , and yet thou shootest not thine arrows at me . i transgress thy laws , i affront thee , i am an unprofitable servant , yet thou pitiest me , and do'st not suffer thy displeasure to arise against me . in the midst of my follies thou art kind , not that thou approvest of them , but that thou wouldest lead me to repentance . o let me think of this , and let me love my neighbour with a pure heart fervently ; spread thy wings over me . form in me bowels of mercy . come charity , thou lovely grace . come into my garden , my spouse , my beloved ! o thou celestial husbandman , plant this wholesome herb in my barren ground . pull up the weeds that grow there . banish from me all sourness of spirit : let all bitterness and wrath die in me . let all malice flee away from my soul. rid me of that ill nature which lodges in me . let gentleness and meekness be the welcome guests in my heart . make me peaceable and tractable , easie to be intreated , full of good works , ready to forgive . let the charity of the lord jesus be my guide , and let me truly follow the lamb whethersoever he goes . o jesu ! can i after thy charity to my soul , be unkind to others ! can i be churlish , morose , and ill-natured , when i remember how thou diedst for thy enemies ! i believe thou intercedest for me in heaven ! what favourable constructions must i suppose are put upon my actions in that intercession ! when satan accuses me in the presence of god , and hath but too much reason for those accusations , thou pleadest thy merits , thy wounds , and thy fathers love. where my infirmities will bear excuses , thou qualifiest them , and sufferest not the enemy to have his will of me . o let thy great example be ever before me , and when i would forget it , represent it in lively colours to my mind , that i may be thy disciple indeed ; and having lived in love and charity here , may at last arrive in the paradise of everlasting love . amen . a prayer , relating to exercise 10. viz. conscientiously to discharge the duties of our several callings & relations . most glorious god! who hast fitted thy holy and wholesome laws to my wants and necessities , and in commanding me , dost consult my interest and advantage more than thy profit and glory ; how am i bound to praise and magnifie thy bounty ! thou hast taught me how to live and behave my self in all conditions , and to make me a souldier compleatly armed , hast chalked out to me the particular steps , i am to tread . as these are part of the blessings of thy right hand , so let my soul admire them above those of thy left . whatever estate i am in , whatever relation , calling , station i stand in , give me grace to adorn it with a suitable conversation . teach me how to behave my self wisely in a perfect way . o when wilt thou come unto me ! o let me remember , that in the calling thou hast placed me in , thou hast called me to certain duties , of which thou wilt take an account one day . o convince me that i am not called to idleness , but to labour in thy vineyard . when my carnal heart would baulk the work , thou hast set me , in the station i am in , let thy good spirit crush my unwillingness , and manifest his power in my weakness . i am backward to any thing that requires pains and circumspection , but renew thou a right spirit within me . be thou exalted lord , above the heavens , and thy glory above all the earth . if thou wilt but appear in my soul , every thing will yield , and every rebellious lust will bow to thy majesty . nothing can resist thy omnipotence , and whatever desire in me hath been hitherto refractory and rebellious , will be frighted at thy presence , and either retire , or become subject to thy power . o prepare mercy and truth , which may preserve me , and my mouth shall sing of thy righteousness . o let me remember that every new relation brings a new obligation upon me ; and that if i regard not that obligation , i am unfaithful to my god. in every condition , in every relation let me consider the duties incumbent upon me , and make me zealous to discharge them . let not the example of others , whose consciences are seared , tempt me to neglect them . o tell my soul , that it 's better to have thy favour , than the applause of men ; and teach me to act according to that rule , that the peace of god may be upon me , as it is upon the whole israel of god , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer , relating to exercise 11. viz. to resist all sorts of temptations . o lord of hosts ! who is a strong lord like unto thee , or to thy faithfulness round about thee ? thou rulest the raging of the sea , when the waves thereof arise , thou stillest them . thou seest what temptations i am encompassed with , what enemies surround me , and how i am beset with dangers . extend thy mercy to me , and send from above and take me . deliver me from my strong enemy , and from them which hate me . leave me not to the rage of temptations , neither give me up to the will of those that persecute my soul. i will arise , o god , and fight the good fight . teach me what temptations are , and give notice to my soul when i am in danger . i know , o lord , all places , callings , and employments bring temptations with them ! how diligent , how watchful ought i to be , that i do not get a fall , and that mine enemy rejoyce not over me . yet i will not be afraid , if thou art with me , i may defie all that are against my soul to destroy it : for thou lord , wilt bless the righteous , and with thy favour thou wilt compass him , as with a shield . up lord ! and pluck thy hand out of thy bosom : enable me to put on the whole armour of god. gird about me the sword of the spirit , and with that let me recover the glory i have lost in adam's fall. o god , i will cry day and night unto thee ; give me wisdom and resolution to secure thy favour . i cannot secure it , except i hate those that hate thee , and am grieved with those that rise up against thee . o lord , mine own flesh , and the world , and messengers from hell , are confederate against thee . o teach my hands to war , and my fingers to fight . my rock , my fortress , my deliverer , my god , my strength , in whom i will trust , my buckler , and the horn of my salvation , and my high tower , cover my head in the day of battle . let mine eye see my desire on the temptations which annoy me . hear my voice out of thy temple , and let my cry come before thee , even into thine ears . arm me with arguments ; suggest unto me reasons , whereby i may answer , and resist the evil motions which would seduce my soul. give me power to climb thy holy hill : when i faint , lord support me ; when i grow weary , furnish me with fresh motives to hold on ; when i would go back , perswade me to press toward the mark ; when i fall , let thy angels bear me up in their hands . o thou that hast done great things for me , marvellous things on this side heaven , strengthen my faith , that i may endure temptation , and being tried , may receive the crown of righteousness , which thou hast promised to them that love thee , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer relating to exercise 12. viz. to stand in awe of god , when we are alone , and no creature sees us . o lord , thou hast searched me , and known me ; thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising ; thou understandest my thoughts afar off ; thou compassest my path , and my lying down , and art acquainted with all my ways . i beseech thee overaw me with thy presence . o that thou wert in all my thoughts ! o how sweet , how delightful , how glorious art thou ! could i always think of thee , how poor would the world , and all things in it , seem in mine eyes ! for truly thou art fairer than the children of men ! and all the excellencies and perfections that are found in the creature , are most eminently concentred in thee ; for thou madest them , thou maintainest them , thou preservest them , and thou art the spring , the fountain , from which all those lesser rivers flow . thou art bright , amiable , charming to a miracle ; and in thee is all that reason can wish , and the understanding can desire ! and did i look upon thee more , i should be so delighted with thy beauty , that sin would be loathsome to me . i sin against thee , because i lose the sight of thee . the eye of my understanding was given me on purpose to look upon thee ! o let me use it to that end ! when i am loth to look upon thee , lord press thou into my thoughts , that i may not be able to shake off thy presence . if i see thee , i shall not dare to offend thee : who would offend so dear a friend , if he look upon him ? when any sin would insinuate into my affections , o call to me , and say , thy god is here , and that charming name will withold me from those crooked ways . i remember lord , when my flesh hath sometimes prevailed with me to transgress thy known laws , i have been forced to banish thee from my mind , before i could act against thee . hence forward be thou ever with me . let no base objects intervene betwixt my sight and thy glorious self ; or if they do , help me to look off , and to return to my center . make strong impressions of thy omniscience and omnipresence upon my heart , that no sensual object , no pleasing temptation , no deceit , no flattery , may rob me of my integrity . at the brightness of thy presence , let all mine enemies vanish , and be thou my conquerour , my triumph , my beauty , and my glory , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer relating to exercise 13 viz. to do all things to gods glory . o god , who is like unto thee , glorious in holiness , fearful in praises , doing wonders ! thy glory is the end of all created beings . thou art deckt with beauty and glory , glorious is thy name , and to glorifie thee is not onely our duty , but our glory and interest too . o let my heart be toucht with a sense of thy glory . o let me admire the glory of thy kingdom . if thou wouldest vouchsafe to display thy glory in my benighted soul , how should i despise this miserable world ! how should i scorn the lust of the eye , and the lust of the flesh , and the pride of life ! i have talked of thy glory , but o how little have i almed at it in my actions ! what base and sinister ends and designs have i had , even in my devotions and religious services ! o father of mercy , purifie my intentions , rectifie my designs ; give me a right aim in all things . i am sent into the world to advance thy glory . o let it not be said that i sought mine own glory ! how great is thy goodness , that thou wilt employ so wretched a creature in promoting thy glory , who can'st live without me , and be happy and glorious without me ! o glorifie my soul , that i may glorifie thee ! in all the blessings , in all the mercies i enjoy , let me give thee all the glory . what have i , that i have not received ? why then should i glory as if i had not received it ? o let me study how i may do good in my generation . let the spirit of glory , and of christ , rest upon me ! o father of glory , let me see what is the glory of thine inheritance . open thou my lips , o lord , and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise . guide me by thy counsel here , and hereafter receive me into glory . o that this heart of mine were more spirituallized . it is carnal , sensual , taken with the gayeties of this life . it admires thee not . it doth not esteem thee above all treasures , and therefore i do not seek thy glory as i ought to do . therefore i evade the obligation , and pretend , that i have no parts , no abilities to advance thy glory in this present world . o wretched creature that i am , who shall deliver me from the body of this death ! lord speak the word , and deliver me from my self . assure me that the degrees of future glory will be proportioned to the degrees of my advancing thy glory here . o let me abound in good works , and let doing good be my greatest delight , for as much , as i know , my labour is not in vain in the lord. it cannot be in vain . thou hast promised it , and thou wilt do it . i believe , lord , help mine unbelief , thorough jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer relating to exercise 14 viz. to stir up and exercise the graces god hath given us . o god , thou art a strong rock , and a strong habitation ! how excellent is thy loving kindness , therefore the children of men shall put their trust under the shadow of thy wings ! o my god , how have i contented my self with very low degrees of vertue ! i have been afraid of doing too much for heaven , and satisfied my self too often with shadows of goodness ! thou art not wanting to us , if we are not wanting to our selves . thou art ready to quicken us , ready to enlighten us , ready to succour us in all our distresses and necessities . o thou that art a strong tower to all them that run unto thee . take care of my immortal soul : if thou wilt charge thy self with her welfare , i shall be safe . i have been very slothful hitherto . i have lost much time , many opportunities , many advantages of a spiritual life . i know i must grow on to a perfect man in christ jesus . thou doest not allow me to stand still ! thou biddest me work like a man that knows what an endless glory means . o purifie me from all sin . lord jesu ! give me the fervour of thy spirit , that i may bee filled with spiritual wisdom and understanding ; and for the glory set before me , may be content to do , and suffer cheerfully , whatever in thy wisdom thou shalt think fit to charge me with . come lord ! make a reformation in this poor , blind , distressed , miserable soul ; my faith is weak , my hope is weak , my love is weak , my charity is weak . one word of thy mouth would put vigour and life into me . the same word that made the sun shine out in the first creation , would make my graces bright , and that sentence , let there be light , spoken to my soul , would change the dark chaos into a globe of light . o make goodness habitual in my soul. o that it might be an everlasting inhabitant in me ! o that my soul might become its proper seat , its palace , its tabernacle , from which it might never depart ! ah! how inconstant is my zeal ! hot i am to day , and cold to morrow . sometime i seem to lay force on the everlasting kingdom ; a little while after i fall in love again with the world . o destroy this weed of inconstancy in my garden . all this comes from the weakness of my vertues . hence it is , that i am not the same every where : and i that am bold in one place to stand up for thy glory , am a coward in another . where is thy mighty arm , o lord ! where are thy bowels ! fill my languishing soul with strength from above , and with wisdom from above , that i may encrease , and abound more and more in love . perfect what thou hast begun in me . let meekness , and humility , and all the graces of the holy ghost become natural to me . o that they were incorporated with my temper ! o that they were so riveted into my soul , that i might not be able to act contrary to them ! o that i might find as great a reluctancy , when i am tempted to neglect them , as formerly i found when thy spirit commanded me to performe them ! o how sweet a frame do these graces put the soul into ! o that i could say , that thus it is with me ! sweet jesu , be not tired with taking pains with this miserable soul ! thou hast been prodigiously kind to me , o be not weary of being farther gracious & favourable ! o let me find by blessed experience , that i grow in grace , and that thy commandments are no longer grievous to me , that every thing in thy service becomes more easie , and that , what formerly was a burden to me , is now pure pleasure and delight to my soul. o my god , gild my soul once more with thy radiant beams , and establish my heart unblamable in holiness at the coming of our lord jesus christ. amen . a prayer , relating to exercise 15. viz. every night before we go to bed to call our selves to an account for the actions of the day . o god , who searchest the heart and the reins ! how deceitful is my heart ! how many are the ways that lead to destruction ! how innumerable are the wiles of the devil ! yet by thy light they may all be discovered , and their danger perceived , and their ill intent laid open . how small an atome doth the bright light of the sun make visible ! therefore that light which thou vouchsafest to an humble mind must be supposed far more effectual to manifest all the stratagems of the powers of darkness . o my god , make me willing to see the designs of my spiritual enemies against me , that i may resist them , oppose , and overcome them . my heart is a field where many tares are mix'd with the wholesome wheat . if i search not , how shall those tares be rooted up ? if i examine not , what can i expect , but that like the field of the slothful , and like the vineyard of the man void of understanding , it will be all grown over with thorns , and nettles will cover the face thereof . shall i say , a little sleep , a little more slumber , till my poverty come on like an armed man ? o my god , let my greatest care be , that thou and my soul be friends . but how shall i know thou art my friend , except i examine my soul , and see what tokens of thy love i find there . o let me not be afraid to know my thoughts , my words , my actions , my inclinations . if i know they are evil , i may reform them : if i find they are good , i may rejoyce in them . o teach me the art of searching my heart . let me not continue a stranger to my self . let it be a pleasure to me to take notice how i thrive in grace . let me know my danger . o keep me from wandring in the dark . let me see how i go astray , that i may get into the right way again . convince me of the easiness and pleasantness of this task . o let me not think it a burthen to my soul. i have dwelt too long in the suburbs of religion , o perswade me to enter into the city which hath foundations . let the reward that is before me be a strong motive to me , to put on the whole armour of god. o how sweet will it be to me to see thy assistances , the incomes of thy grace , the influences of thy spirit , my progress in goodness , the abatement of my sins , the decay of my corruptions , and my nearer approach to heaven . if i examine my heart , all this will be made manifest to me ; for thou wilt teach me the way of life , and in thy light i shall see light , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer , relating to exercise extraordinary 1. viz. to enter into solemn vows and promises . o blessed jesu ! to whom i have so often promised faithfulness , and allegiance , and obedience ! how justly mayest thou look upon me , betwixt pity and anger , as thou didst upon peter when he had most shamefully denied thee ! and o that thy looks might have the same effect upon me , that they had upon thy apostle , and i might weep bitterly ! for how light have i made of my most solemn promises ! how have i sought to impose upon thee . o my god! how have i evaded the obligations my resolutions have laid upon me , and sometimes downright broke those promises ! ah treacherous creature that i am ! how can i expect thou shouldest perform thy promises made to me , when i am so careless of observing and performing of mine to thee ! thou art of infinite patience , therefore i am not yet destroyed . hence forward , when i promise thee , let thy majesty , greatness , justice , and holiness prevail with me to break with thee no more . o let me not think because thou art silent , and doest not presently punish my perfidiousness , that thou art altogether such a one as my self . o instruct me , that i may entertain greater thoughts of thee ! if i enter into a vow at any time , assist me powerfully with thy spirit , that i may act according to the word that is gone out of my lips. as i make thee my judge and witness in my vows , so let me remember that my witness is omniscient , and my judge hath magazines of vengeance at command . let me undergo any inconvenience rather than be false to my engagements . o keep me by thy mighty power , that my heart may be treacherous no more . o let me remember what mercies i expect at thy hands , and let me not forfeit my right to thy favour . when i binde my soul , let me think that nothing can untie it but thy self . o preserve in my mind a just sense of my duty , and of the necessity of pleasing thee . let me abhor every thought that would prompt me to violate this sacred bond. o let me look upon it as a most holy thing , and let me dread all prophanation of it . as i designe , o lord , by these vows to bring up my will to thy will , so be thou entreated to second my designes , and to keep my soul , that i yield not to temptations of perfidiousness , but may triumph over my corruptions , and be more than a conquerour thorough him that loved me , the lord jesus christ , to whom with thee , and the holy spirit , be all honour and glory , world without end . amen . a prayer relating to exercise extraordinary 2. viz. to subdue the body by fasting . o holy and most merciful saviour , who hast given us the best religion , the wholesomest rules of living , the most equitable precepts that were ever given to the children of men ; while i admire thy mercy , i cannot but bewail mine own misery . while i wonder at thy goodness and tenderness to my soul , i cannot but deplore my backwardness to the stricter duties of christianity ! how loth am i to curb this body ! how loth to bring my flesh in subjection ! how apt am i to flatter my self , that heaven will come cheaper , than at the price of mortification ! o when will these vain imaginations leave me ! when shall i get the temper of thy dearest servants ! how slavishly do i serve thee ! how apt am i to make bargains with thee , and to limit my obedience . i want that free , that princely spirit , that fervent love , which may think nothing too good for heaven . lord , shew me the vanity of my over tenderness to this dying body . i am sensible , that when i feed it high , it teaches my soul to rebel against thee ! o let me not be afraid of the arguments it gives me to spare my self . these are but pretences , the designe is to preserve its own ease and quiet in sin , and vanity . let me see through all these cobwebs , and perswade me to keep under my body , lest i become a cast away : let my fasts have those good effects upon me , which they have had upon thy saints of old . let my lusts dye , my corruptions decay , my vanities become odious to me . let holiness become sweet , the light of thy countenance pleasant , and the influences of thy grace ravishing to my soul. let my abstinence from food work in me abstinence from evil . let it prove a means to make my prayers fervent , my devotion quick , my mind clear , my affections lively , that i may at last enjoy the festivals of angels , and eat and drink with my blessed master at his table , in his kingdom ; then shall i fast from sin for ever ; then shall i fast from all temptations . then shall i hunger no more after the meat that perisheth : then shall i thirst no more after the muddy streams of sensual satisfactions . then my hunger shall be refined into fruition , my thirst exalted into enjoyments , such as abana , and pharpar cannot give , and the rivers of damascus , and of jordan too fall short of ; then i shall need no provision for this body . then my flesh will long no more after forbidden fruit , then i shall feed on thy love for ever ; that will be my meat and drink , that will be better tome than all the trees of a terrestrial paradise ; that will nourish me more than milk and honey ; that will give me a more cheerful countenance than the bloud of the grape ; then i shall need to take care no more about what i shall eat , or what i shall drink , or wherewithal i shall be cloathed . righteousness will be my garment then , and holiness , everlasting holiness , my robe of glory . amen , amen . a prayer , relating to exercise extraordinary 3. viz. to use watching , or abstinence from sleep . o god , incomprehensible and glorious , whose providence watches over me day and night , o shepherd of israel , who neither slumberest nor sleepest , and whose eyes are always open for my good . what hard thoughts have i had of thy service ! how unwieldy have i been under thy stricter precepts ! how afraid have i been to hurt my self ! what pains have i taken for the world , and how irk some have thy precepts been to my soul ! o let it suffice that i have so long followed mine own will , and for the future , let even thy severest laws be my delight and comfort . thou hast given me thine onely son to die for my sins , and can i after this mercy , think much of denying my self in mine ease for thy service ? o teach me to use moderation in all things , and even in my sleep to express my self-denial ! i know , o lord , that without the assistance of thy spirit , my nature is slothful , and my temper backward to such mortifications . to thee i come therefore , with humble desires , with fervent affections , and with earnest entreaties , that thou wouldest conquer the flesh in me , and crush that rebel by thy power . since i can use self-denial in sleep upon a temporal account , o let it not be said of me , that upon a spiritual account i could not watch . o let my actions shew , that thou art dearer to me than the world , and that i love thee better than father or mother , and my self too . when all i have is thine , how shall i not part with something that 's dear to me for thy sake ! o let me not lose my life while i seek to save it , but be confident that if i lose my life for thy sake , i shall finde it . thou art the resurrection and the life , if i sincerely believe in thee , though i were dead , yet shall i live . o let me live , that i may praise thy name , and whether i live or whether i die , let me live and die in the lord jesus . give me a sight of the eternal watchfulness of angels . they sleep not . they are never oppressed with drowsiness . they sing eternally , and slumber not . that 's the company , that 's the glorious society i would fain be in . o happy day ! o blessed time ! when i shall watch in thy house for ever ! when i shall watch in the quire , where nothing is known , nothing is loved , nothing is delighted in , but god blessed for evermore . o my god , as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their master ; and as the eyes of a maiden look unto the hand of her mistress , so mine eyes waite upon thee , o lord , until thou have mercy upon me , and bring me into the regions of eternal brightness , thorough jesus christ. amen . a prayer relating to exercise extraordinary 4. viz. to apply our selves to self-revenge . o god to whom vengeance belongs , shew thy self . my sins are mine enemies , my corruptions the foes that persecute me , o shew me thy salvation . my sensual desires plead for tenderness , and because they would not be displeased , they suggest motives and reasons why i should spare my self . they regard not what becomes of my soul hereafter ; and so they can but enjoy present rest , they think not of the torments that will follow . but my soul sees how the scene will change , when god shall come to judgment . o my god , i am in danger ! let me spare no cost , no pains to be free from it . where gentler means will not free me from the corruptions which do so easily beset me , o let me not be afraid of using more violent remedies . o that i were but more concerned about the life to come ! o that i had more lively aprehensions of it ! o that i had that view of the terrours of the lord , that my soul might be convinced of the necessity of taking the kingdom of heaven by violence ! i am sensible of the hurt , my lusts and passions have done me : fill my soul , o god , with a holy rage against them , that i may drive them out by force , when softer perswasions will do no good . had not i better endure some inconvenience here , than be forced at last to make tears my meat day and night to all eternity ! o perswade me to lose all rather than the joys set before me ! shall i see thy saints , who had the clearest apprehensions of thy will , run , and sweat , and toil for a future bliss , and shall i imagine , that laziness will procure that kingdom ? o lord leave me not . bid me rise , and strive to apprehend that for which i am also apprehended of christ jesus . i fight under the banner of the best of princes , o let me so run that i may obtain , and hear the voice of the bridegroom , enter into thy masters joy. this will recompence all . if i arrive to this , i shall be no loser by thy service . i have followed the world too long , and have got nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit . it promised me much , but my soul is empty still . if once i ascend into that city , where all tears shall be wiped away , where i shall not need the light of the sun , and moon , and stars , where god himself is the everlasting light : whatever troubles , whatever miseries i went through here , they will all be forgotten , they will all be swallowed up , they will all be lost in that vast ocean of light and glory . o make me weary of this wilderness . i have wandred too long in this desert . heaven is my home . let that engross my desires , my hopes , my expectations , my joy , my love , my affections . i am a stranger upon earth , let me live like a stranger here . draw me , draw me , thou everlasting magnet , that i may cling to thee , and neither death , nor life , neither prosperity , nor adversity , neither the smiles , nor the frowns of the world , may separate me from that love which is in christ jesus our lord. amen . additional prayers for every day of the week , suited to the exercise of meditating . exercise ordinary . 3. a prayer for sunday-morning , relating to the meditation on sunday . exercise 3. o god! thou most sweet , thou most lovely object ! how little do those glorified saints that enjoy thee in the other world , regard our little pleasures and satisfactions here ! o that my soul were with those spirits of men made perfect ! i see nothing in this valley of tears that 's worth desiring or breathing after . the beatitude to come , is that , i long for . what are the glories of this world , to that glory , which e'erlong shall be revealed in us ! the magnificence of triumphs , the pomp of princes the curiosity of palaces , the beauty of the sun , the brightness of the moon , the glistering of the stars , the variety of flowers , the fragrancy of herbs , what are all these to the joys & glories at thy right hand for evermore ! one day in thy courts above , is sweeter than a thousand here . there i shall behold the perfection of thy essence , the infinity of thy nature , the immensity of thy grandeur , the eternity of thy duration , the greatness of thy majesty , the stability of thy throne , the vast extent of thy wisdom , the abyss of thy judgements , the sweetness of thy bounty , the tenderness of thy mercy , the severity of thy justice , the latitude of thy power , the charms of thy beauty , and the lustre of thy glory ! o what a ravishing sight will this be ! and shall i be afraid of encountring with enemies , that would keep me from seeing these wonderful objects ? these enemies are already conquered . the lion of the tribe of judah hath already weakn'd their strength and power , which makes my victory more easie ; therefore i will not despair . o thou who hast promised , that when the poor and needy want water , thou the god of israel wilt hear them . hear me from thy holy heaven , and encourage my soul to force her way through all difficulties . give me lively apprehensions of that state . for want of those lively apprehensions , i work not , i move not , i press not forward , i act not like a person in good earnest , my endeavours are dull , and my attempts feeble ; o write that bliss upon my mind , engrave it on my soul ; let the beams of it warm my spirit , that no labour for heaven may seem hard , no commandment grievous , no exercise troublesome , no industry tedious , no pains too great , no journey too long , that i may not murmur , that i may not complain of difficulties , that i may not be weary , that i may not faint in my mind ; it is not onely a glorious garment , not onely a magnificent house , not onely a stately palace that 's promised me , but glory it self , and magnificence it self , and splendor it self . what if i must curb my passions , and break through my sinful inclinations ? what if i must withdraw mine affections from the creature , and mortifie my body ? what if i must submit my will to thy will , and pardon the greatest injuries ! what if i must get habits of vertue , give law to my tongue , prescribe limits to my thoughts , put a restraint upon my foolish desires in order to this glory ? is not the promised recompence encouragement enough ? o my god! thou art my shield and exceeding great reward ! and shall i be afraid to serve thee ? shall i tremble at the work thou settest me ? will not thy wages be infinitely beyond my labour ? how short will be my task , and how long my rest ! how few will be the days i am to work in , and how durable my repose ! shall i think heaven too dear at the price thou hold'st it at ! o undeceive me , pull down the vain conceits i have harboured ; shine powerfully upon my soul , that i may be insatiable in my desires after it , and long to see thee , who art light it self , and in thy light may see light , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer for sunday-evening . o most happy , most blessed , and most glorious god! how can i reflect on the rest of this day without summoning my thoughts to survey the nobler rest , whereof this present is but an emblem ! i have gone this day with the multitude to the house of god , but what is this to the company , i shall ere long meet in heaven , if i imitate them in their severities here ! happy society ! where is no chaff among the corn , no tares among the wheat , no thistles among the roses ! where all are children of god , all are kings , all are saints , all are full of grace and glory , all are wise , all courteous , all affable , all adorn'd with celestial qualities ! if i take such pleasure in the conversation of a wise , discreet , and prudent man here , what delight shall i take in the company of the wisest , holiest , and most accomplished souls , that want nothing , that have all things , that abound in knowledge , in prudence , in wisdom , and in sanctity ! how do i admire men of great parts and abilities here ! in what admiration then will my soul be , when it shall converse with persons deckt with the light of gods glory ! who know all things without reading , understand the greatest mysteries without studying , comprehend the abstrusest things without labour ; who forget nothing , whose memory never decays , whose parts never faile , who know without errour , apprehend without doubting , understand with assurance , and perceive with the greatest evidence imaginable ; who can unfold all riddles , resolve all difficulties , answer to all questions , and think and speak nothing but truth , whose mindes know no darkness , whose understandings are free from clouds , whose knowledge is eternal ! how can they but be happy , when the place where they for ever live is so ! how can they but know the deep things of god , when god is the glass in which they behold all mysteries ! o my god , make me in love with that place , where i shall love thee perfectly , where my soul shall be eternally united to thee , where it cannot but love thee , cannot but embrace thee , and cannot but be ravished with thee forever . if they which running in a race , strive for the mastery , are temperate in all things , shall not i be so ? if they mortifie themselves to gain a corruptible crown , shall not i do so much to gain an incorruptible ! what pains do ungodly sinners take to get to hell , and shall not i be at some cost and charge to get to heaven ! o lord , let it never be said of me , that i valued thy heaven less , than other men do the devils kingdom ! thou offerest me the honour to reign with thee for ever , and in order thereunto requirest nothing of me , but to reign over my self on this side heaven ! thou bid'st me rule my lusts , and shall i give them vent ? thou bid'st me curb my vain desires , and shall i cherish them in my bosom ? thou bid'st me triumph over my flesh , and shall i set it on the throne ? thou bid'st me subdue my worldly inclinations , and shall i give them entertainment ? how great are the glories thou intendest me ! and shall i deprive my self of them out of love to slavery and bondage ? o give me courage to command my self ! o let me not be afraid of displeasing my self ! my dearest lord , teach me so to rule my outward and inward man , that i may rule at last with my blessed redeemer for ever , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer for munday-morning , relating to the meditation prescribed exercise 3. for munday . great , all-seeing , and almighty judge of the world , before whom all mankind must e'erlong appear ! righteous art thou in all thy ways , and holy in all thy works . if the righteous shall scarcely be saved , where shall i a poor sinner appear ! i that have so long , so frequently neglected my duty , delayed my repentance , undervalued thy mercies , despised thy patience , and abused the riches of thy grace and favour ! o lord ! how watchful should i be over my self , if the terrours of the great day of account stood before me in lively characters ! o dreadful day ! when i a poor wretch must stand before thy tribunal , and see my self surrounded with vast legions of angels , all expecting to hear what my sentence will be ! this day i talk of : this day i have frequently in my mouth , but o that my soul were frighted more with the mention and consideration of it ! i should not then lead so easie & so soft a life ; i should then spend more time in weeping and praying . i should then be afraid of defiling my soul with the least spot of sin . lord jesu ! great saviour of the world ! look upon me , and let me feel thy power in my soul , even such power to represent this day to my mind in all its terrours and circumstances , that i may make haste to enter into thy rest . the judge is at the door , let me bring presents to him that ought to be feared ; and since no gift is so pleasing to thee , as a heart entirely devoted to thy service , o perswade me , o help me , o assist me to mind the one thing necessary , and to chuse the better part , which may never be taken away from me , for thy name sake , for thy mercies sake , for thy merits sake . amen . a prayer for munday in the evening . othou omniscient , omnipotent , and omnipresent being , who hast appointed a day wherein thou wilt judge the secrets of mens hearts , and all their words , and actions , and desires , by thy gospel . i believe , this day will come , a day when pure hearts will be esteemed more than eloquent speeches , and a good conscience will to farther than purses of gold. thou lord givest me frequent warnings of the approaches of this day ! my conscience puts me in mind of it . the sicknesses and calamities thou sendest upon me , tell me of it : my heart misgives me that i am not safe , that my soul is in danger , and that my eternal interest is not yet secured . o my god , who art not tired with the prayers of thy servants , nor displeased with the importunities of thy children . i earnestly beg , it is the desire of my soul to be enliven'd and awaken'd into a sense of this day , that to day while i hear thy voice i may not harden my heart . i have delay'd my serious care of a future happiness too long , too long indeed ! o that mine eyes were fountains of tears to weep for this neglect ! i am sensible i must not trifle any longer . i must not defer a concern of that importance to another day . o my god , let me admire thy patience , that i have liv'd unto this hour , and accept of my sacrifice , of the remainder of my days , which i humbly consecrate to faith and love in christ jesus . o let this future judgement swim before mine eyes , when i speak , when i think , when i follow my lawful calling , when i am in company , when i am alone , when i walk , when i sit , when i stand , and let me ever fear that judge who hath power to destroy both soul and body into hell , that both my soul and body may be preserved from damnation , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer for tuesday-morning , relating to the meditation prescribed for tuesday , exercise 3. olord ! how wonderful are all thy works , in wisdom hast thou made them ill , the earth is full of thy riches ! what a monument am i of thy mercy ! how kind hast thou been to this miserable creature ! how am i bound to magnifie thy goodness ! how excellent , how great , how vast , how large , how diffusive is it ! not confin'd to a day , not restrain'd to a place , not limited to an hour ! from my cradle unto this moment i have seen , and tasted how sweet , and how gracious thou art . thou hast carried me on thy wings , as the eagle doth her young ; thorough the various stages of my life , what miracles of providences have mine eyes beheld ! how hath thy providence been at work for me , while i have been asleep , while i have been thinking , and contriving something else , even how to derogate from thy honour and glory ! truly lord ! thy mercy and patience ought to be my song in the house of my pilgrimage ! this i have reason to boast of , to speak of , to meditate of day and night ; by that i subsist , by that i am supported , fed , maintain'd , and preserv'd from the clutches of the devil . o let thy mercy melt my heart ! o let mercy prevail with me to give up my heart to thee . let mercy and goodness force me to love thee ! give me that ingenuity , that generous temper , that noble spirit , that thy goodness may do more with me , than threatnings , and hell , and everlasting torments . let thy love and charity , and constant murificence , oblige me to run in the way of thy commandments ; let these be greater motives with me to do thy will , than all the terrours of the burning lake . o let thy love be of that force in my soul , that i may not be able to resist its motions , but by the strength of that , may hope , believe , endure , deny my self , love , and obey thee to the end of my days , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer for tudsday-evening . great governour and disposer of the world , who hast promised to them that love thee , so to order all things , that they shall all conspire to their good , i am sensible of the good thou hast intended , and dost intend me , by the various dispensations , mine eyes have seen . the various spiritual and temporal blessings that have been conferred upon me , what have they been , but motives to be enamou'rd with the best of beings . thou knowest , if i depart from thee , or love any thing better than thee , i run away from mine own happiness , and go to undo my self ; therefore so many various tokens and expressions of thy love are sent to me to unite my heart to thee , to preserve me in thy fear , and to uphold my goings in thy paths . o wise , o gracious , o bountiful master , kinder to me than i am , or have been to my self ! let me find the good thou designest for me in thy numberless blessings , even the good of my soul , let that grow stronger under thy favours , warmer in thy sunshine , more fervent under these beams , more flaming with love under these enforcives . the very afflictions , thou sendest upon me are intended for my good . i have found it , i have seen it , i have known it by experience , i have learned repentance , humility , submission , fear of sinning by afflictions , which i should never have learned by prosperity ; when i have thought , i had great wrong done me by the contempt , reproach , trouble , misery others have thrown upon me , thou hast let me see , that this was to make me reflect on the affronts , and indignities , i have put upon thee my best and greatest friend . o let me never mistrust thy providence . whatever befals me , let me believe i shall see the goodness of the lord in the land of the living , and let me not be disappointed of my hope , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer for wednesday-morning , relating to the meditation prescribed exercise 3 for wednesday . o thou , in whose hand is the power of life and death , who art immortal , invisible , blessed for evermore ! before the mountains were brought forth , or ever the earth , and the world were made , thou art god , from everlasting to everlasting thou art he . i am a frail , dying creature ; and though i carry an immortal soul about me , yet the vessel , in which that glorious guest abides , will soon grow leaky and decay , and that must turn to dust , and how soon , i know not ; i admire thy wisdom in concealing the day and hour of my death from me ; i am sensible , it 's done to hasten my repentance , to keep me from adding sin unto sin , to restrain me from the vanities of this world , to make me think of a better , and to secure that happy life which shall be after death ! and o that my death might be ever before me ! how great are the things that depend upon it ! two great eternities , whereof one of them , will certainly fall to my share . o let my death be my daily meditation , that i may prevent my everlasting death ! what a miserable creature should i be , if my soul should leave this body , to go into a more dismal prison , from whence there is no returning ! o make me wise , o let me understand what preparation is necessary for that hour ; teach me to undervalue the world , and to mind the things which are above , that when i come to die , i may die with joy , and cheerfully resigne my soul into the hands of my creator . let lust , and pride , and envy , and anger , die in me , before i die , that they may not endanger my soul after death . let me converse with death more , that i may die to sin more , and live more to him that died for me . let the thoughts of death mortifie in me whatever is offensive to thy holiness . in all my actions let me remember my latter end , that my death may be my gain , and my departure out of the world an entrance into a better , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer for wednesday evening . o my god , to whom belong the issues of life and death ! naked came i from my mothers womb , naked shall i return thither . what is my life but a vapour , which appears for a while , and then vanishes away ! o lord ! thou hast made this life transitory , dangerous , short , full of misery , subject to vanity , and as it were a span long ! and all to make me desire to be dissolv'd and to be with christ ; yet how dreadful is death to me ! how do i tremble at the thoughts of it ! what should make me so deeply enamour'd with this life ? at the best it is a warfare ; within are tumults , without are fightings ; i am in a continual state of war here with covetousness , with passion , with pride , with ambition , with carnal lusts , with allurements of the world , with suggestions of the devil ; when one sin is beaten away , another rises ; when i think i have mortified one corruption , another starts up ; the discontents and vexations , the troubles , and the disappointments i meet withal are innumerable ; and can i delight to dwell in such a valley of tears , surrounded with so many snares , encompassed with so many dangers ? should not this make me desirous to be gone ? o my god , make me willing to leave this world ! take away from me the fear of death . why should i fear , when my great master hath overcome this king of terrours ? i will follow my redeemer , i will conform to his example , i will tread in his steps ; this is my resolution , this the firm purpose of my soul ! and why should i doubt of his assisting me ! why should not i be confident , that my death will be a passage from mortality to immortality , from corruption to incorruption , from trouble and misery , to rest and tranquillity ? death is the way to the kingdom of heaven . i cannot inherit it , except i die . do i long for that kingdom , and shall i be afraid of the way that leads to it ! i must die ! o sweet jesu ! let me die contentedly . let death be my choice . let me embrace it before this miserable life , that after death i may live with thee for ever . amen . a prayer for thursday-morning , relating to the meditation prescribed for thursday , exercise 3. o god , whose judgements are unsearchable , and thy ways past finding out ! who art just as well merciful , and hast ordained a dungeon for rebels , as well as a paradise for the innocent ! horrour is ready to overwhelm me when i reflect on the eternal miseries of the damned ! when i think on the unquenchable fire , and on the worm that dies not , how should i tremble at the sins that lead men to those torments ! as eye hath not seen , and ear hath not heard , and the heart of man cannot conceive the joys of heaven , so i must judge of these future miseries too . o dreadful day , when god shall take vengeance of his enemies ! when not onely all the pain and anguish that mankind endures here , shall there be poured out on sinners , but far greater too . how unable am i to endure here the aking of a tooth , the torments of the gout , the misery of the stone , the fire of a fever , the raging of the cholick , the exquisite pain of the strangury ! o then ! what must those miseries be , which know no respit , no interval , no rest , no quiet , no ease , no abatement ! where vengeance will come with a deluge , and not onely the pain of a single disease will be inflicted , but all pains together will meet in the miserable sufferer ! where all things will combine to make him wretched , and all his former pleasures turn into gall and wormwood ! and yet how regardless of these miseries does mankind live ! how little are they frighted with this fire ! how little are they disturbed with this approaching woe ! o my gracious lord ! suffer me not to fall asleep with the foolish virgins , while the day doth last ; while i have time to work , while i am on this side eternity , let me dread these terrours , and the causes of it . whenever i am tempted to offend thee , o let these torments check mine inordinate desires ! o let me consider how short the pleasure is , and how long the bitterness it ends in ! surely thou wilt let the disobedient know one day how odious sin is in thy sight , and how dangerous it was to abuse thy patience ! o give my soul no rest till i firmly believe all this , and believing it , may escape the wrath to come , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer for thursday-evening . great god , whose excellency is over israel , whose strength is in the clouds , who art terrible out of thy holy places , who hast a mighty voice , a voice that will one day shake the world , and summon all mankind to come out of their graves , and to appear before thy judgement seat ! what confusion will the wicked and careless world be in , when thou shalt with indignation send them away into the fire , prepared for the devil and his angels ! where they must be for ever deprived of thy favour , and want thy gracious influences ; where their fancy will be eternally affrighted with hideous and monstrous shapes , where their passions will be in a perpetual uproar , where the remembrance of their former mercies will continually sting them , where their reason will be their tormentor , their conscience their executioner , and yet unable to make an end of them , where their souls will be everlastingly torn with grief and discontent , where god will be the object of their hatred , and their minds will not be able to entertain one kind thought of their judge ; where their souls will be like the troubled sea when it cannot rest , and eternal darkness and gloominess make their estate most uncomfortable ; where no creature pities them , and no man , no angel , no devil affords them any consolation ! o god! can i love my self and not endeavour to prevent this miserable condition ? o call to me , bid me think of it , convince me of it . cure my blindness . let hell be the greatest object of my fear . let me not fear poverty , contempt , sickness , exile , or the unkindness of men , so much , as this horrible tempest . o let me not grow careless of it , because i see it not , and i have not as yet felt it . let me therefore dread it , that i may never feel it . let not the world drown my thoughts of it . let not my lusts put it out of my mind . let not the devil perswade me that i am in no danger . i am in danger , o let me see it , and run away . lord ! here cut , burn , torture , and afflict me , so thou wilt but make me happy for ever . o let the king of heaven hear me when i call , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer for friday-morning , relating to the meditation prescribed for friday , exercise 3. great saviour of the world , who wast wounded for my transgressions , and bruised for my sins ! thou art that innocent , and immaculate lamb , which for sinners , enemies , and condemned creatures , gavest thy back to the smiter , and sufferedst thy self to be beaten , crown'd with thorns , mocked , derided , and inhumanely abused ! a love fitter to be admired in silence , than praised with imperfect expressions ! how freely didst thou part with thy bloud to save my life , and to procure my safety ! never was bloud spilt upon such an account ; or if there were , never was such precious bloud spilt as thine was , bloud which drives away devils , invites angels , cleanses souls , purifies the tabernacle , washes the whole world , and opens the gate of heaven ! who can be so irreligiour as not to be pricked at the heart with the thoughts of thy passion ? who can be so arrogant , or proud , as not to be humbled with the sight ? who so cholerick , as not to be melted into meekness with the contemplation ? who so luxurious , as not to be tempted to self-denial with this spectacle ! o let thy cross have that effect upon me , that i may crucifie my flesh with all its lusts and passions . let thy charity to thine enemies prevail with me , to do good to them that hate me ! let thy patience under reproaches oblige me to be silent under calumnies . let thy love to my soul wound my heart , that i may long for thee , breathe after thee , as my greatest comfort , think of nothing so much as of thee , value nothing so much as thee , delight in nothing so much as in thee , for thou hast done for me beyond expectation , beyond imagination , more than father and mother ever did , more than my dearest friends ever did , more than mortal man can do . o chain my heart to thine , and let nothing separate me from thy love , but be thou mine , and let me be thine , and dwell with thee for ever . amen . a prayer for friday-evening . ojesu ! who hast led captivity captive , spoiled principalities and powers , made a shew of them openly , and triumph'd over them ! how powerful was thy death ! how victorious thy cross ! how potent were thy agonies ! how effectual thy sufferings ! thy cross is my conquest . thy gibbet is my triumph . at that devils tremble , and they that are not afraid of splendid palaces , are afraid of the tree on which thy sacred body was stretched out . how shall sin reign any longer in my body , after such compassion ! shall not i blush after such mercy to offend that friend , who died for me ? shall i reward evil for good , or dare to act against thee any more , who hast conquered my greatest enemies for me ! they would have swallow'd me up quick , when they were so wrathfully displeased at me , but thou camest to my rescue , and wouldest not let me perish by their fury . i can plead no more that sin and the devil , and the world are not conquerable , for thou hast made them so . they have lost their force and power , and a poor christian can make even devils tremble . o let the world be for ever crucified to me , and me unto the world . let me not be afraid of affliction , when my lord and master hath endured so much for me . i hope to share in the glories of thy crown , o let me not be ashamed to bear thy cross. o blessed jesu ! who art a guide to the blind , a way to the erring soul , a staff to the lame , a comforter to the poor , a harbour to the tossed with tempests , a counsellour to the perplexed , wisdom to the foolish , the glory of martyrs , the joy of angels , the foundation of the church , the physician of the sick , meat to the hungry , drink to the thirsty , clothes to the naked , be thou all this to me , and let thy cross supply all my wants , and in this let me glory and rejoyce day and night , that being in some measure crucified with thee here , i may be glorified with thee hereafter . amen . a prayer for saturday-morning , suited to the meditation prescribed exercise 3. for saturday . ogod , who art purity and holiness it self ! how despicable , how odious , how contemptible have i made my self in thy sight by departing from thy holy commandments delivered unto me ! how like an adversary ! how like an enemy of the cross have i lived ! how may i stand amazed at thy patience , that i am yet on this side hell ! what ingratitude have i been guilty of , to thee the best of masters , and the kindest father , who hast been tender of me to a miracle ! how can i reflect upon my unthankfulness without blushing ! o that i might not be able to remember any of my sins without horrour ! how have i undervalued thy wisdom by thinking my self wiser than my god , and by approving that , which thy wisdom hath condemned , as folly and bruitishness ! what fruit had i then in those things whereof i am now ashamed . what warnings hast thou given me , not to venture on those dangerous baits , and yet i have set light by them ! i have been loath to believe those , who poison'd by this viper , have cried out , that they have been cheated and murthered ! i would not believe , till i found death in the pot , and by woful experience saw , that all the fair promises of sin , are meer delusions . lord discover to me my secret errours , and the sins i have been loth to know , convince me of their odiousness and fearful consequence ! teach me to remove my foot far from them , and let me not come near the door of their house . instead of excusing of them , give me grace to confess , and fight against them . let not the present satisfactions tempt me to run into that fire , and anguish , they end in . though the world lies in wickedness , yet let the familiarity and common practices of men be no temptation to me . let me ever look up to that great , and glorious god , who interdicts it , and count my self happier in thy favour , than in all the solaces and flatteries of evil men . anoint me with the oyl of gladness , and let me rejoyce in nothing so much as in doing thy will , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer for saturday-evening . o thou , at whose presence devils tremble , and sinners are afraid ! how blind hath sin made me ! how hath it darkned my understanding , and clouded all my faculties ! how hath it deprived me of spiritual strength , and thrust me into the very jaws of the roaring lion ! what power have i given to my spiritual enemies by offending thee , and how have i armed those foes against mine own soul ! how like an atheist have i lived , while i have been careless of thy omniscience and omnipresence ! how basely have i preferred mine own will , and the favour of men , before thy precepts , and the light of thy countenance ! o the many idle , foolish , silly , lascivious , ridiculous , censorious words , speeches , discourses , and answers , that i have been guilty of ! how little regard have i had to thy day , thy name , thy word , thy ordinances , to the duty of prayer , and to the ministry ! how inattentive in hearing thy word , how cold in prayers , how negligent in the duties of my respective relations have i been ! what pettishness , peevishness , impatience , touchiness ! what envy , hatred , passion , secret grudges have i harboured in my bosom ! what impure , covetous , unclean , disorderly thoughts and desires have i suffered to lodge in my breast ! what a stranger have i been to that veracity , meekness , patience , humility , charity , tenderness , compassion , steddiness in holiness , and readiness to every good word , and work , which thou hast peremptorily commanded ! how have i rendred railing for railing , mistrusted thy providence , allowed my self in discontentedness , and been a coward in thy service ! o my god! i renounce all these swarms of sin , and beg thy illumination , assistance , power , grace , and influence against them ! come lord ! come into this soul of mine , and erect thy throne in my breast ! whenever i am tempted for the future , let me say , i am a christian , i am not mine own , i am bought with a price , and i cannot yield ! o make me stand in awe of mine own conscience , and give me rivers of tears to deplore what is past ! o my god! i desire to walk in the light , even as thou art in the light , that i may have fellowship with thy saints , and the bloud of jesus christ may wash me from all sins . o quicken me , o strengthen me , o leave me not ; in thee do i trust , let me never be confounded for christs sake , to whom with thee , and the eternal spirit , be all honour and glory for ever . amen . advertisement . 1. though the lords prayer be not mentioned in the foregoing supplications , yet a christian that makes use of these devotions , may , and ought conscienciously to add it . 2. as besides our own spiritual wants , we are to recommend to god the necessities of others , so the following ejaculations , may be added to the foregoing prayers . for the whole race of mankind . arise o lord , let thy light shine , and let thy glory rise upon heathens , jews , mahometans , and others , who have not known thee , and upon all the families that do not call upon thy name . remove the darkness that covers the eàrth , and the gross darkness under which whole nations lie . let all men see the light of thy gospel , and flow to it , that their hearts may fear , and be enlarged , and glorifie the house of thy glory . for the universal church of christ. have mercy , lord , on thy church dispersed all the world over . let violence be heard in her no more , nor wasting and destruction within her borders . let her walls be called salvation , and her gates praise . let her priests be cloathed with righteousness , and let her saints rejoyce and sing . let her righteousness go forth as brightness , and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burns . for the king. give the king thy judgements , o god , and let him judge thy people with righteousness . be thou his goodness , his fortress , his high tower , and his deliverer , his shield , in whom he may trust , and subdue his people under him ; send thy hand from above , and rid him , deliver him out of great waters , from the hand of strange children , whose mouth speaketh vanity , and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood . let him rule in the fear of god , and let his glory be as the light of the morning , when the sun rises , even as a morning without clouds . for the royal family . let their glory , o lord , be great in thy salvation , honour and majesty do thou lay upon them . be thou entreated to make them blessed for ever , and exceeding glad with thy countenance . let their goodness be answerable to their greatness , and make them shining and burning lights , that others may see their good works , and praise their father which is in heaven . for the bishops and clergy . enable thy ministers , o lord , to hold faith and a good conscience ; make them great examples of the believers in word , in conversation , in charity , in spirit , in purity . let them meditate upon these things , give themselves wholly to them , that their profiting may appear to all . let them take heed unto themselves , and unto their doctrine , and continue in it , that they may both save themselves and them that hear them . for the people of the land. o lord , make the people willing in the day of thy power , willing to fear god , to honour the king , and to love one another with a pure heart fervently . o that there were such a heart in them , that they might love thee , and fear thee , and keep all thy commandments always , that it might be well with them , and with their children for ever . pardon their crying sins , and perswade them to do justly , to shew mercy , and to walk humbly with their god. for persons distressed in body or mind . o lord , bind up the broken-hearted , proclaim liberty to the captives , and the opening of the prison to them that are bound : proclaim the acceptable year of the lord to the miserable , and the day of peace to comfort all that mourn . give unto them beauty for ashes , the oyl of joy for mourning , the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness . for their shame let them have double , and for confusion , let them rejoyce in their portion , and let everlasting joy be upon their heads . for relations . lord , be thou a father , a husband , a friend , a master , a ruler , and a protector to them all . make them thy friends , thy children , thy favourites , love them freely , receive them graciously , let their souls be bound up in the bundle of life with thee , keep them as the apple of thine eye , and when thou makest up thy jewels , remember them , and spare them as a man would spare his own son that serves him . for benefactors . lord , do good to them that have done good to me . bless them with a true repentance , with pardon of all their sins , with a mighty sense of god , with a holy fruitfulness in all good works , with a meek and humble spirit , with peace of conscience , with joy in the holy ghost , with eminency of vertue , and for the kindnesses they have shewn to me , and mine , reward them sevenfold with mercy into their bosoms . for enemies . lord bless them that curse me , do good to them that hate me , be merciful to them that either have wrong'd me , or would despitefully use me , and transform them by the renewing of their mind , that they may prove what is the holy and acceptable and perfect will of god. advertisement . 3. i thought to have made an end here , but for some reasons was prevailed withal to add these following prayers . for a sick person . o thou , who deliverest the poor when he cries , the needy also , and him that hath no helper , look upon this thy weak servant , from the habitation of thy holiness , and be a physician to his outward and inward man. at once heal his soul and body . speak the word , and thy servant shall be whole . bless him with a sound repentance , and make this affliction an effectual means to produce in him the peaceable fruits of righteousness , of faith , and love , and charity . hear his prayers , regard his groans , give him ease under his burthen , restore his soul , and make him thankful for thy mercy , thorough jesus christ our lord. amen . a short thanksgiving after recovery . i thank thee o father , lord of heaven and earth , because thou hast been pleased to spare this thy unworthy servant . fill me with a mighty sense of thy goodness . o let this mercy never never be forgotten . let me see thy hand in this providence , and admire the great giver of this blessing . be thou hereafter in all my thoughts . encrease my desires after thee , my fear of offending thee , my care to please thee , my love to thy ways , my zeal to thy glory , and fit me for thy everlasting kingdom , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer for a woman with child . o thou , who settest the poor on high from affliction , and makest him families like a flock . take pity of me , o thou that hearest prayers , be with with me in the hour of trouble , when fear and anguish come upon me . forget my sins , and strengthen me with thy grace . bless the fruit of my body , and sanctifie it early . as the mountains are round about jerusalem , so let the lord be round about me from henceforth , even for ever , and though i sow in tears , yet let me reap in joy. be thou my fortress and deliverer , and in the great danger watch over me for good and not for evil , and enable me to tell my friends what the lord hath done for my soul through jesus christ our lord. amen . a thanksgiving after safe deliverance . o god! how am i bound to praise thy great and glorious name , who hast not forsaken me when my soul was in trouble . out of the depth have i cried unto thee , and thou hast heard my voice , and my supplication . for this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time , when thou mayst be found . o lord my god , i cried unto thee , and thou hast healed me . thou hast brought up my soul from the grave , thou hast kept me alive , that i should not go down to the pit. thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing , thou hast put off my sack-cloth , and girded me with gladness , to the end that my glory may sing praises to thee and not be silent . o lord my god , i will give thanks unto thee , and delight my self in the lord for ever , thorough jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer for one that intends a single life . o most gracious god , who givest power to the weak , and strength to the feeble , thou knowest my purposes , and seest my desires , and art acquainted with my design of being married to none but thee . o blessed bridegroom of my soul , give me chast desires , power to resist temptations , strength to subdue the motions of the flesh. dwell in me by thy spirit . teach me to love thee passionately . let no other object engross my affections . give me a spiritual appetite . keep me unspotted in this sinful world . be thou my all , my riches , my pleasure , my delight , my crown , my glory , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer for one that is entring into a married state . o god , who hast made marriage an honourable thing , and promised to bless those that marry in the lord ! in thy name i am entring into another state of life . be merciful unto me , o lord , rejoyce the soul of thy servant , for unto thee o lord do i lift up my soul. direct me in all my actions . counsel me in what i am to do . encline my heart to fear thy name . enrich her , that is to be my yoak-fellow with the choicest of thy favours . give us both hearts to rely and depend upon thee . let 's look up to thee , in all our concerns . make our mutual love sincere , and constant , and let 's encourage one another to godliness . make us helpful one to another , and in our lawful endeavours , and enterprizes let 's see thy bountiful hand . make us both pleas'd with what thou shalt think fit to send upon us , and contented in all conditions , and with united force let 's press toward the mark of eternal glory , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer before a journey . o thou who wast a pillar of cloud to thy people of old in the day , and a pillar of fire by night , watch over me in this journey day and night . be thou my guide , my star , my light , my director , and bring me safe to the place i intend for . preserve me from all evil . protect me from all dangers , let thine angel be my guardian , and under the shadow of thy wings let my refuge be , that i may observe thy statutes , and keep thy laws , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a thanksgiving after a safe return . blessed god , whose works are honourable , and glorious , and who hast made thy wonderful works to be remembred , give me leave to admire , and to praise thy providence , which hath covered me with its feathers , and been my shield and buckler , which hath kept me from the terrour by night , and from the destruction that wasteth at noon day . i cheerfully offer here unto thee the sacrifice of righteousness , and as i see the loving kindness of the lord , so enable me for the future to live in a thankful remembrance of thy goodness , and let this and all thy other gracious providences prevail with me to walk before thee with a perfect and upright heart , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer for one , that is going to sea. o thou , who stillest the raging of the sea , so that the waves thereof are still . thy way is in the sea , and thy path in the great waters , and thy footsteps are not known . o god! i am like to see thy works and wonders in the deep . be with me i beseech thee in my going out , and in my coming in . spread thy wings over me , and let me find by blessed experience , that they who trust in thee shall never be confounded . prosper my voyage , and give success to my endeavours . let not the deep swallow me up , neither let the flouds drown me . shine upon me day and night , and with thy love cherish my fainting spirits . let no evil examples have dominion over me . let thy fear be upon my soul , at all times , and let nothing tempt me to depart from my integrity . let my soul learn by thy providences to keep close to thy word , and let that be my comfort in all my afflictions , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a thanksgiving when one is returned safely . o god , thou art the god , that doest wonders , thou hast declared thy strength among the people , thou hast with thine arm redeem'd thy people , the sons of jacob and joseph . i will praise thee , for thy goodness , and for thy wonderful works to the children of men . i will exalt thee in the congregation of the people , and praise thee in the assembly of the elders . i cried unto the lord in my trouble , and thou broughtest me out of my distresses . thou hath delivered me from the great waters , and my life hath been precious in thy sight . recreate my soul with the thoughts of thy mercy , and while i am sailing through the boisterous sea of this world , let thy word be a lanthorn to my feet , and a light to my paths , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a short prayer before divine service or sermon . o god , i am come into the house , where thy honour dwelleth . overaw me with a sense of thy presence , that i may pray with understanding , and like a person concern'd about the blessings , i shall pray for . fix my thoughts and affections on thy sweet self , and teach me to make intercessions with groans , which cannot be uttered . let thy word be sweet to me , and give me a tractable spirit , that may cheerfully , and willingly submit to the yoak of the lord jesus . assist me in all my duties and devotions , and let thy good spirit direct and order them to thy glory . make my soul a gainer by these spiritual exercises , and let all the congregation feel the power of thy influences , that with one heart , and one voice , we may glorifie god in the day of visitation , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a prayer after divine service and sermon . o thou , who livest for ever and ever , i have pray'd , i have heard thy word , i have joyn'd with thy people in their supplications and prayers . if thou lord shouldest mark iniquities , who shall stand ? pardon , i beseech thee , the iniquities of my holy things , and what imperfections thou hast seen in my devotions , cover them with the unspotted righteousness of christ jesus , and cleanse them with his bloud . cast me not away from thy presence , neither take thy holy spirit from me . accept of my imperfect services , and make me more circumspect in all my ways . let thy word be written in my heart , and let neither the cares , nor riches , nor pleasures of the world steal it away . o give me thy grace to walk according to this rule , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a morning-prayer for a family . o god , great and glorious ! the day is thine , and the night is thine , thou hast made summer and winter , thou hast made the out-goings of the morning and evening to rejoyce . how great is thy loving kindness ! therefore the children of men shall put their trust under the shadow of thy wings . we praise thee o god , we acknowledge thee to be the lord. thou art the great preserver of men . thou hast protected us the night past , and through thy mercy we have escaped innumerable dangers ; thou hast been our refuge , our hiding place , our fortress , and our deliverer . one generation shall praise thy works unto another , and declare thy mighty acts . we see thy goodness again in the land of the living . thou hast spread thy wings over us , thou hast covered us with thy feathers . thou knowest our frame , and remembrest we are dust . thou knowest how unable we are to keep our selves , and therefore hast taken care of us , and unto this moment thy favours and loving kindnesses rest upon our souls and bodies . o that men would praise the lord for his goodness , and declare his wonderful works to the children of men ! we cannot but remember , how like a father thou hast pitied us all our days . we have always found thy help in the time of trouble . how precious are thy thoughts , which are to us ward ; they cannot be reckon'd up in order unto thee . if we would declare and speak of them , they are more than can be numbred . what sacrifices of thanksgiving are we bound to offer unto thee for thy love to our souls in christ jesus , for the assistances of thy holy spirit , for thy word , and ordinances , and for all the encouragements we have to lay hold on eternal life ! o make us sensible of thy goodness ! let us see how sweet , and how gracious thou art , and let this sight work in us a perfect hatred of sin , and a fervent love to the ways of holiness . discover to us the errours of our ways . reveal to us our secret corruptions . let not only greater , but even all lesser sins become odious and loathsom to our souls . establish us with thy grace , uphold us with thy free spirit . leave us not to our selves , rule us by thy power , direct us by thy wisdom . enable us to do thy will. encourage us to cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit , and whatever things are praise-worthy , let 's not onely think of them , but practise them . give us earnest desires to imitate the best of mankind . let 's delight greatly in thy commandments . lord ! open the eyes of our understandings , that we may look more earnestly upon the spiritual riches thou hast vouchsafed unto us , and may be enamour'd with them , and despise the vanities of the world , and set our affections upon the things which are above , and may at last obtain the end of our faith , even the salvation of our souls . be with us this following day . make us watchful over our senses . work in us a detestation of all filthy discourses , and of all the ill we see in the world . teach us how to live in thy fear , and whatever sin we are tempted to , let 's tremble at it , and say , how can we commit this wickedness , and sin against our god! let thy holy angels keep us in all our ways . order our steps according to thy word . direct and guide our thoughts , and words , and actions . bless all our lawful endeavours . cross and disappoint us , in that which is offensive to thy holiness . prosper that which is expedient for us . give us courage , and wisdom , discretion , and resolution in our behaviour toward god and men , and let 's use the world , as if we used it not . keep our thoughts fixed upon a better life , that whenever thou shalt call us away from hence , we may be ready and willing to obey thy summons , through jesus christ our lord. amen . here the prayers for the king , royal family , church , &c. may be added . an evening prayer for a family . most holy , and ever-glorious god! how excellent is thy name in all the world ! thou art to be seen in all thy works , and we have seen thee , the day past , in thy various mercies and gracious providences , for which we do here render our most humble and hearty thanks . o god! who is like unto thee ? for though thou dwellest on high , yet thou humblest thy self to behold the ways of the children of men ! what are we , that thou shouldest take notice of us ! or what is our frame , that thou shouldest have such respect unto us ! we see thy condescention , and admire it . we see thy loving kindnesses , and praise thy name . thy mercy reacheth unto the heavens , thy faithfulness unto the clouds . thou givest unto us all that our hearts , and faith , and reason can desire ! what a glorious gift is the son of thy bosom ! what rich presents are thy promises ! how industrious is thy providence , to engage our hearts to love thee ! yet how backward are we to this duty ! how loath to raise our souls above the world ! how unwilling to take thee for our greatest treasure ! we say , and speak glorious things of thee now and then , but we feel them not . o touch our hearts , and warm them with the fire of the sanctuary , and let 's know no other thing , than to love thee with all our hearts , and with all our souls . be thou the pleasing object of our souls , and let 's be displeased with nothing but what displeases thee . teach us to neglect our own will , that we may the better comply with thine , and let 's walk by this golden rule , to speak little , to think little , and to do much . thou hast done great things for us , denied thy self in thy glory , majesty , and splendor to do us good , let 's therefore scruple nothing that thou commandest ; and give us strength to do what thou commandest , and then command what thou pleasest . enable us to act , and speak , and live , as in thy presence , where-ever we are , and whatever we are doing , and let 's so live in the world as not to be of the world . let no condition thou shalt call us out unto , be uneasie or unpleasant to us , and whenever thou shalt think fit to correct us , let 's look upon the providence , as intended for our good . whenever we are exercised by temptations , let 's not grow impatient , but rest in an humble and cheerful resignation to thy will. fit us for the hour of our death , and let 's not delay our seriousness to a sick bed . let 's readily obey thy present call , and take heed of procrastinations . let the great things that depend upon our death , be much in our thoughts , and let 's not put the evil day far from us . encourage us so to so journ here , that at our journeys end , we may be received into everlasting habitations . take us all into thy protection this following night . o thou great shepherd of israel , who neither slumberest nor sleepest , spread thy wings over us , and we shall be safe . fit us for the duties of the following day . teach us to commune with our hearts upon our beds , and to meditate of thy wondrous works . let our rest be comfortable to the refreshing of our bodies , and that we may be the better able to discharge our duties the following day . let our everlasting rest be never out of our minds , and from the sweetness of our rest on our beds , let 's take occasion to consider , how much sweeter our eternal rest will be in thy bosom . banish from our minds all foolish and vain imaginations , and let 's ever think our selves most happy when we do most converse with thee , who art most blessed for ever . visit us with the favour thou bearest unto thine own people ; and give us all such resolutions to serve thee , that we may never be faint or weary in thy service , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a grace before meat . o lord , thy bountiful hand hath provided these thy good creatures for me [ us ] . let me use them with moderation , temperance , and sobriety , to the glory of thy name , through jesus christ our lord. amen . or : lord , let me see thee the great creator in these thy creatures , and as thou dost intend them for my nourishment , so let my soul be encouraged by these mercies to abound more and more in goodness and vertue , through jesus christ our lord. amen . a grace after meat . o lord , who art the great preserver of men , and who hast fed me at this time with thy blessings , receive my humble praises for these thy mercies , and engage me to walk before thee in righteousness and true holiness , through jesus christ our lord. amen . or : how excellent o lord , is thy loving kindness , i have seen and tasted again how sweet and gracious the lord is . make my will perfectly conformable to thy will , and let these and all thy other mercies prove motives to me to love thee unto the end , thorough jesus christ our lord , amen . finis . the table . a prayer relating to exercise 1. which is to pray without ceasing . page 1 a prayer relating to exercise 2. which is every morning to resolve to tie our selves that day to certain rules of living . 5 a prayer relating to exercise 3. viz. every day to spend half an hour or some such time , in thinking of good things . 10 a prayer relating to exercise 4. viz. to study deep humility . 16 a prayer relating to exercise 5. viz. to bridle our tongues . 21 a prayer relating to exercise 6. viz. to watch against little sins . 26 a prayer relating to exercise 7. viz. to keep a strict guard over our eyes . 33 a prayer relating to exercise 8. viz. to make use of the virtues and vices of our neighbours . 40 a prayer relating to exercise 9. viz. to put a charitable interpretation upon what we see or hear . 45 a prayer relating to exercise 10. viz. conscientiously to discharge the duties of our several callings and relations . 51 a prayer relating to exercise 11. viz. to resist all sorts of temptations . 56 a prayer relating to exercise 12. viz. to stand in awe of god , when we are alone and no creature sees us . 62 a prayer relating to exercise 13. viz. to do all things to gods glory . 67 a prayer relating to exercise 14. viz. to stir up and exercise the graces god hath given us . 73 a prayer relating to exercise 15. viz. every night before we go to bed to call our selves to an account for the actions of the day . 80 a prayer relating to exercise extraordinary 1. viz. to enter into solemn vows and promises . 85 a prayer relating to exercise extraordinary 2. viz. to subdue the body by fasting . 91 a prayer relating to exercise extraordinary 3. viz. to use watching , or abstinence from sleep . 97 a prayer relating to exercise extraordinary 4. viz. to apply our selves to self-revenge . 103 a prayer for sunday morning . 109 a prayer for sunday evening . 117 a prayer for munday morning . 124 a prayer for munday evening . 128 a prayer for tuesday morning . 132 a prayer for tuesday evening . 136 a prayer for wednesday morning . 140 a prayer for wednesday evening . 144 a prayer for thursday morning . 149 a prayer for thursday evening . 154 a prayer for friday morning . 159 a prayer for friday evening . 163 a prayer for saturday morning . 167 a prayer for saturday evening . 172 a prayer for the whole race of mankind . 178 a prayer for the universal church of christ. 180 a prayer for the king. 181 a prayer for the royal family . 183 a prayer for the bishops and clergy . 184 a prayer for the people of the land. 185 a prayer for persons distressed in body or mind . 187 a prayer for relations . 189 a prayer for benefactors . 190 a prayer for enemies . 192 a prayer for a sick person . 193 a thanksgiving after recovery . 195 a prayer for a woman with child . 197 a thanksgiving after safe deliverance . 199 a prayer for one that intends a single life . 201 a prayer for one that is entring into a married state . 203 a prayer before a journey . 205 a thanksgiving after a safe return . 207 a prayer for one that is going to sea. 209 a thanksgiving when one is returned safely . 211 a short prayer before divine service or sermon . 213 a prayer after divine service and sermon . 215 a morning-prayer for a family . 217 an evening-prayer for a family . 224. a grace before meat . 231 a grace after meat . 233. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44516-e2140 here the benefactors names may be mentioned . four tracts by a. horneck ...; with a preface by mr. edwards. selections. 1697 horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 1697 approx. 166 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 77 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44522 wing h2831 estc r4616 13470339 ocm 13470339 99684 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44522) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 99684) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 790:26) four tracts by a. horneck ...; with a preface by mr. edwards. selections. 1697 horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. [8], 144 p. printed for s. lownds ..., w. hinchman ..., s. keble ..., and d. browne ..., london : 1697. "questions and answers concerning the two religions" (p. 27-54) and "a disswasive from popery" (p. 63-144) have special t.p.'s. reproduction of original in huntington library. (from t.p.) i. a discourse against revenge, shewing the exorbitant passions in man, from mat. v, 21, 22 -ii. questions and answers concerning the two religions : viz, that of the church of england and the other of the church of rome : intended for the use and benefit of the younger sort of people -iii. an account of an evening-conference with a jesuite in the savoy, jan. 22 -iv. a disswasive from popery : being a letter to a lady to preserve her from apostacy from the communion of the church of england. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng church of england -doctrines. catholic church -controversial literature. bible. -n.t. -matthew v, 21-22 -criticism, interpretation, etc. 2005-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2005-04 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion four tracts : i. a discourse against revenge , ( shewing the exorbitant . passions in man ) from mat. v. 21 , 22. ii. questions and answers concerning the two religions ; viz. that of the church of england , and the other of the church of rome . intended for the use and benefit of the younger sort of people . iii. an account of an evening-conference with a jesuite in the savoy , jan. 22. iv. a disswasive from popery , being a letter to a lady to preserve her from apostacy from the communion of the church of england . by a. horneck , d. d. late prebendary of westminster , and preacher at the savoy . with a preface by mr. edwards . london , printed for s. lownds at the savoy . w. hinchman at westminster-hall , s. keble in fleet-street , and d. browne without temple bar. 1697. the preface . had i attempted my self to have published any thing of this nature , which i now would only recommend ; i should then have had too great reason to have made an excuse , and indeed too just fears not to have obtain'd it : but since the goodness , authority , and piety of the deceased author , are so very deservedly valued by the world , i shall only concern my self to let the reader know that the following tracts were his own writing , as i was desired by the bookseller to do , and which piece of service i could not well deny him , having compared the sheets with some manuscripts that are in my hands , and with some occasional notes of his upon the bible and common prayer-book , which were lately sold with his other books ; and indeed after their resolution to publish them under his name , it was but reason that the reader should be satisfied they were such as they were represented . and besides the authority that they may have , the usefulness of the first to restrain the provocations and revenges which this age , as moral as it pretends to be , is so very full of , and of the other to dispel the carelessness and indifferency of the world towards any worship at all , as full of religion , or rather pieces of it as at present it is , may now add to its recommending . for first , the sinfulness of revenge is so very great , and the pretended occasions for it so very many , that the fatal forerunners of it , anger and malice , can't be too many ways , nor indeed by any , too severely exploded : for though it 's certain that the courage of the present age does not , any more than the piety , come up to the excellency of the antient and primitive time ; yet that which is call'd courage , ( no better it may be than an ill tim'd and ill manag'd resentment , ) will fly oftner in their faces than their conscience still , and raise the concern for an affected reputation , much above the care for their truly real and eternal safety . for a mistaken resentment quickly forgets all obligations of nature , country , religion , and the same flesh and blood too sometimes , in the heighth of an encourag'd passion , and unthinking fury ; and the frequent repeating it serves only to harden the most recommending tenderness of our natures to another person , and at length it may and does too sometimes , make a man forget that self preserving care that is so unquestionably due to his own : whereas the excusing a provocation may include the having a power to revenge it , and besides this , here is the credit of the most difficult and recommending mastery gain'd , that of a mans self : and thus a man is most likely to secure that dominion which he would be assuming even over his neighbour , whose pride and resentment , when too provokingly urg'd , may prove as great as his . if men would therefore comply with this agreeable restraint upon such ungovernable passions of their nature , revenge would be left to god , who was always pleas'd to reserve it to himself who can best right our injur'd innocence , with an hand whose correction he can withdraw at his pleasure , ( which command of our selves we to be sure can't pretend to ; ) so shall we be freed from the indecencies of revenge that can never be amended , if the sinfulness of it should be repented of ; unless a man once provok'd were as willing to forget , as the almighty , though never so incensed , is to forgive upon the submission of a repenting offender . thus much may serve to prepare the reader to attend to the following discourse with a true intention not to resist such influence , as by the blessing of god it may have upon him , as that good man doubtless pray'd it might when he writ it , and as i heartily desire it may to all that read it . in relation to the other tracts they may without doubt be very serviceable , not only to the younger in years , but to those too whose neglect of their time may in this respect , have shamefully levell'd them with those , whose smaller time and judgment have not yet impower'd them to attend it ; for i 'm afraid it is too great a truth , that many of our own church apprehend as little of the articles of that faith they pretend to be of , and the object of our worship , as the generality of the other church do of the language of their's , and we are not only willing , but concern'd too , that they should understand them both . so that if the first tract should any ways contribute to restrain the troublesome and uneasie disorders of anger and malice , and the dismal procedure of double returning revenge ; and the other should furnish any unapprehending person with a reason of the hope he has of his salvation whenever it should be demanded or any attempt made to remove him from it , which the distance of it don't seem to secure , more than the dissatisfactions controversies , and carelessnesses may threaten . and if the account , that is here given of the absurdities , impieties , and vanities , that are in that worship , should convince any person that he ought to decline it and retain his own , the church would be serv'd : no person that i know of injured , and the reader , i hope , as well as my self very well pleas'd in it . london may 27th . 1697. w. edwards . a discourse against revenge , &c. mat. v. 21 , 22. ye have heard , that it was said by them of old time , thou shalt not kill , and whosoever shall kill , shall be in danger of the judgment : but i say unto you , that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause , shall be in danger of the judgment ; and whosoever shall say to his brother raca , shall be in danger of the council ; but whosoever shall say thou fool , shall be in danger of hell fire . false teachers without doubt are very dangerous men. the murtherer kills the body , these the soul ; and by the false doctrines they sow in mens heads and minds , they not only obstruct their salvation , but lead them into perdition : indeed if the errors be light and trivial , the hurt that 's done is not great ; and while the erroneous doctrine reaches no farther than speculation , it can deserve no very severe censure ; but when it spoiles and sullies the worship of god , or proves an impediment to the faithful discharge of our duty to god and man , poison is not so prejudicial to the outward , as such opinions are to the inward man , and the better part . and such were the erroneous doctrines of the scribes and pharisees : blending the traditions of their fathers with the law of god , and entertaining both , with an equal faith and veneration ; they made an odd kind of divinity , and quite perverted the design of religion , which was to make men universally good . this was particularly visible in the notion they had of the sixth commandment , which they interpreted to the carnal advantage , and worldly interest of their people , teaching them , that if they did but use that care and circumspection as not to kill a man , they did not only answer the design of the lawgiver , but would prevent the penalty annex'd , and their being taken notice of by the magistrate , and punished accordingly : but as for wrath , and malice , and reproachful language , whereby murder and such bloody practices are too often occasion'd and promoted , these they told them were things not forbid in the primary intention of the law of god , and consequently they need fear no punishment . to which preposterous exposition our saviour opposes his divine authority , proves the gloss of their elders upon the sixth commandment to be false ; and shews , that what they thought did not deserve so much as a temporal judgment , god would punish with eternal vengeance , if not forsaken , or repented of betimes : ye have heard , that it was said by them of old time , thou shalt not kill , and whosoever shall kill , shall be , &c. this is a text upon which criticks and learned men have bestow'd many excellent observations , because the words relate to some antient customes of the jews , in their judicial proceedings against malefactors and others : but as i do not think it proper to entertain you with curiosities , so if there be need of making use of any of those observations , i shall do it no farther , than they serve to elucidate some of the obscurer passages of the text , and make way for the practical points i shall insist upon for your edification . as to the sense of the words , it 's briefly this : 1. whether we render the expression in the original , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , it hath been said by them of old time , or to them of old time , as some translations read it , the difference is not very material : for as by those of old time are meant either the antient masters of tradition , who lived some hundred years before that time ; or the ancestors of the jews , to whom those masters of tradition pretended to deliver an oral exposition of the law of moses ; so if we read , by them of old time , the meaning is , you have heard that it hath been deliver'd , and said by the antient masters of tradition : and if we render it , to them of old time , the sense is , you have heard it delivered to your ancestors and forefathers , by those antient masters of tradition . i restrain , you see , this passage to tradition ; for though the sense of it is to be sound in the law of moses , yet the maxim , as it is related by our saviour here , is not expressed there neither with that connection : and therefore i conceive the antient expositors of the law contracted what moses had said , into this motto , whosoever shall kill , shall be in danger of the judgment . 2. what is said here of killing , is meant of killing a man , and hath respect to the sixth commandment , thou shalt do no murder . by which law , as the killing of beasts for man's use could not be intended , nor destroying venemous and noxious animals , nor executing of malefactors by order of the magistrate , nor depriving men of their lives in a just and lawful war , but an unjust depriving a man of his life ; so there was a punishment suitable annex'd to the breach of that law ; which punishment was to be ordered and inflicted by the magistrate ; and so far as the law of god given by moses went , all was right , and just , and reasonable ; but here the masters of tradition had made a distinction , that if a man had hired another to kill his neighbour , or had let loose a wild beast upon him , whereby he died , the magistrate was not to inflict the punishment of death upon him , but he was to be left to the extraordinary judgment of god ; but if he killed him in person , either by a sword , or by a stone , or by some other weapon , then the magistrate was to execute the penalty appointed by the law of moses , upon him ; but this was not all , for they taught moreover , that though a person who killed another was liable to capital punishments , yet the wrath , the anger , and the malice that prompted him to it , was a thing that deserved no punishment , and therefore this was not a thing to be feared ; and here came in tradition , which misinterpreted the law of moses , though it stands to reason , that he who forbids a sin , at the same time doth forbid the occasion of it , and all such things as do naturally lead to the commission of it . 3. our saviour , to shew that wrath , and anger , and malice , and reproachful language , were liable to punishment , as well as murder , and that god would certainly lash them , as well as the greater enormities , takes notice of several degrees of unjust wrath and anger . the first is a sudden effervescence , or boyling up of the blood , or some violent agitation and commotion of the passions upon a frivolous occasion ; and therefore adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , without sufficient cause , which though it be not in some copies , yet must necessarily be understood here ; not denying but that anger in some cases may be lawful , but shewing withal , that if the occasion of the anger be slight and trivial , and the anger even in a lawful cause be excessive , and going beyond its just bounds , it provokes god's heavy displeasure . but then if this secret anger within , or the first boyling over of the blood , proceeds farther to contemptuous words , and that a man in wrath and malice gives his neighbour reproachful language , despising and undervaluing him , by using expressions and names , which wound his reputation , intimated by the word rakah , i. e. vile and worthless wretch ; though i am apt to believe that an angry and threatning noise and posture is chiefly meant by that word in this case , the sin rises higher , and becomes greater , and consequently deserves a severer judgment ; but then , if this anger mounts higher yet , and from an angry threatning posture and noise , which betrays wrath and indignation , it proceeds to the calling our neighbour fool , i. e. wicked and reprobate wretch , deserving the eternal anger both of god , and all good men , which is the meaning of the word fool in the proverbs of solomon ; as the sin becomes more heinous by this aggravation , so the punishment of it in the other world will be greater yet . 4. what our saviour saith here of a certain gradation of punishments due to the several lusts , and degrees of wrath and anger , judgment , council , hell fire , must be understood of penalties in the next world , yet with allusion to the degrees of punishment among the jews in this life . now among the jews , there were three degrees of publick infamy , according to the nature of the punishment inflicted on men for their crimes , and the more publick the punishment was , the greater was the infamy . if an offendor were brought before the court of three and twenty , which was an inferiour court of judicature called here , being guilty of the judgment , and there condemn'd , he was infamous , and a great disgrace it was to him , but in a lower degree : if he were brought before the sanedrin , or the great council of the nation , consisting of lxx elders , in the nature of our parliament , and by them adjudged to death , the infamy and disgrace was greater : yet if , lastly , a man were condemn'd to be burnt in the valley of hinnon or tophet , where all the trash and filth of the city of jerusalem , the garbage and dead carcasses were burnt , and where antiently they offered their children to moloch , and where a perpetual fire was kept to consume all things that were offensive and nauseous , and which by the jews themselves was look'd upon as an emblem of hell fire , the infamy was greatest of all : according to these degrees of infamy here on earth , christ shews there will be degrees of punishment for the several degrees of unjust and unlawful anger , in the other world ; for most certainly this threatning cannot be understood with respect to this life , there being no such thing inflicted upon men , for anger and reproachful names , on this side the grave ; and whereas the jews were generally afraid chiefly of punishments in this life , christ thought fit to acquaint them and us , that we had far greater reason to be afraid of the punishments in the next , as more dreadful and more grievous than any they could fear here on earth . and this is the meaning of the commination in the text , whosoever , &c. from the words thus explained , arise these following truths : i. antiquity is no warrant for erroneous doctrines and practices . ii. murder is a crime , which the magistrate must by no means suffer to go unpunish'd . iii. wrath and anger without a just cause , hath its degrees , and according to the degrees of the sin , the punishment in the next world will be proportionable . 1. antiquity is no warrant for erroneous doctrines and practices . the scribes and pharisees here pretended , that what they taught and practic'd concerning the sixth commandment , was deliver'd to them by them of old time . but our saviour shews , that this pretence could be of no use to them , but rather betray'd than cover'd their nakedness . error pleads antiquity as well as truth ; and though nothing be more antient than truth , for it is from eternity , and before ever error appear'd in the world , truth had the universal monarchy , yet error is as antient as the fall. as soon as the apostate angels forsook their habitation and integrity together , error began to shew it self , which soon spread it self through the habitable world ; when man , tempted by the devil , consented to his false principles , and went astray from the center of his happiness . no doubt , antiquity is venerable , but it must be in a good cause , and where truth and that join together , the argument is perswasive , and may be call'd invincible . but a thing is not therefore true because it is antient , nor doth it command assent , because of its uncommon pedigree . sin and error lose little of their deformity by appealing to antient times , and an error is so much the worse , by how much it defends itself by the practice of former ages . idolatry , and all the vices in the world , may shelter themselves under this roof ; and there is no villany so great , but men may find a president two or three thousand years ago . the priests of the temple of diana at ephesus , called the wicker-image of that goddess 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , fallen down from jupiter , meerly because it was antient ; and the temple having been seven times ruin'd , and built up again , and this image still preserved , was to them an argument that this worship must be lawful . indeed , at this rate , a man might even defend sodomy with the romish arch-bishop joannes casa , because it was practised in the cities which god destroyed with fire and brimstone and the jews would have had a good plea for their adoration of the queen of heaven , because their fathers had been used to it . this very argument makes the allegations of the roman church from antiquity ridiculous , and they might as well espouse the heresies of ebian and cerinthus , because they lived in and about the age of the holy apostles . when god hath given a standard of truth , that must be the rule whereby truth and error must be concluded ; and when that saith a thing is true , it is not its being revived , or taught but yesterday , that can make it false ; and whatever is contrary to that form of sound words , must be erroneous and false , though it were as old as the rebellion of corah , dathan and abiram . the worship of images is not therefore lawful , because irene a superstitious woman 900 years ago , got a company of illiterate and passionate men together , who decreed it in a council ; nor is sedition and disobedience to magistrates therefore justifiable , because gregory ii. pope of rome , in the eighth century , shook off the authority of leo isaurus , his emperor . and therefore let none of you plead for any sin because it is the fashion , nor allow themselves in actions offensive to god's holiness , because it hath been the custom of the country to do so for many ages . this will be but a poor defence in the last day to alledge , that you follow'd the sinful practices of your ancestors , or to say it was unmannerly to depart from that which was done before you for many generations . to be sure , men were good before they were bad , and there was a golden age before that of iron took place in the world ; and therefore if antiquity be a motive , nothing can challenge your embraces more than righteousness , and dominion over your appetite and passions , for that was in the world before mankind knew what is was to depart from the living god. murder is as antient as the time of cain ; yet no civiliz'd nation under the cope of heaven will allow of it , because of its antiquity : so far from it , that in all countries it is order'd to be punish'd with the death of the insolent creature : which calls me to the ii. observation , that murder is a crime which a magistrate must by no means suffer to go unpunished ; for it hath been said , thou shalt not kill , and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment . the substance of this hath been said by almighty god , as well as by them of old time ; and so far as god hath said it , it is a law unalterable . murder is a truly crying sin , for the voice of thy brother's blood crys unto me from the ground , saith god , gen. iv. 10. this is a crime which nature it self trembles at ; and yet we see there are wretches and monsters , who can steel and harden their consciences against the horror of it : but god thunders against it from heaven ; and because the crime is so great , he hath made a law , and given it to all mankind , that whoso sheds mans blood , by man , i. e. by the magistrates , shall his blood be shed , gen. ix . 6. nay , if a wild beast tears a man , who is going about his lawful occasions , in pieces , though an irrational creature , god will strike that beast dead , because it kill'd sanctius his animal , a nobler , and more sacred fabrick . so tender is god of the life of man , nor would he suffer his tabernacle or sanctuary to be a refuge for such a barbarous wretch . the horns of the altar could not save the offender , and from the very temple he was to be dragg'd to the gallows , or place of execution . the whole country comes to be defiled by the horrid crime , where it goes unpunish'd ; and that magistrate makes his soul black with guilt , that connives at the inhumane action ; or out of respect to greatness , or rank , or quality , pardons the intollerable extravagance : where this remains unpunish'd , when known , a nation falls under the curse of god ; and whatever judgments befal them , an ounce of the unpunish'd murder , as the jews say of the sin of the golden calf , may be said to be an ingredient of their calamity . we have a distinction in our law betwixt mans slaughter and murder ; a distinction , which i wish did not too often cover that bloody crime , which ought to be avenged by publick justice . the word of god knows no such distinction ; and tho' it provides for chance-medly , and gives pardon to the man that unawares , and without any intent to kill , proves the occasion of another's death ; yet this is nothing to that act , which wrath and anger , whether sudden , or premeditate , doth produce to the horror of the creation . neither doth the law of the gospel , nor the law of moses in this case before us , reverse the law of nature ; and god is so resolute , that the magistrate shall punish such offenders with death , that where they do not , himself sometimes takes the sword in hand , and executes the presumptuous destroyer of his image : nay , many times makes the wretch that did the fact , and escapes the magistrates sword , his own executioner : alphonsus diazius , a spaniard , and a roman catholick , having kill'd his own natural brother for turning protestant , for which he receiv'd the praises and applauses of considerable men in the church of rome , haunted and hunted at last by the furies of his own conscience , desperately hang'd himself at trent , de callo mulae suae , saith the historian , upon the neck of his own mule. it 's true , there are those , who guilty of such crimes , do yet escape the revenging arm of god and man here , but the more terrible will be their cup of trembling hereafter ; and god lets some , like stall'd oxen , grow fat on this side the grave , that with greater terrour they may fall a sacrifice , when they die , to hellish furies . nor can duels and single combats upon an affront receiv'd , and challenging one another to fight , be excused from sharing in the heinousness of this guilt ; for whatever fine names , and plausible descriptions , the law of honour may have made of such actions ; he that kills another in a duel , though he gets a pardon of his prince , will be arraign'd in the last day among the murtherers , who shall have their portion in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone . i do not deny , but that in the dark times of popery such combats have been allow'd of , and publick prayers have been said for success in such duels , but what credit can a cause receive from ages , in which to understand greek was a crime , and hebrew next to heresie . we need not wonder , that babylon the mother of harlots should permit such things , whose garments have been died red with the blood of the saints of god , and which hath tricks and ways to canonize assassins , to consecrate murther , and to christen massacres , services of religon . to call upon you to take heed of having a hand in blood , were to discourage you from drowning or poisoning your selves , or running a sword into your own bowels , for indeed this is no better , and whatever varnish may be put upon it , it is precipitating your selves headlong into the gulf of perdition . there is in this sin , all that can aggravate a deed ; it is to raise a hell in your bosom , and the thing it self speaks so much abomination , that to name the sin , is to give you a thousand arguments against it . but then that ye may not be under any temptation to this sin ; let bitterness , and wrath , and anger be put away from you with all malice , which leads me to the third proposition . iii. that wrath and anger without a just cause have their degrees , and according to them , the punishment in the next life will be proportionable . for whosoever shall be angry with his brother without a cause , shall be in danger of the judgment ; and whosoever shall say to his brother raca , shall be in danger of the councel ; but whosoever shall say thou fool , shall be in danger of hell-fire . that some anger is lawful , is evident , from hence , because christ himself was angry , and very angry sometimes , and so were the apostles ; and we are permitted to be so , but with this caution , be angry and sin not , i. e. so as not to sin , eph. iv. 26. so that all anger is not a mark of damnation . but then when the author and captain of our salvation , christ jesus , and his holy apostles were angry , it was only against sin , and out of a zeal to vertue , and when men were obstinate and would not be perswaded to do their duty ; and a sense of god's glory kindled the fire of their passion ; in which case to be angry is a perfection , and to be passionate , a christian accomplishment ; provided still that the bounds of that anger be observed , and it's heat do not turn into wild-fire ; that it be not attended with unseemly expressions , nor accompanied with furious gestures and actions . i do not deny but a man may be angry with his servant , a father with his children , and a master with his schollars , and proceed even to correction ; but then it must be , because they neglect their duty , or will not hearken to wholsome admonitions , and when gentler addresses will do no good , and the anger must be more upon the account of their sin , than out of any desire to revenge , and it must be an anger mingled with pitty and compassion , and which ends in prayer for the offenders , and it must be free from fury and reviling language : and being kept within these bounds , i find no fault with this anger . but this is not the anger my text speaks of , and against which christ levells his commination here , for that 's anger without sufficient cause , even anger , because our worldly interest is not promoted , as we expected , or because our honour and reputation is touch'd , or because something , which gratifies our lusts , is with-held from us , or because our vain desires are not cocker'd and flatter'd , or because such a person hath not given us the title and respect we look'd for , or because we cannot digest a reproof , or because we are cross'd in our designs , or because such a man is not of our opinion , or because he will not conform to our humour . these are the things which commonly provoke to passion , and this anger , the farther it goes , the worse it grows , if from thoughts and secret grudges ; it proceeds to contumelious , reproachful , and reviling language , to calling the party ill names , fool and rogue , and villain , and rascal and knave , and cheat , and hypocrite , and such other titles , as modesty will not suffer us to name , it becomes greater ; and if from words and expressions it goes farther yet , even to actions of revenge , and settles in hatred , in rancour , and inveterate malice ; it then shuts out the righteousness of god , and lets in the devil , and invites evil spirits to come and lodge in that house , and the last estate of that man grows worse than the first . and is not this the case of abundance of you ? do not you see something in this glass that 's very like you , and resembles your temper ? and do but consider , what weakness , what impotency of reason , and spirit you betray and discover by such doings ? is not this an inlet to confusion and every evil work , jam. iii 16. is this the christian spirit ? is this to know , what manner of spirit you are of ? is this treading in your masters steps ? is this following his example , who when he was reviled , reviled not again ? dare you appear before the son of man in the last day with such a disposition of soul , never yet seriously repented of ? is this to resist the devil ? is this to purifie your hearts ? have you so learned christ ? is this to be children in malice , as you are bound to be by your profession ? is this to crucifie the flesh with the affections and lusts , upon the least provocation , presently to be in a huff , presently to let your tongues loose , and to break forth against your brethren in language fitter for turks and indians , than for christians ? is this to be meek as doves ? is this to love one another with a pure heart fervently ? is hell-fire nothing but painted flames ? hath our great master threatned it , and do we make light of it ? can you seriously reflect upon this commination , and be unconcerned ? and is not this threatning a call to repentance ? what a mercy is it , that god will accept of a sincere repentance after such provocations ? but how can you repent of your passion , if you do not mortifie it ? how can you mortifie it , if you do not conquer it ? how can you conquer it , if you do not strive ? how can you strive , if ye do not use the proper means and weapons god hath appointed in the gospel ? how can you profess sorrow for this sin , when you fall willfully into the same sin again ? do you call a mock repentance , godly sorrow ! or do you take that to be repentance which is separated from actual reformation ? ecclesiastical history tells us of two bishops that fell out , and proceeded even to reviling language , and so parted ; toward night one of them sent the other word , brother , the sun is going down ; with that , the angry man remembred st. pauls saying , let not the sun go down upon your wrath , and made haste , and found out his offended brother , and fell on his neck and kissed him . the pythagoreans , though heathens , did the like , for if they had quarrell'd one with another in the day time , they would not go angry to bed , but shak'd hands before sun-set . did heathens do so , and shall christians be strangers to this practice ? flatter not your selves with this , that you kill no body in your anger , so did the pharisees , but must ye therefore act against the law of reason and religion , because you do not run stark mad ? do you own your selves disciples of the lord jesus , and will not you believe what he saith in the text ? hath he peremptorily forbid you all bitterness and wrath , and speaking evil one of another , and will not you obey him ? doth he assure you , that it renders you obnoxious to hell-fire ; and do not you think , what if i should fall into that fire in my anger ? are you sure you shall not ? hath god told you , that he will not strike you dead in a fit ? do not you express all that 's terrible by hell-fire ? and is not the possibility of falling into it , a sufficient defence against this inordinate passion ? do you hope for christ's rewards , and will you deprive your selves of them by your willful disobedience ? did you go about mortifying that bitterness of spirit , like men in good earnest ; how could ye fail of success ? did ye pray fervently against it , watch against it , chide your selves frequently for it , shun the occasions of it , check it when ye find it rising , set before you the danger and believe it . call to mind the meekness of your great master , and the wonderful patience of the holy apostles in their private injuries , how could your undertakings miscarry ? doth anger according to solomon's verdict , rest in the bosom of fools , and do you take your selves to be wise men for it ? o be better advised , and if the mercy , the patience , the clemency , the compassion of god toward you , cannot melt down your angry , your wrathful constitution ; stand in awe however of your ruin , of your everlasting ruin , and remember who it is that said and protested , and will act according to his protestation , whosoever shall be angry with his brother without a cause , &c. questions and answers concerning the two religions , viz. that of the church of england , and the other of the church of rome . intended for the use and benefit of the younger sort of people . london ; printed in the year 1697. questions and answers concerning the two religions , &c. quest. 1. how doth the church of england differ from the church of rome ? answ. the church of england keeps close to the antient creeds , commonly call'd the apostles , the nicene , and that of athanasius : the church of rome hath added new articles of faith to these antient creeds , which we reject . quest. 2. when did the church of rome add these new articles ? answ. in the council of trent , not much above a hundred years ago , for it began in the year 1545 , and ended in the year 1563. quest. 3. what 's the reason the church of england doth not receive those new articles of faith ? answ. 1. because they are not to be found in the word of god. 2. they are many of them contrary to the word of god. 3. no church in the world hath power to make new articles of faith. quest. 4. what are the new articles of faith the church of rome hath added to the antient creeds ? answ. they are these following : i. that the traditions of the church are to be received with the same faith and veneration , we owe to the holy scriptures . ii. that there are seven sacraments ; baptism , confirmation , the eucharist , pennance , extreme unction , orders , and marriage ; and that these confer grace . iii. that among the ceremonies used in the roman church , the publick service in latin , or an unknown tongue , is a commendable service . iv. that in the mass there is offered to god , a true propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead . v. that in the sacrament of the eucharist the bread and wine are changed into the very substance of christ's body and blood. vi. that laymen need not receive the sacrament of the eucharist in both kinds , and that it 's sufficient for them to communicate in one . vii . that there is a purgatory , or a place after death , where good mens souls are tormented for smaller sins ; and relieved by the alms and prayers of the living . viii . that the saints departed this life , may and must be pray'd to and invoked , and that their reliques must be worshipp'd . ix . that the images of jesus christ , and of the virgin mary , and of other saints , may and ought to be worshipp'd . x. that indulgences , or dispensations of the redundant merits of saints , are very useful things . xi . that auricular confession , or confession of all our mortal sins , with the circumstances of them to a priest , is necessary to salvation . xii . that the church of rome is the catholick church , and mistress of all other churches . quest. 5. why must not traditions be received with the same faith , that is due to the written word of god ? answ. 1. because the written word of god is perfect , containing all things necessary to salvation : and that does not direct us to traditions , but rather warns us against them . 2. because the traditions of the church of rome , many of them are false , and many uncertain . 3. their traditions are not traditions which have been receiv'd in all ages , by all churches , and in all places ; for such only are the true apostolical traditions . 4. that they are not absolutely necessary , their own practice shews , in that they reject authentick traditions , and particularly that of communicating infants . and here you may note , the reason why they fly to tradition is , because they cannot prove their new doctrines by the word of god. quest. 6. why do not you believe seven sacraments ? answ. 1. the holy ghost in scripture hath no where declared such a number . 2. this precise number of seven sacraments was not heard of in the christian church , till twelve hundred years after christ. 3. there are but two sacraments mention'd in the new testament ; i mean such as are true and proper sacraments , viz. baptism , and the supper of the lord. 4. the council of trent was the first that made this number an article of faith. quest 7. why do not you allow of publick service in latin , or in a tongue not understood by the people ? answ. 1. because st. paul writes a whole chapter against it ; 1 cor. 14. 2. because the publick service ought to be for the edification of the people ; and service in an unknown tongue cannot edifie . 3. the practice of the primitive church is against it . 4. some of the wiser men in the church of rome themselves , find fault with this publick service in an unknown tongue . 5. this practice in the church of rome , is only to serve some worldly ends. quest. 8. why do not you admit of the sacrifice of the mass ? answ. 1. because the church of rome tells us , that they do sacrifice christ every day in the mass , which is directly contrary to the 9th chapter of the epistle to the hebrews , heb. 9. 25 , 26 , 27 , 28. 2. because there can be no true and proper sacrifice without death ; and it founds dreadful to a christian ear , that the priest kills christ every day , or which is all one , puts his god to death . 3. it destroys the end of a sacrifice , which is to testifie our subjection to god ; but in this sacrifice of the mass , the offerer , who is the priest , must be greater than the offering . 4. the lord's supper is only a commemoration , or representation of christ's sacrifice , and a sacrifice of thanksgiving , but no proper or true propitiatory sacrifice . quest. 9. why do not you believe a transubstantiation in the sacrament of the lord's supper . answ. 1. it is against all sense , for we may see , and feel , and hear , and taste , and smell , that the bread and wine after consecration , are bread and wine still . 2. it is against reason , that christ's body and blood should be in a thousand places at once . 3. it is against scripture , for christ protests , that his flesh profits nothing ; joh. 6. 63. 4. it is against the nature of a sacrament , which is an outward visible sign of something spiritual ; and transubstantiation destroys the sign . 5. christ himself explains what he means by saying , this is my body , when he adds , do this in remembrance of me ; which remembrance supposes the absence of his natural body . 6. it is against that article of our faith , which saith , that christ is to continue in heaven till the restitution of all things : and there is no necessity we should take the words literally any more than the words in jo. 10. 7. i am the door , &c. 7. this is my body , is a phrase or form of speech exactly like that of the lamb in the passover ; this lamb is the passeover , i. e. the memorial of it . 8. these words , this is my body , do not naturally infer a substantial change , by the confession of some papists themselves . 9. they themselves cannot be sure of this change , because they say it depends upon the intention of the priest. 10. the absurdities that flow from the doctrine of transubstantiation , are innumerable ; for then christ must have eaten himself , the disciples must have eaten up their master ; christ's body may be lockt up in a box for half a year together and longer , &c. whereas the doctrine of the church of england , that the bread represents christ's body , and upon that account is his body , hath no inconveniency in it . 11. transubstantiation is against the doctrine of the primitive church , which calls the bread the figure of christ's body . quest. 10. why do not you think it lawful for laymen to receive the communion in one kind only ? answ. 1. because christ saith expresly to the disciples , drink ye all of this . 2. the practice of the universal church of christ for a thousand years together , is against it . 3. the council of constance in the year 1416. was the first that durst venture upon this sacriledge , and deprive the laity of the cup in the sacrament , contrary to christ's institution , and the practice of the primitive church . 4. the priests in the church of rome dare not consecrate without the cup , nor do they think the sacrament perfect without it ; and if they do not think it perfect without the cup when the priest takes it , why should they cheat the laity . quest. 11. why do not you believe a purgatory ? answ. 1. because the scripture makes no mention of it . 2. the scripture mentions only two places men go to after death , which are heaven and hell. 3. in good men there is no condemnation ; rom. 8. 1. 4. good men are said to rest from their labours , from the moment of their death ; rev. 14. 13. 5. this doctrine is injurious to the merits of christ , as if they did not procure for us a full remission of our sins before we die . 6. the doctrine of purgatory was no article of faith before the council of trent . 7. it was brought in by monkish stories , and for the profit of the clergy . 8. the primitive church did not believe it ; for the fire the fathers talk of , is that of the day of judgment . 9. the greek church at this day , doth not believe it . 10. though the primitive church did pray for the dead , yet it was not for souls that were in torment , but for souls in a state of felicity and bliss , that god would shew them mercy in the last day , and hasten their happy resurrection , and give them a blessed sentence . quest. 12. why do not you pray to the uirgin mary , and the saints departed , and why do not you worship their relicks ? answ. i worship not saints departed , nor pray to them . 1. because the word of god is directly against it , for it saith , thou shalt worship the lord thy god , and him only shalt thou serve , matth. 4. 10. 2. it is absurd , and unnatural to worship persons , who are not present to receive our worship , or to speak to beings , who we neither are , nor can be sure that they hear us . 3. prayer is a spiritual sacrifice ; and therefore must be only offer'd to god. external sacrifice offer'd to creatures , by the confession of the papists themselves would be idolatry ; and therefore much more a spiritual sacrifice , as it is of greater consequence than the other . 4. there is no example among the christians for the first three hundred years after christ , of their invocation of saints departed . 5. we are expresly commanded to go directly to god in prayer , through our only mediator jesus christ , psal. 50. 15. 1 tim. 2. 5. 6. it 's a great dishonour to god , to beg that of saints , which god only can give ; such is their prayer in the office of the blessed virgin : mary , mother of mercy , protect us from the enemy , and receive us in the hour of death . 7. if they did only pray to saints to pray for them , it be would an injury to christ's mediation , for this is to make a hundred mediators or more . 8. their praying to saints in heaven , to pray for them , is not the same with our desiring our neighbours here on earth to pray for us , for we know our neighbours hear us , nor is that any more , than a friendly request ; here are no formal prayers offer'd to our neighbours , and besides for this we have a command , but none for the other . i do not worship the relicks of saints departed . 1. because , if i am not to give religious honour to saints , it 's certain i must give none to their relicks . 2. there is no command , no example in scripture for this practice . 3. this trade with relicks was not known , or heard of in the church , till very near four hundred years after christ. 4. devout men carried st. stephen to his burial , but there was no stir made with his relicks . 5. some of the wiser sort in the church of rome confess themselves , that there are great cheats in relicks ; and the bones of thieves and murtherers are sometimes ador'd for relicks of saints . 6. by this worshipping of relicks great corruption and superstition came into the church . 7. the miracles pretended to be wrought , are very often nothing but delusions of the devil . 8. by this veneration of relicks ; mens minds are diverted , and turned away from that rational , and spiritual worship the gospel requires . 9. it 's evident , that in the church of rome they put great trust and confidence in relicks , and abuse them into superstition . quest. 13. why may not the images of god , of christ , of the uirgin mary , and of other saints be worshipped ? answ. 1. because it is peremptorily forbid in the second commandment . thou shalt not make to thy self , &c. 2. god declares his anger against those , that pretend to make any similitude of him , deut. 4. 15 , 16. es. 40. 18. 3. the primitive christans would not suffer images so much , as to be painted on the walls of churches . 4. several councils of old have condemn'd this worship . 5. the carpocratians were counted hereticks in the primitive church for worshiping the images of christ , and of st. paul , in private . 6. god doth not only forbid placing a divine vertue in such images , but falling down before them in a religious way ; and whatever mens intentions are , he interprets their falling down before them , as worshipping the image it self , jerem. 2. 26 , 27. esa. 44. 17. 7. the heathens excused themselves with the same plea , that the church of rome doth now , that they did not worship the image , but the person represented by the image ; yet the christians look'd upon them as idolaters . 8. so incens'd were the primitive christians against the worship of images ; that epiphanius tore a veil in the church , on which an image of christ , or of some saint was painted . 9. though the second council of nice established this image-worship , yet the council of francford , that follow'd soon after condemn'd those fathers for their superstition , and deflecting from the rule of christianity . quest. 14. why do you reject the use of iudulgences , and dispensations of the treasure of the church ? ans. 1. because they are built upon false foundations , such as purgatory , the supererogations of saints , or doing more than was necessary , god's imperfect forgiving of sins , and satisfactions to be made to the justice of god. 2. these indulgences are things not so much as heard of in the primitive church , for they are wholly engrossed by the pope , who sends his servants abroad to sell them to any stranger for money . 3. though in the primitive church the respective bishops in their diocesses , relax'd the time of a true penitents severities he was to undergo ; yet they neither intended to free the penitents from the pains of purgatory , nor pretended to apply to them the superfluous merits of saints , as is done in these popish indulgences . 4. they have no foundation in scripture by the confession of their learned men , and they came very late into the church , and its plain they are used as a means to get money . 5. by these indulgences men are hindred from a true repentance ; for they pretend to release men by them , both from sin and punishment , at least the people are suffer'd to think so , if they do but say so many prayers , or go in pilgrimage to such a place , or fast so many days from some kinds of meats , or give a large sum of money for the building of a church , or go to war against infidels , &c. quest. 15. why do not you think auricular confession to a priest necessary to salvation ? here you must note , that we are not against confession in the church of england , nay our church presses it both publick and private to god ; and confession to a pious and able minister , if the conscience be burden'd , and upon a death-bed ; but we dare not say as they do in the church of rome , that a man cannot be pardon'd or saved , except he confesses to a priest. 1. we allow not of it in the sense of the church of rome . because there is nothing in the word of god , that makes the neglect of it damnable . 2. the confession used in the primitive church , was made by scandalous sinners publickly in the congregation ; and therefore is not the same with that practis'd in the church of rome , which commands the confessing all mortal sins with their circumstances into the ear of a priest at set times , and before the receiving of the sacrament . 3. since it is not of divine , but ecclesiastical institution , it cannot be absolutely necessary to salvation . 4. it cannot be a sacrament as they make it in the chuch of rome , because it wants christ's institution . 5. this confession to a priest , as it is managed in the church of rome , is no check , but rather an encouragement to sin. quest. 16. uuhy do not you believe that the church of rome , is the only catholick church , and the mistriss of all other churches ? answ. i can never believe , that the church of rome , is the only catholick church . 1. because there are vast multitudes of christians in the world , which are not in actual communion with the church of rome , and yet are members of the catholick , or which is the same of christ's universal church dispersed all the world over . 2. to say , that the church of rome is the catholick church , is to say , that a part is the whole , or that a house is a whole city , or that one member is the whole body . 3. the primitive christians did not take the church of rome for the only catholick church . 4. god hath no where in scripture declared so much . 5. to say the church of rome is the only catholick church , is a most uncharitable doctrine , and to damn the greater part of the christian world. 6. all churches that do hold the ancient faith contain'd in the three creeds are members of the catholick church . 7. the church of rome is so far from being the only catholick church ; that her strange doctrines make her at the best but a very unsound member of the catholick church . i do not believe , that the church of rome is the mistress of all other churches in the world. 1. because there is no such authority given her in the word of god. 2. the superiority she claims is nothing but usurpation . 3. the asian , and african churches heretofore rejected her authority . 4. the eastern churches at this day despise her pride and pretended authority . 5. the church of england was a free church from the beginning ; and therefore justly maintains her freedom , and how should that church be mistress of all other churches , that takes liberty to change christ's institutions and commands , and contradicts the word of god quest. 17. doth the church of rome differ from the church of england in any other points ? answ. yes , for she holds . 1. that extreme unction is a sacrament necessary to salvation . 2. that it is unlawful for priests to marry . 3. that she is infallible . 4. that the scripture is not to be read in a vulgar language by the common people . 5. that the books call'd apocrypha are canonical scripture . 6. that the church of england had no power to reform her self : all which we deny , as contrary to scripture and reason . quest. 18. why do not you believe , that extreme unction is a sacrament necessary to salvation ? ans. 1. because that unction , or anointing sick persons , jam. 5. 14 , 15. was a miraculous gift , and therefore not necessary to be continued . 2. christ did never institute this miraculous unction as a sacrament . 3. the unction they use in the church of rome , hath no miraculous effects . 4. the apostles an̄ointed sick persons , that they might recover : in the church of rome , they anoint dying persons , who are past recovery . 5. in that place of st. james , the saving of the sick person is ascribed to the prayer of faith , not to the anointing . 6. the sacrament of the lords supper is sufficient to comfort the dying man. quest. 19. why do you look upon their forbidding priests to marry , as unlawful ? answ. 1. because st. paul permits a bishop , and indeed all clergy-men to marry , 1 tim. 3. 2. 8. 11. tit. 1. 6. 2. the same apostle saith , to all men in general , it is better to marry than to burn , 1 cor. 7. 9. 3. the same apostle calls forbidding to marry a doctrine of devils ; 1 tim. 4. 1. 3. 4. st. peter himself , an apostle and a priest , was a married man. 5. several of the bishops in the primitive church were married men ; such as spiridion , chaereman , phileas , gregory nyssen , gregory nazianzen , both father and son , hilary , and others . 6. it was pope hildebrand , or gregory vii . the same that first presumed to depose soveraign princes , that made the clergy renounce their wives , contrary to scripture ; a man guilty of the greatest crimes imaginable . quest. 20. why do not you believe the church of rome infallible ? answ. 1. because it is only a pretence founded neither in scripture , nor antiquity . 2. it is a church that hath err'd both in doctrine and the worship of god , most notoriously . 3. god hath no where promis'd to make any one church infallible . 4. themselves are not agreed where this infallibility lies , whether in the pope , or in a general council , or in the diffusive body of christians . 5. the word of god is the only infallible rule to walk by . 6. there is no need of a visible infallible judge for deciding of controversies . for , 1st . controversies may be decided without such a judge , as they were in the primitive church , the bishops meeting in council , and arguing against hereticks from the word of god. 2d . a meek , humble , peaceable , and charitable temper , would decide controversies better than all the pretended infallible judges in the world. 3d. we do not find , that when there were infallible judges here on earth , such as christ and his apostles , that all controversies did cease : notwithstanding their presence , there were schisms and heresies , even among the christians , 1 cor. 11. 19. 4th . for all the pretences of infallibility in the church of rome , they cannot decide the controversies that are among their own members . 5th . both popes , and general councils , have contradicted one another ; and therefore neither of them can be infallible . 6th . the pretence of infallibility in the church of rome , is nothing but a device to uphold their temporal grandeur and dominion . quest. 21. why do you think , the church of rome is in an error in forbidding the reading of the bible to the common people . answ. 1. because christ commands all sorts of men to read the scriptures ; joh. 5. 39. 2. the berrhaeans are commended for searching the scriptures ; acts 17. 11. 3. the fathers in the primitive church , exhorted the people to the frequent reading of the scriptures . 4. st. paul charges the thessalonians ▪ to take care that his epistle be read to all the holy brethren , 1 thess. 5. 27. 5. in the jewish church every family was to have the law in their houses , and to teach it their children diligently ; deut. 6. 7. 6. the pretence of the obscurity of the scripture in many places , is insignificant , since the scripture is plain enough in things necessary to salvation . 7. the church of rome in forbidding the bible to the laity , discovers her fear , and the weakness of her cause , least the people should see her errors , and forsake her . quest. 22. uuhy do not you believe , that the books call'd apocrypha , are canonical scripture ? answ. 1. because the oracles of the old testament were delivered to the jewish church , rom. 3. 2. and these were not . 2. the christian church receiv'd from the jews no other books of canonical scripture , but what are own'd as such by the church of england . 3. the apocrypha were not written by men inspired by the holy ghost ; and what is scripture , must be by inspiration ; 2 tim. 3. 16. 4. some of the authors beg the readers pardon for their mistakes , which is not the language of the holy ghost . 5. the antient councils have rejected these apocrypha as not canonical , particularly the council of laodicea . 6. in the primitive churches they read these apocrypha only for the instruction of mens manners ; but did not resolve their faith into them , no more do we . quest. 23. uuhy do you find fault with the church of rome for asserting , that the church of england , once a member of her communion , had no power to reform her self ? answ. 1. because every church hath a natural right to shake off the abuses and corruptions which are contrary to the word of god. 2. it is god's command to private men , not to suffer themselves to be deluded by the slight of men , and cunning craftiness , whereby they lie in wait to deceive , and therefore much more is a national church concern'd to do so . 3. in vain was any reformation hoped for from the bishop and clergy of the roman church . 4. it 's the proper office of the bishops of a national church , to take notice what errors creep into their churches , and oppose them . 5. and that they have right to do so appears from the examples the church of judah had in the times of jehoshaphat , or hezekiah , or josiah . 6. in throwing off the power of the pope of rome , we did not throw off obedience to a lawful soveraign , but subjection to an usurper . 7. we did no more than what the orthodox churches did after the arian councils of ariminum and seleucia , in setting up the nicene faith again , which those powerful councils had banish'd . 8. we made no new religion , but restor'd the old ; and built no new house , but only swept out of the old the rubbish which made it unwholesom , and uninhabitable . the end. an account of the conference betwixt a jesuit of the savoy and my self , the 2d . of january . present mr. stephens on my side , mrs. chamberlain , and mr. chamberlain , and the book-binder about whom the conference was held ( he having been six years of the church of rome , but somewhat unsatisfied ) and mr. lamb. about seven of the clock at night . the first thing discoursed was about the doctrine of calvinists , which the jesuit said , made god the author of sin. i told him , that there are several expressions , which if a favourable construction be put upon them will appear to be otherwise . next he fell upon luther , who should say that no man could be damned if he would , but for his infidelity . i said it was true , that god condemned no man , that professed himself a christian , but for his infidelity . the jesuit asked whether , if a man committed theft , he may be call'd an infidel ? i said , he acted like an infidel and in that act was so , because he acted contrary to his belief . mr. chamberlain putting in something about that place , 1 tim. 2. about one mediator . the jesuit argued , he wonderd we should talk of one mediator , when every man that pray'd for the other was a mediator . i told him in a large sense he might be called so ; but in the controversie before us , were meant mediators which are religiously worshipped . here happened a great rambling discourse about faith , as distinguished from all good works ; but i told them , that by faith i did not mean the bare assent to the doctrine , but a practical belief , as it takes in the whole word of god , and living according to it . the book-binder was gone to call mrs. chamberlain , and coming again by this time : the jesuit said , they were come to satisfie persons under some doubts , and therefore must fall upon some more material points , and since we protestants sent people to the scripture ; it was necessary we should begin to talk of the rule of faith , and therefore he desired to know ; how we knew the scripture to be the word of god , and from whom we had received our bible ? i told him , we had received it from the catholick church , whose testimony was very considerable in this case . he ask'd hereupon , when we went off from the church ? from what church we did immediately receive it ? i answered him , both from the western or roman ; and from the churches of the east . however i told him , i would fairly grant him , that we had received it immediately from the church of rome , and i desired him to make the best of it . here he asked , how we could receive the true bible from a corrupt church ? i asked him , whether i might not receive a pearl from a chimney sweeper ? he said , we looked upon them for rogues and rascals . whereupon i told him , we give them no such language : however sinc he used these names ; whether a man might not receive a 100 l. in very good money from rogues and rascals . he then argued , that we look'd upon the church of rome as a corrupt church ; and how can we be sure , that we have the true bible , since we cannot be sure that a corrupt church had not corrupted it . i told him , that they confessed themselves they had not corrupted it ; and besides , they could not corrupt it , for the cheat would have been found out , by the comparing of ancient and modern copies . he then asked again , what we counted the rule of faith ? i told him , the scripture . he asked , whether with a true interpretation or without it ? i told him , the scripture with true interpretation ? he then replied , how we should know the true interpretation . i told him , things necessary to salvation needed no great interpretation , and the words are deliver'd so plainly , that any one that runs may read it . he then asked , whether every man was a true interpreter of scripture ? i said , every man had a judgment of discretion ; but there was no question , there were several persons that might mis-interpret it ; but if a man went this way to work , read the scripture , pray for illumination , and go to it with a pure intention ; he might understand things necessary , and he could not err damnably , and in things more difficult , consult by his guides . he said , this would establish every man in his religion , and a mahometan ought to be directed by his guide ; and why must we follow the guides of our church , and not the guides of the roman church ? i told him , that people bred , and born , and baptized in this church ; had greater reason to consult their own guides , than others ; because they had greater obligations to them . still he urged , no man could be ascertain'd of the true interpretation of the scripture without some judge . i desired him to name that judge over and over , but could not bring him to it . i know not how the discourse came in here about different interpretations ; and i said the writers of their church differ'd in their interpretation . he said none of their writers differ'd from one another in the interpretation of places relating to articles of faith. i asked him , what he thought of extreme unction ? he said it was an article of faith. very well , said i , then i 'll prove that cajetan interprets that place of st. james of another unction , and saith , contrary to the council of trent , that extreme unction cannot be proved from that place . he said , the council of trent did not denounce anathema to him that should interpret that place of st. james , of another unction . i then fetcht him down out of my study the council of trent , and shew'd him that , sess. 14. it did denounce anathema to them that should not believe . so then he said , they laid not the strain upon that place ; but st. peter and st. paul had spoken of it too . i challeng'd him to shew me any place in st. paul or peter , that had spoken of this unction . he then turn'd it off , and said he did not mean it of any express mention , but only that the apostles did not use to contradict themselves . after this either the jesuit , or mr. stephens , moved it that there might be another meeting , and that we should write down all . i told him i agreed to it ; and accordingly we appointed wednesday next the 4 th of january , at four a clock in the afternoon , and so they departed , the jesuit and mr. lamb ; the bookbinder and mr. chamberlain , and his mother , and another young woman . and the bookbinder and mr. stephens , and my self , and chamb. and his mother staid a while ; when i fell in discourse about invocation of saints , and fetcht him down the office of the virgin mary ; the contempt of the glories of the virgin mary ; and shew'd him , that they did not only pray to saints to pray for them , but begg'd the same blessings of them they did of god. the bookbinder said , the contemplations of the glory of the blessed virgin was not allow'd of in their church : he said if they did more than pray to saints to pray for them , he did not righly understand his church . the end. a disswasive from popery ; being a letter to a lady to preserve her from apostacy from the communion of the church of england . london ; printed for w. hinchman , s. keble , and d. brown. 1697. a disswasive from popery , being a letter to a lady to preserve her from apostacy from the communion of the church of england . madam , and are you indeed got into the only catholick church ? and are you sure the men you have lately believed have not deceived you , as you fancy we have done ? ( for tho' you may be so charitable as to think , that we have not intentionally cozened you ; yet since you cannot suppose us to be both in the right , you must necessarily conclude , that we have at least ignorantly abused and imposed upon you ) and did you ever rightly consider what a truly catholick church does mean ? men of sense and reason always believed , that a church which holds the truly catholick faith , is a true and sound member of the catholick church ; and dares malice it self say , that we do not hold the apostles , the nicene , and athanasius's creed ? the church of rome her self confesses , that these creeds contain the truly catholick faith : and most certainly , when the nicene council was celebrated , and in athanasius's time , that church was counted a sound member of the catholick church , that held that catholick faith , which is expressed in those creeds ; and do we not hold that faith ? do we not stand up at it to express our readiness to defend it ? and what have we done , that we must not be counted a catholick church ? is it because we will not receive things which the church of rome hath since added to the catholick faith ? is it because we will not admit of the doctrines which that church was first induced to believe by the darkness and ignorance of the ages it lived in , and at last loath to part withal for fear they should be thought to have been so long in an error ? is it because we will not yield to things which we apprehend to be directly against the word of god , and destructive to that catholick faith the christian world hath professed in all ages ? is it because we will not deceive the people of the cup in the blessed sacrament , which christ intended as a mighty comfort to them ? is it because we will not believe the miracle of transubstantiation against four of our senses , and reason , and scripture to boot ? is it because we will not suffer the worship of god , or that which is very like it , to be given to creatures , because of the very appearance of the evil of idolatry , which we are commanded to shun , as much as idolatry it self ? is it because we will not believe a purgatory fire , which cleanseth little , but peoples purses of their money ? is it because we will not indulge the pride and arrogance of a man at rome , who having first wheedled the christian princes out of their means and power , hath at last made that power and riches hereditary to his successors , under a pretence of a legacy from christ ? is it because we will not believe , contrary to the apostles rule , that publick prayers , which are intended for the benefit and understanding of the multitude , must be said in a tongue unknown to the people ? these must certainly be the reasons , why we cannot now pass with the church of rome for members of the catholick church . that these things were not in the antient catholick creeds , i hope you are convinced ; for you have read them over , and found none of all these additions in them : and now i beg of you , in the name , and by the mercy of that jesus in whom you believe , to judge , which is most likely to be the truly catholick church , ours or theirs ? ours that keeps to the truly antient catholick faith , or theirs that hath added things contrary to scripture , and reason , and antiquity ? and dare you continue in a church where your very communion with it is an approbation of their actions , which are directly contrary to the command of christ ? can there be any thing more contrary to it than their denying the cup to the laity ? and when you receive the sacrament but in one kind , contrary to christ's command , do not you sin and allow of the sin of that church you are in ? is not your disobedience to christ's command a sin , or can you imagine that you are more obliged to obey men than christ himself ? you confess you dare not live in any one sin ; but how dare you live in this sin ? you talk of the benefit of confession and absolution , when that very priest to whom you confess , and who absolves you , lives in that sin you are guilty of , and neither absolves himself nor you from it ; and you both continue in it , as if the blind had a mind to lead the blind ? how dare you act thus against your reason and conscience ? are you not afraid when you are going to confess , that god will laugh at your mock confession , since you neither confess that sin of living contrary to christ's command about the cup , nor are willing to part with it ? tell me not here that you drink the blood of christ in eating his flesh ; if so , to what purpose doth the priest consecrate wine for himself , if he drinks the blood of christ in eating his flesh ? but suppose the bread were transubstantiated into the flesh and blood of christ , you know that the not giving the cup of blessing to those that come to the lord's supper , is contrary to christ's institution , who distinctly consecrated the cup , and gave that to his disciples , who were representatives of all believers , as well as the bread , and peremptorily commanded , drink ye all of this , and , i hope , you do not call eating the consecrated wafer drinking the wafer . but let us grant you your strange doctrine , that you do participate of the blood of christ in eating the consecrated wafer , who gave your church authority to alter christ's institution ? how can men dispence with an express law of god ? can they annull what god would have established , and continue to the worlds end ? and can you consent to so great a sacriledge ? doth not some horror seize on you , when you seriously think that you approve of the priests sinning against so notorious a precept , and which he that runs may read ? and pray madam , wherein have you bettered your self in going over to the roman church ? is this your proficiency in religion to forsake a church , where you felt the lively oracles of heaven coming warm upon your soul , and to joyn your self to a church , where you hear nothing but latine prayers , and where the priest , if he be not a good man , may as well curse you as bless you , for any thing you understand of his language or devotion ? is this your proficiency in religion to leave a church where you were taught to worship god in spirit and in truth , and now to cleave to one where they teach your prayers to go upon crutches of crucifixes , beads , and images ? doth this look like that noble religion which christ taught the world , and whose design was to advance our rational souls by contemplation and meditation ? o , madam , you are too young to know the tricks of that church you live in ; they are more politick heads than yours is , that had the contriving of it . bold men , that had learnt not to blush at a lye , and then thought it their interest to hector the world into a belief of it . we that can read books as well as they , and know the history of the church as well as they , can see through all these devices , which they perceiving are angry with us for discovering the cheat. what was it madam , that you wanted in our church to carry you to heaven ? did you want that which the apostles and the primitive christians never wanted ? i mean did you want more articles of faith than they subscribed and believed ! if you wanted that , we confess we could not supply you , for we dare say nothing , and believe nothing with divine faith , but what moses and the prophets , and christ and his apostles have taught us . if the scripture contains all things necessary to salvation , then we teach all that . if the church of rome knows more articles than christ or his apostles knew of ; we will admire her insolence , but cannot satisfie her unreasonable desire . did you want strictness of life in our church ? if all the commands of the gospel can make you holy , we teach them all and press them upon the people , and i presume you do not aim to be holier than christ and his apostles would have you to be . hath the church of rome another gospel to teach you than that we did instruct you in ? if they have , much good it may do them , we are not fond of the apostle's curse , should an angel from heaven bring another gospel to you let him be accursed . i know your common plea that we protestants cannot rightly interpret the scripture , because we pretend to no infallibility . and do you blame us for not being so impudent as the church of rome ? there is no protestant but would be glad there were an infallible interpreter of scripture instituted by god and recommended to mankind . but where shall we find him ? who is it that god hath imparted this honour to ? if you say the fathers , you know not what you say , for the fathers differ many times as much in interpretation of the scipture , and are as contrary to one another as any men. if you say the church that 's a hard word ; if you mean christ's universal church , dispersed all the world over , you must tell us where it is that this church hath left an infallible comment upon the bible , and how is it possible for a man that will be resolved in a point to go to all christian people in the world ; if you say the church of rome , you must first shew us her commission for this infallible interpretation . secondly , you must prove she hath infallibly interpreted the scriptures , and that those interpretations are infallible in all places . thirdly , you must agree among your selves what part of your church is infallible , whether the pope , or an universal council , or all christian people , or whether all these together . to say , that this infallibility lies in the church , though you know not where , is to say a needle lies in a bottle of hay , and he hath good luck that finds it . nay , i think , the church of rome hath been so modest , that notwithstanding all her pretences to infallibility , she never hath dared to obtrude a comment on the bible as infallible , nor did i ever see any interpretation of the bible made either by pope or council which hath pretended to infallibility . if that church be infallible why do not their own divines agree in interpretation of scripture ? if there be an infallible sense of the scriptures in that church , then the members of that church are mad not to keep to that infallible sense , especially if they know where to fetch it , and they offer great injuries and affronts to their church in differing so much about interpretation of scripture , when their church can give them an infallible sense of it . for that church having , as they pretend , the holy ghost to guide them in all things , i suppose that spirit assists her in interpretation of one place of scripture as well as in another : if they say it doth infallibly assist them in some places and not in all , they destroy their own principle , and how shall a man be sure , that just in those points that are in dispute between us and them , they are infallible ? is the spirit divided ? or is he not always the same ? or doth not he exert his power upon all occasions ? madam , who so blind as those that will not see ? who sees not that the pretence of infallibility is nothing but a juggle , a device to maintain a tripple crown , and an engine to carry on a temporal authority ? god indeed hath promised that his church dispersed thro' the world , shall last to the world's end , and that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her , but that promise differs very much from a promise of infallibility ; and suppose it did inferr an infallibility , how comes the particular church of rome to ingross it to her self , that is at the best but a member , and a very unsound one , of christ's universal church ? it is one thing to be secured against being destroyed , and another to be free from all possibility of errour . there is no doubt but a sober rational man , that prays earnestly for illumination , and reads the scripture much , and considers the circumstances the holy writers were in when they writ , and the occasions of their writing , and hath the advantage of learning , of languages , and history , may give a very true interpretation of scriptures , such an interpretation as no man can rationally contradict , tho' he hath not recourse to a visible infallible guide , and tho' himself be not infallible . things may be very certain , tho' they are not infallibly so , and he that can make things out so that a prudent man cannot but give consent to them , and hath no just cause to doubt of their truth , may justly challenge belief from other men . but i will not insist upon this point because i never heard you speak much of it . i will come a little closer to those reasons , that moved you to go over to the roman church , whereof the principal was this , that you were troubled in mind upon the account of your sins , & could get no satisfaction in our church , tho' you sought it , like esau , with tears ; whereas you did no sooner confess to a roman priest , and receive absolution , but you presently found unspeakable comfort . and are you sure , madam , that the peace and satisfaction , you found in that church was not delusion ? you tremble at that word ; but le ts consider the nature of your peace . when you were in our church , either you did truly repent of all your sins , or you did not . if you did not , most certainly you could have no solid peace , but if you did truly repent , as you say you did , what could hinder you from applying the promises made to penitent sinners , to your self , which are the true grounds of comfort and satisfaction ? may be you wanted a voice from heaven to confirm the promise of the gospel , but have you since heard such a voice from heaven in the church of rome ? i think not ; if you truly repented in our church , then certainly by the word of god you were assured that your sins were pardoned , and if they were pardoned , why should you not comfort your self with that pardon ? that which makes you rejoice now , is because you believe your sins are pardoned ; but if when you were of our church , you verily believed you truly repented , you could not but believe that your sins were pardoned , and consequently you might have taken as much comfort , as you do now . but the minister of the church of england , you say , gave me no absolution , which the roman priest did . why , madam , did any of our ministers deny your absolution , when you could assure them that your repentance was sincere ? did you ever ask absolution , and were you refused ? nay , i appeal to your conscience , did not those ministers you conversed withal assure you over and over , that you need not doubt of the pardon of your sins so long as you did detest and abhor them , and watch , and strive , and pray against them , and were sincerely resolved to commit them no more , and did avoid the very occasions of evil ? and what was this but absolution , which however you might have had performed with greater ceremony , if you had had a mind to it . it is no very hard matter to guess at the rise and progress of your peace and satisfaction in the roman church . all new things please , and provided they have but a good face , allure our fancy , and this being pleased , it 's very natural to defend them ; and having once defended them , our love to them advances , and by degrees we think our honour and credit is too far engaged to part with them . we see how children are quieted with new trifles ( pardon the uncourtly comparison , i know not how to shun it ) and the new object , they never saw before , surprizes and charms them , makes them fix their eyes upon it and cry , if they cannot have it . in the nature of children we see our own , and embracing new objects , which our sickly fancy is roving after , is but the scene of childrens longing for new play things , changed ; the novelty of the thing you were venturing upon , the new church ( new indeed , new to you , and new to almighty god ) which you were to joyn your self to , the stool of confession in the church , and the priests new habit , and mortified face ( which perhaps he owes more to his country , than to his vertue ) and affected gravity , and assuring of you that their absolution had a wonderful vertue and efficacy , all these together surprized you , and raised your expectation , and struck some kind of reverence into you . your mind being thus possessed with the idea's of these new things you never tried before , and working upon your affections , and moving your will to confess to this man of wonders , you naturally fell into a fancy , that so much formality and ceremony different from that you had been used to in our church , had more charms in it , than our plain and honest way , and then laid the stress of your pardon upon the new priests absolution in that formal manner , wherewith your fancy being impregnated , it soon diffused a cheerful air in your countenance , and raised some gladness in your heart , because you had now done something more than ordinary , as an antidote against your sin. and from hence arose your pretended peace and satisfaction , or delusion rather , because you laid the stress of your pardon upon the absolution of that roman priest , and not upon the sincerity of your repentance . if a priest could forgive sin 's , whether men repent or no , then indeed you might have laid the stress of your pardon on that forgiveness of the priest , but since by your own confession , that absolution of the priest signifies nothing except people truly repent , for you to build your comfort on that absolution , when it should have been founded upon your sincere repentance , cannot but be a false fire , and a counterfeit comfort ; if you say , you did not fetch your peace from that absolution , but from the sincerity of your repentance , you catch your self ; for if your true repentance must be the foundation of it , then you might have taken the same comfort in our church : if you still reply , you could not , you only mean you would not , for true repentance is true repentance in any church ; and if true repentance causes true comfort , it would have caused true comfort in our church as well as in the roman , and therefore there must be some cheat in this comfort . the fancy you have since taken up , that the reason why you found comfort in the church of rome , upon your confession and absolution , and none in ours , must needs be , because the priests of that church are true priests , and those of ours are not , is as solid as your peace . if we have no true priests in the church of england , then most certainly the church of rome hath none . the bishops , which in the beginning of our reformation did ordain bishops , priests , and deacons among us , were ordained by bishops of that church ; and if the character of orders , by their own confession , be indelible , then it was not all the thunders and lightnings of excommunication at rome could annul it . it 's true , your ghostly father very confidently tells you , ( a quality incident to that sort of men ) that our first protestant bishops never received orders from bishops of the church of rome ; but one would admire what spirit doth possess these men , that they dare contradict all the publick authentick records we have of their being consecrated by bishops of the church of rome ; they might as well deny , that there were no such kings of england as henry vii . and henry viii . ( for we have nothing but publick records to shew for it ) as deny that the bishops of the reformation were never consecrated by bishops of the roman perswasion . i am perswaded that if any papist should come into trouble about the title of an estate he hath , and did but know that the name of his ancestors , the manner of the conveyance , and his just title were in some publick record or register , he would soon make use of it , alledge it as a sufficient proof , and thank god for preserving a record that is so much for his advantage . i know not what can be a better testimony in matters of fact next to revelation , than publick records and registers ; and we dare venture our reputation upon it , that in the authentick registers of the respective arch-bishops of canterbury , where fear of being counted knaves and fools , for putting in things contrary to what was publickly known , may justly be supposed to have kept the publick notaries from asserting things notoriously false . in these registers i say it will be found , what succession our first protestant bishops had ; how arch-bishop parker , the first arch-bishop of canterbury under queen elizabeth ( to go no higher ) was consecrated december 17. 1559. by four persons then actually bishops , and who had formerly been ordained by bishops of the church of rome , ( viz. ) william barlow in henry the eighth's days bishop of st. davids , under edward the sixth bishop of bath and wells , under queen mary driven into exile , and returned under queen elizabeth , john story formerly bishop of chichester , miles coverdale formerly bishop of exeter , and john hodgkins bishop suffragan of bedford . not to mention that the queen's letters patents ( in case any of the other should be sick or forced to be absent ) were directed to three bishops more , that had formerly been popish bishops , and were turned protestants , ( viz. ) anthony bishop of landaff , john bishop suffragan of thedford , and john bale bishop of ossery . but all this hath been so clearly demonstrated out of the publick records , first by mr. mason , and since by arch-bishop bramhal , that he that writes of it can only transcribe out of them ; and those that deny these records must be men of strange foreheads , and of the greatest disingenuity . from these men that had their priesthood from the church of rome , our priesthood is lineally derived ; so that if our priesthood be not valid , theirs cannot be ; and if heresie doth not make the episcopal office void , nor disable a man from conferring episcopal order on other men ( as is evident from the second council of nice , with your church an oecumenical council , which received bishop anatolius , though consecrated by dioscorus , a heretical bishop ; ) if , i say , heresie doth not make the episcopal order void , then suppose we were hereticks , our priesthood , which is derived from popish bishops that turned protestants , must be a true priesthood still ; and to this purpose i remember one of your church said lately , once a priest , for ever a priest. madam , if you desire to know the truth , be honest and sincere ; you should act like a person that hath a mind to be satisfied , and search the publick records , and till then believe not every tale that 's told you : the common plea of your priests , that our records are sophisticated , and that we have put in what we please , argues only boldness and ignorance , when they can shew neither where , nor when , nor by whom they were corrupted . those that talk so , seem neither to understand what a publick solemn thing the consecration of a bishop is in england , nor to reflect , how difficult it is to fill a publick register with falsities , as to matters of fact , when there are so many hundred men that know what is done at such a time , and view the records , and would most certainly speak of it , if they found a flaw in the relation . but if we should deal thus with the church of rome , question all their registers in the vatican , and say , which we might do with far greater reason , that they are things packed and invented by men , that have a mind to keep up a faction , i know what language we should meet withal . but will you boast , say you , of having derived your orders from the church of rome , when you believe the church of rome to be an idolatrous church ? madam , it is not the office of a bishop in your church we find fault withal , but the abuses of it . a church that 's guilty of very great corruption both in doctrine and manners , may have something that 's good and allowable ; and he that retains that , is not therefore guilty of her corruption , nor espouses her errors . your idolatry is one thing , and your orders are another . the jews did take many good things from the heathens , and the christians many commendable things from the jews ; but that neither made the jews approve of the heathenish worship , nor the christians allow of the jewish errors . we are not so disingenious , as to make the breach between you and us wider than needs . so far as you go with scripture and true antiquity , we hold with you ; where you contradict both , we cannot with a safe conscience bear you company . he that sees a pearl lye among a great deal of trash , if he take the pearl , is not therefore obliged to take the rubbish too ; and if we have derived our orders from you , that infers no necessity that we must therefore consent to your notorious deprivations of the antient simplicity of the gospel . the christians heretofore , that approved of the baptism of the donatists , did not therefore presently acknowledge the truth of their opinions ; and he that should take a good custom from the turks , cannot be therefore said to approve of all things that are in the alcoran . madam , there is nothing more easie than to cavil at the most prudent action in the world , especially where people take a slight survey of things , and do not with seriousness and deliberation weigh the circumstances of the fact , and do not examine the inside as well as the outside ; and i must confess , upon the best examination of your actions and proceedings in this revolt to the church of rome , you never took the right way to be satisfied ; for instead of pondering the arguments and motives of our departure from the church of rome , and of the reasons we alledge for our church and doctrine ; you made it your chief imployment to read their books , and believed what they said to be oracles , for no other reason but because they talked with greater arrogance and confidence . if you say , that you could not judge of arguments having never been bred a scholar , i would but ask you how you durst change your religion then ? did you change it without reason and without ground ? and if you are not able to weigh the strength of arguments , how can you be sure that you are in the true church at this time ? it is not talk , but arguments that must demonstrate the truth of a religion ; and if you have not sufficiently weighed the arguments of both sides , it is a thousand to one you may still be in the wrong way ; and you know not but you may be as much out now , as you were formerly . madam , so great a thing as the change of your religion , upon which no less than eternity depends , might justly have challenged some years study , before you had resolved upon it . to do a thing of this nature upon so slight a survey , consider whether it doth not argue rashness and weakness , rather than piety and devotion . to leave a religion you have been bred and born in , a religion founded upon the word of god , and which you had liberty to examine by the scripture , upon reading a popish book or two , without diving to the bottom of the several controversies , without reflecting on the importance of the points in question , without studying a considerable time which religion comes nearest to scripture , and which goes farthest off ; is such an argument of impatience , that you only seem to have yielded to a dangerous temptation of the devil . if the controversies between the church of rome and us , are so intricate , as you say , and above your capacity to dive into them , you have then run over to that church in the dark , and have as little reason to be satisfied with your proceedings , as you believe you have with our way of worship . you plead , that you have been sitting up whole nights , and weeping and praying , that god would discover to you which is the true way to salvation , and from that time forward you found inclinations to go over to that church ; and is this a sufficient argument to justifie your forwardness ? when you had already begun to doubt , whether our church were a true church or no , because you found not that satisfaction in it your sickly desires wanted ; it was then an easie matter to give ear to confident people , that magisterially and peremptorily assured you , that you would find satisfaction in their church ; and being fed with this hope , your inclinations to that church grew stronger every day , as our mother eve , the hopes of being like god , suggested to her by the serpent , did egg and spur her on to eat of the fatal tree . we do not forbid people to pray to god , to lead or direct them into the right way : ( though sometimes it may be a perfect tempting of god , when people are in the right way , to desire god to discover to them , by a sign of their own choice , whether they are in it or no. ) but them , if we pray to god to direct us , we must not neglect the means god hath appointed in order to our satisfaction , but must compare scripture with scripture , and books with books , and arguments with arguments ; and search which religion agrees most with the doctrines and practices of christ and his apostles ; and as the noble berrheans did , examine all the doctrines obtruded to our belief , by the scripture ; and doing thus , and continuing this search , and these prayers together , no doubt but god in his own good time , will answer us and direct us . but to pray to god to direct us , and not to use the means , in the use of which he hath promised to direct us , we do in a manner mock him , or desire him to work a miracle for us , or to vouchsafe us some extraordinary revelation , when we have moses and the prophets , and may hear them . and i am confident , had you joyned this way with your prayer , examined the doctrines of the church of rome , and compared them with the gospel of our lord jesus christ , seen whether there be any thing like it in the bible , and searched whether christ and his apostles ever taught such doctrines , and done all this , not slightly , but seriously and solidly , it 's impossible you could ever have turned papist ; for if our gospel be true , that religion can never be true , for there is nothing in the world can run more counter to the gospel , than the doctrines of that church , wherein we differ from them , and they had need put the bible among prohibited books ; for should the people have liberty freely to peruse it , the church of rome would grow very thin and despicable . i am sensible your priests find fault with our translation of the bible , and cry out , that there are great defects in it ; but when they talk so , they had need talk to women , not to men of learning , and that undestand greek and hebrew , the languages in which the word was originally written . the honesty of our translators appears sufficiently from hence , because if any sentence in the bible be capable of a double sense , they express the one in the text , and the other in the margin ; and where they do but in the least vary from the original , they either discover it by the italick character , or give you notice of it in the margin , than which there can be nothing more honest . and let any papist of you all shew us , wherein any thing in our bibles is ill translated out of malice or design , or expressed in words , which the original will not bear . if we examine translations by the original , then sure i am , there is few translations go further from it , than the vulgar latin , or the rhemist testament , as were an easie matter to prove , if i intended more than a letter . you are much taken with their mortifications and penances , which you say we have not in our church : but it 's a sign , madam , you did not rightly understand our religion : we are so far from condemning mortification and severity of life , that we do commend it , provided it be in order to subdue the body of sin , and to raise our selves to a greater pitch of vertue ; provided these severities be separated from all opinion of merit , and from an opinion of their being satisfactory , and expiatory , and used only as helps , to work in us a perfect detestation of sin. and i will assure you there are more in the church of england , that use severities in this humble holy way , than you are aware of . we indeed do not ordinarily inflict them on all persons , because we know not there constitution , nor what their nature will bear , nor have we any command for it in the word of god ; but these things we leave to every man's discretion , urging , that where sins require stronger remedies , there men ought to make use of them ; and if their corruptions will not be gone by reasonings and arguments , that there they must inflict mulcts and penalties on themselves to drive the unclean spirit out . though i must say still , that religious severities and austerities are not certain signs of a true religion ; for heathens do use them as much as christians , nay more than christians , witness the brahmanes in the indies , and the religious pagans dispersed through all the eastern parts ; and if you conclude , that therefore the church of rome must be in the right , because they inflict great pennances and severities , and make daily use of them , i am afraid you only forbear turning turk or heathen , because you never saw their far greater severities in religion , than the church of rome can boast of : but still the protestant church hath not the real body and blood of christ in the holy sacrament , which the church of rome hath : and are you sure the church of rome hath it ? i am perswaded you did never taste it , nor see it , nor feel it , nor smell it , and how do you know it ? what ? because the priests of that church do tell you so ? no , say you , it is because christ saith in express terms , this is my body . and here , i confess , i stand amazed , that men , with learning and reason about them , can sink into an opinion so contradictory , that , if all the consequences of it be considered , there is nothing in nature can be more absurd , or irrational ; and the church of rome had need oblige men to deny both their reason and senses , to believe a transubstantiation . here indeed a faith is necessary strong enough to remove mountains ; and though never any miracles were wrought , but were wrought on purpose to convince our senses , yet here we must believe one which neither sense nor reason can discover . when christ gave the sacrament to his disciples , saith the apostle , 1 corinth . 11. 24. he brake the bread , and said , take eat , this is my body , which is broken for you . it is a wonderful thing , that the word is , in the first sentence , this is my body , should have a literal sense , and in the very next sentence , pronounced with the same breath , cannot admit of a literal sense ; for the word is , in the second sentence must necessarily stand for shall be , because christ's body , when he gave the bread , was not yet broken : if it will not admit of a literal sense in the very next sentence , because of the absurdity that would follow , that christ was crucified , before he was crucified ; why should we understand it in the first sentence literally , when the absurdity is far greater ? nay , that the word is should not be capable of being understood literally in the second essential part of the sacrament , this cup is the new testament ; that here i say it should import , and can import nothing else , but signifies , or is a sign of the new testament ; and yet must not be understood so in the first part of the sacrament , is a thing we cannot comprehend : and when the apostle , speaking of lord's supper or eucharist , 1 cor. 10. 16. the cup of blessing which we bless , is it not the communion of the blood of christ ? and the bread which we break , is it not the communion of the body of christ ? let the rigidest papist , that hath not quite banished his reason , tell me , how he will make sense of the word is here , except he understand it figuratively ; most certainly it cannot be understood literally ; for the cup is not that communion , but is a sign of it : one would admire , how men can be so obstinate in a thing as clear as the sun ; and you might as well conclude , that christ is a door made of boards and nails , because the scripture saith , he is a door ; and that he is a real vine with green leaves and grapes about him , because the scripture saith he is a vine . but suppose the word is in these words , this is my body , must be understood literally , how doth this make for transubstantiation ? are the words is , and is transubstantiated , all one ? a thing may be said to be a thousand ways , and yet without transubstantiation ; so that , if by the word is you understand transubstantiation , you your selves must go from the literal sense , and assume a sense , which is not expressed in that saying . all the jews are so well versed in the sense of sacramental expressions , that by the word is they understand nothing , but signifies or represents ; and therefore it 's a horrid shame , that christians , meerly for fear of being laughed at , for departing from an absurd opinion , and losing the credit of a pretended infallibility , should make themselves ignorant in that , which the meanest jew , even before the gospel , understood without a teacher ; for we may confidently believe , that no jew , before christ's time , was so sottish to think , when it 's said , the flesh is the passover , exod. 12. 11. that the flesh or blood was really the passover , but only a sign and representation of it , or a token to them , as moses calls it , ver . 13. i will not here put you in mind of the strange absurdities that must follow from this doctrine of transubstantiation , viz. that christ , when he did eat and drink in this sacrament , must have eaten his own flesh , and that the apostles must have eaten his body , while he was at the table with them , and before it was crucified , &c. i could tell you , that this doctrine is against the great article of our faith , that christ is ascended into heaven , and there sitteth at the right hand of god until the day of judgment . that it is against the nature of a real body to be in a thousand places at once . and that from hence it must follow , that the body and blood of christ is capable of being devoured by vermin , capable of being poisoned , and instead of giving life may be so order'd , that it shall kill and murther ; witness victor the third , pope of rome , and henry the viith . emperour , who were poisoned in the sacrament , not to mention a thousand more of such monstrous conscquences : but since , madam , you do insist so much upon that place of scripture , john 6. 53. except you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life in you . i 'le but briefly shew you , how ill a logician you are , to conclude that this is spoke of the sacrament , or to conclude that these words infer a corporal manducation of christ's real body and blood : if they be meant of the eucharist , it will necessarily follow , that christ oblig'd the jews , and his hearers to come to the sacrament at the time he spake these words , for he speaks of their present eating and drinking , ( except ye eat , &c. ) but this he could not possibly do , for the sacrament of his body and blood was not instituted till at least a whole twelve months after , nor did any of his disciples , at that time , dream of any such thing , as his dying and being crucified , nor doth christ speak the least word of it in the whole chapter , which he must necessarily have done , if he had intended the sacrament by it , which is all together founded in his crucifixion . for this sermon of christ , concerning eating and drinking his flesh and blood , was delivered just about the feast of the passover , ver . 4. after which feast , as it is said , john 7. 1. 2. the jews celebrated the feast of tabernacles , and after this they kept another feast of the passover , the last , which christ was at , which was no less than a twelve month after , john 11. 55. john 12. 21. so that the sacrament of christ's body and blood , not being instituted before the last passover , as all the evangelists agree , it was not possible , that either the believing jews , or the apostles could understand it of the sacrament ( and i suppose christ intended to be understood ) because there was no such thing as yet instituted . besides , it is impossible , that it can be understood of the sacramental eating and drinking of the body and blood of christ , for without this eating and drinking there is no salvation to be had , as it is said , joh. 6. 53 , 54. and if it were to be understood of the eucharist , we must exclude all christians from salvation , that are not in a capacity , nor in a possibility of receiving it , which , i am sure , your own church will not do . and that these words of christ cannot possibly be understood of a corporal eating christ's flesh , and drinking , his blood , but must be understood of a spiritual eating and drinking , that is , believing in him , and obeying him , and hoping for pardon through his death , which is the spiritual food of the soul , is evident from the 54 th . and 56 th . verse , where every one that eats of his flesh , and drinks of his blood , is said to have actually eternal life in him , and christ dwelling in him , and he dwelling in christ. that is , christ loves him with a love of complacency , he is a child of god , and beloved of him , and an heir of heaven ; but since wicked men come to the sacrament , not only in our church , but even in the church of rome , it would follow , if a corporal eating were understood , that wicked men , eating christ's body , and drinking his blood , have eternal life in them , and that christ dwells in them , and that they are true children of god , and heirs of heaven , contrary to the unanimous consent of the holy prophets and apostles , who call wicked men children of the devil , and blinded by the devil , the god of the world , and heirs of damnation . and indeed it is strange , that people should contend for this corporal and sensual eating of christ's flesh , and drinking his blood , when christ himself saith , v. 63. that the flesh profiteth nothing , and that this eating and drinking must be understood spiritually , i. e. of spiritual eating and drinking , which is believing , as it is said , v. 64. you see , madam , what it is not to make use of your own reason , but to enslave it to the faith of a church , which loves to act in the dark , and would have her children colliers , and believe what the church believes , and know little more than the great mystery of an ave maria , or a rosary . time was , when you were pleased to tell our ministers , that though you were gone over to the church of rome , yet you had liberty not to pray to saints , nor to fall down before images , that was not thought necessary by the for church of rome , which only recommends praying to saints , and veneration of relicks and images , as a thing useful , and which men have received much benefit by . and indeed i remember , i was told , you thought , that praying to saints was a kind of idolatry , and therefore were glad they would excuse you from that worship ; but since , i hear , that you are grown as devout a worshipper of saints , and peculiarly of the virgin mary , and do prostrate your self before them , as much as the most tractable papist in the world. i confess , i did smell a rat at first , when your priests assured you , that invocation of saints was not a thing commanded but recommended as useful , and was then confident that before a year came to an end , for all these soft expressions and dispensations with your omission of this worship , they would perswade you to that worship , which then you thought unlawful : my prophecy is come to pass , and the pill , which seemed very bitter at first , is swallowed , and become sweeter than honey , and look'd upon as an excellent medicine . and this , i must needs say , is more than you could have in our church . but this is our comfort , that the more ingenuous men of the church of rome confess , that this praying to saints or angels was not heard of , or used in the christian church , for the first three hundred years after christ. and if the christian church , for the first three hundred years , did not think it useful at all , it is a strange degeneration from their principles , to press it now as useful : certainly , if god had thought this invocation so useful , as your church pretends it is , he would not have so peremptorily commanded , call upon me in the day of trouble ; i will deliver thee , and thou shalt glorifie me . psal. 50. 15. and it 's probable the apostles , in prescribing so many useful things of far less concern , would not have left us in the dark as to the mighty usefulness of this invocation ; especially , when they had occasion to mention the spirits of men made perfect , and did so often converse with angels . the angel , revel . 22. 8 , 9. thought it a very useless thing , and would not admit of so much as a religious prostration of the evangelist before him , because it look'd like sacriledge , and robbing god of his due . but since your church in this adoration takes pattern so much by the courts of princes , give me leave to suggest to you , how you think , a soveraign prince would take it , if a subject should give any of his servants the the title of majesty , or any other title , which properly belongs to him . there are few titles , that god hath , and inspired men have given to him , but you give them to the blessed virgin , and though , when you are charg'd with it , you fall to distinctions , and turn , and wind your selves to get out , yet that shews only a bad cause , because it requires so much artifice and cunning to defend it : but , alas ! it must be children , that are perswaded and coaxed to believe , that the church of rome only counts it useful not necessary , when it is well known , that the generality of that communion pray to saints more than to god ( which in the scripture phrase is honouring the creature more than the creator ) and they never leave that person , that goes over to them , till they have brought him to that worship of saints and angels . it s pretty to hear these men talk , that it is only recommended as useful , when the bishops and preachers of that church are injoyned , and take their oath upon 't , to commend this invocation to the people , as profitable ; and the people are obliged to hearken to their priests in all things ; so that though a man at first may think this invocation not necessary , upon the account of its being only useful , yet from that other obligation he hath to obey the priest in all spiritual things , it becomes necessary : but from this scruple we are delivered , madam , by the confession of faith , which the roman catechism doth prescribe , for there it is , that it is not only useful , but that we ought to pray unto saints , and indeed should any man live in that communion , and omit it , he would soon be looked upon as prophane , and but a half convert to their church ; they would soon let him know their displeasure , and either fright or flatter him into conformity . and is this the worship , madam , which christ and his apostles have injoyned the world ? are not you afraid of doing things , that do so nearly border upon robbing god of his honour and glory ? idolatry is a frightful word , and you do not love to hear it , and therefore i will trouble you with it as little as i can . but when god hath commanded you to come to him directly , without mentioning the intercession of saints and angels , how dares your church of her own head , bring in a worship so dangerous ? who should prescribe the way how god is to be worshipped , but god himself ? and if god requires you to address your self to him without any other mediator , but christ jesus , have not you just reason to be afraid , that god will reject your prayers , which are addressed to saints , as mediators , contrary to his order and injunction ? what kings suffer here on earth , in letting their subjects address themselves by their servants to them , can be no example here , for god , as he intends not to regulate his court by the court of princes , so we know it is against his order , to go to his servants , when we are commanded to come directly to him , and it is such a voluntary humility as deprives us of our reward , as the apostles expresly tells us , coloss. 2. 18. god knew well enough if men addressed themselves to his servants , to have access to him , something of the worship due to him would stick by the way , and rest upon his servants to his dishonour and disparagement , and therefore he mentioned nothing of this mediate address . it s true , we desire our neighbours here on earth to pray for us , but for that we have a command ; for the invocation of saints departed we have none , and in vain do they worship me ( saith god ) teaching for doctrines the commandments of men , mat. 15. 9. but besides , when you desire your living neighbours to pray for you , i hope you do not fall down upon your knees to them , nor use the same zeal and devotion to them , as you do to god , and for whole hours together , as you do to saints departed . but why will you blind your self in a thing which your own practice contradicts you in , you know you do not only pray to saints departed to pray for you , but you do many times , without making any mention of their prayers for you , beg of them , with the same reverence , and prostrations you use to god , to deliver you from all evil , and consequently you beg the same blessings of them you beg of god. and it is but a weak excuse to say , that you intend by those prayers nothing else , but that by their intercession they may get those blessings for you , for you go contrary to the nature of things , and whereas words ordinarily are interpreters of the mind , you make your minds interpreters of your words and actions , which is a strange evasion , and if such a thing be intended , why do you lay a snare before the common sort of people ? who , being ordered to pray to saints for such and such blessings , know nothing to the contrary , but that they are able to dispence those blessings to them , and thus commit idolatry by your willful connivance , whose blood will certainly be required at your church-mens hands one day . examine but your prayers to the virgin mary in your own manuels , when you have prayed to her , and begged of her all that you can pray of god for , you add a word or two of her intercession , which in good truth is nothing but a blind , that you may not be said to commit down right idolatry . you know those prayers to the virgin mary , which in the latine , and i think in the english manual too , are ordered to be said to the virgin , morning and evening . the 〈◊〉 o my lady , holy mary , i commendmy self my soul and body to thy blessed care and singular custody , and to the bosome of thy mercy this day , and every day , and in the hour of my going out of the world. all my hope , and all my comfort , all my afflictions and miseries , my life , my end i commit unto thee ( speak seriously what can you say more to god ) that by thy most holy intercession , and by thy merits , all my words and actions may be directed and disposed according to thine , and thy sons will , amen . where it 's worth noting , that first you do put as much trust in the virgin as you do in god ; and then afterwards , to make these harsh expressions softer , you desire her to interceed for you , that your works may be directed according to christ's will , nay and her own , as if she were a lawgiver too ? then follows , maria mater gratiae , &c. o mary , mother of grace , mother of mercy , protect us from the enemy , and receive us in the hour of death ; which st. stephen thought was fitter to be said to christ when he cried , lord jesu receive my spirit . then follows the evening prayer to the virgin mary ; o mary , mother of god , and gracious virgin , the true comforter of all distressed creatures that call upon thee ( this epithete by the way the scripture gives to the holy ghost ) by that great joy whereby thou wast comforted , when thou didst know that jesus christ was risen the third day from the dead impassible , be thou the comforter of my soul ; and by the same , who is thine and god's only son , in the last day , when with body and soul i shall rise again , and give an account of all my actions , do thou vouchsafe to help me , that i may escape the sentence of perpetual damnation by thee pious mother and virgin , and may come happily with all the elect of god to eternal joys , amen . then follows , under thy protection we flee , holy mother of god , despise not our prayer in our necessities , but deliver us from all dangers always , o glorious and blessed virgin. not to mention any more prayers of this nature , whereof there is a vast number . if god be a god jealous of his glory , how can he like and approve of such doings ? it 's true , the honour done to his servants is done to him ; but then it must be such honour , as they are capable to receive ; so to honour them , as to give them the epithetes and titles which the scripture gives to none but god ; so to honour them , as to use in your prayers to them the same outward prostrations , that you use to god , when you pray to him ; so to honour them , as to spend more time in your addresses to them than you do in supplications to god , as is evident from your rosary ; so to honour them , as to say more prayers to them than to christ ; so to honour them , as to joyn their merits with christ's merits : this is an honour which , i believe , will oblige god to say one day , who hath required these things at your hands ? and how unlike the worship of the true god is that veneration you express to the images and pictures of saints , and to the relicts ? how unlike that plain and simple worship which the gospel enjoyns ? one would think it should a little startle you to see , that your church is afraid to let the second commandment be known to the people ; you know they leave it out in their primers and catechisms ; or if they mention it , they do so mince it , that one sees plainly they are afraid the people should see the contrariety of their worship to the express word of god. in the beginning of the reformation , the very sight of this commandment made people run away from the church of rome as much as any thing : indeed to consider the general terms god uses there , thou shalt not make to thy self any graven image , &c. thou shalt not only not worship them , but not so much as fall down before them ; would make a person , that is not taken more with the golden legends than with scripture , afraid of prostrations before images , upon the account of devotion : it is not all your plea , that you do not terminate your worship on the image , but on the person represented by the image , that will excuse you at the great tribunal ; for not to mention , that in the same manner the heathen used to defend their grossest idolatry , and that you are forced to borrow their very arguments ; your own authors do confess , that the common people are apt to pay adoration , and do pay adoration to the images themselves , and why will you lay such a stumbling-block before the people ? much might be said of the adoration you pay to the consecrated host : you confess , that the worship you give to it , is the same worship you give to god : what if that wafer should not be turned into the body and blood of christ ? what if it should remain as very a wafer , as it was before consecration ? what if it should not be god , as you have all the demonstration that sense or reason can give you , that it is not changed into another substance ? what monstrous idolatry would this be ? ay , but we believe it to be god : why , madam , doth your belief that such a thing is god , or christ , excuse you from idolatry ? should you believe a stone to be god , and adore it , might not you justly be charged with idolatry ? you look upon the heathens as idolaters , because they adore the sun : ay , but they believe that sun to be god ; and how then , according to your plea , can they be idolaters ? if there be such a transubstantiation in the sacrament , as you fancy , and an adoration of the hoste so very necessary , what 's the reason the apostles of our lord , that saw christ before their eyes , ( only could not believe that there were two christs , one sitting at the table , the other reached out to them : ) what 's the reason , i say , that they sate still , and paid no adoration to the bread , which according to you was transubstantiated into christ ? if they did not adore it , what a presumption is it in you to give the highest worship to the consecrated bread upon a pretence that that bread is god , under the accidents of bread ? but of this i have said enough before , and could you but find time to read what our authors have written upon this subject , it could be nothing but hardness of heart , and resolution to be blind , could keep you in a church , that fills your head with doctrines contrary to the nature of a sacrament , contrary to all that moses , and the prophets , nay , and all sound philosophers have said . i will not say any thing here of your strange unbloody sacrifice of the mass , a thing unheard of in the purer ages of christianity , and which the scripture is so great a stranger to , that one would wonder how mankind came to light upon the notion . nor of your doctrine of merits , because i find your priests have two strings to their bow , and tell the people one thing , and their adversaries , when they dispute with them , another ; affirm and deny it as they see occasion , and necessity requires . only one thing i must needs take notice of before i take my leave , and that is the gigantick argument , that some of your gentlemen boast of , and which strikes all protestants dead at the first hearing of it . if there be any thing true , this must be true , that there is a god ; if there be a god , there must be a true religion ; if there be a true religion , there must be a true revealed religion ; if there be a true revealed religion , the christian religion must be that true revealed religion ; and if the christian religion be true , then the religion of the church of rome must be true ; for the argument that proves the christian religion to be true , proves the religion of the church of rome to be true , which is this , either the christian religion was propagated without miracles , or by miracles ; if by miracles , then it must be divine ; if without miracles , then it is the greatest miracle , that a religion , so contrary to flesh and blood , should prevail with sensual men. the same , say they , is true of the religion of the church of rome . for if it be propagated by miracles , it must be divine ; if without miracles , it must be so much more , because it prescribes things contrary to flesh and blood , as penances , austerities , &c. and thousands of people do embrace it . it will not make my self merry here in a thing so serious , else i could have told you , that i have heard of an argument , when i was at school , somewhat like this ; he that drinks well , sleeps well ; he that sleeps well , commits no sin ; he that commits no sin , will be saved : therefore he that drinks well will be saved . but i forbear ; and as to the aforesaid argument , whereby one of your priests , that hath printed it , thinks to end all controversies , i will say no more but this . first , that as there is no christian but must readily confess , that the miracles christ and his apostles wrought , were a confirmation of the divinity of their doctrine ; so there is no man of any brains can admit of the other part of the dilemma as universally true , that a religion that goes against flesh and blood , if propagated without miracles , must therefore be necessarily divine . secondly , that so far as the religion of the church of rome agrees with the truly christian religion , so far it is undoubtedly true ; and it will naturally follow , that if the christian religion be true , the religion of the church of rome , so far as it agrees with the christian religion , must needs be true . and the same may be said of the protestant religion ; but that the roman religion must therefore be true , where it goes away , and differs from the truly christian religion , revealed to us in the gospel , is a consequence which none but children can approve of . thirdly , with this argument a man might prove the divinity of almost any religion in the world. he that is no stranger to history , must needs know what severities , what austerities of life the brachmans , or the heathen friers in the indies , do both prescribe and practice , and what proselites they make , and how full the kingdom of the great mogul is of them ; how some wallow in ashes day and night , how others go charged with heavy iron chaines all their days ; how others stand upright upon their leggs for whole weeks together , &c. how in japan , and other places of the indies , the priests perswade the people to fast themselves to death , to go long pilgrimages , to give all they have to the priests , to throw themselves down from steep rocks , and break their necks , and all to arrive the sooner to the happiness of another world , &c. i think there cannot be things more contrary to flesh and blood , than these , and yet we see these doctrines are propagated daily without any force of arms , only by example and perswasion , to be sure without any miracle ; but , i hope , that doth not prove their religion to be divine . it 's a dictate of the light of nature , that the way to heaven is straight , and therefore people that are religiously inclined , are easily won over to those men , whom they see exercise such severities upon themselves . to conclude , madam , when all is done , what the true church is , must be tried by the writings of the evangelists and apostles . we see , that even in the apostles days , corruptions crept into the church , witness the churches of corinth , galatia , and colosse , &c. and the simplicity of the gospel began even then to be perverted , and mingled with idle and foolish opinions and practices ; and therefore we must needs think , that after the apostles decease , the church of christ was subject to the same fare ; so that if there be any standard or touchstone left , whereby the truth and sincerity of a church can be tried , ( and we must needs think so well of god's providence that he would not leave his church without some rule to rectifie their errors by , in case she should be infected with any ) it must be the primitive institution of the christian religion ; and that church , as i said before , which teaches things that approach nearest to that primitive institution , must be the true church . and , madam , do but once more for your souls fake , and for your salvations sake , compare the doctrines and practices of the church of rome , with the doctrines and practices of the gospel , the fountain of christianity , and try whether you can find there the doctrines of communion under one kind , of publick prayers in a tongue unknown to the people , of purgatory , of the mass , of transubstantiation , of the church of rome 's supremacy and infallibility , of worshipping and adoring the virgin mary , and praying to saints , of veneration of relicks and images , of adoration of the hoste , &c. do not force any places of scripture , and try whether you can make sense of any of these doctrines by scripture : view the stream of the gospel , and search whether there be any thing like these doctrines in it : why will you make your reason a slave to your priests magisterial sentences ? how can you answer it to god , that you did not improve your reason more ? what have you your reason for , but to judge what is agreeable to the word of god , and what is not ? is not this acting like a creature void of reason , to be guided altogether by what a few blind guides say to you , without enquiring at the law and testimony , whether things are so as they say or no ? wonderful stupidity ! i stand amazed at it . it is not all the seeming holiness of those priests you converse withal , that make the church you are in , a true church . there is no sect in the world , but when they are under a cloud , necessity , and the discouragement they are under , and their desire to make proselites , makes them outwardly religious . there may be , and no doubt are zealous and outwardly pious men in all religions in the world ; but that doth not make every religion true and divine . an outward shew of piety is the only way of propagating any religion . the devil himself could not propagate heathenism and idolatry , but by the pretended zeal , and piety , and abstinence , and mortification of apollonius tyaneus ; who yet by the confession of the whole christian world , was no better than a wizard and conjurer . i make no application to any particular priest in the church of rome : i do not deny but men may be in great errors , and be very zealous for their errors , and seemingly very pious in their zeal ; and when their errors are not very willful , and destroy not the true worship of god , for ought i know , they may find mercy in the day of our lord. i grant there is a great shew of outward piety in the church of rome , very dazling and very moving ; but the great danger lies here , that the worship they give to god with one hand , they strike and pull down with the other : i know too well the practice of their churches ; and a heathen , that should come into their temples beyond sea , would verily believe that they worship a multiplicity of gods as well as he , whatever their pretensions may be to the contrary : it is not what people say , so much as what they do , that god takes notice of ; and though you should ten thousand times protest , that you worship and adore god alone , yet while god sees you adore the virgin mary , with as great zeal and reverence as you do him , pray to her oftner than you do to him , make as many bows to her , and other saints , as you do to him , and other things of that nature , how can he believe you ? religion is a thing that will not bear jests and hypocrisie ; god will not be put off with contradictions between speeches and practices . madam , i do from my heart pitty you , and as it might be the weakness of your judgment , that might lead you into this erroneous church , so i beseech you , for christ's sake , to return to the church you have rashly left , where you cannot run a hazard if you will but follow the plain doctrines of the gospel , besides which we preach nothing , and enjoin nothing as necessary to salvation . should these intreaties and beseechings be alledged against you in the last day , as things which you have , contrary to reason , refused and slighted , how dreadful would your condition be ? i have discharged my duty , and given you warning ; i would not have your guilt lie at my door , and therefore have let you know my real thoughts and sentiments concerning your condition , and the church you are in . the great god of heaven open your eyes , that you may see and fear . time was when you would have believed us as much as you do now the priests of the church of rome . it 's strange , that now they should speak nothing but truths , and we nothing but falshood . do you think we do not understand the scriptures , and fathers , and antiquity , as well as they ? and can we all be so besotted with interest and pason that none of us should yield to the dictates of their church , if we could prevail with our sense and reason to believe , that the things wherein they differ from us were agreeable to the gospel ? sure we have a great many men among us that are great lovers of peace , and would be glad that the whole christian world were agreed ; and would these men stand out against that union , if it could be done with a safe conscience ? certainly we have men as learned among us , as ever the sun did shine upon ; nay the church of rome hath at this day few men to equal ours for learning and knowledge . and would all our learned men be so stubborn and obstinate , as not to agree with the church of rome , if they did not see plainly , that there is death in that pot ; and that the errors in that church cannot be subscribed to without hazarding the welfare of their souls ? i will but use your own argument , when you went over to the church of rome , and were perswaded by the earnestness of her priests to yield to their reasonings , what pleasure can we take in promoting your damnation ? what can be our interest in deceiving you ? you used that argument on their side , why will you not use it on our side ; judge you , whither we , that have the gospel on our side for what we teach are not in a safer way , than that church which for all the new doctrines they have added to the old creeds , are forced to run to the broken cisterns of tradition ; and i know not what fathers whose writings they know not whether they be genuine or no ? as you are now , you live in wilful opposition to the doctrine and precepts of the gospel and o remember what st. paul doth say 2 thess. 1. 7 , 8. that the lord jesus wiere long come down from heaven with a●● his holy angels to take vengeance on thos● who have disobeyed the gospel of our lord jesus christ. once more therefore charge you before almighty god , and our lord jesus christ , to repent of your errors , and to return to the bosom of that church , in which you received your life and being , and the principles of religion and christianity . but if all this seem to you no more but bugbears , i have delivered my own soul , and should be forry that this discourse should stand as a witness against you in the last day , which god knows was only intended as a motive to draw you back to that fold from which you have wandred and gone astray . i am , madam , your faithful friend to serve you , a. h. feb. 17. 1677. postscript . madam , as in the publishing of this letter i had no other design , but to prevent the fall of others into the like dangers , so i have particularly insisted on those motives , which have of late tempted some persons to go over to the roman church , and though i have represented these motives as yours , yet in this i have been so far from doing any thing against the laws of private discourse , or friendship , or acquaintance , that i have only touch'd upon the common stumbling-blocks , which make unwary people joyn themselves to that church ; blocks , which might easily be removed , if men or women would but give themselves leave to think , and would prefer the solid dictates of their reason before the suggestions of their soft , and sickly passions . one thing i had almost forgot , and which indeed is the great bug-bear , whereby your church-men fright their people from running over to us , and that is , that our church began but about an hundred and fifty years ago , that luther and zwinglius were the authors of it , and that we had no church before ; pittiful shifts indeed to keep people from seeing the sun at noon . suppose our religion did but begin then , why , must people be always in an error ? must they never reform when they have done amiss ? if there were monstrous errors in the church of rome , which the aforesaid persons saw would be the death of christianity , and which they could not subscribe to without debauching their reason , or wronging both their own and other mens consciences , was it not rational , they should protest against such things , to give their fellow christians warning ? when the house is on fire , would you have no body awake to alarm the neighbours to look to themselves ? did they see so many thousand men ready to be drown'd , and would you have had them hold their tongues , and barbarously suffered them all to be drown'd ? did they see the christian religion like to be swallow'd up by darkness and ignorance , and was it not time to rouze the slumbering world ? but however , that these men were the first broachers of our religion , is notoriously false : first , because long before them , there were men that lived in the external communion of the church of rome , but dislik'd the errors , as they crept in , and grew dangerous , and though they were over-aw'd and silenc'd many times by the higher powers of the roman court , yet they both detested those corruptions , and as they had opportunity , protested against them , as were an easie matter to prove from age to age , if it had not been done already over and over by divines of our church , so that though these men , that lived long before luther , and whom god still rais'd to vindicate his truth , as it grew more and more polluted , were not call'd protestants by the people , yet in effect they were so , and consequently there were protestants many years before luther and zwinglius : and though they were not suffered by the ignorant , and imperious ecclesiastical powers , to meet and assemble themselves in publick , yet they made a church , as much as the followers of holy athanasius did , when the whole world was turned arian ; as much as elijah , and those seven thousand , the oracle mentioned , made a church , when the whole country was over-run with idolaters . these seven thousand we read lay hid , and durst not appear in publick , being oppress'd by the idolatrous powers , that sat at the stern , and thought there was no good fishing but in troubled waters . and indeed in this manner our church was dispers'd long before luther , among the greater multitude of the followers of the corrupted roman church , as a handful of wheat lies scatter'd in a bushel of chaff , and though it it did not appear in pomp and grandeur , yet that external splendour is not essential to the truth of a church , your own men may be convinced by the aforementioned examples . secondly , if your champions speak strictly of the religion , which we profess in the church of england , they are under a mistake , when they make luther or zwinglius the authors of it , for our reformation began some time after , and was both begun , and carried on with great deliberation and consideration under edward the 6th . by publick authority , whose proper province it is to take notice of what is amiss in a kingdom or commonwealth , whether it be in church or state , and to reform and mend it . it 's no great matter , when a reformation begins , so the reformation be but just ; and if such a reformation had begun but yesterday , that would not have made it unlawful , and that our reformation was just and necessary hath been prov'd by our divines beyond all reasonable contradiction , and how could it but be just , when the decrees of the church of rome controll'd the word of the living god , and vyed with the oracles of the gospel . how and when the several errors crept into that church , is not material to determine , it 's enough we found them there , and it was god's mercy not to give all the learned men of that age over to believe a lye . but it 's pretty to hear your church-men talk of the novelty of our religion , when it is evident to all the understanding world , that our first reformers began no new religion , but desired only to keep to the old. all their endeavour was to keep to the religion of the bible , and to cut off all superfluities , and things prejudicial to salvation , and was there any hurt in that ? they saw , that many things then in use in the church of rome were diametically opposite to the doctrines and practises of the primitive church , and they justly thought it their duty to reduce the church to the antient pattern ; the prouder clergy of the roman church would not yield to it , but would have all their new fangles , and all their additions to the antient symbols received as articles of faith , though all perish'd , and the coat of christ were rent into a thousand pieces ; the more humble , and more moderate of the clergy , saw the pride and insolence of the other , and trembled , and thus we and they parted ; we kept to the old religion , and your men chose the new , and much good it may do you with it ; and pray judge by this , which is the schismatick church , we or they ? we that would have healed israel , or they that would not be healed ; so that it is not our religion that began so lately as 150 years ago , about luthers time , but it 's yours that commenced then ; for you then embraced the new additions to the antient catholick creeds with greater greediness , and were resolv'd to maintain that by bravado's , which you were not able to defend with arguments . it 's a very ordinary thing for people , who once incline to the communion of the roman church to demand of us , before they go over , whither a person may be saved in that church . the charity and moderation our divines usually express in their answer to this query , i am sensible hath done our church some harm whereas the roman priests , being bold in their uncharitableness , and damning all that are out of their communion , make some weak people believe , that they must be in the right , because they are more daring in their asseverations . we have far greater reason to be peremptory in excluding the members of the church of rome from salvation , than they have to exclude us , for if that church be guilty of idolatry ( as i see , your divines find it a very hard task to answer the arguments of our learned men , that prove it . ) those that are guilty of this crime may soon be resolved by the apostle what their lot is like to be in another world ; for no idolater , saith st. paul , meaning one that lives , and dies so , shall inherit the kingdom of god , 1 cor. 6. 9. yet we are modest , and whatever the principles of that church may lead men to , we hope , there may be many in that church , that either , while they live in the communion of that church , have an aversion from the dangerous , and idolatrous practices of it , or sometimes before they die do heartily repent of the absurd , and unreasonable doctrines , and worship , they have too long asserted , and complied with , and of such we cannot but entertain a very favourable opinion , and indeed i could name you some very famous men both in france and italy , who , though they have continued in the communion of that church , i. e. have not joyn'd themselves to any particular publick protestant church , yet have not approv'd of such things in the roman church , as manifestly obstructs mens salvation , and though like nicodemus they have not dared openly to avow their dislike of such errors , for fear of danger , yet in their hearts they have abhorr'd them , and declared so much to their friends , and intimate acquaintance . and though their seeming communion with a church so erroneous , cannot be totally excused , because it looks like a tacite approbation of her errors , yet since we read of joseph , that he was a disciple of christ secretly , and notwithstanding his not confessing christ publickly , accepted of god , we hope such mens continuing in the external communion of the roman church is not a willful error , but rather a pardonable infirmity , a timorousness which hath nothing of malice in it , and therefore will not hinder them from salvation . we know not what mercy god may shew to many poor people in that church , who are invincibly ignorant , and never saw a bible , from whence they might rectifie their mistakes , and do live honestly in this present world ; but we must withal confess , that the servant , who hath known his masters will , and hath not done it , shall be beaten with many stripes , and whether those that have been enlightened in our church , and have tasted the good word of god , and cannot but see our agreement with the gospel , and after all this embrace the errors of the roman church , whether these will be excusable at the last day , we justly doubt of ; to live in great errors is to live in sin , but where that living in errors is joyn'd with resistance of great light , and knowledge , there the sin becomes all crimson , which was but of a faint red before ; and if this be the character of christ's friends to do whatsoever he commands us , then the inference is very easie , that those cannot be christ's friends , nor reign with in heaven , that willfully leave undone , what they know he hath commanded , and set up a new worship , which he hath no where commanded : madam , had you never seen such a thing as the scripture , your going over to that church might have deserved some apology , but when you were surrounded with the beams of that light which shines in darkness , as st. peter calls the word , with all those rayes about you , to shut your eyes , and desperately to venture upon the church , which enjoyns men to live against some of gods laws , as against , exod. 20. 5 , 6. and matth. 26. 27. &c. and consequently obliges them to prepare for god's displeasure ; this , i confess , is an action , which , as it savours of great willfulness , so i question , if you die in 't without serious repentance , whether the joys you hope for , will ever fall to your share . if your church-men do mean honestly , and do truly aim at the peace of christendom , and in good earnest design the union , of men that profess the name of christ , why will not they part with those doctrines that are so great an offence , not only to all protestants , but to jews and mahometans too ? if that worshipping of saints and images be not necessary , but only useful , why will not they quit that worship , which by their own pretences is needless , especially when they might do so much good by it ? if the cup was formerly given to the laity , why will not they to effect the aforesaid union , restore it to the laity ? if the substance of the sacrament , and the comfort arising from it , may remain entire , without obliging men to believe a transubstantiation , or adoration of the consecrated wafer , why will not they for peace sake lay aside such doctrines , which neither themselves , nor any creature understands ? if heaven and hell are sufficient motives to a holy life , why will not they for quietness sake renounce their doctrine of purgatory , which by their own confession hath no ground in scripture ? madam , i have that charitable opinion of you , that if you had but taken a view of the worship of the church of rome , as it is practic'd beyond sea , in places where there is no fear of contradiction from any hereticks , where they may freely and securely act according to their principles , had you seen the mode of worshipping the virgin mary at rome , or in spain , or italy , the sight of it would have certainly discourag'd you from embracing that religion , which now you seem to be mainly delighted with ; for indeed the religion of the church of rome at this time , if a man were to guess from that , which hath the greatest outward veneration , is little else than a worship of the virgin mary . the very beggers beyond-sea in begging of alms , beg more for the virgin mary's sake , than for christ's sake . this , madam , i know to be true , who am no stranger to foreign parts ; and i will assure you , that in those cities or towns , where both papists and protestants have the free exercise of their religion , you shall live twenty years in a town before you hear that any protestant is turned papist , ( so few charms are there in the exercise of their religion beyond sea ) but you shall not be above a year or two in such a town , before you hear that several papists are turned protestants ( such a force hath truth ; ) the religion of the church of rome , as it is practis'd in england , looks harmless . now and then upon some great festival they shew you a picture of the virgin mary , or of some other saint , and the honest priest qualifies every doctrine , makes the errors soft and plausible , and they dare not , living in a protestant country , serve the host of heaven , i mean saints and angels with all their appertenances , as they do in places , where there are no protestants to watch them . here their religion seems to be without a sting , and is clad in the fleece of sheep ; but if you could but make a voyage into spain or italy , i doubt not but you would see the venome of it , and avoid it : and the only way not to be of the church of rome , would be to go to rome , provided you do not go without your bible . in good truth , that church hath turn'd christianity into a meer outward pomp and splendor , which ravishes the eye , but can never content a man's reason . the glistering gold in their temples , the curious images of saints and angels , the numerous and stately altars , the mighty silver statues , the rich and glorious vestments you see up and down in their churches , strike the senses into a kind of extasie , and it must be sense only , for a considerate mind , that searches the inside of things as well as the outside , cannot be so easily gull'd and deceiv'd ; and this outward pomp they make not the least sign of the truth of their church , not remembring , that if this be a good sign , the idolatrous people in japan and china , whose temples are infinitely more shining and glorious , will have a better title to the true church than they : i must confess , that in policy , and worldly craft and cunning , the church of rome exceeds ours , for they have not only turn'd the spiritual worship of the gospel into a sensual service , into outward religious formalities , a thing strangely pleasing to flesh and blood ; but they have shooes that will fit all sorts of feet , great and small , and have remedies for all distempers , and you may go to heaven in that church either through the straight way , or through the broad , which you please ; they can fit the melancholy person , and the jovial ; they have monasteries and nunneries , and severities to content the one , and know how to allow greater liberty to the other ; they can either send a man to happiness through a tedious task of mortification , if he likes that method best , or help him thither by a quicker dispatch , by confession , attrition , and absolution upon a death-bed , when the man can hold sin and the world no longer : live , or die , you cannot do amiss in that church , for living you may be forgiven , and after death you may be pray'd out of purgatory , sooner or later , according as you will spend money upon masses , for gold doth strangely quicken these supplications . such a church , madam , you have espoufed ; and divorced your self from one that prefers the wisdom of god , and of the gospel , before the wisdom of the flesh , and glories in dealing plainly and honestly with all men , that keeps close to the scriptures , and yet is not against those pious customes of antiquity , which are not contradictory to the scriptures , that generously maintains the prerogative of god ; and gives no other honour to saints and angels , but what may consist with the glory of her creator ; that hath made no new articles of faith , but keeps to the old , and thinks it rebellion against god to enjoin things as necessary to salvation , which god never made so ; that urges the strictest life , and encourages nothing but what may promote true piety and devotion ; that hath no more ceremonies but what are decent , and labours to free religion at once from slovenliness and superstition ; that secures the right of soveraign princes , and teaches her children to live like good subjects , and good christians ; and though it be her misfortune , that too many of her pretended members live like enemies of christianity , yet that 's not long of her doctrines and constitutions , but long of the stubbornness of men , who will not be reform'd by her precepts : as no man blames christ or his apostles , because judas was a hypocrite , or because simon magus profess'd their religion ; so they betray great ignorance and simplicity , that , for the monstrous impieties of many that profess themselves members of our assemblies , despise and slight our church , which in her principles is most averse from all such practices ; a church , which as for mine own particular , i have deliberately and premeditately embraced and chosen , so , i hope , i shall never be so much for saken of god , or of my reason , as to quit it to become a papist . i have not been altogether a careless observer of the several christian churches , dispers'd through the world. desire of mine own salvation hath made me take particular notice , what corruption there is in them , and what affinity they have with the primitive professors of christianity : and i must freely confess upon a serious examination of the scripture , and the fathers of the three first centuries after christ , that from my heart i think there is no church this day in all the christian world , be it eastern or western , that in her principles and constitutions bears so much of the image of the truly primitive church , or comes so near it , as the church of england ; a church , which as your fore-fathers had courage to burn for , so i verily believe , that he understands not her innocent designs , and excellent rules , that dares not die a martyr in her cause . once more your faithful friend to serve you , a. horneck . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44522-e440 i. e. contradictions . notes for div a44522-e1840 in the new confession of faith compiled and published by pope pius iv. a little above a hundred years ago . under one kind only . the fire of the altar, or, certain directions how to raise the soul into holy flames before, at, and after receiving the blessed sacrament of the lords supper : with suitable prayers and devotions, to which is prefix'd a dialogue betwixt a christian and his own conscience : concerning the true nature of the christian religion, intended chiefly for the inhabitants of st. mary le strand, and the precinct of the savoy / by anthony horneck ... horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 1683 approx. 192 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 121 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44517 wing h2826 estc r38984 18202917 ocm 18202917 107051 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44517) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 107051) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1125:5) the fire of the altar, or, certain directions how to raise the soul into holy flames before, at, and after receiving the blessed sacrament of the lords supper : with suitable prayers and devotions, to which is prefix'd a dialogue betwixt a christian and his own conscience : concerning the true nature of the christian religion, intended chiefly for the inhabitants of st. mary le strand, and the precinct of the savoy / by anthony horneck ... horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. [10], 226, [2] p., [1] leaf of plates : ill. printed by t.n. for samuel lowndes ..., [london] : 1683. advertisement: p. [1]-[2] at end. errata: p. 226. reproduction of original in the bodleian library. the true nature of the christian religion -the fire of the altar, or, directions concerning the worthy receiving of the lords supper --prayers and devotions to be used before and after receiving of the holy sacrament of the lords supper. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng lord's supper -exposition of elements -early works to 1800. lord's supper -prayer-books and devotions -english. 2005-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-05 haley pierson sampled and proofread 2005-05 haley pierson text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion 〈◊〉 this child is set for the fall and rising ●●ain of many in israel ; and for a signe ●hich shal be spoken against . luc. 2. 34. the fire of the altar : or , certain directions how to raise the soul into holy flames , before , at , and after the receiving the blessed sacrament of the lords supper . with suitable prayers and devotions . to which is prefix'd , a dialogue betwixt a christian and his own conscience ; concerning the true nature of the christian religion . intended chiefly for the inhabitants of st. mary le strand , and the precinct of the savoy . by anthony horneck d. d printed by t. n. for samuel lowndes , 〈◊〉 against exeter exchange in the strand . 1683. to my beloved parishioners , the inhabitants of st. mary le strand , and the precinct of the savoy . though i intend you a larger treatise upon the sacrament of the lords supper , by the name and title of the crucified jesus ; yet i was willing to let these directions come forth , to prepare your hearts for those larger meditations ; not but that there are books enough already writ upon this subject , and by abler pens too ; but you having for some years past known my conversation , my temper , my exhortations , and my manner of speaking , and writing ; i thought something of this nature might be more useful to you , then other more elaborate lucubrations . there is nothing i am more afraid of , then that the generality of you , both young and old , either have not , or will not have right apprehensions of that christian religion , you profess , some being apt to place it in a careless , customary belief of the doctrine ; some in leaving a few notorious sins ; others in saying their prayers ; others in doing no body wrong ; others again in having good desires , and pious inlinations ; all which opinions are notorious mistakes of the nature and temper of christianity , which imports a change of nature , disposition , and acting contrary to the humours , passions , manners , customs , and deportment of the world ; and this is it i must see , and perceive in you , before i can conclude , that my pains , and labours among you , have not been in vain . brethren , my hearts desire and prayer to god for you , is , that you may be saved . i will assure you , this is no compliment , no form of speech , no words in course , but the ardent wish of my soul ; and my fervent prayers day and night ; this is the desire of my soul in private , and in publick ; for this i fill my mouth with arguments to that god , who heareth prayers , even then when you do not think of me ; for this i study , and take pains , and am willing to spend my self , and to be spent ; and your salvation is the great object of my care ; for this end i venture your anger , and caress yonr love ; for this end i walk blameless among you , and am tender of your welfare ; for this end i reprove , and exhort , and intreat you , and run , and spend my breath , and all , that you may be saved . i am not ignorant of the divels devices , i am sensible of the nature of sin , how apt it is to deceive you , and though i am not with you in all places , i see by the effects , how the enemy of your souls deals with you , and what will be the issue of a careless life . i consider the shrieks of the damn'd in hell , and would fain keep you from that dangerous gulph . i see you stand upon the brink of destruction , and cannot forbear calling to you , o do your selves no harm . the greatest kindness you can do me , the greatest gratitude you can express , the greatest civility and respect you can shew me , is to do according to the wholsome counsels , i do give you , whatever constructions some of you may put upon these adjurations ; the searcher of all hearts knows this to be true , that i would rejoyce in nothing so much , as in your obedience to the gospel . i would fain rejoyce with you in the great day of the lord jesus ; i would fain see you glorious saints in the everlasting mansions ; i would fain see you shine as stars in the firmament of heaven . i would see you triumph with angels , sing with cherubim , and joyn the celestial quire in eternal praises . think what a dismal sight it will be in that day to see some of your friends in the burning lake , that might have feasted with the son of god , in his fathers kingdom ; we that meet together in the church-militant here , what a happy , what a glorious fight would it be to meet all in the church-triumphant , when these bodies do drop from us ! it is no small grief to me , to see some of you , who have lived for some years under my ministry , given to the same sins , and inordinate desires , as drunkenness , swearing , lying , cheating , dissembling , malice , wrath , hatred , passion , carelesness , and neglect of the lords supper , quarrelling , foolish jesting , filthy talk , frothiness , pride , vncleanness , &c. they were formerly enamoured with ; certainly this must be an argument against you in that day , when god shall judge the secrets of men , by the everlasting gospel . o let 's not be forced to complain of you , that we would have healed you , and you would not be healed to this end i beseech you , 1. to make the rules in the following treatise familiar to you . there is nothing in it , but what you 'l find exactly agreeable to that word , on which you build your faith. by making them familiar to you , i do not only mean getting them by heart , but applying your selves to the serious practice of them , till you get a habit of those virtues . a single act now and then when you are in a religious humour will do no good ; but you must labour at them so long , till they come to be incorporated with your spirits , and mingle with your complexion , and constitution . to oblige your children , and servants to learn these rules without book , and to admonish them to try , and see , whether they observe them in their behaviour , and conversation ; to ask them often , whether their actions are agreeable to these rules , and whether they are not afraid of losing gods favour , by neglecting so great a salvation . but then you must shew them a good example ; for all your exhortations , will be but wind , while you do not express the possibility of living up to these rules , in your own lives . your example will make these christian virtues amiable , and your practice must shew , that you believe them necessary . and oh ! how comfortable will it be upon your death-beds , and what joy will this testimony of your conscience cause , that in godly simplicity and sincerity , not according to fleshly wisdom , but according to the grace of god , you have had your conversation in the world ; god will love you , even he , whose loving kindness is better then life it self . his love will close your eyes , his love will whisper the glad tidings of happiness in your ears . his love will be your guide through the shadow and valley of death , and this love will see you safe within the gates of a blessed eternity ; which love , that it may become your portion , and inheritance , is , and shall be the hearty wish , and prayer of your faithful friend , and minister in christ jesus , a. h. the true nature of the christian religion , in a dialogue betwixt a christian , and his own conscience . conscience . rouze , rouze thy self , and awake thou slumbering sinner , and think , what that religion means , thou dost profess , and tell me ingenuously , what it is to be a christian ? christian. it is not only to profess the doctrine of jesus christ , but also to live , as he lived ; to have the same mind and spirit in me , that was in him , to act upon the great principle of an unseen everlasting glory , and to neglect all things rather , then the salvation of my immortal soul , john 15. 10. phil. 2. 5. mat. 16. 26. heb. 12. 1 , 2. consc. hast thou a soul , that 's in a possibility of being either eternally happy , or eternally miserable ? christ. i have , for my soul certainly is not of the same nature with my body , but is a spiritual substance , rational , and intelligent as angels are , and therefore incorruptible ; and signally differs from beasts , being capable of obeying , and disobeying god , mat. 10. 28. psal. 32. 9. rev. 22. 8 , 9. isa. 1. 19 , 20. consc. what if thy soul be capable of obeying , and disobeying god , doth that make it either happy , or miserable ? christ. yes , certainly : for to the obedient , god hath faithfully promised eternal life , and glory , when they leave this world ; and to the disobedient , he hath peremptorily threatned everlasting anguish , and torment , rom. 2. 6 , 7 , 8. heb. 5. 9. 2 thes. 1. 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. consc. what must thou then do to be saved ? christ. i must necessarily obey the precepts , and commands of my lord and master , and saviour christ jesus , which he hath delivered , and enjoyn'd either with his own mouth , or by his apostles , john 14 , 15 , 21. john 15. 14. 1 thess. 4. 1. consc. what precepts are those , thou art bound to obey in order to be saved ? christ , 1. i must necessarily curb mine anger and passion , and be very meek to all men in my speeches , answers , and actions , gentle , and not much concern'd under any affront , or injury done to my person , or when any thing is said , or done , which displeases me ; and be ready to forgive , and forget all injuries . i must not revile , when i am reviled , nor give ill language to them , that reproach me , nor revenge my self when it lies in my power , nor call men fools , and rogues , upon trivial occasions . i must so far love mine enemies , as to do good to them that hate me , if they either desire or want it , bless them that curse me , and pray for them that use me ill , mat. 5. 22 , 44. tit. 3. 2. rom. 12. 17 , 19. 1 pet. 2. 21 , 23. 2. i must be very humble , and have low and mean thoughts of my self , and of my worth , knowledg , fortune , dignity , riches , means , and condition in the world. i must when i address my self to god in prayer , or praises , be very vile and base in my own sight , and be ashamed to lift up my eyes and hands to god. i must esteem other men , in whom i see any goodness , better then my self . i must not commend my self , nor take it ill , if other people do not , nor be fond of worldly respect and honour , but must be civil , courteous , and obliging even to the meanest , and poorest , and regard the honour that comes of god more , then the honour which comes of men , mat. 11. 29. mark 10. 15. john 5. 44. gal. 5. 26. 2 sam. 6. 22. 3. i must be kind and tender hearted , and compassionate , and love to do good to my neighbour , either by good advice , and counsel , or reproof , if he go on in any known sin ; or by my means , and money and goods , if he be in want ; or by my labour and industry , if i can do no more ; according as my ability , and his necessity require ; and if i know none , must seek out objects , upon whom , and to whom i may do good , gal. 6. 6 , 9 , 10. 2 tim. 1. 17. 4. i must shun all foreseen , and known occasions of evil. if by looking on a man , or woman any dishonest lust , or desire rise in me , i must crush it , and look upon that person no more : i must not go into company , where i am sensible i shall be tempted , and drawn into sin , whether it be drunkenness , or swearing , or passion , or frothy , or filthy talk , or the like . i must not touch any thing that would raise any inordinate appetite in me , and must forbear gaudy cloathing , and other external ornam●●●● if they prove temptations to pri●● or loftiness , and vanity of spirit , mat , 5. 28 , 29 , 30. 1 tim. 2. 9. 1 pet. 3. 3 , 4. 5. i must labour to be very patient under any temporal afflictions , whether sickness , or losses , or other crosses and disappointments , and neither murmur , nor repine , because god my heavenly father sends , it , and hath promised , that if i love him , to turn all these troubles unto my unspeakable good , and designs an infinite recompense in heaven , for my patience , jam. 5. 7. rom. 8. 28. heb. 12. 7 , 8 , 9. 6. i must study great simplicity in my thoughts , words , actions , garb , cloaths , furniture , houses , meat , drink , and the like , and avoid all things that may put a stop to my progress in a spiritual life ; and particularly , all such recreations , as may dull and damp good things in me , or bring upon me an aversion from that goodness and simplicity which was in christ and his apostles ▪ and the primitive christians , 2 cor. ● ▪ 12. matth. 10. 16. phil. 2. 5. 15. 1 〈◊〉 . 5. 22. 7. i must in all places where-ever i am , watch over my thoughts and speeches , and expressions , and actions , because god hears , and sees me , and is every where present ; and take heed , that neither any temporal profit , nor pleasure , nor the favour of men make me say , or do , or comply with any thing , that is sinful , and i suspect to be so , psal. 139. 1 , 2 , 3. matth. 12. 36. col. 4. 6. 1 thess. 4. 4 , 5 , 6. acts 5. 29. 8. i must not use equivocations , or mental reservations when i speak , or take an oath , or promise any thing , or make a bargain , nor te●●●●ye wittingly or wilfully , though i might gain all the riches of the world , or could save my life by it ; but speak the truth , whenever i think fit to speak , or give an answer , let the inconvenience be what it will , or the danger never so great , ephes. 4. 28 , 1 pet. 3. 15. 9. i must take special notice of the various dealings of god with my soul and body , and praise , and admire him for those providences , whether spiritual or temporal , as many as come within my cognisance . i must praise him when i rise , when i lye down , when i sit up , when i walk , when i eat , or drink , or get any lawful gain , or men are kind , and favourable to me , es. 5. 11 , 12. psal. 105. 5 , matth. 6. 26 , 27 , 28. 1 cor. 10 , 31. 1 thess. 5. 18. 10. i must do the same kindnesses , favours , and services to other men , which i would have other men , who are in such circumstances , do to me , and therefore must be charitable , just , honest , faithful , sincere in all my dealings with them , and put a good construction on their doubtful actions , because i would have them be so , and do so to me , matth. 7. 12. 1 cor. 13. 4 , 5 , 6 , 7. rom. 13. 7 , 8 , 9. 11. according to the condition , calling , or relation i am in , i must discharge my duty belonging to that calling , condition , or relation , with very great conscientiousness ; as a servant i must be faithful , and respectful to my master , or mistriss . as a son , or daughter , very tender of my parents welfare , credit , and command ; as a subject , obedient and loyal to the king , and those who are in authority under him , in all lawful things , as a member of a publick church , careful to preserve its peace , and unity ; as a husband , or wife , loving , kind , and amiable to my yoke-fellow ; and in the lawful calling god hath placed me in , diligent and industrious 1 pet. 2. 13 , 14 , 18. eph. 6. 1 , 4 , 5. col. 3. 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22. col. 4. 1. rom. 12. 11. 12. i must delight to think of god , and delight to speak of spiritual things , and delight to do the will of god , and delight in all these , and in other good works , more then in the gaudes , pomp , glory , and vanity of this present world. i must use the world as if i used it not , and be very indifferent whether i have much of this worlds goods or no ; and my chief aim and design must be , to get a share in god's everlasting kingdom . matth. 6. 33. 1 cor. 7. 29 , 30 , 31. psal. 112. 1. psal. 139. 17. psal. 119. 72. consc. why art thou obliged to do all this in order to salvation ? christ. partly because god my supreme governour , expresly commands these things to be done , partly because eternal happiness is promised to none but such , as in good earnest apply themselves to the performance of them ; partly because infinite glory is a thing of that consequence , that it deserves these pains , and this excellent temper , partly because the love of god to me is so great , that i can do no less in common gratitude . matth. 5. ●0 . matth. 19. 17. luc 13. 24. 2 cor. 5. ●● . consc. what is that mighty love of god , that challenges such gratitude ? christ. when with the rest of mankind , i was lost , and undone in my first parents , depriv'd of all hopes of mercy and pardon , and salvation ; the eternal son of god to restore me to god's favour , and to make me capable of pardon , and eternal salvation , took my nature upon him , became man , suffered , and died for me ; and having by his death purchased this pardon , and salvation for me , offers me these mercies , upon condition of obeying the aforesaid precepts . joh. 3. 16. rom. 5. 17. 21. 2 cor. 5. 19. consc. but what if thou hast not obeyed these precepts of the gospel , is there any remedy , or hopes to recover the favour of god ? christ. i must necessarily repent of my disobedience with all speed , and make it my business for the future , to live up to those rules , in despight of all commands and allurements from men to the contrary , and upon 〈◊〉 repentance , sincere resol●● 〈◊〉 ▪ and earnest endeavours to obey them ; i may certainly hope for pardon and salvation , because he hath promised it , matth. 11. 28 , 29. es. 55. 7. joel 2. 12 , 13 , 14. consc. but is it possible , dost thou think , for any man to obey , and live up to these precepts ? christ. if it were not possible for me to obey them , i cannot imagine why god should peremtorily require it of me , and therefore i may certainly so far obey them , as not to act wittingly or wilfully , or deliberately against them , and so perform them , as to make them the setled rule of my thoughts , desires , words , and actions , if i will but use the means , god hath prescribed in order to this holy obedience , matth. 25. 26 , 27 , 1 cor. 10. 13. 1 joh. 5 ' 3. consc. what are those means , whereby this holy obedience may be attained ? christ. they are eight , 1. consideration and thinking . 2. earnest prayer for the assistance of gods grace and spirit . 3. diligent hearing , and reading the word of god. 4. asking advice , and consulting with faithful ministers of the gospel . 5. self-examination . 6. a right apprehension of the nature of god , and of spiritual things . 7. humbling the soul with fasting . 8. a conscientious use of the two sacraments , the son of god hath instituted , and ordained . consc. how is consideration , and thinking to be managed ? christ. i must seriously and frequently retire , and think with my self , that surely gods promises , and threatnings will be fulfilled ; that upon the moment of my death , there depends eternity ; and what a sad and forlorn condition i should be in , should eternal anguish seize on my soul , when it leaves this world ; and though god be patient , yet he will not be mock'd ; that there is no soul in hell at this time , but would be glad to obey god , if they might be freed , and tryed once more here on earth ; that a work of that concern is not to be neglected for trifles ; that my death is very uncertain , and a death-bed is no place or time to bring my self to a habit of obedience , deut. 32. 29. ps. 90. 12. ps. 50. 22. consc. what is the nature of prayer , and earnest begging for grace and assistance of gods spirit ? christ. i must take care , that my heart and mind do pray as well as my lips ; i must be sensible of what i pray for , and fix my thoughts upon god in prayer , and earnestly long for his grace and mercy , and be importunate with him , pray often , and with fervour , like a person that am concern'd at the danger i am in ; i must watch against wandring thoughts , or expell them when they come in , and my soul must esteem and prize the grace of god , and assistance of gods spirit , above all the advantages of the world , and be restless till i get it , and take notice how god hears and answers my prayers , joh. 4. 24. ps. 66. 18. ps. 63. 1. ps. 16. 8. consc. what dost thou mean by diligent hearing and reading of the word of god ? christ. when i read , or hear it , i must read and hear it with attention , and resolution , to know gods will , that i may do it : before i read and hear it , i must beg of god to enlighten me , and to imprint those good lessons , i shall hear or read , upon my soul , and to make them effectual to me ; i must apply the general commands i read and hear , to mine own soul , and believe , that what god commands all men , as christians and believers , he commands me in particular . i must watch against worldly thoughts in reading , and hearing , and remember , i do sin if i do not mind what i read or hear , luc. 8. 18. marc. 4. 24. joh. 5. 39. ps. 119. 18. consc in what manner must thou ask advice of faithful ministers of the gospel ? christ. i must go to those who are very serious , or send for any of them , and ask them about the state and condition of my soul , and what i must do to secure gods favour , how i must go about the great work of salvation , and beg their direction in performing the will of god , and acquaint them how it is with me ; what temptations i am subject to , and what corruptions i am inclined to , and intreat them to tell me , how to be rid of them , and oblige them to help me with their prayers , and to encourage me to a vigorous pursuit of the everlasting riches ; and when i have done so , must follow their advice and counsel , acts 16. 30 , 31 , 32. marc. 10. 17. phil. 3. 17. consc. and what is to be done with self-examination ? christ. i must frequently look into my thoughts , words , and actions , and see whether they are agreeable to the rules of the gospel ; every night , i must take an account of my self , and consider what i have been doing in the day time , whether i have not told a lye , deceiv'd no body , broke forth into no passion ; done good , resisted temptations , been often with god in prayer , taken notice of gods providences , &c. that where i have done amiss , i may watch against it the next day , and where i have done well , i may admire the goodness of god , and praise him for it , ps. 4. 4. 2 cor. 13. 5. lam. 3. 40. consc. what apprehensions must thou have of god , and spiritual things ? christ. i must believe 1. that god is a spirit omnipresent , omniscient , infinitely good , and wise , and holy , and just , and will be a rewarder to them that diligently seek him ; and punish the disobedient , either here , or hereafter , or both here and hereafter , heb. 11. 6. 2 thess. 1. 6 , 7. ps. 58. 11. ps. 50. 21. 2. that this god is our supream governour , and hath revealed himself to be father , son , and holy ghost , or our creator , redeemer , and sanctifier ; and that there is some resemblance of these three in one in the sun , in which is the light and heat , and beam , which three make but one sun , 1 joh. 5. 7. matth. 28. 19. 2 cor. 13. 14. 3. that all mankind fell in adam , the first man , and by that fall , moved god to withdraw his love and favour from them ; and that god the son in commiseration to our nature , became man of the virgin mary , suffered and died , and by his death , rendred god the father , or rather the whole trinity , kind and propitious to us , and willing to receive us into favour , and to give us pardon and everlasting life , upon the conditions of repentance , and unfeigned obedience , and therefore justly called christ jesus , i. e. the anointed saviour , rom. 5. 8 , 9 , 10. gal. 4. 4 , 5. matth. 1. 21. 4. that the scripture where all this is revealed , is the word of god , because the men who revealed this in scripture , were inspired by the holy ghost , and in confirmation of it , wrought true miracles , miracles levell'd against the power of sin , and impossible to be done by humane strength ; the truth of which miracles hath been conveyed down to posterity , by multitudes of eye-witnesses , and from them received by all christian people , heb. 2. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4. 5. that the promises and threatnings of the gospel , will infallibly be fulfilled sooner or later , because god cannot lie , tit. 1. 2. 6. that our soul is not our breath , nor our blood , nor the spirits of our blood , but a spiritual substance , able to live , and act without this gross body , we carry about us , and will immediately upon leaving this body , be obliged to appear before god , and to him give an account of its good and evil works , and according to the prevalency or predominancy of either , be made sensible of the sentence of absolution , or condemnation , which shall be pronounced at the day of judgment , luc. 16. 22 , 23. 7. that at the end of this world , there will be a solemn day of judgment , wherein the bodies of all men shall rise , and be re-united to their souls , and their thoughts , words and actions , be brought to light , and judged , and sentence solemnly pronounced ; and the good commanded to take possession of eternal joys , and the bad to go into everlasting torments , 2 cor. 5. 10. matth. 25. 31 , 46. 8. that god requires no more of us , then we do of our children , and servants , and that 's love , and that this love , if it be true , and hearty , must necessarily discover it self in repentance , and sorrow for offending him , and a sincere endeavour to please and obey him for the future , luc. 6. 46. malach. 1. 6. 9. that though by nature we are generally more prone to evil , then to good , and have a stronger byass to sin then righteousness : yet god the holy ghost , by his power and influences , will certainly assist , and help us to abhor that which is evil , and to cleave to that which is good ; if so be , that by earnest prayer , fasting , and meditation , we long , and breathe for his help , and influences , luc. 11. 13. 10. that all the service , i offer to god , must be performed with my mind , will , and affections , or with my inward man , and with my heart , and that without my mind , have the greatest share in the service ; it is insignificant , and rejected by god , prov. 23. 26. matth. 22. 37. 11. that by believing in scripture for the most part , is meant nothing but obeying , and that he who obeys not the precepts of the gospel , doth not believe that they are either divine , or necessary to be obey'd , or that the gospel is infallibly true , acts 6. 7. heb. 11. 24 , 25 , 26. 2 thess. 1. 11. 12. that that frame of spirit which fits a man for eternal happiness , is neither a customary frequenting of the ordinances of god , nor shunning the grosser sins and vices of the age we live in ; nor being master of a single virtue , but a spiritual temper of mind , which puts us upon doing all that 's necessary to be done in order to salvation , rom. 8. 5 , 6. 9 , 10. consc. what are the rules to be observed in humbling the soul with fasting ? christ. i must frequently , as often as my strength will bear it , give my self to fasting , and prayer , and on those fasts , wrestle with god for growth in grace , and strength against those sins , i am most prone and inclined to , and greater courage against temptations . i must give alms on that day , for the refreshing of some poor member of christ , and spend the day in supplications , and contemplations of my sins , and of the wrath of god , i have deserved , and of gods mercy to penitent sinners in christ jesus , and in holy resolutions , to be watchful over my heart for the future , that i may perform those duties i have formerly neglected , and imitate holy men and women in their virtuous practises , es. 58. 6 , 7. matth. 6. 17 , 18. 1 cor. 7. 5. 1 cor. 9. 27. consc. wherein doth the conscientious use of the holy sacraments consist ? christ. in entertaining right and sutable notions of the nature of these sacraments , and using them to those ends , and purposes , for which they are designed , matth. 6. 22. 1 cor. 10. 31. consc. what notions must thou entertain about these sacraments ? christ. 1. that these sacraments are in the nature of solemn vows , and protestations ; that i will be faithful to god in christ jesus , by the assistance of the holy ghost , or in the nature of covenants , where god and man do mutually engage themselves one to another ; or in the nature of outward visible signs , whereby some spiritual thing is represented , rom. 4. 12. exod. 13. 9. 1 pet. 3. 20. 21. 2. that these sacraments are ordained , and instituted by the son of god , my saviour ; and that baptism and the supper of the lord , are all the sacraments , that are either given by christ to the church , or need to be receiv'd by the church of christ , matth. 28. 19. 1 cor. 11. 23. 3. that baptism is a significant ceremony , whereby children , men , and women are washed with water , which washing imports gods pardon of our sins , and our duty to keep our selves pure from sin for the future ; god promising the one , and we the other , 1 pet. 3. 21. 1 cor. 6. 11. 4. that though children can make no such promises , yet it 's fit they should be baptiz'd , because they are part of the nations which christ would have baptiz'd , and are disciples , and in the covenant of grace ; and it 's enough , that other persons promise for them , as their guardians , which promise they are bound to perform , when they come to be of age , acts 2. 38 , 39. 5. that coming to the lords supper is the strongest engagement to a holy life , because i do there personally , freely , and solemnly remember the death of christ , and that my sins caused his death , and do protest to allow my self no longer in them , but to imitate christ jesus in his meekness , patience , humility , charity , and goodness , 1 cor. 11. 24 , 25. consc. how must these sacraments be used , in order to thy present and everlasting comfort ? christ. 1. as to baptism , i must be baptized but once , because that initiates , and admits me into the fellowship of christians , and gives me a right and title to the use of the means of grace ; and this need to be done but once : all that is to be done after this , is to keep a good conscience towards god , and towards man , in the use of those means , according to the promise made for me when i was washed with water , eph. 4. 5. 2. as to the supper of the lord , that requires my frequent coming , because i stand in need of frequent renewing , not only of my repentance , and love to god , and charity to my neighbours , but of the motives and enforcives to these graces ; whereof the remembrance of the love of god , in the death of christ is the greatest , and most remarkable , 1 cor. 11. 26. the fire of the altar , or directions concerning the worthy receiving of the lords supper . conscience . is it not fit , o my soul thou shouldest pause a little on thy redeemers death , before thou goest to remember it with the congregation ? there are those charms in that death , which if rightly viewed , will be invincible motives to thee to die , to a sinful life , and to embrace the holy life of jesus . shouldst not thou think ? shouldst not thou cry ? o that i had wings like a dove , that i might fly away to golgotha , and behold the dreadful spectacle of god crucified , for the sins of the children of men ! a mighty mystery this ! to the jews a stumbling block , and to the greeks foolishness : what all the jewish rabbins could not see , what the greatest heathen sages could not find out , that hath god revealed . o god! thy ways are not as our ways , nor are thy thoughts as our thoughts . we entertain mean apprehensions of thee , such as our narrow understandings yield ; but thou lovest to do all things contrary to the measures , we poor mortals take . this hath been thy method , ever since thou hast thought fit to plant a church in the world ! thou didst send lot into sodom , and contrary to mens imagination didst preserve him from the infection of that beastly crew . in the midst of an idolatrous countrey , thou didst bid elijah stand up , and declare , thy name to the besotted israelites a place , where to own the true god , was fatal , and to make mention of thy worship , heresie ; where to profess thy faith was counted madness , and not to imitate the luxury of the age , a crime unpardonable ; among the wicked men of anat hoth : thou didst separate jeremiah for the prophetick office , and in the land of vz , crouded with pagans and infidels , gavest job a heart to fear thy providence . out of vz , the metropolis of chaldean superstition , thou didst call the beloved abraham , and vouchsafedst to him the knowledge of thy will , in a crooked and perverse generation ; thou didst fill the bashful moses with courage to talk to kings ; and a timorous aaron by thy order , can controul atheists , and idolaters . thou lovest to create a world out of nothing , and to call things that are , out of those which do not appear ; thou lovest to do things , which to us seem impossibilities ; and when the fig-tree doth not blossom , lovest to produce most pleasant fruit ; when calamities are become dangerous , and past remedy , thou lovest to shew thy healing hand ; and when no probabilities of help appear , declarest thy power and glory . thou lovest to bring forth grapes from thorns , and figs from thistles ; and out of a barren soil , or cursed ground , many times lettest the richest spices grow ; when all mankind lay in darkness , and was covered with the shadow of death ; when divels plaid about them , and the furies of the burning lake laid hold of them ; when the fiery dragon was ready to devour them , and the old serpent going to swallow up their souls ; behold , thy son appears from heaven , frights the powers of darkness , and all immediately disappear . ah! my dearest jesu ! meekest of kings , and fairer then all the children of men ! i behold thee reigning , and hanging on the cross ! reigning ? for in despight of all the reproaches of of thine enemies , thou wast still the everlasting king , and saints and angels bowed to thee , when thy body was torn , bruised , and wounded on the tree ; their reproaches could not dethrone thee , their virulent tongues could not make thee less then thou wert . these impotent wretches might bark at the sun , but could not ecclipse its glory . thou couldst have destroyed their tongues , but wouldst not , and it was a royal act , not to punish them , when thou hadst the greatest provocations . o my lord ! i see thee blotting out the hand-writing , which was against me ! how red were the characters ! how bloody were the lines ! yet thy blood makes them as white as snow . o my lord , i hear thy words sharper then any two edged sword , and piercing , to the dividing asunder of the bones , and marrow ; i hear thy complaints i mean , which broke the rocks , and shook the earth , and shall not my heart be moved at them ? for thee , the son of god , to cry out , my soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death ! who can hear this ? who can think of it , and not stand confounded ! for omnipotence to sink thus ! for infinite perfection to faint thus ! for him that sate on the circle of the earth , and before whom all nations were as grashoppers ; for him thus to swound , thus to weep , thus to mourn ! what could be the reason ? oh thou prince of peace ! for the iniquity of thy people thou vast struck , for the sins of the world thou didst suffer banishment , and wast used , as if thou hadst not been anointed with oyl , or been guilty of the crimes thy foes accused thee of . the snares of death did encompass thee , thy friends forsook thee ! and thy heritage , like a lion out of the wood did roar against thee ! o my bowels , be ye troubled at this remembrance ! o my flinty heart , canst thou see thy lord , as it were crucified before thine eyes , and not break out into floods of tears ! o jesu ! thou cryest to thy father , and he hears thee not ! he seems to be cruel to his son , and deaf to thy lamentations ! the windows of heaven seem to be shut , and a vail to be drawn over all the joys , and comforts , and consolations , that formerly water'd and enrich'd thy soul ! see how dry , and barren , and burnt up , this precious soil appears . no showers from above come down , no sun shines upon it ; the stars of heaven with-hold their influence , and scarce an angel will stir to thy assistance . o thou who art all glorious within , and art thy self the glory of the universe ! were my sins laid in a ballance , they would weigh heavier then the sand on the sea-shore , and then , what need i wonder , that thou cryest so loud under the heavy load ? for the arrows of the lord stick in thee , and his hand presses thee sore . o blessed nazarite ! whiter then snow , brighter then the sky , purer then the sun ; how is thy face disfigured with grief ! how do thine eyes languish ! how dismal dost thou appear ! is this the face that was the perfection of beauty ? is this the face that was once the desire of all nations ? is this the face which so many prophets and righteous men have desired to see ? is this the face that abraham long'd to behold , and the patriarchs were ambitious to have a view of ? is this the face admired by angels , and dreaded by divels ? what is thy beloved more then another beloved , o thou fairest among women ! is this the mighty bridegroom of the church , who was once transfigured on the holy mount , and his face did shine as the sun , and his raiment became white as the light ? is this he , whom god anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows ! whose garments smell of myrrhe , aloes , and cassia ; and cast such a scent , that the daughter of tyre came with a gift , and the rich among the people entreated his favour ! how is he alter'd ? how is his countenance chang'd ! how is the gold become dim , and the fine gold changed ! yet still thou art lovely to a soul that sees farther then the outside . still thou art a cordial to fainting spirits . still thou art a fountain of living waters . still thou art the joy of the whole earth , the light of heaven , and the song of sion . my thoughts , o lord , shall follow thee to the cross. methinks i see how thou art going to die ; thou lookest back on thine enemies , and notwithstanding all their affronts , offerest them mercy . o incomprehensible goodness ! even then when thou art lifted up to the infamous tree ; thou drawest and invitest all men to thee . thou preachest on the cross , and thy very wounds are sermons to the children of men , and thy blood trickling down , is an exhortation to repentance . surely it is good for me to adhere unto thee , and to count it death to be separated from thee ! o whether shall i go but to thee , who hast words of eternal life ! thou art my sun , by thee i shall be enlighten'd , by thee my soul shall be warm'd ; o how comfortable are thy beams ! what a progress must that soul make , on which thou shinest , and dartest thy glorious rays ! thou art that lofty cedar , whose boughs over-spread the believing world ! under the shadow of that tree will i rest ; it is for the healing of the nations . i will be glad in the lord , and rejoyce in my bleeding jesus ! while the world despises thee , i will honour thee ; while great men pass by and regard thee not , i that am poor and needy , will wait to be refreshed by thee ! go ye fools ! be enamoured with your trifles , admire your butterflies , doat on your sensual pleasures : here is one that looks charming in his tears , lovely in his blood , amiable in his wounds , and is more beautiful in the midst of all his distresses , then the brightest virgins face , adorned with all the glittering treasures of the east ! o my strength ! by thee i desire to be comforted , and supported . o anoint my eyes with thy sovereign eye-salve , and i shall see , and live . o that the clouds which dwell on my understanding were dispersed , that i might look upon thee sredfastly ! oh! then thou wouldst appear more lovely to me on the cross , then croesus in his throne , or solomon in all his glory . god forbid that i should glory in any thing , save in the cross of christ. in this lie hid vast treasures of sweetness ! o my jesus ! make me conformable to thy death , and give me leave to carry thy marks in my body ; let me be crucified with thee , and let christ for ever live in me . canst thou live in a soul , that hath abused thy mercy , slighted thy patience , and so often baffled the stratagems of thy compassion ! i believe lord ! o help mine unbelief ▪ thou camest to call not the righteous , but sinners to repentance . oh! then my husband will love me , my redeemer will come and live with me , for my repentings are kindled , i hate the sins that have defiled my soul ! away ye swine ! here are no divels to enter in . i am to receive my bridegroom into my heart . come lord jesu ! come quickly ! thou art the welcomest guest i know ! how happy shall i be , if thou wilt lodge in this earthly tabernacle ! happier , then if all the angels of heaven took up their habitation here ! o ye besotted jews , what makes you run so fast to kill the lord of life ? ye cannot live without him , and what evil spirit doth possess you to kill and murther him ? can you think of his miracles , and do so ? can you reflect upon his doctrine , and attempt such villanies ? can you remember how he taught you in the temple , even to astonishment , and venture on such proceedings ? can you call to mind how he hath purged your countrey of divels , and your sick of their diseases , and suffer the divel to enter into you ! o dreadful spectacle ! o that my head were water ! who will rise with me against the wicked ! o thou that art purer then the lillies , purge me with hysop , and i shall be clean ; wash me , and my filthiness shall not be seen ! o bathe me in the fountain open'd for the house of judah , and jerusalem ; and i shall look fairer then the children , which fed on the meat of the king of babylon's table . o my god i thirst for thee , as dry land after water . my soul flies and flutters about , like noah's dove , and can find no rest , till it gets into thy ark. great gate of mercy open to me , hide me from the wrath of an offended god , and make a covenant of peace with me . ah! who would not love thee , that hears thee pray for thy greatest enemies . o lovely bridegroom of my soul ! wound my heart , that it may be sick of love. how kind art thou , even to thy most hard-hearted foes ! what a motive is this to love thee ! what needest thou care what becomes of stubborn sinners ! why shouldst thou trouble thy self about wretches , that will have none of thee , that will have their dirt and dung , and trash , and husks , and prefer these trifles before heaven , and a sea of glory ? thou canst live without the society of men , at least , thou needest no such company , yet thou longest for their pardon and happiness , as if they had been thy greatest friends ! was ever goodness like this ? o that my thoughts and contemplations might be always busie about this love ! this is no vulgar love ! the love of david to jonathan , & the love of jacob to rachel , the love of brethren , sisters , friends , will bear no resemblance here ! moses his love to the israelites , for whose sake , and so they might but continue in gods favour , he was content to be blotted out of gods book , and st. pauls wish to be even accursed of christ , for his kinsmen of the jewish nation , these de monstrations of love come somewhat nearer ; but still thy love , my dearest lord , surpasses all these , as the light of the sun doth that of the moon , and the lesser stars . they borrow'd their love from thine , and lighted their candle by thy brighter fire ; that which was excess of love in them , was but a spark of that charity , which overspread thy larger soul. they did but wish to die for the people , thou didst actually exspire for their good ; their love was confined to a single nation , thine extended to the whole world ! these men were still their friends , that they wish'd to be miserable for ; but those , thou sufferest for , were thine enemies ! their love had great defects mingled with it , but thine was pure and spotless ; theirs had clouds and mists to darken it , thine was all light and glory ; theirs was a suddain transport , which might not last many days , but thine was constant to a miracle , and those whom thou lovedst , thou lovedst unto the end ! great emperour of souls ! thou hangest betwixt thieves , and not without reason , for thou stealest the heart away ! what heart can see thy beauty , and forbear being enamoured with it ! thou dost ravish my soul with thine eyes of pity . to see thee cast a favourable look on such a monster as i am , who can forbear falling in love with so much clemency ? i am a captive in this world. the law of my members makes me captive to the law of sin : o take me by force from that prison . o set me as a seal upon thy heart , rule thou in my members . erect a trophy over my head ! and rejoyce in conquering me . o let me be content to undergo the cross , and reproach with thee , that thou mayst remember me , now thou art in thy kingdom . o remember me with the favour , thou bearest unto thy people ! o my jesus ! who can hear thee cry , i thirst , and not wish for rivers of tears ! what canst thou thirst for , but the salvation of mankind ! thou camest for that purpose from heaven ! leftst those brighter mansions , to invite poor sinners to the mighty banquet there ! for this thou didst travel up and down , and enduredst cold and hunger , and weariness ; for this thou wroughtest miracles ; for this thou didst intreat , rebuke , preach the word in season , and out of season ; for this thou couldst be content to want a place , where to lay thy head ; for this thou taughtest daily in the temple , sometimes on the mount , sometimes in a ship , sometimes in a desart , for this thy soul did long ; for this thou sufferedst , for this thou wast buffeted , beaten , bruised , and wounded , even because , thou wouldst not give over calling poor deluded sinners , to a sense of their duty ! for this thou thirstest here ! the rude multitude fancies it is either water , or some cordial thou wishest for ! they measure thy condition by their own sensual appetite ! but they were purer desires that glow'd in thy breast ! it is water indeed , thou thirstest for , but such water , as david made his bed to swim in . the tears of a penitent soul are the wine thou longest for ; they are the drink the son of god , thirsts after . weep , weep mine eyes , that the lord jesus may drink and be satisfied ! o lord , i have given thee gall to drink , i have offered thee the cup of trembling , and astonishment . ah bitter , ah wretched drink ! worse then the foulest ditch-water ! drink my dearest lord , drink of the brook by the way . drink of these tears , drink of this holy water , i do shed . o it is the sweat of a grieved soul ; of a soul weary of sin , and heavy laden with the sense of it . my heart melts , my soul dissolves at the thoughts of my follies . drink up this heart of mine , and let it mingle with thy bowels of mercy . here lord ! accept of the vows i offer thee ! behold , and visit this vine , which thine own right hath planted . shine upon it lord , let it bring forth pleasant grapes , no more grapes of the vine of sodom , but grapes sweet , and which may cheer the heart of god , and man. the drink-offerings i bring to thee , are insatiable desires after thee , the most fervent breathings of my heart , after thy grace and mercy . o receive them graciously , and love me freely . i bring on rivers of oyl , no rams , no bullocks with horns and hoofs . thou desirest not sacrifice , else would i give it thee ; thou delightest not in burnt-offerings ! thou wilt take no bullock out of my house , nor he-goats out of my folds ; for every beast of the forest is thine , and so is the cattle upon a thousand hills . thou knowest all the fowls of the mountains , and the wild beasts of the field are thine : if thou wert hungry thou wouldst not tell me , for the world is thine , and the fulness thereof . thou wilt not eat the flesh of bulls , nor drink the blood of goats ; but the offerings thou expectest , are thanksgivings , and paying my humble vows to thy divine majesty , and calling upon thee in the day of trouble . o my god! my soul fainteth for thee ! when shall i come to appear before thee ! my soul is cast down within me ! when wilt thou comfort me ! i long for thy salvation ! i hunger and thirst after righteousness ; i see beauty , and splendor , and excellency in it , and would fain be cloathed with that ornament ! thou deservest my strongest desires , my most vigorous breathings , my most lively pantings after thee ! not to long after thee , is to be a stranger to real bliss ; not to follow hard after thee , is to be ignorant of thy riches , and the plenty of thy house ! but what do i talk of desires of a single heart ? would to god , that all mankind might offer unto thee their reasonable service ; thou deservest it , and deservest all the love of angels too . but thou desirest nothing so much , as the hearts of the children of men the angels are happy already , only mankind lies ingulfed in misery ; and so great is thy charity , that having taken their nature upon thee , thou wouldst willingly make them equal with angels . great darling of the holy trinity ! what haste dost thou make to dye ? how dost thou run to redeem the sons of men ! nothing can hold thee , nothing can restrain thee , not thine own greatness , not thy majesty , not thy being the son of god , not love to thine own preservation . thou didst love me better then thy self . how didst thou fly to my deliverance ! how dost thou leap in to prevent my hurt ! no divels can fright thee , no danger terrify thee , no pain discourage thee , no anguish make thee afraid . thou longest till the great work be done . the other malefactors that are crucified with thee ( what honour had these wretches , and yet were not sensible of it ! one at last opens his eyes , and sees it , and stands amazed ) these held out longer on the gibbet , but thou bidst death come away , and seize thy life ! it 's a pleasure to thee to die . oh surprizing mercy ! other men seek to escape death as long as they can ; they run away from the sight of the monster , if they do but see the shadow of it , they tremble and to them , death is truly a king of terrors . thou goest out to meet it , as that , which must put an end to thy sufferings , and my misery . it 's death to thee not to die . thou chidest it for staying ; t●●● hast a baptism to be baptized with , and oh what wouldst thou that it were accomplish'd ! ah! my lord , i see thy dying lips , from which dropt speeches sweeter then honey , and the honey-comb . death is going to close them up , yet o vouchsafe me a look that may refresh my soul. and now the glory is departed from israel . the saviour of the world gives up the ghost ! o let me die with thee ! o draw me after thee , and i shall live . i wonder not that the graves open at thy death , and the rocks rend , and the sun hides his face ; but i wonder the whole earth did not dissolve , and nature it self did not run into its primitive chaos , and confusion . o my crucified master ! how ill art thou rewarded for thy kindness ? thou wert eyes to the blind , and feet to the lame ; thou wert a father to the poor , and a staff to the aged . thou didst cause the widows heart to sing for joy . thou didst deliver the poor , that cryed the fatherless , and him , that had no helper . unto thee men gave ear , and waited , and kept silence at thy counsel ; after thy words they spake not again , and thy speech dropt upon them : the naked deck'd themselves with the wooll of thy sheep , and thy door was open to the weary traveller . but now they that are younger then thou , have thee in derision , and they that were children of fools , children of base men , men viler then the earth , gape upon thee . thou art their song , and art become their by-word ; they abhorr thee , and flee far from thee , and spare not to spit in thy face . they marr thy path , they set forward thy calamity . terrours are turned upon thee , they pursue thy soul as the wind , and thy welfare passes away as a cloud . o infinite patience ! yet these sinners are offered salvation by him , whom they abused thus . salvation ? what do i hear ? o then there is hopes for me , for i have been one of thy enemies . i have mock'd thee by by my sins ! i have derided thy sufferings by my contempt of thy laws ; i have scorned thee by preferring mine own will before thine ; i have spit upon thee by my filthy communications ; i have abused thee by sheltring my sins under thy cross ; i have dishonoured thee by my life , disgraced thee by my carelesness , buffeted thee by my impatience , affronted thee by my pride , made light of thy power and goodness by my mistrust of thy providence ; undervalued thy love , by my affection to vanity , and yet thou stretchest forth thine arm to lay hold on me , art loath to see me perish , unwilling to see me undone , and proclaimest mercy to a forlorn wretch ! blessed news ! o king of kings thou cryest , it is fulfilled ; the work is done , the vast work of redemption ; now thy fathers anger is broke , now the floodgates of indignation are shut ; now heaven stands open ; now thy fathers bosom is held out to all that thirst after thee . hear this all ye prisoners ! listen to this message ye guilty souls ! come all that are laden with a sense of sin ! open the door ! throw off your chains ! run to this rock ! make haste to this fountain ! kiss this sun ! make much of this light ! embrace this mercy . do ye dispute the thing ? do ye question whether ye shall do it or no ? is it possible you can stand out ? is it possible you can demur upon it ? is it possible your hearts do not turn within you ? can you refuse your cordial ? neglect the medicine that must recover you ? slight the remedy that must fetch you to life again ? o jesu ! thou hast done all things well ; thou hast made the blind to see , and the dumb to speak , and the deaf to hear . o open thou my lips and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise . open thou mine ears , and let me hear thy loving kindness betimes in the morning . o open thou mine eyes , and i shall see how sweet and gracious thou art . o my life ! thou diest , and dying , fulfillest thy fathers will ; for indeed it was fit that one man should die for the people , and that the whole nation perish not . ah! what would mankind have done , if thou hadst not paid the ransom ! whether must they have fled for refuge , if thou hadst not given thy self a sacrifice ? they must have wandred about in caves , and dens , destitute , tormented , afflicted , disconsolate , lived in perpetual fear of death , and the dreadful consequences of it . death must have been for ever a king of terrours to them , if they had but look'd upon that hell , that death would have open'd into . how could they but have lived in perpetual horror ! there could have been no hope of mercy , no probability of bliss , their souls would have been in eternal confusion , always doubting , always afraid , always upon the rack . o my jesus ! thou , through death hast deliver'd them , who through fear of death , were all their life-time subject unto bondage ! thou hast knock'd off their shackles ! loosed their bands ! freed their souls ! set their spirits at libery ! i feel the power of thy death . my heart takes courage ! o let me rise with thee to eternal ▪ life , o let me not lie in the mire , but set my feet upon a rock , and establish my goings ! i have gone astray like a lost sheep ; o seek thy servant , that i may not forget thy commandements thou art the bread which came down from heaven , and with the bread in thy sacred supper thou offerest me all the benefits of thy death and passion ; such a feast hast thou prepared for me ; such a table hast thou spread for me ; my soul is invited to sup with the lamb that was slain ! what an honour is this ! what a condescention is it ! in this sacrament thou erectest a banner for me , bidst me sit under thy vine , and strenghthen my self with the fruit that drops from it . were all the fishes of the sea , and all the fowls of the air , and all the beasts of the field , drest for my entertainment , it would not be so much , as this plain , but heavenly diet is . tell not me of belshazzer's banquet , nor of ahashuerus's feast , nor of the rich mans curious dishes ; they are all scraps and offals to this entertainment ! here my blessed redeemer courts my soul ; here he makes love to a miserable sinner ! here he presents me with the riches of his merits ! no african gold , no eastern pearls , no indian stones are to be compared with these . here the lord of glory offers to marry me , to unite me to him , to make an everlasting covenant with me , to be flesh of his flesh , and bones of his bones , promises to endow me with all his goods , puts a ring on my finger , and bids me lie in his bosom . this is honour , this is glory , this is preferment , which no royal courts can give , no solomon can afford , no emperour grant , no monarch conferr , no king bestow . this is the mighty wedding-feast , at which the blessed angels wait how should not they be there , when their master is president , and director of the banquet ? this puts me in mind of all the admirable things thou hast done for me ; in this bread are contracted all the dainties and delicacies imaginable . o wonderful love that wast not content to be known to me , but art willing to give thy self for food to me ! what pains dost thou take to melt my stubborn heart ! thou art willing to live in me , thou art willing to be one with me , that i may not warp from thee . thou art willing to be my meat and drink , not only my king to protect me , not only my father to tender me , not only my master to take care of me , not only my saviour to snatch me out of the burning lake , not only my mediator to secure me against heavens vengeance , but my diet too . thou seest my soul wants meat proper for her nature : alas ! the world cannot be that meat ! that 's a heterogeneous thing ! as well may angels feed on hay , or grass , as my soul on things that profit not . that which my soul must feed on , must be something spiritual . thou o jesu ! art that great spiritual object , my soul must fix on , nothing else will content it ; and when my thoughts contemplate thee , when my soul meditates of thy charity , when my affections love thee , when my desires long for thee , when my will submits to thy easie yoak ; when all my faculties delight in thee , when thou appearest lovely , and charming , and amiable to my mind , then , then my soul hath its proper food , then it 's like to live , then it 's in a way to thrive , then it prospers , then it grows , then it gets a cheerful look , then the angels visit it ; the world perfectly soures it ; sensual pleasures ruine it , carnal satisfactions make it meager . thou o lord , thou alone canst make it flourish like the palm-tree , and satisfy it with the rivers of thy pleasures . o my lord , how sweet is it to suck honey out of this rock ! thy bread strengthens to a miracle , and thy blood makes souls drunk . it is as the dew of hermon , and as the dew that descends on the mountains of zion ; for there the lord commanded the blessing , even life for evermore . o my god , i care not for abana , and pharpar now , nor for the rivers of damascus . i will stand under thy cross , and open my mouth . o do thou fill it ; while others go to rejoyce in their corn , and wine , and oyl , i will go to the supper of the lamb. here lord , here is my heart , ready to receive that heavenly food thou offerest me . awake thou eternal spirit , awake , blow upon my garden , that the spices may flow out ! o let this maenna satisfy my , taste , that i may forget the fleshpots of egypt . behold lord , here i make a vow , that if thou wilt give me this bread to eat , which endures to everlasting life , thou shalt be my god , i will serve no other gods but thee . thou shalt command my heart , my desires , and my affections , and without thee no passion shall lift up its hand or foot in all the land of goshen , i will set thee over all that i have , and all shall be at thy dispose . christ. i feel my heart warmed with this consideration . i will now turn aside and see this great sight , who it is that hangs upon the cross , and bleeds for my sins . oh! it is the son of god , he that was in the form of god , and thought it no robbery to be equal with god , but made himself of no reputation , and took upon him the form of a servant , and became obedient to the death of the cross , that i might be made the righteousness of god through him . consc. but is there nothing else to be done by way of preparation for this blessed sacrament ? christ o yes ! for i must , first , retire sometimes , and celebrate , and admire the love of god to me in christ jesus , in some such reflections as these . be astonish'd ye heavens , stand amazed ye quires of angels , at the condescension of my god. i have betray'd him to the philistines , yet he loves the miserable wretch , and so loves him , that he gives his son to redeem him . o god what dost thou see in me ? ? nothing but misery , nothing but rags , nothing but poverty , and yet thou lovest me . i am but dust and ashes , and will god vouchsafe a gracious look , to so mean an object ? o sovereign being , didst thou ever behold a viler creature then i am ! and wilt thou goe out of the common road of love , and spread thy garments over me , and offer me thy friendship ? o love ! which cherubim admire , and seraphim adore ! it passes understanding . it goes beyond my cognizance ; it confounds my reason , i admire the love of a prince to a subject , but that will bear no resemblance to this love ! god might have triumph'd in my groans , glorified his justice by my stripes ; but pity abounds in him , it hath no banks , it flows at large , it s extended even to the most abject creature , as i am . o love ! how humble art thou ! how violent art thou ! thou breakest through all the clouds of heaven to come down . thou forgoest the rules of greatness and majesty , to shew thy glory , that the eternal son of god should take flesh upon him , and dye to give life to the world ! oh where can i parallel this love ! i will sing of love , i will speak of love , i will think of love , my very dreams shall be employ'd about it . o that i could write panegyricks of it ! were not my tongue confined , it should do nothing else but talk of love. here is love , to which all natural sympathies must vail . i see no end thereof . the farther i go in the search , the more i lose my self . but how should a creature find out the end of that which is infinite ? where shall i find out the spring of this mighty stream ? where shall i find the beginning of it ? alas ! the line of reason is too short ! there is no fathoming of this depth . who can search into the recesses of eternity ? in that vast abysse , the head of this great river lies ; but who shall dive into it ? it 's enough that i am so happy as to be acquainted with it . it 's enough that the almighty hath revealed it unto babes . even so father it seemed good in thy sight . i can give no reason of it . thy love lord , was the cause of this love ; thy love was the motive . nothing else could be any inforcive . i am sensible thou art merciful , because thou wilt be merciful . o thou eternal wisdom , whom the lord possessed in the beginning of his way , before his works of old , who wast set up from everlasting , from the beginning , or ever the earth was ; when there were no depths thou wast brought forth , when there were no fountains abounding with water , before the mountains were setled ; before the hills wast thou brought forth , while as yet he had not made the earth , nor the fields , nor the highest part of the dust of the world , who wast there when he prepared the heavens , when he set a compass upon the face of the depth , when he establish'd the clouds above , when he strengthned the deep , when he gave to the sea his decree , that the waters should not pass his commandement ; o thou ! who wa st by him , as one brought up with him , who wast daily his delight , rejoycing always before him , enlighten my mind , that i may have clearer apprehensions of this charity ! arise my thoughts ! awake up my glory ! see o my soul how that love smiles upon thee ! see how bright , how clear , how charming it is ! see how divels tremble at it ! see how they grin , and fret to think , they must have no share in it ; see what glorious beams it darts on penitent sinners ! see how it warms their hearts ! see how it follows them , how loath it is to leave them ! see how it adjures them , and how importunate it is with them to suffer themselves to be conquer'd by it . 2. i must examine my self , not only what , and where , and when , and how i have ( especially of late ) been acting against god , and affronted his goodness , mercy , and patience ; and what sorrow , grief , and fear these particular offences have caused in me ; but whether i am unfeignedly resolved to part with all these particular sins , i am most prone , and inclined to ; whether my heart and purpose be fix'd to know the will of god , and to do it ; whether i do sincerely , and without reservation , intend for the future to prefer god's will before my will , and his favour before the favour of men ; and whether i do in good earnest design to forgoe my profit , gain , or interest in the world , rather then do any thing , that is displeasing to god ; whether i do truly prize the love of god above all the riches of this world , and see greater beauty in that holiness , to which i am invited by this love , then in all the gaudes and satisfactions of of the world. and if i do , and my conscience bears me witness of it , i may chearfully go to the lords table , and expect the benefits that are offered there . 3. if i have done any signal wrong to my neighbour , i must make him either restitution or satisfaction ; i must either restore to him , what i have cheated or wronged him in , or have secretly , and against his will taken away from him ; or if i am not able to restore , make confession of the fault , and beg his forgiveness . i must be reconciled to him , if i have offended him , or given him just occasion to be angry ; and if after that attempt , he will still keep his anger , i have deliver'd my own soul. i must let my neighbour know , that i do as truly forgive him , as i hope to be forgiven of christ jesus , and be as ready to give , as my neighbour to ask my pardon . i must remember how god hath entailed his pardon upon mine , and if i forgive not from my heart , neither will my heavenly father forgive my trespasses . if i have abused my neighbour , either in words or deeds , and he either hath receiv'd , or is like to receive any prejudice by it , i must not be ashamed to acknowledge my error , but prefer a quiet conscience before my reputation in the world. 4. i must survey the bitter sufferings of my blessed saviour , as they are laid down and described by the evangelists . i must follow him into the garden of gethsemane , and go up with him to the mount of olives , and there behold how his heart was troubled , and how the fears of death fell upon him ; how his soul was filled with sorrow , and how his life drew near unto the grave . how he trode the wine-press of gods anger alone , and humbled himself before his father . how , as man , he begg'd , that the cup might pass from him , and yet as mediator , freely consented to his fathers will. how distress and anguish came upon him , and in the midst of those miseries , the weary disciples fell asleep ; how he wept and mourned , and sweat drops of blood ; and how hell open'd her mouth upon him ; how he bore our griefs , and took the chastisement of our peace upon him . how he drank the bitter cup , and his heart within him became as melting wax . how he was led to annas , and he to whom all the angels in heaven bow'd , stood before a sinful man. how from annas he was dragg'd to caiphas , and like a lamb led to the slaughter . how he was accused before pontius pilate , and there bespattered with all the ill language that men or divels could invent . how he was set at nought by herod , and in scorn deck'd with a purple robe . how from thence he returned to pilate , and thereupon was scourged , and crowned with thorns . how after this he bore his cross , and was actually crucified . how he was made to drink gall and vinegar , and at last , bowed the head and died . but then i must not only barely survey these sufferings , but reflect at the same time upon my sins that procured them , and accuse not only my grosser sins , if i have been guilty of any , but my lesser errours of using the son of god so barbarously ; i must not reflect upon his bloody sweat , without thinking of my proud thoughts , and speeches , and actions that pulled it on him , nor upon his wounds , without beating my breast for my envy and malice , and revengful desires that caused them ; nor upon the crown of thorns , without detesting my intemperance , and sinister designs in doing good , and affectation of vain glory , that set it on his head ; nor on the nails that tore his flesh , without taking a view of my pettishness , and peevishness , and impatience , which struck them in ; nor upon the spear that opened his side , without entertaining some dismal thoughts of my neglect of meditation , and prayer , and fervency of spirit , and holy discourses , and bearing of injuries , and heavenly thoughts ; nor upon his tears , without looking stern upon my slight , and superficial performances ; for all these help'd towards his death and agonies . 5. i must shew my willingness to imitate christ jesus , by doing some good work , if health and strength do give me leave . this must be the first fruits of my future treading in his steps , and will make my coming to the holy sacrament more comfortable . i must in this , imitate the woman that poured out the ointment on christ's head , before his sufferings began ; and christ himself , who wash'd his disciples feet , before he refresh'd their souls with the holy sacrament . i must either free some prisoner , to testify my resentment of the mercy , christ shewed me , in freeing me from the bondage of the divel , or relieve some poor family , to express my sense of christ's relieving my soul in the greatest strait , or impart some good counsel to a wicked and careless neighbour , to shew how kind christ was in visiting me with his admonitions ; or visit some sick persons that are under great distress ; and comfort them , or help them , or give them , or procure them some physick that may do them good ; if they be needy ; to shew how sensible i am of christ's being my physician , or forgive some small debt , a poor man owes me , to shew how i rejoyce at christ's forgiving me ten thousand talents ; or visit a man that hates me , and behave my self most courteously to him , to see whether his heart will melt , and come to a better temper , thereby to express my sense of christ's love to me , that have been his enemy ; or give a good book to one that hath no money to buy one ; to shew my sense of christ's feeding me with the word of life ; or deny my self in a lawful recreation , or lawful ornament , or lawful meal , to shew , i am sensible how christ hath denied himself for mysake ; or pray earnestly for the conversion , of a person i have no acquaintance with , and whom i hear to be very vitious to express my sense of christ's care of my salvation . 6. i must frequently pray , that god would give me a heart to breathe and pant after him , and particularly , a heart to esteem and prize his love manifested in this sacrament , above all the pleasures of this world ; that he would give me a faith active and vigorous , and which may press through all impediments , and purify my heart and life , and forget what is behind it ; that he would give me a contrite spirit , and grace to tremble at his word , and threatnings ; that he would give me courage to undervalue , and despise the world , and the glories and vanities of it ; that he would give me a burning zeal to his glory , a transcendent love to his name , and ways , and ordinances ; that he would make me sincere in devotion , in prayer , and in all good works , and banish from me all sinister and worldly ends , and designs in holy performances ; that he would give me a firm resolution to imitate the saints of old , and the best examples at this day , and to stop my ears against all the suggestions of flesh and blood to the contrary ; that he would give me a mind which may delight in contemplating the divine goodness , and perfection , and would teach me the great art of self-resignation , of trusting him with my soul and body , and of relying intirely upon his providence . 7. i must resolve , and unfeignedly upon my bended knees , or in a very solemn manner resolve to watch and strive for the future against those particular sins and errors , and sinful inclinations i am most inclined to ; if i have neglected such a self-denial , to neglect it no more ; if i have been guilty of such acts of pride , and envy , and ill nature , to be guilty of them no more ; if i have been careless and slovenly in my prayers , to be so no more ; if i have pleased my self with vain thoughts , to please my self with them no more ; if i have delighted in fine cloaths , to delight in them no more ; if i have been false to my vows and promises , to be false to them no more ; if i have made nothing of ill names , and ill language , to dread it like poison for the future ; i must resolve to mortifie such a habit of sin with rigors , with being unkind to my flesh , with fasting , and with mulcts of money ; if i commit but a single act of the sin , i must resolve to use the proper means to subdue such a corruption ; i must resolve to avoid that company where i am , and have been apt to yield to a certain sin ; i must resolve to spend my time better , and if i have spent too much of it in dressing , in pleasure , in carding , and dice , &c. to do so no more , whatever disgrace , dis-respect , or frowns i may meet with from the world , or from mine acquaintance ; and if i have been careless of meditating , and being serious on the lords day , to make a better improvement of that day . and i must so resolve , as to think my self concerned to fulfil and perform my solemn resolution , unto which i have call'd god as a witness . 8. i must watch against all things that would discompose , and disorder my mind , put me into a rage or passion , and make me peevish and discontented , and consequently unfit for the worthy receiving of this sacrament : i must labour to preserve a calmness , and serenity of mind ; and that neither multitude of worldly business do distract me , nor injuries past and gone , discompose me , or put me into impatient thoughts , and expressions , nor present disappointments rob me of my quiet ? i must watch against impediments , that would tempt me to delay my coming to this table , and take heed i do not yield to temptations , that would make me neglect the opportunity , put into my hand , of making peace with god , and mine own conscience . i must reject suggestions of this nature , and regard more , the necessary concerns of my soul , then things , that at the best are but sensual satisfactions . consc. and what must thy thoughts be , and what frame must thy heart be in when thou comest to the holy table of the lord ? christ. i must , 1. employ my soul in holy ejaculations , such as these . o who will give me to drink of the water of the well of bethlehem ! wherewith shall i come before the lord ! how shall i bow my self before the most high ! shall i come before him with burnt-offerings , with calves of a year old ? o my lord ! thou hast shew'd me what is good , and what dost thou require of me , but to do justly , to shew mercy , and to walk humbly with my god! o my god , i bring an humble heart , a soul that desires to lye low before thee ; a soul that longs to be clean , and to be washed in the blood of the lamb ; a soul weary of sin , that sees no comfort , no satisfaction , no content in things below , but behold's afar off , the treasures of consolation , that lye hid in christ jesus ! these are things to be desired . these are mercies worth having . these enrich banckrupt souls , with these pardon is purchased , and heaven is procured . o give me a title to them , thou that art the true morning star ! o shine upon me ! o enlighten me ! o enlighten me ! o let me feel thy comfortable beams ! these burn not , these scorch not , but sanctify , and polish , and adorn . i have seen an end of all perfection , but thy merits are exceeding broad . they enlarge heaven , subue death , conquer hell , expel divels , and make god my friend . how have i doted on the vanities of this world ! they are bubbles all ; but thou sweet jesu art perfect beauty , a fountain of joy , which never wants water , never dries up , never fails , and never dies . how much better is it to be here in the courts of the lord , then in the tents of the proudest monarchs ! one day here is better then a thousand elsewhere . here god bows to poor sinners . here infinite majesty converses with dust and ashes . here the king of heaven is not ashamed to call such poor worms as we are , brethren ! how different are the ways of god from the ways of men ! they shun a lazarus , and a beggar ; god receives them , and the soul that 's sensible of her poverty , and begs to be enrich'd , is refresh'd by him , and invited into his bosom . how lovely art thou my great redeemer ! how amiable ! how kind ! how beautiful ! therefore do the virgins love thee . could there be greater love , then to spill thy blood for me ! could there be greater charity then to dye for me ! what miracles of mercy are these ! i come to beg an alms at thine hands ; it 's too great a gift for me to ask , but not too great for thee to give , for it is thy self i beg . o warm my heart ! touch it with a coal from the altar ! o kindle holy fire in my breast ! burn up the dross and tin there , and let nothing but pure gold remain . let love prevail . o change my heart into fesrvent love , and turn all my faculties into charity ! 2. i must joyn with the congregation in their prayers . i must put my perfumes into that common genser , that the holy smoak may go up with joyned force to the throne of mercy . i must not come behind my fellow-members in zeal , and earnestness . they pray for the prosperity of the universal church , that god would guide her by his holy spirit ; so must i. they pray for all christian kings and princes , that they may promote the glory of god , and the churches welfare ; so must i. they pray for the ministers of god's holy word , that they may be sound in the faith , and patterns of holiness ; so must i. they pray for all distressed members of christ , that the consolations of christ may abound in them ; so must i. they prostrate themselves in holy confessions of their sins , and pray for remission and pardon , and sanctification ; so must i. they pray to be made partakers of the benefits of christ's body and blood ; so must i. 3. i must shew my compassion to the poor , by contributing to their necessities , if i am able . i must remember how poor , how wretched , how naked , how miserable i was , when the son of god first took pity on me , being yet in the loins of my father adam . i must consider , that my self at this instant am lying at the pool of bethesda , waiting for the angel of the covenant to come down , and stir the waters that i may be healed . i must look upon my self as a person full of sores and sickness , and reflect , that i come to be cured for gods sake , by the great physitian of souls . from my self , i must look down on the poor , that want my help ; and as i would have my great master have compassion on me , so i must have compassion on my fellow-servants . 4. i must at this time resist all worldly thoughts , and did my oxen , and my farms , and my domestique affairs stand aloof like lepers , that must not come near a place so full of majesty , and a work so big with wonders . i must with mary chuse the better part , and look upon martha's serving as unseasonable . i must lay aside contrivances how to make a bargain with my neighbour , and know no other covenant , but what i am making with god in the blood of jesus . i must not think of my trade and trafick , but remember , it is for the pearl of price , that i am trading now , and laying out my strength , and labour . i must not be disturbed with a desperate debt that 's owing me , but remember the debts i owe to god ; and how i do expect that at this time they should be struck out , and cancell'd for ever . i must not now torment my self about a livelyhood , when i come to get a title to a life of everlasting glory . i must not now think how to get bread , and make provision for my family , but rather reflect with joy , what large provision the almighty makes for my soul , and what care he takes to make me a son of god , an heir of heaven , and coheir with christ. when sensual thoughts fly through my mind at this time , i must continue to say to them , arise , and depart , for here shall not be your rest . 5. i must now make some spiritual reflexions on the breaking of the bread , and upon pouring out of the holy wine . on the breaking of the bread. behold o my soul , thus was thy blessed saviour's body broken ; thus was his unspotted flesh torn asunder . o my sins , ye did this barbarous act . the jews were but the external instruments , ye were the fatal causes of that torture ; had it not been for you , the crown of thorns had never wounded that sacred head. break my heart , break , it is a dismal sight ! a broken heart is sacrifice , which he that was broke upon the account of thy sins , will not despise . nay , he will comfort the humble soul , and the contrite spirit ; he will pour wine and oyl into its wounds , supple it with balm , heal it with his death , and make it whole by his agonies . see here , o my soul , the bread which is broke , is it not the communion of the body of christ ; see how many broken pieces are here , which all make but one loaf . so thou , and thy fellow-believers , make one mystical body , whereof the crucified jesus is head , and governour , who influences the body by his spirit , and from his fulness dispences grace for grace . rejoyce , o my soul ! for now the waves and billows of gods wrath are laid , the storm of vengeance is husht , the thunder is gone , the clouds cleer up , thy broken saviour hath turn'd the sound of the trumpet of war into a still small voice . o break with him no more ! o preserve that friendship which was so dearly bought ! a friendship purchased by blood , sure must never dye . thou art his friend , o do not become his enemy again , for fear he be never friends with thee again . on the pouring out of the holy wine . thus , o my soul , thus flow'd the precious blood of the tormented jesus . in such streams it issued from his wounded body . thus was the costly juyce let out . thus the rich veins emptied themselves of their treasure , and all , that thou mightst mayst be clean . and o jerusalem , wilt not thou be clean , when shall it once be ? when god makes use of his own blood to purify thee , o my soul , wilt thou wallow still in thy dung , and nastiness ? this would be inexcusable . arise , wash thy self in this jordan , and thy flesh shall come again , like unto the flesh of a little child . o my soul ! had not this blood been shed , there had been no remission of sins . from the shedding of this blood , date thy happiness ; when god saw this blood , the tide turned , and thy offended father looked on thee with a merciful face . how sweet is this blood ! it nourishes into eternal life ! how high the value of it ! it redeemed a whole world ! how wholsom ! it expels all sicknesses . what pity was it , that the least drop of it should fall upon the ground ! it was fit to be receiv'd by the hands of angels ! but the earth on which sinful men walk'd , was defiled , and cursed , and therefore it must fall upon it , to take away the curse , man's sin had made it subject to . o precious blood ! drop , drop upon my soul ! let me feel thy virtue ! drive out the curse , water this barren ground , that hath brought forth briars , and thorns , and let it bring forth pleasant fruit again . 6. when i receive the holy bread , my mind must vent it self in some such breathings as these . either , o my lord , i do remember with joy and grief , that thy body was crucified for me , the meanest of thy servants . i remember it with joy , because thy love is wonderful . o how vehement , how violent was it to love an enemy , and by that love , to charm me into obedience ! i remember it with grief , because my sins were thy murtherers . o my lord , i will stand out against thy offers of grace no longer . here take my heart . i solemnly resolve to dedicate my self , and all i have to thy service . or , o god! this sacred bread puts me in mind , how the lamb of god was offered for me . do i believe this , and shall not my soul make thee her highest , and her chiefest good ? o my god , i take thee here , not only for my saviour , but for my king and master too . come holy spirit , rule my heart , for i will hence forward serve no other gods but the great jehovah alone , who loved me , and gave himself for me . or , o my jesus ! my life ! my joy ! my comfort ! thou diedst that i might live . i remember it , and adore thy majesty in misery . o make me thine , and as this bread doth mingle with my substance , so let thy spirit mingle with my soul , that the same mind may be in me , which was also in christ jesus . or , look upon this bread , o my soul , it represents the bleeding body of thy dearest lord. bleed , o my heart ! give thy self up to him that groaned for thee . it 's done , o god , neither death , nor life shall separate me from the love of god which is in christ jesus my lord. 7. when i receive the holy wine , my thoughts must still be at work , and address themselves to god in christ jesus , some such way as this . either , o jesu , i thankfully remember that thy blood was spilt for me ; what am i , and what is my fathers house , that thou hast brought me thus far ! thou hast loved me better than i have done my self . o my lord , give me thy sweet , thy tender , thy free , thy humble spirit , that i may be one with thee , and may admire none in heaven but thee , and desire nothing on earth besides thee . or , o blessed balsom of my wounded heart ! welcome thou sovereign salve ! how seasonable is this medicine ! i die if thy blood relieve me not . o wash me , and i shall be whiter than snow . i have deserved to drink the cup of trembling and astonishment , and thou holdest out to me the cup of salvation . o my soul , remember who it is that is so kind to thee . o esteem , adore , magnifie , and love him for ever . or , o thou blessed shepherd of my soul ! how ought i to blush when i think of thy blood , which my sins did spill ! thou hast turned my darkness into light , and my treason into an antidote , thou curest me by contradictions , and the blood my sins have drawn from thy flesh , is become the only refuge , i have in the day of wrath. o look upon thine own blood , and hide me in thy wounds . i know not how to prize thy favour ; o do thou teach me to do great things for thee , to deny my self , to take up my cross , and to follow thee . or , o my lord ! by thy tears , and by thy blood thou adjurest me this day to imitate thee in thy graces , in thy meekness , in thy patience , in thy humility , in thy charity , in thy contempt of the world , and in thy heavenlymindedness . my heart is fixed , o god! my heart is fixed , i will sing and give praise . thou shalt be my pattern . here under thy cross i promise obedience and conformity to thy graces . o do thou help me ! o assist me ! uphold me with thy free spirit , so shall i teach transgressors thy way , and sinners shall be converted unto thee . or , great bishop of my soul , who hast left the ninety and nine in the wilderness , and art come to seek this straying sheep ; behold lord , the prodigal is coming home again ! thou comest towards me bleeding , groaning dying , thou comest to receive him that hath forsaken thee , to draw him that hath fled from thee , to kiss him that did scourge thee , to crown him that did prick thee , to embrace him that did crucifie thee , to revive him that did kill thee , and to love him that did hate thee . o stupendous mercy ! henceforward no vain glory , no worldly pomp , no outward riches , no smiles of great men , no outward comfort , shall have so much of my heart as thy sweet self . o encrease my faith , my hope , my love , my charity ; make my soul a temple of the holy ghost : o come , come thou bridegroom of my soul , come and dwell in me for ever ! consc. and is this all that is to be observed upon this occasion ? christ. no. for after i have been made partaker of these mysteries and tokens of god's love , i must , 1. bless god for the opportunity i have had of going with the multitude to the house of god , with the voice of joy and praise , with the multitude which keeps holy-day . i must magnifie his goodness , who so loved the world as to give his only begotten son , to the end that all those that believe in him should not perish , but have everlasting life . i must summon my thoughts to enter into some such meditation as this ; whence is it that the king of kings and the lord of lords , in whose eyes the very angels are not pure , should come to visit such a wretch as i ? o my lord , ! to whom doest thou stoop ! what is that creature that thou bowest thus low to ? a den of thieves , a habitation of vipers , a vessel of dishonour ! o how often have i polluted my self , even after thou hast washed me ! is it possible that god will dwell in such a polluted house ! is it possible that god will come and feast and sup with such an unprofitable servant ! o my soul ! it is not only possible , but thy lord hath done it to day : thine eyes have seen the mighty works of thy redeemer . thou hast seen him converse to day with a wretch , that hath undone what god hath done , hath rendred him evil for good , and hatred for his good-will . thou hast seen thy lord this day vouchsafing to sit with one who is full of bruises and putrifying sores , and those not bound up , nor mollified with ointment . alass ! my lord ! i have abused the mighty creator to please a murtherer , affronted the great preserver of men to please a fiend , and undervalued him that call'd me to salvation , to please a usurping tyrant . i can give no reason why i have offended thee , except it be thy goodness and patience ; and could fair weather make me angry ? what didst thou see in me , lord ! that should attract thee , and make thee leave the highest heavens to descend into an abyss of misery ? o my jesus ! water my soul with the tears thou hast shed , anoint me with the myrrhe of thy grief and sorrow , tye me by thy bonds , let thy scourges soften my heart , let thy derisions strengthen me , let thy cross raise me ; reign over me , do with me what seems good to thy power , wisdom , and goodness . o let me never depart from thee ; let not the creature draw me more than the creator , vanity more than eternity , misery more than felicity , filthiness more than beauty , slavery more than greatness , bitterness more than sweetness . my beloved is mine , and i am his , he feeds among the lillies . o that thou wert as my brother , that suck'd the breasts of my mother , i would kiss thee , yea , i should not be despised . o lord ! all my desire is before thee , take away from me whatever doth displease thee . give me an humble heart , that i may be content to be counted as dung for thy sake : give me an obedient heart , that i may be entirely guided by thee : give me a strong heart , that i may cheerfully bear whatever thy hand lays upon me : give me a tender heart , that i may be kindly affectionate to my neighbour : give me a free heart , that nothing may hinder me from running to thee : give me a heart of flesh , that i may love thee perfectly . praise ye the lord , i will praise the lord with my whole heart in the assembly of the upright , and in the congregation . the works of the lord are great , sought out of all them that have pleasure therein : his work is honourable and glorious , and his righteousness endureth for ever . he hath made his wonderful works to be remembred . the lord is gracious and full of compassion , he hath given meat to them that fear him , he will ever be mindful of his covenant ; he hath shewed his people the power of his works , that he may give them the heritage of the heathen . the works of his hands are verity and judgment ; all his commandments are sure , they stand fast for ever and ever , and are done in truth and uprightness . he sent redemption unto his people . he hath commanded his covenant for ever . holy and reverend is his name . he raises the poor out of the dust , and lifts the needy out of the dunghill , that he may set him with princes , even with the princes of his people . praise ye the lord. 2. i must pray for the congregation , and my fellow christians , that do eat of the same bread , and drink of the same cup with me , that they may all be satisfied , as with marrow and fatness , and their souls may live . i must beg that none of them may receive the grace of god in vain , that they may keep and stand to the conditions of the covenant they have made or renew'd with god , that they may indeed fight for the future against the world , the flesh , and the devil , and be more than conquerors , through him that loved them , the lord jesus christ. my love to christ must constrain me to wish and beg that every man may love him , else he doth not appear truly lovely to me . i must entreat the father of mercies to dispense his spirit abundantly at this time , that the love of christ prevailing , may pull down in my fellow-receivers all the strong holds of iniquity , and all imaginations which exalt themselves against the obedience of christ jesus , that christ may reign victoriously in every one of them , live in them , act in them , govern them by his spirit , that they may indeed bring forth the fruits of the spirit , love , joy , peace , goodness , faith , gentleness , meekness , temperance , &c. i must be importunate with god to make them all partakers of the benefits of christ's death and passion , even of that pardon , and peace , and salvation he hath purchased , and cause them to walk worthy of it , like persons that are sensible of the greatness of the favour and the depth and breadth and length and height of the love of god , and consequently may be fill'd with all the fullness of god. 3. i must be thankful for the honor i have received at such a time . i must look upon 't as more than ordinary preferment that god hath vouchsafed me a place at his table , admitted me into the number of his children , made me partaker of the promises of the gospel , open'd his bosom to me , received me into favour , assisted me with his spirit , given me a right to the tree of life , and visited me with his salvation . here the words of david may justly be applied , my soul shall joy in thy strength , o lord , and in thy salvation how greatly may i rejoice ! thou hast given me my hearts desire , and hast not withholden the request of my lips ; thou hast prevented me with the blessings of goodness , thou settest a crown of pure gold on my head . i asked life of thee , and thou gavest it me , even length of days for ever and ever . my glory is great in thy salvation , honour and majesty hast thou laid upon me , for thou hast made me blessed for ever . thou hast made me exceeding glad with thy countenance . therefore will i trust in the lord , and through the mercy of the most high i shall not miscarry . thine hand shall find out all my spiritual enemies , thy right hand shall find out all those that hate thee . be thou exalted , lord , in thine own strength , so will we sing and praise thy power . 4. i must go home rejoicing , and praising god. praise is comely for the upright ; the poor cripple did so when he was healed , and have not i far greater reason to do so ? behold i am healed at this time from mine infirmity , and shall not his praise be continually in my mouth ? i must say in my heart , my soul doth magnifie the lord , and my spirit rejoices in god my salvation . i will extol thee , o god my king , and i will praise thy name for ever and ever . every day will i bless thee , and praise thy name for ever and ever . o all ye that fear the lord , come and i will tell you what he hath done for my soul. his love hath overcome my corruption , his fervent charity my coldness , his goodness my sins and follies . except the lord had been on my side , now might i say , if the lord had not been on my side , when temptations and corruptions rose up against me , then they had swallow'd me up quick , when their wrath was kindled against me , then the waters had overwhelm'd me , the stream had gone over my soul : blessed be the lord , who hath not given me over as a prey unto their teeth . my soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers , the snare is broken , and i am escaped . my help is in the name of the lord , who made heaven and earth . 5. being made whole , i must for the future take heed , and sin wilfully no more : having wash'd my feet , i must not defile them again . i must stand upon my watch , and shun those occasions , which formerly led me into sin. i must be cautious and afraid of an ill word , as much as of an evil action , and my very thoughts must be purged from that filth , that used to cleave to them . i must strangle an evil suggestion in its birth , and when i find any motion rising in my mind , that looks like envy , or pride , or desire of vain glory , or greediness after the world , i must check it upon its first appearance . i must bid an eternal farewel to unbelief , and mistrust of gods providence , and shun those sinful compliances with men , which heretofore i was used to be guilty of . i must not only watch against grosser sins , and such as jews and heathens can avoid , but against the secret disorders and errors of my heart , which none sees but god , who is over all , blessed for evermore . 6. i must frequently compare my actions and behaviour with the vow and promise , and solemn resolution i have made in the holy sacrament , whether my deportment be agreeable to those engagements ; whether i stand in awe of those vows and promises ; and whether they influence my thoughts and words , and practices ; whether my hatred of sin increases , and my love to holiness grows steady , and unmoveable ; whether i check my self , upon feeling an inclination , or propensity to a sinful act with such thoughts as these . is this the effect of my late vow ? is this to stand to the covenant , i lately made with god ? is it possible , i can be so perfidious as to break with god ? hath the cross of christ so little power with me ? shall it not restrain me from such a sin as this ? foolish creature ! shall a little profit or pleasure tempt me to please the divel , and wrong my immortal soul ? i am tied by a solemn promise made in a most solemn place , by a promise made to god , by a promise sealed with the blood of jesus , not to do it ; and shall i presume to do it , or hope for pardon , after this presumption ? i must take notice , whether the thoughts of christs death , make my passions weak ; whether they lessen the heat of them ; whether they repress their fierceness ; whether they work in me that contempt of the world , which was so signal in my dear lord and master . i must ever and anon look how my graces thrive , whether no weeds grow among them , that are like to choak the wholsome herbs . 7. i must now study self-denial , even in things lawful , and that seem to have no harm in them . self-denial in eating and drinking , in my cloaths , in my recreations , in my time , in my discourses , in my wit , in my reading , in my profit , in my ease , and in my sleep . i must now take heed , i do not eat and drink to satiety , but labour still to rise from my meals with an appetite . i must now and then humble my soul with a religious fast , and many times forbear eating of that dish , i have most mind to , to bring my sensual desires into order . i must not imitate every vain fashion , i see other people use , but must be very modest and decent in my garb ; and having means and opportunities to buy me better , reserve that money , i would have laid out upon a richer suit , for pious uses . i must not think every recreation lawful , because it 's commonly used by men , who are none of the worst . i must not encourage the vanity of men and women , that are in love with stage-plays by my example , as being things , i abjured in my baptisme , but my recreation must be such , as may fit me for spiritual devotions . i must not spend my time as some luxurious , and idle people do , in needless , and complemental visits , in playing at cards and dice , but in words , and actions , and discourses , as may be useful and profitable : either to the souls or bodies of my family , and my neighbours . i must not censure , or judge my neighbour rashly in my speeches and discourses , and not be easily drawn to give a verdict or judgment of people , except it be in their praise and commendation , if they do deserve it . i must not give my self too great liberty in jesting , but forbear blurting out a witty saying , if it be smutty or abusive of my neighbours credit , and reputation . i must not give my self to reading of romances , and such books as serve to render the mind vain , and the affections loose and regardless of spiritual things . i must express my gratitude to god , for the temporal gain and profit his hand sends me , by consecrating some part of it to good uses ; nor must i be fond of that profit which arises from undermining my neighbour . i must not study the ease of my flesh much , but take opportunities to use it to some hardships , that it may become more obedient to my reason . i must not stay at my sport so long as my sensual desires crave , but use only so much of it , as may render me serviceable to god and man. consc. and dost thou verily believe that this is the way to eternal life ? christ. yes certainly , for this is the way , that the primitive believers walked in . they did not think that heaven was to be gained at a cheaper rate , and why should i ? thus did the apostles , thus did their followers , and without such self-denial , they thought there was no arriving to happiness . besides , this is most agreeable to the precepts of the gospel ; and why should i think , that i may be-saved another way , then god himself hath appointed . consc. if thou art perswaded that this is the way , lord ! why dost not thou set about it ? why art thou so loth to come to it ? why dost thou act so contrary to it , when every moment thou art in danger of death , and upon thy death , there depends eternity ? christ. o this base , this wicked world hinders me , the ill examples of my careless neighbours , care of getting a livelyhood , the many crosses and disappointments i meet with , hopes of having more time hereafter ; the company i converse with , the people i have to deal with , fear of want , and the calling and condition i am in , are such impediments , i know not how to shake off ? consc. is it not possible to live in the world , and to keep thy self unspotted from it ? if it be not , live a beggar rather , live despised , live contemptible , live dis-regarded by all men , rather then not enter into these everlasting joys ! shall a pleasant sinful life hinder thee from the everlasting enjoyment of god! shall the fawnings , or applauses of men , hinder thee from the eternal applause of angels ! think , if thou wert standing at the great tribunal , trembling at the eternal horror thou art condemned too ; think whether thou wouldst not wish , that thou hadst lived in caves and holes , poor , destitute , afflicted , for a few years rather , then have come to this miserable end ? why should the examples of thy careless neighbors move thee , when thou knowest there are but few that will be saved ? canst not thou get a livelyhood , except thou art rich and greedy after the glories of the world ? if thou canst but get food and raiment , content thy self ; and that most certainly thou wilt get , if thou art industrious in thy lawful calling , and darest but trust god ▪ crosses , losses , and disappointments , are necessary for thee to drive thee from earth to heaven ; and if all this while thou dost not lose thy soul , thou art safe enough . do but look upon thy soul as worth more then a thousand worlds , and none of these things will deject thee ! thy hopes of having time to repent hereafter , is a meer cheat , and if thou trust to that , thou wilt never be saved . a spiritual life is a thing of labour , and pains , and circumspection , and canst thou be so silly as to think , a few careless prayers at last will plant it in thee ? alas ! these are childish reasonings . the company thou conversest withal , if they are thy bane , must be shaken off , whatever comes on 't . there is no dallying in a thing of this consequence ; and if other men will poison themselves , why shouldst thou ? let the people thou dealest with , be never so bad , tha't 's no example for thee to follow . if they are unreasonable , why shouldst thou lose thy wits , and thy salvation for their sakes ? if they cheat or abuse thee , they do themselves more wrong then thee ; nor will thy fuming and fretting at them , convert , or bring them into a better temper . why shouldst thou be afraid of want , when thou doest not see a bird starve , or die for want of food , and can want be grievous , when the author and captain of thy salvation was in want , and his followers were so too , and yet did live in heaven ? either thy calling is honest , or dishonest ; if dishonest , and an inevitable occasion of sinning , away with it , and turn ploughman , or servant rather , then live in it . if hohonest , do not involve thy self in too much business , for that will certainly hinder thee from frequent prayer and meditation : and looking after the concerns of thy soul ; and as for necessaries , thy god will not suffer thee to want them . lift up thine eyes , look upon this world. the greatest part of the men thou seest , will certainly be eternally miserable . why shouldst thou venture with them ? doest thou think that howling with them at last will give thee any comfort ? there is a prize put in thy hand ; why shouldst thou slight it , and lament thy contempt for ever ? neglect not the present time ; do not let this opportunity slip . thy god waits for thee . come in , before the door be shut , believe in good earnest , and nothing will seem difficult . christ. i am convinced , i yield , i have nothing to say against all this . great god! help me . draw me after thee , and i will run . up , up my lazy , idle , sleeping soul ! open thine eyes , put on resolution , wash away thy filth , shake off thy prison garments ; gird up thy loins ; make haste , run to god , break the chains of sin , and present thy heart to the living god. lift up thine eyes . look into heaven . listen with thine ears , view the holy angels , hearken to their hallelujah's ; chase away thy darkness , cleanse thy self , become an humble spouse of the lord jesus ! feed thy self with his beauty ! kiss him with the lips of faith ; make him thy darling , receive him into thy bosom ; quench thy thirst with his blood. hold him fast . do not let him goe . sing his praises . admire his love. meet him by repentance . keep him by holy fervours . honour his name . dare to speak for him . be not ashamed of him . confess him before men , and he will confess thee before his father , and his holy angels . prayers , and devotions to be used before and after receiving of the holy sacrament of the lords svpper . a confession to be said by way of preparation . o thou great creator , redeemer , and sanctifier of men ! when i reflect upon my life , how contrary to thy holy , and wholsome i aws , how unlike the lives of thy saints ; how unworthy of thy mercies , and favours it hath been ; how can i forbear blushing ! how can i forbear prostrating my self before thee ! how can i forbear falling into the humblest postures , my soul , and body is capable of ! how have i abused thy goodness ! how have i affronted thy charity ! how have i trespassed upon thy patience ! how have i resisted thy tender calls ! how hast thou waited for me while i have been stubborn ! how hast thou courted me while i have been vain ! how hast thou carress'd me while i have been careless ! how deep ought my contrition to be ! how profound my sorrow ! how profuse my tears ! i have mourned for a dead corps ; i have wept for a deceased relation ; i have griev'd to see the body of my friend left without a soul ! yet have not mourned for god's departing from me , nor wept for the deadness of my heart ; nor griev'd to see my self depriv'd of thy grace and mercy ! o my lord , i see my folly , i perceive i have gone astray , i am sensible i have dishonour'd thee ! how different do my sins appear to me now , from what they did before ! they look more dismal , more dreadful , more bloody , then once they did ! now i would mourn , now i would take on for them , now i would deplore them ! oh touch this frozen heart , that it may melt ! o jesu ! look upon these eyes of mine , that they may flow with water ! o behold me from the cross , that i may weep bitterly ! there is hopes , that if i mourn i shall be comforted ; if i weep , i shall laugh at last ; if i grieve i shall rejoyce . o my god , i long to hear thy joyful voice ; be of good cheer , thy sins are forgiven thee ! i long to rejoyce in thee ! i long to be blessed with the light of thy countenance ! but the sun will not shine out till after the rain . o then water this face of mine , speak the word , bid the waters flow , bid penitential showers enrich this barren ground , and i shall feel thy warmer beams , thy love will refresh me , thy presence will revive me , and my garments of heaviness will be turned into garments of praise , and exultation . o my jesus ! thou hangest naked on the cross , that i might be deck'd with thy purple robes ! thou wast wounded that i might be healed ! o heal me , and i shall be healed ! come dearest physitian , and thy servant shall be whole . behold lord ! here comes a poor prodigal quaking and trembling to thy throne ! i come from a far countrey , from the land of darkness , from the borders of the burning lake ; from the frontiers of hell. i come miserable and naked ! i come begging , that thou wouldst put a ring upon my finger , and betroth me unto thy self in righteousness , the mercy is too big for me to ask , but not for thee to grant . i have no merit , i can plead no desert . here thou seest nothing but filthy rags . o throw thy mantle over me ! i have heard , that thou lovest to manifest thy greatest power in the greatest weakness , thy greatest strength , in the greatest infirmity . i have heard thou lovest to spread thy skirts over those that are destitute , and afflicted that are cast abroad , have no eye to pity them , and know not where to address themselves for relief . thou hast promised to such to open rivers for them in high places and fountains in the midst of valleys ! when the needy and thirsty seek for water , thou the god of israel wilt not forsake them . o my lord ! if misery be a motive to mercy , here thou seest it in the highest degree ! what mighty , what marvellous things hast thou done for me ! yet have i run away from thee ! what haste have i made to get out of thy sight ! how afraid have i been of serving thee ! thou hast been my greatest friend , and i have used thee like an enemy ! how have i shunn'd thy counsels , as if they had been big with death and thunder ! ah foolish creature ! how have i forsaken thee , the fountain of living waters ! how fond have i been of broken cisterns ! how enamoured with muddy puddles ! ah my father , how didst thou pity me ! how didst thou bewail my blindess ! with what sorrowful eyes didst thou look upon my wilfulness ! behold my lord ! i do return . i return , that i may look upon thee , i return that thou mayst look upon me ! i return , oh do thou rejoyce over me , oh! let there be joy in the presence of thy holy angels over this sinner , who repents ! i am troubled , i am exceedingly troubled , that i have made no answerable returns to thy love ; that thy grace hath been bestowed upon me in vain ; that thy mercy hath been thrown away on such a wretch : oh the baseness ! oh the ingratitude ! oh the disingenuity , that i have been guilty of ! thou hast been my greatest benefactor ! how freely , how lovingly , how candidly hast thou visited me ! yet i have resisted thy power , despised thy wisdom , undervalued thy goodness ! thou wouldst have torn down my strong holds of iniquity , and i would not ! thou wouldst have taught me my duty to god and man , and i refused it ; thou wouldst have made me holy , as thou art holy , and i scorned it . ungrateful worm ! do i thus reward the lord my god! could i recompence such mercies with such sins ! such favours with such gross neglects ! thy condescension with pride , thy humiliation with envy , thy love with anger ; thy bounty with slight and slovenly performances ; thy bowels with disobedience ; thy charity with contempt of my neighbour ; thy blessings with revenge ; thy benefits with averseness from virtue and goodness ; thy munificence with vanity ; and the showers of thy grace with earthly-mindedness ! ah! how are my sins multiplied ! how like a heavy burthen , are they become ▪ too heavy for me to bear ! but oh my god! thy mercy is over all thy works ; thy mercy is greater then my sins ! my sins have taken hold upon me ! what shall i do ? i am a burthen to my self ! i am bow'd down with the weight of my transgressions ! whether , o my lord , should i go , but to thee , who hast the words of eternal life ! thou hast pity on sinners , thou conversest with them , thou eatest with them , receive me graciously , love me freely ; think upon thy mercy , think upon thy blood , think upon thy tears ; and accept of me ! i am surrounded with dangers , incompassed with enemies , encircled with hellish monsters , yet in the midst of these pressures , i hear thee saying , come to me all ye who are weary and heavy laden . shall i hide my self as adam did in paradise ! shall this word fright me away ? shall i refuse to come when thou callest in this still voice ? no , no , i will confess my transgression , and thou wilt forgive the iniquity of my sin. i will harden my heart no more ; i will turn a deaf ear to thee no more ; i will stand out no longer ; i will resist thy light no longer ; i will grieve thee no more , i will afflict and vex thy holy spirit no more . o infinite goodness ! o wonderful love ! though with the publican i dare not lift up my eyes to heaven ; yet with the humble magdalen i will come behind thee weeping , and wash thy feet with my tears , and kiss them . oh let me hear the blessed news of pardon from thy mouth ! thou camest , lord , thou camest not to call the righteous , but sinners to repentance ; and of these i am chief ! if thou wilt converse with sinners , here is one that wants thy help , and that stands in need of thy cure , full of diseases , full of sores , full of weakness , full of errours , full of infirmities , a prodigy of frailty . here lord ! here is work for thy strong hand , and for thy mighty arm. in this heart are divels that must be expelled by thy power . stretch forth thy hand and save me . here is an object to exercise thy omnipotent hand upon . my cure requires miracles . it 's no ordinary virtue , that will set me to rights again . thou , thou o lord , must come , and strike thy hand over the sore place , and my leprosie will be gone . thy prophet cries by thy order , return unto the lord your god , for he is gracious and merciful , slow to anger , and repents him of the evil ! i believe lord ! i believe ; my heart is wounded within me . i come , i come . father , i have sinn'd against heaven , and before thee , and am no more worthy to be called thy son ; make me as one of thy hired servants . but then i desire no other hire , no other wages , but thy self : thou art my exceeding great reward . oh! how bitter a thing is it to forsake thee ! what have i got by offending thee ! what have i gained by sinning against thee nothing but shame , and horror , and trembling , and confusion . darkness hath covered me , the shadow of death hath fallen upon me ! what fruit had i then in those things , whereof i am now asham'd ! my soul hath been divested of her innocence , her joy , her peace , her comfort , and her satisfaction . and oh my jesus , didst not thou stand my friend now ; great mediator , didst not thou stand in the gap now , and plead for me ; o my redeemer , didst not thou intercede for me ; i must be prostituted , and exposed to eternal laughter and derision ! good lord ! how pitiful , how wretched , how trivial , how impertinent , how inconsiderable was that pleasure , that profit , that thing , for which i did did affront , and dishonour thee ! when i look upon thy creatures , either above , or below ; i wonder how they were able to contain themselves , and not vindicate their masters honour , which they saw abused by me ; i wonder , they did not not fall upon me and crush me into perdition , when they saw how bold , how presumptuous this caitiff was ! o my lord ! for this my soul shall mourn in secret ; even for this that i have not loved thee better , that i have not sought thee , more , that i have not approach'd thee with greater veneration ! hence forward lord if all the pleasures , all the riches , all the honours of this world , were concentred in this sin , that formerly i lived in , it should be no temptation to me . i would tear the tyrant out of its seat . it should usurp thy place no more . i would pull it out of its throne , it should find no harbour in me . thy love should constrain me to part with it . i will crucify thee no more . i have trampled too long upon thy mercy . i will make light of it no more ! o my jesus ! remember thy agonies , remember thy pain , remember thy sufferings , remember thy death , and forget my sins . thy servant david cryed once , i have sinned , and thou didst presently take away his sin. my sighing is not hid from thee . o do not hide thy face from me ! manasseh look'd up to thee , and thou hadst respect unto his prayer . o give ear to my prayer too , that goes not out of feigned lips. the ninivites humbled themselves , and thou wast intreated . oh repent thy self of the evil , thou hast said , thou wouldst do unto me , and do it not . peter wept , and thou gavest him a gracious look . i water my couch with my tears ; oh smile upon me too , and say , i have redeem'd thee , thou art mine ! i love thee o lord , and would have every creature love thee . i would have all things that have breath praise the lord. i would have every creature shew forth thy glory ! thou hast loved me from all eternity ! was ever such love heard of , as thine was ! to come from the mansions of the blessed , into a valley of tears , to advance such a creature from death to life eternal ! thou hast made my death a harmless , nay a gainful thing . thy cross hath sweetned all ; there was death in the pot , but thou threwest in meal , and didst sweeten all . o blot out the very footsteps of my sins , and set me as a seal upon thy heart , so will i give thee thanks in the great congregation , my lips shall praise thee . o my life ! i would prefer thee above all thy creatures ! i would look upon all these outward comforts as a drop in the bucket , and on thee , as the ocean ! on these , as the small dust in the ballance ; on thee , as the rock of ages ! i would love thee with all my heart , i would love thee more then my self ! o that my whole mind were united to thee ! o that i might know nothing save jesus christ , and him crucified ! o that all the powers of my soul might embrace thee ! o that i might seek thy glory with stronger desires , then worldlings do their wealth , or the covetous the increase of their in-comes ! oh! that i could adhere unto thee inseparably ! o withdraw my heart from every evil way . incline my heart to all goodness . let not my affections be henceforth corrupted with the love of the creature ; let me not be weary of loving thee ! let nothing overcome my love ! let nothing damp it ! oh enable me to say , who shall separate me from the love of god! o draw my soul with cords of love , with this love wound , and pierce my heart , and make it sick , that it may insatiably long for thee ! oh! i would love thee without ceasing , love thee without bounds , love thee without measure ! oh let my soul melt with this fire , and purge away that filth which doth so easily beset me ! take away from me all that doth displease thee ; refine in me all that pleases thee ! be thou ever present with me ! live in me thou fountain of life ! and let me live in thee , and let that charity live in me , which suffers long , and is kind , which envies not , which vaunteth not it self , which is not puft up , which doth not behave it self unseemly , seeks not her own , is not easily provoked , thinks no evil , rejoyces not in iniquity , but rejoyces in the truth , bears all things , believes all things , hopeth all things , endureth all things , through jesus christ our lord , amen . a prayer for faith. o thou , from whom every good and perfect gift descends , who givest to all men liberally , and upbraidest not ; thou callest , seek ye my face ; thy face , lord , will i seek ! thou hast said , o lord , thy mouth hath spoken it , if ye had but faith as a grain of mustard-seed , ye should say unto this mountain , be thou removed , and cast into the sea , and it should obey you . o my lord ! i have rocks to be displaced , mountains to be removed , vast loads to be freed from ; rocks of unbelief , mountains of sin , loads of iniquity ! oh lend me thy helping hand . none can give relief , none can succour , none can do me any good , but thy self . how dark , how dull , how doubtful is my faith ! sometimes it blazes , then it disappears again , sometimes it 's vigorous , then slacks , and grows remiss again . i believe thee in sun-shine , and faint in a storm ; sometimes i get a sight of thy glory , then i lose it again . oh how uneven is my faith ! when thy candle shines over my head , and i wash my feet in butter , i believe , but where is my faith in the dark , when the fig-tree doth not blossom , when there is no fruit in the vine , when the labour of the olive doth fail ! oh how it sinks at such times , how weak it grows ! lord , i believe , help mine unbelief ! o thou sun of righteousness , thou bright morning-star ; thou mighty star of jacob , shine upon me , shine upon this dark soul of mine , press in by thy piercing beams , scatter the clouds of my unbelief ; dispel those mists , as chaff is driven away by the wind , so drive them away , o thou holy one of israel . i believe , but my faith doth not rouze me from my spiritual slumber ; i believe , but my faith doth not overcome difficulties ; i believe , but my faith doth not put me upon self-denial ; i believe , but my faith doth not engage me to that cautiousness of offending thee , which is necessary to salvation . i believe , but my faith doth not make me laborious , doth not make me strive , and fight , and work , and enter in at the strait gate ; i do not believe , as if i saw . my faith is not the substance of things unseen . i do not represent that future glory to my mind in such lively characters , as if it were present to my sight . i seem to rejoyce in thy promises , but when i am to apply them , what doubts , what scruples , what perplexities arise in my mind ! i believe thou hast overcome death , yet how do i tremble at its approaches ! i believe thou art present with me in affliction , yet how often do i lose thy image ! i believe my dearest lord , that thou camest from heaven to reveal to me thy fathers will , yet i do not so readily obey it , as i would . i believe , but am too often overcome by a passion , too often by a temptation , too often by the world ! o my lord ! give me an active faith , a working faith , a vigorous faith , a lively faith , an effectual faith ! a faith which may oblige me to shake off all dulness , all drousiness , all laziness , and which may make me awake to righteousness ; give me a faith , that may surmount all hardships , may be afraid of nothing , of no bear , no lion in the way ; give me a faith which may make me bold as a lion , couragious in danger , resolute in the greatest trials , and magnanimous under the greatest burthens ; a faith i want , which may make all that is within me stoop to the yoak of jesus , which may cross my flesh and blood , cruicfy my vain desires , and dash mine inordinate affections . o give me a faith , which may make me tender of thy glory , loth to do any thing that may be offensive to thee , unwilling to displease thee , the author of my being ; give me a faith which may oblige me to labour in thy vineyard , and work out my salvation with fear and trembling ; a faith , that may look into eternity , survey the glorious mansions prepared by the son of god ; live there , and converse there , and draw comforts and consolations from that perfection of glory ; a faith which may live upon thy promises , lay hold on them in despite of opposition , and claim them as my heritage for ever ; a faith , which may look death in the face , defy its power , support it self with christs victory , and sing with triumph over it ; oh death ! where is thy sting ? a faith , which may make affliction easy , my burthen light , and sweeten all my troubles ; a faith , which may purify my heart , constrain me to obedience , and compel me to a cheerful running at thy command , and order ; a faith , which may controul all my lusts , check my inordinate desires , bear down all before it , set up the lord jesus sovereign in my soul , and make every imagination subject to him , who must reign , till he hath put all enemies under his feet . o blessed light , which enlightnest every man that comes into the world ! direct my steps , illuminate my understanding , shew me the way i must walk in , that no errour may mislead me , no false doctrine corrupt me , no heresy deceive me , no false fire beguile me ; stretch forth thy hand , and hold thou up my goings in thy path , that i may get safe to my journeys end . i am a traveller and pilgrim here , goe thou before me , and i 'll follow thee ; lead me through this barren wilderness , and leave me not till i enter into canaan ; it is not , lord , of him that runs , nor of him that wills , but of thee who shewest mercy . as flesh and blood could not have revealed these things unto me , so thou alone must enable my faith to quench all the fiery darts of the divel . arise o god , and let thine enemies be scattered . o how am i beholding to thee ! what thanks , what praises do i owe thee , that thou hast call'd me to the light of thy gospel ! that thou hast discover'd to me those errours , which persons of other religions in the world lie involv'd in ! that i have liberty to read thy word , to peruse it , and to know the things belonging to my peace ! thou hast not dealt so with other persons , and as for thy judgments , they have not known them . but what will this knowledge profit me , if my practice be not sutable , or my belief strong , and firm , and vigorous ? i tremble to think , how many thousands are like to perish for want of this faith ! ah! how few do believe in good earnest ! how few believe with any lively affections ! how few act , and live , as if they did believe ! o most patient god , pity , pity that vast multitude of christian unbelievers ! see how hell hath open'd her mouth to swallow them up ! o thou that hast redeemed them with thy blood ! why should the enemy run away with thy purchase ! see how these poor creatures wander like sheep without a shepherd ! o gather them ! o seek them , that thou mayst find them ! undeceive them , let them see how far they are from the kingdom of god! o my lord , i believe , that thou art , and wilt be a rewarder to them , that diligently seek thee ! i believe , if any man will do thy will , he shall know of thy doctrine , whether it be of god or no! i believe , that not the least tittle of thy word shall fail ! o encrease my belief ! let not my faith rest upon thy doctrine only , but let it have regard to all thy laws ! o let me so believe an approaching eternity , as to be concerned at the thoughts of of it ! o let me not only talk of it , but let my belief rouze my affections from their slumber . o my jesus ! i believe thou wast crucified for my sins ! how then should i live in sin ! assure me , that if i do , i do but mock thee ! how can i believe my sin odious , while i embrace and cherish it ! how can i believe , it kill'd thee , while i make much of it ! how can i believe it drew sweats of blood from thee , while i water it , and keep it warm ! oh! i am weary of this vain belief ! rid me of it ! deliver me from it ! let all my neighbours see , that i believe these things indeed ! let the world see by my conversation , that these things work upon me ! oh! let me not only believe these great things , but live them over ! come forth my dearest lord , and meet me ! no man can come to thee , but he whom thou drawest to thee ! oh let me touch but the hem of thy garment , and i shall recover ! let me so believe in thee , that it may appear , thou livest in me , that i may at last obtain the end of my faith , even the salvation of my soul ; great author , and finisher of my faith , hear me for thy mercies sake , amen . a prayer for a lively hope . o thou in whom my fathers hoped ! they hoped in thee , and thou didst deliver them ; thou art all goodness , all sweetness , all clemency ; who would not hope in thee ! thy mercies bid me hope , thy promises bid me hope , and all thy revelations bid me hope ! o thou hope of israel ! here i am , here i lie prostrate before thy face ; here my soul intends to breath out her desires ! o my lord ! when will that happy day come , that glorious day which shall have no night , no clouds , no darkness ! thou hast spoke of it , thy prophets have seen visions of it ; thy apostles have declared it ; one was wrapt up above the clouds to take a view of it . the son that came out of thy bosom hath assured me of it . it is the bright day , when i shall enter inter into thy joy , be made a co-heir with christ ; be cloathed in white , shine as the stars , look upon thee and not be ashamed ! thou hast promised it , and shall not i hope for it ? oh my lord , that seest me , that art present with me , and knowest my heart , my sighs , my desires , thou knowest i hope for it ! oh let this hope be lively , let it be a hope which may purify me , even as god is pure . nay my very flesh shall rest in hope , and thou wilt not suffer my body to see everlasting corruption ; thou wilt raise me from the dust at last ; all my bones shall say , lord , who is like unto thee ! i know that my redeemer lives , and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth ; and though after my skin , worms destroy this body , yet in my flesh shall i see god , whom i shall see for my self , and mine eyes shall behold , and not another ; and having this hope , o assist me , o perswade me , o prompt me to cleanse my self from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit , and to perfect holiness in the fear of god deck my soul with humility with patience , with constancy , that no rods , no stripes , no prison , no torment , no shipwrack , no perils of waters , no perils of robbers , no perils among my own countrey-men , no perils among heathens , no perils in the city , no perils in the wilderness , no perils in the sea , no perils among false brethren , no weariness , no painfulness , no watchings , no hunger , no thirst , no cold , no nakedness , no weakness , no infirmity , no honour , or dishonour , no good report , or evil report may discourage me from trusting in thee ! though the lord should kill me , yet let me hope in him . if in this life only i have hope in christ , i am of all men most miserable . the lord is my light and my salvation , whom shall i fear ? the lord is the strength of my life , of whom shall i be afraid ? though an host should encamp against me , my heart shall not fear , though war should rise against me , in this will i be confident , for in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion , in the secret of his tabernacle he shall hide me , he shall set me up upon a rock . thou art he that took me out of the womb , thou didst make me hope , when i was upon my mothers breasts ; o let it not be in the power of men , or divels , to shake this hope ; let it be my anchor , sure , and stedfast , which no waves no billows , no storms , no tempests can move . whatever evils befall me , let me think they come from a fathers hand . let no prosperity , no sun-shine , no calmness , no smiling fortune subvert this hope in my soul. let me look upon all these outward comforts , as vanity , vanity of vanities , which can give no ease , no comfort , no satisfaction to a soul of a spiritual appetite . let me thirst after nothing so much , as after thy love , as after spiritual blessings , as after the hidden manna , as after the white stone which no man knows , save he , who receives it ▪ i will not hope in any creature , i will arise , and depart , for here is not my rest . why art thou cast down , o my soul , and why art thou disquieted within me ? hope thou in god , for i shall yet praise him , who is the health of my countenance , and my god. my soul , wait thou only upon god , for my expectation is from him ; he ony is my rock , and my salvation , he is my defence , i shall not be moved . in god is my salvation , and my glory , the rock of my strength , and my refuge is in god. trust in him at all times , ye people , pour out your hearts before him . thou hast been a shelter for me , and a strong tower from the enemy . from the end of the earth will i cry unto thee , when my heart is overwhelm'd ! o my god , my goodness extends not to thee ; the lord is the portion of my inheritance , and of my cup , thou maintainest my lot. who was ever confounded that trusted in thee ? who was ever forsaken that hoped in thee ? who was ever despised , that in good earnest called upon thee ? all hail my dearest lord , my hope , i love thee , i embrace thee , i renounce all those lesser goods , which are in the world , that i may make thee my highest , and my chiefest good. it 's true , lord , i am a sinner , and have been a very ungrateful wretch ; the least of thy mercies is more then i have deserved , my very righteousnesses have been as filthy rags , but i will not trust in my bow , neither is it my sword that shall save me , but thy mercy , o lord , thy mercy , and the palmes of thy hands , on which thou hast engraven my name , shall be my refuge . i have no merits , no deserts to trust to ; i can claim nothing as my right ; all i am , and all i have is thy charity ; what goodness there is in me , is entirely owing to thy grace , and compassion ; with this thou crownest me , with this thou enrichest me , with this thou anointest my head , that i may work in thy vineyard , and receive the penny at night ; i confide not in my works , i depend not upon my industry , i rest not in my own labours , but in thy blood , in thy sweat , in thy good pleasure , o glorious son of god! cursed is the man , that trusts in man , and makes flesh his arm. i will hope in thy mercy , my heart shall rejoyce in thy salvation . evening and morning , and at noon will i pray , and thou wilt hear my voice . thou hast said , ask , and ye shall have , seek , and ye shall find , knock , and it shall be open'd to you ; who would not hope after this ? who would not rely upon thee after such a promise ! o let me find grace in the sight of my lord ! i desire nothing else ; this is the height of my wishes ; this is it , which engrosses the faculties of my soul. thy grace is the jewel i want , the pearl i stand in need of , the crown my soul longs for . thou art my witness o lord , that my heart thinks so ; thou hast treasures of mercy , thy stores are large , and inexhaustible ! thou bidst me come , and buy without money , and without price , and my soul shall live ; thou dost promise me more then kings can promise , and no wonder , for thou art greater , and richer , then all the kings of the earth . thou givest rest to the weary soul , and strength to the faint ; therefore mine eyes shall be toward thee ! o let thine eyes be open , and thine ears attent unto the prayer of thy servant ! do thou chuse , and sanctify this house , that thy name may be there forever ! and let thine eyes , and thy heart be here perpetually . thy liberality and bounty is immense , and infinite ! i cannot but hope in thee ! oh my unbelieving heart ! couldst thou but trust him more , what great things wouldst thou see ! his mercy is upon thee according , as thou hopest in him . the more thou hopest , the greater is his mercy ! o my lord ! what stupendous gifts , dost thou present me with ! what amazing offers dost thou make to my soul ! thou art not only willing to impart thy graces to me , but in thy supper givest me thy self ! and here thou offerest to carry me in thy arms , to be my nursing father , and to be food to my hungry soul. may it be unto me according to thy word ! come lord ! lodge thou in my soul , make it thy dwelling place ; anoint it with the oil of mercy ; i will go , and take the cup of salvation , and call upon the name of the lord. thy loving kindness shall be before mine eyes , and i will walk in thy truth ; i will not sit with vain persons , neither will i go in with the dissemblers ; i will wash mine hands in innocency , so will i compass thine altar , o lord ! that i may publish with the voice of thanksgiving , and tell of all thy wondrous works : my heart shall be inditing a good matter , and i will speak of things touching the king of saints . into thy hands i commit my spirit , thou hast redeemed it o lord god of truth ! o make thy face to shine upon thy servant , and o let me hope unto the end , for the grace that is to be brought unto me , at the revelation of jesus christ , a men . a prayer for love and charity . o thou who hast so loved the world , as to give thine only son , to the end , that all that believe in him , should not perish , but have everlasting life ! what shall i do to love thee ! what shall i do to be united to thee ! what shall i do to get a place in thy bosom ! if i love thee not , i am undone ; if thou dost not look exceeding lovely in mine eyes , i am lost ; if my affections do not fix upon thee , i perish , i cannot be happy without loving thee ! my soul is destitute of her proper good , if thou be not the object of my delight ! i am perfectly miserable , if thou be not the center of my spirit . love is the greatest gist that 's given to poor creatures . love enriches their souls ; love makes their faces shine ; love must brighten their souls , and make them appear lovely in the eyes of god! o my lord ! thou hast given me faculties to love thee , understanding to contemplate thy beauty and mercy , and perfection , memory to retain the lively apprehensions of thy glory , and a will to prompt my whole man into sutable actions ! the more i love thee , the holier i am ! the more i love thee , the more i am with thee ! for where i love , there is my soul ! where my affections are , there is my spirit : where my treasure is , there will my heart be also who would look upon a dunghil that can view a glorious palace ! who would hear the screeches of owls , and night-ravens , that can hear melodious musick ! and why should i be taken with the pomp and glory of the world , which in comparison of thee is a meer dunghil ; or with the caresses and praises of mortal men , which are perfect howlings compared with the harmony , thy love doth make ! shall i love honour , and not love thee , who art the fountain of it ! shall i love pleasure , and not love thee , in whose presence there is fulness of joy ! who can be likened unto thee , o lord ! and if nothing can be likened unto thee , i must love nothing like thee ! and if i justly love that which is good , i must necessarily love thee more then all things in this world , for thou art infinitely better , then all things in this world ! there is nothing so good , nothing so precious , nothing so rich , nothing so amiable as thou art ! o my jesus ! how great was thy condescension ! thou knewest i could love nothing so well , as what was like me , and in compliance with my temper ( for thou knewest my frame ) thou becamest like me indeed : the immortal became mortal ; the eternal became an infant . if therefore i love man , who is naturally like me , how much more am i bound to love thee , who wroughst a miracle to become man , that thou mightst be like me ! love desires the presence of its delightful object , and can any thing be more present then thou art ? thou art in me , and with me , and without me , thou art present in all places , at all times , in all companies ; thou art willing to dwell in me , and to make thine abode in me ; thou art content never to depart from me . thou art strangely bountiful , who would not love thee ? who ever gave greater or larger gifts , either more in number , or more in quantity , or longer for duration , then thy liberal hand ! from thee every good and perfect gift comes down ; whatever gifts i receive from thy creatures , thou sendest them : the creatures are but the channels , or the pipes , through which they are conveyed , and shall not i love the fountain more then the channel , the spring more then the pipe , through which the water runs , and the great giver more then the messengers that carry it ? thou workest in all , thou inclinest the hearts of the bountiful ; thou openest their hands , thou turnest their hearts into charity ; thou seasonest their minds with thoughts of me , and thou bendest their wills to do me good ! and shall not i look up from the creature to the creator , and give him my dearest love ! i will love thee , o lord ! i must love thee , for thou art sweet beyond comparison , amiable without a parallel , lovely to a miracle ! thou art the true father of my soul , thou providest for me , thou takest care of me , thou art exceeding tender of me , thou bearest me on thy hands , on thy wings thou carriest me , as the eagle doth her young ; nay , thou offerest me to be thy brother , thy sister , and thy mother , for he that doth thy will , shall be all this in thy esteem ; he shall be as dear to thee , as these relations are to mortal men ! thou art my friend indeed ! o my lord , whether doth thy love carry thee ! thou layest aside thy glorious titles , and magnificent names , and becomest my friend ! and never was a truer friend then thou art , and hast been to me ! no vicissitude hath changed thee , no revolution hath altered thee , no accident hath estranged thy heart from me , my unworthiness doth not turn away thy affections from me ! though thou dwelle●● on high , yet thou humblest thy self to behold the ways of the children of men ! my sores do not make thee loath me , my infirmities do not move thee to cast me away , my vileness doth not tempt thee to despise me ! thou lovest at all times , if i am wounded , thou bindest up my wounds ; if i am broken , thou healest me , if i am grieved , thou refreshest me , if i am in danger thou deliverest me , if under pain , thou givest me ease , if under trouble , thou comfortest me ; o my jesus ! thou art gone up to thy father , and to my father , and hast made us friends ! thou hast reconciled him to my soul ! thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world ! how often hast thou in mercy look'd upon me ! how often hast thou pittied me ! i was unworthy of thy compassion , yet seeing me lye in my blood , thou saidst live , in thy blood live. what shall i say unto thee , o thou great preserver of men ? no words , no language will reach thy love , or give a tolerable description of it ; yet still this increases my obligations to love thee ! and what a mercy is it that thou wilt give me leave to love thee ! that this great , this glorious , this immense , this incomprehensible god will vouchsafe to be loved by a worm ; what a favour is it ! prize it , o my soul ! and think thou hearest every creature , that 's beneficial to thee , calling upon thee to love him ! the sun that shines upon thee , calls to thee , i give thee light , that thou mayst admire the father of light ; so doth the moon , so do the stars , so do all those things , whereby thou art fed , maintained , cloathed , and preserved in health , these all call , we serve thee , that thou mayst serve thy god , and do good to thee , that thou mayst love him , whose hand hath placed us in these stations . o my god! shall i have such monitors to love thee , and be deaf to the call ! how will all these rise in judgment against me one day , if i love thee not ! how justly do i fall a sacrifice to thy wrath , if under such exhortations i despise thy love ! how many souls have perish'd , and i am yet alive ! how many have been struck dead in their sins , and i am yet called to pentance ! how many do yet walk in darkness , and i have the honor to see thy marvellous light ! thou hast dealt more kindly by me , then thou hast done by others ! o how am i bound to love thee ! i see the odiousness of that sin , which others doat on ! i see the deformity of those vices , which others wallow in ! i see the beauty of that virtue , which others scorn ! i see the charms of that grace , which others laugh at ! i taste of those comforts , which others continue ignorant of ! i see the reasonableness of thy precepts , which others count an intolerable yoak ! i have some sense of another world , while thousands live , as if there were none ! i see the necessity of holiness , while others make a mock of sin ! what motives are these to love thee ! shall i be afraid , or ashamed after all this , to love thee ! every sense i have , bids me love thee ! i cannot smell to any thing , but i smell the fragrancy of thy love. i cannot taste any thing , but i must taste how sweet , and how gracious thou art ! i cannot look upon any thing , but i must see thy goodness ! the oil of thy love swims upon every creature , i touch or feel ! that soul deserves to dye , that doth not love thee ! in loving thee , i live ! thy love is better then life ! my days will have an end , my life ere long will pass from me ! my riches , my glory , my wealth , my health , my liberty , my ease , my friends , my acquaintance , they all will ere long expire ; but if i love thee , that will remain with me to eternity ! my love to thee makes me thine , and makes thee mine . by loving thee , i shew that i am not mine own : thou hast made me for thy self , and if i am not thine , i cannot be mine own ; for at that instant that i would be mine own , i cease to be thine ! thou art to me all that heart can wish , or reason can desire ! thou art my light , my pillow , my rest , my sun , my meat , my drink , my glory , my joy ; thou hast given me thy son , and in giving him , hast given me more then ten thousand worlds ! and if this be not enough , thou art ready to give me more ; shew me thy love , and it suffices me . thou hast wounded me with thy love ! i will follow thee ! o let me do thy will ; let me do that which thou wilt , and not what i will. despise me not , forsake me not ; o do not go far from me ! draw me after thee , and i shall run ! wo is me , that i must dwell in mesheck , and have my habitation in the tents of kedar . o leave me not to my self . i consecrate both my soul , and body , to thee ; employ them , o lord , as it shall please thee best ! o forget me not , and let me never forget thee ; let me rather die a thousand deaths , then live without thee ! o let me love thee so , that i may long to draw others to thy love ! let me be griev'd when men do not keep thy law. let it go to my heart to see thee dishonour'd and affronted ! thou threatnest me with eternal flames , if the flames of thy love cannot warm me now . i am not worthy to love thee , yet thou art most worthy to be loved by me ! o let me sigh , let me pant , let me breath after thee ! o my life , let me live to thee ! o my glory , let me be content to die for thee ! o my refuge , let me ever run to thee ! o thou eternal love , let me be always mindful of thee ! let me embrace thee , let me resolve not to let thee go , till thou hast brought me to that place , where i shall be for ever united to thee ! withdraw mine heart from the creature ! why should it go astray from thee ! i am sensible what hurt my love to the creature hath done me ! it hath alienated my heart from thee ! it hath made thy word a savour of death unto death to me ! it hath rendred thy promises insipid to me ! it hath made me slight thy service ! it hath made thy ways nauseous , and irksom to me ! it hath made thy laws tedious to me ! it hath made me forget the life , i am to live for ever . it hath made me weary of thy love , backward to self-denial , made me ashamed of christ , cool'd my zeal , damp'd my religious desires ; and shall i harbour the viper in my bosom any more ! o throw this enemy out of my soul. dispossess it of its habitation , expel it by thy power , make it vanish by thy presence ! i beg not grace to hate any thing that thou hast made , but thy assistance , that i may love the creature less then thee : i would not have this love of the creature engross my soul , i would not have it usurp authority in my heart . i would not have it take place of my love to thy sweet self ! i would not have it engross my affections ! i would have it subordinate to thy love . i would have it to be a servant to my love to thee ! i would not have it rule in me . i would not have it justle out thy love ! i know , my dearest lord ! i must love my neighbour too . i cannot love thee , without i love him with unfeigned love ! i lie , if i say i love thee , whom i have not seen , when i love not my brother , whom i see , but i would not love man better then thee ! i would not obey him more then thee ! i would not comply with him , to displease thee ! i would not prefer his smiles or frowns before thy favour , or thy indignation ; i would love him for thee , and in thee ; and o thou that hast loved me so as to die for me , grant me that charity , which is a necessary effect of my love to thee ! thou hast loved my neighbour , as well as my self ! my jesus ! thou hast died for him , as well as for my self ! though i must stand amazed at the particular mercy thou hast shewn to me , yet the light of thy favour hath shined upon my fellow-christians too ! o let me love them with a pure heart fervently ! hereby shall all men know , that we are thy disciples if we love one another ! o my lord ! i am resolved to be thy disciple , and therefore will not only love those that love me , but even those that hate me ! o make me tender-hearted , and compassionate to my neighbour ! make me ready to forgive , ready to bear with his infirmities , ready to relieve him , ready to assist him , ready to succour him : o let all clamour , and malice , and hatred , and evil-speaking , and censoriousness be put away from me ! rid me of all guile and hypocrisy , and dishonesty ! let it be known by my meek , and humble , and charitable temper , that the same mind is in me , which was also in christ jesus ! in vain do i call my self thy follower , if i tread not in thy steps , or do not render good for evil , and shew all meekness unto all men . when i am reviled , let me not revile again ! let there not be any root of bitterness in me ! banish from me base suspition ! teach me to put a favourable construction on other means actions , and to overcome evil with good. mortify in me , the itch of contradiction ! make me affable , courteous , kind , gentle , and let no provocation soure that disposition in me ! make me patient , and long-suffering , peaceable , and easie to be intreated ; give me a temper as may make me rejoyce in the prosperity of others ! let all pride , and envy die in me ! let me delight in works of mercy , in feeding the hungry , giving drink to the thirsty , cloathing the naked , visiting the sick , comforting the prisoners , counselling the weak , supporting the feeble , directing the erroneous , reproving the unwary , guiding the blind , using hospitality to strangers . make me circumspect in my speeches , that i offend not with my tongue ! give me presence of mind upon all occasions , that i may not speak , or act rashly to my neighbours prejudice ! o let thy love be always before me , that i may have compassion on my fellow-servant ! o let thy blood supple my heart , that it may melt at the sight of its wants , and necessities ! o let that word sound always in mine ears , that though i speak with the tongue of angels , and have no charity , it profits me nothing ! i shall see thy charity in the sacrament of thy supper ! i shall see what thou didst for me , and all the world ! i shall see what inconveniencies thou didst endure to procure our happiness ! i shall see how thou didst deny thy self for our sakes . i shall see how thou didst not count thine own life dear to save ours ! i shall see how gentle thou wast to thy enemies , how thou pray'dst for them that persecuted thee ; how thou didst bless them that did curse thee ! i shall see what pains thou tookest , what anguish thou enduredst to snatch us from damnation . oh let that charity prevail with me ! o let that goodness produce bowels of mercy in me , that as much as in me lies , i may keep the unity of the spirit in the bound of peace ! make me willing to decede from mine own right , for concords sake ! o root out that base selfishness which makes me so careless of my neighbours good. o thou eternal truth , thou hast promised to write thy laws in my heart ! o write this law of love there with thine own blood , and make the characters so lasting , that nothing may blot them out . o let me love my self less , that i may love thee and my neighbour more ! o let the fire of thy love put out the impure fire of my lusts , and corruptions ! o let that fire purify my soul from those inordinate passions , and desires , which too often endanger it . thou art the god that answerest by fire . let me feel thy fire , and the force of it . let it go through my soul , and scatter heat through every part , that i may be transformed , and changed into love ; let me love thee vehemently , ardently , superlatively , constantly , and my neighbour chastely , modestly , purely , sincerely , and inviolably . whatever thou deniest me , deny me not this love ; remember thy word unto thy servant , in which thou hast caused me to hope ; thou hast said i will give unto him that is a thirst , of the water of life freely . o give me this love , else i faint . o spare me a little that i may recover strength , before i go hence and be seen no more . o thou spirit of love , blow upon me , and these dry bones shall live . o jesu ! come and live in me , and if thou , who art love and charity it self , live in me , i shall love all that thou wouldst have me love , and be a monument of thy love , and share in thy everlasting love , amen . let the king of heaven hear when i call . a prayer for imitation of the holy life , and example of jesus . o thou , who art the way , the truth , and the life ! i know thee who thou art , the son of the living god! who shall lead me into edom ! who shall bring me into the strong city , into that city , which hath foundations , whose builder and maker is god. wilt not thou , o lord , strong , and mighty ! hear o my soul ! thy redeemer calls ; if any man serve me , let him follow me , and where i am , there shall also my servant be . o my lord ! i had need of a guide in this age , when the world lies in wickedness ! how many ways to ruin do i see ! how many nets do i see spread for me ! what a snare are even these outward comforts ! how do they entice , and draw the heart away ! o father of mercy ! how many thousands do i see beguiled by the riches and pleasures of this life ! how insensible do they grow of that life , they are to live for ever ! how forgetful of god! how enamoured with the gauds and glories of this world ! how does the beauty of their souls decay , and wither away ! and one teaches the other to go to hell ! o my god! what shall i do among so many enemies ! what shall i do in all this darkness ! what shall i do among all these precipices ! without thy light , i must needs be lost ! rise , rise thou glorious morning star ! that i may be able to see my way ! thou art the light of the world ! he that follows thee , cannot walk in darkness ! why should i be afraid of going astray ? thou art my way how can i be deceived ! thou art goodness it self ! how can i mistrust thee , when thou hast spilt thy blood for me ! though naturally thou dwellest in a light inaccessible , yet of invisible thou becamest visible , on purpose that i might follow , not the father of lies , not lucifer , not that enemy who transforms himself into an angel of light , but thee in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are . great physitian of souls ! thou camest down to prescribe me physick , and that i might not be afraid to take it , didst take it before me , and of god becamest man , that i might imitate thee in the holiness of thy humane nature ! this is it , o my lord , that my soul desires , even to set thee before mine eyes , to represent thee in lively colours before my mind , and to conform to thy great example ! o my jesus ! thy spirit i want , which may change me into thy image from glory to glory , from one degree of brightness to another , and enable me to comprehend with all saints , what is the depth and bredth , and height , and length of the love of god , and may be filled with the fulness of god! o my god! my soul longs to say with thy apostle , i live , yet not i , but christ lives in me . once thou didst create me , after thy image , but i defaced it , those curious lines i darknen'd , and dash'd , yet , thou hast given me hopes to recover that jewel , and o my lord ! do thou place it in its throne again ; how do i long to have my mind renew'd , and my soul transform'd , that i may mind the things of the spirit with sincerity and earnestness ! who but a fool would not tread in thy steps , my dearest lord ! yet such a fool , such a sot , such a beast i have been ! i have seen thee lighting me to heaven , and yet have loved darkness better than light ! o thou eternal wisdom ! i hate this folly ! i abhor this stupidity ! i will follow the lamb whether soever he goes . thy apostles follow'd thee , why should not i ? who le armies of primitive beleevers follow'd thee ! why should not i ? why should i become behind them ? why should i have a less esteem for thee than they had ? my very name obliges me to follow thee ! what am i a christian for , if i do not imitate thee ! o let me not blaspheme that worthy name whereby i am called ! i blaspheme it if by my vain conversation i give thine enemies occasion to speak ill of thy religion . do i call my self by thy name , and am loath to tread in thy steps ! my heart is stubborn ! my will perverse ! o do thou bow it ! make me ready , make me willing , make me expedite for this work. thou tookest up thy cross , oh let me not dream of beds of roses ! thou wast subject to thy parents , oh make me submissive to my superious ! thou didst resist temptations , o let me not be overcome by them ! thou didst despise the vvorld , oh let me not be enamoured with it ! thou wentest about doing good , o let me not be backward to works of charity ! thou didst deny thy self , o let me not indulge my vain desires . thou didst work while the day did last ; oh let me not harden my heart in this my day ! thou wast humble ; oh let the same humility take root in my soul ! thou wast meek , oh let this meekness be the rule of all my actions ! thou didst not aim at vain-glory ; oh let no such pitiful end defile my soul ! thou didst bear with the weak ; oh let me be tender-hearted , and gentle too ! thou didst patiently endure injuries ; oh let me not fret and murmure under them ! thou wast faithful in all thy fathers house ; oh let me be so in the duties of my calling , and relations ! thou didst receive , and embrace the penitent ; oh let me reioyce over those who are sorry for their faults ! thou didst encourage goodness , and holy inclinations ; oh let me cherish them , wheresoever i find them ! thou didst do thy fathers will ; oh let me not pretend impediments ! thou didst good for evil ; oh let me not recompence sin with sin ! a sense of gods goodness was meat and drink to thee ; oh let it be my diet too ! thou wast a pattern of gravity ; oh let me not be vain and foolish in my conversation ! thou didst spend thy self for the good of mankind ; oh let me not indulge my ease too much ! thou didst entirely resign thy self to thy fathers pleasure , under the severest trials ; oh teach me this art of self-resignation too ! thou wast zealous for the house of god ; oh let not luke-warmness spoil my soul ! thou wast not taken with the pomp and glory of the world ; oh let me not be gull'd with these empty shews ! the frowns and contempt of men could not make thee weary of being strictly conscientious ; oh let not these pitiful things make me ashamed of thee , and thy gospel ! o my jesus ! thy kingdom must suffer violence ; and whoever enters there , must force his way through all impediments ; and what if i offer violence to my lusts and passions for a time , how sweet will it be to lie encircled in thy arms one day , and to hear thee say , come ye blessed of my father , inherit the kingdom prepared for you . thou dost promise me , that if i will fight for thee , thou wilt give me to eat of the tree of life , and to sit down with thee in thy kingdom , at thy table , and to be a king , and a priest for ever ! do i believe this , and scruple fighting the good fight . do i believe this and am i afraid of the worlds frowns ? do i believe this and am i ashamed of the severities , thou callest me to ? why should i mistrust thee , when i see thee use the same mortifications thou biddest me chuse ! if a soldier see his king use the same pains , habit , and hard fare , which the meanest man in the army uses , what courage doth it infuse into him to endure hardship , and other difficulties that may attend the various enterprizes he is engaged in ! o my lord ! that very contempt of the world , that meekness and humility , that severity of life , that aversion from sensual pleasures , that enmity to sin , that hatred of vanity , that indignation against brutish delights , that sincerity , that simplicity thou requirest of me , thou didst observe , and practice , and perform thy self , so that thou layst the same burthen on my shoulders , that lay on thine ; and if i die with thee , i shall live with thee too ; if i suffer with thee , i shall reign with thee . oh then i will not tarry ! i will make haste and conform to thine example ! i shall not fare worse , then my king and master did ; and as i have born the image of the earthy , so i shall bear the image of the heavenly too . i will walk as my jesus walked ! o my lord ! make me holy , as thou art holy , perfect as my father , which is in heaven is perfect . o my lord , there is no other way to glory , but by thee ! thou being exceeding rich , becamest poor to enrich my soul ! thou camest not to do thine own will , but the will of him that sent thee ! put thine arms under me ; and i will not do mine own will. i will follow thee through fire and water ; i will follow thee through bryars and thorns , through good report and evil report . o chace away all slavish fear from my soul ! let me not be afraid of difficulties . what can be difficult , where thou art both the guide , and the encourager ? thou canst not deceive me . thou canst not delude me . it must be so as thou hast said . all things are possible to him that believes . i 'll chuse some hardship here , so i may rest in thy bosom hereafter . i 'll be content to pass through a dirty way for some time , that i may lye down in the green pastures of thy mercy for ever . the sight of thy cross in the holy sacrament shall be my motive . i 'll draw arguments from that remembrance of thy death , to die to the world . i will travel with thee , i will sail through the boisterous sea of this life with thee . and o my jesus , let me arrive safe at last in the everlasting harbour , amen , amen . a thanksgiving after receiving of the lords supper to be said , either at church , or at home . and now , what reward shall i render unto thee , o holy blessed , and incomprehensible trinity , for all the benefits , i have receiv'd at thy hands this day ! awake up my glory ! awake my outward , and inward man ! i will sing , and give praise ! whence is it , that so poor a wretch as i am , is crowned with all this mercy and loving kindness ! o my soul , thou hast been water'd this day with the streams that flow from the paradise of god! i that was worthy of gods hatred , how have i this day been advanced ! what great things hath god done for me ! what honour hath he laid upon me ! what majesty , what glory hath he conferr'd upon me ! i feel the fire of god within me ! my heart grows hot within me ! i will sing , and give praise ! who would not praise thee , that hath seen thy goings in the sanctuary , as i have seen them this day ! holy father , thou hast this day embraced me ! holy jesus thou hast this day poured out blessings upon me ! holy spirit , thou hast this day manifested thy self unto me ; holy , holy , holy lord god of hosts ! thou hast humbled thy self this day to a dead dog ! o how often have i returned to the vomit ! how often have i gone a whoring from thee ! yet behold , the lord instead of the bread of affliction , hath given me the bread , which came down from heaven ; instead of the cup of trembling , hath given me the cup of salvation ! i will remember thy name , o lord ! i will speak of thy wondrous works . o my lord ! i see thy hand is not shortned , neither is thy strength abated ! thou that hadst mercy on the vilest sinners formerly , extendest thy goodness to such miserable creatures still ! i have drawn water this day from the well of salvation , even from thy wounds , o crucified redeemer ! thou hast look'd upon this prodigal this day ; thou hast run , and fall'n on my neck , and kissed my polluted soul. oh honour ! oh dignity ! oh compassion ! oh charity ! oh love ! oh mercy ! oh goodness ! which the redeemed of the lord must speak of ! even they whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy , and gathered them out of the lands from the east , and from the west , from the north , and from the south ; they wandred in the wilderness , in a solitary way , they found no city to dwell in , hungry and thirsty , their soul fainted in them ; then they cryed unto the lord in their trouble , and he deliver'd them out of their distresses , and he led them forth by the right way , that they might go to a city of habitation ! o that men would praise the lord for his goodness , and for his wonderful works to the children of men ! open to me the gates of righteousness , i will go into them , and i will praise the lord. this is the gate of the lord , into which the righteous shall enter , i will praise thee for thou hast heard me , and art become my salvation . the stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner ! this is the lords doing , and it is marvellous in our eyes . if i forget thee o my jesus ! let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth ! thou hast regarded my tears , thou hast taken notice of my supplication ! thou hast given me my hearts desire , thou hast not withheld from me the requests of my lips. thou hast given me leave to come to thine altar this day , and to lift up mine hands towards thy holy oracle ! thou hast fed my soul this day with royal dainties , with peace and pardon , with a right to thy promises , and offers of eternal life , with assistances of thy holy spirit , and the riches of grace and mercy . this is the food , which the holy bread and wine have represented to me this day , and with this food thou hast blessed my soul. in this food will i glory , of this will i make my boast . this is food for immortal spirits ! this preserves souls through the power of god unto salvation ! this is bread which fades not away , this is wine which may be had without money , and without price . o my god! thou requirest no price , but a wounded heart ! no gold , no silver , no jewel , but an obedient soul ! i bring it , i offer it . i beg thou wouldst be pleased to accept of it ! thou deservest it ; thou may'st challenge it : it 's thine , thou gavest it me , thy spirit made it willing . thy grace did melt it . thy fire burnt away the dross . thy goodness purified it , and thou wilt cleanse it more and more . all the good i have is thine ! from thee it flows ! from thee it springs ! thou conveyest it to my soul. thou openest mine ears . thou awakenest me , every good thought i have is thine ; every good inclination , every good resolution , every good intention is thine ; thou influencest every good action i perform . my praise shall be of thee in the great congregation , i will declare thy faithfulness and salvation . o how good is god to israel , even to them , that are of a clean heart ! o make me clean , that i may feel thy goodness ! thou art my phisitian , i am thy patient , thou art my father , i am thy son , thou art my master , i am thy servant , thou art my teacher , i am thy disciple ; thy spirit is good , o lead me in the way everlasting ! god forbid , that i should glory in any thing , save in the cross of christ , and him crucified . o that the world were crucified to me , and i unto the world ! i will rejoice in thy love , my dearest lord ! i have seen thy power , wisdom and goodness ! i see what pains thou takest with my soul , to make it happy , to drive away the night of ignorance from it , and to make me know , there is no true bliss , no true comfort , but in thee ! thou teachest me to overcome my spiritual enemies ; blessed be the lord my strength , which teaches my hands to war , and my fingers to fight , my goodness , and my fortress , my high tower and my deliverer , my shield , and in whom i trust ! thou preventest me with thy grace ; thou givest me the earnest of eternal glory , by thy spirit i am sealed unto the day of redemption ! thou art my past , my present , and my future good ! let the people praise thee , o god , let all the people praise thee ! o that all men might know and love thee ! o that all mankind might feel thy power , and glory ! o thou who art the chiefest among ten thousand , the upright love thee ; and among these , i the unworthiest of thy servants presume to love thy name ! thou hast made me to walk upon mine high places , and in the bitterness of my soul hast refresh'd my spirit ; thou hast pardoned i hope all my sins , and blotted out mine iniquities as a thick cloud . i expect thou shouldst forgive me much , and therefore sure i must love thee much ! thou hast born my grief , and carried my sorrows , thy torments have given me ease , thy reproaches have procured my glory , and thy misery is the cause of all my happiness . therefore i will put on the lord jesus christ ! thou shalt be my garment , my crown , my diadem . i will sing unto thee as long as i live . i will sing praise unto my god , while i have my being . my meditation of thee shall be sweet ; i will be glad in the lord ! o my lord ! i rejoice to hear that every knee bows unto thee ! i would have all the world fall down before thee , and worship thee ! i rejoice in all the good things , that thou possessest , not that i expect thou shouldst make me partaker of all , but because they are in thee , and they are thine , and thou dost dispense them to thy creatures according to thy pleasure i rejoice , o lord in all the glorious gifts thou hast conferred on the head of the church , the man christ jesus . i rejoice in all the mercies , thou hast bestowed on the blessed angels , in that purity and innocence , in that brightness and splendor , in that bliss and felicity , they are crown'd withal , in their care of thy people , in their ministerial offices to those that shall be heirs of salvation . i rejoice in all the graces , thou hast dispensed to thy holy apostles , in their miraculous healing of the sick , in their powerful preaching , whereby the world was converted , in their knowledge , and illumination , in their zeal and fervour , in their patience , and humility in their watchfulness and heavenly mindedness , for in all these i see thy mighty arm , and thy strong hand , and the light of thy countenance , and all that they have done , and said , is written for my learning . i rejoice in all the blessings , thy saints enjoy , in thy calling them to thy marvellous light , in thy adorning their souls with so many resplendent vertues , in thy honouring of them with the lofty titles of children , and brethren , and friends , and kings , and priests , in thy visiting of them with thy salvation , in thy assisting of them with thy power , thy spirit , and thy influences in their dangers and necessities , in thy helping their infirmities , in thy purifying of their souls , in thy enlivening their spirits , that they may not be ashamed of the gospel of christ jesus , in thy keeping of them from all evil , in thy rescuing of them from temptations , in thy giving them a happy death , and promise of a glorious resurrection . i rejoice in all thy mercies to poor sinners , in thy calling of them , to repentance , in thy entreating , admonishing , and beseeching of them to be reconciled to god , in thy forbearing of them in thy patience , and long-suffering toward them , in thy waiting for their repentance , in thy adjuring of them by bowels of mercy , by the blood of jesus , by the wounds of a crucified redeemer , by the sweetest calls , and by the greatest motives to seriousness , and holiness , in thy receiving the penitent , in thy forgetting all their unkindnesses , and forgiving the affronts , they have offered unto thee , in thy remembring their sins no more , and drowning them in the depth of the sea , even in the blood of the lamb , which was slain from the foundation of the world. i rejoice in all thy loving kindnesses to thy church , in thy giving her thy word , thy ordinances , thy sacraments , in thy making her thy bride , thy spouse , and thy favourite , in thy ordaining the lord jesus to be her head , her husband , and her protector , and nursing-father . o jesu ! i rejoyce in thy incarnation , in the great mystery of godliness , god manifested in the flesh , justified in the spirit , seen of angels , preach'd in the world , believ'd on by the gentiles , receiv'd up into glory . i have reason to rejoyce in thy hypostatick union , in thy being the prince of men , and angels , and in that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in thee ! i rejoyce in thy sending the comforter into the world ; in thy promises , in thy offers , in thy providences , in the provision thou hast made for our souls , and bodies . o give me a thankful heart for my right shape , for my health and strength , and temporal advantages ; o what a mercy is it , that thou hast caused me to be born in the light , in the true religion , in a religion free from notorious errours , and superstitions ! how am i beholding to thee , that thou hast kept me from so many opportunities of sinning against thee , from abundance of temptations , from innumerable occasions of evil ! how many have been snatcht away by sudden death ; and i am alive yet ! how many have been denyed the grace of repentance , which thou still offerest to me ! that i have a heart to pray and praise thy name , what a mighty token of thy love is this ! let heaven and earth praise the lord ; let all the angels in heaven praise him . let every thing that hath breath praise the lord , praise thou the lord o my soul ! i remember , o lord , how when i have gone through the water , thou hast been with me ; when i have passed through the fire , thou hast commanded the flames not to kindle upon me ! i remember , when for a small moment , thou hast hid thy face from me ; how with everlasting kindnesses thou hast visited me again ! o how often hast thou deliver'd me from the nethermost hell ! when i have been ready to sink in the mire , thou hast pulled me out of the horrible pit , cut of the miry clay , and set my feet upon a rock , and establish'd my goings ! when the snares of death have incompassed me , and the pains of hell laid hold on me , thou hast deliver'd my soul from death , mine eyes from tears , and my feet from falling . i will walk before the lord in the land of the living ; what reward shall i render unto thee for all thy benefits ! how loth hast thou been to behold my ruine ! how hast thou call'd after me , have mercy on thy self ! with what convictions hast thou follow'd me ! what checks of conscience hast thou given me ! o my lord ! thou shalt have all the glory . thou art worthy to receive blessing , and honour , and majesty , and dominion ! how precious are thy mercies ! how rich thy loving kindnesses ! to do so much for dust and ashes , for a worm , for a grashopper , for a creature that hath abused thee , and rebell'd against thee ; o what goodness is this ! my understanding is not big enough to comprehend it . i 'll acknowledge thee for my god , i 'll own thee for my redeemer ; thou shalt be my king , my master , my sovereign lord ! i will consecrate all my labours , all my services , all i have , and all i am to thy glory ! o what a favour is forgiveness of sin , which i trust i have received this day ! think o my soul , what a bondage thou art deliver'd from ! think what slavery thou art freed from ! now thou art at liberty , now thou mayst serve god chearfully ; now thou mayst freely go on from virtue to virtue . this is a day of thanksgiving ; this is a day of glad tidings ; this is a day which ought to be remembred ; o my jesus ! thou hast this day visited the earth , and watered it ! thou hast made it rich with thy showers , thy grace hath dropp'd upon me this day , like the rain on the mowen grass ! o order my steps according to thy word for the future ! let me see thee in every mercy ! teach me to admire thee in every blessing ! let nothing seduce my heart from thee ! when any afflictions come upon me , let me receive them with thanks and submission ! when i stumble , do thou support me ; when i fall , do thou raise me ; when i go astray , do thou seek me ; when i err , do thou direct me ; when i slacken in thy service , do thou strengthen me ! keep the door of my senses , that no impure thing may enter there ! let my heart be thy temple ! teach me to enquire daily , what progress i make in thy way ; let thy word be a lanthorn to my feet , and a light unto my paths ! let no evil company discourage me ! let thy providence direct me to persons that love thy law , and in these excellent ones , let all my delight and comfort be ! o my lord , my life is hid in thee ! but when thy glory shall appear , i shall be like thee ! speak lord , for thy servant hears ! let none of thy commandements be hence-forward grievous to me ! open thy hand and feed my soul ! when i am tempted , lay no more upon me , then i am able to bear ! give me courage to strive to enter in at the strait gate ! let me ever look at the things which are not seen , for the things which are seen are temporal , but the things which are not seen , are eternal ! thy kingdom , lord , is not in meat and drink , but in peace , and joy in the holy ghost ; give me a taste of it ! let eternity be always in my mind ! into thy hands i do commend my spirit , my body , and all the concerns of my life ! let thy grace come down upon me plentifully ! let me not do thy will negligently ! let me live in the thoughts of another life , and let those thoughts encourage me to follow after , that i may apprehend that , for which i am also apprehended of christ jesus ! o hear me ! o answer me ! o pity me ! o relieve me ! o come in ! o succour me , thou that art the god of my salvation , and my tongue shall talk of thy righteousness , all the day long ! let all those , that seek thee rejoyce , and be glad in thee , and let such as love thy salvation , say continually , let god be magnified ! i am poor and needy , make haste unto me , o god! thou art my help , and my deliverer : o lord , make no tarrying , amen , amen . errata . page 51. l. 24. read liberty . p. 169. l. 19 r. repentance . what literal faults , or mistoppings may occur ; the reader is desired to mend with his pen. books printed for , and sold by samuel lowndes over against exeter exchange in the strand . clelia . an excellent new romance . parthanissa . that most fam'd romance . dr. greys compleat horseman , and expert farrier . two sermons preach'd at the cathedral church in norwich ; by b. rively . mr. glanvil's saducismus triumphatus , with the additions of dr. more , and dr. horneck . mr. glanvil's lux orientalis , or the opinion of the eastern sages , concerning the pre-existence of souls ; bishop rust of truth , and annotations on both . dr. horneck's great law of consideration . papismus regiae potestatis eversor . paul festeau's french grammar . maugers letters , in french and english . the mirror of fortune . the french rogue . cambridge jests , or witty alarms for melancholy spirits . kerhuel idea eloquentiae . the situation of paradise . a new family-book, or, the true interest of families being directions to parents and children, and to those who are instead of parents : shewing them their several duties, and how they may be happy in one another : together with several prayers for families and children, and graces before and after meat : to which is annexed a discourse about the right way of improving our time / by james kirkwood ... ; with a preface, by dr. horneck. kirkwood, james, 1650?-1709. 1693 approx. 313 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 146 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a47513 wing k647 estc r15399 12209336 ocm 12209336 56224 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a47513) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 56224) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 765:10) a new family-book, or, the true interest of families being directions to parents and children, and to those who are instead of parents : shewing them their several duties, and how they may be happy in one another : together with several prayers for families and children, and graces before and after meat : to which is annexed a discourse about the right way of improving our time / by james kirkwood ... ; with a preface, by dr. horneck. kirkwood, james, 1650?-1709. horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. the second editon, corrected and much enlarged. 252 p., 1 leaf of plates. printed for j. taylor ..., and j. everingham ..., london : 1693. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with 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reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng family -england. family -religious life. parent and child -early works to 1800. 2005-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-04 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion m vendor ●ucht scul : printed for j taylor & j. eueringham a new family-book ; or , the true interest of families . being directions to parents and children , and to those who are instead of parents ; shewing them their several duties , and how they may be happy in one another . together with several prayers for families and children , and graces before and after meat . to which is annexed a discourse about the right way of improving our time , by james kirkwood rector of astwick in bedfordshire . with a preface , by dr. horneck . the second edition corrected and much enlarged . london : printed for j. taylor at the ship-in st. paul's church-yard , and j. everingham , at the star in ludgate-street . 1693. to my honoured friend and patron , thomas brown of arlsey esq and to mrs. mary brown his wife . all who have a right sense of things , and understand but a little of the state of religion in the world , cannot but see and lament the great decay thereof every where amongst us . atheism and irreligion are become too much in fashion , and have too many votaries and followers . it has not been known in any age , that such sort of men ( or rather monsters , for man is too honourable a name for them ) have been so numerous , so daring and impudent , and so successful . who could imagine that in a christian state there should be such persons , who are at great pains to propagate atheism , and to run down , if they were able , our most holy religion ! as the neglect of educating children aright , contributes too much to this degeneracy ; so the most likely remedy of this dangerous and spreading distemper , is , a due care in parents and others who have the charge of children , to train them up in the knowledge , fear , and love of god ; to do what in them lies , to fortifie their minds against those snares and temptations to which they are exposed ; and to shine before them , in the practice of sincere piety themselves . tho' too many , on whom god has bestowed children , are so far from doing their duty for their souls , that they corrupt and utterly ruin them , which * one of the ancients calls a greater cruelty , than if they killed their bodies . yet , blessed be god , there are some , who consider it as their main business , with relation to their children , to make them wise and good , lovers of god , and haters of every evil thing . amongst those who are governed by this religious principle , god hath made you , my most honoured friends , great patterns . as he hath blessed you with a numerous offspring , so he hath given you of the wisdom from above , to know how to train them up in piety and virtue . the happy mixture of kindness and severity which you use towards them , makes them not only to stand in awe of you , but to love you . i might be allowed , on this occasion , to say somewhat in commendation of those excellent qualities which god has blessed you with , and which appear not only in your way and manner of educating your children , but in other things likewise . the many and great expressions of your kindness for me , ever since i had the honour to be known to you , require the most publick testimony of my grateful resentment thereof . but 't is one of your virtues , that you chuse rather to be concealed , than to make any great noise in the world. i shall therefore restrain my self from what otherwise not only gratitude , but the great and just esteem and affection i have for you , do mightily tempt me unto ; and shall conclude this address with my prayers to god for you , that he would increase his grace in you more and more , that you may abound in all the fruits of righteousness and true holiness , until you obtain the end of your faith , the salvation of your souls . i am , tour most affectionate friend , and most faithful servant . james kirkwood . the preface . the author of the ensuing treatise , having thought fit to recommend his papers to my perusal , i was willing to usher them into the world , with some remarks upon his pious design . the welfare of a common wealth doth in a great measure depend upon the duties of the relatives here treated of , and did parents and children conscientiously discharge all the ob●igations incumbent upon them by the law of god , and nature , the world could not be so wicked as it is . education makes the first impressions upon the souls of men , and were care taken , that the ground be impregnated with good seed , such a harvest might be expected from it , that posterity might be the better for it . i am sensible that conversation and the humour of the age , is apt to make strange alterations in the principles we imb●be , yet something will stick , and when the thoughts are cool , and men come to reflect , the principles they have learned when the wax was soft , will recoil , and oblige them to return to their duty . of this we have experience ; and though there is no rule so general , but admits of exceptions , yet it 's enough that this effect doth frequently appear , which is no inconsiderable motive to the serious consideration of a thing of this importance . it was a wise answer , which one of the lxxii . interpreters gave to ptolemaeus philadelphus , who asked him , what was the greatest negligence ? the neglect , saith he , of the good education of children . it is so , and the hurt that 's done by it , both to them , and to the publick , is unspeakable . whence is it that there are so many prodigals , that so many come to an untimely end ? that so many run into excesses , which destroy both soul and body ? from want of pious education . it was a severe censure , which carneades the philosopher passed upon the children of rich men , that they learned nothing but to ride well . indeed it is to be wondered , that rational creatures should be so careful to breed up their progeny to sensuality , and neglect the cultivation of that which makes them differ from bruits , and shews , they are creatures of a nobler extract : can any thing be more reasonable , than virtue and the fear of god ? is not this it , which both scripture and philosophy teaches ? do not we our selves confess so much , and do not most men acknowledge it when they come to dye ? and yet that we should make this the least part of our care in the education of youth , is wondrous strange ! some seem to fancy , that sending their children to school , or to teach them their catechism , is all the care that is incumbent upon them . though i cannot say , but that this is a duty , yet it is so imperfect , that i can scarce honour it with the title of doing it by halves , it being but the beginning , or the least part of it . instruction , precept , and example are the mighty engines and instruments in the promoting and accomplishing this work ; and perhaps nothing hath a greater influence than example ; for all the moral precepts of the parents , are like water spilt upon the ground , where example doth not concomitate the instruction . how shall the child learn sobriety , where the father is often drunk ? or how is it possible , the young man should be meek and patient , where the father is cholerick , and hath no command of his passion ? i do not restrain the grace of god , and am sensible , that the very impiety of the parents hath sometimes contrary effects upon certain children , and they learn to be good by the wickedness of their superiors ; but this is an extraordinary providence , which god exerts sometimes to manifest his omnipotence , and to let men see that he can bring light out of darkness , but the ordinary way of edifying those under our charge , is to teach them by example . and though even this proves ineffectual sometimes , yet it 's enough that it is our duty , and that we have discharged it , and have taken that way which was most rational , and of god's prescription . i am so pleased with st. jerom's advice to laeta concerning the education of her daughter , that i cannot forbear to transcribe part of it . i will let you see , saith he , what education you are to give to a daughter , whose soul ought to be the temple of god. let her hear nothing , learn nothing , speak nothing , but what may inspire the fear of god into her . let her not listen to prophane discourses , nor be enamoured with love songs or am●rous ditties . let her use her self at certain hours , to sing psalms ; let none be about her , but sober servants , and keep her from running into company light and vain , where she will learn more ill than good . use her to reading , and to work , and labour , and promise her rewards , and incite her to emulation ; excite her to virtue by praises and commendations , and make her ambitious to excel others in virtue and good works . let her learn scripture sentences by heart , and chuse her a master , that may not only teach her to read , but instruct her in good manners . give her a nurse neither debaucht nor tatling , nor given to strong liquors ; and let her habit be modest , and such as becomes her christian profession . let her not bore holes in her ears for pendants , neither let her use any paint or wash to beautifie her self . let her not be nice in ordering the hair of her head , neither suffer her to adorn her self with gold or pearls , or precious stones , except you design her for hell fire : when she comes to riper age , let her go with her parents to the temple , but let her not return to the gayeties of the world. advise her to keep her self in her chamber , and let her not go to feasts , and merry meetings . i would not have her use too much fasting and abstinence , which may hurt her health , at least till she be stronger , and better able to bear it . let her use god's creatures for necessity , and not for voluptuousness sake . suffer her not to be at musical concerts , nor to be fond of fiddles , and lutes , and harps , but let her repeat every day some passages out of the word of god. let her not go abroad any where without her mother , nor be very familiar , or enter into intreagues with any servant . appoint her a governess that 's sage and wise , and who may teach her to rise at midnight , to sing praises to her god. let her pray and work day and night . teach her to handle her needle , to spin and to exercise her self in turning the spindle . suffer her not to imploy her self in imbroideries of gold and silver . let her cloaths be plain and decent , and let her eat soberly and temperately , and let her not take pleasure in common baths . i know what will be objected here , that this is the advice of a hermit , and to teach a daughter how to be a nun. but still i appeal to any unprejudiced person , whether this be not the most likely way to salvation , and whether these precepts be not agreeable to the gospel of christ ? and though i will grant , that all are not under the same circumstances , and all cannot give the same education ; yet as to the principal part of the advice , which is to teach children by word and example , how to die to sin and to the world , it must be granted it 's very practicable . this age indeed hath learnt to shake off these stricter rules , but they should shew us too , what warrant they have from the word of god to do so . it was judiciously observed of fabius , that a soft and effeminate education , breaks the strength of body and mind , and whilst we breed up children to all the arts of vanity and luxury , they continue strangers to god and to themselves . the vine grows wild , if it be not cut ; so doth youth , if they be not betimes curbed in things which war against the soul. vnderstand this , ye parents , and be instructed , ye to whom god hath committed the care of education ; ye are god's stewards , and your children are the goods you are to manage to your master's glory . their blood god will require at your hands . have not ye read the curse god pronounced against eli for his negligence , and are not ye afraid of the same judgment ? ye are the persons by whom your children must be taught to serve god in their generation ; ye are the persons from whom they are to learn their duty to god and man ; at your door the fault will lie , if they miscarry through your carelesness . are their souls so contemptible in your eyes , that you will let them perish for want of admonition ? did christ think them worth purchasing with his own blood , and will ye let them lie without fence or wall , or cultivation ? you take care that they may live comfortably in this world : is it not a greater duty to bestir your selves , that they may enjoy god for ever ? it is joy to you to see them do well here , and ought it not to be a greater joy to find , that they are like to reign with christ and his saints in a better world ? you love them , but how doth it appear you do , while you let their souls die ? is this your love , to provide for their flesh , and to neglect enriching their better part with religious principles ? you would have them go to heaven when they die ; but how is it possible they should , when you are loth to be at the trouble to shew them the way that leads to that paradise ? was ever any man saved without holiness , and do you hope they will be , without this qualification ? if you teach them not by word and example to practise that holiness , how can you or they hope to ascend into the mount of god , or dwell on the everlasting hills ? do you believe a future account , and do not ye enquire , whether you discharge your duty to your children ? or is this no part of the account ye are to give ? ye are the persons who are to breath● goodness into them , and to give them life and happiness . ye are their gods , as it were , and from you they receive their motion ; and their spiritual as well as their natural life must begin from you . ye are magistrates in your families , and it is your province to be a terrour to evil-doers , and encouragers of those that do well . if by your indulgence they sin , and by your connivence they grow wicked , will not the supreme judge be avenged on such officers ? you blame governours of a commonwealth , if they do not animadvert on offenders , or are regardless of the reins of justice ; and do not you blame your selves , who are commanders in your families , for suffering the fear of god to decay there , which is the only thing that can make them happy ? how is it , that you will not understand your interest ? is it not your interest to educate them into the practice of virtue , and goodness , and self denial ? if they love god , they must needs love you , that love will constrain them to express their duty to you . the presence of god will over-awe them , and they 'll obey you , not with eye-service , but when your eye is off from them . the fear of god will make them conscientious of obeying your commands in secret ; and if your good counsels and examples prevail with them , they will be not only your children , but the children of god ; and you will have this satisfaction , that you do not only love them , but that god loves them , and dwells in them , and they in him . remember this , ye that are children , and let this encourage you to a faithful discharge of your duty . your parents , that under god gave you life , have a just right to your services and obedience . you are born servants to them , and to be at their beck and command is the obligation you bring with you into the world. as the authority of parents was the first government in the world , so your subjection to them is the first service that was ever known in the world. can you think any thing too good for them , who are the great instruments of conveying to you all the goods you possess , and all the endowments you are invested with ? if you follow not their good instructions and admonitions , ye are the greatest rebels in the world , and the sin is as great a treason in the family you live in , as sedition in a kingdom is against the state. you have the noblest promises made you to reward your obedience ; and though it is a natural duty bound up with your very being , yet god will reward it as if it were a deliberate self-denial ; and because you shall not stay for the recompence , god will bless you here , and your lives shall be comfortable on this side heaven . it is the first commandment in the law with promise ; and to let you see how god delights in your honouring your parents , and obeying their wholsom counsels , he hath singled out that precept , and dress'd it with more than ordinary encouragements . but then , the honour you shew them , must not spend it self in some outward civilities , but must be expressed in actions , in speeches , and in patience , according to the advice of the son of syrach , ecclesiastic . 3. 12 , 13 , 14. in actions , so as to execute their lawful commands with great alacrity and fidelity , to labour , and to take pains for their mainnteance and support , if they are fallen to decay , and to relieve their necessities , according to your ability . in words , and speeches , so as to speak honourably of them , to answer them with humility , to comfort them when they are in trouble , and to pacifie them with soft language , when they are angry and displeased . in patience , so as to bear their anger patiently , and to endure their frowardness and pettishness without contradiction ; to receive their severer commands , and such as are contrary to your genius and inclination , with gentleness , and to do them without murmuring . these are duties which draw more than ordinary blessings upon you , god that sees you do so , will have thoughts of peace towards you ; he will be concerned for you , and you may be confident , he will not leave you , nor forsake you . in honouring your parents , you honour your selves . it 's that which will not only procure you favour with god , but with men too . it 's upon this account , that wise men have recorded the dutifulness of some excellent children , and make them immortal by their writings ; and there are such examples of this filial respect , even among the heathen , that it would be odious and dreadful , if the children of christians should fall short of their duty . god lays so great a stress upon it that as he promises the kindest things to it , so he threatens as severe punishments , where it is neglected ; and that he doth not only threaten , but execute these judgments , any man may see , that will take notice of his providences . but all this the reader will be more fully convinced of , by reading the following discourse , which , that god may bless with success and edification , shall be my hearty prayer . a. horneck . the contents of advice to parents . part i. the introduction , shewing the great importance of the right education of children . pag. 1 how parents ought to be affected , while children are yet in the womb. 2 how they ought to be affected when their children are born . 3 the duties of parents for their childrens souls . 1. duty , to consecrate them to god in baptism . 4 the right of children to baptism . 8 2. duty , to season their minds betimes with good impressions . 13 children are to be acquainted with scripture histories . 14 3. duty , to teach them to pray . 18 4. duty , to observe carefully their temper and disposition , and to endeavour to reform what is amiss therein . 22 what is to be done if they are sturdy and proud . 22 if they be given to lying . 23 if they are cunning and deceitful . 24 if they are peevish and passionate . 25 if they are revengeful and malicious . 26 if they are jealous and suspicious . 28 if they are too credulous . 28 if they are envious . 29 if they are very impatient 30 if they love their belly too well . 32 if they discover any tendency to vnchast and immodest actions . 33 if they are very changeable and vnconstant . 36 if they are surly and morose . 37 if they are disrespectful to aged persons . 39 if they quarrel much with one another . 40 if they are over curious to know their lot and fortune in the world. 42 if they are unthankful to those who do them good and kind offices . 46 if they are of too prodigal a temper . 49 if they are covetous . 50 if they are naturally melancholly . 51 if they are of too gay and airy a temper . 51 if they are rash and froward . 52 5. duty , to see that they be taught to read. 55 about keeping them at school . 56 great care ought to be taken , what books they read . 61 6. duty , to bring them to the place of publick worship , so soon as they are fit for it . 64 what they should do before they go to church . 65 how they should carry themselves at church . ib. what they should do when they come from church . 66 why the lord's day ought to be kept . 67 children are to be possessed with a great regard for the ministers of the gospel . 68 7. duty , to make them understand their baptismal covenant . 73 8. duty , to encourage them to come to the lord's table . 77 9. duty , to take care that they accustom themselves to self-examination . 79 10. duty , to observe what providences they meet with , and to acquaint them therewith in due time , as also with some of the most remarkable providences , which either they ( to wit the parents ) themselves , or others have met with . 86 some directions to parents , how to render their endeavours effectual . 95 1. they must give their children good example . 95 2. they must chuse good company for them . 98 the great danger that children are in from flatterers . 99 advice to those who send their children abroad to travel . 102 3. they must , as need requires , reprove and chasten their children , and how ? 106 parents ought in correcting their children , to follow the example of our heavenly father . 111 parents must be careful not to oppose one another , when they correct and reprove their children . 112 4. they must carefully improve the time of their childrens sickness , or of any other afflictions they meet with , towards the making of them wiser and better . 113 5. they must daily pray to god for them . 115 against those who curse their children . 118 some motives to excite parents to do these things . 1. motive from the divine command . 120 2. motive , from its being a work worthy of the utmost care and pains of parents . 122 3. motive , from the rewards which attend those , who faithfully do these things . 123 4. motive , from the great benefit which comes both to church and state by the good education of children . 127 5. motive , from the sad effects which attend the neglect of these duties . 135 part ii. the duties of parents as to their childrens bodies . 1. dvty , it belongs to the mother to give suck to her children . 141 2. duty , about childrens diet. 145 3. duty , about childrens apparel . 146 the duty of parents as to the outward estate of their children . 1. duty , to chuse a fit trade for them . 148 advice to those who have great estates and riches , to bestow on their children . 150 advice to those , who intend to set apart one or more of their children for the holy ministry . 157 2. duty , about disposing of them in marriage . 162 the sad effects of marrying very leud and profligate persons . 164 3. duty , about providing somewhat that may be the foundation of their comfortable subsistance in the world. 167 great prudence and caution ought to be used in bestowing their worldly goods on their children . 172 4. duty , to have their will and testament in readiness . 174 the great inconvenience of delay in this matter . 174 great care to be taken in the choice of guardians for children . 178 the above mentioned particulars earnestly recommended to parents . 180 concerning the duty of parents when god removeth their children by death . 1. they ought to consider that it is the lord who does it . 187 2. they ought to consider that their children were born mortal . 189 3. they should consider from whence , and whither they are gone . 197 4. they should consider that there will be a resurrection . 202 5. they should consider that their giving way to excessive grief and mourning , can do no good , but will certainly do a great deal of hurt . 205 the duty of parents on their death-bed . 209 1. duty , to give their children good advice . 210 2. duty , to pray to god for them . 212 3. duty , to commend them to some faithful friends . 212 concerning the duties of step-fathers and step-mothers . 214 some motives to stir them up to do their duty . 218 the duties of guardians . 223 some motives to excite guardians to do their duty . 225 a morning prayer for parents , or masters of families , with their family . 232 an evening prayer for parents , or masters of families , with their family . 237 a short prayer for the morning or evening , when through extraordinary occasions there is not time for the other . 242 a prayer to be taught children , when hey begin to speak . 245 a prayer for children when they come to be four or five years old . 246 a prayer for children , when they come to twelve or fourteen years of age ; sooner or later , according to the ripeness of their understanding . 247 grace before meat . 251 after meat . 252 errata . pag. 16. line 26. read intelligible . p. 22. l. 22. for when , r. whom . p. 44. l. 9. r. infallibly . p. 45. l. 2. for having , r. have . p. 68. l. 22. r. ministrations . p. 87. l. 24. r. stir up . p. 97. l. 22. r. and besides the influence . p. 101. l. 21. r. attia . p. 126. l. 12 r. lustre p. 154. l. 1. r. of . p. 159. l. 13. point thus ; early and late , to be . p. 178. l. 7. for are , r. is . p. 187. l. 25. point thus ; sees fit . he is the great potter , and. p. 193. l. 28. for hath , r. had . p. 215. l. 1 , point thus ; account : they. p. 238. l. 4. point thus ; counsels , and despised . as to some other mistakes in the printing , they will not much hinder the reader . errata in advice to children . pag. 3. l. 18. r. disposition . p. 9. l. 12 and 13. r. tho canaan . l. 29. for ye , r. thee . p. 29. l. 16. for cat , r. cock. p. 114. l. 5. r. servant . p. 139. l. 4. r. hath called . p. 150. l. 15. and 16. r. according . advice to parents . part i. it has been always reckoned by the best and wisest men , a thing absolutely necessary towards a reformation in the world , to begin with the instruction and education of children ; those of elder years being ordinarily so rooted and hardned in their sinful habits , that , for the most part , there 's very little can be done to reform them , and make them better . so sensible were some ancient states of this , that they made particular laws for educating children ; thinking it too great a trust , to leave it altogether in the power of parents , to train up their children according to their humour and fancy . amongst christians , there are few restraints upon parents ; in most countries it being in their power to educate their children as they think good : it is therefore of no small importance for them to know what their duty is , that they may approve themselves to god , in doing whatever he requires towards their children , for their souls , their bodies , and their outward estate . the design of this treatise , is , to furnish those , who want such helps , with some plain and easie directions , that they may know how to act the part of christian parents . first , while children are yet in the womb , it is the duty of parents , to endeavour to bring their mind to an indifferency , as to the sex which shall be born ; not to prescribe to god , by their impatient desires , and their bold asking of him , a child of this or that sex ; but to leave it entirely to his will and pleasure , to do what he thinks best . the happiness of parents does not consist in having children of this or that sex : sometimes sons ( who are most desired ordinarily ) may prove useless in the world , yea very hurtful in many regards ; they may occasion great grief of heart , and lasting anguish and vexation to their parents , by their mad and foolish courses , and wicked doings : and on the other hand , daughters may prove great blessings in the world , great comforts to their parents , and great examples of piety and of zeal for the honour of god : on which accounts parents ought to resign their will to god , and be ready with all gratitude to accept whatever he bestows . secondly , when a child is born , parents ought with all thankfulness to return praise to god , who hath bestowed such a blessing upon them , giving them a living child , sound and perfect in all its parts and proportions , without either defect of necessary parts , or excess and deformity thereof . they ought to admire and adore the powerful and wise providence of god , which appears in framing and fashioning their infant , so curiously and wonderfully in the womb ; in preserving it , and making it grow up from a very small and imperfect beginning , to such a bigness , with all those comely shapes and proportions which they behold ; and at last in bringing it safely from the womb , which is one of the great and wonderful works of the power and goodness of god ; tho it be little regarded , because it is so common . they ought to look upon their children as given them of god , to be taken care of both as to their souls and bodies ; to be bred up in his fear , for his honour and glory ; to be made fit to serve him here , and to live with him for ever hereafter . the soul being the chiefest part o● the charge committed to parents , ● shall first shew what they ought to d● for their childrens souls . the first duty of parents for the souls of their children , is , to consecrat● them to god in baptism . first , they ought to consecrate their children to god in baptism , so soon as conveniently they can : they cannot better express their gratitude to god for blessing them with children , than by presenting them to him again in this holy ordinance ; that he may set his seal upon them , and admit them into his house and family ; that he may bestow upon them the priviledges of his children , and give them a right and title to the blessedness , the grace and glory purchased by jesus christ. it is for this end that baptism is instituted ; not only to be a ceremony of admission into the church , but to seal unto us the pardon of our sins , to assure us of the divine favour , to make us members of christ , heirs of god , and inheritours of the kingdom of heaven , if we by wilful impenitency and unbelief , do not afterwards hinder and frustrate the virtue thereof . it is not necessary for parents to enquire how such things are done by baptism ; it is enough for them to know , that god hath appointed baptism for those ends , and we are sure that he appoints nothing in vain : our saviour is said , eph. 5. 26. to sanctify and cleanse his church with the washing of water by the word . and , tit. 3. 5. he is said to save us by the washing of regeneration , and renewing of the holy ghost . and in the 22 d. of the acts and the 16. it is said by ananias unto paul , arise and ●e baptized , and wash away thy sins : and st. peter , having spoken of noahs being saved with his family in the ark , he adds , 1 epist. 3 21. the like figure whereunto , even baptism doth now also save us . and st. paul tells us , 1 cor. 12. 12 , 13. for as the body is one , and hath many members , and all the members of that one body , being many , are one body ; so also is christ. for by one spirit are we all baptized into one body . and gal. 3. 26 , 27. he saith , for ye are all the children of god by faith in christ jesus . for as many of you as have been baptized into christ , have put on christ : which words import not only our owning and acknowledging him as the saviour of the world , who alone is able to wash and cleanse us with his blood , but also our professing our resolution to live holy lives , to walk in newness of life according to his example ; in token of which in the ancient church , they who were baptized , were presently cloathed with white rayment , to testify their resolution to live in holiness , and to put off the old man , that is , all their former wicked deeds and customs , and filthy practices . likewise , rom. 6. 3 , and 4. it is thus written , know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into jesus christ , were baptized into his death ? therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death , that like as christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the father ; even so we also should walk in newness of life . these words import not only our belief of a crucified saviour , who dyed and was buried for sin , to save us from it ; but also our repentance , whereby we renounce sin , as dead and buried to it for the time to come . the general design of this sacrament , being sufficiently plain and clear from these and other scriptures ; it is to little purpose , ( and oftentimes it proves to very ill purpose ) to enquire any further as to particulars ; for by so doing , a great many persons judging of divine things by their own weak and foolish apprehensions , have reasoned themselves ( if i may so speak ) both out of their reason and religion . as to the right of children to baptism , it will appear , if you consider , that the covenant blessing of god's being the god of abraham and of his seed , gen. 17. 7. is not only continued , to those of the jewish nation who are converted to christianity , ( for if the first fruit be holy , the lump is holy ; and if the root be holy , so are the branches , rom. 11. 16. ) but is likewise extended to the gentiles , who by faith in christ are made one body with the jews , and so have a right to the blessings promised to abraham and to his children rom. 4. 9 , 10 , 11 , 12. cometh this blessedness upon the circumcision onely , or upon the uncircumcision also ? for we say , that faith was reckoned to abraham for righteousness . how was it then reckoned ? when he was in circumcision , or in uncircumcision ? not in circumcision , but in uncircumcision ? and he received the sign of circumcision , a seal of the righteousness of the faith , which he had yet being uncircumcised : that he might be the father of them that believe , tho they be not circumcised , that righteousness might be imputed unto them also : and the father of circumcision , to them who are not of the circumcision only , but also walk in the steps of that faith of our father abraham , which he had being yet uncircumcised . from which words it appears , that all who believe , not only jews or persons circumcised , but gentiles also , or persons uncircumcised , are accounted the children of abraham , and capable to partake of that happiness and salvation , which was promised to him as the father of the faithful . to the same purpose saith the apostle , writing to the galatians , chap. 3. 9. they which be of faith , are blessed with faithful abraham . and v. 29. if ye be christ's , then are ye abraham 's seed , and heirs according to the promise . again , 1 cor. 7. 14. he saith , the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife , and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband : else were your children unclean , but now are they holy. which intimates , that the children of all believers , whether they be jews or gentiles , are within god's covenant , and have a right to those favours and priviledges which he hath annexed thereto . likewise , acts 2. 39. 't is said , the promise is unto you , and to your children , and to all that are afar off , even as many as the lord our god shall call . so that , all who are called by the preaching of the gospel , and do believe in the lord jesus , are both themselves and their children within the covenant of grace . if it were not so , then the blessing of abraham , were not come on the gentiles , through jesus christ , as it affirmed , gal. 3. 14. for how could the same blessing be come on the gentiles ; if their children were not comprehended within the covenant of grace , which was a part of the blessing of abraham ? and how could christians be heirs according to the promise , if their children have no right to it , as abraham's children had ? or can it be imagined , that the condition of believers under the gospel , is worse than the condition of those who believed under the law ? are god's mercies and favours to mankind impaired , by christ's coming into the world ? has the great lover of souls , the redeemer of the world , been the occasion of our loseing great and considerable priviledges , by his tabernacling amongst us ? and yet all this must needs follow , if now under the gospel the children of believers are excluded from the covenant of grace , which they were admitted to under the law ; which is very inconsistent with the divine goodness , and contrary to the love of our lord jesus , which he manifested in his blessed gospel ; where we find , he commanded the children to be brought unto him , and blamed those who would have kept them from him ; he took them into his arms , laid his hands upon them , and blessed them , and declared that he accounted them heirs of the kingdom of heaven . mat. 19. 13 , 14 , 15. and mark 10. 13 , 14 , 15. 16. from all which , both words and deeds of our saviour , we may see very plainly , he was far from hindering their being admitted members of his church and kingdom . the right of infants to baptism will further appear , if you consider more particularly the institution of baptism . the jews were wont to admit into their church , not only aged persons who were converted to paganism , but likewise their children , which they did by circumcision , sacrifice , and baptism . our saviour being to determine the manner of admitting disciples and proselytes into his church that he might make his yoke : easie to those who would come after him , laid aside circumcision , ( which was a painful rite ) and sacrifices , ( which were very costly ) and only retained baptism , to be the sacrament of initiation or admission of disciples into his church . go ye , said he to his apostles , mat. 28. 19. and teach ( or , as the words may be translated , disciple or make disciples of ) all nations , baptizing them in the name of the father , and of the son , and of the holy ghost . now , this command being given to men , who knew that the infants of those who were converted , were admitted into the jewish church , as well as the parents themselves , is there the least ground to imagine any other , but that our saviour's design was , that the children of believers should still be admitted into his church , as well as formerly into the jewish ? and no doubt , if he had thought fit to discontinue the jewish practice , he would have expresly signified his mind about it , to prevent an otherwise unavoidable mistake . to all which might be added , that the catholick or universal church , not only at this day , but in former ages , has observed this custom , of baptizing the children of christian parents . now , if children have so good a right to baptism , what shall be said of those parents , who ●light and neglect it , and so deprive their poor children of that which god , their heavenly father , hath ordained for so great and excellent purposes ? we see how careful parents are , if their children have a title to houses and lands , or other temporal things , to use their utmost endeavours , to make their title as sure unto them as is possible . and yet how sad is it to think , that they are not at all careful , to have their children baptized , tho' god has appointed this sacrament , to be the seal of his covenant , and an evidence of that right which believers and their children have to the kingdom of heaven . 2. duty , to feason their minds betimes with good impressions . secondly , when children begin to speak and to discover some dawnings of reason , it is fit to season their minds with some good thoughts , with some divine impressions , that religion betimes may catch hold of their tender and innocent minds , before they are corrupted and defiled with bad principles , and vain and unreasonable opinions , which they are apt to learn too soon from evil company . teach them who made them ; who dyed for them ; for what end they were made ; whither good children go when they dye , and whither naughty children go ; what a place heaven is , and hell , &c. amongst other things , 't will be very useful to tell children , some of the most remarkable histories in scripture , as so many arguments and motives to excite them to be good children , and to avoid all wicked and naughty courses : for example , tell them the story of the deluge , how god punished the old world , because they were wicked , but saved noah . thereby take occasion , to shew them the danger of being wicked ; that sinning with company , will not preserve from punishment ; what a happy thing it is to be good ; and how kind the lord is to such who keep his commandments , as noah did . to this purpose tell them also the story of sodom and gomorrah , &c. how those cities were consumed by fire from heaven , for their great wickedness ; and how lot was preserved from that dreadful destruction . tell them the history of david and goliah , that they may learn not to be proud of their strength , but may put their trust in god , who is able to save them from their mightiest enemies . tell them the story of the naughty children at bethel , how they mocked the old prophet elijah , and how 42 of them were torn in pieces by two bears . by this example shew them , what a dangerous thing it is to be in the company of naughty children ; and what an evil thing it is to be mockers and scorners , especially of holy men , of aged persons , or of god's ministers . tell them what happened to ananias and saphira for their lying ; that they may be afraid to lye . tell them how daniel was preserved , when he was cast into the den of lions : and how the three children were preserved in the fiery furnace . that thereby they may learn , never to be afraid to do the will of god , tho' by doing it they should be exposed to never so great dangers . tell them how daniel , hananiah , mishacl and azariah chose to eat pulse only , and to drink water , and yet , by the blessing of god on their plain diet , their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh , than all the children that did ●at the portion of the king's meat . that thereby they may learn to be well pleased with the most plain and ordinary fare , and may consider that the blessing of god is able to make the coursest diet very sweet , refreshing and nourishing , even beyond the greatest delicacies . in this manner 't is sit to entertain your children sometimes , according to their age and capacity , with such scripture histories , as tend to make the most lively impressions upon them . in teaching children such matters , it is necessary to condescend to their weak capacity , to speak to them softly and gently , and in a plain and intellgible manner . it is not fit to talk with them of such things at all times , nor yet to say too much to them at any one time : such instructions are to be dropt into their minds leisurely and by degrees , so as not to oppress them , but to recreate them ; not to be a burden to them , but a pleasure . it cannot be expressed how great advantages attend such early instructions ; these are the seeds of virtue , which take root infensibly , and spring up sometimes very unexpectedly ; the impressions which they make continue a great while , as earthen vessels retain the favour of that liquor which was first put into them a long time after : so powerful are these f●r●t instructions , that they are able to conq●●r even nature it self . † the famous lycurgus made this appear , by bringing into the market-place two dogs of one litter , and presenting before them a pot of pottage and a hare ; one of them ( which was trained up in hunting ) run after the hare ; and the other ( which was brought up in the house ) sell to the pottage . what a wonderful power may we daily observe in those early impressions which are made on mens minds ? thereby in comes to pass , that the most abs●●d and extravagant opinions , which have been suck'd in , when one was young , can hardly be removed by the clearest and strongest reasonings . 3. duty , to teach them to pray . thirdly , teach them , so soon as may be , to pray to god morning and evening ; to say after you , or others whom you appoint for that purpose , two or three short petitions , which are easie to be understood ; and as their understanding and capacity increaseth , teach them the lord's prayer ; and after that some larger form of prayer , which they may say after you , till they can read it themselves , or get it by heart . you are to have a special care , that they perform their devotions in as grave and serious a manner as their years can admit : you are to keep them from all sorts of indecent actions and postures , when they say their prayers : for this end , you are to teach them who it is they speak to when they pray , and what those things mean , which the pray for . chuse the sittest times for them , wherein to say their prayers : as in the morning , when-ever they arise ; while their spirits are most vigorous , and their thoughts most free . at night let them say their prayers rather before supper than after ; because after supper , they are more apt to be very dull and sleepy , and thereby less fit for such a performance . god is not to be served with the refuse of our thoughts , and with sluggish sleepy desires ; but with our best and most lively affections , and with the strength and fervour of our desires . you are to prevent their omitting their prayers at any one time ; because doing so once or twice , they are apt to neglect them wholly , or to return to them with great aversness : whereas custom and constancy in performing their devotions , will make them much more easie and pleasant to them . when they are possessed with more perfect and solid thoughts about religion , with stronger and more lively impressions of divine things , and are able without great difficulty to express the sense of their souls ; they may do what they find serves best the great purposes of devotion : if praying without restraining themselves to any particular form of words , contribute more to their fervency and elevation of mind in prayer , let them pray without using a form : but , if they find that their minds are more stayed and fixed , and their fervency and devotion greater in the use of a form than without it , let them do that which they find best . when they pray for outward and temporal things , teach them to do it with an entire submission to the will of god , who hath promised perishing things conditionally , that is , so far as he sees the bestowing of them will be for his glory , and the good of his children : therefore they must not be peremptory , vehement , and importunate in their desires and prayers for such things , but ought to pray for them with great humility and resignation to the divine will. as for spiritual blessings , to wit , the pardon of sin , the direction and assistance of the spirit of god , his grace to help them in time of need , power and strength to fight against the devil , the world , and the flesh , &c. these things are to be prayed for with all the importunity and earnestness that is possible . the more vehement and fervent their desires and prayers are for such things , the more acceptable are they to god , and the more likely to obtain from him the desires of their souls ; for he hath promised , to satisfie the longing soul with good things . as it is the duty of parents to teach their children to pray morning and evening , so they ought to teach them , always to bless god before and after meals . you ought at first , when they begin to speak , to cause them to say after you , or after those who attend them , two or three words , before and after meat . and when they come to greater capacity , teach them a larger form. this will , in due time , be a means to excite in their minds a sense of the power and goodness of god , of their dependance upon him for all needful things , both for soul and body , and of their own weakness and indigence . 4. duty , to observe carefully their temper and disposition , and to endeavour to reform what is amiss therein . fourthly , observe carefully their temper and disposition , what vices they are most inclined to ; if they are sturdy and proud , peevish and passionate , malicious and revengeful , false and deceitful , rash and unadvised , &c. endeavour , all you can , to reform them , and to bend their minds the right way . for example , if they are sturdy and proud , strive to humble them , to break them , to tame their proud spirits ; accustom them to the doing acts of humility ; do not gratifie them in those things which are apt to make them proud ; cause them to yield and submit to your will , or to the will of others whom you think fit they should obey . accustom them , now and then , to a refusal of what they would have , especially when you see them too eager to have it . this you may do in small matters , which they may be without very safely : by which means you will prepare them to bear with a refusal in things of greater moment , ( which are either inconvenient for them to have , or for you to give ) and to be willing to have them , or want them , as you shall think fit . if once this foundation is laid , it will make the rest of your work a great deal more easie , in the education of your children . if you once take their will from them , you may then do with them what you please . but if , instead of this , you gratifie them in whatever they have a mind to , and suffer them to live according to their own will and humour , whether it be right or wrong , you may then expect , that when they are grown up , they will improve to their own hurt and your grief , the excessive liberty they had when they were young . as then you left them to do their own will , so now they will do it , whether you will or not . if they be given to lying , shew them the evil of it , that a lying tongue is an abomination to the lord , prov. 6. 16 , 17. and ch. 12. 22. that the devil is the father of lyars ; and that they are in the number of those that are shut out of the new jerusalem , and have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone , rev. 21. 8. and 22. 15. shew them how great hurt it will do them , and what shame it will bring upon them ; that if they be found lyars , people will not believe them , even when they speak truth . encourage them to confess their faults , if they have done any thing amiss ; be apt to pardon them when they confess , and tell the truth ; and commend them for doing so : but if you find them in a lye , be sure to chastise them for it , especially if they have done it oftner than once . nothing tends more to the spoiling of children , than their getting into such a habit : this is a vice that grows up apace , if not timely cured by good education ; thereby they learn to grow so false and disingenuous , that they are not fit to be trusted or employed . if you observe them to be cunning , and full of little arts and wiles , to deceive those who are simple and good natur'd ; strive to temper this wisdom of the serpent , with the harmlesness and innocence of the dove . teach them to use their wisdom , in doing their duty as well as they can ; in carrying on such good and useful designs , as are suitable to their age ; and in taking heed lest others deceive them . endeavour to make them understand , that golden rule , which our saviour gives us , mat. 7. 12. all things whatsoever you would that men should do to you , do ye even so to them . shew them , that , at last , honesty will be found to be the best policy . that they that walk uprightly , walk surely . prov. 10. 9. that god will be a buckler to them that walk uprightly , ( prov. 2. 7. ) that is , he will protect such persons , and save them from mischief and destruction . endeavour , all that is possible , to make them lovers of sincerity and of godly simplicity ; and strive to possess them with a just abhorrence of any thing that looks like cheating and deceiving . if they are of a peevish and passionate temper , easily put out of humour with every little thing , and apt to fly out into passion for a small matter ; endeavour to make them of a calm and mild temper , meek and gentle , and of a well governed and composed spirit . teach them to bridle their passion , to restrain the inward boyling of their anger , and not to suffer it to break forth into indecent words and actions . shew them , what an excellent thing it is , for one to rule his spirit , which , solomon says , is better than to take a city , prov. 16. 32. shew them , what sad consequences attend an unruly passion ; and what mad and foolish things some have done , when they were angry . 't will not be amiss , to take occasion to shew them , how one looks , and what he does , when he is transported by his passion ; and endeavour thereby , to possess them with a great abhorrence of this vice , which renders those who are guilty of it , such sad and deformed spectacles . often suggest to them the example of our blessed master ; who , when he was reviled , reviled not again ; who , endured the contradiction of sinners against himself ; and who commanded us , to learn of him , who was meek and lowly , mat. 11. 29. if you perceive them to be naturally very revengeful and malicious , ready to do all manner of mischief to those , who have cross'd them or vex'd them in any thing ; endeavour all that you can , to deliver them from so woful and unhappy a temper ; and to make them love those , who have done or said somewhat that was uneasie to them , and to embrace all occasions of doing them kind offices , that so they may learn to overcome evil with good . do not encourage them to say ill of those , who have said ill of them ; for this were to feed and cherrish their revengeful humour . shew them the example of our blessed saviour , who loved his enemies , yea died for them ; and requires of all his followers , to love their enemies . shew them , what a noble victory it is over an enemy , to overcome him with the weapons of kindness , by doing him good offices ; and what happy effects attend this christian temper . acquaint them likewise , with the many sad consequences of revenge , whereby such persons who give way thereto , seldom fail to bring upon themselves , if not their whole family , utter ruin and destruction . parents ought so much the more , to strive to beget a mighty sense of this duty upon their childrens minds , because it seems , most of all other thing to be neglected by the generality 〈◊〉 christians . if you find your ch●●dren apt to be very jealo●● and suspicious , endeavo● to free them from so bad temper , which will lay the foundatio● of perpetual uneasiness and disquiet , 〈◊〉 it be not speedily cured . strive 〈◊〉 make them think favourably , and 〈◊〉 hope and believe the best of ever●●body . shew them , how much bett● it is , to be mistaken often in their f●●vourable construction , than to jud● amiss of any body , tho' but once ; th● this is a sin , which the other is not . but tho' parents oug● thus , to endeavour to fr● their children from th● jealous and uncharitable temper , y● care must be taken , that they be n● too credulous , apt to believe whateve● is spoken , without any regard to th● authority and credibility , the trut● and sincerity of the speaker : for , 〈◊〉 being of such a temper as this , th● are in danger perpetually of being imposed upon , and betrayed to a gre● many inconveniences , both in the● words and actions : any body who has but wit enough , to find out their temper , may very easily make a prey of them , and by false relations , and cunning insinuations , may occasion their saying and doing a great many things , very hurtful to themselves or others , or at least very silly and impertinent , which will expose them to a great deal of contempt and scorn . parents therefore , ought to look upon it as a matter of no small importance , to preserve their children from being too credulous ; they ought to teach them to enquire into the truth of what is spoken , and to consider who the person is that speaketh . for if it be manifest , that he who speaketh , is ordinarily given to lying , and that he makes no conscience of his words ; it is so far from being a fault , not to believe him ; that , on the contrary , 't is a piece of very great silliness , to make any account of what he says , until it be confirmed by persons of known truth , and of unquestioned integrity . if they are of an envious temper , and cannot endure that others be loved as well as they , or that others should have better and fine things than they , or ev'n as good : endeavour to cure them of this distemper , by all such arguments and methods , as their years are capable of shew them how great mischief thei● envy does them ; how it robs them o● the happiness and comfort of their lives , and eats out all that sweetness and pleasure they might otherwise ta●● in what they enjoy . shew them , what a foolish thing their envy is ; it cannot affect or hurt others , it only hurt● themselves , which it does with a witness ; for , as solomon says , prov. 14. 30. envy is the rottenness of the bones ; that is , it wasts and consumes to the very bones , those who entertain so unlucky a guest ; it makes their life most miserable . if you perceive them to be very impatient , when they have not presently what they desire , or when any uneasie thing happeneth unto them ; for example , when their head akes a little , or when any other part of their body is affected , more or less , with somewhat that is painful and smarting , &c. endeavour to make them of a patient spirit ; teach them to bear their burthen without much complaining or making an indecent noise . make them sensible , that all those things , which are so painful and afflictive to them , are order'd by the wise and just providence of god , to try them , to humble them , to raise their hearts to heaven , to purifie them from their dross , to prepare them for greater sufferings , to stir them up to call upon him , and to learn to depend upon him , and to resign themselves entirely to his holy will and pleasure . shew them , that whatever they suffer , is far less than they deserve ; that a great many excellent and holy persons , have endured much more severe things without complaining or murmuring ; yea , that ev'n some heathens have , with great firmness and constancy of mind , endured a great deal of pain and torture . above all , suggest unto them , what our blessed lord and master suffered , in his soul , and in his body ; and how , for our sakes , he endured all with wonderful patience , and with an entire submission to the will of his father ; how , he was led as a sheep to the slaughter ; how , he was oppressed and afflicted , and yet opened not his mouth . shew the● , how it becometh them , who by profession are christ's followers , to run with patience the race set before them , looking unto jesus . encourage them also , with the hopes of an exceeding and eternal weight of glory , which attends those who endure these ligh● afflictions which last but for a moment . if you see that they love their belly too well , and are apt to eat and drink more than is meet , and that they are too desirous of such food as is most costly and chargeable ; endeavour to restrain their gluttonous appetite , and to keep them within the bounds of moderation and sobriety ; * teach them , to be well pleased with plain and ordinary fare ; to consider , that any thing , tho' never so course , is better than they deserve ; that a great many excellent persons have been reduced to such straits , as to think it a feast , to have enough of bread and water . tell them , how meanly a great many people , both young and old , live at this very instant ; and therefore , that they ought to be content with such food as is provided for them , to use it soberly , and to be heartily thankful to god , from whom they have meat and drink , and all other things , which are for the comfort and conveniency of their lives . if you observe in them any thing that looks like a tendency to an unchaste behaviour , delay not to admonish them ; shew them the evil of such things , and the dreadful consequences thereof , both to soul and body . endeavour to prevent their falling into so horrible a pit , out of which very few escape , who have once fal'n thereinto ; and of which , the wiseman says , prov. 22. 14. he that is abhorred of the lord , shall fall therein ; and again , ch . 2. 18 , 19. speaking of the adulteress or whore , he saith ; her house inclineth unto death , and her paths unto the dead ; none that go unto her return again , neither take they hold of the paths of life . shew them , into how great shame and disgrace , and into how much misery , such persons ordinarily bring themselves . sugge● to them , how many other sins attend this vice , as its inseparable companions ; whereby the soul is so deeply corrupted , as to lose all sense of any thing that is truly excellent , and worthy of a rational creature . strive to make them sensible , of the miserable bondage of those , who are under the power and tyranny of their unruly lusts and appetites , who are enslaved to the pleasures of the flesh. endeavour to make them tast of those solid and manly delights , which are only to be found in the ways of true vertue and unfeigned piety , which are infinitely more pure and lasting , than those brutish pleasures which sensualists pursue and do what in you lies to preserve them from seeing and hearing any thing that is unchaste and impure , * or has the appearance of it . if you find that at any time they curse and swear , and take the name of god in vain , endeavour to rescue them from so horrid and dangerous a sin. shew them , that they who practise this vice , have no profit nor pleasure to tempt them thereto ; that they sell their souls to the devil for nothing ; and that they are so far from having any real gain thereby , that they must needs , at some time or other , find no small inconvenience by it , as to their temporal concerns ; for they that are wise , and have any sence of religion , cannot chuse but avoid having much dealings with them , whom they see to be utterly void of the fear of god * shew them what a great dishonour 't is to god , their great lord and master , their creator and preserver , for poor worms thus to dare to rend and tear , as it were , his most sacred and blessed name ; and how much he is provoked thereby , to inflict his most heavy and severe judgments upon such bold sinners , he will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain . ex. 20. 7. that is , tho' men pass by such offenders , and do not punish them , yet god will look after them , he will call them to an account , and be avenged upon them ; he will not fail to punish them . this is reckoned up , hos. 4. 1 , 2 , 3. as one of the crying sins , for which god had a controversie with the israelites , and for which he threatened that their land should mourn , and that every one that dwelt therein should languish , &c. if they are of a very unconstant and unsetled temper , so that they can never fix at any thing , nor continue in their purpose and resolution ; strive to fix them and to render them of a more staid and setled mind . if what they have resolved or ▪ begun to do , be not contrary to the laws of god and men , nor any way ▪ prejudicial to themselves or others ; it is very adviseable for you , now and then , to keep them close to their resolution or undertaking . though the thing be not worth a rush in it self , which they purpose or undertake , yet their being accustomed to do what they have once resolved , disposeth them to be constant and firm in more useful and excellent purposes ▪ and designs ; and besides , it makes the performance of any thing a great deal more easie , when the spirits can fix at it , until it be accomplished . whereas , if way be given to a fickle and changeable humour , it gets strength daily , and at last grows so very powerful and tyrannical , that they who are under its unhappy influence , are like a feather driven to and fro with the wind ; they are never able to settle to any thing , tho' never so necessary and important , and so , very ordinarily , prove good for nothing . if you perceive them to be surly , of a rough and morose , an uncivil and disobling carriage : strive to cure them of such an unhappy temper . teach them to be courteous and affable , civil and obliging to every body , and carefully to avoid whatever looks like neglect and contempt . shew them how useful and serviceable , or how hurtful and dangerous , the meanest person may be to them , at some time or other . * tell them the fable of the lion and the mouse , how , when the mouse troubled the sleeping lion , and disturbed him , the lion was ready in great wrath to have torn it in pieces ; but the mouse begged of him to spare him , for he was but a poor mouse , not worthy of his wrath , and might live to do him some service . the lion was prevailed with to let him go : afterwards it happened , that the lion was intangled in a net , out of which , as great and mighty as he was , he could not deliver himself . but the mouse , remembring the lion's generosity , ate a●under the net , and so set him at liberty . hence you may infer to them , how fit and advantageous it is , by a courteous and civil behaviour , to oblige the poorest and most inconsiderable person , who once in seven years , may be able to do them , either a very great kindness , or a great deal of mischief . as you ought to take care , that your children be very civil and courteous to all , so in a more especial manner to aged persons , whom god has commanded to be honoured and respected , levit. 19. 32. thou shalt rise up before the hoary head , and honour the face of the old man. parents ought to consider , that they may live till they be old , if they be not so already ; and therefore they ought to teach their children to honour aged persons , lest by permitting them to carry themselves disrespectfully and insolently towards them , they themselves should meet with neglect and contempt from them ; which falls out but too often . how worthy of praise were the noble spartans , who honoured all aged persons very much ? * one of them being asked , why their young people rose up to the aged , gave this answer ; that , by being accustomed thus to honour others , they might so much the more honour their own parents . and here i cannot but mention another very notable instance , concerning these spartans ; which is this . * when an old man came to see the olympick games , he went about to look for a seat ; but the graecians neglected and mocked him , till at last coming where the spartans fate , all the children rose up to him , and several more aged persons gave place to him . when the rest of the graecians , ( who had been themselves disrespectful towards him ) applauded the custom of the spartans , and highly commended them for it ; the old man stroking down his beard , said , alas ! what a sad thing is this ? all the graecians know what is good and honourable , but the spartans only practise it . if you observe your children , to be very apt to quarrel and contend with one another , and to fall by the ears together ; be careful to remove their debates , and to make them love one another . by no means wink at their contentions , especially if they be grown up a little . when such relations are at variance together , they are of all others the most violent in their hatred against one another . witness the rage and fury of cain against abel , of esau against jacob , of joseph's brethren against him . a brother offended , saith solomon , prov. 18. 19. is harder to be won than a strong city , and their contentions are like the bars of a castle . the learned philosopher and historian plutarch , * reckons it among the things which are next to impossible , for brethren once at variance , to be afterwards throughly reconciled to one another . as one member of the body , torn or cut off from the other , can hardly be glued and joyned together again ; so , says he , when brethren have once fallen from their natural affection , and are possessed with bitterness and wrath against one another , they seldom unite closely any more ; their reconciliation is ordinarily but skinned over ; whereas , there still remains under the appearance of friendship , a grievous sore ready to break out . how much is it therefore your duty , to prevent all manner of strife and division among your children , and if debates arise among them , to do your utmost to remove them . teach them to yield and to condescend to one another , to take pleasure in gratifying , rather than in overcoming one another , to rejoice in the company of one another , to be mightily concerned for one another's happiness and welfare , to be upon all occasions ready to help and assist one another , to sympathize very tenderly with one another , in any pain , grief , or loss ; and in a loving and friendly manner , to tell one another of their faults , without publishing of them . do not encourage them to speak ill of one another , and to report every little thing , whereby they think to lessen one another in your esteem and affection . such things use to be the seeds of discord and contention amongst children , and therefore wise parents ought to prevent them , as much as may be . if you find them over curious to know what may be their lot and fortune , as 't is called , in the world , and therefore apt to hearken to gypsies and fortune-tellers , to consult with divinatory books , and to use such other wicked , tho' but too common arts , for gratifying their curiosity ; do what in your lyes , to deliver them from such dangerous and unlawful practices . shew them what is written , levit. 20. 6. the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits , and after wizards , to go a whoring after them , i will even set my fave against that soul , and will ●ut him off from among his people . and isa. 8. 19. when they shall say unto you , seek unto them that have familiar spirits , and unto wizards that peep and that mutter : should not a people seek unto their god ? likewise , deut. 18. 10 , 11. there shall not be found among you any one that useth divination a , or an observer of times b , or an inchanter , or a witch , or a charmer , or a consulter with familiar spirits c , or a wizard , or a necromancer d . for all that do these things are an abomination unto the lord. shew them , that they who follow such courses , do thereby provoke god to leave them , and to deliver them over to the wicked one , that he may bring upon them those calamities and judgments which they deserve , and which perhaps they were told should happen to them : not , as if those pretenders to prophecy did infallibl● know what would come to pass , which most certainly they do not ; but god in his righteous judgment , doth often punish with some remarkable stroke , such curious persons , who presume to enquire into those things which he has thought fit to conceal from them : 't is said of saul , 1 chron. 10. 13 , 14. that , he died for his transgression , and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit , to enquire of it , and enquired not of the lord : therefore he slew him . and tho' they who have been guilty of such impious enquiries , shall be delivered from eternal condemnation , and possibly from some great punishments in this life , if they sincerely repent of their sin , and folly ; yet oftentimes , they suffer not a little from the impressions which are made on their fancy , by their having heard that some tragical thing or other should befall them . how many , even good people , having found unspeakable uneasiness , almost all their life time , only by having heard it said , without their own asking , by such impious pretenders to divination , that thus or thus it should happen to them : tho' they abhorred and despised such things , and did what they could to be delivered from having any reflections upon them , yet now and then , of a sudden , their fancy has been struck therewith , which did not a little disquiet and disturb them . from all which , it appears , how necessary it is for parents , to prevent their childrens doing such things . shew them , that their only safe way , is , to be always careful to do what is good and right , to make the laws of god their rule , to seek his glory as their chief end , to depend on him for direction and assistance , never to be anxious about what is to come , but to leave all events to his wise and good providence ; humbly to resign themselves to his holy will and pleasure , and to be always ready to be disposed of as he shall see fit . tell them , ( which you may do with great assurance ) that if they do these things , they may be confident , that all shall be well ; for god will not fail , according to his promise , to make all things , even the greatest afflictions , work together for good to them that love him . rom. 8. 28. if you perceive them to be unthankful for favours and benefits , so as not to take notice of those who help and assist them , and who have done them , or are always ready to do them good offices ; endeavour to cure them of this very ill quality . cause them to thank those who are kind and serviceable to them ; strive to make them retain a lasting sense of kindnesses , and to be ready when there is an opportunity , to make some fit acknowledgment and return : for which end , 't will be convenient now and then , to give them some small matter , according to your quality , for a present to those who have been at some pains to serve them , or who have been very bountiful or generous to them . and when they make an acknowledgment for favors received , advise them to do it with a chearful countenance , so as to express thereby the inward sense of their minds , that they , to whom they make the return of kindness , may see how hearty and real they are , that they do it , not grudgingly , but very willingly . there is the greater need , to instil into your childrens minds , principles of gratitude , because 't is so very common amongst men to be unthankful . for , what is there more common , than to see those neglected and slighted , who have been very kind and serviceable ? how many root up those , by whom themselves have been planted ? how many basely betray their truest friends and greatest benefactors ? how many think it a disparagement , to be so much as thought to be beholden to others , tho' their obligations be very great ? now , what can there be more base and abominable , than such a temper as this ? what villany and wickedness seem they not likely to commit , who have no sense of benefits ? the apostle paul reckoneth unthankfulness amongst the great sins , which make the last days perilous and difficult . 2 tim. 3. 2. to excite your children to be thankful ; shew them , how great an abhorrence the very heathens had of ingratitude ; they thought it one of the worst things you could say of them , to call them unthankful * ; they reckoned that this name , included all the bad things that could be imagined ; that unthankfulness was the fountain , from whence the greatest vices did spring . see sen. de benef. l. 1. c. 10. 't was a very excellent and commendable custom amongst the persians * , , that they who were over their children , amongst other things , taught them gratitude ; so that if any of the boys was able to make a grateful return , but did it not , they punished him severely ; for they judged , that they who were unthankful , would also neglect their duty to god , to their parents , their country , and friends . amongst other things to be suggested to your children , to stir them up to be thankful , you may represent to them , what a shame it is for them to be unthankful , when the very beasts , both tame ( as may be seen every day ) and wild , ( as several authors * tell us ) do things which look like a grateful acknowledgment to their benefactors . if you find them to be of too prodigal a temper , apt to be too profuse in their expences ; ready to throw away their money upon trifles , and when there is no reasonable occasion for it ; you ought by all prudent and proper methods to endeavour to make them a little more discreet and careful ; that they waste nothing in vain , that may be of use to poor people ; that they do not throw away that which may do good at some time or other . suggest often to them , that we are stewards of whatever god bestows upon us , that he will call us to an account ; and that therefore we ought to employ to good purpose all those good things he gives us . shew them what our saviour said to his disciples , after he had fed five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes , joh. 6. 12. when they were filled , he said unto his disciples , gather up the fragments that remain , that nothing be lost . he would not have any thing lost , 〈◊〉 thrown away unnecessarily , whi● might be useful afterwards to one 〈◊〉 other . if you find them of a covetous temper ; endeavou● to enlarge their thoughts b● the principles of christian charity shew them what an excellent thi● it is to do good ; to shew mercy an● kindness ; to make peoples hearts glad● accustom them to the doing such kin● and charitable offices ; for which en● give them now and then money , an● other things , to bestow on those wh● are poor and needy . shew them th● evil of covetousness ; that it 's the ro● of all evil , * that it take● the heart off from god , an● rendereth it unfit for th● consideration of divin● things , and for all worthy and useful designs ; that it disposeth● man for the basest and vilest action● and undertakings , as it did judas to betray his lord ; that it bereaves him of true repose and satisfaction of mind , and pierceth him through with many sorrows . 1 tim. 6. 9. 10. if you perceive them to be naturally melancholy , and fearful of every little thing , endeavour to chear up their spirits : suggest to them such considerations , and possess them with such maxims and principles , as tend to fortifie their minds against those things which are apt to make them uneasie , and are the occasion of their fear . if their distemper proceed from some bodily indisposition , as oft-times it does , use such helps as are necessary : when such evil habits of body are once rooted and strongly fixed , and when the blood and spirits are deeply infected therewith , they are a very grievous clog to the soul , and a great hindrance to that chearfulness and liberty of spirit , wherewith people ought always to endeavour to serve god. if you see them to be of too gay and airy a temper , so that they cannot fix and be stayed at any time ; you are to use a great deal of prudence and discretion to compose and settle their spirits ; see that they use their wit and fancy without giving offence , and that they hurt no body by indecent reflections : let them by no means take liberty to indulge their humour in jesting about things that are sacred , or that have any relation thereto . but you are to take heed lest your endeavouring to cure one fault , occasion another ; lest your striving to deliver them from one extream , drive them to the contrary ; that is , lest instead of their being too gay , you make them melancholy and dull : their wit and spirit is not to be rooted out , but reformed and rightly managed ; for this may be of use , for seasoning and sweetning conversation . if you observe them to be rash and forward , ready to speak and act without due consideration ; strive to make them more cautious and circumspect ; to reflect and think a little more , on what they say and do ; lest otherwise , they fall into a habit of speaking and acting impertinently and indiscreetly . when they say or do a foolish thing , for lack of consideration , then take occasion to make them sensible what a shame it is for them to do so ; what a reproach to those who are reasonable creatures , to speak and act like fools without reason and understanding : shew them some of the bad consequences which attend speaking and acting in this manner . particularly , that such persons not only expose themselves to contempt and scorn , but likewise to a great deal of danger and trouble . tell them , how a great many , by their rash and unadvised , though not ill intended , speeches and actions , have not only highly exasperated their enemies , but also provoked their friends , and forfeited their kindness , which thereby has been changed sometimes into the utmost indignation and hatred . shew them , how some , by this means , have lost their estate , their honour , and life it self : and not only have ruined themselves by their rashness and folly , but likewise a great many of their best friends and dearest relations . a due sense of these things ought to excite all parents to do what they can , to render their children very considerate and wary in whatever they say or do . and because , for lack of knowledge and experience , they are in hazard to fall into many miscarriages , and to commit great absurdities , if they govern themselves wholly by their own fancy and apprehension , or by their inclinations and desires , therefore direct them to ask you , or to ask others , whom you recommend to them , whether it be fit for them to do this or that , which they have a mind to do . it will be of unspeakable advantage to them all their life long , to learn this piece of wisdom betimes , to wit , to be jealous , and not too confident of their own apprehensions and opinions , and to have a great regard for the judgment and opinion of others . solomon makes this a distinguishing mark betwixt a wise man and a fool , that the way of a fool is right in his own eyes , ( and therefore he scorns to ask the opinion , or to follow the advice of others ; ) but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise . prov. 12. 15. thus you are to make it your business to watch over your children , and to consider what are their defects and faults , and to do all that you can to cure them thereof , and to direct them in the ways of wisdom and virtue . you are careful to pluck up the weeds in your gardens , while they are yet young , and not deeply rooted , lest otherwise the good seeds should be choak'd up with them . how much more careful ought you to be , lest the souls of your children should be over-run with vicious qualities ? if your childrens limbs are crooked and very deform'd , you are at great pains and sometimes at no small charge likewise , so long as there is hopes of success , to make them straight and comly . ought you not to be at as much pains at least for their souls ? ought you not to do what in you lies , to shape and frame them to virtue and piety , that they may become amiable and acceptable in the sight of god ? 5. duty , to see that they be taught to read. fifthly , when once they are of an age fit for it , see that they be taught to read . and if you have not leisure , or perhaps have not skill to teach them your selves , you must be careful to make choice of a skilful and discreet person to do it ; who by his teaching and example , may train them up both in knowledge and virtue ; who may not only tea● them to know the letters , to spel● exactly , to read distinctly , to write well , &c. but also to know themselves to remember their creator in the days 〈◊〉 their youth , to hate every evil way , and to take delight in the ways of god's holy commandments . if a careful choice be made of a wise and faithful● school-master for your children , i● will render your work so much the mor● easie . having sent your children to school , you must keep them there , and not by your too great fondness make them long to be at home , and grow weary and uneasie at school . a great many indiscreet parents ruin their children by immoderate kindness ; they cannot endure that they should be out of their sight one day . they are afraid , lest they that teach them should correct them , and therefore they give them a strict charge not to do it ; and if they do it never so gently and discreetly , without more ado they remove their children from them , and discharge their passion against them as the greatest tyrants in the world. 't is true , some , who have the charge of children , are very indiscreet in correcting them , they pass beyond all bounds of moderation ; and by their tyrannical carriage towards them , they do them a world of mischief in many respects . as for such school-masters , parents ought , if it be possible , to avoid sending of their children unto them . but when once they have made choice of those , who are not only pious , but wise and discreet persons , who are skilful in the way of teaching , and are of a calm and mild spirit ; they ought to be so far from restraining them , that they should rather encourage them to correct them whenever there is any necessity for it . and if , at any time , their children complain to them of their having been corrected , they ought to let them know , that they are very well pleased that they have been corrected for their faults , and that they will thank their school-master for having done so . unless such a power as this be given to those who teach children , there is no great probability of their doing much good to th● far greatest part of them : for , as solomon says , prov. 22. 15. foolishness 〈◊〉 bound in the heart of a child , and therefore there is need of the rod of correction to drive it far from him . ' t● but too manifest , that children wh● know their parents fondness , prove unruly and untractable , and do generall● become very wicked and naughty . when once they find themselves a liberty , and see that they are in 〈◊〉 great danger of being curb'd and restrain'd , they are apt to follow th● biass of their corrupt inclinations ▪ and then it often cometh to pass what is said by the wise man , prov. 29 15. a child left to himself bringeth 〈◊〉 mother to shame . the mother only 〈◊〉 mentioned , because ordinarily , she 〈◊〉 more apt to exceed just bounds in he● indulgence , and consequently has 〈◊〉 great hand in spoiling her child : an● besides , when her child brings hurt an● disgrace upon himself , by his wicked and foolish courses , she useth to be more deeply affected therewith , through the tenderness of her nature , and the strength and violence of her affection and passion . now , to stir up parents to take care their children be taught to read , at least the holy bible ; let them consider , that this sacred book will instruct them in the art of being happy ; how to be saved ; how to obtain a crown of glory ; how to purchase an enduring substance , a pearl of great price , and a kingdom which cannot be shaken : it will teach them true wisdom ; how to avoid sin , and to escape danger ; how to resist the devil , to stand against his wiles , to quench his fiery darts ; how to overcome the world , and to mortifie the flesh with its affections and lusts ; how to subdue their natural corruption , and to conquer all their wicked habits and customs ; how to redeem the time ; how to carry themselves as they ought to do in their several capacities and relations , wherein god hath placed them in the world ; how to enjoy satisfaction and contentment in every state and condition of life ; how to use aright the things of this world ; how to improve prosperity , and how to reap advantage from adversity ; how to dwell at ease , and to enjoy real peace and comfort amidst the greatest vexations and confusions that can happen . all these things the holy scriptures will teach both you and them , if they are read as they ought to be , to wit , with a serious and humble mind , with an earnest desire to know the will of god , and with a firm and sincere resolution to do it . and therefore , how careful ought you to be , in so considerable a part of your duty towards your children ? if your condition in the world is such , as disables you from doing much for them as to their outward estate , yet if you do this , it may prove ( unless it be their own fault ) of unspeakable advantage to them , and , in some sense , better than a great portion , or than a gainful trade , as may appear from what has been said . when once they can read tollerably well in the holy bible , be careful that they do it more or less every day : see that they do it with great reverence , as being the word of god : cause them to consider who it is that speaketh to them therein ; and what it is that he commands , promises , or threatens ; direct them at first to read such places , as are most easie to be understood , and which are apt to make the deepest impressions : after they have read , see what they remember ; cause them to tell you what they can call to mind : explain to them so far as you are able , what they do not know ; especially in such things as are most useful to make them wiser and better . appoint them now and then a verse or two , to get by heart ; cause them to repeat them with due gravity ; let them not do it in a trifling manner , as if they were telling a silly story . do not appoint them too many things to be got by heart , for this will do more hurt than good : a few things well understood do better than a great many by rote . be careful lest they read any books which tend to poyson their minds , to fill them with false opinions , or to lead them to bad practices : their tender minds are apt very quickly to be corrupted by such treatises . even they who are of a more fixed and solid virtue , are in danger of receiving hurt by reading such books ; especially when they are writ with great art , and when their notions are represented in fair and beautiful colours ; they are apt to impress on the fancy some images of no good consequence to the soul : how great need therefore have parents to restrain their children from reading such books as tend to pollute their innocent and chaste minds , which are capable of receiving any sort of impressions either good or bad ? as for books of devotion ; great care is to be taken , that only such be put into their hands as are writ in a plain and easie style ; which treat of things fit and needful to be known by them ; and which are most likely to make them wise and good. they are to be accustomed to the writings of those who are men of greatest moderation ; who do not impose their own conceits , as necessary rules of devotion ; who do not require such things as absolutely needful to be done , which god hath not declared to be so ; nor yet who shorten the rule , by cutting off such things as god hath injoyned us : all books which lead men to extreams , are carefully to be avoided ; and such treatises are to be made use of , as contain the plain and necessary doctrines of christianity ; which tend to inspire men with the spirit of purity , of truth , of peace and love ; which promote sincerity , justice , temperance , charity , meekness , humility , patience , resignation to the will of god in all things , zeal for his honour and glory , a firm belief and trust in him , &c. when it is requisite to acquaint them with the different opinions amongst protestants , that their minds may not be unfixed and unsettled , when they go abroad into the world ; be sure not to put into their hands such tracts as are writ with a fiery uncharitable spirit , and in a dogmatick and magisterial manner ; but such as are writ with great temper and moderation ; which tend to heal the church of all contentions and divisions , and not to kindle and increase them ; which do not load mens opinions with unjust , extravagant , and impious consequences , which never entred into the minds of those who vouched them ; but such as make fair and favourable constructions , and just allowances . such treatises are chiefly to be chosen for them , which dispose men to be humble and modest ; not to be stiff and pertinacious in their own private sentiments ; not rashly and severely to condemn others who have different thoughts ; and never on the account of any such particular opinions to break the peace of christian society ; nor to grow more cold in their respect and affection towards those who have not the same thoughts with themselves in lesser matters . they are , as it were , to feed upon books of this sort , and carefully to digest them . 6. duty , to bring them to the place of publick worship so soon as they are fit for it . sixthly , you are to bring them to the place of publick worship so soon as they are fit for it , that they may have the benefit of the prayers of god's people , and may learn , as they are capable , somewhat that may make them wiser and better . thus we find , when joshua read the law before the congregation ; the little ones are mentioned as present amongst the men and women . josh. 8. 35. teach them to pray to god before they go to church , and to beg of him that he would fit them and assist them , to joyn in the publick worship with unfeigned devotion , and to hear the word in a right manner . teach them also to pray for all those whom god employs to preach his word , and particularly for his servant whom they are to hear ; that he would sanctifie him , and direct and enable him to teach others the true way to life and blessedness . and as you ought to direct them what to do before they go to church , so you must take heed how they carry themselves in the house of god , that it be with all possible silence and reverence ; and that they perform their publick devotions in a decent manner . see that they do not spend their time in gazing upon others , in observing their dresses and modes , their looks and gestures ; nor yet in bowing and making courtesies to every body of their acquaintance they happen to see in the midst of their prayers . though this be too common a practice , yet it ought carefully to be avoided , as unsuitable to that seriousness , that fear and reverence , that fervency and devotion , which true worshippers of god ought to be possessed with , when in the most solemn manner they are , or ought to be employed , either in paying their homage to the king of heaven and earth , their lord , their maker , and saviour ; or in hearing the message that is delivered in his name , by his ambassadors . when they come from church , see what they remember ; if they have got any thing by heart , encourage them : if they remember nothing , you may tell them somewhat or other of the sermon which is fit for them to learn. stir them up so soon as their years are fit for it , to meditate more or less on what they have heard , that so the word of god may profit them . shew them , that as their food cannot nourish them , if their stomach do not concoct and digest what they eat and drink , so neither will the word of god nourish , quicken , and strengthen their souls , if they do not , by serious meditation , digest what they read and hear . endeavour by their constant attendance on the publick worship , to beget in them a mighty regard thereto , as being one great means appointed of god to increase in them true knowledge and piety . let them not spend the rest of the lords day in rambling about ; but , so far as their age can bear it , let them be imployed usefully . shew them why they should observe this day , to wit , because on it our blessed lord jesus christ , rose from the grave , triumphed over death , and finished the work of our redemption . as he was delivered ( and died ) for our offences , so he was raised again for our justification . rom. 4. 25. to us the lord's day , saith one of the ancients , * is therefore venerable , and to be observed in a solemn manner , because thereon our saviour , as the rising sun , having dispelled the darkness of death , shone forth by the light of his resurrection . 't will not be unfit , to acquaint them with some instances of god's righteous and dreadful judgments , against prophaners of this day ; and particularly , how a great many , who have come to an untimely end , confessed and acknowledged , before their death , that their slighting and profaneing this day , made way for all those villanies , and impieties , which at last brought god's heavy judgments upon them . that your children may attend the publick devotions of the church , and the preaching of the gospel , with greater profit and advantage ; 't is necessary that you endeavour to possess them with a great regard , for those whom god employs in so holy a service , that they may esteem them very highly in love for their works sake . 1 thes. 5. 13. when the persons employed in divine ministraitons are loved and esteemed , their doctrine is apt to make the greater impression , and to be the more successful : whereas , if people are prejudic'd against them , tho' never so unjustly , what they say will be slighted , or very little regarded for most part , even tho' what is spoken be most excellent in it self , and expressed in such a manner , as might otherwise very much affect and excite the dullest hearers . the truth of this , did not only appear in the holy prophets , but in our most blessed master himself , who , tho' he spake as never man spake , yet what he said was but very little regarded by most part of the jews , and ev'n by his own brethren and kinsmen , who were possess'd with most unjust and groundless prejudices against him . the consideration of this , ought to make you careful , to beget in your children a due sense of the dignity and excellency of the pastoral office , and likewise a just value for the persons themselves , whom god makes use of to minister unto him in holy things , whom he calls to be the guides of souls and stewards of the mysteries of god. if men have a great respect for ministers of state , and for the ambassadors of earthly princes , who are employ'd to manage the concerns of the kingdoms or principalities of this world ; shall they account the ministers and ambassadors of jesus christ , unworthy of the least regard and esteem ? whom the king of kings and lord of lords , hath chosen out of the rest of mankind , and whom he hath set apart for his own immediate service , to publish his will , and to offer life and salvation to the sons of men , to rescue them from their evil courses , to direct them what they must do to be saved , and to shew them , not only by their doctrine but example , the way wherein they ought to go . and tho' some of those who are of this sacred employment , are far from being what they should , yet you must be careful what you say concerning them before your children ; you ought to keep from their knowledge , such faults and blemishes as are not obvious and notorious . beware of taking occasion of reproaching them , and thinking meanly of them , for their infirmities . and when their miscarriages are very heinous and such as cannot be concealed , you ought to take care , not to aggravate them or make them worse , but to speak of them so , as your children may see , you are only enemies to their vices , and not to their persons or holy office. that you may fortifie your children against the danger they are in from such sad examples , shew them , that our holy religion is not the worse , because some of those who are ministers do not live suitably to their calling and profession ; that it is men ( the best of whom are imperfect and sinful , and subject to the like passions with others ) and not angels , who are put by god in the office of the ministry : that amongst the twelve apostles of our blessed master and saviour , one of them was a thief and a traitor ; that the holy doctrine which such persons preach , is not in it self the less excellent , and worthy of acceptation , because it is delivered by those who do not live as they preach ; that there were many such teachers in the days of our saviour , and yet he for had not the jews to hear them , only he gave them a caution to beware of their ill example . the scribes and pharisees , says he , mat. 23. 2 , 3. sit in moses seat , and therefore whatever they bid you observe , that observe and do ; but do not ye after their works , for they say , and do not . i thought it so much the more necessary to suggest this direction , because 't is none of the least sins of this age and kingdom , that too many are very apt to despise and speak ill of the ministers of jesus christ ; to listen to all reports which are to their disadvantage , to believe them too readily , and to repeat them in all companies , and even before their children with a great deal of pleasure . and there want not those who have a very fruitful invention on this subject , who contrive a great many stories , to bespatter them , and to lessen and destroy their reputation ; whereby they too successfully promote the kingdom of satan , and shew themselves to be his ministers . when once the great enemy of souls has gain'd this point , to make the persons of ministers contemptible , 't will be no hard matter for him to make men undervalue and despise the very office it self : and what can be the consequence of this , but the rise and growth of heresies , of factions , and schisms , of atheism and irreligion , and of all that can be thought of , that is any way dishonourable to god , and destructive to the souls of men ? of all which there are but too many sad instances at this day , which are a most certain evidence of the great decay of real piety and christi●nity , and that there is but very little of true religion to be found amongst us . and as this so common contempt of the clergy is a sign of the great wickedness of the age , so it is a presage of heavy judgments . when the messengers of god were mocked , and his words despised , and his prophets abused , the wrath of the lord arose against his people , till there was no remedy . 2 chron. 36. 16. 7. duty , to make them understand their baptismal covenant . seventhly , do all that you can to make them understand their baptismal covenant ; and if there be opportunity to own and renew it publickly and solemnly , fail not to encourage their doing it . it 's of great importance for them , to make a solemn profession of their faith , and to declare their resolution of performing their baptismal promise : it is of great advantage to them , at such an occasion , to have the prayers of the church , and particularly of those , who are appointed of god , to bless the people . it is true , the great abuses which have been committed in the performance of this ancient ceremony , have made many people to slight and neglect it ; but 〈◊〉 confirmation were performed with that care and seriousness , which ought to be used on such an occasion , it is a custom which might be of marvellous benefit in the church ; both to stir up parents to instruct their children , and ministers to chatechise them , and acquaint them with those things that are needful for them to know , to believe , and to do . the careful and religious use of it , would tie children more strictly to mind the great concerns of their souls ; it would afford them occasion to consider what it is to have been baptised , and to be a christian : it would work in them a more powerful sense of the obligations of christianity ; and make them more careful to live up to that holy religion , whereof they made so publick a profession : it would make them more afraid to do bad things , against which they had protested so solemnly . and not only fear , but shame in this case , would restrain them from doing wickedly . this would be to young people a great defence against temptations : bad men would not so boldly ask them to sin , if they knew they had openly and solemnly disowned and renounced them , and all their wicked courses ; and if they were tempted , they would be more apt to say in their own minds , shall we do such wicked things , and run the hazard of being covenant-breakers , and perjured persons ? shall we commit such villanies , and practice such abominations , and thereby break our solemn vow and engagement ? shall we by our folly and impiety give occasion of offence and scandal to the church of christ , which he hath purchased with his blood ? shall we renounce the captain of our salvation , and prove deserters , who have so lately vowed to renounce the devil and all his works ? what a mighty defence would this be to your children , when assaulted by the fiery darts of the devil , the vanities of the world ▪ and the lusts of their own deceitful hearts ? to consider , that by their own actual consent , they have renounced all these , and given up themselves into the hands of god , to be kept by his mighty power , through faith unto salvation ; they have vowed , and they ought to perform it , to keep his righteous judgments . these things being impartially considered , should mightily excite parents to see that their children do openly and solemnly pro●ess their faith in christ crucified ; their resolution to obey him , to serve him , and love him , to fight under his banner , against sin , the devil , and the world , and to continue his faithful souldiers and servants unto their lives end . is not this your glory , that your children are christians ? and do you think it a shame or dishonour for you or them , if they make a solemn profession of their christianity ; that they avo● their religion , and will by god's help make good the promise which was made in their name in baptism ? of so great importance is this custom , that the greatest men amongst the reformers did highly commend it , and did earnestly wish that it might be restored as a thing of great use towards the reviving the true spirit of christianity . 8. duty , to encourage them to come to the lord's table . eightly , when they are fit for it , you should encourage them to come to the table of the lord , that they may be strengthened in their most holy faith , and further assured of the love of god ; that they may make a publick profession of their christianity , of their love to their lord and master jesus , of their charity to all men , and of their sincere affection to those who are christ's members and followers : they ought to make use of this holy sacrament , that their love to their dearest lord and saviour may be kindled and enflamed , by remembring his love , and shewing forth his death ; that they may bind themselves more strictly to serve and obey him , and to fulfil their baptismal engagement . how glad should parents be to see their children advanced to this honour , to eat and drink at their lord's table , to partake of so great a testimony of his kindness and friendship ? how earnestly should they encourage them to embrace this opportunity , of renewing their covenant with the lord , to live and to die his faithful servants ? do you not desire to have them saved , to have them delivered from their lusts and passions , their pride and vanity , their bitterness and wrath , their malice and envy , and from all manner of sin and folly ? to be made pure and clean in heart and life ; to be made meet for that holy place , where no unclean thing can enter ? do you not desire that their sins may be blotted out , that they may be washed with the blood of their saviour ? and yet do you not advise and entreat them , for their souls health and safety , to come to the holy communion ? which is designed as a means for these excellent and great ends and purposes , to as many as are qualified according to the terms of the gospel , that is , who unfeignedly repent of their sins , and believe in the lord jesus with all their heart . but , alas ! how far are too many parents from doing this for their children ? how many do either wholly , or for the most part , neglect and slight this holy ordinance themselves , as if our lord had without any just or necessary ground appointed it ? how can such persons expect the precious fruits of the death of christ , who will not remember his death , when he so lovingly and kindly calls and invites them to do it ? do this , says he , in remembrance of me . what a great argument is it , of a wonderful decay of true piety and religion in the world , when men do thus despise and set at naught the kindness of their lord and saviour ? when they refuse to do a thing , so just and reasonable , and so easie as this is ; which tends so much to his glory , and their own true happiness and welfare , both here and hereafter . 9. duty , to take care that they accustom themselves to self-examination . ninthly , when they are fit for it , see that they accustom themselves to self-examination , that they spend a few moments every night ( if another time of the day be not more convenient for them to do it in , ) in calling themselves to an account ; that they may see what good or what evil they have done ; that they may give praise and thanks unto god for any thing they have done , which was good and right ; and that they may confess their sins and follies , begging his gracious pardon , and renewing their purposes and resolutions to do better for the time to come . but besides these daily short reviews of their heart and life , 't is fit to call ●pon them , when they are well advanced i● years , to a more strict and solemn examination of themselves ; to prayer and fasting , as their age and strength can bear it . this may be done at first once a month , or once i● two months , or once a quarter at least ; but after some time , it may be done oftner , according as your necessary affairs and your circumstances in the world will permit . they who are great and rich , ought so much the more frequently , to call upon their children to those private extraordinary excrcises of devotion , because their outward estate in the world does , ordinarily , afford them enough of time and leisure for such performances , if they will but redeem it from idleness , and from a great many vain and unnecessary actions . as to their abstinence from food on such days , there 's no rule can be given to serve all persons ; if they can fast one meal or two it is well ; if not , then they may eat less at a time , and of such things as are less apt to be a hinderance to their devotion : that is to be done that serves most to render them fit for prayer and meditation . it will be convenient , in order to their doing this to good purpose , to be directed to a method , that so their thoughts may not wander and be unfixed : for which end , it will be of good use , to have the direction of their minister , if he be a discreet and good man , or of some other pr●dent serious christian friend : or you may recommend to them some plain and easie short treatise on this subject , such as you shall find written discreetly with due moderation of spirit . there is not any one method can be prescribed for all persons , nor fit for all times : but in general , upon such days , it 's fit for them to begin with prayer to god , humbly begging the divine assistance and direction ; that he would open their eyes , to see their sin and folly , and to discover his mercy and kindness , his long suffering and patience towards them , that they may be thereby led to repentance . they may next enquire particularly and strictly into their ways and doings ; which they may do , by considering what have been their thoughts , their words and deeds ; each of which they are to examine according to the rule of god's word : or , ( which comes to the same thing ) they may go over the commandments , and see wherein they have broken any of them : wherein they find themselves guilty , they are with unfeigned sorrow and inward contrition , to confess it , to mourn for it , and earnestly to beg forgiveness of god ; resolving with full purpose of heart , to do so no more ; but to cease from evil , and to learn to do well . they are to consider what temptations they are most in danger of ; that they may avoid them : they are also to consider what course they must take , and what christian methods they must use , to overcome their evil inclinations and ●oolish and bad customs ; and they are to resolve to govern themselves accordingly ; and sincerely to endeavour to go on unto perfection . after this , they may reflect on the kind providences they have met with ; that their souls may be filled with a grateful sense thereof ; that they may return all praise and thanks to god for his mercy and love ; and may be excited for the time to come , to trust more firmly in him , and to depend upon him . they may particularly consider , wherein god hath been pleased to answer their prayers , and to grant them the good things they have asked of him for their souls and bodies , for themselves or for others ; that their piety and love to god may be thereby the more kindled , and their devotion excited ; that their faith and hope may be made more strong and lively . they may take notice likewise of the corrections and chastisements , wherewith god hath thought fit to exercise them ; that thereby they may be awakened from sin , and made wiser and better for the time to come . it will be very useful for them to have a note in writing of those various particulars ; that they may on such days review them , and with the more ease make such reflections on them , as tend to their improvement in real piety . besides these acts of devotion , which concern themselves immediately ; it will be fit on such days to make earnest and hearty prayers to god for all mankind ; for the conversion of jews , turks , and pagans , for the reformation of those christian countries that are corrupted with superstition and idolatry ; for union amongst those that are divided in their opinions about lesser matters ; for deliverance to those who are persecuted for righteousness sake ; and for these lands , ( that god may inspire us with a spirit of peace , of love , and of true piety ; ) for our king and queen ; for all judges and magistrates ; for all the ministers of the gospel ; for all their friends and relations ; for all their enemies ; and for all who desire their prayers , of whom it is not unfit to keep a particular note in writing , that this christian office may be performed towards them with all faithfulness and kindness . they are next to consider , what may be done by them for the honour of god and the good of men ; and are to resolve to do some act or other of piety or charity , which may be of real advantage to mens souls or bodies . one thing more i shall mention , which may be very useful on such days ; and that is , that they consider what are the things wherein they desire more earnestly the divine assistance and direction ; which they may write down distinctly , that they may renew their petitions therein every day . and thereafter , especially on such days as they appoint for more solemn reflection and humiliation , they may consider what answers god has been pleased to afford them . these are a few general heads on this subject , which may be of great advantage , in order to the promoting of true devotion . but the designed brevity of this treatise does not permit the enlarging upon them . 10. duty , to observe what providences they meet with , and to acquaint them therewith in due time , as also with some of the most remarkable providences , which either they ( to wit the parents ) themselves , or others have met with . lastly , consider what providences they meet with , what signal mercies and favours their merciful father bestoweth upon them ; what dangers and hazards they have escaped ; wherein god's kindness and mighty power has appeared towards them , in preserving them , and keeping them alive : keep a note thereof in writing ; that so when they come to age , you may acquaint them therewith , that they may therein read the loving kindness and tender mercies of the lord , and his wonderful goodness and favour towards them ; and may be excited to be thankful , and to put their trust and confidence in him , whose mercies are over all his works . but , alas ! how far are most parents from doing this ? very few do any such thing for themselves ; the mercies of god are renewed to them every morning , they live at his cost and charge , he gives them richly all things to enjoy ; all their good things are from him alone : but how little do they consider , and take notice of the hand of god , in those many and great benefits he loads them with every hour and moment ? they do not reflect upon the great and marvellous things that he does for them ; they live as if they were altogether insensible of god's mercies and loving kindnesses ; and no wonder , if they take little thought to possess their children with any impressions of that , whereof they have no sense themfelves . but if parents did , as they ought , acquaint their children with god's providences towards them in their infancy , and in the days of their youth , when they were not so capable themselves to reflect thereupon , it would have a great force upon ingenuous minds , to stir in them pious and religious dispositions . it would likewise very much serve this end , if parents would often reflect on god's kind providences to selves , and now and then talk * of them to their children , and acquaint them sometimes with one instance of god's care and kindness towards them , and sometimes with another ; this would insensibly make an impression on tender minds , and in due time might bring forth good fruits . shew your children therefore , how god was pleased to provide for you , when you were in great necessity and want ; how he raised up friends to help you , in the day of your distress ; how he preserved you from danger ; how he delivered you out of many and great afflictions and troubles : how he comforted you in the days of your mourning ; how he raised you up , when you were brought very low ; how he defeated the designs of your malicious adversaries ; how he disposed a great many uneasie and afflictive things , sometimes for your temporal , and always for your spiritual advantage ; how he assisted and seconded your endeavours to serve him , with great and unexpected success ; how he rewarded and blessed you , when you did those things which were good and right before him ; and how he punished and chastened you , when you omitted your duty , or did and said a bad and wicked thing ; how he heard your prayers , and granted you the desires of your souls ; how he prevented you with his loving kindness and tender mercy ; how he satisfied your longing souls with good things ; and how he deals with you , exceeding abundantly above all that you could think or ask . in this manner , according as you have met with particular instances of the good and kind providence of god , you ought , at some times , when you find it most likely to do good , to talk thereof to your children , that thereby they may be awakened to observe and consider the powerful , just , wise , and kind providence of god ; and may be excited , together with you , to bless his holy name , for his great , his marvellous , and undeserved love towards you . you ought also , to discourse sometimes to them , concerning some of the most signal instances of divine providence towards others , which either you have observed your selves , or which you have received an account of from persons of very good authority : for example , shew them , how god has brought down proud and lofty persons , when their hearts were lifted up ; how he covered them with shame and reproach , and made them loathsome , vile , and contemptible , almost to every body ; and how he raised up humble and lowly persons ; how he followed them with the expressions of his mercy and love ; how he turned peoples hearts towards them , inclining them to love and honour them , and to do them many good and kind offices . this will tend to teach your children humility , and to restrain them from pride and self-conceit . tell them , what has befallen many passionate and impatient men ; how they have run into the pit of destruction , when they gave up themselves to to the conduct of their own violent and unruly passions ; and how the meek and patient ones have been directed , assisted , and preserved by the good providence of god ; and how they have enjoyed a great deal of peace , joy , and happiness , amidst the many afflictions and troubles they met with in the world. this will tend to teach them to be meek , to restrain their passion , and to beware of impatience . tell them , how god has punished those who have got wealth and riches by false , unjust , and indirect means ; how he has cursed their estates , and sent a moth into them , which has in a short time insensibly wasted and consumed them ; and how he hath blessed the estate and substance of those , who have got their wealth by honest and lawful means . this will tend to make them honest and sincere in their dealings in the world , and to hate false and crooked ways . tell them , how god has punished cursers and vain and false swearers , how the curse has followed them , how often it has happened to such persons according to their mad and horrid imprecations . tell them , how god , by very unexpected and surprising ways and means , has discovered and cut off traitors , murtherers , adulterers , thieves , and robbers , false witnesses , &c. tell them , how he has appeared , sooner or later , in behalf of his servants and children ; how he has wonderfully defended and preserved sincere and upright men ; how he has avenged innocent blood ; how he has defended the widow and fatherless ; how he has heard the cry of the stranger , of the desolate and oppressed , &c. such things as these , being seaso●●bly and frequently suggested to children , may , at some time or other , work upon their minds , and cause thee to take notice of the power , wisdom , mercy , and justice of god ; which they cannot do in good earnest , but th●● must needs be thereby stirred up to fear him , to love him , to obey him , and to walk in his ways . and tho' these things do not produce their effect at the very time when they are told , yet some time or other they may catch hold of the minds of your children ▪ and have a very powerful and lasting influence upon them . the example of faithful abraham ought to excite you to do these things . for this end did god acquaint him with what he intended to do to sodom , because he knew that he would improve all his providences , that he would not smother them in his own breast , but acquaint his children and family therewith , that thereby they also might learn to be wiser and better ; that they might see the terribleness of the divine justice against incorrigible sinners ; and his infinite compassion towards those who fear and love him ; that they might know the power and efficacy of prayer , and see how ready the lord is to hear all those who call upon him in earnest , not only for themselves , but also in behalf of others . and the lord said , ( gen. 18. 17. ) shall i hide from abraham that thing which i do ? and v. 19. for i know him , that he will command ( or instruct , as the word is used sometimes ) his children , and his houshold after him , and they shall keep the way of the lord to do justice and judgment , &c. suitably to this example , we find a general command given to the jews , deut. 4. 9 , 10. take heed to thy self , and keep thy soul diligently , lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen , and left they depart from thine heart all the days of thy life ; but teach them thy sons and thy sons sons : especially the day that thou stoodest before the lord thy god in horeb , &c. to the same purpose we find a direction given them touching the passover , ex. 13. 8. thou shalt shew thy son in that day , saying , this is done because of that which the lord did unto me , when i came forth out of egypt , &c. and v. 14. and it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come , saying , what is this ? ( to wit , that is said about setting apart unto the lord the first-born ) that thou shalt say unto him , by strength of hand the lord brought us out from egypt , from the house of bondage . and it came to pass when pharaoh would hardly let us go , that the lord slew all the first-born in the land of egypt . — therefore i sacrifice to the lord all that openeth the matrix , but all the first-born of my children i redeem . likewise josh. 4 6 , 7. 't is said , when your children ask their fathers in time to come , saying , what mean you by these stones ? then ye shall answer them , that the waters of jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the lord , when it passed over jordan . — and these stones shall be a memorial unto the children of israel for ever . see also exod. 10. 1 , 2. joel . 1. 2 , 3 , 4. from all which it appears , how important and necessary a duty it is , for parents to acquaint their children with the providences of god ; a due sense whereof will , above all other things , tend to make them wise and good . some directions to parents , how to render their endeavours effectual . now , to render your admonitions and all other endeavours effectual , for the good of your children ; first , you must give them good example ; when you bid them read , or pray , or partake of the holy sacrament , or attend the publick worship , you must ( so far as is needful and fit ) do the same things your selves : when you exhort them to be humble , to be of a mild and gentle temper , to bear patiently uneasie things , to be sober and temperate , to be charitable to the poor , to judge favourably of those who differ from them in small matters , not to be unkind or uncivil to any , tho' they agree not in their opinion with them in some lesser points of religion , but to love all those who fear and love god , and who are followers of jesus christ. i say , when you direct and exhort your children to do such things , you must joyn with your instructions a suitable example ; let it appear to them that you your selves are humble , mild , patient , sober , charitable , kind , and loving to all who are sincerely pious and virtuous , without making any difference on the account of indifferent things , i mean such things which god hath neither commanded nor forbidden . this is the only way to make your instructions and admonitions successful , when in this manner you go before them your selves , in the way wherein you desire them to walk . children learn more by the eye than by the ear , if they see you do contrary to what you advise them , they will be apt to think you do not believe what you say ; or that you are very cruel and unmerciful towards them , to bind heavy burdens upon them , and not to touch them your selves . and if you should constrain your children to do what you do not your selves ; what would it signifie ? it would only make them hypocrites and dissemblers , to do that which they have no heart unto , and which they are not perswaded to be their duty . such children , when once the restraint and force which is upon them is removed , will be sure to give themselves the full swing in all manner of folly ; they will do those things which they have seen in you , and learned by your example . but if you shine before your children in the constant practice of true piety , walking in the fear of god , and in obedience to all his holy commandments , your example will propagate religion more effectually than all the admonitions and instructions in the world. and besides , the influence which your pious example is apt to have on your childrens lives , this is the way for you to entail a blessing on your posterity . the just man , saith solomon , prov. 20. 7. walketh in his integrity , his children are blessed after him . and psal. 112. 2. 't is said , his seed shall be mighty upon earth , the generation of the vpright shall blessed . and ex. 20. 6. god hath pr●●mised to shew mercy unto thousands 〈◊〉 them that love him , and keep his co●●mandments . 2dly . chuse good co●●pany for your childre● ( so far as you have oppo●●tunity and ability to 〈◊〉 it , ) otherwise , neither your admo●●tions nor examples will signifie muc●● their ordinary company , if naught● will pull down faster than you are a●● to build : corrupt nature is eas● drawn away by the example and a●●lurements of sinners ; this is like g●●ing down hill , which is easie , conside●●ing mens natural bent an● inclination * : where●● self-denyal and mortifyin● our lusts and passions , 〈◊〉 more difficult , especially at first , 〈◊〉 going up hill . when therefore yo● see your children falling into the acquaintance of vicious and foolish persons , delay not to rescue them fro● the snare ; to break off their famili●●rity , that they be not corrupted there●by , and utterly ruined . we see ho● careful people are to keep their children from those who have the small pox , or any other infectious distemper ; and yet what a strange madness is it for them to trust them to the society of those , whose lives and manners are full of the deadly poyson of sin , which infects and kills the soul. as you ought to do all you can , to preserve your children from all sorts of vicious company , so particularly from flatterers . endeavour to save them from this dangerous snare , than which there can be nothing of more dreadful consequence unto them . such vile and servile society will very quickly pull down all that you have built ; they will utterly corrupt your children , and render their condition desperate . for when once they are under the power of flatterers , the gate is thenceforth shut against truth , and against plain and upright dealing ; when their delight is only in those who praise and commend them in all they do or say ; when such who admire them , and who study nothing but to please them in every thing , right or wrong , are their only favourites , to be sure they who are their best and wisest , and most faithful friends , who tell them the truth , and speak not so much what may be pleasing as what may be profitable unto them , will not be very welcome or acceptable to them . and because such flatterers are found often amongst servants , who in hope● of serving their covetous or ambitious , or perhaps other base and wicked designs , do make it their business , by all sorts of vile compliances , to gain the favour and love of the children of richer or more honourable persons . therefore 't is not only the duty , but the interest of parents , to be very careful what servants they receive into their family , or what persons they admit to stay in their house , knowing that , according to the proverb , one scabbed sheep will infect the whole flock . the example of the psalmist ought to be a rule in this matter , psal. 101. 6 , 7. mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land , that they may dwell with me : he that walketh in a perfect way , he shall serve me . he that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house ; he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight . 't will not be unfit in this place to mention what a * famous author reports of the ancient romans . 't was their custom to make choice of an elderly kinswoman , of whose probity and discretion they had good assurance , to whom they committed the charge of the children . her business was to keep them from hearing and seeing whatever tended to corrupt their manners ; to direct them in such little studies and exercises , as were proper to their years ; and to see that their recreations and divertisements were harmless and innocent , and that they were used and managed modestly and inoffensively . this course cornelia took , says this author , with her sons the gracchi , aurelia with her son caesar , and artia with her son augustus . the fruit and effect of which method was this , the spirits of the children being kept pure and sincere , straight and upright , they were thereby made the more capable to receive noble and excellent impressions , which way soever they applied their minds , whether to military arts , to the knowledge of the laws , or the study of eloquence . but now ( says he , speaking of the age in which he lived ) children are entrusted to the care of a grecian girl ; and to one or other of the servants , of most base and servile qualities , by whose words and actions they are quite spoiled and utterly ruined . neither are there any in the family who make account what they say or do before them : and no wonder , says he , for the parents themselves are so far from training them up to modesty and probity , that they accustom them to wantonness and extravagant liberty , by which means they grow impudent and impetuous , in the pursuit of their wild and foolish humours and inclinations . as this rule of chusing good company for children , is necessary to be followed at all times , so especially when parents send their children into foreign countries , when they are fit to travel ; how careful should they be not to trust them to every body ? but to the conduct of those who not only may be useful to advance them in the knowledge of the world , to assist them in their journeyings , to take care about their lodging and diet , to wait on them to visit great men , to see fine places , curious fabricks , famous monuments , and ancient inscriptions , to learn the language of the country , and the different modes and fashions , the government and policy , and such like : but who likewise ( through the blessing of god on their endeavours , ) may preserve them from the vices of those countries where they travel ; from those bad customs to which they have a great inclination : who may make it their business to season their minds with deeper and more lively impressions of virtue ; to possess them with a mighty regard for such excellent examples as they have occasion now and then to see ; to fortifie them against the many wicked and dangerous opinions and practices they meet with ; to acquaint them chiefly with the wisest and best men , by whose conversation they may be improved in wisdom and virtue ; that they may return into their own country with their minds furnished with useful notions , with solid principles , and wise observations ; that they may be able either in a more private way , or in a publick capacity , to do somewhat , not unworthy of those who have had such good occasions for improving themselves in those things which are excellent . to serve this design , parents are to be careful of two things ; one is , that their children travel under the conduct of a person who is wise and prudent , and is of a sincere and solid piety : if he be one that is either foolish , or prophane and atheistical , his company must needs be very hurtful and dangerous ; it may utterly 〈◊〉 the young persons who are intrusted to him , tho' they have very good ●●clinations , and have been happy in a religious education . we see that a straight twig , tied to that which is crooked , and stronger than it self , grows crooked also . what an unaccountable thing is it to think , that men who are careful to have a skilful groom to look to their horses , should be so mad , as to venture their children ( who are their chiefest possession , and the principal objects of their care and kindness ) into the hands of those who have little discretion , and less piety ? the second thing that parents ought to be careful of , in this matter , is , that their children do not travel till they are come to somewhat of stayedness , and solidity of judgment ; till their understanding and discretion is such , as may give ground to hope that their travelling shall do them no hurt , but good . it is none of the wisest parts in some parents , to send their children too soon into foreign countries , before their judgment is prepared , and made fit to make useful reflections and observations on the world ; before their minds are possessed with solid principles of virtue , and with a deep sense of religion ; so as not to be in great danger from the temptations which they are sure to meet with in most places : before they know any thing at home , it is too soon to send them abroad : before they know themselves a little , it is not advisable to send them into the wide world , to know a vast multitude of other things : hence it too often comes to pass , that a great many return , after their travels , greater fools than they went ; they bring back nothing but a load 〈◊〉 the vices and vanities of other countries . thirdly , let not over-great fondness blind your eyes , so as not to see the faults of your children ▪ nor cause you to stop your ears against just complaints it 's true , there are some wicked people who love to sow discord ▪ to kindle strife and contention ; to divide the nearest relations : but all a●● not so very wicked ; you cannot bu● know some who love you and your children sincerely ; and when such persons tell you of their faults , you ought to do the part of those who are wise , as well as kind parents ; that i● you ought to do all you can to reform their faults , and make them better and withal you ought to be heartil● thankful to those who do not flatter you and your children , to the hurt bot● of you and them . in order to their reformation , try first all gentle methods to make them better : endeavour to conquer them with the weapons of kindness and affection ; endeavour by instructions and admonitions to make them sensible of their faults ; use promises and encouragements to allure them to do what they ought ; if these gentler methods do not succeed , 't is fit to use reproof , to rebuke them sharply : reproofs of instruction , saith solomon , prov. 6. 23. are the way of life . when threatnings are necessary , make use of them likewise ; and if they do not serve the turn , then try the rod ; chasten thy son , says solomon , prov. 19. 18. while there is hope , and let not thy soul spare for his crying . and ch. 13. 24. he saith , he that spareth his rod , hateth his son , but he that loveth him , chasteneth him betimes . but let this be always the last remedy , after you have in vain attempted their reformation by milder and gentler methods . and when you use severity , do it with due moderation , not exceeding the quality of the fault : beware of using great severity , when the fault is very small and inconsiderable . respect must also be had to the age , temper , and disposition of your children ; if they are very young and tender , your correction must be the more gentle and moderate ; and if they are of a flexible and ingenuous temper , you must be the more favourable towards them . beware of correcting them when you find your anger very hot , for then you are apt to do more hurt than good . your passion will hurry you , if you restrain it not , into somewhat or other very wicked , as well as indiscreet ; it will make you do and say a great many things very unworthy of a christian. always therefore be careful , that your reason , and not your passion , direct you in so important a matter as this is ▪ ●f once you fall into the rough , severe , and violent method of dealing with your children , there are a great many disadvantages will attend it . first , you discourage your children , you break their spirits , you make them unfit for any useful thing ; you tempt them to do such things as are hurtful to themselves , and may prove grievous to you . if oppression makes a wise man mad ; 't is no wonder if a child , or young person , is sadly disordered , and made half mad by cruel and tyrann●c●l usage : tho' it be a fault in children to be so ; yet parents ought to be careful not to provoke them overmuch to wrath , by a severe , unmerciful carriage towards them . 't is not the less important and true , because it is a common observation , to wit , that a tender sprig which grows crooked , may be made straight by little and little , if you bend it and handle it gently ; but if you bend it with great force and violence , you may quickly break it . thus it is with children generally , who discover very early somewhat of crookedness in their nature , which is increased by evil example ; if you use mild and gentle methods to reform them , temper'd now and then , as need shall require , with a little severity , there is hopes , that , by degrees , they will be reformed , and made straight ; but if , instead of this moderate course , you use cruel methods , and deal rigidly and unmercifully with them , you cannot expect any other , but that their spirits should be broken or hardened , and so lose all sense of ingenuity . secondly , you kindle your own passions , you disorder your minds , and accustom your selves to a fiery temper , you become fierce , barbarous , and savage ; whereby you turn one of your great temporal comforts into a grievous cross , and heavy burden . thirdly , you hereby likewise teach your children , through your example , to be of a passionate and violent spirit ; and so you do them more hurt , than all your corrections and instructions can do them good : never think to cure them of their faults , by your committing as bad your selves : you must not do evil that good may come of it : the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of god. fourthly , you make your children care less for your corrections , than otherwise they would do : when you are always beating them in your passion , and tormenting them , they must needs think , that you do so , not so much for any fault they are guilty of , as because you are very passionate , and therefore must give your passion a vent one way or other . if therefore you would chasten your children to good purpose , do it when your spirits are cool , when your reason is at hand to direct you , and to keep you within bounds , and not when you have lost your selves , by being under the power of a violent passion . if you are careful to follow this christian method , you may then expect that god's kind providence will second you in your endeavours for reforming your children . either they will grow better ; or however , you will find peace and comfort , when in this manner you govern your selves by the laws of religion , and are not led by your unruly passion . that parents may the better perform their duty in correcting their children , they ought to observe and imitate the example of our heavenly father , who , tho' whom he loveth , he chasteneth , heb. 12. 6. yet he doth not afflict willingly , nor grieve the children of men. lam. 3. 33. he does not make use of the rod , but when it is necessary , when his mercy and kindness do not prevail . and when he does correct , in the midst of wrath , he remembreth mercy . when he visits the transgressions of his children , with the rod , and their iniquity with stripes : nevertheless , his loving kindness he does not take utterly from them , nor suffer his faithfulness to fail . ps. 89. 32 , 33. he is always ready to receive his penitent children , to have mercy upon them . he does not keep his anger for ever . a due consideration of these things will direct parents how to correct their children both as to time and measure . to what hath been said , it will not be unfit to add , that , to render reproof , and correction the more effectual , it is necessary that both parents concur therein ; not as if it were proper for them both together , or one after another , to reprove or chasten their children , for the same fault , for this would be rather very improper for the most part : but when one of the parents chides of corrects their children , the other ought so far to concur , as to approve what is done , and shew their displeasure towards those children who have done that which deserves chastisement . they must not oppose one another in this matter ; when one reproves , the other must not approve and commend ; when one condemns , the other must not justifie ; when one endeavours to correct , the other must not hinder it ; otherwise , the children will be lost ; for it is not likely they will amend their faults , if they see that either of their parents is their patron , to encourage and defend them , or to excuse and extenuate what they do amiss . they who are wise parents , ought to be so far from doing this , that tho' one of them should happen to reprove or chasten a child when there is no very great necessity for so doing , yet the other parent , whether father or mother , ought to conceal their present thoughts , and wait a fit occasion to discourse the matter together , that such unnecessary reproofs and chastisements may be prevented for the future . if parents do not carefully observe this rule , their children will be sure to take notice of their indiscretion , and to make a very bad use of it , so as to despise their reproofs and chastenings , when they are more just and necessary . fourthly , when it pleaseth god to visit them with sickness , or any other adversity ; be sure to do all that you can , to bear in upon their minds , a sense of those things you are most desirous to have them touched with , and which in time of their health they made but very little account of . affliction is the time , in which god useth to work upon the hearts of people most powerfully and effectually ; then he awakeneth them , and convinceth them of their sad and dangerous state ; he casts them down , that being made sensible of their sin and danger , he may again raise them up , and speak comfortably to them . i will allure her , and bring her into the wilderness , and speak comfortably to her , hos. 2. 4. therefore all they who sincerely desire to reclaim their children , or others , from their bad and foolish courses , ought to take the opportunity of their sickness , their pain and grief , their losses and disappointments , and of any other sorts of troubles and afflictions wherein they are , that then they may suggest to them such counsels and advices as are proper for their instruction , their conviction and amendment . at other times , there are a great many things which are apt to hinder good counsel from entring into the mind , or from making any deep impression thereon ; pleasures and vanities are apt to choak the good seed : but when they are afflicted , and humbled a little by some outward pressure , or bodily distemper ; they are thereby somewhat better disposed to hear friendly admonitions and counsels , and to think a little more seriously of their ways and doings . it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth ; he sitteth alone and keepeth silence , &c. lam. 3. 27 , 28. when it hath pleased god to restore your children to health , or to deliver them from any other affliction , fail not to put them in mind of their afflicted estate , and of god's goodness towards them when they were in adversity : endeavour to make them sensible for what end god hath been so kind to them , to wit , that they may amend their lives , and bring forth fruits meet for repentance . strive to keep them mindful of their purposes and resolutions , and press them to the fulfilling of them . stir them up to be thankful to god for his mercy , and to be very watchful , lest satan prevail over them any more . fifthly , be earnest in your prayers to god daily for them ; that he would make them what he requires them to be , his dutiful and obedient children and servants ; that he would give them his holy spirit to sanctifie and cleanse them , to enlighten and direct them , and to assist and strengthen them ; that he would season their hearts with his fear and love ; that he would turn them from sin and folly ; and incline their hearts to keep his precepts always , even unto the end ; that he would hold up their goings in his paths , that their footsteps may not slide ; that he would be their god and guide , their sun and shield , and their portion for ever ; that he would give every one of them those things which be best and most needful for them ; that he would sanctifie every state and condition of life , wherein his providence doth place them . if they are in a healthful and prosperous state , pray to god to make them sensible of , and thankful for his undeserved goodness , and that he would preserve them from the snares and dangers to which prosperity does expose them . you see what was job's constant course at the end of his childrens feasting . job . 1. 5. he sent and sanctified them , and rose up early in the morning , and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all . for he said , it may be my sons have sinned , and cursed god in their hearts , &c. again , if they are in sickness , or any other adversity ; beg of god to sanctifie their afflictions , to make them blessed and happy means of their reformation , or of their improvement in true piety . when you are about to instruct , to admonish , to reprove , or to correct your children , pray to god to direct you by his good spirit , to do your duty in an acceptable manner ; and that he would incline and dispose them to their duty , and make them gainers by what you do or say for their good . 't is not always necessary for you , in every particular admonition or reproof , &c. which you use towards your children , to make a solemn prayer , by retiring into your closet ; this ought to be done upon extraordinary occasions ; but ordinarily , it will suffice , if you lift up your hearts unto god , in a short and fervent ejaculation , for his direction and blessing in what you are to do or say to your children . you have great encouragement to do this ; because you are assured that god heareth prayer ; he hath said , every one that asketh , receiveth . so that either he will grant your children what you beg for them , or if they render themselves unworthy of the mercy and kindness of god , by their perverseness and stubbornness ; yet you are sure of one thing , that your prayers are not lost ; they shall return into your bosom : god will plentifully reward your piety , your charity , and zeal , with more grace here , and glory hereafter . now if it be the duty of parents , in this manner , to pray for their children , what shall be said of those , who , instead of praying for their children , curse them , and use fearful imprecations against them ! how dreadful a thing is it for those to whom it belongs to bless their children , instead of doing this , to curse them ! how unnatural a thing is it , instead of contributing to their happiness , to do their utmost to make them eternally miserable ! 't is true , some children are very perverse and wicked , guilty of great stubbornness and disobedience , and of great contempt aud neglect of their parents : but yet for all this , parents ought never to give over praying for them ; and if at any time , their passion and discontent occasion in their minds any thing that looks like a tendency to evil wishes or imprecations against their children , let them with as great care endeavour to be delivered therefrom , as they would from fire , if it broke forth in their houses . and indeed , if they who have the worst children , did but consider what woful effects do often attend such rash curses † , they would beware of using them , though never so much provoked : it is very observable , that god often in his wrath and vengeance heareth such imprecations , when uttered by parents * , whereby he sheweth his just displeasure and indignation both against them and their children . from what hath been said , parents may see what they must do , to render their admonitions , and all their other endeavours effectual , for the good of their children . some motives to excite parents to do these things . now to stir you up to perform these things ; consider , first , it is the will of god that you bring up your children in his fear , and acquaint them with his holy laws and commandments . he who made you , requires you to do this ; he who preserves you and keeps you alive ; he who is your king and lord , who has a right to your service , to all that you are able to do ; who is your father in heaven ; who daily takes care of you , and loads you with his benefits ; who is the god of your salvation ; who hath sent his son into the world to die for you : it is even he who saith , deut. 6. 6 , 7. and these words which i command thee this day , shall be in thine heart . and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children , and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house , and when thou walkest by the way , and when thou liest down , and when thou risest up . and , eph. 6. 4. and ye fathers , provoke not your children to wrath , but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the lord. 't is he who established a testimony in jacob , and appointed a law in israel : which he commanded our fathers , that they should make them known to their children : that the generation to come might know them , even the children that should be born : who should arise and declare them to their children . that they might set their hope in god , and not forget the works of god ; but keep his commandments : and might not be as their fathers , a stubborn and rebellious generation , a generation that set not their heart aright , and whose spirit was not stedfast with god. psal. 78. 5 , 6 , 7 , 8. if you then be the subjects , the servants , and the children of the great god ; if you love and fear him , as you ought to do , you will be sure to make it your business to train up your children in true virtue and piety ; to make them what god requires them to be , holy , as he who hath called them is holy , in all manner of conversation ; you will excite them to strive to enter in at the strait gate ; to work out their salvation with fear and trembling ; to remember their creator in the days of their youth ; t● seek god while he may be found , and to call upon him while he is near ; to love the lord with all their heart , and the● neighbours as themselves ; to endeavour to follow the example of our blessed master , to learn of him to be meek and lowly , to take up their cross and to bear it patiently , to be zealous for the glory of god , to abound in the work of the lord , not to be weary in well-doing , but to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our lord and saviour jesus christ. secondly , is not this a work worthy of all your care and pains , to save the souls of those , who are parts of your selves , who derive their being from you ? you are the instruments not only of their being , but the means of conveying unto them natural defilement and corruption : and therefore you ought with a great deal of zeal to endeavour to have their pollutions washed off by true unfeigned repentance , and a hearty turning from sin unto god ; by their putting off the works of darkness , and putting on the armour of light ; by their putting on the lord jesus christ , and walking as he walked . are you ready to do all that you can to make your children rich and wealthy , great and honourable in the world ; and yet are you at so little pains to do that for them ▪ which tends to make them rich in faith , and heirs of a glorious inheritance ? you endeavour to acquaint them with those who may be useful to them in their worldly affairs and concerns ; and why do you not strive to acquaint them with god , their greatest and best friend , who is sure to stand by them , to take them up , and to take care of them , when all forsake them , and turn their backs upon them ? why do you not with greater earnestness endeavour to procure unto them his friendship and love , who is infinitely powerful , and infinitely good and kind ; and therefore not only can , but will do for them exceeding abundantly above all that either you or they can think or ask ? thirdly , the doing of this is attended with great rewards , not only in another world ▪ but even in this life . you cannot but find unspeakable joy and comfort , when you behold your children walking in the fear of god , going from strength to strength , and from grace to grace , that at last they may come and appear before the lord in sion . it will free you from a great many anxious thoughts about them for the time to come , when you know that they have god for their friend , who will be a guide and buckler to them : what a great satisfaction will it afford you , to think that they , for whom you make so great provision , and are at so much pains , are good and wise , and in all probability , will make good use of what is given them , or designed for them ? when you see them humble , of a mild and gentle temper , ap● to bear uneasie things meekly and patiently ; when you see them sober and temperate , charitable and compassionate , just and upright , true and faithful , wise and prudent , devout and religious , zealous for the honour of god , and studying daily to grow up in all virtue and piety ; how will this fill you with a pleasure that cannot be expressed ? so true is it that is said by the wise man , prov. 15. and 20. a wise son maketh a glad father . and ch. 23. v. 24 , 25. the father of the righteous shall greatly rejoyce , and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him . thy father and thy mother shall be glad , and she that bare thee shall rejoyce . they who plant an orchard , are mightily pleased to see the young trees prosper , grow regularly , and bear a great deal of good fruit , this makes them reflect upon all their cost and pains with much satisfaction . how much greater must their pleasure be , upon whom god hath bestowed children , when they see them growing in grace as they grow in years ? when they behold them straight and upright in their lives , pure and undefiled in the way , walking in the law of the lord , having respect unto all his commandments , flourishing in the courts of the lord , bringing forth the fruits of righteousness and true holiness . doubtless there is no pleasure in any earthly thing comparable to this of religious parents , when they are happy in pious and virtuous children . and as such children are a great comfort , and afford a mighty pleasur● to their parents , so they are a great honour , and a lasting ornament unto them . what can be more for th● glory of parents , than to have thei● children adorned with the image o● god , cloathed with virtue and goodness as with a garment ? this doth reflect somewhat of its lusture and beauty upon the parents themselves , who have been , under god , the instruments of making their children lovers and followers of that which is good . all wise and good people , who observe the truth and faithfulness , the justice and uprightness , the meekness and modesty , the prudence and discretion , and the other virtues which appear in children , must needs conceive and entertain very respectful thoughts of the parents themselves , by whose means the children have been so virtuously and religiously formed and educated . but besides all that has been said , good and virtuous children afford manifold advantages to their parents . the psalmist ( psal. 128. 3. ) compares them to olive plants round about the table of their parents ; that is , as olive plants are not only for ornament , but of great use to those who possess them ; so good children are not only ornaments to their parents , but very useful and profitable to them in many regards ; for example , they serve their parents , they assist and help them in their employment , they stand by them in their danger , and defend them , they provide for them in their want , they pray for them , and do many important offices to them ; so that no wonder if the psalmist saith , psal. 127. 5. happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them ; they shall not be ashamed , but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate . that is , it makes parents couragious , it encourages them to appear in publick in their own just defence , when they have worthy children to attend them , and to assist them against those who endeavour to wrong them . fourthly , the benefit of the good education of children , is not confined to the parents alone , but is extended both to church and state , families being the nurseries both of one and t'other . 1 st . as to the church , when children are rightly educated in the knowledge and practice of true religion , they will then be sure to observe all such things as tend to peace , unity , and edification ; they will readily and gladly joyn in religious assemblies , and carefully avoid whatever tends to unnecessary separation . neither will they only joyn outwardly in christian assemblies , but will be careful likewise to do it sincerely , to worship god in spirit and in truth ; and to hear his word with great reverence and attention , with a great desire to know the divine will , and with a real and hearty design to do it . they will also observe all other sacred institutions , without consulting with flesh and blood. and as they will do those things themselves , so they will do what they can to engage others to do the like . and not only will they carry themselves as christians in publick ; but likewise , in their several relations and capacities , wherein god hath placed them in the world , they will be careful to adorn their christian profession ; they will study to avoid whatever is contrary to true piety ; they will zealously endeavour to do all the good they can in the world : for which end , they will watch the most fit occasions of doing good to the souls of those they are acquainted with , and will be sure to comply with any favourable opportunity of serving them , in those things which are for their everlasting happiness , which tend to make them wiser and better . how great a blessing would it be to the church , to have many such persons of her society ? and therefore , as the sense of this ought to excite parents to do their utmost to educate their children in the fear and love of god : so it ought to stir up the guides of the church , to employ themselves vigorously in dealing with younger persons , to make them wise and good , in endeavouring all they can to beget in their minds a true sense of religion and virtue , to possess them with the knowledge and love of god , to fortifie them against the many temptations to sin and folly to which they are exposed : and , in a word , to make the● followers of christ in true holines● in this world , and fit to live an● reign with him in glory in the wor● to come . all who have dealt with mankind about the concerns of another life must needs lament , that very litt● can be done for reforming aged people , who are hardned in evil habits and therefore , there is the greater nee● to deal in good earnest with young persons , to prevent their being corrupted , and to lay in them the foundatio● of solid piety for the time to come . 2 dly . as to the state , it would likewise reap no small benefit by th● right education of children . for 〈◊〉 as to those who are to rule a●● govern others , whether in an highe● or more subordinate quality , if the● are happy in a pious and virtuous education , if their minds are season● with religious principles , if they a●● possessed with a great love to th● which is good , and with a great abhorrence and detestation of th● which is evil ; if they are trained 〈◊〉 in the daily practice of modesty an● humility , of meekness and patience , of truth and faithfulness , of justice and uprightness , of brotherly kindness and charity , and of temperance and sobriety , &c. i say , if they who are to rule others , are educated in this manner , there is great reason to hope , that they will prove great blessings , in those publick capacities , to which it shall please god to call them . such persons are likely to minister justice impartially , to encourage piety and virtue where-ever they see it , and to curb and restrain whatever is dishonourable to god , and unsuitable to the christian profession . whereas , on the contrary , when they who are to rule others , are bred up in idleness and luxury , are gratified in their vanity and folly , are cherished in their passions and extravagancies , are accustomed to no society but of trifling or atheistical persons , and are not employed in any useful sort of business . i say , when they who are to rule others have such woful education , what can be expected from them , but such things only , as are dishonourable to god , scandalous to religion , and in many regards prejudicial to mankind ? 2 dly . as for those of lower quality , when once they are inspir'd with the knowledge of christian principles , and when these have taken deep root in them , and have a due influence upon them , they will not only teach them , but also engage them to honour and obey their rulers , and that not only for fear , but also for conscience sake . as christianity will make them give unto god the things that be god's , so it will cause them to give unto caesar the things that be caesar ' s. it will likewise make them true and sincere in all their words , just and upright in all their deeds , faithful and constant in all their lawful undertakings , and charitable and compassionate to every body in distress ; studious of purity and chastity , of temperance and sobriety , and of peace and concord : it will cause them , as much as is possible , to live peaceably with all men , to seek peace , and to pursue it , to be zealous peace-makers , and to be ready to overcome ▪ evil with good ; it will direct them when their neighbour or friend is overtaken with a fault , to restore him with the spirit of meekness ; it will make them , not to seek their own things only , but likewise their neighbours good as well as their own ; it will not only restrain them from what is manifestly evil , but will also make them careful to avoid every appearance of it , to shun the very thoughts and desire of wickedness ; it will cause them to be content with what god bestows upon them , and not to envy others , not to covet their goods , nor wrong them by word or deed . and , ●in a word , the lively impressions of religion will make them careful to keep their consciences void of offence both towards god and towards men. now , if these rules of our holy religion had their due influence on the minds of people , what a blessed and happy society would there be in the world ! how easie would every man be ? how well-pleased ? how safe and secure from hurt and danger ? how confident in his friends , neighbours , and acquaintance ? knowing , and being well assured , that they fear and love god , and therefore will do no wrong . as the consideration of these things , ought to make parents very careful to do all that ever they can towards the right education of their children , so i● ought mightily to excite all christian rulers and governours , to do their part in this matter , particularly to take care that there be schools every where , and that such persons be chosen to educate children at school , as not only are skilful to teach them to read , write , &c. but who may contribute likewise towards the seasoning their minds with religious principles , who will look upon it as one great part of their business to endeavour to possess them with the fear and love of god. how worthy of christian magistrates were it also , to take care that all schools and colleges be visited often by fit persons , that the diligent may be encouraged , and that the remiss and negligent , or the vicious and prophane , may be discouraged by all just and lawful means . these things cannot be look'd upon as forreign to the magistrates office , if it be but duely considered , how much benefit comes to the state by the good education of children , and how much mischief cometh thereto , by the neglect of their education . * of old the persians , lacedemonians , cretians , and others , thought it their interest to see to the right education of children ; they did not think it safe , to leave so great a trust wholly in the hands of parents , who through partiality , fondness , or indiscretion , might utterly spoil them , and thereby do unspeakable mischief to the state. and no doubt , till once all christian rulers and governours , both in church and state , make it more their business to see to the right education of children , there is no great hopes of ever seeing any considerable reformation in the world. fifthly , if you neglect to do these things for the souls of your children , and leave them to themselves to do as they list , then you may expect that their sins and follies , their pride and passion , their gluttony and drunkenness , their cursing and swearing , their lying and deceiving , their malice and revenge , their chambering and wantonness , their atheism and irreligion , will not only prove tragical to them , but occasion great uneasiness , vexation , and grief of mind to you . prov. 10. 1. a foolish son is a heaviness to his mother , and chap. 17. 21. he that begetteth a fool , doth it to his sorrow , and the father of a fool hath no joy. 't is true , 't is not in the power of parents to infuse good qualities into the minds of their children ; some are so very perverse , that all that can be said or done by parents , is altogether slighted , and neglected by them : we know that abraham had an ishmael as well as an isaac ; and isaac an esau as well as a jacob ; and jacob a reuben as well as a joseph . however , such parents who have the affliction of sad and wretched children , have some comfort and satisfaction in having done their duty for them , and in endeavouring to approve themselves unto god , who will accept of their honest and sincere endeavours ; and will crown them with glorious rewards . but it is otherwise , when children prove bad through the too great indulgence , or the negligence , and bad example of parents . what a deep wound must it needs give them , when they begin to consider that they did not their part to make their children good , and were so far from it , that they corrupted and ruined them by their bad example , and over great kindness and indulgence ? such parents do often eat the fruits of their cruel fondness , and feel the sad effects of their own bad example , by means of their prophane and graceless children . as god doth often visit the iniquity of the parents upon the children ; so when children are suffered to go on in their foolish and wicked courses , through the indiscreet gentleness and kindness of parents , who , perhaps , are in other respects good people ; the lord doth sometimes punish such parents , and bring temporal judgments upon them . ely was a great instance of this , 1 sam. 2. and 22. he heard all that his sons did unto all israel ; which were things of a very vile nature , whereby , as it 's said chap. 3. and 13. they made themselves vile , that is , hateful to god , and base and contemptible to all the people , by their lewd and abominable practices . ely did reprove them , but it was too coldly and gently . chap. 2. 23 , 24 and he said unto them , why do you such things , for i hear of your evil dealings by all this people : nay , my sons ; for it is no good report that i hear ; you make the lord's people to transgress . besides his reproof , he ought to have restrained them , ch. 3. and 13. as being high priest , a judge , and chief governour amongst the people : he ought to have put them out of the priesthood , as accurssed persons , and executed the laws of god against them . which because he did not , therefore god denounced very dreadful judgments against him by a prophet , whom he sent unto him , chap. 2. 31 , 3● , 33 , 34 , 36. and chap. 3. 13 , 14. and in chap. 4. we find his two sons hoph●● and phineas were slain in battel by the philistines , and the ark of god was taken ; upon the news whereof , the old man fell from off his seat backwards , and his neck brake , and he died . we see likewise in david , what was the effect of his too great indulgence to some of his children ; especially absalom and adonijah , who not only wrought their own destruction , but proved great crosses to their aged father . here it will not be unfit to relate what st. augustin tells us of the sad effects of leaving a child to himself , and not endeavouring to educate him aright . the story is this . * there was one cyril , a citizen of hippo , who having one only son , was so fond of him , that he avoided doing or saying any thing that tended to make his son uneasie : the young man finding himself at liberty ( through his father's indulgence ) to live as ▪ he thought good , gave up himself to all manner of folly , particularly to drunkenness . notwithstanding this , his father still continued to be as fond as ever , and would not do any thing to restrain him from doing what he had a mind to . the consequence whereof was very dreadful and terrible ; for a little time after , this wretched son coming home very drunk , killed his father , as also his mother then big with child ; he attempted to have ravished his sisters , of whom two were mortally wounded by him . such sad examples as these ought to awaken parents to do what they can to educate their children in the fear of god , to train them up in the study and practice of true piety , and to restrain them by all due means from sin and folly. which things if they fail to do , they may expect sooner or later , to reap the bitter and cursed fruits of so sad a neglect . advice to parents . part ii. the duties of parents as to their childrens bodies . having treated of the duty of parents towards their children , as to their souls , the better part ; i shall next shew what their duties are , as to the bodies of their children . first , it belongs to the mother to give suck to her children ; unless some bodily imperfection , great weakness , or sickness , or her circumstances in the world , make it impossible , or very dangerous and inconvenient both for her and the children , or for either . for this end it is that god hath given breasts unto women , and caused the milk to flow into them , that there may be nourishment suitable to the tender infants , in a readiness for them . neither can we suppose any other body capable of shewing equal care and love to the children , with that which it is natural for the mother to express to the fruit of her own womb. besides this , it cannot well be imagined , that the milk of any other body can be so fit for the child as its own mothers , if she be but in tollerable health . we see that sarah did not think that the greatness of her quality , or her great age , did excuse her from this natural obligation , of giving suck unto her child . gen. 21. 7. and she said , who would have said unto abraham , that sarah should have given children suck ? for i have born him a son in my old age. which words suppose it to be the unquestionable duty , as well as common practice of mothers , to give suck to their children . when god chose a nurse for moses , ( exod. 2. 8. ) he led the handmaid of pharaoh's daughter to the child's mother . we find that amongst other characters of a woman , that was fit to be taken into the number of widows , there was this , if she hath brought up children , ( 1 tim. 5. 10. ) or , as the words may be translated , if she has nourished or fed her children . it was reckoned as a sign of god's wrath , hos. 9. 14. to have dry breasts . and therefore , they cannot be accounted innocent , who , without apparent necessity , dry up their breasts , and so deprive their children of that food and nourishment which nature designed for them . the words of the psalmist david , psal. 22. 9. do not only imply that his mother gave him suck , but they also shew , that it was the practice of all mothers , to do the like to their children . thou didst make me hope , saith he , when i was upon my mother's breasts . solomon likewise takes it for granted , that children of the same womb , should suck of the same breasts . cant. 8. 1. o that thou wert as my brother , that sucked the breasts of my mother . to all which might be added , the words of the woman to our saviour , luke 11. 27. blessed is the womb that bare thee , and the paps which thou hast sucked . which words suppose , that she who bare him , did also give him suck . we find that amongst the very heathens , they were accounted but half mothers , who neglected to give suck to their children . one of their ancient authors * speaking on this subject , saith , how unnatural a thing is this , how imperfect , and only to be a mother by halves , having brought forth a child , presently to throw it away ? having nourished in her womb somewhat that she could not see , not now to nourish it with her milk , when she sees it alive , and calling for her assistance ? we see likewise , that nature hath impressed on the most savage and wild creatures , a readiness to draw out their breasts to their young , lam. 4. 3. even the sea monsters draw out the breast , they give suck to their young ones . and shall women degenerate into such unnatural barbarity towards their young , as is not to be met with amongst the most savage creatures ? shall they , whose love and tenderness has been so noted and admired , prove unkind and cruel to the fruit of their own womb ? 2 dly . when children are fit for stronger food , parents are not to indulge them too much , in gratifying the curiosity and daintiness of their palate , which not only is apt to make them too soft and tender ; but likewise disposeth them to gluttony and sensuality ; to make their belly their god. it is fit to accustom them to a plain and simple diet ; which is generally more wholsome than that sort of food which is very artificially prepared . the state of all humane things is very uncertain ; they who have at present all manner of things in greatest plenty and variety , may meet with changes and vicissitudes : it 's therefore a part of the wisdom of parents , to accustom their children ( so far as their health and strength can bear it ) to eat any sort of food ; that so , if god sees fit to change their outward condition and circumstances , they may be the more fit and able to endure such an alteration . thirdly , as to the● habit and apparel : parents ought to cloath● them decently , but not gorgeously : fineries and gayeties 〈◊〉 apparel are apt to make people ▪ especially younger persons , vain 〈◊〉 conceited , to value themselves upo● their gay cloathing . it is fit ofte● to suggest to them , that their cloath● and apparel are but borrowed feathers ; and therefore that it is a grea● folly to be proud of that which is 〈◊〉 their own , but which they owe to th● sheep or goats , to the worms 〈◊〉 bowels of the earth . it is not fit for parents to make too great distinction among their children , as to their apparel ; because this is apt to cause discontent● and jealousies , hatred and envy ▪ contentions and quarrellings among●● them . joseph's coat of many colours which his old father jacob gave him caused his brethren to hate and en●● him , and at last to conspire most wickedly against him , gen. 37. 3 , 4 , &c. the same is to be said as to their diet , and other things , wherein it is no small part of the wisdom of parents , not to shew too much fondness to one above all the rest . this does not hinder , but that parents may , to very good purpose , give rewards to their children for their acts of virtue , for their ready and chearful obedience to their commands ; for their diligence and care in performing what was appointed them , &c. whereby they who do such things are encouraged , and they who do not , but are careless and negligent , are punished , and spurred up to amend their faults . but when such marks of favour are bestowed , 't is fit to let the rest know , that if they do as well , they also shall have a reward : by which means they will see that virtue and goodness are the things which their parents love and esteem most ; and for which they are ready to bestow the marks of their affection . the duty of parents as to the outward estate of their children . a third thing that belongs to the care of parents , is , the outward estate of their children . first , when they are fit for a trade , they ought to chuse an honest employment for them : to suffer them to live in idleness , is to ruin them : if they have not some useful thing or other to take up their thoughts , they are in great hazard of finding somewhat to do which is bad , and hurtful both to themselves and others . the devil is always at hand to furnish occasions to idle people , for employing themselves to their own destruction . the athenians ( who for a great while were reckoned amongst the wisest people in the world , ) were so sensible of the necessity and importance of childrens being bred up to some lawful trade and employment , that by their laws * they obliged them to maintain their parents , and to supply them in their old age , only upon this supposition , that their parents had been careful to teach them an honest trade : otherwise by their laws , children were not bound to provide for them . tho' this is not to be brought into practice amongst christians , it being contrary to christian principles , for children upon any pretence whatsoever to neglect their parents in distress . yet this example sheweth , how great a crime it was reckoned amongst the wiser heathens , for parents not to breed up their children to some honest employment . as to the particular kind of employment , wherein children are to spend their days , it is to be left to the discretion and prudence of parents : they are so to instruct and dispose the minds of their children , that they may be ready to be determined to any trade or manner of life that 's honest , which their parents think best and meetest for them to follow : but yet a great regard is to be had to the particular genius and inclination of children , which ordinarily disposeth them more for one sort of employment than another : it will make them more diligent in learning their trade , when they have a delight in it : otherwise , if they are put forth to a trade against their minds , they are more likely to neglect it , or to break off from it . seldom do such persons attain unto great perfection in their employment , who follow it against the grain . as for those whose great and plentiful estate in the world doth raise them above the necessity of putting forth their children to a trade , they ought notwithstanding to be careful to bring them up , not in idleness and vanity , but in such studies and exercises , as are most proper for them , and which tend to make them serviceable in their generation * . when god created adam after his own image , and placed him in the garden of eden , which , no doubt , was the most honourable state that ever man was in upon earth , yet he did not suffer him to live in idleness , he appointed him an employment , to wit , to dress and keep the garden . the greater that mens possessions are , they ought to be so much the more concerned in the right education of their children , that so they may be made the more fit to inherit their wealth and riches . how much reason had the philosopher crates to say , * that if he might , he would go up unto the highest place of the city , and there bespeak the citizens in this manner . o men ! what mean ye to be 〈◊〉 so much pains , and so incessantly to busie your thoughts , how to heap up wealth and riches ; and yet to take so little care of your children , to whom you are to leave all these things ! upon which , plutarch hath this wise reflection : that such parents are very like those foolish people , who have a great deal of care of their shoe , but none at all of their foot. great and rich men , therefore , ought to be very careful that their children be well educated ; that they be instructed in useful arts and sciences , which may not only afford pleasure and delight unto their minds , but may be of use and advantage to them in their conversation in the world. above all , they ought to endeavour , that their childrens minds be possessed with a lively sense of religion , with sincere love to god , with a fervent zeal for his glory , with a great delight in all those things which are truly noble and worthy , which tend to the honour of god , and the benefit of mankind , and with an utter abhorrence and detestation of all wicked practices , of prophane and atheistical company , and of every appearance of evil ; they ought to train them up in useful and pious actions and designs , which may be of advantage to church or state , that so they may prove a blessing to the world , and pillars of that society to which they belong . great care ought to be taken , to make them understand the vanity of riches and honour , the great uncertainty and mutability of the things of this world , and the many tentations and vexations which attend a plentiful estate and great fortune . endeavour to make them sensible , that no earthly enjoyments are capable to satisfie their desires ; that , as the wise man saith , eccles. 5. 10. he that loveth silver , shall not be satisfied with silver ; nor he that loveth abundance , with increase : and that they are so far from satisfying the mind , that they distract it , and oftentimes fill it with greater uneasiness ; that they occasion cares , and fears , and temptations and sorrows . shew them likewise , that these outward and perishing things add nothing of real worth unto them , that a hundred or a thousand a year cannot make them one whit either wiser or better ; that their estates cannot keep off sickness or pain , nor sad and sudden accidents ; and that they cannot defend them so much as one moment , from the approaches of the king of terrors . shew them , what was the psalmist's opinion of outward greatness , himself being one of the greatest men of his time , and therefore able to judge o● the matter : surely , says he , psal. 62 9. men of high degree are a lye ; to be laid in the ballance , they are altogether lighter than vanity . grea● me● are a lye ; that is , they are not either what their own vanity would make them , or what foolish people imagine them to be , to wit , another sort of beings than other men. thi● is but a lye , for they are the same thing with the poorest beggar , they are of the same mould , they have the same passions , they are subject to the same distempers , they are liable to the same accidents and mischances , they are exposed to most part of the same temptations , and to a great many more , which made agur in his prayer ▪ prov. 30. 8 , 9. to say , give me 〈◊〉 riches , lest i be full , and deny thee , 〈◊〉 say , who is the lord. shew them likewise , for what 〈◊〉 it is that god bestoweth riches a●● honour upon them , that it is not 〈◊〉 gratifie their lusts and passions , to indulge themselves in vanity and folly , an● to have wherewith to give themselves the full swing in whatever is suitable to thei● corrupt inclinations ; that it is not 〈◊〉 take to themselves a liberty to wo● wickedness , to trample upon whatever is sacred , to countenance and patronize those who are prophane mockers of religion , who scof● at the most sacred things thereof . shew them that it is for better purposes , that the great lord of the world bestows riches , power , and honour on the sons of men , even that they may employ themselves , and all they have , for his honour and glory . shew them , that to whom much is given , of them much shall be required ; that god doth expect greater service from those , upon whom he bestows greater encouragements : and therefore , that they ought to employ themselves as much as they can , in doing his will , and glorifying his holy name ; that they ought to encourage religion , to countenance those who are pious and devout , to set a mark of respect upon those who fear and love god , and to testifie their dislike of those who are prophane and irreligious , to endeavour to curb and restrain them , so far as they are able ; and that they ought to make it appear , that there is no way for any body to recommend themselves so effectually to their ●●vour and esteem , as by their behaving themselves as the followers of jesus christ ought to do . shew them also , how much persons of meaner quality are influenced and led by the example of those who are great and noble , whose actions are generally of greater force than laws are with them * : that therefore , they ought to shine before them in all the actions of true piety and virtue , that others , by seeing their good works , may be excited to imitate them , and so to glorifie their father that is in heaven . lastly , shew them , that if they are wicked and prophane , and so by their bad example defile and corrupt others , then god will require at their hands the blood of those many souls , who perish by following their foot-steps , and walking after them in their ungodly ways . in this manner , they who are rich , great , and honourable , who have no need to chuse a trade for their children , ought nevertheless to teach them , ( and that so much the more carefully ) such things as may make them truly wise and good . as for those who intend to set apart one or more of their children for the holy ministry , they ought , 1 st . to be careful to serve god with the best they have . for cursed be the deceiver , which hath in his flock a male , and voweth and sacrificeth unto the lord a corrupt thing . mal. 1. 14. they ought to consecrate to this sacred office those of their children who are most worthy in all respects , who have not only good parts , but who have also good inclinations , and are apt to receive religious impressions . 't is an argument they very little understand the greatness and difficulty of the pastoral office , and have very little sense of religion , who think that god may be put off with any thing , and that the refuse of the flock is sufficient to be an offering to him . how great ingratitude is there in this ? have not parents received from god freely and undeservedly , all the good things they enjoy , and particularly their children ? when therefore they design to bestow one or other of them for his more immediate service , they ought to give him the best , and not such a one as is unfit to be employed in any other ordinary business , which requires a person of tolerable sense and discretion . 2dly . they ought to have a single eye to the glory of god , and not to govern themselves by worldly and carnal respects and considerations . they must not look upon the ministry , as if it were only a trade to get wealth and riches , or as a way to come to honour , and to obtain preferment in the world. they ought to look upon this holy office with another eye , to wit , as it is appointed of god for divine and spiritual ends , to guide and direct men in the way to happiness , to shew them what they must do to obtain everlasting happiness , and to avoid hell and destruction , to teach them how to fight the good fight of faith , how to resist the devil , how to overcome the world , and how to be preserved from their deceitful and desperately wicked hearts . they ought to consider , that christ's ministers are appointed to be shepherds and watchmen , to feed and to watch over the flock , which he hath purchased with his blood ; to acquaint people with their danger ; to call upon them early and late ; to be upon their guard , to quit themselves like men , to be strong in the lord and in the power of his might . they must consider that it belongs to the ministers of the gospel to deal impartially with all sorts of people , and not to suffer sin upon them , but to reprove them plainly , to exhort them seriously to repent and amend ; and to direct them what they are to do for the time to come , lest they fall again into the same evil practices and customs . when therefore parents design a child for the holy ministry , they should at the same time consider , that he is to spend himself in the work of the gospel , that is , he must study , and pray , and watch , and preach , and visit , and converse , and do ▪ all other things which are needful to save souls ; he must be instant in season and out of season ; he must often and seriously consider what is farther to be done to convert sinners , to instruct the ignorant , to comfort the afflicted , to relieve the poor , to excite the remiss and negligent , to encourage the diligent , to strengthen the weak , to confirm the strong , to direct the zealous , to reclaim the erroneous , to convince gainsayers , to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men : and besides all this , he must be ready and willing to sacrifice his life in the service of his great master , if he be called thereto ; he must count nothing too dear , that he may finish his course with joy , and approve himself to the great shepherd and bishop of souls . thus parents , when they design any of their children for the holy ministry , ought to consider that they are to be employed in the greatest , the most painful , and most dangerous work in the world , and therefore , 3 dly . they ought to do all that in them lies , to fit and prepare such children , that they may undertake this sacred employment as they ought to do . more than ordinary care is to be taken that their minds be furnished with good impressions , that they be inspired with a great love to god , and with a mighty zeal for his honour and glory . they must be daily trained up in the practice of humility , of meekness , of patience , of temperance , of charity , and of all other virtues and graces ; they must be kept from seeing and hearing bad things , so far as may be ; their minds must be strongly fortified against temptations : and all that is possible must be done , to keep them from the danger that comes from evil company , and corrupt example . they must be entrusted to the good conduct of excellent and worthy persons , by whose means they may be formed to as high a sense of true piety as may be , that so , when they come abroad into the world , their light may shine before others . if parents , who dedicate their children to the holy ministry , would , in this manner , endeavour to act the part of men who have a lively sense of god upon their souls , who are possessed with a mighty zeal for his glory , and are earnestly desirous to promote the kingdom of jesus christ , we might hope to see very speedily the blessed effects of their pious endeavours , religion would flourish more than it does at this day , and impiety and irreligion would not so much triumph as , alas ! they do . secondly , when they are fit for marriage , parents are so to dispose of them , as that in all likelyhood they may be happy in such a state of life : * they are not to constrain then to marry against their will ; for such marriages are seldom happy ; they end too often in somewhat or other very tragical and calamitous , to one or t'other party , if not to both . great care is to be taken , that there be not too great inequality of outward state and condition ; for that occasions often neglect and contempt of the person that is inferiour to the other in some external advantages : nor yet too great inequality of years ; for that doth likewise , sooner or later , cause an abatement and decay , and sometimes an utter extinction of that respect and love which is necessary to make those who are married happy . parents are not , in disposing of their children in marriage , to govern themselves wholly by their respect to riches and honour ; but are to have a regard to virtue and goodness , so far , as to prefer one who is discreet and wise , of a virtuous and good disposition , to another that is foolish , or indiscreet , and prophane and atheistical , tho' attended with greater degrees of wealth and earthly honour . * 't is reported of themistocles , a famous athenian captain , that when several young men came i● suit of his daughter , he preferred one who was a wise and virtuous person , to another that was very rich. when some people wondered at this choice , he told them , he had rather have a man without money , than money without a man. what a great reproach is it to our religion , to think that so many parents , in disposing of their children , only consider how much wealth they may have , and what friends and alliances they may make , by marrying into such a family ? or what profits and preferments may be expected thereby ? as for any other thing , they do not much trouble their heads about it : they know no other happiness but in the things of this life , and therefore they seek nothing else for their children , but to make them great and wealthy ; * by which means it often comes to pass that they bring their children into a most miserable and unhappy state of life , in which they must pine away their days in sorrow and grief , in the company of foolish and wicked wretches , who are often in a fury and rage , who spend their time in gaming and drinking , in cursing and swearing , in quarrelling and fighting , in whoring and ranting and such like woful doings ; which cannot but prove to those , who have any the least degree of real goodness , so very uneasie and afflictive , that wealth and riches can make no amends for them . such unfortunate persons cannot but often envy ▪ the happiness of those who are in a very poor and low estate and condition , but yet live in peace and quietness , in love and concord , and in the fear of cod ; and so enjoy real satisfaction and contentment , and have a great deal of comfort to sweeten their outward wants and necessities . for as the wise man says , prov. 15. 16 , 17. better is little with the fear of the lord ; than great treasure , and trouble therewith . better is a dinner of herbs where love is , than a stalled ox , and hatred therewith . but besides all this , it too often falls out , that they who are given in marriage to vicious and profligate persons , are , sooner or later , involved in those judgments , which are caused by the sins and follies of the persons to whom they are matched . 't is true , such persons have a great deal to support their spirits , if they have not been partakers with them in their works of darkness : in this case , there is no doubt but their merciful and gracious god will order what they suffer for their good . but , alas ! it too often comes to pass , that they who are unequally yoked , either with persons of a false religion , or of a wicked life , do by degrees degenerate from their strict and virtuous education : tho' formerly they seemed to have a right sense of religion , and a great inclination to the best things , yet sooner or later , by the example and perswasions of their irreligious and atheistical relatives , they lose all sense of god , and give up themselves to all manner of wickedness . 't is said of jehoram , who was educated under a religious father , jehosaphat , 2 chron. 21. 6. that he walked in the way of the kings of israel , like as did the house of ahab , for he had the daughter of ahab to wife , &c. where 't is very observable , that this unequal marriage of jehoram , is noted as the cause of his great wickedness . and from the following verses it appears , how many heavy judgments fell upon him for his impiety . to what hath been said may be added , that the hurt and inconvenience attending such marriages , does not only affect the married persons themselves , but likewise extends to their off-spring and posterity , who are in great danger of being corrupted , as to their religion and manners , by the influence and example of their parents . 't is observed as one principal cause of the wickedness of rehoboam , ( 1 kings 14. 21. ) that his mother was an ammonitess ; which is repeated , v. 31. to shew us that 't is a matter which deserves to be taken notice of . to the same purpose 't is said of ahaziah king of judah , ( 2 king. 8. 27. ) that he walked in the way of the house of ahab , and did evil in the sight of the lord , as did the house of ahab ; for he was the son in law of the house of ahab . thirdly , parents are to provide for them , if they can , somewhat that may be a foundation for their comfortable subsistance in the world ; which by the blessing of god on their callings , may be improved towards their living decently and honestly . for this end , they ought to keep within compass , and to avoid all vain and unnecessary expences . parents ought to lay up for the children , says the apostle , 2 cor. 12. 14. and 2 tim. 5. 8. he that provideth not for his own , is worse than an infidel . parents are not to propose to themselves , the rendring their children very great and rich : but as they themselves having food and rayment , are to be therewith content ; so , if they can get necessaries for their children , they ought to rest satisfied , and be thankful . our life ( that is , the happiness of our life ) doth not consist in the abundance of the things we possess , luke 12. 15. tho' you are to provide for your children , yet you are not , out of too great thoughtfulness about the time to come , to restrain your selves from doing all necessary offices of charity to the poor , who do now stand in need of your help : never neglect a present duty for fear of an uncertain inconvenience : you are forbid to take thought for the morrow , mat. 6. 34. but you are required to do good to all men , while you have opportunity , gal. 6. 10. to cast your bread upon the waters : to give a portion to seven , as also unto eight , because you know not what evil there may be in the earth , eccles. 11. 1 , 2. this is the way to lay up treasures for your children ; to entail upon them great blessings ; to make god their guardian ; to leave them to his merciful and kind providence , and to his almighty protection . psal. 37. 25 , 26. i have been young , and now am old ; yet have i not seen the righteous forsaken , nor his seed begging bread. he is ever merciful and lendeth , and his seed is blessed . so that by your bounty and charity , you bring your wares to a good market , you put forth your money into god's hands , who will not fail to repay it with usury . for as the wise man saith , he that hath pity upon the poor , lendeth unto the lord , and that which he hath given will he pay him again . prov. 19. 17. the liberal soul shall be made fat , and he that watereth , shall be watered also himself , prov. 11. 25. he that gives to the poor shall not lack , prov. 28. 27. and deut. 15. 10. it is written , thou shalt surely give him , ( to wit , thy poor brother ) and thy heart shall not be grieved , when th●● givest unto him ; because that for this thing , the lord thy god shall bless thee ▪ in all thy works , and in all that th●● puttest thine hands unto . and in the epistle to the hebrews , chap. 6. v. 10. it is said , god is not unrighteous to forget your work , and labour of love , which you have shewed towards his name , in that you have ministred to the saints , and do minister . from all which it appears , that charity and liberality are the best husbandry . as you are to beware , lest your care for your children , make you neglect necessary duties of charity ; so you are to take heed , lest you use any unlawful method to get wealth to bestow upon them : this is not a way to make them rich ; for such riches seldom prosper : there is a curse which attends all unlawful gain , and like a canker eats it out , and consumes it . all ages and places afford examples , which confirm this observation . wealth gotten by vanity , saith solomon , shall be diminished , prov. 13. 11. and again , prov. 10. 3. he saith , treasures of wickedness profit nothing . and jer. 17. 11. 't is said , as the partridge sitteth on eggs , and hatcheth them not , so be that getteth riches and not by right , shall leave them in the midst of his days , and at his end shall be a fool. a small estate got honestly , is a hundredfold better than a vast and plentiful estate purchased by unrighteous methods . a little , saith the psalmist , psal. 37. 16. that a righteous man hath , is better than the riches of many wicked . and , better , saith solomon , prov. 16. 8. is a little with righteousness , than great revenues without right . as it is the duty of parents by all honest and lawful ways , to provide somewhat for their children , and to preserve it for them ; so they ought in due time to bestow upon them more or less of what they have acquired and purchased , and not wholly to delay the doing of this until their own decease . they ought , so far as they can , to afford their children whatever their present necessities or their lawful occasions do require : and the more virtuous and industrious they see their children , they ought to give them so much the more liberally , that they may have not only what is absolutely necessary for them , but likewise , what they may improve for the bettering their estate in the world ; that they may live decently , and may also have somewhat wherewith to help and relieve others . how great a reproach is it to some persons , who have a great deal of wealth , out of a woful covetous temper to suffer their children to go in rags , and to depend upon the charity or good nature of others , for a piece of bread ! such parents must needs be very unnatural , whose bowels are not stirred with compassion towards their children , when they see them in distress and want ; and who do not all they can for their necessary supply and assistance . but , tho parents ought to give their children chearfully and seasonably more or less of their worldly goods , yet they must have a care , lest out of an indiscreet fondness , they give them more than their own circumstances will permit . how many sad examples are there of children , who have either wholly neglected their parents , or who have not cared for them as they ought to have done , so soon as they were put into the possession of their estate and fortune ? whereas formerly , they seemed to carry themselves with all possible duty and affection , no sooner did their parents bestow all they had ( or at least , the greatest part ) upon them , but they begun to grow insolent towards them , and went on to so great a height of undutifulness , that their poor parents were forced to leave them , and thenceforth to live in a very melancholly and mournful condition . 't is therefore the wisdom of parents , so to give their children , as still to reserve to themselves what is needful for their own support : they ought rather to keep their children in a dependance upon them , than that they should depend upon their children . to this purpose is the advice of the son of syrach , ecclesiasticus 33. 18 , 19 , &c. hear me , o ye great men of the people , and hearken with your ears , ye rulers of the congregation . give not thy son and wife , thy brother and friend , power over thee while thou livest , and give not thy goods to another , lest it repent thee , and thou intreat for the same again . as long as thou livest and hast breath in thee , give not thy self over to any . for better it is that thy children should seek to thee , than that thou shouldest stand to their courtesie . in all thy works keep to thy self the preeminence , leave not a stain in thine honour . at the time when thou shalt end thy days and finish thy life , distribute thy inheritance . 4 thly . 't is the duty of parents to have their will and testament in readiness . they ought , while they are in health , to determine the several proportions of their worldly goods , which they intend to bestow on their children , and not to leave the doing of this till the very immediate approach of death . a wise man ought so to dispose of his affairs in time , that when he comes to die , he may have as little work to do as is possible . 't is very unfit , on many accounts , to leave the ordering of those things which relate to a man's estate unto the last hour . for , 1. no man knows if he shall have a leisurely passage out of the world , so as to have time to settle his affairs ; a thousand accidents may prevent this ; of which see [ discourse about the right way of improving our time , motive 2 d. ] 2 dly . tho' you should have time on your death-bed , for ordering your temporal affairs , yet what signifies time ( considered abstractly and separately ) if you are not fit to use it ? for ought you know , your sickness then may so affect your head , that you shall not be able to act any longer as rational creatures , but must be governed and taken care of by others , as if you were children upon the breasts , or perhaps as persons in a much more sad and lamentable condition . now therefore , it is fit for all who are wise , to provide against such casualties , and not to delay so important and necessary a work to an uncertain moment . 3 dly . supposing you have a leisurely passage out of this life , together with the use of your reason all the while , yet consider , that you are likely to have enough to do in your last hours , tho' the ordering of your temporal concerns do not then lie upon your hands . your spiritual enemies will , very probably , at that time , muster up all their forces , and use their utmost effort , either to conquer you , or to frighten and disturb you : you will then find that all your preparation is little enough , that you may finish your course with joy : the sight of death will make you see a great many things , far otherwise than you saw them in time of health : the things of this life will then appear very little and inconsiderable , and eternity will appear as a vast and boundless ocean : your good actions will appear but very few and imperfect , and your sins and follies very many and great . thus it is generally with the best and most holy persons ; and therefore , 't is your wisest and safest course , to dispatch , not only as much of your great business as you can before the approach of death , but likewise to dispose of your worldly concerns in such a manner , that they may not prove a hindrance and a burthen to you at that time , when you are to have a sharp conflict with the king of terrors . but besides all these considerations , which ought to excite you to put your house in order , in time of your health ; consider farther , that by so doing , you will prevent a great deal of trouble and confusion , and of strife and division , which oft-times happen amongst children , when their several portions are not assigned them by the will of their parents . how sad is it to reflect upon so many instances of this kind , as have happened in our days ! it cannot but be look'd upon as a great reproach to our holy religion , to see brethren , and other near relations , contending , and going to law with one another , and thereby laying the foundation of lasting variance and discord , of bitterness and wrath , of anger and clamour , of malice and envy , &c. which too often are concluded , with the desolation and destruction of one or other of the contending parties , if not of the whole family . how needful therefore is it for parents to make their will in good time ? when they are in health , when their understanding is good , when their memory is perfect , when they are able to think of business , and to judge calmly and discreetly of what they do ; when they can call to mind what they owe , and what is owing to them . and because of the great falsehood and wickedness of the world , by which it often happens that the true sense of mens words are perverted , it is likewise very fit that parents , in setting their house in order , have the advice of those who are skilful , upright , and faithful persons , by whose assistance their will may be framed in such terms and expressions , as may ( so far as is possible ) prevent the cavils of crafty and ungodly men. as parents ought to use a great deal of caution and circumspection in all things relating to their last will , so particularly in the choice of guardians for their children , who , after their own decease , may act the part of parents towards them , and may promote their happiness and welfare , both in temporal and spiritual things . if you know amongst your near relations those who are wise and prudent , true and upright persons , who fear and love god , and of whose sincere kindness you have had long experience , 't is very reasonable to prefer them before strangers . * but if you have found others more sincere and upright , more prudent and discreet , more kind and loving , more constant in their friendship , and more faithful to your true interest , than your nearer relations have been , you ought rather to entrust your children to their care , than to those , who , tho' your kinsmen , have given you no great ground to expect much kindness and faithfulness at their hands towards your children . if they have not been very faithful to you , 't is but madness to expect that they should prove more faithful to them . tho' they may grow better , yet no wise man ought to trust so great and dear a concern to such an uncertainty . thus i have shewed you what are the principal duties you owe to the souls and bodies of your children , and what you are to do for them as to their outward estate . the above mentioned particulars earnestly recommended to parents . from what hath been said you may see , what a weighty and difficult charge you have ; the sense whereof should excite you to beg of god earnestly every day , that he would direct and assist you , to perform the duties that belong to christian parents . that you may the better act your part ; 't is fit for you , when you call your selves to an account about your lives and conversations , to make enquiry particularly how you perform the duties of parents towards your children , as to their souls , their bodies , and outward concerns : and if , upon serious enquiry , you find that you sincerely endeavour to do whatever you know your selves to be bound to do for them ; then bless and praise god , who gives you both to will and to do according to his good pleasure : beg his pardon for those imperfections and defects that attend all humane actions , resolve to go on , and not to grow weary in your duty towards them ; that so they may be as happy in all respects , as is possible for you , by the help of god , to make them . but if upon inquiry , you find that you have been very negligent in your duty towards your children ; that you have done very little good for their souls , and not what you should , and might have done for their bodies and outward estate ; and that perhaps you have done them a great deal of hurt by your evil counsel , and prophane and wretched example ; that you have led them on in the broad way , which leads to the chambers of death , that you have robbed god , who bestowed them on you , of their service and obedience ; and have made them the servants of sin ; that you have contributed to the making them heirs of wrath , and children of disobedience , who were made by their baptism , children of god , and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven ; that you have done what tended to destroy eternally those souls and bodies , which god intrusted with you , that you might take care of them , and do what you could to make them happy . if , i say , upon enquiry into your hearts and lives , you find your selves guilty of those things , how great reason have you to be in bitterness and grief of heart , to weep and lament , to abhor your selves in dust and ashes , to confess and acknowledge your sins with great humility and contrition , to implore the divine mercy and forgiveness with all earnestness , for the sake of his dear son ; to resolve and purpose sincerely to amend your ways and doings ; to beg grace from god , that he would assist you , that he would compass you about with his salvation , and never leave you nor forsake you ; that he would give you his holy spirit to sanctifie you , to wash and cleanse you , to lead and guide you , to support and strengthen you , to revive and quicken you , to carry you from strength to strength , and from grace to grace , till you come and appear before him in sion . consider the particular things wherein you have hurt the souls of your children , and failed in your duty to them , as to their bodies and outward concerns : and the more you find you have done amiss , resolve so much the more to be zealous to do them good ; to double your diligence in promoting the welfare and happiness both of their souls and bodies . tell them so far as is meet , what you now see and feel ; let them know that you have been out of the way , that you have misled them , and brought both your selves and them in danger of being undone , and ruined eternally : tell them what you resolve to do , and what you and they ought to do , and must do , or else that you will certainly perish . delay not to do this one moment : fly like a bird out of the snare of the fowler . your souls lie at the stake , and therefore do what men use to do to save their lives ; skin for skin , and all that a man hath , will be give for his life . men are ready to part with any thing to save their lives ; they 'l part with house and lands , with silver and gold , with their whole estate and substance , to save their bodies alive , which must die at last , and , for ought they know , may die within a very few days or hours . how much more ought you , that you may save your own souls , and the souls of your children , to part with your ●ile and unruly lusts and passions , your vain foolish habits and customs , which are your reproach and dishonour , which are the worst things in the world , which can do you no good , if you hold them still , but will certainly do you a great deal of mischief ? they will prove the cause of your destruction ; they will deprive you of all that is good and excellent ; they will cut you off from the favour of god , the love of christ , and the fellowship of the blessed spirit ; they will likewise deprive you of the assistance and ministry of the holy angels , and the comfortable society of the saints departed ; they will exclude you for ever from the kingdom of heaven , the crown of righteousness , the peace , the joy , the love , and glory of the future state : all this your sins will deprive you of ; and instead thereof , they will expose you to the wrath of god , to the devouring fire , to everlasting burnings , to blackness of darkness , to weeping and gnashing of teeth , to the wretched and cursed company of devils and damned souls , to the worm which never dieth , which will gnaw you , and torment you for ever : and will you chuse all this rather than part with your lusts , that you may be for ever happy , and have fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore ? will you be so mad , as to prefer hell and death , everlasting misery and woe , to heaven and everlasting life , to blessedness and glory ? and will you still continue to be so cruel to your poor children , as to draw them along with you to the bottomless pit ? now is the time for you to become either happy or miserable ; if you repent and amend , and act the part of wise and religious parents , you may be happy ; for god will have mercy upon you . isa. 55. 7. let the wicked forsake his way , and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him return unto the lord , and he will have mercy upon him , and to our god , for he will abundantly pardon . follow therefore the example of the psalmist , psal. 119. 59 , 60. i thought on my ways , and turned my feet unto thy testimonies , i made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments . resolve without delay to forsake your wicked customs and practices : begin in earnest to work out your own salvation : and do all that lies in your power to make your children wise and good . but if , instead of this , you continue in your sin and folly , setting at naught god's counsels , and despising his reproofs , putting the evil day far from you , promising your selves peace and safety , tho' you walk after your own hearts lusts ; making a mock at sin , and laughing at all that is sacred and serious ; and by your wicked example destroying the souls and bodies of your poor children ; then assure your selves god will not be mocked ; he will at last whet his sword and bend his bow , and make ready his arrows against his adversaries ; he will render to you according to your works ; he will in no wise clear the guilty . consider the terrible threatning which is mentioned , deut. 29. 19 , 20. against the man , who , when he heareth the words of the curse , does bless himself in his heart , saying , i shall have peace , tho' i walk in the imagination of my heart , to add drunkenness to thirst : [ the lord will not spar● him , but the anger of the lord and his jealousie shall smoke against that man ; and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him , and the lord shall blot out his name from under heaven . ] concerning the duty of parents when god removeth their children by death . the death of children as well as aged persons , falls out so very often , that it cannot but be seasonable to a great many parents to suggest to them some plain and easie considerations , which they may sometimes reflect upon , and imprint on their minds , that so they may not be surprised with the death of their children , nor swallowed up of excessive and immoderate grief . parents ought to consider , when their children dye , first , that it is the lord who does it : he who is lord of life , who gave life to themselves and to their children , is also lord of death , and removes out of the world whom , and when , he sees fit , he is the great potter ; and man is the clay , which he hath formed and fashioned into a curious and beautiful shape ; and animated with an immortal soul : when he sees fit to break this brittle vessel in pieces , and to separate the soul from it , who can stay his hand ? or who dare say unto him , what dost thou ? may not he do with his own , what he thinks good ? or must he give an account of his actions , unto the work of his own hands ? he is infinitely great and powerful ; and therefore will do according to his own good pleasure : he is infinitely wise , and knows what 's best and fittest to be done : he is infinitely good and kind , and therefore will order all things for good : and he is infinitely just and righteous , and therefore can do no wrong . it 's fit therefore that parents , when god removes their children from them by death , submit chearfully to the will of him , who is infinitely powerful , wise , good , and just ; and that they adore him , and say with ely , 1 sam. 3. 18. it is the lord , let him do what seemeth him good . and with the royal psalmist , ps. 39. 9. i was dumb , i opened not my mouth ; because thou didst it . secondly , they should consider that their children were born mortal , frail by nature , subject to a necessity of dying , by their very composition and frame ; and also by the decree of heaven , heb. 9. 27. it is appointed for all men once to dye . and therefore when god sees fit to remove them by death , to make the house of clay fall down about their ears , parents ought not to be surprised . this is nothing but what falls out daily : some are going out of the world , and some are coming into it : some are a great while upon the stage , and some but a very short while ; some no sooner enter upon it , but presently they are gone , and are seen no more ; some take a few turns , and then they are withdrawn ; some tarry longer , and act a great part on the stage , for a considerable time , and give hopes of yet greater actions and performances ; but on a sudden they are gone likewise , as a shadow ; and all their own designs and projects , and the hopes and expectations of others fall to the ground . all this happens every day in the course of things here in the world ; and therefore parents have no reason to think it strange when they see their children dye . the thing that hath been , it is that which shall be ; and that which is done , is that which shall be done ; and there is no new thing under the sun , eccles. 1. 9. and as it is with men , so it is with all things else , which live upon the earth , or grow out of it : some live longer and some a shorter while than others of the same kind : some prosper and thrive , and others decay and perish . some things grow up in the morning , and are withered e're night : some things grow apace till they are very near the time of ripeness and perfection ; and then somewhat happeneth , which prevents the perfect growth , and makes the goodly appearance come to nothing : now , what are men ? moses in his prayer ( ps. 90. 5 , 6. ) tells us , in the morning they are like grass , which groweth up ; in the morning it flourisheth and groweth up : in the evening it is cut down and withereth . and to the same purpose the psalmist david speaketh , psal. 103. 15 , 16. as for man his days are as grass , as a flower of the field , so he flourisheth , for the wind passeth over it , and it is gone , and the place thereof shall know it no more . likewise esa. 40. 6 , 7. it is thus written , the voice said cry. and he said , what shall i cry ? all flesh is grass , and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field . the grass withereth , the flower fadeth , because the spirit of the lord bloweth upon it : surely the people is grass . by all which it appears what man is by nature , to wit , a very weak and vanishing thing , soon nipt and brought to nothing ; like the tender grass , and the flower of the field , which is more exposed to the winds and other inconveniences , than the flowers of the garden , which the gardiner preserves and secures . the consideration of these things , will tend mightily to quiet the minds of those who calmly and wisely reflect upon them , when god removes their children , or other relations from them by death . their case is not singular , it is that which is common and usual amongst men ; it is according to the course of nature for a mortal thing to die . plutarch reports of anaxagoras , an ancient philosopher , that when he was discoursing to his hearers concerning the causes of natural things , one brought him the news of his sons death ; upon which , after a little pause , he said to those who were present , i knew i begat a son that was mortal . the consideration of this did quiet the thoughts of this heathen . but what if the manner of the death of your children be somewhat extraordinary , by some sudden and unusual accident , or by some strange and odd distemper ; are you on this account to allow your selves in the excesses of sorrow and mourning ? no , in no ways : you are not therefore to be transported into immoderate grief and mourning . shall you be vexed and disquieted , because a worm did eat up your pleasant fruit , or because the stormy wind did blow away your lovely flowers ? are you therefore to be enraged and mad with anger against the worms , or against the winds ? what would it mend the matter , if you should give way to your passion and anger never so much in such a case ? this would only multiply your losses , by making you lose not only your fruit and your flowers , but your selves too : which they all do , who lose their patience , in which it is that we possess our souls . when therefore your children are removed from you by death , in some unusual and extraordinary manner , you ought to look beyond diseases , or accidents , unto the lord of life and death ; who by his providence ordereth not only their death , but the manner of it . if the sparrows fall not to the ground , that is , die not , without your father : you may be sure your children do not die by chance , or without the particular disposal of their heavenly father . as to the particular grounds and reasons , for which god does after such a manner see fit to put an end to your childrens days , you are not to be too curious and inquisitive . the counsels of god are a great deep : his ways are in the deep waters ; and none by searching can find him out unto perfection , job 11. 7. upon such occasions all ought to remember the words of our lord , when they told him of the galileans , whose blood pilate hath mingled with their sacrifices , luke 13. 2 , 3 , 4 , 5. suppose ye that these galileans were sinners above all the galileans , because they suffered such things ? i tell you , nay : but except ye repent , ye shall all likewise perish . or those eighteen upon whom the tower of si●oe fell , and slew them , think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in jerusalem ? i tell you , nay : but except ye repe●t , ye shall all likewise perish . we see what was aarons carriage , when god removed his two sons nadab and abihu by a very extraordinary stroke . levit. 10. 2. there went fire from the lord and devour'd them , &c. and v. 3. 't is said , that aaron 〈◊〉 his peace . he did not murmur against the justice of god , or complain as if he had been too severe . no , he was silent ; he submitted to the will 〈◊〉 god , and considered that the honour of god ought to be dearer to him tha● the lives of his two sons . in like manner we see how job carried himself , when god removed 〈◊〉 seven sons and three daughters , all at one blow , in an extraordinary manner , job 1. 18 , 19. thy sons and thy da●ghters were eating and drinking wine 〈◊〉 their eldest brothers house ; and 〈◊〉 there came a great wind from the wilderness , and smote the four corners 〈◊〉 the house , and it fell upon the young men , and they are dead . this was sad news to the good old man , who had ●●rd so much ill news before . but yet for all this , you see how patiently ●e hare his affliction . he fell down ●pon the ground and worshipped , and said , naked came i out of my mothers womb , and naked shall i return thither : the lord gave , and the lord hath taken 〈◊〉 , blessed be the name of the lord , job . 1. 20 , 21. this good man was so far from cursing god , which satan said ●e would do , that he humbly adored and worshipped him . he was so far from blasphemeing god , and from entertaining any dishonourable thoughts of him , as if he had done any thing which he ought not to have done , that , 〈◊〉 the contrary , he approved of all , he acquiesced in the divine pleasure ; he considered , that all that he once enjoyed , was a free and undeserved gift from god , which he so gave , as still to reserve to himself the supreme power of disposing of it , as he should think good ; and therefore , when all was taken away from him , he blessed the name of the lord ; he did not quarrel with the divine providence , but was heartily thankful , not only for the former mercies , but also for th● present correction and chastisement which he knew to proceed from infinite wisdom , goodness , and justice . to the abovementioned instances from scripture , might be added several examples of the patience and composedness of spirit , which some heathens discovered , when their children were suddenly snatched away by a violent and untimely death . i shall only mention two , related by plutarch . the 1 st is , of dio of syracuse , who , as he was busie in consulting with his friends about matters of importance , heard a great noise and tumult in the house , which occasioned his enquiring what the matter was ; and being told that his son was dead by a fall from the roof of the house , he received this sad news without discovering any perturbation of mind ; and having given orders that the dead body should be delivered into the hands of the women , that they might take care of it , and that it should be buried in the accustomed manner ; he went on in his design , to consult with his friends about the business that was before him . the other instance , is , of xenophon , who , when he was employed in offering sacrifice , received the news of his son 's being killed in battel ; at the hearing of which he pull'd off the garland from his head , wherewith it was then covered , and having askt the manner of his son's death , and being told that he died fighting valiantly for his country , he quickly brought his mind , which was a little disturb'd , into subjection to his reason , and again putting on the garland , he went on with his sacrifice , and told those who brought him the news of his son's death , i never pray'd the gods to make my son immortal , or very long liv'd ( it being very uncertain if that be expedient ) but to make him an honest man , and a lover of his country : and now , said he , i have my desire . thirdly , consider from whence , and whither they are gone . they were here in a life of vexation and trouble ; subject to innumerable vanities , temptations , snares , and dangers : they were compassed about with great and terrible enemies , the devil , the world , and the flesh : they were subject to daily necessities and wants . i● they had lived never so long , they would only have seen the same things in a continual succession and revolution : as for example , heat and cold , fair weather and foul , might and day , summer and winter , health and sickness , plenty and poverty , peace and war , prosperity and adversity , succeeding one to another : all things going round . but now they are delivered from all these ; they are at rest , they are subject to no more necessities and wants ; oppressed with no more troubles and vexations ; exposed to no more enemies , temptations , or dangers ; but exalted to a state of perfect peace , joy , love , and glory . they are as well and better than you can desire : you are not able to comprehend the happiness that they are admitted to . will you then be in continual sorrow and grief for your children , when they are exalted to a state of rest and glory ; when they are where you would rejoyce to be ; when their gracious father hath freed them from the vain company of the world , and translated them into the blessed society of angels , and of the spirits of just men made perfect ; when he hath put an end to their toil and labour , to their fighting and wrestling against their enemies , and bestowed on them a crown of glory , and an everlasting inheritance ; when he hath broken their bonds asunder , wherein they were held and kept in captivity and slavery , and hath put them into a state of perfect and glorious freedom ? the consideration of these things should mitigate and asswage your sorrow and grief , and fill you with unspeakable comfort and gladness . but some are apt to say , i should rejoyce , if i thought that my children , who are dead , were in heaven : but this i do not know . as to this , you are not to trouble your thoughts about it ; for god does not see fit to acquaint you with such things . secret things belong to god ; and things revealed to us and to our children , deut. 29. 29. if your children , while they were alive , minded good things ; and if you did your part to instruct them , and to make them what god requires them to be , you are not to be any further solicitous about their everlasting state : you are to hope that they are very happy , and you are to comfort your selves with these thoughts . others are apt to say , i am afraid that my children are not in a happy state ; they did very bad things , and used bad company ; and therefore i have cause to fear , and to be troubled about them , now that they are dead . as to such parents , who have had wretched children , they ought not to suffer their minds to be disordered , and oppressed with grief and sorrow , because their children , who died , were wicked . if they did their duty to make them better ; if they advised and admonished them ; if they reproved them , and , as was fitting , chastened them ; if they desired others to deal with them , to see what they could do towards the reclaiming of them ; if they prayed to god for them , and gave them a good example : they are not any further to be troubled and disquieted concerning them , when god takes them into his own hand ; he is wise and good , holy and just , he does all things well , for excellent and glorious ends ; and therefore parents ought to leave them to his disposal , who is the supreme governour of the world , and judge of the whole earth . whatever he does , whether in mercy or justice , is always best . the inhabitants of the other world , who are translated into a state of heavenly glory , are not under the power of such passions and partialities , as govern us here below . the glorified parents of damned children , are not under any uneasiness on that or any other account : the will of god and his glory is their all ; they know that whatever he does is most perfectly just and good , and for his honour ; and therefore all things afford them great pleasure and delight , true and lasting joy and satisfaction of mind . there 's nothing able to interrupt the happiness and joy of those in glory : they are perfectly and eternally delivered from all sort of evils , both of sin and punishment : they are placed above the reach of whatever may render them in the least uneasie . but there is a third sort ; of those who are troubled , not only because their children were bad and prophane , but because they were so through their example or neglect . as for such , i have already in general shewed them what they ought to do . i shall only add ; that since they have been so faulty and defective in their duty towards their deceased children , they ought to be the more careful of those who are yet alive , and to do all that is possible to make them what god requires them to be . as to those who have no more children left them , it would be very fit for them to take into their care one or more children , upon whom they may bestow all that pains and care which they should have bestowed in the right education of their own ; and endeavour , by god's help , to make them truly pious and religious , and patterns of all sorts of virtue to others . this is an office which will be very acceptable to god , and one of the best demonstrations which parents can make of the sincerity of their repentance , for their not having done their duty to their own children . fourthly , consider , that there will be a resurrection of all those that are dead . the mighty power of god , which made all things out of nothing , will also gather together the scattered dust of those who are deceased , and will reform and rebuild , as it were , their bodies which are fallen down , and consumed . he will raise them up again in a more excellent , perfect , and glorious manner . then shall you meet with your children and friends who died in the lord , and behold them after another manner ▪ than you saw them here in this world. instead of weak and diseased bodies , you shall see them strong , vigorous , and lively bodies : instead of frail and dying bodies , you shall see immortal and incorruptible bodies : instead of filthy and vile bodies , you shall see pure and glorious bodies : and you shall see them so as to be with them for ever , so as never any more to be separated from them by death , or any other thing ; for you and they shall die no more : 1 cor. 15. 42 , 43 , 44. so also is the resurrection of the dead . it is sown in corruption , it is raised in incorruption ; it is sown in dishonour , it is raised in glory . it is sown in weakness , it is raised in power . it is sown a natural body , it is raised a spiritual body : and , vers . 53. this corruptible must put on incorruption , and this mortal must put on immortality . how gladly would poor people part with their dearest children , if they could be assured of seeing them again in an honourable state and condition , exalted to great dignity and honour ? and will not you , who have the hopes of a glorious resurrection , be comforted in the absence of your children ? when their merciful god and father takes them away from you unto himself ; not to do them hurt , but good ; to make them happy and blessed with himself for ever ; to bestow upon them what eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , nor which hath entred into the heart of man to conceive ? consider the words of the apostle to the thessalonians , 1 epist. 4. 13 , 14. but i would not have you to be ignorant , brethren , concerning them which are asleep , that ye sorrow not , even as others which have no hope : for if we believe that jesus dyed and rose again , even so them , which sleep in jesus , will god bring with him . fifthly , your giving way to excessive grief and mourning , can do you no good , but will certainly do you a great deal of hurt and mischief in many respects . it cannot bring back your children that are dead . though you should break your hearts into a thousand pieces , by your weeping and mourning , and waste and consume your years in constant heaviness and sorrow ; tho' you should never henceforth allow your selves one moment of relaxation of mind ; after all , you must go to them , they shall not return to you . now what a folly is it for men to consume , to disquiet , and to torment themselves , where it is to no purpose at all to do so ? and not only do you thereby no good at all to your selves , but you do your selves a great deal of mischief and prejudice . you provoke god to anger against you , to bring upon you yet heavier and more grievous punishments , and to deprive you of other mercies and comforts , which you still enjoy . you do thereby no small hurt to your bodies ; you bring upon your selves very dangerous distempers , which will make you unfit for the actions of life , and the duties of your calling . you likewise do unspeakable mischief to your souls ; you deprive your selves of that vigour and chearfulness of spirit , that is needful to make you fit to serve god acceptably . you thereby weaken your memory , and darken and disorder your reason and understanding , and so expose your selves to all the sad consequences of a disordered and distracted mind . your example does also a great deal of hurt to others : your impatience and immoderate sorrow and mourning teacheth others to do so upon the like occasion . hereby you bring no small reproach upon our holy religion , as if it were not sufficient to support and fortifie us against our crosses and afflictions , and to comfort us amidst the uneasie things which god sees fit to exercise us with in this world. what an excellent example is david unto you in this matter ? when god struck his child , so that it was very sick , he fasted and prayed ; but when the child died , he arose from the earth , and washed and anointed himself , and changed his apparel , and c●me unto the house of the lord , and worshipped : then he came to his own house ; and when he required , they 〈◊〉 bread before him , and he did eat . then said his servants unto him , what thing is this that thou hast done ? thou didst fast and weep for the child , while it was alive ; but when the child was dead , thou didst rise and eat bread. and he said , while the child was yet alive , i fasted and wept ; for i said , who can tell , whether god will be gracious unto me , that the child may live ? but now he is dead , wherefore should i fast ? can i bring him again ? i shall go to him , but he shall not return to me , 2 sam. 12. 15 , 16 , &c. thus ought all parents to do , who fear god. when the lord layeth his hand upon your children , you ought to pray to god for them , and to use all lawful means for their recovery : but when he ●ees fit to take them away by death , you ought patiently to submit to his will ; this is your wisest course ; it is the way to make your selves happy , and to enjoy comfort and satisfaction of mind under your crosses . this is the likeliest and readiest way to obtain new mercies and favours from the lord , instead of those you are deprived of : thus you see the lord dealt with job : jam. 5. 11. ye have heard of the patience of job , and have seen the end of the lord : that the lord is very pitiful , and of tender mercy . and , job 42. 12 , 13. the lord blessed the latter end of job , more than his beginning . and , vers . 16 , 17. after this lived job an hundred and forty years , and saw his sons , and his sons sons , even four generations . so job dyed , being old and full of days . but if god see it more fit to withhold from you the blessings of the womb , and to bestow no more children upon you ; he can and will make up this want , with much greater and better blessings . what you want in temporals , you shall have in spirituals . as elkanah said to hannah , 1 sam. 1. 8. he will be better to you than ten sons . he will give you a name better than of sons and daughters , even an everlasting name , that shall not be cut off . isa. 56. 5. the duty of parents on their death-bed . the shortness and great uncertainty of your time , ought to make you very careful , while you are in health , to improve , as well as you can , the present opportunities of doing good to your children , both as to their spiritual and temporal concerns . there can be no greater folly , than to delay the doing whatever is needful for your childrens real happiness and welfare , meerly out of a vain expectation of having time enough to do every thing of this kind , when you lie upon your death-bed . 't is strange , that men who daily see the casualties which others do meet with , and who have power to consider the great dangers their own lives have been exposed to , should notwithstanding flatter themselves with such thoughts , and be so far bewitched thereby , as to neglect any duty of importance and necessity , which now they have sufficient opportunity to do . and therefore , while you are in health , fail not to do all the good you can to your children both for their souls and bodies , and for their outward estate . but , if it shall please god to afford you time and leisure , upon your death-bed , to do any thing for their benefit , neglect not at such a time to do whatever your weakness and sickness will permit . particularly , 1 st , give them your best advice : direct them according to their capacities : consider what their faults and defects most commonly have been , and suggest to them such things as god shall bring into your mind , to make them sensible of their faults , and to rescue them from their evil habits . consider what those things are , whereby they are most likely to be endangered , and strive to fortifie their minds with such wholesom precepts and maxims , as may tend to preserve them for the time to come . consider what good thing does appear in any of them , and endeavour to stablish their minds in virtue and goodness , in the fear and love of god. amongst other things , 't is 〈◊〉 to recommend to them unity and concord , that they love one another heartily , and be ready to assist and serve one another to the utmost of their power , that they be friendly monitors to one another , and take it kindly and thankfully when they are so deale with . then likewise you may advise them , to endeavour , as much as is possible , to live peaceably with all men ; to be careful , not to wrong any body by word or deed , but on the contrary to seek the welfare of others , to strive to do all the good they can in the world , and to make it as their necessary food to glorifie god. david's example is worthy of the imitation of all religious parents at such a time , of whom 't is said , 1 king. 2. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4. he charged solomon his son , saying , i go the way of all the earth : be thou strong therefore and shew thy self a man. and keep the charge of the lord thy god , to walk in his ways , to keep his statutes and his commandments , and his judgments , and his testimonies , as it is written in the law of moses , that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest , and whithersoever thou turnest thy self : that the lord may confirm his word , which he spake concerning me , &c. 2 dly . pray to god to bless them , to sanctifie them , and to preserve them ; that he would never leave them nor forsake them , that he would be their god and guide , and their portion for ever , that he would possess them with his fear , and keep them in his love , and preserve them from sin , and from all their spiritual enemies , and that he would order all things for their good . the fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much at all times , but never more than when he is stepping into eternity , and going to his heavenly father . parents therefore , at this time , ought to be importunate with god , especially for spiritual blessings to their children , that he would grant them his grace , to walk in his ways , and to keep his commandments , and that his kind providence may be their inheritance . 3 dly . it will be very fit at such a time , to commend them to some of your friends , whom you have found true and faithful , sincere and upright , and kind and loving to you and yours . this is especially needful to be done for those children , who are less able to look to themselves . 't will be of unspeakable advantage to them , in many respects , to be directed and assisted by those who are their true friends , who by their counsel and advice , and by doing other good offices for them , will be as eyes , and hands , and feet unto them , and will prove a defence unto them against a great deal of danger and mischief , till such time as they are capable to mind their own business , and are fixt and settled in the world. having discoursed of the duties of natural parents , 't will not be amiss to say somewhat concerning the duty of those who are in the place of parents , such as step-fathers and step-mothers ( or fathers and mothers in law ) and guardians . and first , concerning the duties of step-fathers and step-mothers . the first and chief thing which belongs to the care of step-parents , is , to do all that they can for the benefit of their childrens souls . they ought to endeavour to season their tender minds with the fear and love of god , to reform what is amiss in their temper and humour by all kind and prudent methods , to teach them to worship god , to remember their creator in the days of their youth : they ought to see that they be taught to read ; that they spend the lord's day well , and that they frequent the place of publick worship : they ought to make them understand what was promised in their name at their baptism , and to encourage them to renew their baptismal covenant , if they have an opportunity : they ought to advise them to come to the lord's table so soon as they are fit for it , and then , as also at other times , to examine themselves , and to call themselves to a strict and serious account , they ought to observe what remarkable mercies and providences they meet with , and to acquaint them therewith so soon as they are capable to reflect on such things : they ought likewise , to talk to them often of the various providences which either they have met with themselves , or which they have observed in the world , that thereby the childrens minds may be affected with a due sense of the power , the greatness , the wisdom , the mercy , and the justice of god. to render all which endeavours effectual , they must be examples of piety to them : they must see what company they use , and do what they can to keep them out of ill company , and to acquaint them with those who have a sense of good things : they must reprove them when it is needful , but with great mildness and discretion : and as for correcting and chastening of them , they ought to leave that part to the natural parent , if alive ; but if the natural parent be dead , then they may correct them when it is necessary , according to their age : but in this great caution ought to be used , they must do it with the greatest gentleness and tenderness that is possible , not only out of conscience , but prudence , to prevent all occasion , which a great many are apt to take , to reflect upon them , and to censure them severely and unjustly , when they do any thing that looks like unkindness or sharpness to their step-children . 't is therefore very adviseable , when correction is necessary , to acquaint some of the childrens relations ( if they be not at too great a distance ) with their fault , and so to correct them by their advice , and , if possible , in their presence , that they may be , as it were , witnesses of their doing nothing but what is absolutely fit and needful to be done for the advantage of the children . step-parents ought also to take the opportunity of their childrens sickness , or of any other adversity they meet with , to set home upon their minds such admonitions and counsels as they were not so apt to mind when they were in health . and to all their other endeavours , they ought to joyn their daily prayers to god for them , that he would bless them , and make them his faithful and obedient children and servants . as step-parents ought principally to take care of the souls of their step-children , so they must not neglect their bodies . their duty as to this , is , in a word , to take care that they have necessary and convenient food and rayment . as to the outward estate of step-children , tho' parents are not obliged to give them any great portion of their worldly goods , especially if they have , or are like to have children of their own , to give such things to ; yet they ought to be careful , that the portions , which of right belong to their step-children , be preserved and improved for their use and advantage , according to the will of the deceased parent . when they are fit for a trade or any honest way of getting their livelyhood , they ought to assist them all they can , that they may be placed forth as happily and comfortably as may be . in like manner when they are fit for marriage , they ought to express a great deal of readiness and chearfulness to serve them to the utmost of their power ; they ought to assist them with their best advice and hearty counsel in a matter of so great importance . and , in a word , they ought not to be wanting to them in any thing that may be useful and beneficial to them , either as to their souls , or bodies , or as to their outward concerns . some motives to stir up step-parents to do these things . it cannot but excite step-parents , to perform the above-mentioned duties for the benefit of their children , both in their spiritual and temporal concerns , if they seriously consider , 1 st , the nature of their marriage relation , whereby they become one flesh with those to whom they are married . when god made the woman , and brought her to the man , gen. 2. 24. he said , therefore shall a man leave his father and mother , and cleave unto his wife , and they shall be one flesh. now , by virtue of this near relation and close union , they ought to have a tender regard for the interests and concerns of one another ; and the dearer any thing is to the one , the greater affection ought the other to have towards it . as therefore 't is past all doubt , that children are the dearest and most valued and beloved earthly thing that natural parents have , upon this account , it is very reasonable , that step-parents should express a great regard and affection for them . 2. this is the way to preserve and to increase that mutual love , which ought to be 'twixt man and wife . if a step-parent is kind and loving to the children , and careful to promote their happiness and welfare , it cannot but have an influence on the natural parent , so as to produce an increase of love and respect , which will render the lives of the married persons very easie and comfortable . whereas , on the other hand , if step-parents are rough , unkind , and unnatural to their step-children , it must needs cause a great deal of mischief ; it will certainly cool , if not quite alienate the affection of the natural parent , and when once this happens , there is thenceforth nothing but strife and contention , jealousies and suspicions , which are ordinarily attended with very sad and dreadful effects , to the utter ruin of one or t'other party , if not of both . 3. this is the way to make the children very respectful and kind , and very dutiful and obedient to them , when they use them kindly , are careful to seek their happiness and welfare , and carry themselves towards them in all respects , as they ought to do . whereas , on the contrary , by being unkind to them , and unconcerned for their happiness and welfare , they provoke them to hate them , and to prove disrespectful and disobedient to them . 4. this is the way to gain a great deal of love and respect from all those who are related to the deceased parents , who cannot chuse but resent it very kindly , when they see the children of their friends well used , and taken care of both as to their souls and bodies : this will make them ready upon all occasions to serve them , and to do them the best offices which are in their power : whereas , on the other hand , if they see the poor children of their deceased friends neglected and contemned , wrong'd and abus'd by unkind step-parents , they must needs take it in very ill part , and resent it heavily ; yea , and all other persons , who see or hear of such unkindness , severity , and injustice , towards poor children , cannot chuse but think very ill of those , who discover themselves to be altogether void , not only of religion , but of humanity also . from what hath been said , it appears how very just and reasonable it is , for step-parents to be heartily concerned both for the spiritual and temporal welfare and happiness of their children . and therefore , how much are they to be condemned , who make no conscience at all of doing any thing for the benefit of either their souls or bodies ? as to their souls , some step-parents are so far from endeavouring to season them with good impressions , and to fortifie them against tentations , that they themselves are their greatest tentation , and do them the greatest hurt and prejudice . as to their bodies , they grudge them necessary food and rayment , and seldom let them have any thing with good will. and as to their outward estate , they are so far from improving for their advantage , the portion of worldly goods that belongeth to them , that , on the contrary , they use their utmost policy to rob them , and to disinherit them , that they may build their own childrens fortune upon the others ruin ; for which end , they make it their business to alienate the affection of their natural parent ; they invent a great many wicked and malicious stories , which , with great boldness and impudence , they fasten upon them ; and they never give over working and undermining , till they have brought about their cruel and cursed devices . but surely he that sits in heaven , and beholds all their contrivances , even he who is the god of recompences , will in due time bring to light their hidden works of darkness , and will vindicate the cause of those poor children , and render to their cruel persecutors according to their works ; he will fooner or later cause them to feel the heavy load of his just and terrible indignation . the duties of guardians . guardians are either chosen by parents before their death , or by children themselves after their parents decease , or by the magistrate . which way soever they are chosen , their duty is , to do what they can for the benefit and advantage of their pupils , both in spiritual and temporal things . as to their souls , they must take care of their good education , according to their age and capacity . if they are not as yet taught to read , they ought to make choice of a skilful and prudent schoolmaster or tutor for them , of whose fitness for such a charge they are well assured . but they must not so intrust them to the care of such persons , as never to mind them more themselves : they ought to enquire after them now and then , and either by themselves or others more fit for it , make tryal of their proficiency , that so they may be able to judge and resolve what is further to be done for them . as for the way of training them up in true piety , the directions given to parents are to be observed and practised . as to their bodies , the former directions likewise to parents , concerning childrens diet and apparel , ought to be followed . as to their outward estate , when they are fit for a trade , or some sort of business , they ought to take care to settle them in good company , so far as is possible , and in such a way of living as is most agreeable to their genius and inclination , and which their friends and relations reckon most sutable and convenient for them . it will afford great peace and satisfaction to guardians , whatever be the event , if in this matter they have a due regard to childrens own inclination , and to the opinion of their friends and relations . as to their marriage , when it is time to dispose of them that way , they onght to do nothing by force and violence : they must not constrain them to marry , unless they have a mind themselves : and tho' they are not bound absolutely to approve of those whom their pupils fancy , without any regard to their fitness , yet they are obliged by the law of justice and equity , not to impose upon them such matches as they cannot like . as to their patrimony and inheritance , they ought to improve it , as much as may be , for the childrens good , and to employ it wholly for their use , except so far as the law does allow them their necessary charges , in which they ought to govern themselves , by that golden-rule , mat. 7. 12. all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you , do ye even so to them . some motives to excite guardians to do these things . the first thing , which should stir up guardians to perform their duty towards their pupils , is , a sense of justice . when they are chosen for this end , if they have no mind to undertake such a charge , or if they cannot attend it , they ought to declare so much , and peremptorily to refuse it , that so care may be taken to get some other body who will undertake it . but when once they have undertaken it , they ought to make conscience of it , and to do all that is in their power for the childrens welfare and happiness in every thing . 't is both their duty and interest to fulfill their ingagement , and to act that part which they have undertaken ; which if they perform wisely and faithfully , then they may expect the praise , love , and esteem , of not only the children themselves , and of their relations , but likewise of all good and worthy persons , who see or hear of their fidelity and carefulness for the benefit of their pupils . if care is not taken in this manner , to fulfill what is undertaken to be done , and if there is no respect had to covenants , trusts and ingagements , then the very foundation of the happiness of society is subverted . if there is no regard to truth and justice , what a miserable thing must it be to live in society ? to be united by any civil ●yes to those , whose promises and ingagements are worse than none at all ? 2. does not a sense of honour oblige guardians to be careful of their pupils , and true and faithful to them ? 't was the opinion of their kindness and faithfulness , and of their fitness and worthiness for such a charge , which made them be chosen before others . and therefore , if they have any thing in them of true worth , if they have any sense of honour , they must needs strive to answer the expectation of those who have testified so great a value and esteem for them . 3 dly , does not charity oblige guardians to do these things ? orphans have always been reckoned amongst the greatest objects of charity , especially when they are very young , and are not able , either in respect of body or mind , to do any thing for themselves . so great is god's compassion and tenderness towards such children , that he has been graciously pleased to declare himself to be , the father of the fatherless . 't is therefore the duty of all , who are followers of god as dear children , especially of those who are chosen to perform so charitable an office as this , i say it is their duty , to omit nothing that is needful to be done , for the benefit of fatherless children , both in their spiritual and temporal concerns . we see a very worthy president and example in mordecai , esth. 2. esther's father and mother being dead , mordecai took her , and she was to him as his own daughter . how careful was he both of her soul and body ? how well did he instruct her ? as may be easily gathered from her wise and pious carriage and behaviour . and when she was taken from him , we find he was still mindful of her , for , v. 11. 't is said , mordecai walked every day before the court of the womens house , to know how esther did , and what should become of her . we find him likewise , from time to time , giving her his best advice , how to carry her self , and how to glorifie god , in that honourable state , to which it had pleased him to raise her . how worthy is such an excellent pattern as this , of the imitation of all those who are called to be the guardians , the guides , and defenders of fatherless children ? and for their encouragement , let them consider how richly god did reward the charity and piety of mordecai , not only in raising him up to great honour by esthers means , but also by making her the instrument of preserving his life , and the lives of all the jews , who were in the provinces belonging to ahasuerus . from what hath been said , it appears how great reason there is , for guardians to be true and faithful to the interests of their pupils , and to do all that ever they can for their spiritual and temporal advantage . now , if it be their duty to do so , what shall be said of those , who are not only careless of seeking their good , but do likewise , too successfully , seek their hurt and ruine ? as to their souls , they corrupt and poyson them by their wicked example , and by atheistical principles which they instill into them ; they breed them up in all manner of licentiousness . as to their bodies , they either too far gratifie their vanity and folly ; or they are too niggardly towards them , in withholding from them not only conveniencies but necessaries . as to their outward estate , they either suffer them ▪ to live idly ; or they put them forth to some trade or other , very unfit and unsutable to them . and when they are fit for marriage , they force them to marry as they think good , according as they see it will best serve their own private and worldly , base , and vile interests , without ever regarding the happiness of their pupils . as for their patrimony and inheritance , they are so far from improving it , that they impair it wofully , and sometimes quite consume and waste it ; they study a great many arts and wiles to ruine the poor children , whom they have got into their merciless hands ; instead of proving their guardians , they prove their robbers ; instead of being as parents to them , they prove betrayers of them , and their most dangerous and cruel enemies . but shall they escape who do such things ? no : they shall not . he who is the helper of the fatherless , will plead their cause , and will avenge them of those treacherous and perfidious persons : for , he beholdeth mischief to requite it , ps. 10. 14. i shall conclude this advice with what is written , ex. 22. 22. &c. ye shall not afflict any fatherless child . if thou afflict them in any wise , and they cry at all unto me , i will surely hear their cry . and my wrath shall wax hot , and i will kill you with the sword : and your wives shall be widows , and your children fatherless . and , prov. 23. 10 , 11. enter not into the fields of the fatherless ; for their redeemer is mighty ; he shall plead their cause with thee . prayers for families . a morning prayer for parents , or masters of families , with their family . o most gracious and merciful lord god , who affords us , thy unworthy servants , the honour and liberty of drawing near unto thee , assist us by thy good spirit to worship thee with sincere devotion , to lift up holy hands without wrath and doubting . we acknowledge , o lord , we deserve not to appear in thy sight , for we are not only vile and sinful by nature , being the corrupt posterity of sinful parents ; but likewise we are guilty of a great many actual transgressions , in our thoughts , words , and deeds , whereby we have provoked thee to wrath against us . we have not only sinned through ignorance , but have sinned also against knowledge ; we have acted contrary to that light , which thou hast made to shine upon us . we have been very inconstant in good purposes and resolutions : we have often confessed our sins , and yet soon after returned to them . o lord have mercy upon us , and forgive us all our sins , for jesus christ's sake . thou who knowest the deceitfulness and desperate wickedness of our hearts , make us what thou requirest us to be ; put thy spirit within us , and cause us to walk in thy statutes , and to keep thy judgments , and do them . give us unfeigned repentance for all our past offences : work in us strong resolutions to observe thy laws for the time to come : make us watchful and circumspect in all our words and actions ; lord watch thou over us for good , and never leave us nor forsake us . make us sensible of thy power and faithfulness , that we may put our trust and confidence in thee : acquaint us more and more with our own hearts and lives , that the sense of our weakness and folly , of our manifold and great sins , may make us very humble , and careful to avoid those temptations which do so often and easily prevail over us . fortifie us with great measures of meekness and patience , that we may bear and endure all those uneasie things , which thou seest fit to exercise us with : possess us with a lively sense of thy wise and just providence , that in all things which befall us , we may say , good is the word of the lord. save us from the immoderate love of all earthly things , from all vain hopes and groundless fears . make us content and thankful in every condition of life ; faithful and just in all our dealings ; careful to do to others what we would have them do to us : and as much as in us lieth , to live peaceably with all men. set a watch before our lips , that we offend not with our tongues ; save us from lying and slandering , from foolish talking and sinful jesting , and from all manner of corrupt communication : and grant that our words , being seasoned with salt , may minister grace to the hearers . keep us mindful of thy all-seeing eye , that we may be in thy fear all the day long , that whether we eat or drink , or whatever else we do , we may do all to thy glory . lord be merciful to the many nations which sit in darkness , send the light of the gospel unto them . grant that all they upon whom this glorious light does shine , may walk as children of the light and of the day , that they may put off the works of darkness , and put on the armour of light. bless all rulers and governours , make them wise and good , just and merciful : let it be their chiefest care to encourage piety , and to restrain whatever is dishonourable to thee , the king of kings and lord of lords . have mercy on these sinful lands : bless and preserve our king and queen , and all the royal family . direct our judges and magistrates : sanctifie and assist all thy ministers . be gracious to all our friends every where ; and forgive those who wrong us by word or deed . let thy blessing be on this family . bless our children ; make them thy children ; put thy fear within them ; grant that as they grow in years they may grow in grace ; shed abroad thy love in their hearts , that they may never depart from thee ; save them from every evil thing . be favourable , o lord , to all others , for whom we are bound to pray on any account whatsoever ; bless them and us in our souls and bodies , and in all our affairs and concerns . we give thee our hearty thanks for preserving us , and watching over us and our habitation the last night , for affording us quiet repose , and for raising us up in health and safety this morning : be with us this day : assist and direct us in all our ways : give thy angels charge concerning us . lord make us ready to leave this vain world. let the sense of our frailty stir us up to redeem our time , and to give all dilligence to make our calling and election sure . grant that this day we may do somewhat worthy of christians , for thy glory , the advantage of others , and our own everlasting happiness and comfort . let it be our constant study and endeavour to follow the example of our blessed saviour , who went about doing good : in whose most blessed name and words we conclude our prayers . our father , &c. an evening prayer for parents , or masters of families , with their family . o lord our god , what shall we render unto thee for the many and great favours , which thou hast been pleased , from time to time , to bestow upon us . we bless thee for giving us a being ; for making us reasonable creatures , capable to know and love thee , and to live for ever with thee ; for preserving us in the world ; and for affording us all things needful for our support and comfort . but above all we bless thee , for thy love in christ jesus , whom thou hast sent into the world to visit us , to make his abode among us , to dye for us , that he might wash us from our sins in his blood. lord what is man that thou art mindful of him , or the son of man that thou doest , in this gracious manner , visit him ! tho' thou hast bestowed innumerable mercies upon us , and hast visited us with this great salvation , yet we have been very unthankful and undutiful to thee : we have abused thy goodness , and turned thy grace into wantonness : we have set at naught thy counsels and , despised thy reproofs ; we have trampled under foot the blood of our saviour ; we have quenched the motions of thy good spirit ; we have refused to obey thy commands , and to follow thy kind and gracious invitations ; we have not regarded thy promises , nor been afraid of thy threatnings ; we have been too often led by the sinful examples and manners of the world ; we have , in many things , gratified our lusts and rassions , we have drawn near to thee with our mouth , and honoured thee with our lips , when our hearts have been far from thee ; we have promised our selves peace and safety , in the broad way that leads to destruction . o lord , we have destroyed our selves ; but in thee is our help ; our only hopes are in thy infinite mercy , who hast hitherto spared us , notwithstanding our manifold and crying provocations . most gracious god , have mercy upon us : for jesus christ's sake pardon us all our sinful thoughts , words , and deeds ▪ renew and sanctifie us by thy holy spirit , that henceforth we may live thy faithful servants , and may be always ready to do , or to endure whatever is thy holy will and pleasure . thou knowest our weakness and inconstancy ; let thy grace continually prevent and follow us , that we may abhor that which is evil , and cleave to that which is good : make us faithful unto death , that at last we may obtain the crown of life . lord be gracious to all mankind ; pity those who are in a state of ignorance and barbarity , and send the glad tidings of salvation to them . grant that they who have this blessed light of the gospel , may walk honestly as in the day , that others seeing their good works may glorifie thee our heavenly father . lord cleanse thy church from the many and great sins which abound in her : let every one that nameth the name of christ depart from iniquity . have mercy on these sinful lands : give repentance to all sorts of persons amongst us , that all of us may search and try our ways , and turn again to thee . lord turn us that we may be turned ; and draw us , that we may run after thee , and follow thee fully . be gracious to our king and queen ; direct and prosper them in all their good designs ; make them the happy instruments of promoting religion amongst us . bless the rest of the royal family . guide ou● judges and magistrates ; grant that they may execute justice without respect of persons . sanctifie and assist all thy ministers ; make them diligent and faithful ; grant that their endeavours for the good of souls , may be attended with great success . raise up many faithful pastors to feed thy flock with wisdom and vnderstanding . shew thy pity upon all who are any ways afflicted or distressed in mind , body , or estate ; sanctifie their afflictions unto them , give them patience under them , and a happy issue out of them . let thy blessing be upon this family ; let no harm come near our dwelling this night , or at any time . lord bless our children , take them into thy gracious protection ; give them a heart to fear and love thee ; cause them to remember thee their creator in the days of their youth ; possess them with a deep sense of thy infinite power , wisdom , faithfulness , and love ; that they may walk before thee in holiness and righteousness all their days : be thou their god and guide , and portion for ever . bless all others , for whom we are obliged to pray to thee ; bless them and us in our souls and bodies , and in all our interests and concerns . blessed be thy name for bringing us safely through the past day , for preserving us from a great many dangers , and for bestowing upon us innumerable mercies : preserve in us an affectionate and grateful remembrance of all thy undeserved kindness to us . lord watch over us this night ; refresh us with comfortable rest and sleep ; defend us from all the powers of darkness ; save us from all vain and sinful thoughts , from all sad accidents , and from every evil thing . when thou seest fit to remove us out of this vain world , translate us into that blessed and happy state , which thou hast prepared for thy ransomed ones . and if thou art pleased to prolong our time , grant that we may spend it to good purpose , in such designs , words , and actions , as may tend to thy honour and glory , through jesus christ our lord. in whose blessed name and words , we continue to pray as he hath taught us , saying , our father , &c. a short prayer for the morning or evening , when through extraordinary occasions there is not time for the other . o lord our god , look down with an eye of pity upon us thy unworthy servants this * morning . pardon us the many sins whereof we are guilty before thee , in our thoughts , words , and deeds . have mercy upon us , and be reconciled to us , through jesus christ thy dear son. sanctifie and assist us by thy holy spirit , that for the time to come we may do thy will , and seek thy glory . we bless thy name for all thy mercies , especially for thy wonderful love in christ jesus , whom thou hast sent into the world to die for us , to purchase for us an everlasting kingdom . give us grace firmly to believe in him , heartily to love him , and constantly to obey him . grant that it may be our sincere endeavour to follow his blessed example , in all lowliness and self-denyal , in meekness and patience , in charity and compassion , in sincerity and vprightness , in temperance and soberness , in thankfulness and contentedness , in purity and holiness , in watchfulness and circumspectness , and in fervent and prudent zeal for thy honour and glory . o lord , we bless thee , for bringing us safely through the last night * ; watch over us this day † ; keep us mindful of thy all-seeing eye , that we may avoid every thing that is displeasing to thee . be gracious to all mankind : have mercy on these lands : bless and guide our rulers , and all thy ministers . be near to all who are in trouble , and sanctifie their afflictions to them . be with our friends and relations every where : bless them and us with all things needful for our souls and bodies . make us sensible of our frailty and mortality ; give us grace so to number our days , that we may apply our hearts to wisdom . when this vain and short life is at an end , make us partakers of everlasting life and happiness , through jesus christ our lord , who hath taught us when we pray to say , our father , &c. some forms of prayer which parents may teach their children according to their age. a morning prayer to be taught children , when they begin to speak . o lord , i praise thee for all thy mercies , and for thy care of me this night . watch over me this day . forgive me all my sins , and make me thy child for jesus christ's sake . this prayer may be used likewise at night , only changing that petition [ watch over me this day ] into [ watch over me this night . ] when children come to be four or five years old , the following prayer may be used . o lord my god , what shall i render unto thee for all thy mercies ! i bless thee for giving me life , and all things needful to keep me alive . but above all , i bless thee for sending christ to dye for me , that he might wash me with his blood , and make me fit for the kingdom of heaven . for his sake have mercy upon me , and forgive me all my sinful thoughts , words , and deeds . give me grace to serve thee as i ought to do ; that i may not do , nor say a naughty thing , lest thou be angry with me , and cast me into hell fire . lord bless and preserve my father and mother * and all my friends and relations . i praise thee , o god , for preserving me this night , watch over me this day ; save me from every evil thing . good lord hear me , and grant me whatever thou knowest to be best for me , for jesus christ's sake , in whose holy name and words , i pray , our father , &c. this prayer may be likewise used at night , by changing only two words , and saying , instead of [ preserving me this night ] [ preserving me this day ; ] and instead of [ watch over me this day ] [ watch over me this night . ] a morning prayer for children , when they come to twelve or fourteen years of age ; sooner or later , according to the ripeness of their understanding . lord teach and assist me by thy holy spirit , to worship thee as i ought to do ; lift up my heart unto thee . what shall i render unto thee , o most gracious god , and most merciful father , for all thy mercies to me , and to all the world ? i bless thee for making me a reasonable creature , and for affording me all things which be needful to support my life ; i bless thee for my health , liberty , and safety ; for my food and rayment ; for the use of my reason and vnderstanding , and of my senses ; for thy corrections and deliverances ; and for all the advantages i have had by good examples , and good instructions : but chiefly , i praise and bless thee for the redemption of mankind by the lord jesus christ : that i was born within thy church , where i was early given to thee in baptism ; that i have had the benefit of christian education ; that thou hast afforded me the means of grace , and called me to the hope of glory . but notwithstanding thy goodness and love , i have gone astray from thee ; i have not cared so much as i ought to have done , to know thee , and to do thy will , but have done my own will in many things , and followed my own foolish and sinful inclinations : i have broken many of thy most holy and just laws , in thought , word , and deed * , whereby i have deserved thy wrath and curse . father of mercies have mercy upon me , and forgive me all my sins for jesus christ his sake , who dyed for sinners . give me a true and hearty repentance for all mine iniquities ; that i may not wilfully break thy laws any more . make me always mindful of my baptismal covenant , to forsake the devil and all his works , to believe in god , and to serve him . lord never leave me , nor forsake me . hold up my goings in thy paths , that my footsteps may not slide . grant that hencesorth i may love thee with all my heart , and may be afraid to sin against thee : work in me a true faith , and a lively hope ; make me humble , meek , and patient , sober and temperate in all things , charitable and compassionate towards all that are in distress , true and faithful in my words , and sincere and upright in my actions , well content and thankful in every condition of life , and zealous for thy glory . grant that i may daily grow in grace and spiritual knowledge . create in me a clean heart , and renew a right spirit within me , and cause me to walk in thy ways . o lord send thy gospel through the world : pour out plentifully the blessings of thy holy spirit on all thy people : bless and preserve our king and queen . guide our judges and magistrates : sanctifie and assist the ministers of the gospel . be with all my friends and relations ; particularly bless and preserve my father and mother : reward them for their care and kindness towards me : make me a loving and dutiful child unto them . * comfort all that are in trouble , and sanctifie their afflictions to them . i thank thee , o lord , for thy care of me this night . watch over me this day . bless and direct me in all i do or say . keep me mindful that i am always in thy sight , that i may be in thy fear all the day long . cause me to remember that i mus● shortly dye and come to judgment ; th●● i may not mispend my precious time , but employ it in a constant ●●d chearful obedience to thy holy and righteous laws ; that when this vain and short life is at an end , i may be made partaker of everlasting li●● , through jesus christ our lord ; in wh●● holy name and words i pray , our father , &c. this prayer may serve likewise at night , until you come to the last part , which begins with these words , [ i thank thee , o lord , for thy care of me this night , &c. ] instead thereof , you may say as follows , [ i thank thee , o lord , for thy care of me this day ; watch over me this night , and grant me quiet repose ; save me from every evil thing , for the sake of thy dear son jesus christ , in whose holy name and words , i conclude my imperfect prayers , saying , our father , &c. ] a grace before meat . we bless thee , o lord , for making this provision for us , who are less than the least of thy mercies . grant that by a moderate use of these thy good creatures , we may be made more fit for thy service , through jesus christ our lord. amen . after meat . blessed be thy name , most gracious god , for all thy mercies freely bestowed upon us ; and for refreshing our bodies at this time with thy good creatures . cause us to hunger and thirst after righteousness : feed our souls with the bread of life : let it be our meat and drink to do thy will. provide for all in want , through jesus christ our lord. amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a47513-e280 * chrysost. notes for div a47513-e690 plat. l. 2. de republ. aristot l. 6. politic. c. 1. hierom ep. 7. ad laetam . notes for div a47513-e2930 how parents ought to be affected while children are yet in the womb. how they ought to be affected when their children are born . the right of children to baptism . children are to be acquainted with scripture histories . † plutar● in lycurgo . what is to be done if they are sturdy and proud . if they be given to lying . if they are cunning and deceitful . if they are peevish and passionate . if they are revengeful and malicious . if they are jealous and suspitious . if they are too credulous . if they are envious . if they are very impatient . if they love their belly too well . * xenophon ●●lls us , that the dyet of the persian boys , till they were 16 or 17 years old , was bread and cresses ; their drink was water . paediae cyr. lib. 1. if they discover any tendency to vnchast and immodest actions . * nil dictu● f●dum visuq●e , haec limina ●angat , intra quae 〈◊〉 est . proc●● hinc proc●l inde 〈◊〉 l●●●num , & cantus per●●●●● parasit● . maxima debet●r p●ro reverentia , &c. juven . sat. 14. if they curse 〈…〉 . * pythagoras forbad his followers to swear by the gods , and required them 〈◊〉 to live , that they might be believed without an oath . diog. laert . in pythag. clinias , one of his followers , chose rather to pay a fine of 3 talents , than to violate the precept of his master , tho' he could have made oath very innocently . if they are very changeable and vaconstant . if they are surly and morose . * this way of instructing children by fables , was very much used in ancient times by the wisest nations ; see plato dialog . 2. de repub. & strabo , lib. 15. geograph . if they are disrespectful to aged persons . * plutarc . laco●● . apop●● . * plutarc . laco●● . ap●p●● . if they quarrel much with one another . * de fraterno amore. if they are over curious to know their lot and fortune in the world . a that is , who foretelleth what is to come , and discovereth what it secret , by unlawful arts. b that is , who judgeth one day lucky , and another dismal and unlucky , and therefore begins or forbears his designs accordingly . c one that being in covenant with evil spirits , calls upon them by certain words and rites , to get their assistance in some vain or bad design or other . d one that calleth upon the dead , and enquireth of them , as the witch of endor did . 1 sam. 28. 8 , 9. &c. if they are unthankful to those who do them good and kind offices . * dixeris maledicta cuncta cum ingratum hominem dixeris . see xenoph . paed. cyr. l. 1. * see plin. hist. l. 8. c. 16. & sen. de benef . l. 3. c. 19. aul. gel. l. 5. c. 14. if they are of too pr●digal a temper . if they are covetous . * inde fere scelerum causae . juven . sat. 14. if they are naturally melancholy . if they are of too gay and airy a temper . if they are rash and forward . about chusing a fit person to teach them to read . about keeping them at school . great care ought to be taken what books they read . what they should do before they go to church . how they should carry themselves at church . what they should do when they come from church . why the lord's day ought to be kept . * ambr. de pentec . ser. 61. children are to be possessed with a great regard for the ministers of the gospel . * they who joyn with us in the publick worship , ought to think of their obligation to this duty , when they hear these words of the litany , ●o god we have heard with our ears , and our fathers have declared unto us the noble works that thou didst in their days , and in the old time before them . see ps. 44. 1. 1. they must give their children good example . 2. they must chuse good company for them . * etiam sine magistro vitia discuntur . sen. the great danger that children are in from flatterers . * quintilian de causis corruptae eloquentiae . advice to parents who send their children abroad to travel . 3. they must , as need requires , reprove and chasten their children : and how ? parents ought in correcting their children , to follow the example of our heavenly father . parents must be careful not to oppose one another , when they c●rrect and reprove their children . 4. they must carefully improve the time of their childrens sickness , or of any other afflictions they meet with , towards the making of them wiser and better . 5. they must daily pray to god for them . against those who curse their children . † the blessing of the father establisheth the houses of children , but the curse of the mother rooteth out foundations . ecelus . 3. 9. * see augustin . de civ . dei , l. 22. c. ●8 . & plato de legg . l. 34. dial . 11. 1. motive , from the divine command . 2. motive , from its being a work worthy of the utmost care and pains of parents . 3. motive , from the rewards which attend those , who faithfully do these things . 4. motive , from the great benefit which comes both to church and state by the good education of children . * see plutarch in lycurgo . heraclid . de politiis . xenophon paed . cyr. lib. 1. 5. mo●ive , from the s●d effects which attend the neglect of these duties . * augustin . to. 10. ser. 33. 〈◊〉 fratres in eremo . notes for div a47513-e9690 1. duty , it belongs to the mother to give suck to her children . * aulus gellius . lib. 12. cap. 1. see likewise plutarch de educ . 2. duty , about childrens diet. 3. duty , about childrens apparel . 1. duty , to chuse a fit trade for them . * see plut. in solone . ●dvice to those who have great estates and riches , to bestow on their children . * 't was excellently said by agefilans king of ●acedemon , we must teach children what they should do when they are men. * plutarch . de educat . * antigonus used this as an argument to induce zeno the philosopher to come to him . you may , said he , be well assured , that , by teaching and instructing me , you will at the same time instruct all the macedonians : for he who contributes towards the making the king of macedon a virtuous person does in great measu●● disp se all his subjects for virtuous impressions : for such as rulers and princes be , such likewise ordinarily are they who depend upon the●● diog. laert. in zenone . advice to those , who intend to set apart one or more of their children for the holy ministry . 2. duty , about disposing of them in marriage . * callias the athenian , was highly commended by the greeks , because he gave his daughters leave to chuse what husbands themselves liked best . herodot . in erato . * plut. in themistocle . * the sad effects of marrying very leud and profligate persons . 3. duty , about providing somewhat that may be the foundation of their comfortable subsistance in the world. great prudence and caution ought to be used in bestowing their worldly goods on their children . 4. duty to have their will and testament in readiness . the great inconvenience of delay in this matter . great care to be taken in the choice of guardians for children . * 't was an athenian law , that they should not be chose● guardians , who have a right to the childrens estate , after their decease . diog. laert. in solo●e . 1. they ought to consider that it is the lord who does it . 2. they ought to consider that their children were born mortal . 3. they should consider from whence , and whither they are gone . 4. they should consider that there will be a resurrection . 5. they should consider that their giving way to excessive grief and mourning , can do no good , but will certainly do a great deal of hurt . the duty of parents on their death-bed . 1. duty , to give their children good advice . 2. duty , to pray to god for them . 3. duty , to commend them to some faithful friends . concerning the duties of step-fathers and step-mothers , or fathers and mothers in law : some motives to stir them up to do their duty . the duties of guardians . some motives to excite guardians to do their duty . prayers for the morning and evening , to be used in families . * or evening . * or , the past day . † o● ▪ , this night . * if there be brothers and sisters let them pray for them likewise . * here they may make a particular confession of their sins . * if there be any brothers or sisters , he may pray for them , and for grandfather and grandmother , if they be alive . delight and judgment: or, a prospect of the great day of judgment and its power to damp, and imbitter sensual delights, sports, and recreations. by anthony horneck, d.d. horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 1684 approx. 367 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 201 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44515 wing h2824a estc 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44515) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 31674) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1890:1) delight and judgment: or, a prospect of the great day of judgment and its power to damp, and imbitter sensual delights, sports, and recreations. by anthony horneck, d.d. horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 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text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion delight and judgment : or , a prospect of the great day of iudgment , and its power to damp , and imbitter sensual delights , sports , and recreations . by anthony horneck , d.d. london , printed by h. hills jun. for mark pardoe at the sign of the black raven , over against bedford house in the strand , 1684. the preface . though practical writers have this advantage of controversial , that they do not make themselves so many enemies , as the other , yet i know not , what the fate of the ensuing discourse may be : for though the subject relate to manners , and the behaviour of men , as christians ; yet it is to be feared , that not a few who think themselves religious , & notwithstanding their pretended piety , securely bathe themselves in delights , this book condemns , may put no very favourable construction on such endeavours , as being levell'd against things , they are used to , and the humour of the age hath allowed of , and rendred unquestionable ; and such it 's like will call these attempts , pragmatical , and bid us , as constantine did acesius in another case , erect a ladder to heaven , and climb up thither by our selves . but it 's god's mercy , that while christianity is decay'd in the glory and brightness of its life , the bible is still among us , and that we are not to regulate our religion by the sickly fancies of half christians , but by the standing laws of that jesus , whose disciples we profess our selves to be , and whom the primitive believers thought themselves obliged to follow in external , as well as internal simplicity . it 's true , the church is not now under persecution , as it was in former days ▪ when men made those mighty progresses in self-denial , but it is to be observed that when the saints of the first ages pressed those severities , they did not lay the stress on their persecuted condition , and the necessity of the dismal times they lived in , but on the laws of their great master , which they look'd upon to be as immutable , as the god that gave them : nor can prosperity make any alteration in those lessons , which christ required as essential to his religion ; prosperity indeed was intended to prompt us to a more cheerful discharge of our duty , but not to a neglect of those austerities , which are the best ornaments of the best religion in the world. as men have managed prosperity , it hath been the greatest bane of religion , and the wisest men have taken notice , how christianity since it hath crept out of the thorns and bryars of barbarous tyranny and oppression , hath been unhappily decreasing in its zeal , and fervour ; whether it is fable , or history that tells us , that a voice came from heaven , saying , this day poyson is poured out into the church , when ease and plenty , and rivers of gold flowed into it , i shall not now enquire ; certain it is , that external felicity hath smilingly undermin'd the foundations of that admirable doctrine , and that which was formerly built on the greatest innocence , hath since changed its bottom , and stands too much on shew , and formality . prosperity at this day , to the great sorrow of all considerate persons , gives law to mens religion , and whatever crosses prosperity , is thought to cross religion too . what is consistent with our ease , is allow'd of as good divinity , and whatever runs counter to our sensual satisfaction , appears so aukward , that we fancy it no religion , because flesh and blood would not have it so : all which must necessarily arise from vnbelief , or a wavering faith of a life to come ; either that future life , the son of god hath purchased , and promised , is not look'd upon to be so great , as it is represented in the gospel , or it is not seriously thought of ; for if it were , the pleasures of this life would grow pale , and their beauty vanish , if compared with the glorious delights hereafter , and the satisfactions of this world would soon lose their charms , if view'd by that light , which irradiates the holy cherubim : if that life deserves not self-denial in the pleasures of this present , christ and his apostles must needs have been out in the lofty descriptions , they have given of it , and our faith is vain , and in vain did the son of god take all those pains , and suffer all the agonies , he did , to purchase a thing so trivial , and inconsiderable . if it were a thing of no great moment , the but moderately pious , would not be excluded from its glories , and when nothing but heroick virtue can promise it self a share in that felicity , it cannot be otherwise , but that the prize doth answer the difficulties in the pursuit of its attainment . they are great and masculine acts , that christianity prompts us to ; and wherein can this heroick vertue be expressed better then in a noble contempt of what foolish mortals count pleasant and tickling to their flesh , and fancy ? such acts are arguments of a brave and generous mind , and signs that our understandings soar above the moon , and rely more on what god hath promised , then on what the world for the present pays . this shews that our souls do act like themselves , and not to be biassed by vulgar sentiments , is that which gives a man reputation with the best of beings . christ in pressing these lessons , hath only made a clearer revelation of what the philosophers of old guessed at by the glimmering light , which nature gave them , and what can be more for a man's credit , then to do that , which both nature and grace have judged to be most honourable and glorious . there is no question , but if that , eternal life hereafter , were shewn in all its glories , and riches , and contents to a sensual man at the same time , that he beholds the most charming delights of the flesh , and had he as lively a view of the one , as he hath of the other , the infinite brightness of the one would so eclipse , and darken the feebler splendour of the other , that he would not only be content to quit his inferiour delights for the enjoyment of the other ▪ but would very much wonder at that monster , that should refuse the greater for the lesser pleasures ; so that all the difficulty is , how to make that eternal life so visible , that it shall move , and affect , and preponderate above all earthly satisfactions . and the way to do this , is the same with the method , that must be taken in making the day of judgment visible to us , which is the attempt of the following discourse , in which i hope i have said nothing but what is agreeable to the doctrine of the primitive church . if any shall find fault with some passages in it , because they contradict the vanity and luxury of the age we live in , or charge me with meddling with things , which do not belong to me to determine , all i shall reply , is this , that i have done no more , but what i have excellent precedents for , even some of the best divines of our church since the reformation , whose example as i am not ashamed to follow , so since they thought it their duty to discourage such vulgar errours , it cannot be a crime in us to follow their faith , knowing the end of their conversation . the summary of the whole discourse . the explication of the text , pag. 1 — 6. the proposition ; that the prospect of a future judgment is enough to imbitter all the sensual , and carnal delights of men , particularly of young men , and to bring a damp upon the most youthful , and most jovial temper imaginable , p. 6 , 7. the illustration of this proposition , p. 7 — 12 the heads of the discourse : i. what reason we have to believe , that there is a day of judgment . the reasons drawn : 1. from the universal consent of the wiser sort of mankind . 2. from the being , and justice of god. ii. what there is in that future judgment , that 's able to cast a damp on the mirth , and jollities of men , especially the younger sort . 1. in the prospect of this judgment there appears a very serious judge , the mighty jesus , the son of god , p. 22. 2. a very strict examination of what we have done in the flesh , p. 34. 3. a very wonderful scene ; the person that is the judge is the law-giver too , the party offended , the witness , and his own advocate , p. 51. 4. the unspeakable anguish , and misery of those , who have been most jolly and merry in this life . p. 71. iii. how the prospect of that future judgment must be managed , that it may actually damp , and put a stop to these carnal delights ? 1. by thinking , reflecting , and ruminating , upon that future judgment , p. 83. 2. by applying the particulars of this future judgment to our selves , p. 94. 3. by seconding all this with earnest prayer , p. 103. iv. whether every man is bound to imbitter his carnal delights with this prospect ? aff. 1. because if not imbitter'd they will infallibly lead the soul into innumerable dangers , p. 112. 2. because to imbitter such delights to our selves is a thing of the greatest concernment , p. 116. 3. this imbittering our sensual delights with such a prospect is that , which men will certainly wish they had done , when they appear at the great tribunal , p. 120. v. whether a christian , that would be saved , is upon this account obliged to forbear , and abandon all sensual and worldly delights , and recreations whatsoever ? the answer to this query laid down in several articles : 1. spiritual delight is and must be the chief delight of a christian , p. 127. 2. worldly delights , as are neither sinful in themselves , nor apparent occasions of evil , are allowable , p. 129. 3. delight in gardens , rivers , orchards , &c. considered , p. 131. 4. of delight in musick either vocal , or instrumental , p. 133. 5. of delight in books , p. 135. 6. of delight in drinking and tipling , p. 138. 7. of delight in cards , & dice , p. 141. 8. of delight in feasting , and going to feasts , p. 147. 9. of delight in fashionable cloaths and habits , p. 154. 10. of delight in painting and patching , and artificial meliorations of the face and skin , p. 176. 11. of delight in dancing , p. 192. 12. of delight in seeing and going to stage-plays , p. 205. inferences drawn from the premises . 1. how far sorrow is better then laughter , explained , p. 127. 2. how differently spiritual things affect men , as they either attentively , or inattentively think upon them , p. 290. 3. how much the greatest part of the world is to be pittied , that can delight in nothing , but what they can grasp and feel , p. 300. 4. how unreasonable it is to harbour any hard thoughts of religion , because it debars us of dangerous , sensual delights , p. 313. 5. how necessary it is to prepare for the great day of account . directions . 1. to pitty those inconsiderate men that live , as if there were no future judgment , p. 329. 2. to spend some time every day in reflecting upon this day , p. 330. 3. to walk circumspectly every day , and to use , that conscientiousness we would use , were we sure , we should be summon'd to judgment at night , p. 337. 4. to reflect and think on this day , when ever we see , or hear of the judicial process of a malefactor . p. 339. 5. to reflect on this day , whenever we converse with sick , and dying men , or are present , when their breath leaves their bodies , p. 343. 6. to refle●t on this day , whenever we go to a funeral . p. 346. 7. to judge our selves here on earth , in order to avoid the terrour of god's future judgment , p. 351. 8. in our actions to regard not so much how they are relished with men , as whether they will endure the test before the judge . when our souls shall appear before him . p. 354. 9. to bear injuries patiently out of regard to this day of judgment , when god will set all things to rights , and take care , that we shall lose nothing by our sufferings , p. 359. 10. to consider particularly , that it will be more tolerable for heathens , and professed infidels at this day , then for christians , p. 362. 11. to make this day a motive to christian charity , and compassion , p. 368. 12. not to suffer our selves to be discouraged from admiring those men , who have always lived in the thoughts and contemplations of this future judgment , p. 374. eccles. xi . 9 . rejoyce , o young man , in thy youth , and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth , and walk in the ways of thy heart , and in the sight of thine eyes ; but know thou , that for all these things god will bring thee into judgment . there is no man certainly better able to give us so true an account of the nature , extent , danger , exit , and end of sensual pleasure , as solomon ; he walk'd through the whole garden , tasted of all the fruits , smelt to every flower , and i believe many times sinned , not so much out of fondness to the sin , as for tryals sake , to acquaint himself with the nature of the folly , and to see , whether there was really that satisfaction in it , which the bruitish part of the world said , there was : but while he tryed experiments upon the viper the beast flew into his face , and poyson'd the empirick . he went on in these slippery ways , and walk'd on this sea of glass a considerable time , spread the sails of his sensual desires , and bid his carnal mind ask , and crave whatever it could fancy , and if either love or mony , or force could procure it , it should have it . he hug'd all the little shooting flames he met with , and kissed every thing , that had the name , and reputation of mirth and jollity . but see the sad catastrophe , and woful turn of that pleasant wheel , when he thought himself in paradice , he found himself in hell , and that which tickled his senses at the first , proved after some time his greatest torment , and vexation ; providence can be silent for a time , but at last the sleeping lyon wakes , and roars so , that all the beasts of the field do tremble , and solomon , on whose head the candle of the lord had shined so long , found that light at last go out in a snuff , and himself the object of gods wrath , and indignation , and that makes him impart this sad memento , to the man , who hath blood , and youth , and strength enough to be vain , and foolish ; rejoyce , o young man , in thy youth , and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth , &c. by way of explication , i must take notice of these few things : 1. that the words young man , and youth in scripture , especially in this book are not only meant of that time , we commonly allow to youth , which is from ten or fourteen to twenty or five and twenty , but include all that age which is fit for action , and the hebrew words import so much , being derived from a root , implying choice , and election ; so that the time here aimed at , is the chiefest time of our life , or that time , which any man of sense would chuse for action . 2. that those sentences , which sound like exhortations , are perfectly ironical , or spoke by way of derision , as if we should say to a man ; go play the fool , burn thy finger in the candle , and see , what thou wilt get by it , whereby we do not mean that he should do so , but do rather express the silliness , and simplicity of the thing , to make him avoid it ; and such ironical expressions , or mocking exhortations , are very frequent in scripture , as 1 reg. 18.27 . cry aloud , for he is asleep , which is a kind of mocking the stupid priests of baal , that called on a stock or stone , so jer. 49.11 . leave thy fatherless children , and let thy widows trust in me , i. e. ay , go , comfort thy self with this , that i will take care of thy fatherless children , and provide for thy widows , but thou shalt find thy self egregiously mistaken ; so here , rejoyce o young man , &c. i. e. go play the mad-man , let thy sensual appetite rove , gratifie thy flesh , please thy besotted heart , fix thine eyes on what beauty thou thinkest fit , sing care , and reason , and thy wits away , and see what the issue of all will be , and so much is evident from the following words , which are a bridle to all these extravagancies , and the gall that embitters all these sweets , and therefore the chaldew paraphrase justly turns these mock-exhortations into a serious admonition , walk in humility , let not thine eyes gaze upon that which is evil , but be exceeding cautious ; and so the septuagint ; walk spotless in the ways of thy heart , and not in the lust of thine eyes . 3. god brings a man into judgment two ways , either by causing his conscience to awake with horrour in this life , and laying some other heavy affliction upon him , and there is mercy in this process , for this may yet lead the forlorn soul to serious thoughts of repentance , bring the pangs , and throws of the new birth upon her , and deliver her into a new creature ; or where god intends a higher degree of wrath , and indignation , he lets the jovial sinner alone on this side hell , and the burthen shall not fall on him , till he comes to look the angry judg in the face , at which time , as the surprize will be greater , so the horrour and anguish of mind , which will seize on the sinner , will like nebuchadnezzars furnace , prove seven times hotter than ordinary , upon which follows eternal despair , and endless howling , and gnashing of teeth . the result of all , is this proposition : that the prospect of a future judgment , is enough to embitter all the sensual and carnal delights of men , particularly of young men , and to bring a damp upon the most youthful , and most jovial temper imaginable : not only the sense of the text , i have already laid down imports so much , but there is this farther in it , that the wise man seems to couch his argument plainly thus ; do but take a view of that dreadful judgment , god is resolved to bring thy guilty soul to , and thou wilt not dare to indulge thy self in the mad rejoycings of thy youth , nor walk in the ways , and after the fancies of thy corrupted heart , nor suffer thy wanton eyes to fix on those objects , from which god hath bid thee turn thy face away . you know the story of the young gallant , who riding by a lonely hermits cell , and finding the solitary man very devout and fervent in prayer , and looking with a severe and mortified countenance , called to him , father , father , what a fool are you to debar your self of the charming refreshments , and pleasures of this life and live here immured , within walls of mud , and clay ; what if there should be no other world to what purpose is all this rigour , and mortification ? the hermit heard him , and replyed , ay but friend , what if there should be one ? where are you then ? what a fool will you be then ? how will you wish , that you had been in my condition ? the youngster startled at these words , went home , left his women , and his swine , his lusts , and dry husks of bruitish delights , and like the prodigal became another man. the truth is , we have seen this prospect of a future judgment have very strange effects upon a man , who was not apt to be frighted with sad prognostications , and that was felix , a person ; who had drunk as deep of the stolen waters of sensuality , as any man then living , for he lay in the embraces of drusilla , who was another mans wife , and enjoy'd that beauty , which his lustful appetite desired without lett or controul , yet behold when st. paul reasoned of temperance , righteousness , and judgment to come , the text saith ; felix trembled . the sermon awakened the notions of divine justice , that were engraven on the tables of his heart , made him uneasie , put him into consternation , and for the present forced him to loath the bed , where his abomination was wrought . we are told of a custom in some kingdom , that the night before a condemned malefactor is to die , a very shrill trumpet sounds before the prison door , which is a certain sign that he is to die next day , and before whose door soever the fatal trumpet sounds over night , no prayers , no tears , whatever condition he is of , or whatever figure he makes in the world , can save him from being executed . it happen'd in process of time that the king , who had made this law , after he had streamed out a considerable part of his life in extravagant actions , on a sudden became serious , was often seen to retire into his closet , gave strict order for extermination of all vices , and though before he had doated on mirth , and jests , and sensual satisfactions , yet these were now all abandon'd and turn'd into a scene of gravity , and sobriety ; such an alteration , we must think must be a very strange surprize to courtiers , who impatient of this change , and supposing it to be a fit of melancholy , took the freedom to ask him , what the reason of this reformation was ; the kings brother especially , none of the most religious , sought often to divert him , tempting him to see shows , and plays , and women , and such baits as served either to plant , or cherish vanity in his mind , and affections , but all in vain . one night , the king desirous to bring his brother to a better sense of spiritual things , bids the fatal trumpet to be sounded before the jolly princes house , who sensible of the meaning of that noise , that he was to die next morning , starts out of his bed , throws by his stately robes , puts on a ragged garment , weeps rivers of tears , and a mighty horror seizes his mind , and assoon as it was day comes to the king in this posture , and intercedes for his life , to whom the king said , o brother , are you frighted with the sound of this trumpet , which foretells my subjects approaching , and inevitable death , and doth this noise force you into tears , and sackcloath , and humble supplications , and can you blame me for being serious , who know not how soon the archangels trumpet , of far greater consequence , and importance than this , will sound in mine ears , and summon me and you , and all my subjects to the judgment seat of god , and perhaps to eternal despair , and agonies . go home , said he , and by my example learn to despise the world , and prepare for that day . but this subject will invite us to a larger discourse , and therefore it will be necessary to enquire , 1. what reason we have to believe , that there is a day of judgment . 2. what there is in that future judgment , that 's able to cast a damp on the mirth , and jollities of men , especially the younger sort . 3. how the prospect of that judgment must be managed , that it may actually damp , and put a stop to these carnal delights . 4. whether every man is bound to embitter his carnal delights with this prospect . 5. whether upon this account a man be obliged to mind nothing , that savours of worldly delight and sensual satisfaction . 1. what reason have we to believe , that there is a day of judgment . having to deal with christians , at least with men that profess themselves such , this query seems needless , for the scripture which the christian world pretends to believe to be derived from god , is full of passages of this nature , and assures us , that this belief of a future judgment is as ancient , as the creation of the world ; for enoch the seventh from adam , who in all probability had it from his ancestors , prophesied of these , saying , behold the lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints , to execute judgment upon all , and to convince all that are ungodly among them , of all their ungodly deeds , which they have ungodlily committed , and of their hard speeches , which ungodly sinners have spoken against him , jude v. 14 , 15. and this faith hath been followed by all the succeeding saints , patriarchs , prophets , and judicious men , was confirmed by the great messiah , the lord jesus , and his apostles , who gave us a more lively description of it , and hath since been entertained by all the christian world , at least in profession , though there are but few , that act , and live like persons influenced , or overaw'd by that belief , so that , if christians keep close to their principles , it can be no difficult thing , to perswade them to believe that , which they imbibe with their mothers-milk , and education advances into an open profession , and daily declaration . but we have seen and do see a strange degenerateness in most christians , and not a few that go under that name , though they do not openly question this truth , yet they either live as if they did , or infidelity reigns secretly in their hearts , and it 's to be feared , that whatever their tongues may speak , in their minds they are not fully perswaded of it . and were such men willing to be perswaded , it should be no contemptible argument to convince them , one would think , that the greatest part of the world is of that belief , not only christians but jews , mahometans , and the heathens themselves ; that it is a grand article of the jewish faith , none can deny that ever conversed with them ; that the mahometans are stedfast and sincere in their assertion and clear in this point , any one may see , that hath read their alcoran ; and that the heathen world is no stranger to it appears from what their sybilline oracles , their philosophers and poets have professed . the sybilline oracles indeed are suspected by learned men , and look'd upon , as pious frauds , used by the fathers , thereby to convince the heathens the better of the mysteries of christianity , though it will not enter into my head , how the fathers could have confirmed any of their doctrines from these oracles , if the heathens they had to deal withal either were not satisfied that those things had been spoken by their prophetesses , or had believed that the fathers had foisted those oracles into the sybils writings , which either were not , or had never been there , for this would have been so far from being an argument against the pagans , that the chrisitans would have laid themselves open in nothing so much , as in these quotations , had they been false or supposititious . however plato's writings have been convey'd to us , without any signal corruption , and he gives us a very accurate account of this great day , as hydaspes an ancient king of the medes had done before him , and the heathen poets , though indulging their fancies in somethings ; yet have delivered many excellent truths to us , whereof this future judgment is not the least ; we need go no farther , then the sixth book of virgils aeneis , where the opinions of the ancient heathen sages are collected and expressed in verse , and it 's worth observing , that he makes his judge rhadamantus inflict particular punishments on those souls , that have differred their repentance to thier death-beds . and how can we imagine , that the whole world , at least the wiser part of it , should so unanimously believe a future judgment after this life , if either there had not been a great propensity in their nature , to believe the notion , or reason had not convinced them of the certainty and reality of the thing ; if we grant , that god hath given a law to man , we must necessarily grant , that there must be a judge to call those to an account , who have violated and broke those laws . man we see is capable of being govern'd by a law , and without a law to govern him , would run wild and become a meer bruit , we must therefore necessarily believe that god hath given us a law ; and what law more sutable to his nature , or the principle of reason , than what we have in the bible , which is indeed the law of nature , expressed in livelier and more legible characters ? it's fit therefore , there should a time come , when the obedience and disobedience of men may be taken notice of , and the obedient rewarded , and the disobedient punished . god hath made man his viceroy here on earth , to which purpose david said , thou hast set him over the works of thy hands , and hast put all things under his feet , and experience shews , that man hath a dominion over all irrational creatures ; and is it not convenient , that at the end of the world , when all men have acted their part on this stage , this viceroy should be examined , and asked , how true he hath been to his soveraign king ? what he hath done with the creatures which have been given him for his use ? and whether he hath not minded his own business , more than his masters ? if there is no judgment to come , there can be no god , for without a future retribution this god cannot be just , and a god , that is not just , is imperfect , and if imperfect , he cannot be god ; so true is that saying of averroes , that whatever is most noble and most praise-worthy in man , must be attributed to the best , and greatest being , god blessed for evermore : but justice we see , is that , which makes a prince on earth great , and is one of the highest perfections he is capable of , which was the reason that when ptolomy asked the seventy interpreters of the jewish law , what king lived freest from fear and violence ? he was answered , he that exercises justice ; punishes the bad , and rewards the good ; and consequently this justice must be ascribed to god , as the most perfect being ; it would be the most unreasonable thing imaginable , that those , who love and fear him most , should be most oppressed , and go without reward , and those , that abuse , and dishonour him , slight , and undervalue him , should live prosperously , and never feel his displeasure , or indignation . if god be wise , and just , this cannot be ; and since this reward of the innocent , and severity on the wicked is not administred , and dispensed in this world , it must needs follow , that it must be in another and the day of this future recompence , we call , the day of judgment . and though the apprehensions of that vast multitude of men , which believe or profess it , about the manner , and method of this day , be very different , yet it is enough , that all agree in the thing , even those , who have not the revealed scriptures of the old , and new testament ; from whence we may justly fetch the truest , and exactest description of it , those revelations , and writings , the christians have , and what is said in them concerning the righteousness of god , being most agreeable to the nature of god , and the actions of men , and the rules , the supreme architect hath engraven on our reason ; that there are some men , who deny a future judgment , we need wonder no more than we do , that the fool should say in his heart , there is no god. that which makes a man deny the one , tempts him to be bold in disbelieving the other . it 's the interest of a sinful life , there should be no retribution , and how can a man act against god with any cheerfulness , or alacrity , except he puts him out of his thoughts , and to complete the folly , fancies , that he 'l never call him to a reckoning . it 's mens vices , that are the cause of their atheism , and were it not , that they are inamoured with their lusts , their reason would soon joyn issue with these verities : it 's not for want of arguments that men are unbelievers in this knowing age , but for want of sobriety , and consideration , and while they suffer themselves to be drawn away by their sensual appetite , no marvel , if in time , their flesh encroaches upon their understanding , and their bruitish desires corrupt their very reason , and they begin to think , that god is altogether such a one , as they themselves . but let 's see 2. what there is in the prospect of this future judgment that is able to damp the greatest mirth and jollity . 1. in the prospect of this judgment , there appears a very serious judge , even the mighty jesus , the son of god , who was seen to weep often , but to laugh never ; even he that came into the world to teach men self-denial in sensual pleasures not only unlawful , such as wantonness , effeminacy , fornication , adultery , uncleanness , drunkenness , feeding our eyes with lustful objects , and which produce ill desires in us , deriding and jeering our neighbours for their infirmities , luxury in cloathing , eating and drinking , mimick gestures , filthy jesting , love-tricks , talking loosly , &c. but in some measure in lawful also , especially , where a greater good is to be promoted , and hath bid us use these outward comforts , as if we used them not , and rejoyce in them , as if we rejoyced not , with fear and cautiousness , that they draw not our hearts away , and with a generous indifferency , as persons , who have laid up their treasure in another world , and look for the blessed hope , and the glorious appearing of the great god. such a judg appears in this prospect ; one who descended into this vally of tears upon the most serious errand imaginable , even to call sinners to repentance , to make them sensible of what god expects at their hands , to convince them , that they have souls to be saved , to assure them that though god is patient , yet he will not be everlastingly affronted by bold , and daring men , and judges otherwise of things , than besotted mortals , and is in good earnest , when he bids them set their affections upon the things which are above ; one who will not be put off with fooling , nor spare a malefactor for a jest , one who gave mankind a being , and habitation here , not to play , but to work , not to mind trifles , and rattles , but the concerns of a tremendous eternity ; a judge , whose eyes are like flames of fire , and his feet like brass glowing in a furnace , who was indeed a lamb , when he had his conversation here on earth , and like one was led to the slaughter , not opening his mouth , and his still so to all those , that take his yoke upon them , and learn of him to be humble and meek , but will at last appear in all the robes of majesty , which the clouds of heaven and a guard of ten thousand times ten thousand angels , and all the light of the throne of god can furnish him with . this judge knows all the secrets of our hearts , and before him all things are naked , and open , and no creature can hide himself , he is one who cannot be imposed upon by sophistry , nor wheadled into a wrong judgment of things by equivocation ; whose presence will shake the world , and put the greatest captains , and stoutest souldiers into fits of trembling , and make them cry to rocks , and mountains , fall on us , and hide us ▪ from the face of him , that sits upon the throne , and from the wrath of the lamb. this judg is not to be corrupted , nor to be bribed , cannot be carried away with outward respects , which make judges here on earth pervert judgment ; these , judge too often according to affection , and call white black , and black white , good evil , and evil good , defend vice under the notion of vertue , rashness under the name of fortitude , laziness under the colour of moderation , and timorousness under the title of cautiousness ; these do too often become advocates for the prodigal , and call them liberal and generous , the covetous with them pass for frugal , the lascivious for courtiers , the talkative for affable , the obstinate for men of resolution , and the dull and idle for persons , who act with great deliberation ; love to their kindred , and blood makes them extenuate faults in their relations , and that which appears an inexpiable crime in strangers , seems but a peccadillo , or infirmity in a child or brother ; herod hurried away with his amours to herodias , beheads the innocent baptist ; flaminius out of love to his harlot violates the publick faith ; julius caesar out of fondness to cleopatra , gives sentence against her brothers ; davids's inordinate affection to a rebel son , gives the army charge to take care of the young man absolom ; but the judge we speak of is of another temper ; it was his character here on earth , that he was no respecter of persons , nor could the sons of zebedee prevail with him to place them , one at his right hand , the other at his left : and it was not kindred he would advance to that dignity , but such for whom it was prepared by his father ; hence it was , that his mother , and brethren found no farther acceptance with him , then they were obedient to his word , and he deliver'd it as his eternal rule , they that do the will of my father , they are my mother , and brethren , and sisters , and with this motto he gave a reprimand to the woman that cryed , blessed is the womb that bare thee , and the paps which thou hast sucked ; yea blessed are they said he , who hear the word of god , and do it ; and he that here on earth could not be wrought upon by kindred , or consanguinity , nor blinded by affection , sure will not be misled by these false fires , in the great day of judgment . judges here on earth , if passion , or hatred to a man reigns in their minds , are too often tempted to pass wrong sentences ; what the effects of prognes hatred to her husband tereus were , and how the innocent son suffered by it ; how dire the hatred of medea to jason was , and drew the death of their children after it , how josephs brethen condemned that guiltless soul , meerly because they hated and envied him , and how the jews dealt with our great master the lord jesus upon this principle , both civil and sacred histories do sufficiently manifest . but this impotent passion cannot light upon on him , who is to be the judge in the last day . he hates nothing , that he hath made , and is so great a lover of all mankind , that he would have all men to be saved , and come to the knowledg of the truth , and would give them all eternal life , if they would but take the way , he prescribes them . the devils themselves , could they be penitent , would be received into favour , and let a man be born of a jew or turk , if he do but bring forth fruits meet for repentance , neither his odious name , nor loathsome kindred shall exclude him from his bosom . he hath no secret spleen , or pique against any person living , and though god under the law seems to vent a particular displeasure against the seven nations , and especially against the amalekites , yet it was for their monstrous and unnatural sins , that his just displeasure rose against them , not any private grudge , or envy he bore to them as men , above other of his creatures . such imperfections are not incident to our judge , who detests and abhors no person , but what makes himself deformed , and odious to his purer eyes , and in every nation , whosoever serves him , and works righteousness , is accepted of him . fear very often prevails upon governours , and men in office here on earth , that they dare not speak their mind in passing sentence ; fear of offending a favourite , or losing their places , or being accounted pragmatical , or missing such a preferment , distorts their judgments , and makes them take wrong measures of things . this makes laws cobwebs for great men , and traps to catch lesser animals ; this tempted pilate to crucifie the holy jesus , and though he was sensible of his innocence , yet the word , if thou let this man go , thou art not caesars friend , turns the scales , and makes him comply with the fury of the people ; but such fears cannot not fall on this judge of the whole earth ; whom should he fear ? of whom should he be afraid ? he is omnipotent ; will a painter be afraid of his picture , or a man of his shadow ? man is but gods picture , and his shadow , and shall the almighty be afraid of his own creature , whom he can crush into atoms , into nothing with a frown ? who can make this judge happier than he is already ? what place can any creature promise him , who doth what he pleases in all the armies of heaven , and among all the inhabitants of the earth ? there is no carressing him with gold , for all men and women will appear before him poor , and miserable , destitute of that pomp , and grandeur , and finery , on which here they doted ; and suppose , they could carry their wealth with them to the great tribunal , what can they give him , who commands all the treasures of the world , whose is the earth and the fulness thereof , and who is himself the giver of those things , which mankind preposterously place their happiness in ? here the greatest emperors and princes must appear without their guards without their armies , without their swords and spears ; here popes must leave their triple crowns behind them ; kings their diadems , bishops their mitres , noblemen their lacqueys , and all stand naked , and unarmed before the throne ; and suppose that men were permitted to come with their former retinue and attendance into the presence of the almighty , yet this would cause no fear in our judge , who will come attended with an innumerable company of angels , one of which did once slay one hundred fourscore and five thousand men in the assyrian camp. such a serious , such a magnificent judge appears , in the prospect of that future judgment even jesus , the son of the living god. he who was once despised and rejected of men , will at this time sit on the throne of glory , and all eyes shall see him ; and though god himself is sometimes said to be the judge , sometimes christ as man , sometimes the apostles , sometimes the saints in general , sometimes even wicked men ; yet this implies no contradiction . in god no doubt lies the soveraign power , and no creature can either absolve , or condemn without his will and order ; and this his power of judging in the last day he hath committed to the son of man , or to christ as man , whom he hath not only made heir of all things , but for a reward of his sufferings given a name above every name , and delegated him to be judge of the quick and dead ; and this glorious commissioner calls in the apostles in the first place , and all other saints after them , to sit with him on the bench , and by their suffrage to applaud the sentence he shall pass on the stubborn , and obstinate ; wicked men shall be judges only comparatively as the means of grace they had , were less powerful than those of their neighbours , and yet went beyond them in goodness and holiness , at least were not so bad as they ; and consequently shall be witnesses against them , and in a manner judge and doom them to unspeakable anguish ; because they trampled on the grace , which was offered to their souls , in which sense the men of nineveh , and the queen of sheba shall rise in judgment with that generation , who saw the miracles of christ and repented not , and condemn them , because a greater than jonas , a greater than solomon was here . 2. in the prospect of this judgment there appears a very strict examination of what we have done in the flesh , not only of visible actions , but of words spoken in secret , and thoughts , desires , intentions , and resolutions of our hearts ; an examination , which will be a very great surprize to the sinner , who hath made light of things of this nature ; for there is nothing cover'd , that shall not be revealed , neither hid , that shall not be brought to light , saith he , that understood this day better than any man living , luke 12.2 . not only the bigger crimes , such as murder , adultery , fornication , blasphemy , unnatural lust , stealing , perjury , atheism , idolatry , apostacy , cursing , swearing , drunkenness , extortion , covetousness , contempt of god , and of his word , &c. will here be manifested and censured , aggravated and searched into , but the secret lustings of the soul , the hidden things of dishonesty , the cunning craftiness of men , whereby they lay in wait to deceive ; the mines , and pits , men have privily digg'd for their neighbours , their underhand dealings , their chamber practices , their sinful contrivances in the dark , or in their closets , their sailing to the port of vain-glory by a side-wind , their speaking truth for ill ends , their misinterpretations of their brethrens words and actions , their reporting things to anothers prejudice ; all these will be laid open before the whole world. sinner , thy unchast embraces , thy impure wishes , thy wanton glances , thy lascivious looks , thy delight in amorous songs , thy acting thy lust over in thy mind again , thy ruminating upon thy last nights revelling , thy tempting thy self to sin , and being thine own devil , and thy committing impurity with thy self , will all be set in order before thee , and the judge will demand , how it was possible for thee , who didst profess thy self a follower of the chast , and holy jesus , to dishonour him , and his religion , with such extravagant actions , and irreligious proceedings ? thy slovenliness in devotion , thy hypocrisy , and seeming to be better than really thou wert , thy inattentive prayers , the willful wandrings of thy thoughts , when thou wast speaking to god , thy not redeeming the time , thy neglecting to observe the greater , and weightier matters of the law , thy mispending thy precious hours , thy idleness and laziness in gods vineyard , thy not giving to the poor according to thy ability , thy pride , and secret envy , and desire of applause , and sinister ends and designs in preaching , praying , administring , and receiving of the holy sacrament , and in other good works , thy flattering , and dissembling , and unwillingness to do good , when thou hadst a fair opportunity ; these will all be laid open to thy sorrow , and confusion . thy not being led by good examples , thy slighting wholesom admonitions , thy laughing at excellent counsel , thy scorning reproof , and hating him , that gave it , thy resolvedness to do that again , for which thou wast reproved , the delay of thy seriousness , thy suffering the convictions thou hadst to be choaked with the cares , and riches of the world. thy being at an ale-house , when thou shouldst have been in thy closet , thy being at a play , when thy hand , and heart should have been lifted up in holy supplications , thy being in bed , when thou shouldst have been upon thy knees , and neglecting a greater duty for a trifle , or impertinence , the supper of the lamb for farms , and oxen , and thy preferring the silliest , and most ridiculous discourses , before a conference about the momentous concerns of eternity ; these will all be rehears'd at large , for i say unto you , that every idle word , that men shall speak , they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment saith christ , matth. 12.36 . not having repented of things of this nature , either through unbelief , or carelesness , when these points shall come to be examined , and thy soul interrogated upon these particulars , and so many too , it stands to reason , that it must necessarily cause very great astonishment ; for these things were most certainly forbid in that gospel , thou didst profess , and that notwithstanding , as if such things had never been spoken of , thou shouldst slight them , undervalue them , not think them worth thy care to shun them ; what sad reflexions will this examination cause ? in vain dost thou hope , that eagles catch no flies , and that god will never mind such small trivial , and inconsiderable errours . he that minded these smaller faults , as they seem to carnal men , and took notice of them in this life , may justly be supposed resolved to call men to an account for them in that solemn day of reckoning , for indeed god's proceedings , here are an emblem of his process in judgment hereafter . eating of the forbidden fruit in paradise seem'd but an inconsiderable oversight , yet did god curse the very earth for that fact , made it bring forth bryars and thorns , for the future condemned adam to the eating of bread in the sweat of his brows , and threatned the woman his partner in the errour , to multiply her pain and sorrows . it doth not appear from moses , that the children of god or professours of the true religion did any more , then marry with the daughters of the profaner crew , a small fault , a bruitish man would think , yet was the insolence lash'd , and the inordinate fire quenched with a deluge of waters ; lots wife looks back to sodom , out of curiosity perhaps , a venial folly , natural to women , it seems to be , and no more , yet for doing so is turned into a pillar of salt ; achan as a souldier , ( and that sort of men we know , live much upon prey ) takes in a time of war a golden wedge , and babylonian mantle ( no great matter one would think ) yet god orders him to be stoned ; vzzah out of his over-care that the ark might not fall , lays hold on 't , to support it , yet for doing so , is struck with death immediately ; the prophet , who came from judah to prophecy against the altar of bethel , in suffering himself to be persuaded to eat bread , by another prophet , who pretended visions too , to ones thinking committed no great crime , yet god revenged his disobedience with a violent death , for a lion sent by god , slew him . moses grows impatient at the waters of meribah , who would not have done so that had to deal with so stubborn a people ? yet that act of mistrust , and impatience cost him the loss of the land of canaan , he had so long desired to behold ; the people of israel murmured in the wilderness , a thing that people might easily do , who were kept so long in a barren desert , without seeing an end of their travel , yet of that vast number of six hundred thousand men not one enters into the promised land , save caleb , and joshua ; ananias and sapphira seemed to be guilty of no great misdemeanour , for they were content to give half of their estate to the poor , but kept the other to themselves , yet is god so angry , that he punishes their violating of their vow to give all , with sudden death . go now sinner , and fancy , that god will not call thee to an account for faults , the world makes nothing of , because he doth not do it here , he will certainly do it hereafter , and the examples of the bible are items that he will do so . it 's no matter , whether the thing , in which the offence is committed seem inconsiderable or no ; the disobedience is all in all ; if god commands thee to avoid a thing that 's trivial , it 's the easier task to do according to his will , and because it was so easie to obey , and thou wouldst not , it 's that which makes thy disobedience grievous , and heinous , though the matter of the offence seems trivial , and contemptible . rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft , and stubbornness is as iniquity , and idolatry , said samuel in a case much like this , where the thing done by saul was so far from seeming ill , that it appeared like a a work of mercy , and an act of gratitude , for he spared the best of the sheep , and brought home agag the king alive in triumph , yet this excused not the fact , but rather aggravated it ; for hath the lord as great delight in burnt offerings , and sacrifices , as in obeying the voice of the lord ? behold to obey is better than sacrifice , and to hearken , than the fat of rams , as the prophet tells him , v. 22. this confirms the method of christ's proceeding in tha last day ; and indeed how could that judgment be perfect , if the lesser , as well as the greater errours were not to be accounted for , and mens disobedience against the lesser , as well as the greater commands of the gospel were not to be manifested , and proclaimed before the world ? and though this is chiefly to be understood of men , who die without sincere repentance , yet it 's more than probable , that even the sins of those who were justified and sanctified will be brought to light , and discovered before the vast assembly , that shall appear before the throne of god in that day , not that they need fear any hurt or disadvantage , that will arise from that examination , and publication , but by these means both the glory of god , and the glory of these true converts will appear more illustrious ; the glory of god , who hath snatch'd such persons like brands out of the fire , pull'd them out of the miry clay , in which they were ready to perish , and taken them out of the devils clutches , than which , there cannot be a greater sign of the power and goodness of god ; and who sees not how much it will be for the credit and honour of the saints themselves ? 〈◊〉 to let the world see 〈◊〉 the bands , and ropes , that once held them , and how like sampson , they broke them all , and carried away the gates of gaza , and escaped out of hell in despight of all the devils , that raged , and storm'd , and domineer'd there , what can be said more for their renown and glory ? what hurt doth the penitent mary magdalen receive by the evagelists recording , or our speaking of her former whoredoms ? no more will the revealing of holy mens faults , and errours in the last day eclipse , but rather advance their goodness , because they extricated themselves from the snare of the fowler , and generously rouzed themselves from their fatal slumber , and in despight of temptations would press towards the mark of endless glory . their errours being published with their true repentance , and change of life , justifies god in accepting of them , while he refuses others , and proclaims their wisdom in choosing the better part , & condemns the impenitent , and discovers how justly they are left to god's vengeance , who would in despight of all the offers of god's favour , prefer their dirt and trash before an invisible , lasting , and solid felicity : and though it 's true , that holy mens sins are said in scripture to be covered , and god is brought in , promising to remember their sins no more , but to drown them all in the depth of the sea , yet can the meaning of such passages be no other than this , that god will not remember them , so as to make use of their errours against them to their ruine and condemnation ; notwithstanding this , he may justly publish them , that their wisdom being compared with their folly , may appear to go beyond it , and themselves from the thoughts of their former sins may reap the greater comfort , as agathocles being advanced from the trade of a potter to a throne , at his meals would still make use of earthen pots , not only to remember his original , but from the contemplation of his former poor an miserable condition to increase his present satisfaction ; for as in our fall from a high degree of prosperity to the greatest poverty and misery , nothing torments the mind more than the remembrance , that once it was otherwise with us , so where provividence is so kind , as to bring us out a horrible pit , and sets our feet upon a rock , the remembrance of our former misery signally increases our joy , and comfort in the present mercy . so then , in this great day all mens sins will be examin'd , and publish'd , though with different effects , the penitents , to thier absolution and glory : the impenitents , to their terrour and condemnation ; for to be presented there with a list of innumerable offences and affronts of the divine majesty which their own consciences know , and must acknowledge , which yet they either never seriously thought of , or never seriously attempted to forsake , or if they repented , discovered only a mock-repentance ; what effects can this be supposed to cause but monstrous confusion , and horrour of mind ? enough to put men into the greatest rage and distraction , to think , that they should neglect purchasing the pearl of price , when it was offered to their choice by god and man. here particular enquiry will be made , how we have discharged the duties of our several relations ; it 's not the purple of princes , nor the rods , and axes of magistrates that will make the almighty afraid of demanding of them , whether they have ruled their subjects in the fear of god , shewn them a good example , and punished the obstinate , and encouraged the good , and made it their business to advance god's glory , and to maintain the true worship of the living god ; nor will subjects be excused here , neither must they think to come off , without making distinct answers to these interrogatories , whether they have obey'd not only for wrath but for conscience-sake , whether they have behaved themselves peaceably under the government , they have lived under ; whether they have paid tribute , to whom tribute was due , honour to to whom honour , and whether they have not used their liberty for a cloak of maliciousness . in the same manner , parents will be strictly examined , whether they have brought up their children in the nurture and admonition of the lord ; children , whether they honoured their parents as became persons who under god owed their being to them ; servants , whether they served their masters according to the flesh in singleness of heart , as unto christ , and likewise all other persons according to the relations , and offices they stood in , for in all these relations , men are stewards , and both reason , and god's justice , and his word require , that all should give an account of their stewardship . at this time the soul being throughly a waken'd from her former lethargy , every sin will appear more dreadful , every errour more red , every fault more bloody , every offence blacker than ordinary , for the fire of that day doth not only scorch , but enlighten , and elevate the soul into a thinking state , and none of the former impediments will now be able to divert her thoughts , which will be fix'd upon an offended god , and his majesty , greatness , and holiness , and make at this time more sensible impressions on her , while every thing , especially , what hath been committed against god , will appear in more lively colours , and consequently , if the conscience hath not the remembrance of a former sincere repentance to support her self withal , the frights must necessarily be great , and the whole frame sink into inexpressible confusion . there are innumerable sins , which neither prince , nor magistrate can take notice of ; how many poor are oppressed ! how many innocent men wrong'd daily ! a socrates is abused , and hath no helper ; but neither this man's misery , nor the others oppression shall escape the eyes of that all-seeing judge , who will infallibly publish both the one and the other , and make good the type st. john speaks of , revel . 6.5 . and i beheld a black horse , & he that sat on him had a pair of ballances in his hand ; ballances to weigh every man's evil works , which if they be found to prepondenrate above the good , or to be pure sins , pure offences , without a godly sorrow to take off either the colour or the the weight , all will be turned into blackness and desolation . 3. in the prospect of this judgment , there appears a very wonderful scene ; the person that is the judge , is the lawgiver too , the party offended the witness , and his own advocate : he that shall sit on the tribunal in that day was the person , that came down from heaven , and blessed the world with the equitable precepts of the gospel ; it 's he that went up into a mountain , and from that pulpit pronounced , blessed are the poor in spirit , for theirs is the kingdom of heaven , blessed are they that mourn , for they shall be comforted ; blessed are the meek , for they shall inherit the earth , blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness , for they shall be filed , &c. matt. 5.1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6. it 's he that came to undeceive both the jewish and heathen world in the false notions , they had imbibed concerning their duty , and cleared the moral law of moses , of the false glosses , the pharisees had put upon it , explain'd the will of god , set it naked , and pure before the people , he came to call to repentance , and let them see what were the proper preparatives for the everlasting joys of heaven : it 's he who guarded the law , which he promulged with sanctions suitable to his majesty and greatness , and as he made the rewards eternal , so the punishments he threatned to the stubborn , and impenitent were endless too ; so it became him , who appeared in the world to offer infinite mercy to poor sinners , to reveal to them god's infinite love to their souls , and to acquaint them with the infinite condescension of the son of god , who would humble himself to the death of the cross , to redeem them from the bondage of the devil . he that came into this valley of tears with so much love and light about him , might justly enjoin reformation of the whole man , and a transformation of the mind , and temper of the soul , and require a conformity to his own life , and insist upon mens becoming patient , and humble , and charitable , and contented , and peaceable , and watchful over their thoughts , and words , and actions , and heavenly minded ; how could this grace , which appeared to all men , challenge less then self-denial , and contempt of the world , and living in the thoughts , and expectation of a better life , and seeking earnestly for glory , and honour , and immortality ? and as he , that will be the judge in that day , is the law-giver too , so he understands best the meaning of his laws , nor will tricks , and evasions , and false constructions of those laws signifie any thing before him , who will not depart from the sense his eternal wisdom put upon them , and which by his prophets and ministers he once caused to be proclaim'd in the ears of men . the sinner in that day will no● have to do with deputies , and lieutnants , and delegates , who too ofte● make the law a nose of wax , an● can turn , and interpret it to what sense they please , and their interest dictates , are sometimes unskilful , and apt to mistake the law of their superiours , and these laws not being of their own making , are the colder , or the more remiss in executing them ; but here men shall see the law-giver himself , who will not be put off with pretexts , and pretences , as ordinarily deputies , and such persons are , 〈◊〉 who employ'd by the supreme law-givers in a common-wealth , or kingdom . even here on earth , where the lawgivers themselves sit judges , the malefactor must expect severer dealings ; in this case , even lycurgus's wife shall not escape , that durst break her husbands law against riding in a chariot during the time of divine service ; and zaleucus his son must lose his eye for slighting his fathers orders against adulterers , not to mention the severities of epaminodas and others on their own children where the legislators have sat judges of their crimes , and errours . the almighty judg in that day will justly resent the affront done to his laws , and indeed none is better able to declare the heinousness of such contempt than he , and this must necessarily encrease the terrour of that day . and as he is the law-giver , against whose precepts the sinner hath offended , so he is the party offended too . sinner , this is he , whose body , and blood , thou hast so often receiv'd unworthily in the sacrament ; this is he , to whose cross , thou hast been an enemy so many years , on whose merits thou hast trampled , whom thou hast so often crucified afresh , whose house thou hast dishonoured , whose gospel thou hast been ashamed of , and therefore wonder not if such thundering fueries come forth forth from the throne at last ; do'st not thou remember , how oft thou hast broke through the guards and fences i have set betwixt thee and sin ? how couldst thou find in thy heart to afflict , and grieve me so often , who have endured such agonies already for thee on the cross ? why wouldst thou forsake me , the fountain of living vvaters ? how is it that thou wast not afraid to make thy belly , thy gold , thy harlot , and such a great man thy god : did ever any person oblige thee more than i ? didst thou ever receive such favours at any man's hand , as thou hast received at mine ? and why could not i have thy heart , and thy will and affections ? why must a sottish lust and passion engross thy desires , and my law be cast behind thee ? if ever law-giver had reason to be offended , this judge in the last day hath ; for his commandments were not grievous , his yoke was easie , and his burthen light , all that was required , was love , and it 's hard , if so small a tribute for his ineffable and incomprehensible mercies , must not be paid him . it 's true , this love must extend , and branch it self into various acts of meekness , and patience , and humility , &c. but still where love is the principle , none of all the other things , which are required , can seem tedious , or difficult . nor is this all , for the same judg will be witness against the sinner too : indeed no creature can be so true a witness against him , as the judge himself : there are many sins , no creature ever saw , but he , and therefore who so fit a witness against those crimes , as he ? i will come near to you to judgement , & i will be a swift witness against the sorceres , & against the adulterers , & against the false swearers and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages , the widow , and the fatherless , and that turn aside the stranger from his right , and fear not me saith the lord of hosts , mal. 3.5 . this judge sees all , nor will the sinner be able to elude this testimony of the invisible god. when thou wast under the fig-tree , i saw thee , said christ to nathanael ; his conscience knew , he had been there , and he believed . but this was in love . in that day , we speak of , such language as this will be pronounced in wrath , and indignation , and therefore will cause other thoughts in the hearts of the wretch , that shall hear it ; thou careless creature , couldst thou imagine that any thing was hid from me ? did not i see thee at such a time , in such a place , in such a garden , in such a chamber playing the rebel , and the wanton ? did not i see thee treating with mine enemies ? did not i see thee conspiring against me ? hadst not thou such base thoughts , such wicked intentions , such impure desires in such company ? i opened the windows of heaven , and look'd upon thee , when thou wast committing fornication with such a woman ? wilt not thou believe me , who look'd within the curtains , and saw thy abominations ? couldst thou think , i would look on , and not set thy sins in order before thee ? there will be no contradicting of this testimony , for thy conscience , o man , will immediately , join issue with it , and say , as nathan to the guilty king : thou art the man. for , besides this grand witness , there will abundance of other witnesses come in , which will all help to cast thy impenitent soul ; thy conscience here will have a great share in the accusation ; that conscience which once thou didst smother , and curb , and put by , when it pull'd thee by the sleeve , and bid thee be wise , and serious ; that conscience that once boggled and winced , when thou offered'st violence to it , and said to thee , as the baptist to herod , it is not lawful for thee to espouse this sin ; that conscience , which was aware of this judgment , and gave thee warning , and could not with all the strongest arguments it used prevail with thee to stand in aw of god ; this like one of job's messengers when the house falls , and all these out-ward things are gone , alone escapes , to tell the sinner of his folly . conscience even in this life doth sometime force the guilty , to make confession of their sins : it forced the the multitude that came to st. john , matth. 3.6 . it forced judas to cry , i have betrayed innocent blood , when no creature prompted him to the confession . it forced those who had used curious arts , act. 18.18 , 19. to bring their schemes and figures , and astrological tables , and burn them before the apostles of our lord. how much greater then , may we suppose , will the force of it be in that day , when terrour will surround it , when it will be readier to speak , and to accuse , then god to ask , and when no noise , no tumult , no croud , no business will be able to divert it ? with the conscience , the devils themselves will join , who are therefore emphatically call'd , the accusers of our brethren , rev. 12.10 . these cannot but know our sins , for they were the tempters , and remember how we yielded , and consented to their suggestions . these were the constant , and indefatigable observers of our lives . these watch'd our going out , and our coming in ; these were about us , when we lay down , when we rose , when we walk'd , and when we sat , and whatever we did ; these were still at hand to take notice of our doings , our words , and our behaviour : nor is their memory so frail , as to forget it , nor their malice so little , as so let it slip , without making publication of it . these rejoice in our ruine , and will be sure to make the worst interpretation of our deportment . these are they , that presented us with charming objects , and were restless till they had made us enamoured with them , first drove us into the snare , and now will be ready to accuse us for being taken . and therefore the fathers in their discourses concerning this day , do justly bring in the devil , arguing , and pleading with the almighty judg ; behold these men ! it's true , they were thine by creation , but they became mine by imitation of me ; they had thy image upon their souls , but see , they have defaced that , and chosen mine ; thou didst breath on them by thy holy spirit , but they were more fond of my suggestions , then those motions . thou didst indeed draw them with cords of love and by temporal and spiritual mercies soughtest to make them in love with thy will , but they turned a deaf ear to thy call , and invitation ; i never gave them any nor promised them any thing , yet they served me like slaves ; thou courtedst them , and didst oblige them to love thee , yet they had rather be my favourites , then thy darlings ; it thou didst command them any thing , that was against their lusts , either they did nothing , or would be sure to provoke thee with their inventions , i did but becken to them , and they flew to my camp ; nay , they were more impudent than i , believed less , than i , found out sins i did not dream of , durst do more than i bid them ; i bid them deny a thing , they had done , and they not only denied it , but swore to it by all that 's good , and holy ; i bid them take their ease and be merry , and they made themselves swine ; i bid them neglect god's service on the lord's day , but they profaned it besides , by playing , and drinking , and other enormities ; i bid them keep , what they had got , but they went beyond what i prompted them to , oppressed , cheated , dissembled , and made way to their wealth through oppression of the widow and fatherless . these therefore have my image and superscription , and consequently must be mine . i claim them as mine own . i challenge them as they are apostates and traitors to thee : it is thy statute which like the laws of medes and persians is irrevocable , that those shall be despised , who did lightly esteem thee . nor can god be worse than his word , but must deliver up the sinner , whom no mercy could reform , to these tormentors . nay , if we have oppressed any persons , those very persons will be witnesses against us . abel will in that day bear witness agaisnt cain his murderer ; naboth against ahab , whole countreys against their tyrannical princes ; israel against pharaoh ; in the same manner , those whom we have corrupted with gifts or moneys , or some other way will stand up against us ; herodias against herod ; drusilla against felix ; the harlot against her inamorato ; helena against paris ; danae against jupiter ; and men and women perverted by hereticks against the broachers of false doctrines ; and how can there be want of witnesses when our school-masters , our parents , and other good men , whose counsels we rejected , whose admonitions we despised , and whose frequent exhortations we laughed at , will be forced to speak what they know against us . sinner , the ministers of the gospel , those who follow'd thee with checks and intreaties to be reconciled to god , will be obliged to speak of thy stubbornness , and impenitence : nay , this pulpit , these walls , these stones , these pews , will cry out against thee ! heaven and earth are even in this life call'd in as witnesses against the monsters , who were more inconsiderate then the ox , or ass ; much more in that day , when god will bring every thing into judgment , not only the sinful actions , but the very places in which those actions were committed . such witnesses will be the riches and goods , thou hast abused ; th● gold thou hast spent upon thy luxury , the silver , thou hast thrown away in a frollick , the garments , thou hast abused to pride , the corn , and bread thou hast play'd withal , the hungry whom thou hast not fed , the thirsty to whom thou hast not given drink ; the naked , whom thou hast not clothed , when it lay in thy power ; the prisoners whom thou hast not visited ; these will all be accusers of thy abuses , and uncharitableness . but the accusation of all these might yet be born with ; it 's the testimony of the judge , who shall approve of all , that these witnesses averr , which appears most dreadful , and terrible , and therefore certainly , the prospect of this judgment is able to damp the greatest mirth , and sensuality . and as this judge will himself be witness in that day , so he will be his own advocate too . to this purpose saith the pathetick nazianzene . what shall we do my friends , what shall we say , what apology shall we make , when this judge shall plead for himself in that day ; though disobedient wretch , i made thee of clay with mine own hands , and breathed the breath of life into thee ; i made thee after my image , i gave thee reason , and understanding , and power , and dominion over the beasts of the field , a mercy which if i had not vouchsafed unto thee , those creatures , which are stronger than thou , would have master'd & destroy'd thee ; i plac'd thee among the pleasures of paradise , made thee a happy inhabitant of eden , and when thou wouldst needs hearken to the false and treacherous suggestions of thy sworn enemy , behold in pity and commiseration to thee , i resolved to be born of a virgin , and accordingly took flesh , and became man for thy sake , was born in a stable , lay unregarded in a manger , swadled in rags and clouts , endured all the reproaches and injuries , that childhood is subject to , bore thy griefs , and assumed thy infirmities , and was made like thy self , that thou might be like me in felicity at the end of thy race . i suffered men to trample on me , to buffet me , to spit in my face , to give me gall , and vinegar to drink , to scourge me , to crown me with thorns , to wound , and nail me to the cross , and all this , that i might deliver thee from eternal contempt and torments . behold the mark of the nails which were struck into my flesh. behold my wounded side ; i suffered , that thou might'st triumph , i died , that thou might'st live , was buried , that thou might'st rise , and made my self a scorn of the people , that thou might'st reign in heaven ; and why would'st thou throw away this mercy ? why would'st thou refuse this treasure ! what evil spirit did possess thee to make light of these kindnesses ? why would'st thou pollute that soul , which i redeemed with mine own blood ? why wouldst thou make thy heart a habitation of devils , which i intended for my throne ? why would'st thou lose that which i purchased at so dear a rate ? vvhat pleasure couldst thou take in doing that which cost me so many sighs and tears , and a bloody sweat ; why would'st thou make a mock of so great a mercy ! how could'st thou undervalue a favour of that importance and consequence ? can any hell be thought too much for such stubbornness ? either thou didst believe , that thy god did all this for thee , or thou didst not : if thou didst not believe it , why didst thou make confession of it with thy mouth ? if thou didst , how couldst thou be so ungrateful ? how could'st thou abuse a friendship of that worth and value ? thou lovest a friend , a neighbour , a man , a vvoman for kindnesses , which are meer shadows , and bubbles to my love , and hadst not thou reason to love me beyond all earthly comforts ? hadst not thou reason to prefer my favour before the smiles of a transitory vvorld ? how did i deserve such preposterous doings at thy hands ? couldst thou have dealt worse with a slave , or with an enemy , than thou hast done with me ? did this condescension deserve , dost thou think , such affronts , and injuries , such contempt , and disobedience , as thou hast returned to me ? therefore , as for those mine enemies , which would not have this man to reign over them , bring them hither , and slay them before me . all this appears in the prospect of a future judgment , and therefore there must be vertue in it , to check that mirth and jollity , which infatuates souls , and leads them into ruine . 4. in the prospect of this future judgment , there appears the unspeakable anguish and misery of those who have been most jolly , and merry in this life . dives , who cloth'd himself in purple , and fine linnen , and fared sumptuously every day , appears there quaking , and trembling , & crying , father abraham , have mercy on me , and send lazarus , that he may dip the tip of his finger in water , and cool my tongue ; his tables which were over-laid with silver , his richer beds , his tapestry , his ornaments , his ointments , his balsams , his cordials , his delicate vvines , his various dishes , his cooks , his flatterers , his parasites , his retinue , his servants , and all the noise , and pomp that attended him , are not only extinct , and turned into ashes , and dust , and dirt , but his naked soul is dragg'd & carried before a tremendous majesty , to endure intolerable torments , and before this terrible god he appears with his eyes cast down , blushing , and ashamed , trembling , and fearful , and all his former comforts seem to have been but dreams to him . see how the scene is changed ; he to whom the poor man formerly supplicate for relief , nor is forced to supplicate to the poor man to be reliev'd of him , and would be glad of lazarus's table , who once scorn'd to let lazarus gather the crums that fell from his ; when lazarus was near him , he slighted him , now he is afar off , he adores him , and himself now is the poor man , while lazarus swims in riches ; such a discovery doth that last day make , who are the rich , and who the poor , who the wise , and who the fools . in this judgment nimrod , senacharib , nebuchadnezzar , belshazzar , fiberius , nero , domitian ; men who would be thought goods , and denied themselves in no pleasure , their fancies craved , stand all ashamed , and confounded , flames of a guilty conscience burning in their breasts , and forcing their voices into bitter lamentations ; there sardanapalus , croesus , cambyses , herod , and all the mighty men that spared no woman in their lust , and no man in their anger , appear all like guilty malefactors , their hearts failing them for fear , and they chattering like a crane , and mourning like a dove , and bewailing their airy , short , and transitory satisfactions , and cursing the hour , and the minute when the first temptations courted them to those dangerous embraces ; there cleopatra , that sailed in a vessel glistering with gold , a vessel fitted for pride , and luxury , and magnificence , and tried how far sensuality might be improved , and to what height bruitish pleasure might be advanced ; there the wretched woman is seen not so much with serpents clasping about her breast , as with a worm within , that dies not , tormenting her awaken'd conscience with shapes of death , and images of ruine , and all the beasts , that here could not be satisfied with pleasure , there cannot be eased of gnawing vultures , and agonies , for these the just god must at last inflict , to make them sensible that his threatnings were no fables , and to let them see , that the advices of wise men , and philosophers , who exhorted them to the study of virtue , were grounded on rational foundations . these tortures , and vexations must not expire till the ancient of days , was affronted by their sins , doth die , and that 's never , he being the same yesterday , to day , and for ever : thus their sweet meat must have sour sauce , and if they will have their pleasures , they must feel the sting too , that 's inseparably affix'd to them . the bait cannot be swallow'd without the hook , and as pleasant as the honey is , the gall which is part of it , must be tasted too . god will not be always mock'd , and they , that durst in despight of his will and prohibitions feed upon that luscious fruit , shall feel the smart of the prickles too . in this judgment their postures , gestures , and behaviour , and deportment appear in another figure , and they that before laught at the thunders of the law , made light of the threatnings of the gospel , and let the warnings of the ministers of the gospel go in at one ear , and out at another , now call themselves fools and sots for doing so , and they that before thought of no after reckoning , now fall a wishing , but in vain ; o that i had been wise ! o that i had bethought my self ! o that i had look'd beyond this world ! o that i had believed ! o that i had retired , and considered , what these satisfactions would end in ! fool that i was , to think , that god would prove a lyar ! where was my reason to think , that all that the wisest , and holiest men have said , were but dreams and idle tales ! i that might have been a terrour to devils , how am i become their scorn ! i that might have been a favourite of god , how am i become his enemy ! i that might have triumph'd with other saints , how am i fall'n from their bliss ! o what would not i give to be rid of the torment , i feel ! help , help , ye souls , that have any pitty in you : i sink under the weight of my former pleasures ! they are loathsome to me ! they appear monsters , furies , hideous things to me ! cursed be that lust , i cherished ! cursed be that bed , on which my wickedness were wrought ! o that my tongue had dropt out of my head , when i pleased my self with lascivious discourses ! o that i had been deaf , when i was tickled with hearing a smutty jest ! o that i had been struck blind , when with joy and satisfaction i be held that charming beauty ! o that my feet had failed me , when i was going into that jovial company ! o that i had lock'd my self up , that i might not have seen those temptations which enticed me ! o that i had spent those hours , i threw away in carding and dicing , and drinking , and revelling ! o that i had spent them in holy contemplations of the vanity of these sublunary objects ! now i would do it , and it is too late ! now i would repent , and it profits me not ! now i would be serious , and it signifies nothing ! my time is lost ! the day of grace is gone ! the opportunities are past : o that i could tear out this heart ! o that i could pull out these eyes ! o that i could dispatch my self ! o that i had a sword , that i might put a period to this miserable condition ! i see nothing , but ruine before me , nothing but darkness , nothing but confusion , nothing but horrours , and no creature will help me to annihilate my self ! i am not able to endure this torture for a moment , how shall i be able to endure it to infinite millions of ages ! i see no end of it , the farther i look , the more of my misery i see ! where-ever i cast my eyes , i see nothing , but terrour , devils , and miserable souls in the same condition with my self , all howling about my ears : a thing so far from affording comfort , that it fills me with greater horrour ! whether shall i flee for remedy ! heaven is shut up ! there is a vast gulph betwixt me , and that ; there is no passing from hence thither , nor from thence to this doleful place ! i swim in a sea of sorrow , i swim , and see no shore , i labour , and not a plank appears on which i may save my life , here are no hills , no mountains , no rocks , i can cry too , and if there were , they are all deaf ! god hath forsaken me , and good reason , for i left him for a lust , and undervalued him for trifles ! i pleaded , i could not withstand the charms , the world offered to me ! mad man ! i could withstand them now , why could not i have withstood them then ? i might have considered of this place , and of this state , and of these vexations , and check'd my self : o that i were but to live again in the world ! o that god would but try me again ! how would i scorn the very thoughts of mirth , and raillery ! how would i run away from the very mention of these impostures ! break my heart , break ! if god will not kill thee , call upon the infernal spirits , and see what they will do ! but , oh they delight in these groans ! themselves lie under the same condemnation , banish'd from the gracious presence of god! they would die , as well , as i , if they were able ! o what a torment is it ! i see the everlasting joys before me , and cannot reach them ! they are over my head , and i cannot come near them ! paradise i see , but cannot enter into it ! i knock my head , i smite my breast , i stamp with my feet , but am never the better ! that jesus , on whose blood i trampled , i see rejoicing with his followers at the right hand of god , and not a drop of comfort drops from his lips , on mine ! i feel flames within , which no waters can quench , a drop of water would be some refreshment , and give me some hopes of ease , but here is none : all the rivers of consolation are dried up to me ! i walk in darkness ! i see no light ! o god , tear the heavens and come down ! canst thou hear these shrieks , and be unconcern'd ! canst thou see this poor creature lie in torments , and give no relief ! hast thou no mercy left ! o then my state is desperate ! i shall not be able to refrain from blasphemy ! for i see none can help , but thou , and thou wilt not ! i rave , i am distracted with fear ! i tremble ! i quake ! stand off devils ! i have furies enough within ! ye damned pleasures , whither have you brought me ! ye have made me lose the favour of him , who alone is able to give me ease ! i might have been happy , if it had not been for you , i might have escaped these regions of anguish , if you had not tempted me ! but why do i accuse you ! this brutish heart of mine was in the fault ; my devilish lust hurried me into ruine ; i had reason , and would not use it , means of grace , and would not apply them , offers of mercy , and would not accept of them ; o all ye , that pass by , behold and see , if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow , which is done unto me , wherewith the lord hath afflicted me , in the day of his fierce anger , from above he hath sent a fire into my bones , and it prevails against them , he hath spread a net for my feet , he hath turned me back ; he hath made me desolate , and faint all the day , the yoak of my transgressions is bound by his hand , they are wreath'd , and come up upon my neck , he hath made my strength to fall , the lord hath deliver'd me into their hands from whom i am not able to rise up . all this certainly appears in the prospect of that future judgment , and consequently is enough to check , and damp the greatest jollities on this side hell , and though it 's true , that it doth not cause the least disturbance in thousands of men , that drink of these stolen waters , for men in this age are as jovial , as ever , and a judgment to come frights them no more , than a house on fire a thousand miles off ; but sure this is for want of taking the proper way and method , which god , and reason doth prescribe , and what that way , and method is , shall be shewn in the following paragraph . 3. how the prospect of that future judgment must be managed , that it may actually damp , and put a stop to these carnal delights . this is to be done , no other way , but , 1. by thinking , reflecting , and ruminating upon that future judgment . this stands to reason , for except things be made visible to us , how shall they move or fright us ? this future judgment being out of sight , and afar off , it must be brought near , and set before us ; and there is no way to do it , but by thinking . our thoughts are the picture-drawers , which make the landskip of that judgment so lively , that our faculties can not but be signally affected with it . these are the divine part within us , which can make things past , and future , as present , and summon the remotest objects to become familiar and palpable . these are the glasses in which all that god hath said , or promised , and threatned , becomes visible , and with the help of these we may make that substance , which seemed but air before , and condense that into solid notions , which to a carnal man seemed but fancy and wind before . these can make us in a manner grasp and feel that which was out of our reach before , and make us concern'd about things which we neither see , nor hear , nor feel with our grosser organs . these can transplant the other world into this , and make eternity appear before us , though we live in tabernacles of clay ; to prove this , we need only appeal to experience . behold those pious souls , that take a course contrary to that of the world ; what makes them afraid of sinning ? what makes them afraid of running with their neighbours into riot ? what makes them , that they dare not do , what some of their carnal acquaintance and relations do ? what makes them mourn ? what makes them rejoice in spirit ; you see nothing , that they have reason to mourn for ? they have a competency , they want nothing in the world , they have necessaries and conveniencies , and they prosper in their lawful undertakings ; and under some of their greatest afflictions , you see nothing that should make them cheerful , no outward cause of their joy , but rather all that is about them is an invitation to sorrow and dejection : why ? they are invisible things , that make them mourn and rejoice , and by thinking of them , they make them visible , and so visible , that they are affected with them as much , as other men are with objects that incur into their senses ; by thinking they see the terrours of the lord , and the affronts they have offered to the divine majesty , and the wounds they have given to their own souls , and that makes them weep ; by thinking , they see the glory , that is set before them , and the recompence which is promised them , and the right , and title they have to it , and that makes their souls rejoice ; so then by thinking , this future judgement may be seen , and if it be seen in in any lively colours , there is no sinner so stout , no man so perverse , no creature so dull , and stupid , but it will startle him , and put wormwood into his cup. when i eat , or drink , or whatever i do , the last trump sounds in mine ears , and i think i hear the terrible voice of the arch-angel , arise ye dead , and come to judgement , saith st. hierome : these thoughts made him eat , & drink with great moderation : these brought a holy fear upon him in all his actions : these kept him from going beyond the bounds , god had set him : these struck seriousness into him in all places : these made him as circumspect in the market-place , as if he had been at church , and as devout in the street , as if he had stood at the high altar . and therefore i do not wonder at that hermit that he became so serious a man as antiquity reports him , who carried a little book about him , consisting only of four leaves in which he was always seen reading , and after reading , meditating ; in the first leaf was express'd christ's passion , and what that darling of manking suffered for poor mortals , during his abode in the world ; in the second , was represented the process of the future judgment , with the terrours , and constureations , that guilty men will be in at that time ; in the third were described the glories of paradise , and of that third heaven , which all holy souls shall enter into , there to possess the inheritance of the saints in light ; in the fourth was drawn to the life , the picture of hell , and of the miseries , which shall await the stubborn , and impenitent in the next life ; these four leaves were soon read over , but they afforded infinite matter for thoughts , and meditations , and by these his soul was so warmed , that he cared not what became of him here , so he might but enjoy the promis'd glory & that life , & immortality , christ , had brought to light by the gospel . so true is that saying of st. chrysostom ; there is no man that thinks much of hell , that will ever fall into it , as indeed there is no man , who makes light of it , that will ever escape it . for as it is among men , they that are afraid of the penalties of the law , seldom or never feel them , for their fear makes them shun those actions , which deserve them : this keeps them from theft and rapine , from murder , and adultery , from burglary , and wrong , from violence , and oppression , and consequently from the punishments , the law inflicts in such cases : the plagues and the stripes they fear , make them cautious , and whatever their inclination may be , the rods , and axes they fear , restrain them , whereas those that are regardless of the mulct bring it upon themselves ; so it is here , the frequent thinking of it , is the best antidote against the terrours of that future judgment ; if the ninivites had not feared their overthrown , they had certainly been overthrown , and how could they have feared it , if they had not thought of it ? if the men , that lived before the flood , had thought of it , and been afraid , they would not have been drown'd ; nor would the people of sodom have been consum'd by fire , if they had taken this course : it 's a great misfortune not to think of the fulfilling of gods threatnings , for he that thinks nor of it , of all men , will be the first , that shall have woful experience of it . it is reported of agatho , that in his last sickness falling into a trance , for three days together , he lay with his eyes fix'd upon heaven , and all that time look'd very ghastly ; recovering out of the extasy , and being ask'd by his friends , where he had been , and what his thoughts had been during those three days , and what made him look so strangely ? o my friends , said he , do you ask me , where i have been ? alas ! i have been these three days standing before the great tribunal , and seen how the most just judge sentenced divers souls to eternal darkness , and who would not stand amazed at the dreadful spectacle ? it was therefore a very good prayer of st. ambrose : i do most vehemently desire , o lord , that thou wouldst be pleased to imprint and very deeply imprint the landskip of the future world , the miseries of the disobedient , the groans of the stubborn , the agonies of the impenitent , the shrieks of the profane , the vexations of hypocrites , the fears of the careless , the destruction of the covetous , the perdition of worldlings , the flames of the revengeful , the terrour of damnation , and eternal torments , and the future felicity of thy kingdom , upon my mind , for it is impossible that he that thinks much of these things , should not become thy child , and servant , and one of those , whom thou hast predestinated to eternal life . do'st thou laugh , said the old man in ruffinus to a youngster ( whose behaviour was very light ) when you and i are to be judged before heaven and earth , and indeed that person , that surveys , what the divine jesus hath said of this future judgment , thinks how in that day the powers of heaven will be shaken , the sun turned into darkness the moon into blood , and the stars forbear to give their light , how the world , and all the elements will be on fire , the universe melt like wax , the earth be burnt up , the seas dried , and the rivers consumed , and with what glory and bravery the once afflicted son of god will then appear , with an army of angels about him displaying their banners , and carrying the sign of the son of man before him ; how before him all nations will be assembled and all that are in their graves , upon hearing the voice of god , loud as thunder , and more dreadful too , will be summon'd to appear before his bar , the judge shining in his meridian glory , brighter than moses , clearer than the sun , and how the consciences of guilty men will quake at this sight , their hearts misgiving them , that their portion will be in outward darkness , how formidable all the transactions will be , how immutable the sentence , after it is once passed , not to be altered , or deprecated by saints , or angels , how all evasions , and subterfuges will be out of doors there , and all possibility of transferring our errours upon others who have been partners with us in our sins , will vanish , how those that make themselves fools for christ's sake in this life , were reproached , reviled , derided , and laughed at for their severities , would not lose their souls for a trifle , nor sell their birth-right to eternal bliss for a morsel of meat , would held fast their integrity , though solicited by innumerable losses , and crosses , and by their nearest relations to curse god , and die , how these who were here made the off-scourings of all things , will then be absolved , and quitted , and have seats appointed them in the mansions of glory , there to reign , and sing the goodness of god to all eternity . i say , he that seriously surveys these things , if he be a person who hath not debauch'd or lost his reason , cannot but be affected by passages of this nature , and think it time to curb himself in his sensual delights , and satisfactions . but , 2. bare thinking is not enough , but the particulars of this future judgment must be actually applied to our selves ; general things , and what is done to others though they may touch the heart , yet do not subdue it will particular applications give them force , and power . a fire , that is a mile off from me , though it causes in me some sense of the calamity , yet if it threatens the house i live in , my faculties soon bestir themselves , and i fall to work , and secure my self in good earnest ; so here when i behold the tremendous process of this judgment , i must reflect , that as god deals with others , so he will certainly deal with me , that i have no greater priviledge than others , but must stand , and fall by the same law , that they stand , and fall by , that to fancy any more favourable proceedings towards me , than god intends to others , is but a dream and contrary to the impartiality of the judge ; that as i have a soul to be saved as well as my neighbour , so god will expect i should live here , as he bids my neighbour live , that neither my estate , nor dignity , neither my offices , nor friends , neither my riches , nor my greatness will excuse my living more carelesly than my poorer friends , nay , that my outward advantages make my account greater , and as i have had greater talents bestow'd upon me , so more will be required of me than of them who have not had those opportunities of being good , and holy , which i have had ; that as god hath advanced me in the world , placed me in a higher station , given me a consideradle figure here on earth , made his candle to shine upon me , caused my root to spread out by the waters , and the dew of heaven to lie all night upon my branch , and afforded me credit , and respect among men , so he looks for greater fruitfulness in good works , and more than ordinary exemplariness to advance his glory , and to spread the power of religion among my inferiours , and dependants ; and therefore upon a view of this future process , i must needs rouze my soul , by such questions as these ; if god be resolved to judge the secrets of mens hearts according to his gospel , what will become of me ? should god call thee to judgment o my soul , this night , or this hour , art thou in a condition to appear before so great , so dreadful a god ? is this foolery , thou pleasest thy self with , this wanton dress , this jolly life , these merry , hours , this gaming , this carrousing , this extravagant laughter , this fondness of the humour of the age , this immodest , and frothy talk , this foolish garb , this phantastick fashion , this mispending thy time , this keeping of vain company , this unprofitable way of living , this thy being intent altogether upon the profits and pleasures of the world , this indifferency in religion , these faint resistances of temptations , this neglect of known duties , this unfaithful discharge of the duties of thy relations , this unwillingness to mind any thing that 's serious , this aversion from spiritual discourses , and actions , this want of gravity , &c. are these fit wedding garments to come before the king of heaven in ? thou maist be summon'd to come to his bar within this day or two ; think what an infinite majesty thou must be presented to ! should god speak the word within a few minutes , come away , come away , and give an account of thy behaviour ; how unprepared art thou ? so great is thy danger , and canst thou loiter ? so near art thou to a tremendous eternity , and oh wilt not thou be clean ? thou standest upon the brink of hell , and wilt not thou step back , thou art within a bows shot of the great tribunal , & doth not thy countenance change ? thou art within hearing of the thunders , that come forth from the throne of god , and do not thy thoughts trouble thee ? thou seest the fatal hand upon the wall , and do not they kness smite one against another ? thou must shortly appear before all the host of heaven , and art not thou got farther yet in holiness ? do'st not thou quake , to think , that the revenger of blood is upon thy heels ? as thou art a christian , thou art a son of god , and do'st thou express that filial disposition in thy gate , and looks , and face , and life ? art thou born of god , and canst thou degenerate from his nature ? art thou made after his image , and by grace renew'd after his similitude , and canst thou be contented , under a temper so different from that holiness , which is thy great fathers perfection and glory ? does god expect thee at his tribunal with the qualifications of a child , and wilt thou appear before him as a rebel ? hath he given his son on purpose to adopt thee , and thinkest thou to present thy self before him in the shape of a prodigal ? thou art designed for a citizen of the celestial jerusalem , and wilt thou appear before him as an inhabitant of hell ? thou art one of god's family , and wilt thou appear before him , as a traitor ? thou art purchased by his blood , and wilt thou live , as if that blood had been spilt in vain ? thou art wash'd in the laver of regeneration , and canst thou wallow with the swine in the mire ? thou hast known the way of righteousness , and wilt thou with the dog return to the vomit ? or art thou not afraid of that saying , that dog must stand without ? thou art call'd to be faithful , and hast given thy faith to god ; wilt thou break thy faith , and hope to be guiltless at this bar ? will not god revenge this breach , or canst thou think , he will let thee go unpunish'd for thy treacheries ? how canst thou expect the performance of his promises , while thou art so false to thy engagements ? thou hast vow'd thy self to him both in baptism , and the supper of the lord , and canst thou imagine , that thy perjuries will not be remembred , when thou comest to look the judge in the face ? by giving thee opportunity of becoming a christian , god hath made thee a king , and wilt thou run to the bramble , and say , come thou and reign over me ? as a king , thou hast power given thee to vanquish flesh and blood , to tread upon lions and adders , to defie principalities , and powers , and to crush devils , and wilt thou make thy self a slave to those enemies , over which god hath given thee power to trample them under thy feet ? as a king thou art to apppear before him , and wilt thou come in the posture of a miserable vassal ? shall those passions rule over thee , which thy god hath given thee for servants , and handmaids ? and what a dismal fight will it be , when thou art to come before the throne laden with conquests , to appear fetter'd with chains , and the devils trophies ? god designs thee to be his priest ; this is one of the priviledges , that came by the blood of christ : but where are thy sacrifices ? the sacrifice of fervent prayer , the sacrifice of an humble contrite heart , the sacrifice of praise , and delight in god ? and wilt thou come without the mark of thy office before the great shepherd , and bishop of souls ? thou art enlightned by the spirit of god , and dost thou think to live in darkness , and after all to share in the boundless inheritance with the children of light ? how unlike thy self wilt thou appear before god , if thou come without these qualifications ? thou art a christian , but where is the life of christ that should be in thee ? will the judge ever take thee for his sheep , when it 's evident , thou do'st not hear his voice ? how ridiculous is that man , that hangs out a bush , and yet hath no wine to sell ? and how foolish is that apothecary , that writes glorious names upon his pots , when the rich drugs that are named , have no being in his shop ? and will it not tend to thy everlasting confusion that thou hast had the name of a christian , and done nothing like a christian ? thus the particular proceedings of that future judgment must be applied to our selves , if we resolve that the prospect of a future judgment shall damp our carnal delights , and satisfactions , and without using this method , we do but trifle , and talk of breeding mountains , and bring forth ridiculous mice , play with religion , and are not in good earnest , when we say , we believe a future account . 3. but neither the reflections aforesaid , nor the application , we have spoken of , will make any deep impression , except all be seconded with earnest prayer , that god by his holy spirit working in our minds , would make the attempt effectual ; this must set to its seal , drive in the nail , and clench it . the eternal spirit must give success to these enterprizes , and in vain do we plant or water , except he gives the increase . he is that anointing , which must supple the soul , and crown all with laurels and victory . by strength of thought , and application , the fort of sin may be assaulted , but without this spirit lends his helping hand , it will never be taken , or subdued . his power must overcome the oppositions , our flesh and the world will certainly make in this case , and if he blows upon our hearts , the strong holds of iniquity , like the walls of jericho will fall , and nothing can stand before him , and he will certainly come in to our assistance , if our prayer , and addresses be fervent and importunate . upon such devotions , the frequent discourses of this day of judgment , we read or hear , will be so far from bringing the thing into contempt with our souls , that our hearts will be awaken'd more , and it 's impossible we can miscarry in the pious design , if with strong cries , we apply our selves to him , who hath appointed a day , in the which he will judge the world in righteousness , by that man , whom he hath ordain'd , whereof he hath given assurance unto all men , in that he hath raised him from the dead , act. 17.31 . that which we are chiefly to insist upon in these addresses is , that we may get lively apprehensions , of that day , and such apprehensions , as no pleasure , no folly , no temptation of the world may darken , or destroy ; and here let the soul break forth into such ejaculations : o god , great , and glorious , make me deeply sensible of that day , and of that hour , when the son of man will come , when the goats shall be separated from the sheep , the tares from the wheat , the good from the bad ; when neither prayers , nor tears shall be able to deliver the guilty and polluted soul from the impendent danger ; when it shall be said to the humble , friend sit up higher , & to the proud fool , give place to him , that 's more honourable , than thou art ; when the book of conscience shall be open'd , and the dead judged by the contents of that book ; when the sinner will not know where to flee , and his spirits will fail him for fear of him , that sits upon the throne . o god! fix these considerations in my soul ; strengthen my faith , that i may believe these things unseen without wavering . how apt is the world to get between this tremendous day , and my sight ! quicken thou mine eyes , that i may see through all impediments into that process , and reflect , what manner of person i ought to be in all holy conversation , and godliness ! lord jesu ! great judge of the world ! let the lines of that judgment be written so legibly in my mind , that my soul may delight to read them , that nothing may divert me from studying , and considering them ; let this be my chief study , and let me feel the same effect , that those men did , who were converted at thy apostles sermon ; let me be prickt at the heart , and cry out , what must i do to be saved ? let the thoughts of this day make a reformation in my outward , and inward man , that it may appear , that thou hast touch'd me with a coal from the altar . o god to whom vengeance belongs , shew thy self , and disperse my foolish desires . let my soul feel the transactions of that day as well as believe them . clear my understanding and enlighten my mind , that i may have a livelier prospect of it . i will not let thee go except thou bless me : look down from the habitation of thy holiness , and visit my soul. expel the prejudices i have against severity of life , and with the thoughts of this day destroy them utterly . let the consideration of this day so work upon me , that my ambition , covetousness , pride , and anger may tremble at the sight , and leave their habitation , and may be ever afraid of returning . oh tell me , that this day will certainly come , and that the day of my death , will be the emblem of it . oh assure me of the terrour of that day , that shall burn like an oven wherein all that do wickedly shall be stubble , and the fire shall burn them up , that it shall leave them neither root nor branch ; let me not take example by the careless world , that put this evil day far from them . let it be always before me ! let my mind be never free from the contemplations of it . let it mingle with my business , with my meals , with my converse , with my sleep , and with all my undertakings . in every sin i am tempted to , let it frighten me , in my going out , and in my coming in , let it continually beat upon my mind . oh my lord ! let me muse upon this day of retribution ; this day of recompence , this day of trouble , this day of terrour , this day of joy , this day of comfort ; this day wherein thy promises , and threatnings , will be fulfill'd ; this day , which must decide the controversy of my life , and death ; this day which will bring to light all hidden things ; this day , which will revive the good , and confound the bad ; this day of consolation ; this day of consternation , let me ruminate upon it , till thoughts of this judgment prevail with me to become a new creature ; thy grace must melt my stubborn heart ; without thee i can do nothing . o relieve me ! o come in with the light of thy countenance ! stir up my soul , and rouze it from its carelesness ! call to me as thou didst to thy people of old ; let that voice sound in my ears , the great day of the lord is near , it is near , & hasteth greatly , even the voice of the day of the lord ; the mighty man shall cry bitterly ; that day is a day of wrath , a day of trouble , and distress , a day of wastness , and desolation , a day of darkness and gloominess , a day of clouds , and thick darkness , a day of the trumpet , and alarm against the fenced cities , and against the high towers , and i will bring distress upon men , that they shall walk , like blind men , because they have sinned against the lord , and their blood shall be poured out , as dust , and their flesh , as the dung , neither their silver , nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the lord 's wrath. o let me not lose the sense of this day ! oh let me consider , how much better it is to be humble and contemptible , and to hunger , and thirst , and to suffer here , and afterwards to enter into my great masters joy , than to be a slave to my lusts , and pleasures here , and to be bound at last with everlasting chains of darkness , chains which never wear out , chains which always bind , are always grievous , always painful ; oh let me consider , how much better it is to mourn here , and to water my couch with my tears , and to afflict my soul , and after this , to triumph with the spirits of men made perfect , than to feed upon pleasures , which at the best are but like the crackling of thorns under a pot , and then to be sent away , to howl with devils : help lord , help , that my soul may be concern'd at her danger , and despise the world , and prepare against that day , and encounter with powers , and principalities , and spiritual wickednesses in high-places ; if by any means i might attain unto the resurrection of the dead . such prayers offered from a heart , that hath no reserves , from a heart , resolved to do any thing rather than miss of salvation ; such prayers , i say , if they express the very desires of our souls , will certainly put death and paleness into our sensual pleasures , and oblige us to entertain other thoughts of the gauds , and gaieties of the world , than now we have , and make us sensible , that this casting such a damp on the foolish satisfactions of the flesh with a prospect of that day , is not only a task fit for hermits , and melancholick scholars , and contemplative men , but a duty incumbent on all , that carry immortal souls in their breasts , which calls me to the fourth point . 4. whether every man is bound to embitter his carnal delights with this prospect ? to this i must answer in the affirmative ▪ for though the young man be particularly mention'd here , yet since the expression in the text reaches all men , who are fit for action , all such must necessarily fall under the obligation of this duty , and all that are capable of such delights , are bound to make use of the aforesaid consideration , in order to this self-denial ; if the young man is obliged to this seriousness , much more older men ; if god will not allow of these delights in youth , they must necessarily be intolerable in years of greater maturity ; and if the tender age be concerned to embitter them with this prospect , when it meets with any temptation to them ; without all peradventure the stronger cannot be excused . and the reasons are these following : 1. if they be not embitter'd with such thoughts as these , they will infallibly lead the soul into innumerable dangers & there is no man , but is obliged to preserve his soul from danger : it is said of the prodigal , luk. 15.13 . that he took his journey into a far countrey ; these sensual pleasures alienated his soul from god drove it away far from him , made him travel as far as hell ; the truth is , the soul is lost in such sensual pleasures , they wear out the bright notions , the soul had of god , and religion ; as it is said of the sicilian dogs that running through the sweet , and floury , fields , they lose their scent in huntting ; so the soul , where these pleasures , these white devils become her familiars , loses the noble apprehensions , it once had of god's omniscience , and omnipresence , of his holiness , and goodness , and of the truth of his promises , and threatnings ; and these characters like letters written with bad ink , vanish , and consequently the life of the soul ; for which reason the prodigal , who drowned himself in these delights , is said to be dead , v. 32. these choak the good seed that 's sown in the noble ground , and as you have seen a field of wheat , where the red poppies spring up as fast , as the richer grain , though the proud flowers are pleasing to the eye , yet they retard and hinder the growth of the more useful blade , and suck away the moisture that should have fed the other ; so sensual delights where they are taken in as partners , and suffered to grow in the soul , in which some fruits of the spirit do appear , in a short time blast those excellent fruits , the effects of the holy ghost , or education , or the ministry of the word , and prove bryars and thorns , which will not suffer any of the better corn to grow under them . man's soul and body , are like two buckets , while the one comes up full , the other goes down empty ; carnal delights advance the bruitish or fleshly part , make it grow strong , lusty , and vigorous , whereby it wrests the scepter out of the hand of reason , and the soul looses her strength , and power , and sagacity in spiritual things , grows weak , and faint , and at last expires and dies , i mean the vertuous principles , which either kind nature , or kinder grace , or afflictions , or some other means , and instruments have incorporated with the soul , which indeed are the life of that excellent creature ; and the soul being thus dead , it falls a prey to devils , who rejoice over so great a prey , and lead it in triumph , take it prisoner , and make it draw in their victorious chariot ; and now all the curses of the law are in force against it , the threatnings of the gospel become her portion , and there is nothing left to stand betwixt her , and eternal grief and anguish , but the slender thred of this mortal life , which if it chance to break , or tear , the soul sinks irrecoverably into the gulph of perdition , from whence there is no returning ; so fatal is the influence of these flattering guests , which in time starve their keeper , and finding the house empty , swept , and garnish'd , like the evil spirit spoken of , matt. 12.45 . go and take with them seven other spirits more wicked than themselves , and they enter in and dwell there , and the last state of that man is worse than the first ; and thus they plunder , and boldly rob the soul of her riches , and hinder her from that holiness which is her food , her cordial , and her greatest support , and without which no man can see the lord ; they had need therefore be embittered with something that 's sour , and unpleasant to flesh and blood , can smite the stream , and turn those sweeter waters into blood , which nothing will do more effectually , than the aforesaid prospect . 2. this embittering of sensual and carnal delights is a thing of the greatest concernment , and therefore must be necessary and all must be concerned in the vertuous enterprize ; the greatest blessings , ( the want of which make a man perfectly miserable ) depend upon it , even god's love of complacency , and the application of christ's merits , and the benefits of his death , and passion ; these belong not to the soul , that is enamoured with sensual delights , no more than they appertain to dogs or swine ; nay , they are useless , and insignificant to such a soul , as much as the mathematicks are to an ass , or idiot . there is a perfect antipathy betwixt these , and the comforts we speak of ; for they are intended only for humble , broken , contrite hearts , which temper a person that 's fond of sensual delights is not capable of , nor can such a man relish them , they are as hay , and straw , and stubble to him , and like a person , whose appetite hath been spoiled by a raging feaver , he looks upon them as unsavoury , and insipid food , and though he may talk of them , yet it is only as blind men do of colours . as it is in nature , the meat we eat must be agreeable to our stomachs , so it is in grace . there must be a holy principle within , that makes these spiritual comforts agreeable to it , but sensual delights destroy that principle , and as darkness drives out light , so these two are incompatible ; and indeed our blessed saviour is very peremptory in his assertion , that he , who doth not deny himself cannot be his disciple , matth. 16.24 . and what self-denial can there be , where we do not deny our selves in that , which is most pernicious to our better part ? for so are these sensual delights : not to be christ's disciple , is to have no part in him : not to have any part in him , is to be none of his sheep , and not to be of his sheep , is to be placed with the goats at the left hand in the last day , and what the consequence of that is , you may read , matth. 25.41 . it s true , maugre all that we can say to the contrary , men who are resolved to indulge themselves in their bruitish delights , will notwithstanding the contradiction they must needs be guilty of , believe that they are christ's disciples , and favourites of heaven , and that christ hath purchased eternal life for them , and that at last they shall enjoy it ; but alas ! they know not , what eternal life , nor what believing means ; as well may a man in bedlam fancy himself to be a king , as such persons , that they are the beloved of god , while they live in that , which is most contrary to his nature , and like enemies to the cross of christ , like persons that have nothing but body , nothing but flesh , nothing but sense about them . if men may be saved contrary to christ's word , contrary to his declaration , contrary to all the most solemn protestations , he hath made in the gospel , then such men may be saved , not else ; who can reflect upon these doings without indignation , or grief , or sorrow , or wishing for rivers of tears ! that men should pretend to own the gospel , and yet live directly contrary to the laws of it , argues either malice or distraction , or stupid ignorance ; yet with such men for the most part we have to deal , which makes st. paul's exhortation highly reasonable , finally brethren , pray for us , that the word of the lord may have free course , and be glorified , and that we may deliver'd from unreasonable , and wicked men , for all men have not faith ; 2 thess. 3.1 , 2. 3. this embittering our carnal , and sensual delights is that which men for certain shall wish , they had done , when they come to stand before the great tribunal . in that day mens eyes will be open'd , and things will appear to them in other colours , than now they do . their understandings will not be clogg'd with this world or divertisements . they will have other apprehensions of the nature of vertue , and holiness , and the truth of what christ hath deliver'd in the gospel : the reasonableness of his precepts , the equity of his commands , the excellency of his doctrine , the divinity of his miracles , the infallible certainty of his promises and threatnings will all shine bright in their eyes ; of all these they will be throughly convinced , and no doubt , no scruple , no ambiguity will remain as to any of these points ; the vileness of their pleasures , the brutishness of their satisfactions , the rashness of their delights , the baseness of their enjoyments , the brightness of those vertues they have despised , the glory of that grace , which they might have had and would not , and the trivialness of the things , they preferr'd before these , will then appear so plain , so legible , that there will be no room left for ignorance . it 's true , these things might be known here , and would men take the right way , they might come to be convinced , and persuaded of them on this side eternity , for some we find are fully satisfied as to these particulars , and walk suitably to them , and therefore it cannot be impossible for others to attain to it , but their insensibleness is rather an argument of stupid negligence , and willful laziness ; and so it must be , where people are not , or pretend not to be satisfied in things of this nature . it is therefore necessary there should a time come , when they shall be able to make no excuse , nor to evade the force of these truths , and when they shall behold , how wise a choice the self-denying soul hath made , and what her mortifications , and severities do end in , what applauses they receive in heaven , what kind looks from the everlasting father , what honour , what dignity , what preferment is designed and appointed for her , how such a soul triumphs at this time over hell , and devils , dares all the furies of the burning-lake , scorns those foes , which led the sensual sinner captive , makes her nest among the stars of heaven , is placed in the quire of angels , meets with all the carresses of a gracious god , is encircled with laurels , and crowns of joy , and all her misery , and sorrows , and fears are at an end . reason tells us that the sensual sinner when he shall behold all this , will wish , he had follow'd her example , for that 's the necessary and eternal consequence of all imprudent actions , especially those that are grosly so , for after them men do as naturally wish , that they had acted the part of wise men , as balaam , that he might die the death of the righteous . thus men become wise after the fact , and when they find , what fools they have been , would be content , that they had foreseen the evil , and hid themselves ; who would not wish in that day he had embittered his sensual delights , that finds he is undone by eating of those luscious apples ? and i need not tell you , that it is every man's interest not to do that , which he will wish he had not done , when it is too late ▪ but of this i have said enough before . the next point follows , and is a case of conscience , how far sensual delights must be embittered with this prospect . 5. whether a christian that would be saved , is upon this account obliged to forbear , and abandon all sensual and worldly delights , and recreations whatsoever ? so not a few have thought in the primitive times which made them retire from the world , and deny themselves in all the comforts of this life and put themselves to very great hardships , and self-denials , being of opinion , that they who laughed here would mourn hereafter , and such as enjoy'd the good things of this life , would be miserably poor hereafter . they look'd upon the two worlds as opposites , and consequently believed , that the means to arrive to the happiness of the future , were directly contrary to all present satisfactions ; they concluded , that they who would be happy hereafter , must be unhappy here , and that they who would be happy here , could not be so hereafter ; from hence rose their selling all they had , and giving it to the poor , and the strange severities they used upon their bodies , whereof i have discoursed elsewhere , and indeed the gospel , gives very little incouragement to any thing , that savours of wordly pleasure , nor do the apostles allow much liberty in this particular ; whether it were , that they thought that all sensual delights were improper for a state of persecution , in which the church then lived , or whether it was , that they were afraid , such delights would damp their spiritual fervour ; this is certain , that there is little to be gathered from their writings in favour of sports , and recreations . yet as strict as the gospel is , it grants , that we have bodies , as well as souls , and that if the bow be not unbent sometimes the string will crack , and become useless , and though it 's possible for our minds to soar so far above the world , as to know , and care for no other delights , but what savour of god , and the glories of another life ; yet those spiritual delights will not be of any long continuance without the body be allow'd suitable refreshment and hath its fits of ease , and relaxation . were not some divertisements lawful , christ would scarce have vouchsafed his presence at the wedding-feast in cana , much less provided them wine to encourage temperate cheerfulness ; and hither may be referr'd , st. john the evangelists playing sometimes with a bird , and going into a common bath , whereof ecclesiastical histories give us an account ; yet since there is nothing more common with men , than to confound their sinful delights with lawful recreations , it will be necessary here , to explain the point in these following particulars : 1. this must be laid down , as a grand principle of our religion : that a spiritual delight in god , in a crucified saviour , and in the blessed effects , and influences of the holy ghost , in the graces and fruits of the spirit , in feeling the operations of the divine power & glory upon our souls , in the precious promises of the gospel , in the revelations , god hath vouchsafed to mankind , in the good , we see wrought in our selves , and others , in the providences of god , and in contemplation of his various dealings with the several states , orders and degrees of men , in psalms , and hymns , and praises of the divine majesty , in the thoughts and expectations of a better life , in the treasures god hath laid up for them that fear him , in another world , and in the various priviledges , prerogatives and advantages of holy men , &c. it 's certain , i say , that delighting , and rejoicing in such spiritual , objects is the chief , the principal and soveraign delight , which a christian is with greatest application of mind to labour after , and in comparison of this , is obliged to count all these outward comforts , dross and dung , and dogs-meat ; this is the delight which must engross his desires , affections , and inclinations ; this must rule in his soul , this must be mistress and queen regent in his mind ; to this all must stoop and then things cannot but go well , if this be secured and established . without worldly pleasure , thousands of saints have arrived to everlasting bliss , but without this , none ; sensual delights are no part of a christians comfort , but this spiritual delight is the one thing necessary ; and till a prospect of a future judgment causes this delight to rise in our souls , whatever impression it may make , the plant is not of our heavenly fathers planting . such must be the temper of our souls ; in the aforesaid objects our souls must delight more , then in all riches , and this delight being once setled in us , such worldly delights as are subservient to this , and do neither diminish nor darken , nor hinder , nor quench it , may justly be said to be lawful . 2. this being premised , we do not deny but such worldly delights , as are neither sinful in themselves , nor apparent occasions of evil , are allowable . and of this nature are all those masculine exercises , whereby the body is preserved in health , and rendred more capable of serving the soul in her religious severities ; as walking or riding abroad to take the air , planting , gardening , raising curious plants , and flowers , running , wrestling , fowling , hawking , hunting , fishing , leaping , vaulting , casting of the bar , tossing the pike , riding the great horse , running at the ring , and such divertisements which stir the blood , make us active , and vigorous , fit us for greater and more useful enterprizes , and promote cheerfulness , and liveliness ; such cannot be supposed to be forbid by the gospel , provided that they be used , 1. seasonably , not on those days and hours , which are appointed , either for devotion , or more weighty business ; and therefore these cannot be proper exercises of the lords day , or days of fasting , and abstinence , or days of mourning . 2. with moderation , so that much time be not spent upon them , and our love to them may keep within its due bounds and limits . 3. for a good end , which must be to render our selves fitter for the discharge of our duty to god and man. 4. with purposes of self-denial , so that we can leave or quit them for a greater good , when either a work of piety , or an act of charity is to be performed , or scandal to be prevented ; where these limitations are not observ'd the honey turns into gall , and that which deserv'd only our civility and transient respect becomes our idol , and our souls receive considerable hurt , which , had these divertisements been used with circumspection , might have been beholding to them in some measure for their wellfare , and edification . 3. from this rule we may rationally infer , that delight in orchards , gardens , rivers , ponds , either natural or artificial ; and in the comforts of wife , children , friends , in our trades , and relations , houses , buildings and possessions , the bountiful hand of heaven hath bestow'd upon us , is consistent with a serious prospect of a future judgment , not but that excesses may be committed in this delight , as the best and most harmless things may be abused ; yet where we delight in them , as they are the gifts of god more , than as they are satisfactions to the flesh , and build not upon them , rest not in them , but still look upon them as things volatile , and transitory , and are ready to part with them , whenever providence shall think fit to remove them , without grumbling or murmuring , and do let the world see , that in these delights , we forget not the rules of gravity , modesty , decency and charity , they may lawfully be called inoffensive , and as a snake whose teeth are pulled out , handled without danger : and though solomon calls these delights vanity , yet that which made them so , was the immoderateness of his love toward them , and his setting his heart , and doating upon them , and placing felicity in them , making them his mark , which should have been only a passage to nobler enjoyments , and fixing there , where he should have lodged only as in an inn , and so march'd on to the city , which hath foundations , whose builder and maker is god. delight in things of this nature may soon run beyond its bounds , if either too much cost be spent upon them , whereby the poor are rob'd of their due , or men forget to imploy their thoughts upon sublimer objects . 4. the same may be said of delight in musick , whether vocal or instrumental ; a delight harmless enough , if used as salt , not as meat , as sauce , not as food , as a bit on the by , not as a standing diet , and though the men the prophet speaks of , es. 5.12 . are severely checked for the harp and the viol , the tabret , and pipe in their feasts , yet it was because they made their musick an appendix to their drunkenness , and as it is said in the same verse , regarded not the work of the lord , neither considered the operation of his hands . david's playing upon the harp was no sin , while it was not to encourage wantonness , but with an intent either to praise god , or to divert sauls melancholy ; nor can i discommend the pythagoreans , who before they went to sleep , composed their minds with musick . we read in gellius , aelian , and others , how men have been cured not only of irregular passions , but of very strange distempers of the body by musick ; and what is signally conducing to the good , and benefit of mankind , we must suppose is allowed by that god , who himself consults the health and welfare of his creatures ; and this made jubals profession lawful , who was the inventer of musical instruments , and therefore call'd the father of all such , as handle the harp , and organ . the end , for which such delights are used , makes them either tolerable , or impertinent , and as he that designs them to refresh either his own , or other mens weary spirits , and to glorifie god by them , deserves commendation , so he that makes them instrumental to feed mens lusts , or to promote lasciviousness , and lightness in conversation , renders himself unworthy of the name of a christian , and therefore those fidlers and musicians , who shew themselves at merry meetings , or promiscuous dancings , which serve only to pamper the flesh , and to encourage extravagance and luxury , will be able to give but a very sad account of their profession , and if ever they come to take a serious view of their past lives , will have reason to wish that they had spent that time in mourning for their sins : christianity , which allows us moderate recreation , bids us abhor all delights which serve to render the mind vain , and foolish , and alienate the soul from her true centre , or tempts us to mispend the precious hours , the almighty hath lent us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling . 5. delight in books , and natural sciences , such as astronomy , physick , philosophy , mathematicks , histories of all sorts , and in searching into the nature of plants , stones , minerals , fruits , juices , herbs , gums , birds , fishes , beasts , &c. as it is a thing useful , so it cannot be contrary to the rules of christianity ; and though astrology , as it is abused into telling of fortunes , and good or ill success in businesses , discovering of thefts , and stolen goods , and knowing future events , is no proper object of this delight , partly because the rules are uncertain and imaginary , partly because it tempts people to unlawful curiosities , partly because the scripture forbids these fears and hopes , which are grounded upon the aspect of the signs of heaven , and looks upon them as mistrusts of the divine providence , yet that 's no argument but that a man may lawfully with some delight inquire into the nature , and influences of the stars , to see , whether what the world hath talked of them , is grounded upon any scientifick principles . i need not say here , that delight in magick or the black-art , as they call it , is as great abomination in the sight of god , as the sin it self ; nor can i give any favourable judgment of delight in palmestry , because that art seems to interfere with that self resignation and dependance upon the wisdom and goodness of god which is required of us ; and even delight in lawful arts , books and sciences , must have its rules , whereby it must steer its course : for the affections may stick too close to delights of this nature , and the delight justle out our warmer desires after that knowledge , wherein consists eternal life . an inordinate delight in knowledg was the cause of our first apostasie ; and it 's too often seen that our ambition to know , slackens our endeavours after a practical love of god , and while we doat upon speculation , we forget to do that which would make us like our father which is in heaven . 6. delight in drinking and tipling , must needs be as odious to god , as delight in wantonness , or uncleanness , or lasciviousness , or lechery , or impure kisses , touches , glances , passions , desires , thoughts , gestures , postures and imaginations , or feeding our eyes with obscene sights , and spectacles , or filthy , smutty , and lewd communications , discourses , jests and expressions , &c. for this is to delight in things god hath forbidden , and to take pleasure in that , to which he hath threatned the burning lake , and the worm that dies not ; and though custom hath made delight in drinking fashionable and he that doth so is not at all reproached , or thought the worse man for it , yet who knows not , that gods thoughts are not as our thoughts , nor will the almighty make the customs of this world , his rule in passing sentence in the last day . not but that a man may delight in a cup of drink , as it is the gift of god , when he is dry , and nature requires it , and necessity calls for it ; but there is a vast difference betwixt satisfying the meer necessities of nature , and gratifying the desires of voluptuousness and idleness ; to delight in the former is to preserve , but to delight in the other is to weaken and destroy nature : and where men are at a loss , how to spend their time , and therefore make drinking their delight and sport , they act like solomons mad-man , who cast firebrands , arrows , and death , and says , am i not in sport ? prov. 26.18 , 19. nor is it the example of gentlemen , and persons of wealth and quality , that will justifie this dangerous delight at the great tribunal ; since believing the word of god is a greater duty , than to regard our neighbours practices , and did the whole world espouse a vice , this would not absolve a man from his obligation to obey that known law , exod. 23.2 . thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil . the pretence men have in this case that they have no calling or imployment , or have nothing to do , and therefore must some way or other divert themselves , is as vain and sinful , as their delight , and the time will come when they will be convinced , that they were under no impossibility to employ themselves in useful exercises , there being innumerable opportunities of doing good , of exhorting , teaching , admonishing , helping , assisting and encouraging our neighbours , and improving our own minds , and far better ways of spending our time , then in drinking , pledging of healths , talking idly , censuring our neighbours , pleasing our appetite , keeping ill company , and throwing that away upon our lusts which might with greater satisfaction have been given to christs distressed members . 7. delight in cards and dice is a sport , which very few divines and wife men do approve of , and those that have allow'd of it , have given such restrictions , and limitations , as makes it evident , that they wish it were rather totally left then practised with so much danger , as this delight is commonly attended with . the councel of eliberis would not admit any person to the holy communion , that plaid at tables ; and if the offender did repent of his sport , it was a whole year after his repentance , before they would admit him to the holy table ; and to this purpose speaks the sixth council general of constantinople . the truth is , this delight is a manifest occasion of evil , and where there is one that comes off without sinning , there are forty that involve themselves in various transgressions . what wise man would stand upon a precipice , when he can walk in a beaten road ; and where men love to go to the utmost limit of what is lawful , they commonly fall , and engage themselves to commit errors , they did not think of ; the holy ghost , therefore hath not thought fit to reveal to us these utmost bounds , that we might keep within the compass of known duties , and by a due distance from what is sinful , preserve our innocence , and gods favour . we blame children for medling with knives , and swords , they know not how to use , and why should we be guilty of a folly , and imprudence , we condemn in them ? he that abstains from cards and dice , most certainly doth not sin , and who would not take the surest side of the hedg . those casuists who do allow of this recreation , make it lawful only with these proviso's . 1. provided , that men play without eagerness , or being much concerned . 2. that they give no occasion to men to quarrel . 3. that they give all the money they win to the poor , or some pious use , else it is a sign they do not play for recreation , but for gain . 4. that they spend but very little time in it , not above an hour or two . 5. that they avoid all light , vain and foolish words , jests and expressions . 6. that the end they propose to themselves , be only to exhilarate their spirits ; that they may with greater cheerfulness apply themselves to more useful labours . 7. that they play without using any fraud , or deceit . 8. that they give no offence to them , who are weak in faith . 9. that they do not comply with the sinful actions , speeches , and behaviour of those they play with . and with these restrictions , i question not , but this recreation may be lawful ; and the same may be said of bowling , and some other divertisements of this nature . what some divines object here , that playing at cards and dice is a thing of the nature of lots , and these being things sacred , ought not to be made jocular , hath not that substance in it , which at first sight , it seems to have , for though these games and the events of them , be things casual , yet every thing that 's casual , is not therefore of the nature of a lot , else a mans putting his hand in his pocket , and taking out what money comes next to his hand , and dropping it among people that stand underneath , whereby one gets a shilling , another six-pence , a third a groat , must be called a lot to ; but however , let 's grant , that these games are of the nature of lots , how doth it follow from hence , that all lots are things sacred ; because sometimes there is a sacred use made of them , must therefore the use of them be sacred at all times ? there is a sacred use made of dreams , of bread and wine , of clay and spittle , &c. but must these things therefore be sacred at all times and in all places ? as well might a man infer , that all worship is religious because some is such ; if it be said , that in lots there is either a tacit or express imploring of a divine determination ; i answer , that in some lots there hath been such a thing practised , but that therefore the same must be practised in all lots whatsoever , is absurd to imagine . the apostles indeed act. 1.24 . when they cast lots add a prayer to it , but the additional prayer is not therefore necessary in all lots , because some persons upon special occasions have made use of it . a lot or casting of lots is properly an action of meer contingency , used to determine a question by the event , which action , if it be used in things sacred and of great consequence , may justly be seconded with formal prayer , and imploration of the divine direction , but if used in things civil , ordinary and trivial , there is no need of any such sacred rite or ceremony ; that god hath a hand in all lots , is no argument , that no lot may therefore be jocular , for god hath a hand in our laughter , and in other contingent things which are jocular , yet doth it not follow from thence , that they are therefore absolutely unlawful , but only as circumstances , and the abuse of them may make them so . however , my intent is not to turn advocate for gamesters , who abuse these recreations , as much as the drunkard doth his wine , and strong liquor . i have therefore limited the sport , which limitations shew , how dangerous the recreation is , and how he that plaies at these games walks in a manner upon thorns , and had therefore need walk very cautiously , that some mischief do not befall him . if the aforesaid restrictions be observ'd , it 's a sign we make some conscience of our ways , and with david , set the lord in all places before our eyes . i am sensible , men will plead impossibility of keeping to these bounds , and pretend that this way they shall have no sport ; but if it be so , and they cannot play without greater liberty or licentiousness , it 's not only far better , but necessary totally to abstain from it . he that knows such a diet will not agree with him , by a natural instinct forbears , and refuses to meddle with it ; and if we know that by such recreations our souls cannot live according to the strict rules of conscience , what can be more reasonable than to shun and avoid them ? wisdom is as necessary in spiritual things as in temporal , and he that doth not practise it in the concerns of his soul , as well as in those of his body , cannot be supposed to be a man of any ardent devotion . 8. delight in feasting , or in going to feasts , though this seems to be harmless , and some will wonder , why this should be brought upon the stage , and the lawfulness of it question'd , yet there are rocks even in this delight , which if the soul doth not shun , it may be in danger of ship-wrack , and though it 's true , that eating and drinking , and sleeping , and using physick , where the body is in danger , are necessary delights , and such without which nature cannot be kept in its due order and health , and aptitude for working , yet intemperance may be committed in all these , and consequently , these delights deserve to be taken notice of , and fenced with sutable cautions , that we do not exceed our measure . and as nothing is more certain , than the voluptuousness of cleopatra , heliogabalus , apicius , and other gluttons , is a most detestable vice , so it may justly be demanded , whether feasting , which borders upon that voluptuousness especially if a man take delight and pleasure in it , may not deserve very great circumspection . plato look'd upon dionysius as a monster , because he did eat twice a day , yet cannot this be a rule , whereby we may give judgment of this delight , since the constitutions , climates , countreys , and the complexions and necessities of men require various applications of food and nourishment . that feasts are things lawful in themselves , no man of sense or reason can deny , for not only the examples of holy men in scripture but gods command , or permission to the jews , deut. 4.26 . are a sufficient demonstration ; and the love-feasts , the primitive christians used , st. jude approves of , v. 12. not to mention that they are bonds of union and preservatives of friendship and respect , and that the universal consent of nations doth warrant them . these feasts , as they are usual either at inaugurations , or at nuptials , or upon some other solemn occasions , or among friends and relations , so the delight a christian takes either in making them , or in going to them , must be regulated by these following observations . as to the party that makes them ; 1. that he do not confine his invitation to the rich and wealthy , and who are able to feast him again , but extend it withal to the poor and naked , to the blind and to the lame , according to christs rule , luke 14.13 , 14. 2. that he do not make any feasts for ostentation sake , but with a pious intent of preserving and augmenting friendship , and love and charity ; for ambition to be talked of and commended , is against the general prohibition of desiring vain glory , gal. 5.26 . 3. that he do not feast on those days on which a nation fasts , or humbles it self , to deprecate gods wrath and anger , for this is expresly forbid , amos 6.4 , 5 , 6. 4. that he do not study too great curiousness , or delicacy in his dishes , nor bestow too much cost upon the entertainment , for this looks like expecting of applauses , and catching the praises , and admirations of men , which is below a philosopher and therefore much more a christian. 5. that he leave every guest to his choice and liberty , and press no person to eat or drink more than satisfies nature , in which particular , ahashuerus his practice is to be commended , est. 1.5 . 6. that he suggest unto his guests opportunities to discourse of subjects grave , and serious either divinity or history , or something useful to the publick , or philosophy whereby his friends may receive some edification , and this seems to be the purport of st. paul's admonition , 1 cor. 10.31 . 7. that he encourage nothing of ribald talk , no promiscuous dancing , no ballads , no vain drinking of healths , no apish actions of fools , and jesters , and give no occasion by word or deed , to contention or unseemly behaviour in any man , for this were to make himself accessory to other mens sins ; a thing contrary to the law of christ , 1 tim. 5.22 . as to the party that goes to a feast ; his delight deviates from the rule of the gospel , if , 1. he goes to it with no higher intent than to please , and to fill his belly with the good cheer he hopes to find there . these are base ends , differ not from those of bruits , and discover a temper that hath not yet tasted of the powers of the world to come . it 's true , whoever goes to a feast , goes with an intent to eat there , but to a christian philosopher this is only a subordinate end , in this he places no felicity , with this he doth not greatly please himself , but a desire to express his respect and affection to his friend , hopes of hearing or doing some good at such times , and a design by his own temperance and sobriety to teach , or invite others to their duty , these are the principal ends , which make him go ; and this is most agreeable not only to the rules of his faith but to reason too . 2. his delight grows irregular , and sinful , if he fits very long at it , for hereby much time is lost , and god expresly condemns it . es. 5.11 . time , as it is one of the richest talents god vouchsafes us , so care must be taken , that much of it be not spent upon carnal satisfactions , which are things too mean , to throw away so great a treasure upon , and though that time at feasts and entertainments is well spent , which is spent in serious and profitable discourses , and conferences , yet since these are altogether out of fashion , and people think they are not welcome , except they may laugh at every trifle , and speak whatever comes next , this makes spending but little time at such meetings necessary , for the longer this unprofitable spending lasts , the greater grows our account , and with the account our inexcusableness . 3. his delight degenerates , if at such times he be not a strict observer . of the rule of temperance . feasts as they require guests , so they require self-denial in the guests too ; and though i cannot much commend the custom of the pythagoreans , who would come to a feast , and to let men see their victory over their appetite , depart from it without eating any thing , yet to eat and drink with great moderation , is at such times the more necessary , by how much the temptations are greater ; and st. hieroms rule in this case is , so to eat and drink , as not to indispose our selves after it , for prayer and meditation . 9. delight in fashionable cloaths and habits , though the great liberty men and women take in things of this nature , hath infected peoples minds with that stupidity , that few do think it worth questioning , whether it be lawful or no , yet notwithstanding all this , he that shall impartially examine the various invectives the holy ghost makes against this delight , will think himself concern'd to be more inquisitive into this point ; cloaths as they were given , 1. to cover our nakedness . 2. to keep out cold and other injuries of the air. 3. to make a difference betwixt men and women . 4. to consult the health of our bodies , which being subject to sweats and perspirations , are hereby refresh'd . 5. to distinguish men in places , offices , dignities from the meaner sort , the noble from the ignoble , and consequently to keep up order in a commonwealth , or kingdom : as they were designed by the almighty for such uses , so we see that where persons suffer their affections to delight in the fineries and fashions and modishness of them , their minds are too often drawn away from more excellent satisfactions , vanity enters into them , and whatever formality they may keep up in matters of religion , spiritual things begin to be dull , and insipid to them , at least their relish , and admiration doth in a great measure decay and vanish . i know not how it comes to pass , but experience assures us , that simplicity in cloaths doth very much cherish seriousness , as vanity and excess in such things doth strangely weaken and debilitate its force and power ; and though clothes seem to be forrein to religion , and small , inconsiderable trifles , yet so it is , that the smaller and the more trivial some things appear , the more insensibly do they incroach upon the spiritual part , the soul , and render it earthly and sensual , and therefore deserve our greater cautiousness and circumspection . st. austin therefore is very peremptory . he that is fond , saith he , of outward splendor , whether in clothes , or other things soon betrays himself that he is in love with the pomp and glory of the world , nor can such a person deceive any serious man with a shew of holiness . as it was part of our saviours province to reduce things to the primitive institution , so if we reflect , how god when he cloth'd our first parents did not study splendour , but necessity , not gayety , but conveniency , and made them coats of skins , and by so doing warned us against pride and extravagance ; we shall find but little reason to be fond of over curious , and fashionable habits , especially if we cast our eyes upon the original of clothes , for sin caused shame , and shame produced clothing . i do not deny , but that it is lawful to make use , not only of a plain and homely suite , but of richer vestments and habiliments , for since god hath allowed us not only bread and water for our sustenance , but variety of food if used with moderation and thanksgiving ; so i doubt not but richer habits , especially if our places , offices , and stations , and ranks oblige us to it , may be allowable ; but it 's one thing to go rich and gaudy meerly because our condition requires it , another to delight and take pleasure , and great satisfaction in it ; for this insensibly emasculates the mind , depresses it , and renders it vain and enamoured with the world. every man that strives for mastery , is temperate in all things saith st. paul , 1 cor. 9.25 . it 's evident that we all profess striving for an incorruptible crown , and if temperance in all things be necessary in order to it , this temperance must necessarily appear in our clothes , as well as diet , else the temperance is partial , and consequently no part of that wisdom which is from above . a christian should be the humblest , gravest , and modestest creature living , and who can be so irrational as to think , that delight in imitating every fashion , is agreeable to this gravity , modesty and humility ; and though what judas said , joh. 12.5 . was spoke with an ill end , yet it may justly enough be applyed to the case in hand , why might not such things purely superfluous be sold , and given to the poor ? that by such things there is injustice done to the poor , who might be fed with these superfluities , wise men have complained in most ages ; in the primitive church , when men priz'd religion at a higher rate , it was a thing very common for persons who were converted , for women especially , when god was pleased to give them a vehement desire after the felicity of the next life , to sell all their richer garments and feed christs poor disciples with the money , and for the future , to give that away to charitable uses , which formerly they used to bestow upon their luxury in clothing . they knew they had nobler things to mind , then adorning of this lump of flesh , which was shortly to be meat for worms , and to putrifie in the grave , and thought , that while they were curious in dressing , and covering their bodies , they should forget to trim their souls , and while their better part and its beauty engrossed their desires and affections , they were the less curious in the setting out and garnishing of the other . women , as they are naturally more prone to this delight , so the apostles in giving precepts about clothing , do in a peculiar manner address themselves to them , justly supposing that if it be unlawful for them , men , who have not ordinarily that inclination nor those temptations to it that they have , ought to think themselves obliged to live above it ; and though i do not think , that in those places broidered hair , and gold , and pearls , and costly aray , are absolutely forbidden , yet they are so far forbid , as they are impediments to godliness , to shame-facedness , sobriety , modesty , good works , and the growth of the hidden man in the heart , and to that ornament of a meek and quiet spirit , which is in the sight of god , of great price , as is evident from the opposition the apostles make between the one and the other ; and that delight in such cloaths is a great enemy to all these , i need produce no other argument , but what is drawn from common experience . that which is usually pleaded for peoples going rich , and splendid , that by doing so , they set poor men to work , who would be at a loss for a livelyhood , if they did not take off their commodities , such as modish laces , ribbands , silks , velvets , embroideries , &c. is a pretence rather than an argument , and seems rather invented , as a salvo for peoples vanity , than a testimony of the sincerity of their intentions ; for not to mention , that at this rate men might argue , that players , fencers , bull-baiters , jugglers , &c. would want employment , if men did not go to see their sports ; were there no persons to take off such things at their hands , men would betake themselves to other trades and callings , and professions . however in these cases , it 's worth examining our consciences , whether we wear these things out of compassion to the poor workmen , or out of pride and delight in the pomp and splendour of the world ; and if we deal faithfully with our own hearts , we shall soon find , that the pity we pretend to the workmen , is only a cloak to cover the secret satisfaction , we take in conforming to the world ; and this is evident from hence , that let the workmen work never so hard , if the thing they make , be not exactly in the fashion , i see no person so charitable as to take it off of their hands . there is no doubt but a woman , who is married is in a great measure obliged to please her husband , and the apostle seems to allow so much , 1 cor. 7.34 . and from hence this conclusion is commonly drawn , that if it be the husbands pleasure , that the wife shall go fine and gaudy , it is her duty to obey ; nor do i perceive , that divines do ordinarily find fault with this conclusion , for fine cloaths being things in themselves indifferent , lawful , or unlawful , according to the end and design , men and women have in them , and the use they make of them ; if the parties conscience that wears them , bears her witness , that not out of any delight , or satisfaction , or secret pleasure in such gauds , and empty things , but meerly out of obedience to her husband , she both buys and puts them on , much may be said in her justification , for though this desire in her husband may be irregular , and an argument that he hath no very great sense of religion , yet the thing being in it self indifferent , the wife in this case may lawfully comply , as mothers and nurses please froward children by whistling or singing a childish tune to them . it was from hence , that queen esther professes to god in her prayer , that it was not any fondness to that rich habit she wore , or any delight she took in 't , that made her put it on , but a desire to comply with the king , and that as to the cloaths themselves , she looked upon them as menstruous raggs . so that the result of all is this : rich clothes may be worn , 1. provided that we do not wear them out of emulation , with an intent to vye with our neighbours , or to let them see , that we have as much money , and can afford it , as well as they . 2. provided that all pride and ostentation in things of this nature be laid aside , and that we do not think our selves the better men for these accoutrements , nor despise others , who either will not , or cannot imitate us . 3. provided that we do not make them allurements to lusts , or baits of vanity , nor wear them to attract the applause and courtship , and commendations of spectators , nor hope to be therefore admired by the croud , or men of little consideration , nor seek to deceive others by this outside , thereby to obtain our base and sinister designs . 4. provided that the place , calling , office and dignity in the kingdom , or commonwealth , we live in , require it . 5. provided that we spend but very little time in putting on such habits . 6. provided that in the putting of them on , or wearing of them , we reflect much on the nobler garb of the kings daughter , which is all glorious within , and how far greater satisfaction it is to be clothed with the garment of righteousness and humility . 7. provided that we do it only to please those whom god hath made our superiours , and governours , whether in the civil or oeconomick state. 8. provided that in these habits we behave our selves with that modesty , gravity , and gentleness , as becomes christians . 9. provided that we do not go to the extream of every fashion , but keep within the compass of these modes , and imitate the most religious , and the most moderate persons . 10. provided that we do deny our selves in the number of them , and bestow the superfluous upon those that want them more than we , or give something equivalent to such , as are in straits and necessities ; in a word , that we do not forget to clothe the naked , nor hide our selves from our own flesh , as god speaks , es. 58.7 . with these restrictions i doubt not , but rich clothes may lawfully be wore , though still i say , that the plainer and more modest our outward habit is , the nearer we approach that christian simplicity , which god hath the greatest value for . but for any delight in splendid habits , or being pleased , or tickling our fancy and imagination with them , that 's a thing which no serious christian can allow of , and the primitive believers were so peremptorily against it , that they scarce looked upon such persons as christians . to this purpose st. cyprian doth very pathetically address himself to the virgins of that age , some of you , saith he , are rich , and abound in wealth , and these pretend that they may lawfully make a shew of their riches in their outward dress , and use those blessings god hath given them . but be it known to you , that she is properly rich that is rich toward god , and she only wealthy who is wealthy in christ jesus ; these are the true riches which are spiritual , divine , and heavenly , which lead us unto god , and are like to continue with us in the presence of god for ever ; but as to other things which are pleasing to the world , and remain in the world , those ought to be despised as much as the world it self , whose pomp and glory we then renounced , when in our baptism we gave our selves up to god. st. john therefore adjures us ; love not the world , nor the things that are in the world , for if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him , for all that is in the world , the lust of the flesh , and the lust of the eye , and the pride of life , is not of the father , but is of the world , and the world passes away , and the lust thereof , but he that doth the will of god abideth for ever . therefore divine and eternal objects must be pursued , and all things done according to the will of god ▪ that we may tread in our great masters steps . thou saist thou art rich , but st. paul answers the objection , and confines thy garments and habit to certain bounds , and so doth st. peter , and if they oblige even wives to the observance of this rigor , and ecclesiastical discipline , who have somewhat to plead for themselves , because they must please their husbands , how much more is a virgin tyed to live up to these holy rules who hath no excuse for her gaudy dress ; thou saist , thou art rich and canst afford it ; but all that thou canst do , is not therefore lawful to do , nor must the luxurious desires of the flesh , which rise only from ambition , go beyond the limits of virginity , since it is written ; all things are lawful , but all are not expedient . thou saist , thou art rich , and therefore thinkest thou mayst use what god hath bestowed upon thee ; use it in the name of god , but then use it to such things , as god hath commanded . let the poor find that thou art rich , let the needy feel that thou dost abound ; gain thy god by thy patrimony , feed the hungry jesus , and lay up thy treasure there where thieves cannot break in and steal ; get thee possessions , but let them be celestial , such as the moth cannot corrupt , nor rust eat away , nor the hail destroy , nor the sun dry up , nor the rain melt away : thou sinnest against god , if thou thinkest thy riches are given thee not to make a wholesome use of them : god hath given man a voice , must he therefore sing amorous , and undecent , and obscence tunes with it : god hath made iron , must thou therefore murther men with it ; and because he hath vouchsafed unto us frankincense and wine and fire , must we therefore sacrifice to idols ; or because thy herds and flocks are great , must thou therefore commit idolatry with them ? riches are great temptations except they be employed to pious uses . in scripture the whore of babylon is brought in , array'd in purple and scarlet colours , and decked with gold , and precious stone and pearl , and her judgment is said to be great and terrible , and the prophet esaias threatens a fatal humiliation to the daughters of sion , because of their bravery ; when they were exalted thus , they fell , being trimmed thus , they deserved to have their perfumes turned into a stink , being deck'd with silk and purple , they could not put on christ , being adorned with bracelets and jewels , they lost the true ornament of their hearts and consciences ; who would not shun that whereby others have perished ? who would desire that which hath been a sword and arrow to others ? if a man should drop down dead upon drinking of a cup , we should conclude it was poyson that killed him ; and what stupid ignorance of the truth must it be ? what madness , to be fond of that , which hath always done , and still doth hurt , and to imagin thou shalt not be undone by that , whereby thou knowest others have been ruind ? thus far st. cyprian , who lived about the year of our lord 248 , an eminent bishop , and who afterwards died a martyr in christs cause , and in all probability spoke not only his own sense , but the judgment of the universal church in this point . i will conclude this subject with a passage out of tertullian , st. cyprians master , who thus reasons the case with the women of his age : what means that saying , let your light shine before men ; why doth our lord call us the light of the world ? why doth he compare us to a city seated upon a hill , if we shine not in darkness , or do not stand up among the drowned part of the world ? if thou hide thy candle under a bushel , thou must needs , being left in the dark , be subject to numberless assaults . these are the things which make us lights of the world , even our good works . true goodness is not enamoured with darkness , but rejoyces to be seen , and is glad to be pointed at . a modest and shamefaced christian doth not think it enough , that he is so , but he delights lights to appear so too ; for such must be the fullness of his vertues , that it may burst out from the mind within , to the habit without , and press from the conscience to the outward man , that men from without may see what store , and treasure he hath in the secret recesses of his soul. voluptuousness , and wantonness must be renounced , for by these the vertue of faith loses its masculine vigor . i doubt the hand , that hath been used to bracelets , will never endure the sturdiness of a chain for christ jesus ; nor can i apprehend , how the knee used to a soft garter will be able to endure the stocks , or racks for the gospel , and i very much question , whether that neck which glistered with pearles , and precious stones , will ever yield unto the sword of persecution ; therefore my beloved , let 's chuse hard and uneasie things and we shall not feel them , let 's forsake the pleasant things of this world , and we shall not desire them ; these are the anchors of our hope ; let 's lay aside these outward gayeties , if we aim at the wedding garment in heaven , let not gold prove the object of our love , by which the sins of israel are expressed ; let 's hate that which hath undone the patriarchs , and was adored by them after they had forsaken the fountain of living waters . come forth beloved , and set before you the rich attire of the prophets and apostles of our lord ; take your fairness from their simplicity , your blushes from their modesty , paint your eyes with their shamefacedness , and your lips with their self-denial in speaking ; instead of pendants insert in your ears the word of god , and let your necks bear the yoke of christ jesus ; submit your heads to your own husbands , and then you 'l be dressed like christians , employ your hands about wool , and as much as you can , keep at home , and this will render you more amiable than gold ; clothe your selves with the silk of innocence , with the velvet of holiness , and with the purple of chastity , and thus adorned , god will fall in love with you . 10. delight in painting and patching , and artificial meliorations of the face and skin , to please and delude spectators , or to draw others into admiration of our persons , as it is a thing which the very heathens have condemn'd for reasons drawn from the light of nature , so it is almost needless to discourse of it , or to batter it with arms and weapons out of the magazine of the gospel . this delight hath in most ages been infamous and the thing it self counted incongruous with the law of our very creation . the fathers of the second , third and fourth centuries derive the original of it from the devil , and will allow nothing of this nature in any person , that looks like a christian. it 's a sign that the spirit of christ doth not dwell in a person that dares delight in such vanities , for that spirit inclines the soul to other things , makes her regardless of beauty and external comeliness , obliges her solicitous about inward accomplishments , and how she may please him , that died , and hath purchased an eternal salvation for her ; and it 's enough , that he that hath not the spirit of christ , is none of his . a soul that hath the spirit of christ , hath other things to do , then spend her time and care in mending the face ; for they that are after the flesh , do mind the things of the flesh , but they that are after the spirit , the things of the spirit . and what are the things of the spirit , but setting our affections upon the things which are above , meditating of the purchased possession , longing after the light of gods countenance , despising the world , self-denyal , taking up the cross of christ , a transcendent love of god , a burning zeal to his glory , laying up in store a good foundation against the time to come , growing strong in the lord , and in the power of his might , resisting temptations , growing in grace , labouring after a greater hatred of sin , a greater fortaste of heaven , a greater conformity to the will of god , a greater sense of the love of god , &c. and he that in good earnest minds these things will have no great desire to busie himself about such pittiful , trivial , and impertinent things , these will be trash and dirt to him , and his soul will soar above them , and scorn them , as the divels lime-twigs whereby he lies in wait to deceive . and though i will not deny but that a man in case of danger , and when his life is in jeopardy , or when he would pass through a party of his enemies , may lawfully disguise himself , and by art change and alter his countenance , that he may not be known ; and though a man who hath lately had the small pox , or hath been sun-burnt , or whose face hath been parch'd with wind , may lawfully take care by ordinary helps to reduce his face to his former , or native colour , and complexion ; and though we do not judge it against the law of god , to hide some great blemish or defect in the face whereby spectators may be offended , and particularly women that are with child , frighted ; and though it is not inconsistent with the rule of the gospel , to wash the face when dirty ; yet all those paints and additional washes , and artificial black spots , whereby men and women endeavour either to set off their complexion the better , to give themselves a more pleasing colour or to mend their meen , or to make themselves look more beautiful , or to attract the eyes , and admiration , and sometimes the unlawful amours of those they converse withal , are things which a christian must be a stranger too . when i say men , it is not without reason , for we read of such a beast as paul , the second pope of rome , who whenever he went abroad , painted himself , that the beauty of his face might in some measure be answerable to the comeliness of his stature , which was procere and tall , and it 's to be feared , that this effeminacy dwells in too many persons of the masculine sex at this day ; however , as women are usually more faulty , this way then men , so they give us but small hopes to believe , that they are heirs of heaven , while they are so industrious to please men and others here on earth . st. paul would not please men no not in the ceremonies of the law , which were things formerly commanded by god , thinking it unworthy of a christian , that had been freed from that yoke by the son of god ; and how unworthy must it be then to please men in things , which god hath never commanded , nay by many hints and places discover'd his dislike of ? how justly may god look upon 't as presumption , to alter that face which he thought fit to create in that shape it is of ? and what is it but contending with our maker , and expostulating with the potter , why hast thou made me thus ? and controuling his art and wisdom , while not content with the countenance he hath given , we seek to appear in a better . as we are christians sincerity must be our character , not only in heart but in the outward behaviour , and what sincerity can there be in cheating men with our faces , and to make them believe that to be natural , which we know is counterfeit and artificial ? we that are naturally prone to pride , and levity , and lightness of deportment had not need encourage it by such incentives , and put oyl to that fire which without great help is apt to burn into hell. we shall meet with impediments enough from the world , and the devil , in our spiritual race ; it 's madness therefore to encrease those obstacles by new inventions of our own , and we that know how apt every thing is to damp our holy fervours had not need add such vanities to extinguish them . in the whole scripture we read of no women that ever painted themselves , but one that was cursed to a proverb , even jezabel , 2 kings 9. 33. and eusebius makes mention of a great instrument of the devil whereby , he sowed heresies in the church , that used this trade , viz. maximilla . even among the heathen , those that did so , were none of the best fame and credit in the world , such as poppaea nero's wife , and others and in holy writ for the most part this delight is described as meretricious , and a quality of strumpets and harlots , as we see , ezech. 23.40 . and certainly neither these examples nor descriptions can be any great inticement to a christian to imitate such infamous patterns , who is to remember those who have spoken to him in the name of the lord , and to follow their faith , considering the end of their conversation heb. 13.7 . it was an excellent character st. gregory nazianzene gave of the pious gorgonia , no gold , saith he , adorned her temples , no flaxen hair , no borrowed locks , no artificial curles flew about her sacred head , no flowing mantles , no transparent vails , no looser garb hat wanton'd in the air , no costly stones vying with the brightness of the stars , no painters arts help'd to grace her noble frame , no operator assisted her to countermine the work of god in her , and by deceitful colours to hide the curious fabrick of her face , or to prostitute the divine shape that was in her , to wanton , and impurer eyes , or to vitiate her natural image , which was reserved for god , and another world , by an adulterous , fictitious beauty . but even then , when she was acquainted with all the tricks and modes of ornaments , she would acknowledge and own none but whather piety , and the harmony of her soul did give her . no other red pleased her , but what her modest blushes caused , no white but what fasting and abstinence brought into her cheeks , and as for painting and modish looks , and borrow'd beauty she left those impertinencies , and vanities to actors and ministers of the stage , persons who have forgot to blush , and are ashamed of nothing so much as of sobriety and gravity . this is an example for all christian women , to write copies by ; and though the age we live in , hath long ago learned to despise this self-denial , as a starcht formality and precise niceness , yet that doth not make it of less value before almighty god , who sees with other eyes , and is resolved to rectifie these willful mistakes , if other means here on earth will not do it , with e●e●●al vengeance . to this purpose st. cyprian , art not thou afraid , vain woman , who makest use of paint , and washes , and such other curious fooleries about thy face , art not thou afraid that thy creator , when thou comest before him , will not know thee , but exclude thee rather from the promised inheritance ? may not he reasonably use the language of a censor , and a judge , and say , this is not my creature , here i see nothing of my image ; thou hast polluted thy skin with false applications , the hair i gave thee is changed by adulterous colours , thy face is nothing but a lie , the figure of it is corrupted , it is another thing , than what it was ; how canst thou see god when thou hast not the looks god gave thee , but infected rather by the devil ? him thou hast follow'd , thou hast imitated th●●●d serpent , thou had borrowed thy ornaments from thine enemy , and with him thou must burn . o my friends , are not these things to be considered by gods servants ? are not these things at which they may justly tremble day and night ? let those who are married , and flatter themselves , that they do it in complisance to their husbands , look to it , and see whether they do not in making such excuses , accuse themselves of being partners in the sin ; and as for virgins and maids who use these , unlawful arts , i cannot reckon them in the number of true virgins , but judge rather , that they ought to be removed from other young women , like so many rotten sheep , that they do not infect others by their corruption . in vain do people plead here , that the apostle , 1 cor. 12.23 . allows us to bestow more abundant honor on those members of the body , which we think to be less honourable , and therefore a homely face may be trick'd up with sutable paints , and spots , and washes ; for not to mention that the apostle by those members doth not mean the face and cheeks , but such as modesty bids us conceal ; the honour there spoken of , cannot be understood of paints and washes , for they are no ornaments , but dissimulations , and deceptions , and the honour that is allow'd to such uncomly parts is hiding of them from the sight of men , which i suppose such vain persons will never practise on their faces . and what if the ingredients of such fucus's be gods creatures , so is poison too and yet we see few persons so mad , as to make use of it so as to drink it , nor doth it signifie much , that persons may have a good end in all this , since we are not to do evil , that good may come out of it . it 's granted , that natural beauty may provoke spectators to lust , and lascivious desires as well as artificial , yet from thence it follows not , that therefore the artificial ought to be allow'd of , as well as the natural , for there is not the same reason for the one that there is for the other ; the natural , god bestows and cannot be blamed , nor did the person , that hath it , spend time and pains , and care to get it ; the artificial as people cannot endeavour after it , but their corrupt minds and affections must prompt them to it ; so it argues discontentedness with what god hath thought fit to give them , and an itching desire to deceive the unwary spectator . and suppose natural beauty allures and tempts voluptuous men , must therefore more evil be added to the former ? must people therefore increase temptations with artificial beauty ? is not the world bad enough ? and must it be made worse ? must sin be therefore multiplied , and the sickly minds of carnal men , more and more distemper'd ? is it not enough that natural beauty is so dangerous ? and shall we encrease the danger by tricks and artifices ? st. chrysostomes advice here is very seasonable ; consider i beseech you , sarah and rebekah , and such matrons , who have all undervalued this vanity , and leah , though she was not handsome , nor so well beloved as rachel , yet used no art to make her so , but the lineaments , and features of her face remained as nature had disposed them , nor was she at all concerned at her homeliness , though educated by parents who were pagans and idolaters ; and shalt thou , whose head is christ , and who pretendest to be a believer , approve of these inventions of the devil ? doest not thou remember the water that was sprinkled upon thy face in baptism , nor the sacrament whereby thy lips and tongue were blessed ? didst thou seriously think of this , whatever fond desires thou mightest naturally have after such dangerous ornaments , thou wouldst not dare to fulfill them ; remember , thou dist vow to be conformable to christ jesus , and thou wilt hate this deformity , for he delights not in these deceitful colours , but requires a sublimer beauty , even that of thy soul and spirit ; why shouldst thou attempt a thing so vain , so needless and superfluous ? there is no defect in any of gods works , nor is there any thing that stands in need of thy making it better then it is ; none dares add any new stroaks to the picture of a king , and if he dares , he smarts for it ; when thou darest add nothing to the workmanship of man , art not thou afraid to make gods work better then it is ? doth not the fire of the burning lake come into thy mind , and dost not thou think how thy soul will one day be totally forsaken , whose concerns thou must needs neglect now while thou appliest all thy care and study and thoughts to thy body ? why do i say , thou neglectest thy soul ; thy very body doth not enjoy what thou wishest for , which is evident from hence , because , while thou seekest to be handsome , thou doest really appear homely ; thou seekest by this to please thy husband , whereas it cannot but be a grief to him , nor is it he only that blames thee , but others also do despise thee . thou wouldest fain appear young , but thy very paint hastens old age , and whereas thou fanciest that this will make thee look glorious , thou dost but prepare for thy shame . but why do i mention things of this nature , while i forgoe the greater arguments , as that thou offendest god , underminest modesty , raisest jealousie , and makest prostitute women thy patterns . all which being laid together , i beseech you dispise these hellish ornaments and unprofitable arts , and renouncing this formosity , or rather deformity , learn to be ambitious of that beauty , which angels do desire , which god is enamour'd with , and which cannot but be pleasing to your husbands too , that having spent and led your life honourably here , you may attain at last to everlasting glory . 11. delight in dancing is another common recreation , and though dancing in it self , as it is an agility or motion of the body , whereby the body is preserved in health , and vigor cannot be said to be unlawful , no more than singing and exercising the tongue ( not to mention that agility of body is a gift of god , and if it be moved and exercised with observing time and measure , there is nothing in the word of god directly or indirectly against it ) yet the manner and use , and the ends , and designs of it , make a very great difference in the lawfulness and unlawfulness of it . that david danced before the ark of god , to testifie his joy , and exultation at so great a blessing , we read , 2 sam. 6.14 . and michals despising him for it is noted as an errour , for which by a divine judgment she was doom'd to be childless ; v. 2.3 . which shews , that god approv'd of that expression of his joy , and the prophets of israel permitted the women to sing , and dance , and to answer one another , saul hath slain his thousands , and david his ten thousands , sands , 1 sam. 18.6 , 7. a custom which in all probability they had learned of miriam the prophetess , the sister of aaron , who after the victory over the aegyptians took a timbrel in her hand , and all the women went out after her with timbrels , and with dances , exod. 15.20 . but then this dancing was still upon a spiritual account , with an intent to praise god , and to glorifie him not only in their souls , but bodies too ; and besides , the women danced by themselves , and the men by themselves without mixing one with another , and only upon extraordinary occasions , when gods power and goodness was to be celebrated , and the younger sort were to be incouraged to chearful hallelujah's , which is an argument , that dancing out of wantonness , or promiscuous dancing , men and women dancing together to please spectators , and to divert themselves , hath no warrant from the sacred oracles . this is the reason why mixt and lascivious dancing hath been condemned , not only by the primitive fathers , but by almost all the reformed churches ; nay the more serious sort of papists look upon it as a thing intolerable among christians . he that will not wilfully blind his eyes , must necessarily see , that this mixt dancing had its original from the heathens , who worshipped their gods by such extravagant motions , and there are not a few precepts in the gospel , which forbid us to work the will of the gentiles , and to live in the flesh , to the lusts of men , as st. peter phrases it , 1 pet. 4.2 , 3. and indeed he that will impartially consider the extent of that chambring and wantonness , st. paul speaks against , rom. 13.13 . must confess , that this mixt dancing , as it is usually practised , is comprehended under it . to any man that reads the scripture with attention and soberness , it will appear very evident , that nothing is pressed more by the apostles , then gravity , modesty and great decency in our postures , actions , speeches , cloathing , and behaviour ; and how this mixt and jovial dancing , is agreeable to all this , no sober man can easily imagine . that this mixt dancing , though not necessarily , and naturally , yet for the most part through the vitiousness and corruption , that is in the generality of mankind , is an apparent occasion of lasciviousness , and levity , and impurer lusts , and an incentive to effeminateness , pride and vanity , is a thing past controversie , and then sure christianity can give no encouragement to it . the usual concomitants of this sport are drinking , foolish , and frothy talk , and other immodest postures and actions , so that to plead for it , is to plead for an accumulation of sins , and enormities . and what doth this sport betray but a weak , soft , easie , vain and empty mind ? what snares are hereby laid for spectators to entertain evil , and dangerous thoughts , which too often hurry them on to impurer enterprizes , and when so many councils , synods , and wife , and learned men have apprehended the danger of it , writ against it , preached against it , made it their business to enquire into the nature of it , and upon examination of its tendencies , and consequences , have both publickly and privately represented it , as improper for christians , and an enemy to that seriousness , which ought to be their essential character ; it must be either pride or stupidity , that makes men stubborn or careless under such censures . and is it probable , that people who never studied the point or , at the best , survey'd , and look'd into it negligently , should be so well able to judge of it , as those who upon weighing what can be said for and against it , have at last concluded and infer'd the undecency , and unlawfulness of it . the romans when they were yet heathens , counted dancing a very dishonourable thing , and salust tells us of sempronia , that she was more than ordinarily vers'd in singing and dancing , which saith he , was more then became a grave and honest matron ; to this purpose cicero affirms of a good man , that rather then dance before spectators , he would lose a very considerable legacy ; it was laid to lucius muraena's charge , as a crime , that he had danced when he was in asia ; and cicero observes upon that passage , that no mansure would dance , that was any way sober , it being , the quality of a madman , and therefore among the errors , and misdemeanors he objects against anthony , he brings in dancing for one . these were the thoughts of the heathen sages , before the flood-gates of debauchery were open'd , and while rome retain'd somewhat of her ancient sobriety ; and what witnesses will such men be against christians , who are taught to go beyond heathens in gravity , and sobriety ? what it this mixt , and promiseuous dancing , be not expresly forbid in scripture , no more is the belief of mahomets riding upon his alborach or white steed to heaven , no more is the doctrine of transubstantiation , and the mass , and the popes triple-crown , purgatory , and the immaculate conception of the virgin mary ; yet what serious protestants will infer therefore , that these are lawful doctrines and positions ? it 's enough , that there are such lessons set down there , which any rational man may easily conclude to be inconsistent with such recreations . it 's enough that the apostle forbids all those things which the greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signifies feasting mixt with dancing , gal. 5.21 . we translate the word revelling , but it includes the extravagant action of mixt dancing , whereby lusts and vanities are kindled , or encouraged in the minds of men , and he asserts that they that use such things or delight light in them , shall not inherit the kingdom of god. nor will it avail here to say , that if any lascivious and impure desires be raised by this mixt dancing , men and women one with another , that this is only by accident , the thing it self may be harmless enough , for in things of morality , and where conscience is concern'd , we must not always take our measure by the nature of the thing , but very often by the humour and temper of sinful men , that make use of it , as the learned peter martyr very well observes , for let 's grant that here and there a sober man may be found , who can with the greatest chastity of mind be both a spectator , and an actor of such promiscuous dancings , but what becomes all this while of the multitude , and of the greatest part of men and women , which are present at such sports , who cannot , will not keep within bounds , so that in this case we are not to respect what may possibly be done , but what for the most part uses to be done ; in things of a moral nature , we must not go to the very edge of that which is lawful , but keep within a considerable distance of it , for the nearer we come to the utmost bounds , the nearer we approach to that , which is unlawful , which is the reason , why the apostle bids us avoid the very appearance of evil , 1 thess. 5.22 . i do not deny , but men may do worse , but what necessity is there for their doing that which is bad , to avoid that which is worse ? must i therefore slander and abuse a man , because it is a less sin then to murther him ? i know such doctrines are usually branded with the name of foolish preciseness , but sure i am , they are agreeable to that wisdom which is from above , and he that means to arrive to this wisdom , must of necessity become a fool , a fool in the eyes of the world , and that must be a christians greatest glory ; for know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with god , whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world , is the enemy of god , jam. 4.4 . upon which words antonisnus thus paraphrases ; a friend of the world is he that loves the pomp , the lasciviousness , the pride and vain glory of the world , and he that will please men in things of this nature , things usually found in promiscuous dancings , becomes an enemy of god. ludovicus vives tells us of some poor indians , that were brought from the farther parts of asia , who seeing some of our europeans dancing together , wonder'd what madness , and fury had possess'd them ; indeed he that should stand upon a hill afar of , without hearing any musick , and see people skip about , and sometimes beat the earth with their feet , sometimes lift themselves up into the air , sometimes in such a posture , sometimes in another , could think no less , then that they were forsaken of their reason . i will not here alledge any examples of men and women , who have found by sad experience , what a sad exit their dancing and revelling hath had , how in the ball , which lodowick the design'd arch-bishop of magdeburg gave his kindred and relations , the house fell , upon the dancers heads , and crush'd the burgemaster and his friends to death , nor how that vertuous virgin in famianus strada was ravished in a ball. the misfortune that befell john the baptist through the jocular dancing of herodias , ought to fright devout persons from having any esteem and veneration for it ; upon which passage st. chrysostom thus comments , where there is lascivious dancing , there the devil is always present ; god hath not given us feet for dancing , but to walk modestly , not to skip like camels , but that we might be fit to stand one day in the quire of angels ; if the body be deformed , or disfigured by such leaping , how much more the soul ? such dances make the devil dance , and this way men are cheated by the ministers of darkness . it were endless to rehearse here , what men of learning , and wisdom have said against this sport ; one passage out of cornelius agrippa may serve for all nothing can be more ridiculous then promiscuous dancing ; this lets loose the reins of wantonness , is a faithful friend to sin the great incentive to uncleanness , an enemy to chastity , and a recreation unworthy of rational men. here many a matron hath lost her honour , here many a virgin hath learned that which she had better been totally ignorant of ; from hence many have come away worse then they were , but none better . 12. delight in seeing stage-plays must not be omitted here ; and how far this delight may be allow'd of , and how far detested , i cannot shew you better , then by giving you the contents of a letter , i formerly writ to a young gentleman upon this subject . sir , though you did pitch upon none of the best casuists , when you sent your case to me , yet since you have thought fit to ask my opinion , whether it be lawful to go and see a play , a thing , our gallants are so exceeding fond of , i must crave leave to tell you , that in the primitive ages of the church , such a question from one who professed himself a follower of the holy jesus , would have been looked upon with novery pleasant aspect , they supposing that every christian , who knew , or was sensible into whose name he was baptized , understood , that things of this nature , are as forrein to christianity , as lasciviousness and wantonness , and as contrary to the design of our noble religion , which is to plant a spiritual life in us , as wallowing in voluptuousness or luxury . but the times are altered , and our virtuosi have allow'd of it , and what men in former ages scarce thought fit to be named among christians , this hath made not only convenient , but in some respect necessary , and essential to a person of quality ; so that this question as the case stands , may with some justice be askt , and even a very sober person may now with some reason demand , whether there be any harm in beholding these dramatick representations ? and here i would not be thought so rigid , or foolish rather , as if i believed no representation of history , or mens actions in the world lawful , for that would be directly contrary to christs own practice , who instituted a sacrament to represent his death , and passion by , and to keep up the remembrance of it to the worlds end , and though this is not acting things to the life , yet it at least imports so much , that something historical may be represented in lively and significant characters , the management of which must be left to the prudence and discretion of sober men. but then these representations must be restrain'd altogether to vertue and goodness , and such accomplishments of the soul , which the wisest and holiest men in all ages have been desirous and ambitious of , and though vertue cannot be well either discoursed of , or represented without its opposite vice , yet such is the nature of vice , such the unhappy consequences of it , that if either the pleasure , or ease , or prosperity and success of it be shewn and acted , though but for a few minutes , whatever fate it ends in , it 's so agreeable to the corrupted tempers of men , that it leaves a pleasing impression behind it ; nor is the after-clap or doleful exit of it strong enough , to prevent a liking or satisfaction especially in the younger sort , who are generally more taken with its present content and titillations , then frighted with its dull and muddy conclusion ; for while its present success , and sweetness is acting , the cupid strikes the heart , and lays such ae foundation there , as mocks all the death , and ruin , it after some time doth end in ; i doubt not , but the joys of angels , and the triumphs of glorified souls might be acted to the life ; and great good might issue from the gaudy opera , and if justice , patience , sobriety , humility , and contempt of the world with all the garlands , and solid joys that attend them , were represented with their future recompense , in a serious way , without jesting or raillery , not a few men and women might be signally edified by it , their affections raised above their ordinary level , and their courage kindled to press towards the noble prize ; but then there must be nothing of the present amiableness of vice mingled with the scenes , for though vice must almost necessarily be named in these living landskips , yet it should be only named , and never named but with horror , and the generosity and grandeur of vertue only acted the the life , for indeed nothing is fit for action , or imitated but vertue ; vice should never appear but in its ugly shape , for if you dress it in its shining robes though it be but for a quarter of an hour , such is the venom of this basilisk , it breaths a poisonous vapor both on the actor , and the spectator , and while the one comes to see sport , and the other to get money , both go away from the theater worse then they came ; and though both come away laughing , yet both prepare for bitter mourning and lamentation . i have shewn you what drama's may be useful and commendable , but sir , all this differs very much from the modern plays , the aforesaid question relates to , these being things fitted for vanity , and luxury , for in these , though the punishment of vice , and rewards of vertue are represented to the life , yet it 's done rather with advantage to the former , then to raise the credit of the latter , and the effect shews it , viz. the corruption and debauchery of youth , and persons of all sorts and sizes which i shall more largely speak of in the sequel . the plays speak of , are suited to the loose humour of the age , which seems to hate all things that are serious , as much as rats-bane , and delights in nothing so much , as in jests and fooleries , and seeing the most venerable things turned into ridicule . here no play rellishes but what is stuft with love tricks , and that which makes people laugh most , is the best written comedy ; wantonness is set out in its glittering garb , and the melting expressions that drop from its lips , are so charming to a carnal appetite , that the young lad wishes himself almost in the same passion , and intrigue of love , he sees acted on the stage , it looks so pleasant and ravishing . here religion is too often traduced and through the sides of men that differ from our church , the very foundation of christianity is shaken , and undermimed ; not but that hypocrisy in religion ought to be severely lash'd , but then it must be done in a grave , becoming , and serious way ; such as christ , and his apostles used against the painted sepulchres , the pharisees . the stage hath that unhappy character , that it is looked upon by the generality , as the grand place of divertisement , men come thither not to learn , but to be merry , and since acts of hypocrisie look so very like acts of true religion , the danger is , that while you raille , the counterfeit , you hurt the original , and while you dress the image in a fools coat the substance suffers in the ridiculous representation . so that here men and women are insensibly poison'd , and the good thing they see made aukward in an enemy , in time looks but odd and strange in a friend , and by degrees the vertue is hated in good earnest , because one that was in the habit of an hypocrite , did practise it . here few sacred things are spared , if they serve to make up the decorum of the act , and heathenism is reduced into christian territories in a pleasant way . the pagan gods must make the drama great , and while these are in all the actors mouths , the licentious spectator in time applies that to the true , which the fond poet ascribed to fictitious deities . here the supream creator is too often reviled through the ill language that 's given to heathen numens , and things that savour of real piety rendred flat , insipid , and impertinent ; here all , that may raise the flesh into action and desire , is advanced , and whatever serves to lay reason asleep , and to exalt fancy and imagination , and the glory of the world , is made the proper object of admiration ; here all the wanton looks , and gestures , and postures that be in the mode , are practised according to art , and you may remember , you have seen people when dismist from a play , strive and labour to get that grace and antick meen they saw in the mimick on the stage ; here men swear and curse , and actually imprecate themselves , and though they do it under the name of the person they act , yet their own tongue speaks the sin , and their body is the agent that commits it , and thus they damn themselves for a man in imagination . and are these things fit for a christian to behold ! a christian , who is to be new creature , a candidate of eternity , an heir of heaven , an enemy to the world , a spiritual prince , a king over his lusts , and emperor over his carnal desires ? is this a sight agreeable to the strait way , and the narrow gate , which leads to life ? can you or any man reconcile such darkness with light , such idols with the temple of god ? is there any thing in the gospel more plainly forbid , then conforming to the world ? and what can that prohibition import , if conformity to the world in beholding these dangerous sights be not in a great measure meant by it ? we may put forced glosses upon the words , but doth not this look like the natural sense of them ? holiness for without it no man shall ever see the lord , is the very character of men , who name the name of christ , if they bear not that name in vain , and will any man of sense be so bold as to say , that shews , which have so much sin in them , are sutable to that holiness ? we know who said , turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity , and who sees not , that he who delights in such shews , neither dares pray that prayer , nor can have any desire to imitate david in his holiness , for he is pleased with vanity , fixes his eyes upon it , makes it the pleasing object of his sight , and consequently instead of turning his eyes away from it , turns them to it , and would not for a world lose that pleasure . if thy right eye offend thee , pluck it out , and cast it from thee , for it is profitable for thee , that one of thy members should perish , and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell , said he , who hath protested , that not the least tittle or jot a of his words shall perish , matth. 5.29 . if there be any sense in this passage , the meaning must necessarily be , that if the eye , or beholding an object , prove an occasion of evil , the eye must be so carefully , and so totally withdrawn from that object , as if it were actually pluck'd out , or were of no use in the body ; what an occasion of evil the beholding of such scurrilous shows is , none can judge so well as he who takes notice , how by these sights , the horror , which attended some sins , is taken off , and men are tempted to entertain a more favourable opinion of them , how apt upon these occasions they are to laugh at those sins which require rivers of tears , and to smile at the jest they hear , which deserves their most rigid censures ; how natural is it to be affected with these representations ? and if there be any thing of evil in them , how readily is it imbibed or if not imbibed , yet excused , if not totally excused , yet qualified , and construed as a thing of no great hurt , and thus its dreadfulness abates , and it 's afterwards left out in the catalogue of errors . god was either so jealous of his own glory , or so render of the spiritual welfare of the israelites , that he would not suffer them to take the names of the heathen gods in their mouths , nor suffer them familiarly to mention them , for fear their frequent naming of them should lessen their awful apprehensions of the supream deity , or they be tempted through that familiarity to think , there was no great harm in worshipping of them ; this was no ceremonial precept , nor judicial : the substance is moral , and consequently cannot be supposed to be abolish'd by the death of christ ; and since god would not permit it to the jews , how should he be supposed to give leave to christians , of whom he requires greater strictness , to be lavish in such expressions ? how in our modern plays in most prayers , wishes , and imprecations the heathen deities are brought in , i need not tell you , the actors indeed swear by god in the singular number , but in their entire harangues , or witty sentences or expressions , which they intend shall move most , the gods are call'd in , and that 's the grace of thier part ; if it be said that this is done out of a reverential respect to the true god , who is too great to be mention'd in such trival speeches ; it 's a marvellous thing , they are not afraid to swear by him , and to take his name in vain , and though they mince their oaths sometimes , yet that doth not excuse the crime , as long as it shews their willingness to act it ; but the truth is , such men seek to turn religion again into paganism , so the style they use in their respective speeches about things above , is fitted for that purpose . i know that it 's commonly alledged , that the stories which are acted , relate to transactions among the gentiles , and that it would be incongruous to represent their actions , and not to mention their deities , or to speak in their language ; but not to mention , that there is no necessity of representing passages of this nature , there being as noble things among christians , that deserve remembrance , why cannot the vertues of pagans be represented without mentioning their gods , or the sins and extravagancies of their gods , whereby corrupted nature is so easily debaucht into a mean opinion of the great soveraign being , and tempted to believe the powers above either subject to the same infirmities , that we are , or at least not much displeased with our irregularities here below . he that makes bold with false gods , does very easily slide into contempt of the true , and while men are brought in to dare the supposed deities above , they 'l be more ready to affront him , that is the same yesterday , today , and forever . nor will it follow , because books that treat of heathen gods may be read , that therefore those deities may be acted , and mentioned on the stage , for there is a great difference between reading of a thing , and seeing it acted with all the vanity and boldness , that usually attends it . in reading , a mans serious thoughts are not dispersed or scattered , but keep within the compass of modesty , and weigh things in the ballance of reason , whereas being acted to the life , they naturally strike vanity into the mind , affect the sensual part , drive away seriousness , and leave an unhappy tincture behind them . and if it be against the divine law , familiarly to mention or talk of these fictitious deities , it cannot be very agreeable to the sense of it , for christians to go and hear that idle talk , for as in other concerns the receiver is as bad as the thief , so he that with delight hears that which another is forbid to speak , makes himself accessory to his sin , and draws needless guilt upon his soul. flatter not your self , sir , with a fancy , that these plays are no where forbid in the bible , and that therefore it may be lawful to see them , for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , revelling , i mentioned before , and to which the apostle threatens exclusion from the kingdom of heaven , gal. 5.21 . and from which the word comedy in all probability is derived , though i know others fetch it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a village , because in ancient times , they did sing songs about country towns , i say this word includes all such vain , lascivious , ludicrous , and jocular representations , not only dancing and luxurious feashing , but wanton , light and amorous interludes and all that belongs to the pampering and satisfying of the flesh , such as amorous songs , complementing of mistresses , love-tricks , and immodest parts , and speeches , which make the vainer sort of the company merry , for the word is very comprehensive , and being so , one would think should fright every serious person from coming within the guilt of that , which hath so severe a threatning annex'd to it . and is it worth losing heaven , and eternal happiness for the sight of such jocular shows ? are the pleasures arising from hence , of that consequence , that they will counterballance so great a loss ? had you rather forfeit gods savour , then these ludicrous transactions ? are these momentary satisfactions of that value , that you would run the hazard of being for ever deprived of the beatifick vision for them ? that usual exception , that god will not be so cruel , as to condemn men for such harmless sports , is of no weight at all , for god hath no where declared , that he will govern himself by mens fancies , but his eternal wisdom is the rule he 'l go by ; if men will have their pleasures , he hath thought fit to forbid , they must thank themselves , if they go without his favour , and since they were warned of this danger , they can have no excuse , but are as the apostle speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , condemn'd of themselves tit. 3.11 . let 's but consider the nature , scope and drift of our religion ; it commands us decency , modesty , sobriety , vigilancy , or watchfulness over our thoughts , and words , and actions , simplicity in the inward , and outward man , redeeming the time , employing the hours god hath lent us , in profitable discourses , and things useful and tending to edification . it bids us abstain from fleshly lusts , which war against the soul ; it condemns all , rioting , chambering , wantonness , and making provision for the flesh , to fulfill the lusts thereof : it commands us to walk after the spirit , to be heavenly minded , to have the same mind and temeper in us , which was also in christ jesus , to grow in grace , to advance in goodness , to grow strong in the lord , and in the power of his might ; it bids us stand up for the glory of our god , and to be concern'd when his name , or religion , or things sacred are abused ; it bids us avoid scandal , and take heed we do not by our example , either draw people into errors , or confirm them in their sins ; it bids us take heed of discouraging our neighbours from goodness , and of laying a stumbling-block in the way of weaker christians ; it bids us exhort one another daily , and beware lest any of us be hardned through the deceitfulness of sin ; these are some of its principal rules , and i need not add , what our great master hath told us , ye are my friends , if ye do whatsoever i command you , joh. 15.14 . how these rules can be observed by persons that delight in these shews , i cannot apprehend ; is it modesty to be a hearer of that ribaldry and filthy communication , which some plays are stuffed with ? or to be a spectator of so many undecent and wanton gestures , postures , and actions , which in some comedies make up the greatest part of the shew ? is this sobriety , to stand by and hear men curse and swear , and talk of things which should not be so much as named among christians ? is this decency to afford your presence in a place , where the most debauched persons assemble themselves for ill ends and purposes ? is this your fear of god to go and hear the most solemn ordinances of god railled , and undervalued , such as marriage , and living up to the strict rules of reason and conscience ? is this your watchfulness over your thoughts , and words , and actions , to go and expose your selves to temptations , to run into the devils arms , and give him an opportunity to incline your heart to sinful delights , and being pleased with things which god abhors ? is this that godly simplicity , the gospel presses , to pay for your being affected with the vain shews of this sinful world , and to take liberty to hear and see , what men of little or no religion shall think fit to represent to you ? is this redeeming of your time to throw away so many hours upon fooling , and seeing mens ridiculous postures , gestures , and behaviours ? is not this making war against your soul ? is not this fighting against your happiness ? is this the way to grow in grace , and to advance in goodness , and to abound more and more in the love of god , which your christianity obliges you to ? is not this to clogg your soul ? is not this to throw impediments in her way to felicity ? is not this the way to make her inamour'd with the world , from which a christian is to run away , as much as he can ? by your saviours rule though you are in the world , yet you are not to be of the world ; these shows alienate other mens affections from the best of objects , and what security have you , that they will not alienate yours ? or have you a peculiar exemption from that danger ? if you have , shew us your warrant , let 's see your parent ; if you take the same way that profane persons take , to dull their religious desires , how can it be otherwise , but it will have the same effect in you ? if you use the same means , why should not you fear the same unhappy influence ? why should you shut your eyes against a thing , as clear as the sun ? do not you see , do not you perceive , how sin grows upon you by frequenting these places ? do not you find , how under these shows , the brutish part in you grows strong and vigorous , how the flesh distends its plumes , grows easie and pleased , and in time engrosses all the nobler faculties of your soul ? as you are a christian , you are to bring your flesh into subjection , and to keep under your body ; and do not these shews signally help towards its power and dominion over the nobler part , and promote its soveranity , and triumph over the reasonable appetite ? what pampers it more then such sights ? what feeds its preposterous longings more then these ? do not these evidently make this slave usurp authority over her mistress ? and is this fit to be done by christians , who are to crucifie the flesh with its lusts and affections ? who sees not , that these sights are meer incentives to lust , and fewel to feed the impurer fire in our breasts ? and is this to walk after the spirit , as we are commanded ? if they that walk afer the flesh cannot please god , how can you hope to please him , while you allow your self in this work of the flesh ? is this to promote a lively sense of god ? is the stage likely to produce vigorous apprehensions of gods grace and favour ? you know it damps and obscures them , you know it is an enemy to them , you know , it is the worm that hinders your spiritual growth , and yet will you fancy a necessity to frequent it ? men may count it necessary to be drunk , and to kill a person , they do hate , but will this necessity hold water when the great judge comes to examine it ? the flesh may count that necessary , which reason apprehends to be absurd , and impious , and he that hearkens to the dictates of the brute within him , will call any thing necessary , though never so contradictory to the oracles of heaven , and the lessons of our great master jesus ? is this to have the same mind in you , which was also in christ jesus ; i hope you do not question the duty , and if you believe it incumbent upon you , can you imagin , that in frequenting the stage , you imitate his example ? did he ever encourage such empty things ? is there any thing in all the history of his life , that may be said to countenance such doings ? could he applaud these follies , do you think , whose life was a perfect pattern of holiness , nay , are not all his precepts levell'd against these scurrilities ? is it possible to live up to his precepts , and feed our eyes with these shews ? is it possible to be his friend , and a friend to these vanities ? he whose life was a perpetual selfdenial in the pleasures of this life , could he give the least colour , or shadow of approbation of them ? he who preached up the doctrine of the cross , could he have any liking to that , which is directly contrary to that doctrine ? would any man that looks upon the jolly assembly in a play-house , think that these are disciples of the crucified god ? do they not look liker mahomets votaries , or epicurus his followers ? would not one think that they had never heard of the cross , and that whoever their master was , they were disciplined only to live merrily : would not one think that these persons are very different in their tempers from those christians , the primitive fathers do describe , who trampled on the world , and were afraid of any thing that savoured of its satisfactions ? would not one think , that they are rather disciples of some heathen jupiter , or venus , or flora , or some such wanton minion , then of the grave , the austere , and the serious jesus , for such he would have his followers to be , these he would have tread in his steps ; these he would have known by actions , and a behaviour like his own , and is a play likely to plant this noble temper in you ? is the sight of a comedy a probable means to make you live above the world ? are the profane railleries , that are used there , fit preparatives for austerity of conversation ? is this the way to promote gravity to visit the stage , where all gravity , is lookt upon , as pedantry , and traduced as a thing proper only for old usurers , and women who are past their sins and vices ? is this the way to advance seriousness , to be much at places , where seriousness is censured as a trick of divines , or at the best , as an effect of vapours , and the natural result of melancholy , and the spleen ? as a christian , you are to shun the very appearances of evil , and is this your obedience , to delight in that which is evil , to applaud it with your smiles , to commend it with your tongue , and to encourage it by your presence ? as a christian , you are the salt of the earth , and consequently are to preserve your neighbour from corruption ; and is this the way to preserve him from infection , by your presence in such places , and being as vain as he , to encourage not only the actors in their unlawful profession , but the spectators too in their disobedience to the gospel ? and what is this , but to make your self a proctor to sin , to help people to be undone , to assist them in going to hell , and to make your self accessary to their folly . are these the christians , that are to help one another to heaven ? are these the christians , that are to go hand in hand together , to gods everlasting kingdom ? are these the lights , the shining , the burning lights , that are to light the ignorant brother to the inheritance of the saints in light ? is not this to be blind to the great design of the gospel ? and if the blind lead the blind , shall not they both fall into the pit ? wo to that man by whom the offence cometh , it had been better for him , that a mill-stone were hang'd about his neck , and he drown'd in the midst of the sea , saith our great master , matth. 18.6 . does not this threatning fright you ? doth this put no sad thoughts into your mind ? do you believe he spoke true ? and do not you think you are concern'd ? what is your going to a play-house , but giving offence ? what is it but hardning other men in their sins ? is not this tempting young people to those extravagancies they should detest ? is not this justifying the players profession , and to make them think that you approve of their ludicrous vocations ? their profession is infamous by our law , which looks upon them , as persons of no honest calling , and if you go to see their actings , and to see how they prostitute themselves , doth not this look like a commendation of their undertakings ? and have not you sins enough of your own to answer for , but you must load other mens upon you too ? are you afraid , gods anger to you will not be great enough , except you add your neighbours offences , to make his wrath the heavier ? all those persons of your acquaintance that go to a play , because you do , are all scandalized by your example ; and is not this putting a stumbling-block in your neighbours way , especially if people believe that you have some goodness in you , or have a name that you are religious , how bold doth this make other persons to venture on these vanities ? and how dreadful must this make your account ? either you do not think much of other world , or if you do , you cannot but conclude , that these things will lie very heavy upon your conscience one day ? what if you do not think it to be sin , will your thinking so excuse you ? willful ignorance is as bad , as a known sin , and how easily might you know such doings to be sinful ? but being unwilling to be better informed , judge you , whether it will not agravate your condemnation ? how could the primitive christians know these things to be sinful ? and is not possible for you to know it ? they had the bible ; so have you : they had the same precepts that you have , only they did not read the scripture so superficially as perhaps you do , and that was the reason why they came to the knowledge of this sin , while you halt betwixt two opinions ; their affections did not hanker and bend so much after the world as perhaps yours do , and therefore they might easily perceive christs and the apostles meaning , while you , who dote too much upon these outward things , have a cloud or mist before your eyes , that you cannot discern the sense of the holy ghost . your present divertisements may hide the guilt from your sight , but when the summons of a terrible god to appear at his bar , shall rouze your conscience one day , you 'l be of another mind ; how ? did christ come down from heaven , and die , and spill his blood for you , that you might securely indulge your carnal genius ? did he sacrifice himself for you , that you might please your self with such fooleries ? hath he appeased the almighties wrath for you , that you might spend your time in a theatre ? is this a proper end of the mighty purchase he hath made ? did such phantastick actions deserve so great a condescension ? is it likely that he would have astonish'd all the angels of heaven with his descent into this valley of tears , if this security in carnal satisfactions had been his design ? one would rather think , that so deep a humiliation called for the greatest severities , and was shewn on purpose to engage poor mortals to the profoundest acknowledgments of his favour ; one would think , that such miracles of charity challenged a most serious behaviour , and that after this men should not dare to think of trivial and impertinent things ; this is more likely to be the end of his incarnation , and suffering , then the other . to delight in such vanities is a disparagement to his love , a blemish to his charity , a disgrace to his condescension , and an undervaluing of so great a mercy ; and do you thus reward him ? do you thus requite his kindness ? is this the return you make him for his sweat and agonies , for his sighs and groans , for his pains and all his labours ? did he bleed , that you might grow strong in sin ? did he die , that you might cherish the lusts of the flesh ? did he make himself of no reputation , that you might please your self with divertisements , invented only to affront him and to render his endeavours to convert our souls ineffectual . have not you observed it ? have not you taken notice , how men and women , who have had some zeal for religion , and very pious inclinations , how that zeal hath decreas'd upon their frequenting of these houses , how their goodness hath decay'd , how flat they are grown in devotion , how weak in their holy performances ? how dull in the work of meditation ? how slovenly and superficial in gods service ? may be , they have kept up some outward shews , some external formality , some earnestness for the fringes of religion , or for the ceremonial part of christianity ; but have not you seen , how they are become strangers to that life , which must adorn it , to that contemplation of good things , they formerly delighted in , to that strictness they once professed ? have not you seen how they have remitted in their warmth , and how the holy fire that once burn'd in their breasts is gone out ? and is your christianity so fierce and violent , that it needs a bridle ? is it so hot , that it must have an extinguisher ? is it so flaming that it wants this stolen water to quench it ? with what face dare you approach the table of your lord , who have been a spectator of such shews but a little before ? with what eyes can you appear in the presence of that king of kings , who have but a little before prostituted your soul to the devil ? with what conscience can you promise the lord jesus to follow him , when you intend to expose your self again to these temptations ? do not you blush to think , how you serve both god and mammon , christ , and the world , contrary to your redeemers protestation , that you cannot serve two masters ? if you come to the lords table one day , and run to a play-house another , do not you destroy all , that you built the day before ? if you come to the supper of the lord , there to profess your sorrow for loving the world , are you in good earnest sorry for it , or are you not ? if not , why do you play the hypocrite , or do you think to put a cheat upon the almighty , as if he did not see your heart , or would be taken with shew , and pomp ? if you are , how can you run into the same temptation again , or go to a place where you will infallibly be tempted to the love of the world ? is not this to shut the gates of mercy against you ? is not this to make your self odious to that god whose favour you expect in the last day ? is not this to live in contradictions ? in this sacrament you profess to imitate your lord in despising the world , and is this imitation , to go one day into the house of god , and the next into a den of thieves ; for so the stage may justly be called , where men are robb'd of their rellish of spiritual objects . whence hath come that atheism , that looseness , that indifferency in things divine , that low esteem of the tremendous mysteries of christianity , which of late like a land-flood hath over-run us ? have they not deriv'd their boldness from these places ? have not the vices represented there in jest , been practised by the forward youth at home in good earnest ? and can a christian have a good opinion of these houses , where so many have lost their vertue ? can any man of reason think , that after all this mischief , they may be safely hugg'd and applauded ? those many notorious fornications and adulteries we have heard , and know of , those bare-faced cheats , mens boastings of their sins , and glorying in their shame , their impudence , their courage to do evil , their daring to do things which sober heathens have detested , whence have they come in a great measure , but from these poison'd fountains ? why should we be afraid to call a spade , a spade ? do not even wicked men confess so much , men who have been guilty of such crimes ? shall men of no great sense of religion complain of it , and shall a christian do any thing , that may contribute toward the holding of them up ? if wanton , lustful , and obscene jests are expresly forbid by the great apostle , nay , are not so much as to be named among christians , how can a man that makes profession of that religion , hear them , or be taken with them , when gods name is profaned in such houses ? when religion is mock'd ? when vertue is rendred odious ? how can you hear it without reproving the men that do it ? how can you have patience to let them talk at this rate ? you are bound by your profession to rebuke your neighbour for notorious sins , and not to suffer iniquity upon him ; can you hear these things , and see men affront their maker , and be possess'd with a dumb devil ? how can you discharge your conscience , to let your neighbour do evil without giving him an item of gods displeasure ? if we are to exhort one another to take heed , lest any of us be harden'd through the deceitfulness of sin , how can you see men harden themselves in their sins on the stage , without a fraternal admonition ? if you have no courage to admonish them , what makes you appear there where you must be silent under the indignities offered to your master ? had you a friend , whom you loved , and saw his concerns in danger , his reputation attack'd , his credit torn , his good name wounded , would not you stand up in his vindication ? you own christ for your friend , and profess you love him , and can you see his laws trampled on , and his blood and wounds made a complement of speech , and not be moved at it ? or if you have some little regret upon your spirits , where is your tongue to speak for your friend ? do you think such men are like to be his favorites ? and is not this to fall under the lash of that threating , whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my gospel , in this adulterous , and sinful generation , of him shall the son of man be ashamed , when he comes in the glory of his father ; since you have not spirit enough to reprove such sinners , why do not you stay away ? why do not you keep out of their company ? you are obliged to do either one or the other , if you cherish any hopes of salvation , and since to reprove them you are ashamed , staying away must necessarily be your duty . do you ever examine your self at night about the actions of the day ? and if you do , doth not your presence at such shews , and your being pleased with them , fly into your face ? do not you think , what have i done to day ? how did i spend my time , might not i have spent it better , then at a play-house ? how many persons have i harden'd , and confirm'd in their sins by my example ? how much lightness and vanity have i encouraged by my presence ? hath not such a sin been pleasing to me ? have not i been delighted with seeing my neighbour abus'd ? have not i been tickled with mens speaking ill of him ? had god struck me dead in that place , how sad would my condition have been ? how many vain and foolish thoughts have these sights sent into my mind ? if you examine your self in this manner and find these effects , have not you reason to ask god forgiveness ? and if you ask him forgiveness , how dare you run upon the same rock again ? will you sin willfully after this ? will you sin against your knowledge , will you do that again , which will require a new repentance ? what is this but a mock-repentance , to go on in a circle of confessing , and sinning , of sinning , and confessing . but i doubt , this self-examination is a thing you do not trouble your head with , and you shun it , as men do their creditors that dun them ; you are afraid it will fill your head with scruples , and therefore avoid it , as those who are unwilling to look into their accounts , that they may not be surpriz'd with the sum they owe ; if visiting the stage makes you neglect this self-examination , it makes you neglect a known duty ; and if so , it must be sinful , and if sinful , how dare you meddle with it ? do but take a view of the writings of the primitive fathers , and you 'l find them unanimous in this assertion , that in our baptism , when we renounce the devil and his works , and the pomp and glory of the world , we do particularly renounce stage-plays , and such ludicrous representations . they that lived nearest to the apostolical times , in all probability knew , what was meant by this rendunciation , and this they profess to be the sense of it , this they assure us is meant by those pomps , and glories , and why should we presume to put a new sense upon that vow ? they received this interpretation from the apostles , and propagated it to posterity , and in their sense we make this abjuration . sir , have you abjured these things in your baptism , and dare you venter on them ? have you renounced them , and dare you fall in love with them ? have you protested in the presence of god and angels , that you will not meddle with them , and will you break your vow ? have you solemnly professed before the congregation , that you will not have any affection for them , and do you make nothing of persidiousness ? how darest thou o christian run into a play-house after baptism , saith salvian , when thou hast confessed those very plays to be the works of the devil ? thou hast renounced the devil and these stage-plays , so that if thou willingly and wittingly frequentest them , it 's evident that thou returnest to the devil too , for thou hast renounced both , and hast professed both to be one , so that if thou return to one , thou returnest to both . i know what is commonly objected , that the reason why the fathers are so much against christians seeing of a play , was , because the heathenish idolatries were acted to the life upon the stage , and that proselites might not be in danger of being enticed to idolatry , was the great motive , why they inveigh'd so much against sights of that nature ; but those that use this plea , most certainly have not read the fathers , or if they have read them , have not considered all their arguments ; for to go no farther then tertullian , after he had condemn'd these sights , for the idolatries committed on the stage , he produces other reasons for which they are utterly unlawful ; as 1. because the spirit of the gospel , is a spirit of gentleness , but the actors are forced to put themselves into a posture of wrath and anger , and fury , and the spectators themselves cannot behold them without being put into a passion . 2. because vanity , which is proper to the stage , is altogether forreign to christianity . 3. because we are not to consent to peoples sins . 4. because men are abused in these places , and neither princes nor people spared , and this being unlawful elsewhere , must be unlawful too upon the stage . 5. because all immodesty and scurrility is forbid by the law of the gospel , not only acting of it , but seeing and hearing it acted . 6. because all players are hypocrites , seem to be what they are not , and all hypocrisy is condemn'd by the gospel . 7. because the actors very often belie their sex , and put on womens apparel , which is forbid , by the law of god. 8. because these plays dull and damp devotion , and seriousness , which is and ought to be the indeleble character of christians . 9. because it is a disparagement to god to lift up those hands to applaud a player , which we use to lift up to the throne of grace . 10. because experience shews , how the devil hath sometimes possess'd christians in a play-house , and being afterwards cast out , confest , that he had reason to enter into them , because he found them in his own place . 11. because no man can serve two masters , god and the world , as those christians pretend to do that frequent both the church and the stage . 12. because though some speeches in a play are witty and ingenious , yet there is poison at the bottom , and vice is only coloured , and guilded with fine language , and curious emblems , that it may go down more glib , and ruin the soul more artificially . these are some of tertullians arguments , and he that shall attentively consider them will easily find that they are not only applicable to such comedies where idolatry is acted , but to those of this age , where scurrility , vanity , and immodesty , and other vices are incouraged ; and whereas some pretended , that if they saw no plays , they should want sport , and be without necessary recreation , the learned presbyter doth very handsomly reply ; why art thou so abominably ungrateful , to complain of want of recreation , when god hath given thee such great variety of pleasures ? for what can be more pleasant , then to be reconciled to god the father , and the knowledge of the truth , our deliverance from darkness , and error , and a free pardon of all our sins ? what greater pleasure can there be , then the loathing of carnal pleasure , contempt of the world , true christian liberty , a conscience void of offence , a spotless life , freedom from the fear of death , trampling on the heathen gods , expulsion of devils , the gift of healing ; prayer for illumination , and living to gods glory ? these are the pleasures , these are the plays of christians , holy , free , and perpetual ; in such things as these , fancy thou seest a play , here see the course of the world , behold the gliding time , view the distance betwixt this life and eternity , expect the consummation of all things , defend the church , rouze thy self at gods signal , listen to the arch-angels trumpet , glory in the martyrs laurells ; if learning and knowledge do delight thee , behold in the scripture there are verses enough , witty sentences enough , songs enough , and voices enough ; no fables of poets , but solid truths ; no sophistry , but majestick simplicity ; wouldst thou see gladiators and wrestlers , here thou hast them , here thou mayst see lasciviousness overcome by chastity , perjury by faithfulness , cruelty by mercy , wantonness by modesty , and these are our olympick games , in which he is crown'd that strives for mastery ; dost thou love to see blood drawn in a pulblick shew ? behold thou hast the blood of jesus ; and what a noble sight will shortly appear to our eyes , even the coming of our glorious lord , the exultation of angels , the resurrection of his holy ones , the stately kingdom of believing souls , and the sight of the new jerusalem ! there is a another shew behind , even the last day of judgment , a day unlook'd for , a day despised by fools , a day wherein the old world will be swallowed up of fire ! how glorious a sight , will that be , when i shall behold with astonishment , and joy , so many kings , whom their flatterers placed among the stars , sighing in outward darkness with jupiter , and their parasites ? so many persecutors of the christian name melting in insulting flames ! so many philosophers with their disciples , who gave out , that god was careless of the affairs of this lower world , trembling before christs tribunal ! at that time i shall know tragoedians by their loud cry in misery , stage-players by their being tormented by fire more than other men , the charioteers in the publick games , by their being red upon a flaming wheel , and the mimick by his being tossed in sheets of fire . thus far that excellent man ; whom st. cyprian exactly imitates . and certainly he that hath the same sense of religion , that he had , cannot but be of the same opinion . so that it is for want of searching , and diving into the nature of christianity , and what is more , for want of feeling the power of religion , that makes men speak in vindication of plays , and interludes . what a pittiful shift is it to say , that great good may be gained by them , when it is plain that the evil which ensues upon them , doth signally preponderate , and outweigh the pretended benefit ? what if a moral saying or a witty sentence , or an ingenious apophthegm lie scattered here and there among the rubbish , will that grain of goodness counterballance a whole talent of ill , that 's seen there , or got by seeing it , some have been so vain , as to give out , that they may learn as much by a play , as by a sermon ; but not to mention , that such persons spiritual appetite is extremely vitiated , while they continue in this opinion , they 'l never be much edified , either by a play , or a sermon , and till they have a nobler opinion of gods ordinance , it 's just with god to suffer the devil to lead them captive at his will. and what are the mighty advantages , men get by the representations of the stage ? may be they learn to court a mistress well , or the vanities they see there , serve them to maintain a loose discourse , or it enables them to make the company merry , but are these things that tend to reformation of life , and manners ? who ever learned to abandon a sin , he is addicted to , by seeing its punishment on the stage ? or who ever thought himself obliged to practise that vertue , which he sees acted on the theater , except it be , to resent an affront that 's offer'd him , and to know how to maintain the punctilio's of honour , and bravery ? and are these christian vertues ? are these the graces that must make us glorious in the sight of god ? such arguments are signs of a desperate cause , and tacit accusations of the illness of the thing , since the aprons that cover it are made of figg-leaves . and what if some plays be more innocent and not so profane , as others , if i go to one , doth not my example encourage men to go and see those , which are more loose and wanton ? if i mean to discourage sin in others by my actions , i must not give them occasion to do that which is evil : sensual men distinguish not betwixt the more harmless , and the more hurtful , and if i encourage the one by my presence , i encourage the other too , and if by my example i approve of the players profession in one thing , i approve of it in another too , and harden them in their folly ; not to mention , that my seeing the more harmless , as i call them , will in time intice me to see the more profane , for sin is catching , and one vanity draws on another , and from the lesser we run to greater , and when the horrour of sin is once abated in our minds , the things which are most contrary to christianity , begin to appear harmless , and thus the soul glides insensibly into darkness , and eternal misery . that which you use to pretend sometimes , that there are divines of the church of england , who approve of these shews , hath nothing of validity in it ; for suppose there were some , who allow of these vanities , doth it therefore follow , that the church of england doth encourage them ? the opinions of some divines , are not the standard of our church , nor are the private sentiments of a few men prescriptions for her to go by . the church of england hath no where declared so much , and as long as the church is silent , it 's presumption to interpret the fond opinions of some men , as her rule and doctrine . how can our church countenance such things , that professes strict adherence to the word of god , and looks upon the judgments of men , that are contrary to it , as heterodox and erroneous ? at this rate you might as well argue , that because some divines have been seen at a play , that therefore they have encouragement from the doctrine of our church . the doctrine of a church is one thing , and the practice of some of her pretended members is another . the churches case would be very hard , if she were to answer for all the misdemeanours of her seeming votaries ; and who knows not , how in all churches the professors generally deviate from the rules that are extant in their books and canons . but after all , it 's worth enquiring , whether those divines you speak of , be of the graver , or the younger sort ; that some young men who want experience , and perhaps a lively sense of religion , should be taken with these shews , i do not wonder ; but who takes raw youths , and such as think any thing great , and good , that 's witty , and serves to tickle the fancy , who takes such men for judges in an affair of this importance ? as to the graver sort , i doubt you 'l find none , or but very few , that are favourers of these spectacles , or if they do declare at any time , that if plays were reduced to their true decorum , they might be inoffensive , from hence it will not follow , that they countenance the common tragedies and comedies , which so manifestly go beyond the limits of decency . and what if you do go but now and then , doth your going but seldom justifie the action ? all that this excuse will amount to , is only this , that you do not sin so often , as other men , but doth this free you from the guilt , or make you innocent in the sight of god ? how would you take it , if a man should give you a box on the ear but now and then ? or how would you resent it , to have your good name taken away by a person , not always , but whenever his humour prompts him ? and from hence you may easily guess at the weakness of this exception , and if you have that mean opinion of god , that low esteem of his greatness , as to think , that to affront him but now & then can do no harm , you are unworthy to be his disciple , and judge your self unworthy of eternal life . but i am forced to go , you say , my superiours command me to wait upon them to a play , and how can i refuse it , except i will lose their favour , and the place i hold under them ? and is this such a bug-bear to fright you from your duty ? to whom have you greater obligations , to god or man ? if to god , why dare not you prefer his favour before the favour of men , and be guided more by his laws , then by the benevolence of dust and ashes ? have not you courage to make a vow , and when you are solicited by your superiours to go , cannot you speak out , and tell them , that you lie under the obligation of a vow not to go , and who will be so profane , as to desire you to break it ? had you rather sin , then displease men , or is a poor creature more terrible to you , then he who thunders in the heavens ? if you are persuaded in your conscience , that to be present at these shews is sinful , shall a creatures smiles make you venture the displeasure of the most high ? and what if you lose something considerable by pleasing god ? hath god no ways to make you amends for your losses ? hath he no glory , no kingdom , no reward , no recompence to redintegrate your fortune ? if you lose this world for his sake , is not the felicity of the next recompence enough ? but why should you mistrust him even in this present life ? he that made moses after he had left the court of egypt , general of his own army and advanced joseph , who hated to be great and rich by sin , to be viceroy of the realm , and preserved daniel in his grandeur for this reason , because he would not depart from his conscienciousness ; is his arm shortned or his strength abated , that he can do nothing equivalent to all this ? are not the hearts of men in his hand , and doth not he turn them as streams of water ? how often doth he make it appear to the world , that where a mans ways please the lord , he makes his very enemies to be at peace with him ? nay how often do these generous selfdenials work by gods providence upon superiours , and they that at first sollicited a man to do that which was vain , and contrary to the laws of religion , when they see him resolute in his conscienciousness , how often have they been persuaded to reflect upon themselves , at least to have a better opinion of the person , who fears god more then them ? what you have often told me , that from this way of reasoning it would follow , that it is unlawful to write or to read a play , will deserve some consideration : as for the writing of it , though poetry be a thing lawful and commendable , and is sufficiently warranted by the writers of divine poems in holy writ , yet that will not justifie all the subjects , poets pitch upon , and a consciencious man will take as much care , that the subject he writes of , be grave and serious , at least innocent , as he would do of his discourse in common conversation . i do not doubt , but that writing things obscene and filthy , and undecent , and contrary to good manners , and whereby others may be scandalized , and either drawn into sin , or harden'd in it , is as bad as speaking of them . without all peradventure a man may be witty without being profane , and exercise his fancy to the edification of readers , without launching out into things , at which nature and religion teaches us to blush , and i need only put you in mind of what the incomparable mr. cowley saith , in his preface to his works , speaking of the admirable subjects that the scripture affords for the exercise of wit and poetry ; it is not without grief , saith he , and indignation , that i behold that divine science employing all her inexhaustable riches of wit and eloquence , either in the wicked and beggarly flattery of great persons , or the unmanly idolizing of foolish women , or the wretched affectation of scurril laughter , or at best on the confused and antiquated dreams of senseless fables , and metamorphoses . as for reading of modern plays , he that considers what an aversion from seriousness , and better things , the reading of them causes in the younger sort , will find no great reason to encourage them in such trifles , but rather to disswade them all he can from studies of this nature , and though i believe that a grave , serious man , whose senses are throughly exercised to discern betwixt good and evil , may lawfully peruse them , to see the humour of the age , and to know how to obviate and confute the debaucheries , and errors which are growing , and tending to the ruin of good manners , as skillful physitians may meddle with poison , to make antidotes of it ; yet to persons whose understandings are slippery and weak , whose passions are stronger then their reason , and who have already too great a tincture of sensuality , and consequently may easily encrease the ill humour by such divertisement , they ought to be forbid by those , who have the care of their education . these sir , are my thoughts of the query you proposed to me , and though the letter be somewhat long , yet i hope the arguments i have laid down , are not impertinent ; that they are liable to exceptions , i question not , being sensible that it 's easier to cavil , then to answer , and where men are resolved to maintain the vain humour , they have imbibed from conversation , they will always have something to say against the most sober truths and assertions . the drift and design of the gospel is certainly on our side ; if any be fond of preferring the dictates of flesh and blood , or the suggestions of the world , before the mortifying lessons of our crucified redeemer , all that we can say is this , that we would have healed babylon , but she would not be healed . i shall only add my wishes and prayers , that what you have read here , may be a means to bring you to a noble sense of a better world and convince you , that the way to attain a future bliss , is very different from that , which leads to sensual delights , and satisfactions : our natures are generally too prone to gratifie the flesh , and we had not need add fewel to the fire , but to do all we can to quench that , which is already kindled , that after our self denials here , we may reign with the self-denying jesus , with whom we cannot live hereafter , except we suffer with him here , and endure the loss of the pleasures of sin for a season , nor sit with him in his throne , except we continue with him in his tempations here . and i am persuaded , that did you live more in heaven , and gave your self time to meditate on the things which are not seen ; did you incorporate those everlasting joys with your mind , and riveted the belief of that endless bliss into your very spirits , that your faith might be the substance of things unseen , and the evidence of the treasures hoped for , you would despise these shews and glories of the world , as much as you do value and esteem them now , and would be so far from stopping your ears against the reasons i have given , that you would study and invent more , to controll the vulgar errors of mankind . get but once a true rellish of spiritual things , and you will look between anger and scorn on these trivial objects , admired by the vulgar . and why should not you raise your soul above the bubbles of external pomp ? whatever difficulty there may be in the attempt , the fruit that grows on the tree at last , will sufficiently recompence your labour . our souls are active or unactive , according as we take pains with them , and though there be some irksomness in swimming against the stream of carnal inclinations , yet if the hill be once conquered , the serene air that is in the top of it , the gentle gales , the glorious sun-shine , the sweetness of rest , that crowns all the hardships , will make you bless the day that you begun to mind the things which belong unto your peace . and that you may do so , is the unfeigned desire of , sir , your daily orator at the throne of mercy , &c. and having hitherto discoursed of the nature of sensual delights and recreations , and how far a christian is bound to deny himself in them upon the account of a future judgment ; to compleat these meditations , it will be necessary to draw some useful inferences from the premises . inferences . 1. this clears what the wise man says , eccles. 7.2 . that 't is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting . so sad a prospect , as that of a future judgment is , one would think , were enough to hush all mirth and jollity whatsoever ; however , we may rationally conclude , that it 's enough to turn the byass , and make the soul have less affection for mirth , than sorrow and soverity of behaviour . the antient heathens make use of this apologue ; sorrow and mirth presented themselves one day before jupiter , and desired him to determine which of them two was best , and most to be chosen . sorrow pleaded , that it made men pensive , and serious , caused them to think , brought them to a due sense of their own frailty , and a profound veneration of the divine majesty , made them compassionate , and tender-hearted , besides many other advantages , the dull world took no notice of . mirth on the other side alledged , that it cheer'd the spirits , made them lively , and fit for service , enabled them to do great and noble things , made men good company and belov'd of their neighbours , beguil'd the tedious hours of humane life , and was an emblem of the joys , the gods themselves were drunk withall . jupiter having heard them plead a considerable time , and weigh'd the reasons on both sides , found the decision of the case so difficult , that he dismist them without any other answer but this , that he could not tell . but what a heathen oracle could not resolve , a christian , guided by the word of life , may soon determine : and he that believes the tremendous things , the scripture speaks of , cannot but conclude , that there is less danger in seriousness and sorrow , than in mirth and jollity , because there are fewer temptations in the one than there are in the other . our natures certainly are not so prone to sin in a charnel house as they are at a theatre , nor our affections so apt to run out into licentiousness in a church , as they are at a publick shew . and though a man may be strong , and couragious , and able to defie all dangers , yet a sampson may be overcome by a dalilah ; and if he be not overcome , yet something may stick by him , which may put an everlasting stop to his growth in grace and virtue . he that goes much to the house of mourning provides infinitely better for the safety of his soul than he that frequents the house of mirth and feasting : the former walks in a beaten path , whereas the other ventures over a narrow bridge , or treads on the edge of a wall , where it 's possible , he may come off with safety ; but for one that escapes without a fall , there are twenty and forty that miscarry . he that presses through a hedge of thorns may possibly get through without tearing his cloaths , but he that hath patience till he comes to a gate , and opens it , and so passes on , takes the surer way . the wisest men in all ages have judged it better to converse with spectacles of misery , than with objects savouring of external splendour . he that visits a hospital , where he beholds variety of distressed creatures , some lame , some blind , some wounded , some deaf , some sick , some roaring under grievous pains , will certainly go away more edified than he that feeds his eyes with all the gayeties of a luxurious court ; the former may leave some kindly impressions upon him , and oblige him to admire the distinguishing mercy , goodness , and compassion of god , who hath suffer'd no such accident to befall him , and season his heart with pity and compassion , with tenderness and charity ; whereas the excess and extravagance of the other will , do what he can , leave a touch of lightness and vanity upon his affections . that 's the reason why some provident men heretofore , have carried their winding-sheets with them in their march , others digg'd their sepulchres and graves in their gardens , others at their solemn feasts have had a death's-head served up , and placed upon the table , others in a certain room in their house , have set an empty coffin , on purpose , that looking upon these spectacles often , their minds might be taken off from admiration of worldly satisfactions , and placed upon objects which might furnish them with more melancholick contemplations : and this , in all probability , will be the effect of conversing with such objects , if we view them , not as they belong to our trade , but as thinking men and philosophers . the sexton that digs his neighbours grave hath an object serious enough before him ; but he goes to it , as a man that must maintain his family with the gain , and therefore is never the wiser for his familiarity with such spectacles . the chirurgion that goes among the lame , and bruised , and wounded , with no higher ends , than to fill his purse , and to discharge the office of his art , will come home as little edified as he went : but he whose choice of such mortified objects is voluntary , and deliberate , attended with suitable designs of meliorating and advancing the mind , cannot but return enrich'd with that wisdom , the merchandise of which is more precious than that of gold and silver . whatever the merry sinner may think , it 's better to weep than to laugh . our great master , the lord jesus , who is a good christian's pattern , was of this opinion : and in imitation of him not a few eminent saints have preferr'd a feast of tears before a banquet of mirth and sensual pleasure : arsenius , olympias , domnina , abraham the hermite , the solitary pambo , and st. austin , are famous in history for their tears ; to st. jerom they were in the nature of daily bread , and he professes , that when his eyes were fullest of tears , he saw the quires of angels , and could discern the orders of seraphim and cherubim ; such a perspicuity of sight do tears give to a holy soul. that which made these great men weep so much , was either a sense of their own and other mens offences , or a lively prospect of the love of god , or a glorious fore-sight of the joys above . but , worldly sorrow is no virtue ; and he that weeps much , either because he cannot have those conveniences he would have , or is cross'd and disappointed in his designs , or because he hath lost such a great mans favour , or because , some other loss befalls him , weeps in vain , nay sins by his weeping , and his sin , if he continue impenitent , brings on death , 2 cor. 7.10 . floods of tears , upon a mere temporal account , are insignificant in heaven , and no more than water spilt upon the ground ; such tears god doth not put into his bottle , nor have the blessed angels any charge to number the drops that fall ; but where religion , and a mighty sense of god , and tenderness of his honour and glory , causes rivers of tears , and where the soul hath so delicate a taste that it cannot think of god without weeping , nor speak of him without weeping , nor reflect upon his goodness without weeping , there the man is come up to a perfection , which is the very suburbs of heaven . it 's true , all people cannot weep , nor are they therefore in a damnable condition ; for they may be sincere in goodness , and yet not be able to express their sincerity in tears , tho i am apt to believe , that it is for want of refining the soul into a high relish of divine objects , that puts a stop to these sacred floods in most men ; yet where they can weep , and something they see in god , or in the word of god , or in the providences of god , is the true cause of those tears , every drop is richer than a diamond , and such a soul may vye happiness with the greatest monarchs . they are inestimable treasures ; and though man knows not how to value them , yet the spirits above esteem them at a mighty rate , and magnifie them in gods presence , luke 15.10 . it 's a huge mistake , that men cannot rejoyce except they laugh ; there are tears of joy as well as tears of grief , and the very heathen saw , that true joy was a very serious thing . hence it was , that they confined true joy to their philosophers , and left the louder laughter to slaves , and carters , and ploughmen : and how often have i seen the richest joys bubble forth from the largest tears ? nor would men in those circumstances change condition with the most potent prince in the world , such content , such satisfaction , such riches , such wealth , appears in these tears which religion forces . how much better is it to be afflicted where our porsperity and a good conscience are inconsistent , than to enjoy kingdoms and principalities without the light of gods countenance . this was the excellent choice of moses , and of all the martyrs of old , who were content to be sawn asunder , to be stoned , to be tormented , to wander about in caves and dens , weeping and destitute , rather than defile their souls with sin ; which puts me in mind of the good advice st. jerom gave to his friend heliodorus , did the babe , thy grandchild , saith he , hang about thy neck , should thy mother that bare thee bid thee look upon the breasts thou hast sucked , should thine own father lie prostrate at thy feet , and entreat thee to spare thy self , and to forbear venturing on the strictness and severities of religion , get away from them , my friend , and with dry eyes fly unto the banner of christ jesus : in this case , to be cruel is the greatest piety . this was the case of the primitive believers , who preferred their distresses before nero's chair of state , and took greater pleasure in their seemingly forlorn condition , than claudius or caligula in their affluence . in the midst of their tears they were greater men than their persecutors ; and though they wanted all things , and their enemies had all that heart could wish , yet they justly believed themselves happier in their funeral dress , than the other in their triumphs . the man that roars in a tavern , or sings in an ale-house , or rejoyces in his sin , had more need to wish , that his head were water , and his eyes a fountain of tears ; were he in his wits he would do so : but his reason is distorted , his understanding darkned , his eyes blinded , his mind unhing'd , his desires perverted , his affections led astray , and like a distracted creature , he rejoyces in his nakedness . ah brutish and inconsiderate soul ! thou weepest to see a child or a near relation dye , and canst thou see thy soul die , and be robb'd of that goodness which must give her life , and be unconcerned ? thou weepest at the loss of a thousand pounds , and canst thou remember how thou losest god's favour , and all right and interest in the merits of a crucified saviour , and keep thine eyes dry ? thou weepest to see a friend drowning , or burning in a merciless fire , and canst thou think how thou flingest thy self into the furnace of god's wrath , makest his anger kindle , and wax hot against thee , and dost what thou canst to turn it into a fire which no man , no angel can quench , and will no tears flow into thine eyes ? how barbarous , how inhumane , is thy joy ? what doest thou rejoyce in ? that sin which makes thee merry , that folly that cheers thy spirit , what is it but ingratitude to thy kindest benefactor ? what is it but requiting the greatest good with the greatest evil ? what is it , but contempt of him who keeps thy soul in life ? what is it but bidding defiance to him who carries thee on his wings , and out-does the tenderness of a mother , the care of a father , and doth all that 's fitting to guard thy soul from ruine ? and are these fit things to rejoyce in ? are these fit objects for thy mirth ? are these divertisements for a creature that holds his very being of god , and is beholding to him for all the blessings he enjoys ? what wonder , if after all this impiety and stubborness , god rejoyces too , rejoyces in thy groans , rejoyces in thy anguish , rejoyces in thy agonies , rejoyces in thy sense of his justice , rejoyces in thy howlings ? this he must do at last to secure his honour . this he will be obliged to do in the end , to vindicate the veracity of his threatings . this he will be constrained to do after all , that devils may not mock his holiness , nor deride his thunders , nor upbraid him with partiality . at that time , this will appear very good divinity , no fable , no romance , no trade of priests , no invention of politicians , no old wifes tale , no idle story ; and if thou could'st exhaust the sea in that day , and weep it out again , to testifie thy unfeigned sorrow , thou would'st do it . happy the soul that thinks of this ! happy the man that believes these terrors before he feels them . how much wiser are those tender hearts that do little else but weep and mourn , and make their life a valley of tears without a metaphor ! whose fear of offending god is so great , that every little defect , and every accidental miscarriage , forces tears from their eyes ! though there may be some indiscretion in the management of their conscientiousness , yet notwithstanding all this , their tears are the wine of angels ; these are the gaudy dress of a holy soul. the almighty , that sees her adorned with these pearls , and glistering in these pendants , falls on her neck , and kisses her . fear not , ye afflicted , and toss'd with tempests : so the lord jesus wept , though not for his own sins , yet for the sins of others , and was receiv'd into glory ; so mary magdalen wept , and on those streams a gracious pardon was convey'd into her soul ; so the great st. paul wept , and found the consolations of christ abounding in him , so the penitent publican wept , and went justified to his house . they that sow in tears shall reap in joy ; blessed are ye that weep now , for ye shall laugh , luk. 6.21 . there is a place high , wondrous high above , where all tears shall be wiped away , and no sorrow , no grief , no anguish , shall appear ; so we have heard , so we shall see e're long in the city of our god : verily , verily , i say unto you , that ye shall weep and lament , but the world shall rejoyce , and ye shall be sorrowful , but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. a woman , when she is in travel , hath sorrow , because her hour is come ; but as soon as she is deliver'd of the child , she remembers no more the anguish , for joy that a man is born into the world. and ye now therefore have sorrow , but i will see you again , and your heart shall rejoyce , and your joy no man , takes from you , joh. 16.20 , 21 , 22. 2. see here , how differently spiritual things affect men , as they either attentively , or inattentively , think upon them . the process of the day of judgment to a man that retires , and through desire , separates himself to think of it , as the covetous doth of his gold , or as the timorous doth of his danger . i. e. in good earnest , it will prove an invincible motive to self-denial . another , that looks upon it , as a thing spoke of in course every lords day , thinks of the words as he hears them , but ruminates not upon the sense , is no more moved with it , than the carcasses that sleep in their graves , forbears not one sin for it , but doth still , as he used to do , mind his body , gratifie his flesh , pursue his temporal interest , comply with sinful men , please himself , regard religion on the by , and set his affections on things below . and as it is in this , so it is in other truths ; for , do but take a view of the publick assemblies ; here the glad tidings of god's mercy to penitent sinners shall make an humble spirit weep , melt his heart , and force him into humble thoughts , and lively admirations of god's condescension ; there sits another , and either sleeps all the while , or continues in as even a temper as he came : what 's the reason ? one weighs the importance of this truth , considers the vast distance betwixt god and sinful man , thinks , if these things be true , how marvellous god's love must be ; and that touches him to the quick. the other's thoughts are unstable , as water , uncertain and inconstant : he sa●isfies himself with this , that he hath heard a sermon , performed his complement to god , and consequently finds no alteration in his inward man. how have i seen sometimes a pious soul transported with a lively description of the unseen everlasting glory , while the greatest part of the congregation have been no more concerned at it , than if one had spoke of common trees , and herbs , and the hysop on the wall : the reason is plain , the one thinks of it as a believer , the other as an infidel . the one reflects , lord , what am i , and what is my father's house , that thou intendest to advance me to this dignity , lift up a poor worm from a dunghil to a throne , and place him with princes , even with the princes of thy people , the innumerable company of angels . the other pleases himself only with the sound , mingles the thoughts of the world with his devotion , suffers not the glorious object to lye long in his mind , and so it passes , as it came , without any impression . here one rejoyces at the precious promises of the gospel , his very heart leaps at the joyful news , and they come like oyl into his bones , warm his very soul , and pierce even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit : there another sits like a stook , and wonders what ails his neighbour to keep such a stir about a few empty words . but why should'st thou wonder at the change thou see'st in thy friend ? he thinks of the veracity of god , and how these promises will most certainly be fulfilled ; he thinks , how the riches god promises exceed all the treasures of this present world , and what satisfaction they afford to a hungry soul , how far they do transcend these earthly glories , and how to have a share in them , is a far greater priviledge than to be related to the greatest monarchs ; and that raises his soul into that secret joy. thou thinkest no more than a lyon or elephant , thinkest more of thy profit and gain than of these intellectual treasures ; thy thoughts are not busie about these enjoyments ; thou thinkest it time lost to spend any serious thoughts upon them , and how should thy duller soul be affected with them ? here the example of a valiant saint , that fought with his lusts , overcame his desires , stood stedfast in the hour of temptation , conquer'd the devil , vanquish'd all oppositions , kept the faith , finish'd his course with joy , draws an attentive soul into imitation of his virtues . there another that hears or reads the same description , feeds still on his husks , follows is careless neighbour , delights in vain company , continues in his aversion from the stricter lives of holy men. the reason is evident ; for , the one thinks of the noble attempts such souls have made , how they are applauded in heaven , how they have signaliz'd their valour , what comforts they have prepared for , and of the reward they now enjoy : the other looks upon them as melancholick men , thinks of his present pleasure more than of a future recompence , dives not into the nature of these conquests , reflects not how agreeable they are to reason , or how necessary in order to a crown , but thinks he may have the diadem spoken of with less trouble , and therefore he sits still upon his dunghill . vain sons of men ! how long will ye turn your glory into shame ▪ hath god bestowed upon you a faculty which beasts are strangers to , and for which devils envy you , even reason and understanding , the true image of your maker , and will you let it lye dormant in the ashes and rubbish of your sensual inclinations ? when god hath distinguish'd you from the ignobler brutes , will ye be like the horse and mule , whose mouths must be held with bitt and bridle ? behold , the almighty hath prepared a supper for you ; and when the morning and noon of your life is spent , designs a feast for you at night immediately after death ; a feast , where the lamb that was slain sits master , and intends to bid you welcome ; a feast , where the meat will be angels food , the wine hallelujahs , and the entertainment , perfection of bliss and glory ; the company , the apostles of the lamb , and the spirits of men made perfect ; a feast , where no good will be absent , and no evil present , where plenty and affluence will last for ever , where joys will abound , and the beatifick presence of god will charm and ravish souls to all eternity . to this feast he calls you , to this banquet he invites you , to this table he sends for you , to these dainties you are bid , to these delicates you are entreated to come , of these varieties you shall be made partakers ; and is it not worth considering , what this mighty offer means ? what if you see it not with mortal eyes ? your thoughts may see it , your understanding may behold it , your reason may take a view of it . your thoughts will tell you , that god , who cannot lye , hath promised it , the son of god , who is truth it self , hath revealed it ; the apostles , who came attended with the power of miracles , have publish'd it . these will tell you , that there can be no doubt of it , and that it is as certain , as if you were actually sharers of it . give but your understanding leave to search into this mystery , and you will be charmed with it ; give but your reason leave to ascend and descend upon the ladder of the word of god , and you will feel a hunger and thirst after it ; your souls will long for it , your affections will breath after it , and your inward and outward man will labour after it , and strive to enter in at the strait gate ; and shall all these riches be lost upon you for want of thinking and contemplation ? could you by thinking make those joys visible to you , and will ye refuse it ! could you by meditating make that glory present to you , and will you neglect the opportunity ? could you by musing and pondering bring heaven into your chambers and closets , and will ye debarr your selves of that glorious sight ? see what you lose by your inconsiderateness ! see what consolations , what satisfactions , what cordials , you deprive your immortal souls of ! can you see other men run away with all the comforts of the gospel , and remain senseless ? can you see others get into the pool of bethesda before you , and recover , and are you fond of continuing lame , and blind , and poor , and miserable ? can you see others carry away the crown , and feel no ambition in you ? can you see others take away the blessing of your father from you , and be unmoved at the want of it ? can you see how other men by thinking arrive to perfection , and will you lye groveling in the dust ? o! think while thinking may do you good . in hell you 'll think , but it will be too late ; there you 'll think , but your thoughts will be your torment ; there your thoughts will be the undoing of you ; there you 'll think what happy persons you might have been if you had imitated abraham's faith , and moses's resolution , david's candour , and josiah's piety , st. paul's courage , and st. peter's tears , st. john's love , and lydia's attentiveness , the berrhaeans zeal , and the macedonian churches charity , zachaeus his restitution , and the publican's repentance ; but these thoughts will then be your vexation , since the working time is past , and the day of vengeance come . there you 'll think that christ was your friend , indeed , when he made himself of no reputation , but took upon him the form of a servant , became obedient to the cross , and dyed for you ; but to think that he is your enemy now , because you refused obedience to him , because you made light of his offers , and would not accept of him for your governour , must needs fill you with endless grief , and bitterness of spirit . now consider this , ye that forget god , lest i tear you in pieces , and there be none to deliver , psal. 50.22 . 3. and is not the greatest part of the world to be pityed , that can delight in nothing but what they can grasp and feel ? the covetous can delight in nothing but in gold : if he want money , all his joy is gone : if his coffers be full , and his barns stock'd with corn , and plenty doth surround him , his heart rejoyces , his soul triumphs , and cheerfulness plumps his cheeks ; but without this , his mind is disturbed , his faculties languish , his countenance is dejected , and he looks like a dying man. who would imagine , that this man hath a rational soul ? who would think , he were created after the image of god ? who would conclude him to have lived in a land where the gospel is preach'd ? who can inferr from his actions , or behaviour , that this man believes a word of scripture ? who would take the wretch for a disciple of the poor and afflicted jesus ? who that looks upon him , would not be apt to cry with him , sit anima mea cum philosophis , let me dye the death of some brave self-denying heathen philosopher ? for these certainly are in a likelier way of salvation , at least of escaping the wrath to come , than the covetous christian. diogenes being desired of alexander the great to beg either gold or silver of him , received this answer , do but stand out of the sun , and do not hinder that glorious light from shining upon me , and i have enough . the brave crates having sold what he had , and turned it into money , generously threw it all into the sea , saying , it 's far better , i should drown thee , than that thou should'st drown me in perdition . alexander having sent to the great phocion two talents of gold , the wise man ask'd the messengers , seeing there were so many good men at athens , why the king should of all men make choice of him , to present him ? the ambassadours answer'd , because of all men he look'd upon him as the honestest . say you so ? replyed the philosopher , then let alexander give me leave to be still an honest man , which i can be without all these presents , and glistering treasures . cimon had two large cups sent him from a persian king , the one full of gold , the other of silver . he looks upon them smilingly ; and asks the man who brought them , whether his master intended , that cimon should be his friend or his servant ? the man replied , it was out of ambition to have him for his friend , that he sent it . oh! then saith he , take them back again , for being his friend , when i have need of them , i can send for them at any time . epaminondas , when some came to corrupt him with gifts , invites the ambassadours to dinner , and there entertains them with roots , and herbs , and with small sour wine . dinner being done , go home , saith he , and tell your prince , that epaminondas being content with such a dinner , is not easily to be drawn by bribes into a base and trayterous action . fabritius , the roman general , having concluded a peace with the samnites , the magistrates of the samnites , by way of gratitude send six ambassadours to him with vast sums of money , begging of him to accept of it ; but he stroaking his head , and face , and breast , and knees , gentlemen , saith he , while i can command these limbs i have no need of money ; and so dismissed them . curius gave the same answer to them , adding , that he had rather rule over persons , that had money , than be possess'd of money himself . these men were heathens , whose delight in virtue drown'd their delight in these outward comforts . they saw , what an impediment to goodness , these heaps of silver were , and therefore scorn'd to delight in a thing so base and trivial ; they were sensible , that the soul had her riches as well as the body , and as the former by the confession of mankind , went beyond the other in value , so it was reasonable they should delight in the one more than in the other . these men were better christians by the light of nature , than thousands among us are with all the helps that revelation and grace affords ; not that the fault lies in the means , which are larger and richer than pagans and infidels have , but that men stupifie their souls more under these advantages , than heathens did under the lesser irradiations of the divine light and splendour . so then the very heathens saw , that the more spiritual the delight was , the nobler it was , and the more it was refin'd , and purified from the dross of the world , the more rational it was , and therefore more amiable , and fitter to be embraced : and sure , god must have provided but very ill for mankind , when he embued , and impregnated their souls with a sense of religion , if he had not put something into religion , that 's charming , and lovely , whereby their souls might be attracted to delight in it . religion being derived from him , who is the fountain of delight , and satisfaction , must necessarily have that in it which may make humane souls rejoyce , and exalt their delight into a victorious supremacy above all worldly pleasures . what did the lord jesus delight in , who lived upon alms ? what did the apostles delight in , who were in much patience , in afflictions , in necessities , and distresses , in stripes , in imprisonments , in tossings to and fro , in labours , in watchings , in fastings ? what did all the primitive believers delight in , that were poor , and naked , driven into exile , banish'd , forced to work in mines , chased away from the comforts of wife , children , and relations ? something certainly they delighted in ; for humane nature cannot well subsist without delight in something . it could not be the riches of this world , for they had them not ; nor indeed did they care for them , when they were offered them : it was religion , that engrossed their delight . this made them joyful in all condiditions ; this raised their drooping spirits under the rage of their persecutors ; and certainly it would be hard , if a glorious god , with all his attributes , and the wonderful things he hath revealed to our comfort , were improper objects of delight : and since these are the genuine delights of a christian , o besotted soul , why dost thou delight in broken cisterns , when thou hast the fountain of living waters to delight in ? why dost thou delight in apes and peacocks , when thou hast the creator of all these to rejoyce in ? why dost thou delight in a morsel of meat , when thou hast the birth-right of eternal glory to delight in ? why dost thou delight in the shade of the bramble , when thou hast the shadow of god's wings to delight in ? why dost thou delight in the nether springs , when thou hast the upper springs of mercy to delight in ? why dost thou delight in houses , when thou hast a house made without hands to delight in ? why dost thou delight in the rivers of damascus , when thou hast the river of god's pleasure to delight in ? why dost thou delight in a fading beauty , when thou hast him that 's altogether lovely to delight in ? why dost thou delight in the voice of a deceitful siren , when thou hast him whose voice comforts the mourners of sion to delight in ? why dost thou delight in the slavery of thy lusts , when thou hast him , whose service is perfect freedom to delight in ? why dost thou delight in a little gain , in drops of happiness , in crums of bliss , in shining dust , when thou hast a sea of glory to delight in ? how deep must thy soul lye immerst in body , if such illustrious objects cannot delight it ! how far must thou be yet from the kingdom of heaven , if things of this nature cannot content thee ! how earthly must thy heart be , how debauch'd , how perverted from the end of its creation , if these spiritual delights are insipid to it ! there are some here i believe , who have tasted of both delights , the sinful ones of the flesh , and those which are proper for holy souls ; tell me , i beseech you , whether you think a fit of laughter , or a drunken bout , or a merry meeting , you once delighted in , so sweet , so comfortable , so refreshing , as the gentle , and soft , and kinder influences of god's spirit , when you have been engaged in prayer , and praises , and contemplations of a future state ? when you have been wrestling with god , and after that work of love have felt a holy assurance of god's favour upon your spirits , can any thing be more pleasing , or charming , than those divine communications ? when you have entred into meditation of god's goodness , and the love of god hath shined bright upon your souls , have not you felt that , which hath been as much beyond all sensual delights as an oriental pearl is beyond brass or copper , or such baser minerals ? have not you found a joy stealing upon your souls after such refreshing considerations , as hath transported you even into love of martyrdom ? how contented have you been after such exercises , or after some signal self-denial ? how harmonious have your spirits and affections been after such enjoyments of god's loving kindness , and how like soft and curious musick have these gales of the divine goodness composed your troubled thoughts , and hush'd them into a lasting peace ! and is not this infinitely better , than the pleasures of sardanapalus , of dives , and other luxurious men ? will not this turn to better account at last than fleshly lusts , which war against the soul ? look upon heliogabalus , who tryed how great a monster a man could make himself ; in his cloaths you should see nothing but gold and purple , his beds were embroidered , and the feathers that were in them must be the softer feathers of partridges taken from under their wings , mix'd with the finest rabbets hair . he would ride in a chariot shining with rubies and diamonds , and not only in the out-side of his shooes , but even within , he would have precious stones : he would not ride abroad under six hundred coaches with him ; his beds and rooms were strow'd with all sorts of curious flowers , and an everlasting perfume filled his halls and parlors : sometimes in a frolick he would be drawn in a chariot by four mastiff dogs , sometimes by four stags , sometimes by four tygers as bacchus , sometimes by four lions , as cybele , sometimes by four beautiful women . now and then he would cause ships to be richly laden with all costly commodities , and then sink them in the sea. at some of his meals he would have six hundred estriches heads at the table ; and when the humour took him , all his courses should be nothing but pheasants heaped and piled together in dishes , sometimes they should all be pullets ; sometimes nothing would serve him , but to have all sorts of deformed men at his table , eight lame men , eight blind , eight blacks , eight gouty , eight fat , eight bald , eight deaf . in such fooleries he delighted ; and because the syrian priests had told him that he would dye an unnatural death , he would keep posion in golden vessels , to kill himself , before any person should be able to lay hold on him : to this purpose , he would have silken halters about him , and penknifes set with diamonds to dispatch himself , when he should see occasion , and he built also a tower , which he over-laid with gold , that in case of any sudden attack , he might throw himself from the top of it . these were the sottish delights of this man , and yet after all , he died in a jakes . i have mention'd this brute , and his actions , because there are in his short life all the extravagant actions that a distemper'd brain can invent , and all the delights that a mad man could think of , yet who would not prefer a delight in a good conscience , and delight in god's worship , and delight in acts of charity , and delight in heavenly thoughts before it ? sensual delights must at last expire , but spiritual delights do not die ; but as you have seen those vast balls of burnish'd brass on church-steeples cast a glorious lustre as soon as the sun shines upon them , so at a serious man's death , his delight in holiness , upon god's favourable acceptance of it , instead of expiring and decaying , immediately grows bigger in its glory , the rays of it spread , and enlarge their borders , and stretch themselves into eternity . and therefore , 4. who can harbour any hard thoughts of religion , because it debars us of disorderly sensual delights ? in doing so , it does us a kindness , is our friend , prevents our danger , saves us from the pit , delivers us from hell , makes us live like men. it doth not debarr us of that which will make us happy , nor hinder us from solid joy , nor deprive us of such sensual delights , as are necessary for our preservation . the delights it keeps us from , are fitter for swine than for rational creatures : it separates us from delights , which will lead the soul into the shadow and valley of death , from delights , which dethrone the ruling part in us , make the master serve the man , and from princes debase us to a state of thraldom . it denies us such delights as make god our enemy , move him to depart from us , and provoke him to indignation . it will not suffer us to meddle with delights , which destroy the glory of the mind , damp our zeal , alienate the heart from god , and drive away his holy spirit from us . it is against all such delights as would make us miserable , and enamoured with sin , and the world , and in being an enemy to such delights it consults our good . it is more favourable to us than we are to our selves , and seeks to make us like god. god is above all sensual delights , he is not taken with the beauty of the face in man or woman ; he undervalues a great table , and hates the prodigality of the spend-thrift ; he hath no body to please , no eyes to satisfie with glittering objects , no ears to delight with artificial sounds , no blood to cherish with studied cordials ; and though the world be his , and the fullness thereof , yet he solaces not himself in the pleasures of it ; his delights are great , like himself ; spiritual like his essence , infinite as his glory , eternal as his being ; he delights in himself , and is to himself the object of his pleasure : he delights in the eternal brightness of his own glory , and the express image of his person : he delights in his own boundless understanding , whereby he knows all things , past , present , and to come , and sees all beings before they are , and what will come to pass , and dives into their nature , ends , designs , and the accidents that befall them : his delight lies in doing good , and communicating the rays of his holiness to his subjects . he delights in his own perfections , and virtue is the amiable spectacle of his eyes : he delights in a soul that loves him , and an humble heart is to him a glorious sight . the soul that loves her own lowliness , and is content to be little , and despised in the world , embraces contempt and reproaches , and like the mighty jesus , runs with patience the race , that 's set before her ; this causes joy in heaven . to this likeness , religion would advance the soul ; not that it hopes to give it the same perfection , but that it designs to work some resemblance betwixt her , and that sovereign being . the soul being in some measure capable of this delight , its endeavour is to bring her to a sense of it . in a word , it seeks to reduce man to the first state of innocence , from which by sin he fell . and though adam had all the riches and glories of the world concentred in his paradise , yet his delights were more spiritual than sensual , since his joys were not so much from the flowers , and trees , and animals themselves , as from the excellency , power , wisdom , greatness of god , which glistered in their make , and use , and the ends , for which they were created . he saw indeed the proud tulip , the fragrant , rose , the odoriferous jessamin , and rejoyced ; he beheld the cherry , the fig , the almond , and the apple , and triumph'd ; he cast his eyes on the laden trees , and how they seemed to let down their arms to put their richer fruits into his mouth , and was glad ; he took a view of the fishes , that danced , and leap'd in the chrystal rivers , that water'd the glorious place , and his spirits were enliven'd ; but at the same time , the bounty , liberality , and omnipotence of the great architect of all , appeared so lively to his mind , that he made his garden a true emblem of heaven , fell down , and day and night sung the praises of his creator , as if he vyed with the angels of the upper world , and were trying , who should hold out longest at melodious hallelujahs . this kindness religion intends to our souls , and therefore suggests unto us the promises and threatnings of god , to keep our feet steddy in the way , they are to walk in : to this purpose it tells us , that he who loves sensual pleasure shall be a poor man , poor in grace , poor in gifts of god's holy spirit , poor with respect to god's favour , poor even to contempt , destitute of those richer incomes , which sanctified souls receive , deprived of the juice and sap , which flows from the flourishing vine , the lord jesus , in want of a foretaste of heaven , and of a sense , what the hope of gods calling is , and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance is in the saints , and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward them that believe , according to the working of his mighty power , which he wrought in christ , when he raised him from the dead , and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places , eph. 1.18 , 19 , 20. who can grumble at religion after all these advantages ? who can find fault with it after this prospect of its benefits ? who dares asperse that beauteous virgin after such fruits it bears ? who would not esteem it ? who would not prize it ? who would not honour it ? who would not speak well of it ? who would not look upon it as a horn of plenty , and a treasury of the greatest comforts ? who would not maintain the honour of it , against all opponents ? who would not vindicate it , when it is abused ? who would not rise up in defence of it , when blasphemous tongues would traduce , and revile it ? let no man say here , i can follow my carnal pleasures , and yet be religious too ; alas ! what piety can that be , where thy affections are divided betwixt religion , and worldly pleasures , and where these delights commonly have the greater share ? may be thou sayest thy prayers , so have i seen parrets , and magpies repeat a few sentences , which they have been taught , may be , thou goest to church ; so have i seen a blind-man sit down by a candle , but to no purpose : thou mayest attempt to reconcile the temple of god , and idols , but these attempts are as vain , as thy pleasures are ; while these sensual delights ingross thy mind , the word must needs be a dead letter to thee : heaven cannot supple thy soul , hell cannot fright it , the thunders of god are insignificant to it , and thou art unfit to dye , unfit to appear at the great tribunal . the heathens tell this fable that ceres coming down from heaven one day , gave out , that she was a nurse ; whereupon , king eleusius took her to attend his son triptolemus , and having him under her tuition , in the day time she fed him with celestial milk , and in the night she cover'd him with fire to give him immortality . religion is that fire , which must make you immortal ; this purges away your dross , and cleanseth your hearts from the dregs of sin , and death , makes you bright and shining , and capable of eternal light. no nurse is so tender of you as religion is : it feeds you with celestial milk that you may be strong in the lord , and able to put on the whole armour of god , and grow up into a perfect man in christ : what ? if it will not suffer you to please your flesh beyond what is necessary for it's subsistence , must it therefore be your enemy ? will you count it a foe because it denies you the sword which would kill you ? how lovely should this very thing make it in your eyes ! how dear should this make its holy precepts to you ! how should you rejoyce , that you have such a monitor to prevent your ruine ! what praises do you owe to god , that witholds you from that which would throw your souls upon their death-beds ! i conclude the inference with this story : two brethren were travelling , one a very prudent man , the other rude and silly ; coming to a place where two ways met , they dispute , which of the two they should take ; one look'd as if great art had been bestow'd upon it , flowers grew on both sides , and it seemed to be most frequented ; the other look'd rough and uneven , liker a foot-path than a high-way : the weaker brother , charmed with the out-side , was clearly for making choice of the former ; but the wiser , though he saw that the pleasant way invited the eye , yet i fear , saith he , it will not bring us to a commodious lodging , the rather , because i have heard , that the less beaten path leads to an inn , where we may have excellent accommodation . the foolish fellow was peremptory in it , that the most pleasant way must be the right way ; and prevails with the brother to bear him company : and being advanced considerably in it , they light upon a company of robbers , who immediately clap shackles on their hands and feet , and hale them both to their captain and governour . here one brother accuses the other ; the wiser charges the other with stubbornness ; the weaker blamed the other's facility , and alledged ; that since his brother pretended to greater wisdom than he , he should not have been perswaded . in fine both are found guilty , and both laid up in prison . these two brethren are your souls and bodies ▪ your soul is the wise , your body the foolish brother . let not your body by its importunity prevail with the soul to consent to its desires and fondnesses of the dangerous delights of the world. o! hearken not to the perswasions of a sensual appetite , that chooses a present satisfaction , but considers not , there are robbers at the end of the way , which will certainly throw both into outward darkness . 5. the great day is at hand , let 's prepare for it . so christ told his disciples , and so the apostles taught the christian world ; nor must we wonder , that the blessed jesus should fright his followers with the approaches of that day , when he knew , it would not come in sixteen hundred years , and more , which are past , since his appearing in the world. i omit here the calculations of curious men , who have been bold to determine the year in which the day of judgment will happen ; some that follow the tradition of elias have allow'd two thousand years to the oeconomy before the law , two thousand to that under the law , and two thousand to that under the gospel , and after this have placed the succession of that tremendous day . but i doubt that this is rather a jewish criticism than a real prophecy : for , god having created the world in six days , and a thousand years being as one day with the lord , it 's like men have concluded from this notion . that as the world was created in six days , so after six days , i. e. six thousand years , it would be destroyed . some when they have seen any extraordinary judgments of hail , or rain , or thunder , or locusts , or great confusions happen in the world , have from thence inferr'd the immediate coming of this day . some have placed it in one year , some in another , but all these are needless speculations . it 's enough that the decree is sealed in heaven , that there will be such a prodigious day ; and it was as truly at hand in christ's time , as it is now , and now , as much as it was then ; nay as much now , as it will be but a year or a month before it comes in good earnest ; for the day of our death is at hand , and we know not when , or how soon , whether this hour or the next , the fatal messenger will arrest us in our journey . the day of our death is the fore-runner of that greater day , and according as our souls are found at the day of our death , so they will be judged in that glorious day : the judgment , that will be pronounced upon our souls at our death , will be proclaimed aloud before the whole world in the other day ; and if they be so unhappy as to be condemned upon their departure hence , they will all that while , till the great day comes , torment themselves with the thoughts of that sentence , and the shame that will ensue upon it , as holy souls will comfort themselves with the thoughts of their absolution . therefore , when our souls leave this body , that day and hour , is really a day of judgment to us : and that this day is at hand , none but a sot can deny ; and accordingly all men of sense have made , and do make early preparation for it , and he that doth not imitate them , is so far from giving proof to the world , that he is wiser than they , that he proclaims his stupidity , and in a manner , renounces his portion in the inheritance of the saints in light . but then by preparation i do not mean those little sprinklings of devotion , which hypocrites , and men who pretend to love god , yet will not part with their lusts , usually lay upon his altar , not the pharisees alms , and fasts , and prayer , which were performed with sinister designs , out of vain-glory and ostentation ; not ahab's repentance , who put on sack-cloath , and walk'd softly , but still kept an unmortified heart ; not the harlots piety solomon speaks of , who said her orisons , and paid her vows , and her peace-offerings , and thought to make god amends for the crimes she lived in , by these services ; not judas his sorrow , who lamented his sin , because he saw the hell he was like to drop into ; not demas his temporary severity , which soon chang'd into fondness of the world ; not the angel of sardis his profession of religion , who had the name that he lived , but was dead ; not the jews zeal for the ceremonial part of god's worship , while they neglected justice , mercy , chastity , sobriety , and charity ; not the zeal of ezekiel's heares , who loved to hear , but were loath to do : but , if you would prepare for this day of account , so as to be commended by the judge , the preparation must have these following ingredients . 1. pity those inconsiderate men that live as if there were no future judgment . express your compassion to their souls by your tears , since they will not weep for themselves : ah! miserable creatures ! e're long they shall see him whom they have pierced , and mourn , as one that mourns for his only son , and they are not aware of it ! they are hastening to the shambles , where they will be barbarously butcher'd by hellish furies , and they are not sensible of it ! oh , mourn for them ! they deserve your pity more than galley-slaves , more than wretches in turkish captivity : oh! call to them , and see whether ye can yet perswade them into a livelier faith of this terrible day . o that you could yet save their souls from death , and cover a multitude of sins ! it 's like they 'll scorn your tears , and laugh at your admonitions , for the god of this world hath blinded them : but , oh! pray for them , that their eyes may be open'd , that they may see the precipice they run upon , and behold the bottomless gulph , upon the brink whereof , they stand . they are rolling down the hill ; oh! stop them , if you can , that they fall not into the lake beneath : seeing your zeal for their souls , your concern for their welfare , your entreaties to save themselves from this generation , your sorrow for their undone estate , your grief for their hardness of heart , they may yet relent , and turn before the lord comes , and smites the earth with a curse . 2. every day spend some time in reflecting on this day . in the life of pachomius , we read , that every day he used to bespeak the several parts and members of his body , and talk to them , as if they had been rational creatures : behold , saith he , my beloved parts , i will advise you to nothing but what is wholsome , and useful for you , and therefore shew your selves obedient to my counsel , and let 's serve god cheerfully till we get to a better place . as to you my beloved hands , the time will come when you will no more be able to strike your neighbour , or play at cards and dice , and when you will not be able to reach any more after goods , that do not belong to you . as to you , my beloved feet , the time will come , when the way you have gone will be stop'd up , and when ye will be no longer able to run into vain and loose company . hearken unto me my senses , and whatever helps to make up this mortal frame , let 's strive lustily before death over-take us , and stand boldly in the evil day , and fight bravely , till the great god put an end to our sweat and labour , and call us to his heavenly kingdom . what will it profit you to taste of all the sweets of this world , if any thing can be called sweet in so much misery ? why should ye be loath to labour , when to labour ye were born ? why should ye refuse to suffer when shortly you must die , and mingle with dust ? why should ye seek after a soft and easie life , when e'relong you 'll meet with it in heaven : this is no time , no place for pleasure ; that 's only to be found among the blessed above . this is it , that i would have you comprehend above all things , that through sensual delights and satisfactions , men go into unquenchable fire , but through bryars and thorns lies the way to joys , which shall never have an end . why do ye murmur against me when i bid you fast , and watch , and pray ? should i indulge you , it would be your bane , it would be cruelty in me to spare you ; to give you ease would be the way to precipitate my self and you into endless torment . thus spake that holy man to the respective parts and members of his body : and thus , christian , do thou preach to thy soul every day ; ask it , which of those two sentences that shall be pronounced in the last day , art thou most desirous of ; of that , come ye blessed , or of the other , depart ye cursed ? if ( as no man is fond of misery ) thou dost hunger and thirst after the former , come my soul , let 's retire , let 's ascend the hill of god , and from thence take a view of what will be hereafter . the posture of affairs thou seest now , will not continue long ; fancy thou sawest a man whom the divine bounty hath crowned with variety of temporal blessings . this person having a mind to take his pleasure , retires with his family to his country-house , adorned with tyrian silke , and persian carpets , and with all the eastern riches , and there lives merrily , and at his ease ; one night being very jovial at supper , a servant of his , base and ill-natured , puts some lethargick , or opiate potion into his master's , and fellow-servants cups ; and having rocked them all asleep , opens the doors , le ts in thieves , and robbers , who having plunder'd the house , at last lay violent hands on the master , and to make sport with him , drag him thus intoxicated into the open field , and there leave him . in the mean while the heavens grow black , and a hideous tempest gathers in the clouds , the sky begins to lighten , and the voice of thunder to be heard , and a dreadful rain falls ; and in the midst of all this noise and confusion , the besotted master wakes , looks about , quakes , trembles , believes himself in another world , is astonish'd to see himself lying on a barren turf , without servants without attendants , without friends , without necessaries , without conveniencies , among showers , and storms , and tempests , stiff with cold , frozen to death almost , and beholding nothing but misery about him . o my soul ! thou canst not but look upon such a person , as the very emblem of confusion , and while thou dread'st this fearful state , take heed thou doest not prepare for it , or drop into it ; take heed of carnal security , for that will expose thee to the rage and fury of hellish thieves , and make god's indignation strangely surprizing . the terror that will seize the sleepy soul , when it is summon'd away to the bar of a righteous god , will be beyond storms of hail , and tempests of rain , and flashes of lightning , and claps of thunder . when covetousness would entice thee , shew it the miserable gehazi trembling before the throne of god : when luxury would tempt thee , bid it look upon the wretched belshazzar , mourning to eternal ages for his intemperance : when worldly mindedness would debauch thee , find out nabal among the damned spirits , and with that sight fright the foolish lust away : when envy would enter into thy soul , call out cain from that unhappy crew , and bid it see its doom in his funeral : when present satisfactions would make thee slight the after hopes of glory , bid the profane esau stand forth from his fiery cell to which he is condemned , and it will lose its courage . thou readest of the syrians , how in a consternation sent upon them from above , they fled in the night , leaving all their provision behind them . but what is this to the consternation , the judgment seat of christ will strike into that man , who having slighted his commands , is on a sudden ordered to come and answer the reason of his contempt ; and forced to leave all his vain excuses and apologies behind him . the name of some warriours hath frighted men , women , & children ; and then how terrible will the name of the lord of hosts be to them , that have fought against his holy spirit by their stubbornness . o my soul , blessed is he that watches , and keeps his garments , lest he walk naked , and they see his shame , rev. 16.15 . 3. walk circumspectly every day , and use that conscientiousness , you would use , were you sure , you should be summon'd to judgment at night . say not , next year , or when i have accomplished such a business , i will trim my lamp , and make it ready against the bride-groom comes . every day to live in expectation of the summons is the act of a wise and blessed servant : and he that every day walks with god , walks in a mighty sense of his omniscience , and omnipresence , and in his company , business , conversation , dealings , keeps god in his eye , sets his laws before him , walks as one resolved to please god in all things , le ts not a day pass over his head without doing some good , uses the world , as if he used it not , and if through inadvertency he slips , rises again presently , and arms himself with fresh resolutions , is the person , that lives every day , as if it were his last day . sinner , wert thou sure , that this night thou shouldst be summon'd to the bar of god , wouldst thou swear and lie , and dissemble , and be cholerick , or backward to good works ? live , as if thou wert sure of it : for suppose thou continuest in the land of the living that night , thou losest nothing by this preparation , nay , thou art a mighty gainer by it , for hereby thy soul is refresh'd thy mind preserved in an excellent temper , thy goodness strengthen'd , thy graces renew'd , thy affections enlarg'd , thy understanding enlightned , thy will made more tractable , thy spirits eased , thy calmness maintain'd , and thy very body kept in health . god loves thee , the promises of the gospel belong to thee : devils cannot hurt thee , thou livest like a christian , actest like a man of reason , preparest for thine own quiet , thy condition is happy , thy estate safe , thy life out of danger , thy conscience clear , thy confidence in god encreases , thy satisfaction swells , thy comforts grow bigger , and thou freest thy self from that mire and clay , in which so many souls do stick , and deliverest thy soul from that terrible pit , which swallows up so many imprudent travellers . 4. when ever you see , or hear of the judicial process of a malefactor , think , and reflect upon this day . think how terrible the sight of the judge is to the guilty prisoner , and how much more terrible the sight of a majestick god , will be to the unhappy sinner that would not be kept in by the laws , and sanctions of the great commander of the world , and stood more in awe of a child , or servant , when he was going to commit lewdness , then of him , who gave him life , and being : think how the malefactor is frighted & confounded with the vast company of men , and women , that crowd in to hear his tryal , and how much more the impenitent sinner will be ashamed in the last day , when all the people that have been since the creation of the world , will look upon him , and hear , what his fate will be ; some orators have been struck dumb with the greatness of their auditory , what effect then may we suppose will the congregation of mankind have upon a wretch , that never saw the hundred thousandth part of them before ? think how it must be with the malefactor , before the sentence of death passes upon him , how heavy his mind is , how melancholick his thoughts , how drooping his spirits are , and what palpitations he feels about his heart , and how far greater the heaviness of the sinful soul must be , before the sentence of condemnation proceeds against her , from the mouth of god , how much more sad remembrances , how much more dismal reflections will seize upon her ! and if it be so sad with her , before the sentence be past , what trembling and horrour will invade her after it ? a malefactor here on earth may yet entertain hopes of pardon , his prince may be merciful , pitty the distressed condition of his family , remember past services , and relent , and change the sentence , but the sinful soul once condemned to suffer , hath no hopes of forgiveness , no hopes of being repriv'd , no hopes of being released , not but that god is infinitely more merciful , then the meekest prince on earth can be , but the time of mercy is past . once he was merciful to her to a miracle , his mercy was her shield , mercy did encompass her , mercy lay entreating of her , mercy courted her , mercy though abused , came again , and tried new arguments , mercy followed her , mercy preserved her from a thousand evils , mercy would not suffer the roaring lion to touch her for many years , mercy stood by her , even then , when she desperately affronted her maker , mercy was patient towards her , mercy wept over her , mercy call'd to her , mercy would have pull'd her away from her errors , but she thrust this bright angel away , would have none of it , made light of it , laught at its charms , despised its entreaties , scorned its carresses , disregarded its smiles , refused its offers , rejected its embraces , and therefore cannot seed her self with hopes of pardon now . nay , the malefactor here on earth , when men will not pardon , hath yet hopes , that upon his true repentance god will pardon him , but the soul , that departs hence in a sensual , carnal condition , the same she lived in , hath no higher court to appeal to , none above god to make her moan to , none beyond the supream lawgiver to address her self to . the god the hath despised , and whose mercy could make no impression on her , is to be her last judge , and therefore how much more disconsolate must her state be , then the condemn'd malefactor's here on earth ! 5. whenever you converse with sick and dying men , and are present , when their breath leaves their bodies , think , and reflect upon this day : think with your selves , this man is going to be judged , his soul is entring into the territories of another world , to know , what her everlasting state must be : this will shortly be my case . i must ere long follow her to god's tribunal ; here my stay will be but short ; here i have no continuing city ; here i am not to tarry long ; my friend , that 's gone , shews me the way , that i must go . i saw him expire , i heard his last groans , i was by , when his eye-strings broke , if the lord jesus gave him any assurance of his favour , before he died , with what chearfulness will his soul meet her bridegroom in the air , how welcome will he be in the court of the great king ! what rejoicing will there be , when he , and the other glorified spirits behold one another , and they see that one more is added to their number , for there is no envy in heaven , no grudges , no fretting , because so many are admitted into the everlasting mansions , but the more holy souls do enter there , the more their joy encreases : if this my friend hath lived above the world , while he lived here , with what gladness , will his soul be brought , and enter into the kings palace ! how will his name be remembred there ! how kindly will angels talk of him ! how favourable will the judge be to him ! but if his devotion and piety hath been but paint and shew , what a surprize will it be , immediatly upon his coming among the spirits of another world to be arrested at the suit of the great god , and to be carried away to his tryal ! he is taken away from his sick bed , but should his soul be sent away with a curse , how much worse will hell be , then his sick bed ! in a sick bed physick may yet give some ease , but hell scorns all medicines , no drugs are of any use there , no cordials , no cataplasmes are to be found there , no vulnerary herbs grow in that wilderness : on a sick bed , friends may yet comfort us , but in hell , there is no friend , all are enemies , all hate one another , because none can deliver the other from his torments : in a sick bed neighbours may give their advice , but in hell no advice can be given , for the inhabitant are not capable of taking it : the devils indeed may advise them to speak evil of god , because of the irreversible doom they lie under , but that 's a remedy infinitly worse then the disease , and they that follow this counsel increase god's anger , and their own plagues , and as they venture upon new sins , so god must inflict new curses , and try new rods , and new scourges , which makes the misery truly infinite . such reflections the sight of a sick and dying man will cause ; nor is this judging of his everlasting and final state but a mere conditional meditation , undertaken for no other end , but to affect our own souls with the day of god's righteous judgment , to improve our own thoughts , and to make a holy use of such occasions , as god's providence thinks fit to present to us . 6. whenever you go to a funeral , think of this day of judgment . when you see the mourners go about the streets , when you your selves accompany the corps to the grave , think of the great sentence the soul will receive upon her approaches to the throne of the heavenly majesty . st. hierom describing the funeral of the happy paula , that famous saint , who while she lived here , was eyes to the blind , a nurse of the poor , a staff to the lame , and an example to all religious persons , tells us , that when she was dead , there were heard no shrieks , no howlings , no weeping , no despairing lamentations , but psalms , and hymns , and spiritual songs : her corps was carried to the grave upon bishops shoulders , prelates carried lamps and wax-candles before her , and a quire of singing-men accompanied her to her tomb , and most of the people of palestina came together to attend the funeral . the monks crept out of their cells , the virgins from their retirement , and good men , in all places thereabout , thought it sacriledge not to pay the last office to her . the widows and orphans , as in the case of dorcas , came , and shew'd the garments she had made for them ; and all the indigent and needy cryed , they had lost a mother : and for three days , psalms were sung in greek , hebrew , latin , and syriack ; and every body celebrated her funeral as if it had been their own . when you behold the funeral of such a holy person , think , how with far greater pomp the angels meet her soul at the gates of heaven , and on their shoulders , carry it to the throne of everlasting mercy . think how joyfully those blessed ministers conduct such a soul to her eternal rest , and how they triumph that she is deliver'd from the burden of the flesh , and advanced from a valley of tears , to a place of endless glory . when the great constantius died in brittain , his ashes were put in a golden chest , and with great pomp carried through france , and italy , to rome ; but , think how far greater honour it is , for such a holy soul to be convey'd by the spirits of light into the city coming down from heaven , prepared as a bride adorned for her husband , the twelve gates whereof are twelve pearls , and the streets pure gold , as it were transparent glass . on the other side ; when you see the stately funeral of a voluptuous and sensual man , such as attila was , the souldiers tearing their hair , the courtiers weeping , the body wrap'd up in silk , the guard proclaiming his valiant actions , and monuments erected upon the grave , of gold , of silver , and of iron ; think on the more dismal funeral of his soul , in case it was not wash'd here with the waters of repentance , and which is the greatest purification , with the blood of jesus : think , if the soul be for ever separated from the glorious presence of god , and commanded away into everlasting darkness , not all the stately monuments raised for the honour of her body will qualifie her misery in the other world ; not all the acclamations or applauses of flatterers will give her any comfort , not all the riches she enjoy'd on earth , nor all her wealth and greatness , and dominion , will there extinguish the least spark of fire her conscience will feel . this dreadful funeral will be attended with crouds of unhappy spirits , who , instead of mourning , will rejoyce at the guest that 's come into their tents , and lycaon like , cover her with eternal darkness . such a soul is laid in a worse grave than her body , even in the burning lake , where the misery is proportion'd to her former sins , and her conscience frighted with scenes of horror ; and the remembrance of her quondam pomp encreases her discontent and anguish : think of this , and learn to be sober ; think of this , and learn self-denial : think of this , and learn not to love the world : think of this , and learn to secure the light god's countenance : think of this , and learn to honour them that fear the lord : think of this , and learn to do good in your generation . 7. to avoid the terror of this future judgment , judge your selves here on earth ; for if we would judge our selves we should not be judged , saith the apostle , 1. cor. 11.31 . then we judge our selves , when we confess our particular errors , and condemn our selves for the commission ; when with grief , and sorrow of heart , and indignation against our selves , we do acknowledge , that we have abused the divine mercy , and by so doing deserved his taking his holy spirit from us ; when we lay his threatnings before us , and confess that these plagues are due to us , and that we have deserved them , and wonder at the patience of god that hitherto hath been loath to give order to the destroying angel to seize on us ; when , from a sense of our neglect and sins , we cry , it is a bitter thing and evil , that we have forsaken the lord , and that his fear hath not been in us , and are so convinced of our demerits that we can give no other reason for our escape and preservation so long , but god's infinite goodness ; when we are angry with our selves for our imprudence in neglecting so great salvation , and study , how to be revenged upon our corruptions ; when we decry our inward , and outward failings , and are resolved to mortifie them , were they as dear to us , as our right hand , and foot , and the apple of our eye ; when we erect a tribunal in our souls , and bid our disorderly thoughts , and words , and actions appear before us , and give an account of their behaviour , and finding they have been exhorbitant , lash them into better manners ; when we lay mulcts on our inordinate desires , in case they will not yield , and put our flesh to some more than ordinary trouble , in case it will not be kept within its due bounds , and limits ; when we punish our eyes , by fixing them so many hours on heaven , or on the word of god , because they gazed on things , which god hath forbid ; when we chastise our ears with hearing so many sermons , because such a day , they listned with pleasure to an offensive story ; when we inflict silence upon our tongues for some days , because such a time they spake things either undecent , or injurious to our neighbours ; when we bid our feet keep at home for a considerable time , because they ran into evil company , when they should not ; when we deny our body its necessary food and refreshment for some time , because it pamper'd it self such a day , and plaid the wanton ; when we will not let our sensual appetite enjoy its harmless , and innocent delights for a certain time , because the other day it it was greedy after outward and carnal satisfactions ; when we suffer our selves to be reproached without answering because such a day we flew out into an unruly passion . this is to judge our selves , and they that do so , may be confident , they shall not be condemn'd with the world , in doing so we do that to our selves , which god would have done to us , if we had continued impenitent , & & insensible , and take that vengeance of our selves , which god would have taken of us in a severer manner , in case we had not bethought our selves ; and thus we prevent his anger , and shew , that we dread his wrath , and seek his love , that his threatnings fright us , and that we have just apprehensions of his indignation ; and such men the holy ghost counts happy , for , blessed is he , that feareth always , saith the wise man , prov. 28.14 . 8. in your actions , regard not so much how they are relish'd with men , as whether they will hold water , and endure the test , before the judge , when your naked souls must appear before him . abundance of our actions appear plausible to men , who see no further , then the outside , but let 's consider , whether they will bear the piercing eye of this all-seeing judge ; it 's true , should god lay our righteousness to the line , and measure our religious actions by the exact rule of his wisdom , justice , and holiness , he would spy innumerable flaws even in the services of the devoutest person living , but he proceeds not according to that rigour , but upon the account of the great mediator vouchsafes grains of allowance for accidental infirmities , and incogitancies , and unforeseen , and involuntary slips and the sincerity of a good work is that , he chiefly takes notice of , whether the intention was good , whether the design was holy , whether love was the principle of it , whether it was without reserves of some secret sin , whether there was candour , and ingenuity in it , and whether the offering was free , unforced , unconstrain'd by any outward motive , and whether charity lay at the bottom . many of our actions may want these qualifications of sincerity , and yet appear specious , and gay , and glorious in the eyes of spectators , and those we converse withal : look not christians on the commendations of your neighbours in your acts of piety , but on the commendations of that judg , to whom ye must give an account , for not he that commends himself , or whom men commend , is approved , but whom the lord commendeth , 2 cor. 10.18 . if he do not commend our works , all the approbations of mortal men , will do us but little good another day ; and serve only to tell us , that we were cheated by those encomiums . alas ! how many men are counted just , and righteous , honest , and good here on earth , whom the great judge will not find so , when he comes to examine their deeds by the rule of sincerity ! sirs ! matter not , whether men do look upon you as devout , but see , that god may esteem you so ; alas ! what doth it signifie , that men call me religious , when god knows , i am an hypocrite ? what comfort can it be to me , that men think me charitable , when god sees , i give alms to be seen of men ? what will it profit me , that men call me zealous ; and fervent , when god sees , that gain , and profit is the cause of it ? what doth it avail me , that men say , i pray well , when god sees , i study to please the company ? what great matter is it , that men applaud me for a single virtue , when god sees i am partial in my obedience ? what great advantage can it be to me , that men say i am humble , when god sees pride in that very humility ! the apostle therefore bids us look to the manner of our performances ; he that gives , let him do it with simplicity ; he that rules , with diligence ; he that shews mercy , with cheerfulness ; let love be without dissimulation , be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love , &c. rom. 12.8 , 9 , 10. so , when you pray , let your hearts breath out holy desires ; when you sing , let your minds bear a principal part in the hymn ; when you come to the table of the lord , let your souls be touch'd with the love of jesus ; when you are kind to your neighbours , banish all sinister designs ; when you express any holy fervours , let god's glory be in your eye ; when you discharge any part of your duty to god and man , let a cheerful obedience to the gospel be the motive : do all this as unto god , not as unto men ; do it , as if no creature saw you ; do it , as if none but god were before you ; do it , as if you were to be summoned this moment to judgment : such services will endure the probe , such devotions will stand good , such acts of piety will hear searching , such works god himself will be a witness to , that they were wrought according to his will , and by the power of his holy spirit . 9. what injuries you receive in this world from men , bear them patiently , out of regard to this great day of judgment , when god will set all things to rights , and take care that you lose nothing by your sufferings . rejoyce christian in thine innocence , which god intends to proclaim in this day before all men and angels . he 'll wipe off all the dirt and aspersions that are thrown upon thee , in this day : he will bring forth thy righteousness as the light , and thy judgment as the noon-day . what need'st thou take notice of an affront offer'd to thee , when thy god stands engaged to take notice of it with a witness in this day ? what need'st thou seek revenge , when thy master , whom thou servest , is resolved to judge thy cause in this day ? what need'st thou fret and rage at the contempt , men put upon thee here , when thy great lord will be sufficiently angry with the offender in this day ? what need'st thou grieve that men abuse thee here , when thy sovereign master will grieve every vein of the reviler's heart in this day ? what need'st thou be concerned for the reproaches men cast upon thee for thy righteousness sake , when he , for whose name thou sufferest , will vindicate thy wrong , and call the persecuter fool for his pains in this day ? say not , at this rate there will be no living for me in the world ; trust that god , who hath promised to clear thy innocence in this day , and he will hide thee under the shadow of his wings , while thou art in this troublesome world : he that preserved elijah , when ahab , and jezabel , and all the prophets of baal were enraged against him , knows how to keep thee in the hour of temptation . ay , but revenge is sweet ! what if it be so to flesh and blood ? it will prove bitter to thy spirit : and if ever thou art saved , a bitter repentance must come in , and salve the wound ; and wilt thou prepare for a needless and uncertain repentance ? how knowest thou whether god will after the fact , give thee his holy spirit to come to this repentance ? and what cruelty is it , when god is resolved to revenge thy quarrel , that thou wilt needs revenge it too ? if thou revengest it , god will take no care to plead for thee ; but if thou leave thy cause entirely to him , thy wrong will be infinitely recompens'd in this day . thus did thy blessed master , who when he suffer'd , threatned not , but committed himself to him that judges righteously . wilt thou boast of being his disciple , and art thou loth to follow his example ? fear not , those men who wrong thee now , will be sufficiently sorry for the injury , either here , if ever they be truly converted , or hereafter , when the almighty will convince them to their everlasting grief , how much they were mistaken in their verdicts , and what sinister constructions they put upon thy actions , how barbarous their rage was against thee , how inhumane the ill language they gave thee , and how unjust all their reproaches were . do but stay a little while , and thou shalt see it with thine eyes : have but patience untill that appointed day , and thou wilt find , the prophet was in the right , when he said , the righteous shall rejoyce when he sees the vengeance , so that a man shall say , verily , there is a reward for the righteous , verily , he is a god that judges in the earth , psal. 58.9 , 10. 10. consider particularly , that it will be more tolerable for heathens , and professed infidels at this day , than for christians ; and not without reason . treason is more excusable in a stranger than in a citizen or domestick , and more may be pleaded for a sinful life in a pagan , than in one of christ's own houshold . a heathen is obliged to god by the right of creation and preservation ; but a christian hath , besides these , baptism , and his vows , to tye him : his motives to the fear of god are stronger than they can be in other religions . where the greatest rewards are , there we may justly believe people will be most industrious , most laborious , and most sedulous . no religion proposes those rewards , that christianity doth . the heathens either had doubtful apprehensions of an everlasting happiness , or were strangers to the nature of it . among us this endless glory is not only professed , but most clearly revealed ; we are sure of it , confident of it , have no reason to dispute the certainty of it , and the nature of it is discovered to us by him who came out of his fathers bosom ; therefore he that under these manifestations proves careless and negligent of god's love , can have no excuse . and as heaven is or may be seen in all its glories among us , so we are assured of a burning lake , of an endless misery , which attends the unconscionable , and disobedient ; whereof the notions of pagans , and idolaters , were but dark , and consequently we have a stronger bridle to curb the violence of our sinful desires than they ; and therefore this must make our doom more terrible . the helps we have to arrive to vertue are not only more in number , but more powerful , our knowledge is greater , our instructions greater , our illumination greater , our means of grace richer ; and we have greater examples of holiness than ever heathens had ; we have besides philosophy , and the law of nature , the sacred scriptures , and besides conscience , the spirit of god to exhort us , to reprove us , to admonish us , to assist us , and to help our infirmities . if a heathen sin , he doth but stumble in the dark ; if a christian sin , he falls at noon-day . we have sacraments to bind us to a perfect hatred of sin ; and semiramis took no more pains to fence her city with brick walls , than the almighty doth our souls from falling a prey to the prince of darkness ; nay , our impediments in our way to bliss are less than the pagans had : by baptism , and the power of christs death , the powers of darkness are broken , the devil's strength is much abated , his arrows are not half so fiery as once they were . the heathens have far greater obstacles . the devils power among them seems unlimited , and therefore for us to fall a prey to this enemy , for us to yield to his suggestions , for us to be drawn into his net , will scarce admit of a charitable apology . these things are now made light of ; but nothing is more reasonable , then that they who have abused the greatest mercy , should feel the severest lashes ; christian , why should god give thee greater light , and greater advantages , then to other men ? they are men of the same passions , thou art of , and they are flesh , and have reason , and are god's creatures ; and depend upon his providence , as well as thou ; & why should god make a difference betwixt thee & them ? no other reason can be assigned , but his undeserved compassion . thou wicked servant , had thy master a greater kindness for thee , then for thy fellow servants , and could not this distinguishing kindness prevail with thee to be faithful , and loyal to him ? thy ingratitude is abominable , and thy torment shall be proportionable : thy impiety was intolerable , and thy flames shall be so too : thy baseness is inexpressible , and thy plagues shall be so too : thy unworthiness is uncommon , and thy agonies shall be so too : thou deservest a bitterer cup , and thou shalt drink it too . if god should not punish thee more then heathens , he would be partial , his honour would suffer in the indulgence , and he hath but little encouragement from thy good nature to lessen his wrath and fury . dionysius talked atheistically , as well as thou , but he had no scripture to direct him ; the sybarites were luxurious , as thou art , but they knew not what the gospel meant . novellius , torquatus was given to drunkenness , as thou art , but he never made vows against it in a sacrament of baptism . tarquinius was proud , as thou art , but he never heard of the humble jesus . julia was vain in her dress , and habit , as thou art , but she understood not , what the stupendious work of redemption meant . decius mundus was lecherous as thou art , but he was not acquainted with a holy , sanctifying spirit . themistocles was envious , as thou art , but he never heard god speaking to him , by his son. epicurus was careless of a future immortality , bu he had not ministers to preach to him . simonides was covetous , as thou art , but he knew of no articles of belief . philagrius was cholerick as thou art , but he made no profession of goodness and religion . sisamenes was unjust as thou art , but he never heard , that the unrighteous are not to inherit the kingdom of god. vnidius was uncharitable as thou art , but he had not that cloud of witnesses , those holy examples that thou hast . sardanapalus minded nothing but his lusts , and belly , as thou dost , but he never heard of a crucified saviour . democles was a flatterer and dissembler , as thou art , but the terrors of the lord were never manifested to him . all which advantages thou possessest above these pagans , therefore it must needs be more tolerable for sodom and gomorrah at the day of judgment , then for thee . 11. let the process of this day among other vertues , engage you particularly to a practical charity , and readiness to do good to others , who are under affliction , especially where god hath blessed you with conveniences , and superfluities ; for the judge is resolved to insist upon this vertue more then others : this he has not only assured us of , matth. 25.34 , 35 , &c. but it is also the most reasonable thing in the world , that we who hope to find mercy in that day , should be acquainted with the shewing mercy to christ's distressed members here ; or it is christ's rule , that with what measure we mete here , with the same measure it shall be meted to us again ; and to this purpose the apostle , he that soweth sparingly , shall reap also sparingly ; but he that sows bountifully , shall reap also bountifully , 2 cor. 9.6 . — the virgins that wanted oyl , were excluded from the wedding-feast , when the bridegroom came , that oyl was charity , which therefore the good samaritan poured into the wounds of the distressed man ; and as oyl supples the joints , gives ease to the part , which is in pain , and is an ingredient of most chirungical operations , so charity relieves the miserable , and refreshes the calamitous , and hath an influence upon all other virtues . it was therefore wisely said by that pious duke of savoy , when one ask'd him , where his hunting dogs were ; he led them into his hall , where abundance of lame , and blind , and poor people fed at his cost and charges ; these faith he are my dogs that serve me in my hunting after heaven and happiness : all other vertues lose their glory , where charity doth not bear them company . to this vertue we are born , and it is the most easie of all the rest , and therefore to want it when we come before the judge , must needs turn his face , and favour from us . and it is remarkable , that the judg represents all the acts of charity , he reckons up in this day , as done to himself , i was an hungred , and ye gave me meat : i was a thirsty , and ye gave me drink , &c. whereby he doth not only intimate the close union , and communion , the poor man hath with him , insomuch that he is one with him , but shews , that in our alms , and doing good we must have respect chiefly to christ jesus . let the man , that begs thy charity , or wants thy relief , be brought to poverty by his own folly , let him be wicked , let him be ungrateful , give him with respect to thy saviour ; look upon christ , when thou dost supply his wants ; have the lord jesus in thine eyes , regard not so much the poor man's nature , because he is of the same flesh with thee , nor so much his relation , because he is of kin to thee , nor so much his country , because he is of the same town , that thou art of , nor so much his religion , because he professes the same faith with thee , nor so much his person , because he is a gentleman , nor so much his readiness to extol thy bounty , as the love and charity of the holy jesus to thy soul and body . have that in thine eye chiefly , when thou openest thy hand , let him be in thy mind , when thou distributest thy bounty ; this makes thy charity amiable , and acceptable and fit to be proclaimed , and commended in this day . and indeed , how dost thou know christian , but that thy saviour may sometimes disguise himself , and appear to thee in the shape of a poor man , and wilt not thou give freely , wilt not thou give cheerfully , wilt not thou give readily , since thou knowest not , but thou mayest give it to thy saviour himself ? and how glorious an encomium will it be in the last day , to hear him say before the world , i was naked , and this good man cloathed me , i was in prison , and he visited me ! the three angels of old disguised themselves in the shape of travellers to try abraham's hospitality , and from hence possibly came the heathenish fables , that their jupiter came in the habit of a poor man to philemon , who entertaining him , jupiter made his house a temple , and the owner , the priest of it ; and that apollo coming as a traveller to mydas and being kindly entertain'd by him , rewarded his bounty with vast wealth and riches ; though we have no warrant from scripture to believe that christ doth actually disguise himself to us in such shapes , and appears to us to try our charity , yet it is no impossible thing , and we may piously believe it , thereby to encourage our selves to cheerful contributions , lest finding us hard-hearted , and ill-natured , covetous , and incompassionate he deal with us , as jupiter among the heathens , is said to have dealt with lycaon , whom when he came to visit , as a guest , and found cruel instead of being hospitable , he turned him into a wolf. christ hath threatned the hard-hearted a worse , and stranger metamorphosis , for they that will not be like him in doing good , shall be doomed to be like devils , to mourn and lament as they , and to eternal ages too , for this is the sentence , go into everlasting fire , prepared for the devil and his angels , for i was an hungred , and ye gave me no meat , &c. mat. 25.41 , 42. 12. let nothing discourage you from admiring those men who have always lived in the thoughts , and contemplation of this future judgment ; we admire men for their parts abilities and accomplishments ; we admire aristotle for his learning , archimedes for his mathematicks , socrates for his gravity , absolum for his beauty , achitophel for his policy , saul for his tallness , arion for his musick , asahel for his nimbleness , the men of benjamin for their skill in slinging , darius for his gratitude , cicero for speaking , virgil for poetry , vrbino for painting , &c. but these are poor things for our reason to admire ; men that live day and night in a sense of this future judgment , live continually in expectation of the archangel's trumpet , or the summons of almighty god , these are the men , whose praise we ought to shew forth in the gates . let others admire demosthenes for his rhetorick , i will admire st. paul , who so look'd at the things not seen even at this judgment , as to rejoice in tribulation , and though troubled on every side , yet was not distressed , though perplex'd yet was not in despair , though persecuted , yet was not forsaken , though cast down , yet was not destroy'd , appeared to the world , as sorrowful , yet was always rejoicing , as poor , yet made many rich , as having nothing , and yet possessed all things , 2 cor. 4.7 , 8 , 18. 2 cor. 6.10 . let others admire arcesilaus for his prudence , scipio for his fortitude , aristoclides for his humanity . pythagoras for his philosophy , i will admire the primitive believers , who stood in such awe of this great day , that their constant thoughts and contrivances were , how to resist their adversary the devil , and upon this account stood fast in faith , quitted themselves like men , were strong , and always abounding in the work of the lord. the thoughts of this day made them vigilant , sober , heavenly minded , despisers of the world ; charitable , kind , tender-hearted , fruitful in all good works , and why should we delude our selves , or fancy we need not do so , or that they did more then they ought to have done . the best of men , the wisest men , the holiest men that ever lived , have been frighted over-awed , supported , preserved in goodness by the contemplations of this day , and therefore if we are not , it 's no sign , that we are wiser then they but that we are more stupid ; we are all ambitious of participating of their glory , and why should we be afraid of taking the way , that led them to it . these are the men , who choose the better part . these are the men , who though laugh'd at by the world , are a crown of glory , and a royal diadem in the hand of their god ; and for their shame they shall have double , and for their confusion , they shall rejoice in their portion . their light shall come , the glory of the lord shall rise upon them : they shall break forth on the right hand , and on the left , and in righteousness shall they be established : they shall dwell on high , their place of defence shall be the munition of rocks ; bread shall be given them , their water shall be sure : their eyes shall see the king of glory in his beauty , they shall behold the land , that is very far off ; even the land , where rivers of pleasure flow , where no tears are to be seen , no sorrow to be found , no anguish to be heard of . these are the men which at last shall sit down in the throne of god , and having suffered hunger and thirst with the holy jesus here , shall eat , and drink at his table in his kingdom . these men will at last be look'd upon with greater fear and reverence , then now they are , and when the bruitish world shall see them advanced to the highest seats of bliss , and behold that these which once were the most contemptible creatures , shall judge the world with the son of god , they will change their voices , and with the maltheses be ready to call them gods , whom but a little before they condemned , as varlets and villains . i conclude this discourse , with st. peter's exhortation , 2 pet. 3 9 — 15. the lord is not slack concerning his promise , as some men count slackness , but is long suffering to us ward , not willing , that any should perish , but that all should come to repentance . but the day of the lord will come , as a thief in the night ; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise , and the elements shall melt with fervent heat ; the earth also , and the works that are therein shall be burnt up ; seeing then , that all these things shall be dissolved , what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation , and godliness , looking for , and hastening unto the coming of the day of god , wherein the heavens , being on fire shall be dissolved , and the elements shall melt with , fervent heat ; nevertheless we according to his promise look for new heavens , and a new earth , wherein dwells righteousness , wherefore beloved , seeing that ye look for such things be diligent , that you may be found of him in peace , without spot , and blameless . finis . errata . page 38. line 13. read farms , p. 4.5 . l. 1. r. to let the world see the bands . p. 55. l. 12. r. persons are , who are employ'd . p. 210. p. 10. r. imitation . books printed for , and sold by mark pardoe at the sign of the black raven , over against bedford house in the strand . doctor horneck's best exercise , 8 o. dr. hooper's sermon before the king on the fifth of november . — his sermon before the lord mayor . sir william petty's essay in political arithmetick ; 8 o. — his observations on dublin bills of mortality , 8 o. novels of elizabeth queen of england , containing the history of queen ann of bullen , in two parts , 12 o. observations on feavers , 12 o. plain man's way to worship , 12 o. becteri minera arienaria , 4 o. mdash ; de nova temporis , 4 o. holder's elements of speech , 8 o. charras experiments on vipers in 8 o. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44515-e130 socrat. eccl. hist. l. 1. c. 7. notes for div a44515-e1470 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 act. 24.25 . plat. in phaed. ps. 8.6 . 1 sam. 15.23 . es. 1.3 . lam. 1.12.13.14 chrysost. homil . 2. in 2 thessalon . rev. 22.15 . zephan . 1.14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18. prov. 5.11 , 12. happy asectick , p. 425 . & seqq. philip. 4.4 . eccl. 2.4 , 8 ; 10 , 11. gen. 4 21. council . eliber . c. 79. council . constantinop . 6. c. 50. es. 3.18 , 19 ▪ 20 , 21. 1 tim. 2.9 , 10. 1 pet. 3.3 , 4. de serm. in monte lib. 2. 1 tim. 2.9 . 1 pet. 3.3 . vid , cyprian . de habit. virg . ed , oxon. p. 95. esth. 14.16 . cyprian de habit . virgin. 1 john 2.15 , 16. rev. 17.4 . tertull. de cult . faemin . lib. 2 , c. 13. vid. celada commentar . in judith , c. 10 plutarch . in apophthegm . aelian var. hist. l. 8. rom. 8.9 . rom. 8.5 . platin. in paul. 2. euseb. lib. 5. c. 15. gregor . naz. in laudem gorgon . de habit. virg , p. 100. homil. 31. in matth. vid. p. martyr . loc . com . class . 2. c. 11. p. mart. loc . cit . summ. part. 2. tit . 6. c. 6. § 3. de bell. belg. l. 1. hom. 49. in matth. de vanit . scient . c. 18. ps. 119 47. exod. 23.13 . vid. gerh. joh. voss. de idol . l. 2. c. 8. matth. 5.13 . ephes. 5.4 . mar. 8.38 . salvian . degubern . dei. lib. 6. tertul. de spect . c. 15. c. 15. c. 15. c. 16. c. 17. c. 23. c. 23. c. 25. c. 25. c. 26. c. 26. c. 27. c. 29. 2 cor. 6.4 , 5. pro. 7.14 . vid. dre●●l . tribun . christi . l. 1. c. 8. § 5. in epitaph paulae rom. rev. 21.2 , 21. psal. 37.6 . 1 pet. 2.23 . matt. 11.22 . luke 6.38 . the sirenes, or, delight and judgment represented in a discourse concerning the great day of judgment and its power to damp and imbitter sensual delights, sports, and recreations / by anthony horneck ... horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 1690 approx. 379 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 185 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44543 wing h2853 estc r8310 13530809 ocm 13530809 99987 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of 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2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion mene tekel upharsin the sirenes ; or , delight and judgment . represented in a discourse concerning the great day of iudgment . and its power to damp and imbitter sensual delights , sports and recreations . by anthony horneck , d. d. chaplain in ordinary to their majesties . the second edition , corrected and enlarged . london : printed by h. clark , for henry mortlock , at the phoenix in st. paul's church-yard , 1690. the preface . though practical writers have this advantage of controversial , that they do not make themselves so many enemies , as the other , yet i know not , what the fate of the ensuing discourse may be : for tho' the subject relate to manners , and the behaviour of men , as christians ; yet it is to be feared , that not a few who think themselves religious , and notwithstanding their pretended piety , securely bathe themselves in delights , this book condemns , may put no very favourable construction on such endeavours , as being levell'd against things , they are used to , and the humour of the age hath allowed of , and rendred unquestionable ; and such it 's like will call these attempts , pragmatical , and bid us , as constantine did acesius in another case , erect a ladder to heaven , and climb up thither by our selves . but it 's god's mercy , that while christianity is decay'd in the glory and brightness of its life , the bible is still among us , and that we are not to regulate our religion by the sickly fancies of half christians , but by the standing laws of that jesus , whose disciples we profess our selves to be , and whom the primitive believers thought themselves obliged to follow in external , as well as internal simplicity . it 's true , the church is not now under persecution , as it was in former days , when men made those mighty progresses in self-denial , but it is to be observed , that when the saints of the first ages pressed those severities , they did not lay the stress on their persecuted condition , and the necessity of the dismal times they lived in , but on the laws of their great master , which they look'd upon to be as immutable , as the god that gave them : nor can prosperity make any alteration in those lessons , which christ required as essential to his religion ; prosperity indeed was intended to prompt us to a more cheerful discharge of our duty , but not to a neglect of those austerities , which are the best ornaments of the best religion in the world. as men have managed prosperity , it hath been the greatest bane of religion , and the wisest men have taken notice how christianity since it hath crept out of the thorns & briars of barbarous tyranny and oppression , hath been unhappily decreasing in its zeal , and fervour ; whether it is fable , or history that tells us , that a voice came from heaven , saying , this day poyson is poured out into the church , when ease & plenty , and rivers of gold flowed into it , i shall not now enquire ; certain it is , that external felicity hath smilingly undermin'd the foundations of that admirable doctrin , and that which was formerly built on the greatest innocence , hath since changed its bottom , and stands too much on shew , and formality . prosperity at this day , to the great sorrow of all considerate persons , gives law to mens religion , and whatever crosses prosperity , is thought to cross religion too . what is consistent with our ease , is allow'd of as good divinity , & whatever runs counter to our sensual satisfaction , appears so aukward , that we fancy it no religion , because flesh and blood would not have it so ; all which must necessarily arise from unbelief , or a wavering faith of a life to come ; either that future life , the son of god hath purchased , and promised , is not look'd upon to be so great , as it is represented in the gospel , or it is not seriously thought of ; for if it were , the pleasures of this life would grow pale , and their beauty vanish , if compared with the glorious delights hereafter ; and the satisfactions of this world would soon lose their charms , if view'd by that light , which irradiates the holy cherubim : if that life deserves not self denial in the pleasures of this present , christ and his apostles must needs have been out in the lofty descriptions , they have given of it , and our faith is vain ; and in vain did the son of god take all those pains , and suffer all the agonies he did , to purchase a thing so trivial , and inconsiderable . if it were a thing of no great moment , the but moderately pious , would not be excluded from its glories ; but when nothing but heroick virtue can promise it self a share in that felicity , it cannot be otherwise , but that the prize doth answer the difficulties in the pursuit of its attainment . they are great and masculine acts , that christianity prompts us to ; and wherein can this heroick vertue be expressed better than in a noble contempt of what foolish mortals count pleasant and tickling to their flesh and fancy ? such acts are arguments of a brave and generous mind , and signs that our understandings soar above the moon , and rely more on what god hath promised , than on what the world for the present pays . this shews that our souls do act like themselves , and not to be biassed by vulgar sentiments , is that which gives a man reputation with the best of beings . christ in pressing these lessons , hath only made a clearer revelation of what the philosophers of old guessed at by the glimmering light , which nature gave them , and what can be more for a man's credit , than to do that , which both nature and grace have judged to be most honourable and glorious ? there is no question , but if that eternal life hereafter , were shewn in all its glories , and riches , and contents to a sensual man at the same time , that he beholds the most charming delights of the flesh ; and had he as lively a view of the one , as he hath of the other , the infinite brightness of the one would so eclipse , and darken the feebler splendour of the other , that he would not only be content to quit his inferiour delights for the enjoyment of the other , but would very much wonder at that monster , that should refuse the greater for the lesser pleasures ; so that all the difficulty is , how to make that eternal life so visible , that it shall move , and affect , and preponderate above all earthly satisfactions . and the way to do this , is the same with the method , that must be taken in making the day of judgment visible to us , which is the attempt of the following discourse , in which i hope i have said nothing but what is agreeable to the doctrin of the primitive church . if any shall find fault with some passages in it , because they contradict the vanity and luxury of the age we live in , or charge me with medling with things , which do not belong to me to determine , all i shall reply , is this , that i have done no more , but what i have excellent precedents for , even some of the best divines of our church since the reformation , whose example as i am not ashamed to follow , so since they thought it their duty to discourage such vulgar errours , it cannot be a crime in us to follow their faith , knowing the end of their conversation . the summary of the whole discourse . the explication of the text , pag. 1 — 6. the proposition ; that the prospect of a future judgment is enough to imbitter all the sensual , and carnal delights of men , particularly of young men , and to bring a damp upon the most youthful , and most jovial temper imaginable , p. 7. the illustration of this proposition , p. 8 — 13. the heads of the discourse : i. what reason we have to believe that there is a day of judgment . the reasons drawn : 1. from the universal consent of the wiser sort of mankind . 2. from the being , and justice of god. ii. what there is in that future judgment , that 's able to cast a damp on the mirth , and jollities of men , especially the younger sort . 1. in the prospect of this judgment there appears a very serious judge , the mighty jesus , the son of god , p. 22. 2. a very strict examination of what we have done in the flesh , p. 33. 3. a very wonderful scene ; the person that is the judge is the law giver too , the party offended , the witness , and his own advocate , p. 49. 4. the unspeakable anguish and misery of those , who have been most jolly and merry in this life , p. 67. iii. how the prospect of that future judgment must be managed , that it may actually damp , and put a stop to these carnal delights ? 1. by thinking , reflecting , and ruminating upon that future judgment , p. 78. 2. by applying the particulars of this future judgment to our selves , p. 87. 3. by seconding all this with earnest prayer , p. 95. iv. whether every man is bound to imbitter his carnal delights with this prospect ? aff. 1. because if not imbitter'd they will infallibly lead the soul into innumerable dangers , p. 104. 2. because to imbitter such delights to our selves is a thing of the greatest concernment , p. 108. 3. this imbittering our sensual delights with such a prospect , is that , which men will certainly wish they had done , when they appear at the great tribunal , p. 111. v. whether a christian , that would be saved , is upon this account obliged to forbear , and abandon all sensual and worldly delights , and recreations whatsoever ? the answer to this query laid down in several articles : 1. spiritual delight is and must be the chief delight of a christian , p. 117. 2. worldly delights , as are neither sinful in themselves , nor apparent occasions of evil , are allowable , p. 119. 3. delight in gardens , rivers , orchards , &c. considered , p. 121. 4. of delight in musick , either vocal , or instrumental , p. 123. 5. of delight in books , p. 125. 6. of delight in drinking and tipling , p. 127. 7. of delight in cards , and dice , p. 130. 8. of delight in feasting , and going to feasts , p. 136. 9. of delight in fashionable cloaths and habits , p. 142. 10. of delight in painting and patching , and artificial meliorations of the face and skin , p. 160. 11. of delight in dancing , p. 175. 12. of delight in seeing and going to stage plays , p. 186. inferences drawn from the premises . 1. how far sorrow is better than laughter , explained , p. 247. 2. how differently spiritual things affect men , as they either attentively , or inattentively think upon them , p. 262. 3. how much the greatest part of the world is to be pitied , that can delight in nothing , but what they can grasp and feel , p , 271. 4. how unreasonable it is to harbour any hard thoughts of religion , because it debars us of dangerous , sensual delights , p. 283. 5. how necessary it is to prepare for the great day of account . directions . 1. to pity those inconsiderate men that live , as if there were no future judgment , p. 297. 2. to spend some time every day in reflecting upon this day , p. 299. 3. to walk circumspectly every day , and to use that conscientiousness we would use , were we sure , we should be summon'd to judgment at night , p. 307. 4. to reflect and think on this day , whenever we see , or hear of the judicial process of a malefactor , p. 310. 5. to reflect on this day , whenever we converse with sick , and dying men , or are present , when their breath leaves their bodies , p. 315. 6. to reflect on this day , whenever we go to a funeral , p. 319. 7. to judge our selves here on earth , in order to avoid the terrour of god's future judgment , p. 324. 8. in our actions to regard not so much how they are relished with men , as whether they will endure the test before the judge , when our souls shall appear before him , p. 328. 9. to bear injuries patiently out of regard to this day of judgment , when god will set all things to rights , and take care , that we shall lose nothing by our sufferings , p. 333. 10. to consider particularly , that it will be more tolerable for heathens , and professed infidels at this day , than for christians , p. 337. 11. to make this day a motive to christian charity , and compassion , p. 342. 12. not to suffer our selves to be discouraged from admiring those men , who have always lived in the thoughts and contemplations of this future judgment , p. 347. advertisements of two books , published by the reverend doctor horneck , and sold at the phoenix in st. paul's church-yard . the happy ascetick : or , the best exercise . to which is added , a letter to a person of quality , concerning the holy lives of the primitive christians . octavo . the exercise of prayer , or , a help to devotion : being a supplement to the happy ascetick , or best exercise . containing prayers and devotions , suitable to the respective exercises : with additional prayers for several occasions . twelves . the sirenes : or , delight and judgment . eccles. xj . 9. rejoyce , o young man , in thy youth , and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy youth , and walk in the ways of thy heart , and in the sight of thine eyes ; but know thou , that for all these things god will bring thee into judgment . there is no man certainly better able to give us so true an account of the nature , extent , danger , exit , and end of sensual pleasure , as solomon , the son of david ; a wise son of a wise father , a man wise to a prodigy , wiser than all the children of the east , to whose comprehensive brain nothing came amiss ; whose penetrating mind contained the whole circle of arts and sciences , and whose insatiable desire after knowledge , made him enquire into the nature of sin ; and not content with the speculation of the delights it caused in corrupted souls , ventured even upon the practice of them ; he walked through the whole garden , tasted of all the fruits , smelt to every flower , and i believe many times sinned , not so much out of fondness to the sin , as for tryals sake , to acquaint himself with the nature of the folly , and to see , whether there was really that satisfaction in it which the brutish part of the world said there was : but while he tried experiments upon the viper , the beast flew into his face , and poyson'd the empirick . he went on in these slippery ways , and walk'd on this sea of glass a considerable time , spread the sails of his sensual desires , and bid his carnal mind ask and crave whatever it could fancy , and if either love , or money , or force could procure it , it should have it . he hugg'd all the little shooting flames he met with , and kissed every thing that had the name and reputation of mirth ●●d jollity . but see the sad catastrophe , and woful turn of that pleasant wheel ; when he thought himself in paradise , he found himself in hell , and that which tickled his senses at the first , proved after some time his greatest torment and vexation . providence can be silent for a time ; but at last the sleeping lion wakes , and roars so , that all the beasts of the field do tremble ; and solomon , on whose head the candle of the lord had shined so long , found that light at last go out in a snuff , and himself the object of gods wrath and indignation ; he found by sad experience , what it was to abuse the wisdom god had bestowed upon him , how dangerous the paths were he had walked in , what it was to pervert the end and design of the gifts of god ; and what darkness and confusion it brought upon men , and that makes him impart this sad memento to the man who hath blood , and youth , and strength enough to be vain and foolish ; rejoyce , o young man , in thy youth , and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy youth , &c. by way of explication , i must take notice of these few things : 1. that the words young man , and youth in scripture , especially in this book , are not only meant of that time we commonly allow to youth , which is from ten or fourteen to twenty or five and twenty , but include all that age which is fit for action , and the hebrew words import so much , being derived from a root , implying choice and election ; so that the time here aimed at , is the most vigorous time of our life , or that time which any man of sense would chuse for action . 2. that those sentences which sound like exhortations , are perfectly ironical , or spoke by way of derision , as if we should say to a man , go play the fool , burn thy finger in the candle , and see what thou wilt get by it ; whereby , we do not mean that he should do so , but do rather express the silliness and simplicity of the thing , to make him avoid it : and such ironical expressions , or mocking exhortations are very frequent in scripture ; as , 1 reg. 18. 27. cry aloud , for he is asleep ; which is a kind of mocking the stupid priests of baal , that called on a stock or stone ; so , jer. 49. 11. leave thy fatherless children , and let thy widows trust in me , i. e. ay , go , comfort thy self with this , that i will take care of thy fatherless children , and provide for thy widows , but thou shalt find thy self egregiously mistaken ; so 2 cor. 12. 13. for what is it wherein you were inferior to other churches , except it be , that i my self was not burdensom to you ? forgive me this wrong ; i. e. if i did wrong you in doing so , it was a very pleasant wrong or injustice , for which you have more reason to thank me , than to be angry with me . so here ; rejoyce o young man , &c. i ▪ e. go play the mad-man , let thy sensual appetite rove , gratifie thy flesh , please thy besotted heart , fix thine eyes on what beauty thou thinkest fit ; sing care , and reason , and thy wits away , and see what the issue of all will be ; and so much is evident from the following words , which are a bridle to all these extravagancies , and the gall that embitters all these sweets ; and therefore the chaldee paraphrase justly turns these mock-exhortations into a serious admonition ; walk in humility , let not thine eyes gaze upon that which is evil , but be exceeding cautious ; and so the septuagint ; walk spotless in the ways of thy heart , and not in the lust of thine eyes . 3. god brings a man into judgment two ways , either by causing his conscience to awake with horror in this life , and laying some other heavy affliction upon him , and there is mercy in this process ; for this may yet lead the forlorn soul to serious thoughts of repentance , bring the pangs and throws of the new-birth upon her , and deliver her into a new-creature : or , where god intends a higher degree of wrath , and indignation , he lets the jovial sinner alone on this side hell , and the burthen shall not fall on him , till he comes to look the angry judg in the face , at which time , as the surprize will be greater , so the horror and anguish of mind , which will seize on the sinner , will , like nebuchandnezzar's furnace , prove seven times hotter than ordinary ; upon which follows eternal despair , and endless howling and gnashing of teeth . the result of all , is this proposition : that the prospect of a future judgment is enough to embitter all the sensual and carnal delights of men , particularly of young men , and to bring a damp upon the most youthful and most jovial temper imaginable . not only the sense of the text , i have already laid down , imports so much , but there is this farther in it , that the wise-man seems to couch his argument plainly thus ; do but take a view of that dreadful judgment god is resolved to bring thy guilty soul to , and thou wilt not dare to indulge thy self in the mad rejoycings of thy youth , nor walk in the ways , and after the fancies of thy corrupted heart , nor suffer thy wanton eyes to fix on those objects , from which god hath bid thee turn thy face away . you know the story of the young gallant , who riding by a lonely hermit's cell , and finding the solitary man very devout and fervent in prayer , and looking with a severe and mortified countenance , called to him , father , father , what a fool are you to debar your self of the charming refreshments and pleasures of this life , and live here immured within walls of mud , and clay ? what if there should be no other world , to what purpose is all this rigor and mortification ? the hermit heard him , smiled , and replied , ay , but friend , what if there should be one , where are you then ? what a fool will you be then ? how will you wish , that you had been in my condition ? the youngster startled at these words , went home , left his women , and his swine , his lusts , and dry husks of brutish delights , and like the prodigal , became another man. the truth is , we have seen this prospect of a future judgment , have very strange effects upon a man , who was not apt to be frighted with sad prognostications , and that was felix , a person , who had drunk as deep of the stolen waters of sensuality , as any man then living ; for he lay in the embraces of drusilla , who was another mans wife , and enjoy'd that beauty which his lustful appetite desired , without lett or control : his greatness bore him out in the commission of the crime ; and whatever censures the soberer part of men might pass upon him , his grandeur over-aw'd them , that they durst not speak aloud of his impiety , and all men flatter'd him , and himself drowned all the internal twitches and stings of conscience with noise , and pomp , and multitude of businesses ; yet , behold , when s. paul reasoned of temperance , righteousness , and judgment to come , the text saith , felix trembled . the sermon awaken'd the notions of divine justice , that were engraven on the tables of his heart , made him uneasie , put him into consternation , and for the present forced him to loath the bed where his abomination was wrought . we are told of a custom in some kingdom , that the night before a condemned malefactor is to die , a very shrill trumpet sounds before the prison-door , which is a certain sign that he is to die next day ; and before whose door soever the fatal trumpet sounds over night , no prayers , no tears , whatever condition he is of , or whatever figure he makes in the world , can save him from being executed . it happen'd in process of time , that the king who had made this law , after he had streamed out a considerable part of his life in extravagant actions , on a sudden became serious , was often seen to retire into his closet , gave strict order for extermination of all vices ; and though before he had doated on mirth , and jests , and sensual satisfactions , yet these were now all abandon'd , and turn'd into a scene of gravity and sobriety : such an alteration , we must think must be a very strange surprize to courtiers ; who , impatient of this change , and supposing it to be a fit of melancholy , took the freedom to ask him , what the reason of this reformation was ? the kings brother especially , none of the most religious , sought often to divert him , tempting him to see shows , and plays , and women , and such baits as served either to plant or cherish vanity in his mind and affections , but all in vain . one night , the king desirous to bring his brother to a better sense of spiritual things , bids the fatal trumpet to be sounded before the jolly princes house , who , sensible of the meaning of that noise , that he was to die next morning , starts out of his bed , throws by his stately robes , puts on a ragged garment , weeps rivers of tears , and a mighty horror seizes his mind , and as soon as it was day , comes to the king in this posture , and intercedes for his life : to whom the king said , o brother , are you frighted with the sound of this trumpet , which foretels my subjects approaching and inevitable death , and doth this noise force you into tears , and sackcloth , and humble supplications , and can you blame me for being serious , who know not how soon the archangels trumpet , of far greater consequence and importance than this , will sound in mine ears , and summon me and you , and all my subjects to the judgment-seat of god , and perhaps to eternal despair and agonies ? go home , said he , and by my example learn to despise the world , and prepare for that day . but this subject will invite us to a larger discourse , and therefore it will be necessary to enquire , 1. what reason we have to believe , that there is a day of judgment . 2. what there is in that future judgment that 's able to cast a damp on the mirth and jollities of men , especially the younger sort . 3. how the prospect of that judgment must be managed , that it may actually damp and put a stop to these carnal delights . 4. whether every man is bound to embitter his carnal delights with this prospect . 5. whether upon this account a man be obliged to mind nothing that savours of worldly delight and sensual satisfaction . 1. what reason have we to believe that there is a day of judgment ? having to deal with christians , at least with men that profess themselves such , this query seems needless ; for the scripture , which the christian world pretends to believe to be derived from god , is full of passages of this nature , and assures us , that this belief of a future judgment , is as ancient as the creation of the world ; for enoch the seventh from adam , who in all probability had it from his ancestors , prophesied of these , saying , behold , the lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints , to execute judgment upon all , and to convince all that are ungodly among them , of all their ungodly deeds , which they have ungodlily committed , and of their hard speeches , which ungodly sinners have spoken against him , jude v. 14 , 15. and this faith hath been followed by all the succeeding saints , patriarchs , prophets , and judicious men , was confirmed by the great messiah , the lord jesus , and his apostles , who gave us a more lively description of it , and hath since been entertained by all the christian world , at least in profession , though there are but few that act and live like persons influenced or over-aw'd by that belief ; so that if christians keep close to their principles , it can be no difficult thing to perswade them to believe that which they imbibe with their mothers milk , and education advances into an open profession and daily declaration . but we have seen , and do see a strange degenerateness in most christians , and not a few that go under that name , though they do not openly question this truth , yet they either live as if they did , or infidelity reigns secretly in their hearts ; and it is to be feared , that whatever their tongues may speak , in their minds they are not fully perswaded of it . and were such men willing to be perswaded , it should be no contemptible argument to convince them , one would think , that the greatest part of the world is of that belief , not only christians , but jews , mahometans , and the heathens themselves ; that it is a grand article of the jewish faith , none can deny that ever convers'd with them ; that the mahometans are stedfast and sincere in their assertion , and clear in this point , any one may see that hath read their alcoran ; and that the heathen world is no stranger to it , appears from what their sybilline oracles , their philosophers and poets have professed . the sybilline oracles indeed are suspected by learned men , and looked upon as pious frauds , used by the fathers , thereby to convince the heathens the better of the mysteries of christianity ; though it will not enter into my head , how the fathers could have confirmed any of their doctrines from these oracles , if the heathens they had to deal withal , either were not satisfied that those things had been spoken by their prophetesses , or had believed that the fathers had foisted those oracles into the sybils writings , which either were not , or had never been there ; for this would have been so far from being an argument against the pagans , that the christians would have laid themselves open in nothing so much , as in these quotations , had they been false or supposititious . however , plato's writings have been conveyed to us without any signal corruption , and he gives us a very accurate account of this great day , as hydaspes , an ancient king of the medes , had done before him , and the heathen poets , though indulging their fancies in some things ; yet have delivered many excellent truths to us , whereof this future judgment is not the least ; we need go no farther than the sixth book of virgils aeneids , where the opinions of the ancient heathen sages are collected and expressed in verse ; and it is worth observing , that he makes his judge rhadamantus inflict particular punishments on those souls that have deferred their repentance to their death-beds . and how can we imagine , that the whole world , at least the wiser part of it , should so unanimously believe a future judgment after this life , if either there had not been a great propensity in their nature , to believe the notion , or reason had not convinced them of the certainty and reality of the thing : if we grant , that god hath given a law to man , we must necessarily grant , that there must be a judge to call those to an account , who have violated and broke those laws . man we see is capable of being governed by a law , and without a law to govern him , would run wild , and become a meer brute , we must therefore necessarily believe that god hath given us a law ; and what law more sutable to his nature , or the principle of reason , than what we have in the bible , which is indeed the law of nature , expressed in livelier and more legible characters ? it is fit therefore , there should a time come , when the obedience and disobedience of men may be taken notice of , and the obedient rewarded , and the disobedient punished . god hath made man his viceroy here on earth ; to which purpose david said , thou hast set him over the works of thy hands , and hast put all things under his feet ; and experience shews , that man hath a dominion over all irrational creatures ; and is it not convenient , that at the end of the world , when all men have acted their part on this stage , this viceroy should be examined , and asked , how true he hath been to his sovereign king ? what he hath done with the creatures which have been given him for his use ; and whether he hath not minded his own business more than his masters ? if there is no judgment to come , there can be no god ; for without a future retribution this god cannot be just , and a god that is not just , is imperfect , and if imperfect , he cannot be god ; so true is that saying of averroes , that whatever is most noble , and most praise-worthy in man , must be attributed to the best and greatest being , god blessed for evermore ; justice we see , is that , which makes a prince on earth great , and is one of the highest perfections he is capable of , which was the reason that when ptolomy asked the seventy interpreters of the jewish law , what king lived freest from fear and violence ? he was answered , he that exercises justice , punishes the bad , and rewards the good ; and consequently this justice must be ascribed to god , as the most perfect being : it would be the most unreasonable thing imaginable , that those who love and fear him most , should be most oppressed , and go without reward ; and those that abuse and dishonour him , slight and undervalue him , should live prosperously , and never feel his displeasure or indignation . if god be wise and just , this cannot be ; and since this reward of the innocent , and severity on the wicked , is not administred and dispensed in this world , it must needs follow , that it must be in another , and the day of this future recompence , we call the day of judgment . and though the apprehensions of that vast multitude of men , which believe or profess it , about the manner and method of this day , be very different , yet it is enough , that all agree in the thing , even those who have not the revealed scriptures of the old and new testament ; from whence we may justly fetch the truest and exactest description of it , those revelations and writings the christians have , and what is said in them concerning the righteousness of god , being most agreeable to the nature of god , and the actions of men , and the rules , the supream architect hath engraven on our reason . that there are some men , who deny a future judgment , we need wonder no more than we do , that the fool should say in his heart , there is no god. that which makes a man deny the one , tempts him to be bold in disbelieving the other . it is the true interest of a sinful life , there should be no retribution ; and how can a man act against god with any chearfulness or alacrity , except he puts him out of his thoughts , and to compleat the folly , fancies that he will never call him to a reckoning . it s mens vices that are the cause of their atheism ; and were it not , that they are enamoured with their lusts , their reason would soon joyn issue with these verities : it is not for want of arguments that men are unbelievers in this knowing age , but for want of sobriety and consideration ; and while they suffer themselves to be drawn away by their sensual appetite , no marvel , if in time , their flesh incroaches upon their understanding , and their brutish desires corrupt their very reason , and they begin to think , that god is altogether such a one as they themselves . love to vice darkens the understanding , which is never clearer than when virtue governs the man ; its notions then are clear , and the reasonableness of the things unseen appears without shadows and uncomfortable obscurities . vice by degrees clouds the mind , and love to that makes the man first regardless of those truths ; soon after he questions those verities , and he begins to doubt whether he hath not been imposed upon all this while , and at last he sinks into a downright denial . the devil we may suppose is not idle in these cases ; and having first debaucht the lower faculties , he soon corrupts the higher ; and the sinner once in the net , comes to be involv'd in greater dangers , not to mention that a just god withdraws his light , and spirit , whereby the soul falls into greater darkness . but let 's see , 2. what there is in the prospect of this future judgment , that is able to damp the greatest mirth and jollity . 1. in the prospect of this judgment , there appears a very serious judge , even the mighty jesus , the son of god , who was seen to weep often , but to laugh never ; even he that came into the world to teach men self-denial in sensual pleasures , not only unlawful , such as wantonness , effeminacy , fornication , adultery , uncleanness , drunkenness , feeding our eys with lustful objects , and which produce ill desires in us , deriding and jeering our neighbors for their infirmities , luxury in cloathing , eating and drinking , mimick gestures , filthy jesting , love-tricks , talking loosly , &c. but in some measure in lawful also , especially where a greater good is to be promoted , and hath bid us use these outward comforts as if we used them not , and rejoyce in them as if we rejoyced not , with fear and cautiousness , that they draw not our hearts away , and with a generous indifferency , as persons who have laid up their treasure in another world , and look for the blessed hope , and the glorious appearing of the great god. such a judge appears in this prospect ; one who descended into this vally of tears upon the most serious errand imaginable , even to call sinners to repentance , to make them sensible of what god expects at their hands , to convince them , that they have souls to be saved , to assure them , that though god is patient , yet he will not be everlastingly affronted by bold and daring men , and judges otherwise of things than besotted mortals , and is in good earnest , when he bids them set their affections upon the things which are above ; one who will not be put off with fooling , nor spare a malefactor for a jest ; one who gave mankind a being and habitation here , not to play , but to work , not to mind trifles and rattles , but the concerns of a tremendous eternity ; a judge , whose eyes are like flames of fire , and his feet like brass glowing in a furnace , who was indeed a lamb when he had his conversation here on earth , and like one was led to the slaughter , not opening his mouth , and is still so to all those that take his yoke upon them , and learn of him to be humble and meek , but will at last appear in all the robes of majesty which the clouds of heaven , and a guard of ten thousand times ten thousand angels , and all the light of the throne of god can furnish him with . this judge knows all the secrets of our hearts , and before him all things are naked and open , and no creature can hide himself ; he is one who cannot be imposed upon by sophistry , nor nor wheadled into a wrong judgment of things by equivocation ; whose presence will shake the world , and put the greatest captains and stoutest souldiers into fits of trembling , and make them cry to rocks and mountains , fall on us , and hide us from the face of him that sits upon the throne , and from the wrath of the lamb. this judge is not to be corrupted , nor to be bribed ; cannot be carried away with outward respects , which make judges here on earth pervert judgment ; these judge too often according to affection , and call white black , and black white , good evil , and evil good , defend vice under the notion of virtue , rashness under the name of fortitude , laziness under the colour of moderation , and timorousness under the title of cautiousness ; these do too often become advocates for the prodigal , and call them liberal and generous ; the covetous with them pass for frugal ; the lascivious for courtiers ; the talkative for affable ; the obstinate for men of resolution , and the dull and idle for persons who act with great deliberation : love to their kindred and blood , makes them extenuate faults in their relations , and that which appears an inexpiable crime in strangers , seems but a peccadillo or infirmity in a child or brother : herod hurried away with his amours to herodias , beheads the innocent baptist ; flaminius out of love to his harlot , violates the publick faith ; julius caesar , out of fondness to cleopatra , gives sentence against her brothers ; david's inordinate affection to a rebel-son , tempts him to give the army charge to take care of the young man absolom . but the judge we speak of , is of another temper ; it was his character here on earth , that he was no respecter of persons ; nor could the sons of zebedee prevail with him to place them , one at his right hand , the other at his left ; and it was not kindred he would advance to that dignity , but such for whom it was prepared by his father : hence it was , that his mother and brethren found no farther acceptance with him , than they were obedient to his word ; and he deliver'd it as his eternal rule , they that do the will of my father , they are my mother , and brethren , and sisters ; and with this motto he gave a reprimand to the woman that cried , blessed is the womb that bare thee , and the paps which thou hast sucked ; yea , blessed are they , said he , who hear the word of god , and do it : and he that here on earth could not be wrought upon by kindred , or consanguinity , nor blinded by affection , sure will not be misled by these false fires in the great day of judgment . judges here on earth , if passion , or hatred to a man , reigns in their minds , are too often tempted to pass wrong sentences : what the effects of prognes hatred to her husband tereus were , and how the innocent son suffered by it ; how dire the hatred of medea to jason was , and drew the death of their children after it ; how joseph's brethren condemned that guiltless soul , meerly because they hated and envied him ; and how the jews dealt with our great master the lord jesus upon this principle , both civil and sacred histories do sufficiently manifest . but this impotent passion cannot light upon him , who is to be the judge in the last day . he hates nothing that he hath made , and is so great a lover of all mankind , that he would have all men to be saved , and come to the knowledg of the truth , and would give them all eternal life , if they would but take the way he prescribes them . the devils themselves , could they be penitent , would be received into favour ; and let a man be born of a jew or turk , if he do but bring forth fruits meet for repentance , neither his odious name , nor loathsome kindred shall exclude him from his bosom . he hath no secret spleen or pique against any person living ; and though god under the law seems to vent a particular displeasure against the seven nations , and especially against the amalekites , yet it was for their monstrous and unnatural sins , that his just displeasure rose against them , not any private grudge , or envy he bore to them as men , above other of his creatures . such imperfections are not incident to our judge , who detests and abhors no person , but what makes himself deformed and odious to his purer eyes ; and in every nation whosoever serves him , and works righteousness , is accepted of him . fear very often prevails upon governors and men in office here upon earth , that they dare not speak their mind in passing sentence , for fear of offending a favorite , or losing their places , or being accounted pragmatical , or missing such a preferment , distorts their judgments , and makes them take wrong measures of things . this makes laws cobwebs for great men , and traps to catch lesser animals ; this tempted pilate to crucifie the holy jesus , and though he was sensible of his innocence , yet the word , if thou let this man go , thou art not caesar ' s friend , turns the scales , and makes him comply with the fury of the people : but such fears cannot fall on this judge of the whole earth : whom should he fear ? of whom should he be afraid ? he is omnipotent : will a painter be afraid of his picture , or a man of his shadow ? man is but god's picture , and his shadow , and shall the almighty be afraid of his own creature , whom he can crush into atoms , into nothing with a frown ? who can make this judge happier than he is already ? what place can any creature promise him , who doth what he pleases in all the armies of heaven , and among all the inhabitants of the earth ? there is no caressing him with gold ; for all men and women will appear before him poor and miserable , destitute of that pomp , and grandeur , and finery , on which here they doated ; and suppose they could carry their wealth with them to the great tribunal , what can they give him , who commands all the treasures of the world , whose is the earth and the fulness thereof , and who is himself the giver of those things which mankind preposterously place their happiness in ? here the greatest emperors and princes must appear without their guards , without their armies , without their swords and spears ; here popes must leave their triple crowns behind them , kings their diadems , bishops their miters , noblemen their lacqueys , and all stand naked and unarmed before the throne ; and suppose that men were permitted to come with their former retinue and attendance into the presence of the almighty , yet this would cause no fear in our judge , who will come attended with an innumerable company of angels , one of which did once slay one hundred fourscore and five thousand men in the assyrian camp. such a serious , such a magnificent judge appears in the prospect of that future judgment , even jesus , the son of the living god. he who was once despised and rejected of men , will at this time sit on the throne of glory , and all eyes shall see him ; and though god himself is sometimes said to be the judge , sometimes christ as man , sometimes the apostles , sometimes the saints in general , sometimes even wicked men ; yet this implies no contradiction . in god no doubt , lies the sovereign power , and no creature can either absolve , or condemn without his will and order ; and this his power of judging in the last day , he hath committed to the son of man , or to christ as man , whom he hath not only made heir of all things , but for a reward of his sufferings , given a name above every name , and delegated him to be judge of the quick and the dead ; and this glorious commissioner calls in the apostles in the first place , and all other saints after them , to sit with him on the bench , and by their suffrage to applaud the sentence he shall pass on the stubborn and obstinate ; wicked men shall be judges only comparatively , as the means of grace they had , were less powerful than those of their neighbors , and yet went beyond them in goodness and holiness , at least were not so bad as they ; and consequently shall be witnesses against them , and in a manner judge and doom them to unspeakable anguish , because they trampled on the grace which was offered to their souls , in which sense the men of nineveh , and the queen of sheba shall rise in judgment with that generation , who saw the miracles of christ , and repented not , and condemn them , because a greater than jonas , a greater than solomon was here . 2. in the prospect of this judgment , there appears a very strict examination of what we have done in the flesh , not only of visible actions , but of words spoken in secret , and thoughts , desires , intentions and resolutions of our hearts ; an examination , which will be a very great surprize to the sinner , who hath made light of things of this nature ; for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed , neither hid , that shall not be brought to light , saith he that understood this day better than any man living , luke 12. 2. not only the bigger crimes , such as murder , adultery , fornication , blasphemy , unnatural lust , stealing , perjury , atheism , idolatry , apostasie , cursing , swearing , drunkenness , extortion , covetousness , contempt of god , and of his word , &c. will here be manifested and censured , aggravated and searched into , but the secret lustings of the soul , the hidden things of dishonesty , the cunning craftiness of men , whereby they lay in wait to deceive ; the mines and pits men have privily digg'd for their neighbors , their underhand dealings , their chamberpractices , their sinful contrivances in the dark , or in their closets , their sailing to the port of vain-glory by a side-wind , their speaking truth for ill ends , their misinterpretations of their brethrens words and actions , their reporting things to anothers prejudice ; all these will be laid open before the whole world. sinner , thy unchast embraces , thy impure wishes , thy wanton glances , thy lascivious looks , thy delight in amorous songs , thy acting thy lust over in thy mind again , thy ruminating upon thy last nights revelling , thy tempting thy self sin , and being thine own devil , and thy committing impurity with thy self , will all be set in order before thee , and the judge will demand , how it was possible for thee , who didst profess thy self a follower of the chaste and holy jesus , to dishonour him and his religion with such extravagant actions , and irreligious proceedings ? thy slovenliness in devotion , thy hypocrisie , and seeming to be better than really thou wert , thy inattentive prayers , the wilful wandrings of thy thoughts when thou wast speaking to god , thy not redeeming the time , thy neglecting to observe the greater and weightier matters of the law , thy mispending thy precious hours , thy idleness and laziness in gods vineyard , thy not giving to the poor according to thy ability , thy pride , and secret envy , and desire of applause , and sinister ends and designs in preaching , praying , administring and receiving of the holy sacrament , and in other good works , thy flattering , and dissembling , and unwillingness to do good when thou hadst a fair opportunity ; these will all be laid open to ●●y sorrow and confusion . thy not being led by good examples , thy slighting wholesom admonitions , thy laughing at excellent counsel , thy scorning reproof , and hating him that gave it , thy resolvedness to do that again for which thou wast reproved , the delay of thy seriousness , thy suffering the convictions thou hadst to be choaked with the cares and riches of the world ; thy being at an ale-house when thou shouldst have been in thy closet , thy being at a play when thy hand and heart should have been lifted up in holy supplications , thy being in bed when thou shouldst have been upon thy knees , and neglecting a greater duty for a trifle or impertinence , the supper of the lamb for farms and oxen , and thy preferring the silliest and most ridiculous discourses before a conference about the momentous concerns of eternity ; these will all be rehearsed at large : for i say unto you , that every idle word that men shall speak , they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment , saith christ , matth. 12. 36. not having repented of things of this nature , either through unbelief or carelesness , when these points shall come to be examined , and thy soul interrogated upon these particulars , and so many too , it stands to reason , that it must necessarily cause very great astonishment ; for these things were most certainly forbid in that gospel thou didst profess , and that notwithstanding , as if such things had never been spoken of , thou shouldst slight them and undervalue them , and not think them worth thy care to shun them ; what sad reflexions will this examination cause ? in vain dost thou hope that eagles catch no flies , and that god will never mind such small , trivial and inconsiderable errors . he that minded these smaller faults , as they seem to carnal men , and took notice of them in this life , may justly be supposed resolved to call men to an account for them in that solemn day of reckoning ; for indeed god's proceedings here are an emblem of his process in judgment hereafter . eating of the forbidden fruit in paradise , seem'd but an inconsiderable oversight ; yet did god curse the very earth for that fact , made it bring forth briars and thorns for the future , condemned adam to the eating of bread in the sweat of his brows , and threatned the woman , his partner in the error , to multiply her pain and sorrows . it doth not appear from moses , that the children of god , or professors of the true religion did any more than marry with the daughters of the prophaner crew , a small fault , a brutish man would think ; yet was the insolence lash'd , and the inordinate fire quencht with a deluge of waters ; lot's wife looks back to sodom , out of curiosity perhaps , a venial folly , natural to women , it seems to be , and no more ; yet for doing so , she is turn'd into a pillar of salt : achan , as a souldier , ( and that sort of men , we know , live much upon prey ) takes in a time of war a golden wedge , and babylonian mantle ( no great matter one would think ) yet god orders him to be stoned ; uzzah , out of his over-care that the ark might not fall , lays hold on 't , to support it ; yet for so doing , is struck with death immediately ; the prophet who came from judah to prophecy against the altar of bethel , in suffering himself to be persuaded to eat bread , by another prophet , who pretended visions too , to ones thinking , committed no great crime , yet god revenged his disobedience with a violent death ; for a lion , sent by god , slew him . moses grows impatient at the waters of meribah ; who would not have done so that had to deal with so stubborn a people ? yet that act of mistrust and impatience cost him the loss of the land of canaan , he had so long desired to behold ; the people of israel murmured in the wilderness , a thing that people might easily do who were kept so long in a barren desart , without seeing an end of their travel , yet of that vast number of six hundred thousand men , not one enters into the promised land , save caleb and joshua ; ananias and sapphira seemed to be guilty of no great misdemeanor ; for they were content to give half of their estate to the poor , but kept the other to themselves ; yet is god so angry , that he punishes their violating of their vow to give all , with sudden death . go now , sinner , and fancy , that god will not call thee to an account for faults the world makes nothing of ; because he doth not do it here , he will certainly do it hereafter , and the examples of the bible are items that he will do so . it 's no matter , whether the thing , in which the offence is committed , seem inconsiderable or no , the disobedience is all in all ; if god commands thee to avoid a thing that 's trivial , it s the easier task to do according to his will ; and because it was so easie to obey , and thou wouldst not , it s that which makes thy disobedience grievous and heinous , tho' the matter of the offence seems mean and contemptible . rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft , and stubborness is as iniquity , and idolatry , said samuel , in a case much like this , where the thing done by saul , was so far from seeming ill , that it appeared like a work of mercy , and an act of gratitude ; for he spared the best of the sheep , and brought home agag the king alive in triumph ; yet this excused not the fact , but rather aggravated it ; for hath the lord as great delight in burnt-offerings , and sacrifices , as in the obeying the voice of the lord ? behold , to obey is better than sacrifice , and to hearken , than the fat of rams , as the prophet tells him , v. 22. this confirms the method of christ's proceeding in the last day ; and indeed how could that judgment be perfect , if the lesser , as well as the greater errours were not to be accounted for , and mens disobedience against the lesser , as well as the greater commands of the gospel , was not to be manifested and proclaimed before the world ? and though this is chiefly to be understood of men who die without sincere repentance , yet it is more than probable , that even the sins of those who were justified and sanctified , will be brought to light , and discovered before the vast assembly that shall appear before the throne of god in that day ; not that they need fear any hurt or disadvantage that will arise from that examination and publication , but by these means both the glory of god , and the glory of these true converts will appear more illustrious ; the glory of god , who hath snatch'd such persons like brands out of the fire , pull'd them out of the miery clay , in which they were ready to perish , and taken them out of the devils clutches , than which , there cannot be a greater sign of the power and goodness of god ; and who sees not how much it will be for the credit and honour of the saints themselves ? for to let the world see first the bands and ropes that once held them , and how , like samson , they broke them all , and carried away the gates of gaza , and escaped out of hell in despight of all the devils , that raged and stormed , and domineer'd there ; what can be said more for their renown and glory ? what hurt doth the penitent mary magdalen receive by the evangelists recording , or our speaking of her former whoredoms ? no more will the revealing of holy mens faults and errors in the last day , eclipse , but rather advance their goodness , because they extricated themselves from the snare of the fowler , and generously rouzed themselves from their fatal slumber , and in despight of temptations , would press towards the mark of endless glory . their errors being published , with their true repentance , and change of life , justifies god in accepting of them , while he refuses others , and proclaims their wisdom in chusing the better part , and condemns the impenitent , and discovers how justly they are left to gods vengeance , who would in despight of all the offers of gods favour , prefer their dirt and trash before an invisible , lasting and solid felicity ; and though its true , that holy mens sins are said in scripture to be covered , and god is brought in , promising to remember their sins no more , but to drown them all in the depth of the sea , yet can the meaning of such passages be no other than this , that god will not remember them , so as to make use of their errors against them to their ruine and condemnation ; notwithstanding this , he may justly publish them , that their wisdom being compared with their folly , that may appear to go beyond this , and themselves from the thoughts of their former sins , may reap the greater comfort ; as agathocles , being advanced from the trade of a potter to a throne , at his meals would still make use of earthen pots , not only to remember his original , but from the contemplation of his former poor and miserable condition , to increase his present satisfaction ; for as in our fall from a high degree of prosperity , to the greatest poverty and misery , nothing torments the mind more than the remembrance that once it was otherwise with us ; so , where providence is so kind , as to bring us out of a horrible pit , and sets our feet upon a rock , the remembrance of our former misery signally increases our joy and comfort in the present mercy . so then , in this great day all mens sins will be examined and published , though with different effects ; the penitents , to their absolution and glory ; the impenitents , to their terror and condemnation ; for to be presented there with a list of innumerable offences and affronts of the divine majesty , which their own consciences know and must acknowledg , which yet they either never seriously thought of , or never seriously attempted to forsake ; or if they repented , discovered only a mock-repentance ; what effects can this be supposed to cause , but monstrous confusion ; and horror of mind ? enough to put men into the greatest rage and distraction , to think , that they should neglect purchasing the pearl of price , when it was offered to their choice by god and man. here particular enquiry will be made , how we have discharged the duties of our several relations ; it 's not the purple of princes , nor the rods and axes of magistrates that will make the almighty afraid of demanding of them , whether they have ruled their subjects in the fear of god , shewn them a good example , and punished the obstinate , and encouraged the good , and made it their business to advance gods glory , and to maintain the true worship of the living god ; nor will subjects be excused here , neither must they think to come off without making distinct answers to these interrogatories ; whether they have obeyed , not only for wrath , but for conscience-sake ; whether they have behaved themselves peaceably under the government they have lived under ; whether they have paid tribute to whom tribute was due , honour to whom honour ; and whether they have not used their liberty for a cloak of maliciousness . in the same manner , parents will be strictly examined , whether they have brought up their children in the nurture and admonition of the lord ; children , whether they have honoured their parents as became persons , who under god owed their being to them ; servants , whether they served their masters according to the flesh in singleness of heart , as unto christ : and likewise all other persons according to the relations and offices they stood in ; for in all these relations , men are stewards , and both reason , and gods justice , and his word require , that all should give an account of their stewardship . at this time , the soul being throughly awaken'd from her former lethargy , every sin will appear more dreadful , every error more red , every fault more bloody , every offence blacker than ordinary ; for the fire of that day doth not only scorch , but enlighten and elevate the soul into a thinking state , and none of the former impediments will now be able to divert her thoughts , which will be fix'd upon an offended god , and his majesty , greatness and holiness , and make at this time more sensible impressions on her , while every thing , especially , what hath been committed against god , will appear in more lively colours ; and consequently , if the conscience hath not the remembrance of a former sincere repentance to support her self withal , the frights must necessarily be great , and the whole frame sink into inexpressible confusion . there are innumerable sins , which neither prince , nor magistrate can take notice of : how many poor are oppressed ? how many innocent men wrong'd daily ? a socrates is abused , and hath no helper ; but neither this mans misery , nor the others oppression shall escape the eyes of that all-seeing judge , who will infallibly publish both the one and the other , and make good the type st. john speaks o● ▪ rev. 6. 5. and i beheld a black horse , and he that sate on him had a pair of ballances in his hand ; ballances to weigh every mans evil works , which if they be found to preponderate above the good , or to be pure sins , pure offences , without a godly sorrow to take off either the colour or the weight , all will be turned into blackness and desolation . 3. in the prospect of this judgment , there appears a very wonderful scene ; the same person that is the judge , is the lawgiver too , the party offended , the witness , and his own advocate : he that shall sit on the tribunal in that day , was the person that came down from heaven , and blessed the world with the equitable precepts of the gospel ; it 's he that went up into a mountain , and from that pulpit pronounced , blessed are the poor in spirit , for theirs is the kingdom of heaven ; blessed are they that mourn , for they shall be comforted ; blessed are the meek , for they shall inherit the earth ; blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness , for they shall be filled , &c. matth. 5. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6. it 's he that came to undeceive both the jewish and heathen world in the false notions they had imbibed concerning their duty , and cleared the moral law of moses , of the false glosses the pharisees had put upon it , explain'd the will of god , set it naked and pure before the people , he came to call to repentance , and let them see what were the proper preparatives for the everlasting joys of heaven : it 's he who guarded the law which he promulged with sanctions sutable to his majesty and greatness ; and as he made the rewards eternal , so the punishments he threatned to the stubborn and impenitent were endless too ; so it became him who appeared in the world to offer infinite mercy to poor sinners , to reveal to them gods infinite love to their souls , and to acquaint them with the infinite condescension of the son of god , who would humble himself to the death of the cross , to redeem them from the bondage of the devil . he that came into this valley of tears with so much love and light about him , might justly enjoyn reformation of the whole man , and a transformation of the mind , and temper of the soul , and require a conformity to his own life , and insist upon mens becoming patient , and humble , and charitable , and contented , and peaceable , and watchful over their thoughts , and words , and actions , and heavenly-minded : how could this grace , which appeared to all men , challenge less than self-denial , and contempt of the world , and living in the thoughts and expectation of a better life , and seeking earnestly for glory , and honour , and immortality ? and as he , that will be the judge in that day , is the lawgiver too , so he understands best the meaning of his laws ; nor will tricks , and evasions , and false constructions of those laws signifie any thing before him , who will not depart from the sense his eternal wisdom put upon them , and which by his prophets and ministers he once caused to be proclaim'd in the ears of men . the sinner in that day , will not have to do with deputies , and lieutenants , and delegates , who too often make the law a nose of wax , and can turn and interpret it to what sense they please , and their interest dictates ; are sometimes unskilful , and apt to mistake the law of their superiors ; and these laws not being of their own making , are the colder , or the more remiss in executing them ; but here men shall see the law-giver himself , who will not be put off with pretexts and pretences , as ordinarily deputies , and such persons are , as are employ'd by the supreme law-givers in a commonwealth or kingdom . even here on earth , where the law-givers themselves sit judges , the malefactor must expect severer dealings ; in this case , even lycurgu's wife shall not escape , that durst break her husband's law against riding in a chariot during the time of divine service ; and zaleucus , his son , must lose his eye , for slighting his father's order against adulterers ; not to mention the severities of manlius torquatus , epaminondas , tenes , &c. on their own children where the legislators have sat judges of their crimes and errors . the almighty judge in that day will justly resent the affront done to his laws : he hath reason to resent it ; greater reason than any potentate in the world hath to take it ill that their laws are set light by ; gods law being holy , and perfect , and infallible , and under an impossibility of errour ; and a mercy it is , a wonderful mercy , that he vouchsases to give such a law to the children of men ; and a greater mercy yet , that his son came into the world to publish it , and so many thousand messengers besides are sent to declare it , so that in this affront mercy and goodness , as well as justice , and sovereignty , and power , are wronged and abused ; and as all perfections in god are infinite , so whatever injury is offered to any of them , it receives a deeper dye and greater aggravations from the infinity of those attributes ; god , who is omniscient , sees the virulent nature of this affront ; and indeed none is better able to declare the heinousness of such contempt than he , and this must necessarily encrease the terror of that day , and as he is the law-giver , against whose precepts the sinner hath offended , so he is the party offended too . sinner , this is he , whose body and blood thou hast so often receiv'd unworthily in the sacrament ; this is he , to whose cross thou hast been an enemy so many years , on whose merits thou hast trampled , whom thou hast so often crucified afresh , whose temple thou hast defiled , whose house thou hast dishonoured , whose gospel thou hast been ashamed of , and therefore wonder not , if such thundring queries come forth from the throne at last ; dost not thou remember how oft thou hast broke thro' the guards and fences i have set betwixt thee and sin ? how couldst thou find in thy heart to afflict and grieve me so often , who have endured such agonies already on the cross ? why wouldst thou forsake me , the fountain of living waters ? how is it that thou wast not afraid to make thy belly , thy gold ; thy harlot , and such a great man thy god ? did ever any person oblige thee more than i ? didst thou ever receive such favours at any mans hand , as thou hast received at mine ? and why could not i have thy heart , and thy will and affections ? why must a sottish lust and passion engross thy desires , and my law be cast behind thee ? if ever law-giver had reason to be offended , this judge in the last day hath ; for his commandments were not grievous , his yoke was easie , and his burthen light ; all that was required , was love ; and it 's hard , if so small a tribute for his ineffable and incomprehensible mercies must not be paid him . it s true , this love must extend , and branch it self into various acts of meekness , and patience , and humility , &c. but still where love is the principle , none of all the other things which are required , can seem tedious or difficult . nor is this all ; for the same judge will be witness against the sinner too : indeed no creature can be so true a witness against him , as the judge himself : there are many sins no creature ever saw , but he , and therefore who so fit a witness against those crimes as he ? i will come near to you to judgment , and i will be a swift witness against the sorcerers , and against the adulterers , and against the false swearers , and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages , the widow , and the fatherless , and that turn aside the stranger from his right , and fear not me , saith the lord of hosts , mal. 3. 5. this judge sees all , nor will the sinner be able to elude this testimony of the invisible god. when thou wast under the fig-tree , i saw thee , said christ to nathanael ; his conscience knew he had been there , and he believed . but this was in love . in that day we speak of , such language as this will be pronounced in wrath and indignation , and therefore will cause other thoughts in the hearts of the wretch that shall hear it ; thou careless creature , couldst thou imagine that any thing was hid from me ? did not i see thee at such a time , in such a place , in such a garden , in such a chamber playing the rebel , and the wanton ? did not i see thee treating with mine enemies ? did not i see thee conspiring against me ? hadst not thou such base thoughts , such wicked intentions , such impure desires in such company ? i opened the windows of heaven , and looked upon thee , when thou wast committing fornication with such a woman : wilt not thou believe me , who look'd within the curtains , and saw thy abominations ? couldst thou think i would look on , and not set thy sins in order before thee● ? there will be no contradicting of this testimony ; for thy conscience , o man , will immediately joyn issue with it , and say , as nathan to the guilty king , thou art the man. for , besides this grand witness , there will abundance of other witnesses come in , which will all help to cast thy impenitent soul ; thy conscience here will have a great share in the accusation ; that conscience which once thou didst smother , and curb , and put by , when it pull'd thee by the sleeve , and bid thee be wise and serious ; that conscience that once bogled and winced , when thou offeredst violence to it , and said to thee , as the baptist to herod , it is not lawful for thee to espouse this sin ; that conscience , which was a ware of this judgment , and gave thee warning , and could not with all the strongest arguments it used , prevail with thee to stand in aw of god ; this , like one of job's messengers , when the house falls , and all these outward things are gone , alone escapes , to tell the sinner of his folly. conscience , even in this life , doth sometime force the guilty to make confession of their sins : it forced the multitude that came to st. john , matth. 3. 6. it forced judas to cry , i have betrayed innocent blood , when no creature prompted him to the confession . it forced those who had used curious arts , acts 18. 18 , 19. to bring their schemes and figures , and astrological tables , and burn them before the apostles of our lord. how much greater then , may we suppose , will the force of it be in that day , when terror will surround it , when it will be readier to speak , and to accuse , than god to ask , and when no noise , no tumult , no croud , no business will be able to divert it ? with the conscience , the devils themselves will joyn , who are therefore emphatically called the accusers of the brethren , rev. 12. 10. these cannot but know our sins , for they were the tempters , and remember how we yielded , and consented to their suggestions . these were the constant and indefatigable observers of our lives . these watched our going out , and our coming in ; these were about us when we lay down , when we rose , when we walked , and when we sate , and whatever we did ; these were still at hand to take notice of our doings , our words , and our behaviour ; nor is their memory so frail , as to forget it , nor their malice so little , as to let it slip without making publication of it . these rejoyce in our ruine , and will be sure to make the worst interpretation of our deportment . these are they that presented us with charming objects , and were restless till they had made us enamoured with them , first drove us into the snare , and now will be ready to accuse us for being taken . and therefore the fathers , in their discourses concerning this day , do justly bring in the devil , arguing , and pleading with the almighty judge , behold these men ; its true , they were thine by creation , but they became mine by imitation of me ; they had thy image upon their souls , but see , they have defaced that , and chosen mine ; thou didst breath on them by thy holy spirit , but they were more fond of my suggestions , than those motions . thou didst indeed draw them with cords of love , and by temporal and spiritual mercies soughtest to make them in love with thy will , but they turned a deaf ear to thy call and invitation ; i never gave them any , nor promised them any thing , yet they served me like slaves ; thou courtedst them , and didst oblige them to love thee , yet they had rather be my favorites than thy darlings ; if thou didst command them any thing , that was against their lusts , either they did nothing , or would be sure to provoke thee with their inventions ; i did but becken to them , and they flew to my camp ; nay , they were more impudent than i , believed less than i , found out sins i did not dream of , durst do more than i bid them ; i bid them deny a thing , they had done ; and they not only denied it , but swore to it by all that 's good and holy ; i bid them take their ease and be merry , and they made themselves swine ; i bid them neglect god's service on the lord's day , but they prophan'd it besides , by playing , and drinking , and other enormities ; i bid them keep what they had got , but they went beyond what i prompted them too , oppressed , cheated , dissembled , and made way to their wealth through oppression of the widow and fatherless . these therefore have my image and superscription , and consequently must be mine . i claim them as mine own ; i challenge them as they are apostates and traytors to thee : it is thy statute , which like the laws of the medes and persians , is irrevocable , that those shall be despised , who did lightly esteem thee . nor can god be worse than his word , but must deliver up the sinner , whom no mercy could reform , to these tormenters . nay , if we have opressed any persons , those very persons will be witnesses against us . abel will in that day bear witness against cain his murderer ; naboth against ahab , whole countries against their tyrannical princes ; israel against pharaoh ; in the same manner , those whom we have corrupted with gifts or moneys , or some other way , will stand up against us ; herodias against herod ; drusilla against felix ; the harlot against her inamorato ; helena against paris ; danae against jupiter ; and men and women perverted by hereticks , against the broachers of false doctrines ; and how can there be want of witnesses , when our schoolmasters , our parents , and other good men , whose counsels we rejected , whose admonitions we despised , and whose frequent exhortations we laughed at , will be forced to speak what they know against us . sinner , the ministers of the gospel , those who followed thee with checks and intreaties to be reconciled to god , will be obliged to speak of thy stubbornness and impenitence : nay , this pulpit , these walls , these stones ▪ these pews will cry out against thee ! heaven and earth are even in this life called in as witnesses against the monsters , who were more inconsiderate than the ox or ass ; much more in that day , when god will bring every thing into judgment , not only the sinful actions , but the very places in which those actions were committed . such witnesses will be the riches and goods thou hast abused ; the gold thou hast spent upon thy luxury , the silver thou hast thrown away in a frolick , the garments thou hast abused to pride , the corn and bread thou hast play'd withal , the hungry whom thou hast not fed , the thirsty , to whom thou hast not given drink , the naked , whom thou hast not cloathed , when it lay in thy power ; the prisoners , whom thou hast not visited ; these will all be accusers of thy abuses and uncharitableness . but the accusation of all these might yet be born with ; it 's the testimony of the judge , who shall approve of all that these witnesses aver ; which appears most dreadful and terrible , and therefore certainly , the prospect of this judgment is able to damp the greatest mirth and sensuality . and as this judge will himself be witness in that day , so he will be his own advocate too . to this purpose , saith the pathetick nazianzen ; what shall we do , my friends , what shall we say , what apology shall we make , when this judge shall plead for himself in that day ? thou disobedient wretch , i made thee of clay with mine own hands , and breathed the breath of life into thee ; i made thee after my image , i gave thee reason , and understanding , and power and dominion over the beasts of the field ; a mercy , which i● i had not vouchsafed unto thee , those creatures , which are stronger than thou , would have master'd and destroy'd thee ; i placed thee among the pleasures of paradise , made thee a happy inhabitant of eden , and when thou wouldest needs hearken to the false and treacherous suggestions of thy sworn enemy , behold , in pity and commiseration to thee , i resolved to be born of a virgin , and accordingly took flesh , and became man for thy sake , was born in a stable , lay unregarded in a manager , swadled in rags and clouts , endured all the reproaches and injuries that childhood is subject to , bore thy griefs , and assumed thy infirmities , and was made like thy self , that thou mightest be like me in felicity at the end of thy race . i suffered men to trample on me , to buffet me , to spit in my face , to give me gall and vinegar to drink , to scourge me , to crown me with thorns , to wound , and nail me to the cross , and all this , that i might deliver thee from eternal contempt and torments . behold the mark of the nails which were struck into my flesh. behold my wounded side ; i suffered , that thou mightest triumph ; i died , that thou mightest live ; was buried , that thou mightest rise ; and made my self a scorn , of the people , that thou mightest reign in heaven ; and why wouldest thou throw away this mercy ? why wouldest thou refuse this treasure ? what evil spirit did possess thee to make light of these kindnesses ? why wouldest thou pollute that soul which i redeemed with mine own blood ? why wouldest thou make thy heart a habitation of devils , which i intended for my throne ? why wouldest thou lose that which i purchased at so dear a rate ? what pleasure couldest thou take in doing that which cost me so many sighs and tears , and a bloody sweat ? why wouldest thou make a mock of so great a mercy ? how couldest thou undervalue a favour of that importance and consequence ? can any hell be thought too much for such stubbornness ? either thou didst believe , that thy god did all this for thee , or thou didst not : if thou didst not believe it , why didst thou make confession of it with thy mouth ? if thou didst , how couldest thou be so ungrateful ? how couldest thou abuse a friendship of that worth and value ? thou lovest a friend , a neighbour , a man , a woman , for kindnesses , which are meer shadows , and bubbles to my love , and hadst not thou reason to love me beyond all earthly comforts ? hadst not thou reason to prefer my favour before the smiles of a transitory world ? how did i deserve such preposterous usages at thy hands ? couldest thou have dealt worse with a slave , or with an enemy , than thou hast done with me ? did this condescension deserve , dost thou think , such affronts and injuries , such contempt and disobedience , as thou hast returned to me ? therefore , as for those mine enemies , which would not have this man to reign over them , bring them hither , and slay them before me . all this appears in the prospect of a future judgment , and therefore there must be vertue in it , to check that mirth and jollity , which infatuates souls , and leads them into ruine . 4. in the prospect of this future judgment , there appears the unspeakable anguish and misery of those who have been most jolly and merry in this life . dives , who cloath'd himself in purple and fine linnen , and fared sumptuously every day , appears there quaking , and trembling , and crying , father abraham , have mercy on me , and send lazarus , that he may dip the tip of his finger in water , and cool my tongue ; his tables , which were overlaid with silver , his richer beds , his tapestry , his ornaments , his ointments , his balsams , his cordials , his delicate wines , his various dishes , his cooks , his flatterers , his parasites , his retinue , his servants , and all the noise and pomp that attended him , are not only extinct , and turned into ashes , and dust , and dirt , but his naked soul is dragg'd and carried before a tremendous majesty , to endure intolerable torments ; and before this terrible god ●e appears with his eyes cast down , blushing and ashamed , trembling and fearful , and all his former comforts seem to have been but dreams to him . see how the scene is changed ; he to whom the poor man formerly supplicated for relief , now is forced to supplicate to the poor man to be relieved of him , & would be glad of lazarus's table , who once scorned to let lazarus gather the crumbs that fell from his ; when lazarus was near him , he slighted him ; now he is afar off , he adores him , and himself now is the poor man , while lazarus swims in riches ; such a discovery doth that last day make , who are the rich , and who are the poor , who the wise , and who the fools . in this judgment nimrod , senacharib , nebuchadnezzar , belshazzar , tiberius , nero , domitian , men who would be thought gods , and denied themselves in no pleasure their fancies craved , stand all ashamed and confounded , flames of a guilty conscience burning in their breasts , and forcing their voices into bitter lamentations ; there sardanapalus , croesus , cambyses , herod , and all the mighty men , that spared no woman in their lust , and no man in their anger , appear all like guilty malefactors , their hearts failing them for fear , and they cha●tering like a crane , and mourning like a dove , and bewailing their aiery , short and transitory satisfactions , and cursing the hour and the minute when the first temptations courted them to those dangerous embraces ; there cleopatra , that sailed in a vessel glistering with gold , a vessel fitted for pride , and luxury , and magnificence , and tried how far sensuality might be improved , and to what height brutish pleasure might be advanced ; there the wretched woman is seen , not so much with serpents clasping about her breast , as with a worm within , that dies not , tormenting her awakened conscience with shapes of death , and images of ruine , and all the beasts , that here could not be satisfied with pleasure , there cannot be eased of gnawing vultures and agonies ; for these the just god must at last inflict , to make them sensible that his threatnings were no fables , and to let them see , that the advices of wise men and philosophers , who exhorted them to the study of virtue , were grounded on rational foundations . these tortures and vexations must not expire till the ancient of days , who was affronted by their sins , doth die , and that 's never , he being the same yesterday , to day ▪ and for ever : thus their sweet meat must have sour sauce , and if they will have their pleasures , they must feel the sting too , that 's inseparably affix'd to them . the bait cannot be swallowed without the hook , and as pleasant as the honey is , the gall which is part of it , must be tasted too . god will not be always mocked , and they that durst in despight of his will and prohibitions , feed upon that luscious fruit , shall feel the smart of the prickles too . in this judgment their postures , gestures , and behaviour and deportment appear in another figure , and they that before laught at the thunders of the law , made light of the threatnings of the gospel , and let the warnings of the ministers of the gospel go in at one ear , and out at another , now call themselves fools and sots for doing so ; and they that before thought of no after-reckoning , now fall a wishing , but in vain ; o that i had been wise ! o that i had bethought my self ! o that i had looked beyond this world ! o that i had believed ! o that i had retired , and considered what these satisfactions would end in ! fool that i was , to think that god would prove a liar ! where was my reason , to think , that all that the wisest and holiest men have said , were but dreams and idle tales ! i that might have been a terror to devils , how am i become their scorn ! i , that might have been a favourite of god , how am i become his enemy ! i , that might have triumphed with other saints , how am i fallen from their bliss ! o what would not i give to be rid of the torment i feel ! help , help , ye souls that have any pity in you : i sink under the weight of my former pleasures ; they are loathsom to me ; they appear monsters , furies , hideous things to me ! cursed be that lust i cherished ! cursed be that bed on which my wickedness was wrought ! o that my tongue had dropt out of my head when i pleased my self with lascivious discourses ! o that i had been deaf when i was tickled with hearing a smutty jest ! o that i had been struck blind , when with joy and satisfaction i beheld that charming beauty ! o that my feet had failed me when i was going into that jovial company ! o that i had locked my self up , that i might not have seen those temptations which enticed me ! o that i had spent those hours i threw away in carding and dicing , and drinking and revelling ! o that i had spent them in holy contemplations of the vanity of these sublunary objects ! now i would do it , and it is too late ; now i would repent , and it profits me not ; now i would be serious , and it signifies nothing ; my time is lost ; the day of grace is gone ; the opportunities are past : o that i could tear out this heart ! o that i could pull out these eyes ! o that i could dispatch my self ! o that i had a sword , that i might put a period to this miserable condition ! i see nothing but ruine before me , nothing but darkness , nothing but confusion , nothing but horrors , and no creature will help me to annihilate my self ; i am not able to endure this torture for a moment , how shall i be able to endure it to infinite millions of ages ? i see no end of it ; the farther i look , the more of my misery i see : where-ever i cast my eyes , i see nothing but terror devils , and miserable souls in the same condition with my self , all howling about my ears : a thing so far from affording comfort , that it fills me with greater horror . whither shall i ●lee for remedy ? heaven is shut up ; there is a vast gulph betwixt me and that ▪ there is no passing from hence thither ▪ nor from thence to this doleful place ▪ i swim in a sea of sorrow , i swim , and see no shoare ; i labour , and not a plank appears , on which i may save my life ; here are no hills , no mountains , no rocks i can cry to ; and if there were , they are all deaf ; god hath forsaken me , and good reason ; for i left him for a lust , and undervalued him for trifles : i pleaded , i could not withstand the charms the world offered to me : mad man ! i could withstand them now , why could not i have withstood them then ? i might have considered of this place , and of this state , and of these ▪ vexations , and checked my self : o that i were but to live again in the world ! o that god would but try me again ! how would i scorn the very thoughts of mirth and raillery ! how would i run away from the very mention of these impostures ! break my heart , break ! if god will not kill thee , call upon the infernal spirits , and see what they will do : but oh , they delight in these groans ! themselves lie under the same condemnation , banish'd from the gracious presence of god ; they would die as well as i , if they were able : o what a torment is i● ! i see the everlasting joys before me , and cannot reach them ; they are over my head , and i cannot come near them ; paradise i see , but cannot enter into it : i knock my head , i smite my breast , i stamp with my feet , but am never the better . that jesus , on whose blood i trampled , i see rejoycing with his followers at the right hand of god , and not a drop of comfort drops from his lips , on mine ! i feel flames within , which no waters can quench ; a drop of water would be some refreshment , and give me some hopes of ease ; but here is none : all the rivers of consolation are dried up to me ; i walk in darkness , i see no light : o god , tear the heavens , and come down ! canst thou hear these shrieks , and be unconcerned ? canst thou see this poor creature lie in torments , and give no relief ? hast thou no mercy left ? o then my state is desperate ! i shall not be able to refrain from blasphemy ; for i see none can help but thou , and thou wilt not ; i rave , i am distracted with fear ; i tremble , i quake ; stand off devils ! i have furies enough within : ye damned pleasures , whither have you brought me ? ye have made me lose the favour of him who alone is able to give me ease ! i might have been happy , if it had not been for you ; i might have escaped these regions of anguish , if you had not tempted me : but why do i accuse you ? this brutish heart of mine was in the fault , my devilish lust hurried me into ruine ; i had reason , and would not use it ; means of grace , and would not apply them ; offers of mercy , and would not accept of them , o all ye that pass by , behold and see , if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow , which is done unto me , where with the lord hath afflicted me , in the day of his fierce anger ; from above he hath sent a fire into my bones , and it prevails against them ; he hath spread a net for my feet , he hath turned me back , he hath made me desolate , and faint all the day ; the yoak of my transgressions is bound by his hand , they are wreathed , and come up upon my neck , he hath made my strength to fall , the lord hath deliver'd me into their hands from whom i am not able to rise up . all this certainly appears in the prospect of that future judgment , and consequently is enough to check and damp the greatest jollities on this side hell ; and though it 's true , that it doth not cause the least disturbance in thousands of men , that drink of these stollen waters ; for men in this age are as jovial as ever , and a judgment to come frights them no more than an house on fire a thousand miles off ; but sure this is for want of taking the proper way and method , which god and reason doth prescribe ; and what that way and method is , shall be shewn in the following paragraph . 3. how the prospect of that future judgment must be managed , that it may actually damp and put a stop to these carnal delights . this is to be done no other way , but , 1. by thinking , reflecting and ruminating upon that future judgment . this stands to reason ; for except things be made visible to us , how shall they move or fright us ? this future judgment being out of sight , and afar off , it must be brought near , and set before us ; and there is no way to do it but by thinking . our thoughts are the picture-drawers , which make the land-skip of that judgment so lively , that our faculties cannot but be signally affected with it . these are the divine part within us , which can make things past and future , as present , and summon the remotest objects to become familiar and palpable . these are the glasses in which all that god hath said , or promised , or threatned , becomes visible , and with the help of these we may make that substance , which seemed but air before , and condense that into solid notions , which to a carnal man seemed but fancy and wind before . these can make us in a manner grasp and feel that which was out of our reach before , and make us concern'd about things which we neither see , nor hear , nor feel with our grosser organs . these can transplant the other world into this , and make eternity appear before us , though we live in tabernacles of clay : to prove this , we need only appeal to experience . behold those pious souls , that take a course contrary to that of the world ; what makes them afraid of sinning ? what makes them afraid of running with their neighbors into riot ? what makes them that they dare not do what some of their carnal acquaintance and relations do ? what makes them mourn ? what makes them rejoyce in spirit ? you see nothing that have reason to mourn for : they have a competency , they want nothing in the world , they have necessaries and conveniencies , and they prosper in their lawful undertakings ; and under some of their greatest afflictions , you see nothing that should make them chearful , no outward cause of their joy , but rather all that is about them is an invitation to sorrow and dejection : why ? they are invisible things , that make them mourn and rejoyce , and by thinking of them , they make them visible , and so visible , that they are affected with them as much as other men are with objects that incur into their senses ; by thinking they see the terrors of the lord , and the affronts they have offered to the divine majesty , and the wounds they have given to their own souls , and that makes them weep ; by thinking they see the glory that is set before them , and the recompence which is promised them , and the right and title they have to it , and that makes their soul rejoyce : so then , by thinking this future judgment may be seen and if it be seen in any lively colours , there is no sinner so stout , no man so perverse , no creature so dull and stupid , but it will startle him , and put wormwood into his cup. when i eat , or drink , or whatever i do , the last trump sounds in mine ears , and i think i hear the terrible voice of the arch. angel , arise ye dead , and come to judgment , saith st. hierom : these thoughts made him eat and drink with great moderation : these brought a holy fear upon him in all his actions : these kept him from going beyond the bounds god had set him : these struck seriousness into him in all places : these made him as circumspect in the market-place , as if he had been at church , and as devout in the street , as if he had stood at the high altar . and therefore i do not wonder at that hermit , that he became so serious a man as antiquity reports him , who carried a little book about him , consisting only of four leaves , in which he was always seen reading , and after reading , meditating ; in the first leaf was expressed christ's passion , and what that darling of mankind suffered for poor mortals , during his abode in the world ; in the second , was represented the process of the future judgment , with the terrors and consternations that guilty men will be in at that time ; in the third , were described the glories of paradise , and of that third heaven which all holy souls shall enter into , there to possess the inheritance of the saints in light ; in the fourth , was drawn to the life the picture of hell , and of the miseries which shall await the stubborn and impenitent in the next life ; these four leaves were soon read over , but they afforded infinite matter for thoughts and meditations ; and by these his soul was so warmed , that he cared not what became of him here , so he might but enjoy the promised glory , and that life and immortality christ had brought to light by the gospel . so true is that saying of st. chrysosiom ; there is no man that thinks much of hell , that will ever fall into it ; as indeed there is no man who makes light of it , that will ever escape it . for as it is among men , they that are afraid of the penalties of the law , seldom or never feel them ; for their fear makes them shun those actions which deserve them : this keeps them from theft and rapine , from murder and adultery , from burglary and wrong , from violence and oppression , and consequently from the punishments the law inflicts in such cases . the plagues and the stripes they fear , make them cautious , and whatever their inclination may be , the rods and axes they fear , restrain them ; whereas those that are regardless of the mulct , bring it upon themselves ; so it is here , the frequent thinking of it , is the best antidote against the terrors of that future judgment : if the ninivites had not feared their overthrow , they had certainly been overthrown ; and how could they have feared it , if they had not thought of it ? if the men that lived before the flood , had thought of it , and been afraid , they would not have been drowned ; nor would the people of sodom have been consumed by fire , if they had taken this course : it 's a great misfortune not to think of the fulfilling of gods threatnings ; for he that thinks not of it , of all men , will be the first that shall have woful experience of it . it is reported of agatho , that in his last sickness , falling into a trance for three days together , he lay with his eyes fixed upon heaven , and all that time look'd very ghastly ; recovering out of the extasie , and being asked by his friends , where he had been , and what his thoughts had been during those three days , and what made him look so strangely ? o my friends , said he , do you ask me where i have been ? alas ! i have been these three days standing before the great tribunal , and seen how the most just judge sentenced divers souls to eternal darkness ; and who would not stand amazed at the dreadful spectacle ? it was therefore a very good prayer of st. ambrose : i do most vehemently desire , o lord , that thou wouldest be pleased to imprint , and very deeply imprint the land skip of the future world , the miseries of the disobedient , the groans of the stubborn , the agonies of the impenitent , the shrieks of the prophane , the vexations of hypocrites , the fears of the careless , the destruction of the covetous , the perdition of worldlings , the flames of the revengeful , the terror of damnation , and eternal torments , and the future felicity of thy kingdom , upon my mind ; for it is impossible that he that thinks much of these things , should not become thy child and servant , and one of those whom thou host predestinated to eternal life . dost thou laugh , said the old man in ruffinus , to a youngster ( whose behaviour was very light ) when you and i are to be judged before heaven and earth ? and indeed that person that surveys what the divine jesus hath said of this future judgment , thinks how in that day the powers of heaven will be shaken , the sun turned into darkness , the moon into blood , and the stars forbear to give their light , how the world , and all the elements will be on fire , the universe melt like wax , the earth be burnt up , the seas dried , and the rivers consumed , and with what glory and bravery the once afflicted son of god will then appear , with an army of angels about him , displaying their banners , and carrying the sign of the son of man before him ; how before him all nations will be assembled , and all that are in their graves , upon hearing the voice of god , loud as thunder , and more dreadful too , will be summoned to appear before his bar , the judge shining in his meridian-glory , brighter than moses , clearer than the sun , and how the consciences of guilty men will quake at this sight , their hearts misgiving them , that their portion will be in outward darkness , how formidable all the transactions will be , how immutable the sentence , after it is once passed , not to be altered , or deprecated by saints or angels , how all evasions & subterfuges will be out of doors there , and all possibility of transferring our errors upon others who have been partners with us in our sins , will vanish , how those that make themselves fools for christ's sake in this life , were reproached , reviled , derided , and laughed at for their severities , would not lose their souls for a trifle , nor sell their birthright to eternal bliss for a morsel of meat , would hold fast their integrity , though solicited by innumerable losses and crosses , and by their nearest relations to curse god and die ; how these who were here made the off-scourings of all things , will then be absolved and quitted , and have seats appointed them in the mansions of glory , there to reign , and sing the goodness of god to all eternity . i say , he that seriously surveys these things , if he be a person who hath not debauch'd or lost his reason , cannot but be affected by passages of this nature , and think it time to curb himself in his sensual delights and satisfactions . but , 2. bare thinking is not enough , but the particulars of this future judgment must be actually applied to our selves ; general things , and what is done to others , though they may touch the heart , yet do not subdue it till particular applications give them force and power . a fire , that is a mile off from me , though it causes in me some sense of the calamity , yet if it threatens the house i live in , my faculties soon bestir themselves , and i fall to work , and secure my self in good earnest ; so here , when i behold the tremendous process of this judgment , i must reflect , that as god deals with others , so he will certainly deal with me ; that i have no greater privilege than others , but must stand and fall by the same law that they stand and fall by ; that to fancy any more favourable proceedings towards me , than god intends to others , is but a dream , and contrary to the impartiality of the judge ; that as i have a soul to be saved as well as my neighbour ; so god will expect i should live here , as he bids my neighbour live , that neither my estate , nor dignity , neither my offices , nor friends , neither my riches , nor my greatness , will excuse my living more carelesly than my poorer friends ; nay , that my outward advantages make my account greater ; and as i have had greater talents bestowed upon me , so more will be required of me than of them who have not had those opportunities of being good and holy , which i have had ; that as god hath advanced me in the world , placed me in a higher station , given me a considerable figure here on earth , made his candle to shine upon me , caused my root to spread by the waters , and the dew of heaven to lie all night upon my branch , and afforded me credit and respect among men , so he looks for greater fruitfulness in good works , and more than ordinary exemplariness to advance his glory , and to spread the power of religion among my inferiors and dependants ; and therefore upon a view of this future process , i must needs rouze my soul by such questions as these ; if god be resolved to judge the secrets of mens hearts according to his gospel , what will become of me ? should god call thee to judgment , o my soul , this night , or this hour , art thou in a condition to appeat before so great , so dreadful a god ? is this foolery thou pleasest thy self with , this wanton dress , this jolly life , these merry hours , this gaming , this carousing , this extravagant laughter , this fondness of the humor of the age , this immodest and frothy talk , this foolish garb , this phantastick fashion , this mispending thy time , this keeping of vain company , this unprofitable way of living , this thy being intent altogether upon the profits and pleasures of the world , this indifferency in religion , these faint resistances of temptations , this neglect of known duties , this unfaithful discharge of the duties of thy relations , this unwillingness to mind any thing that 's serious , this aversion from spiritual discourses and actions , this want of gravity , &c. are these fit wedding-garments to come before the king of heaven in ? thou maist be summon'd to come to his bar within this day or two ; think what an infinite majesty thou must be presented to : should god speak the word within a few minutes , come away , come away , and give an account of thy behaviour ; how unprepared art thou ? so great is thy danger , and canst thou loiter ? so near art thou to a tremendous eternity , and oh wilt not thou be clean ? thou standest upon the brink of hell , and wilt not thou step back ? thou art within a bows-shot of the great tribunal , and doth not thy countenance change ? thou art within hearing of the thunders , that come forth from the throne of god , and do not thy thoughts trouble thee ? thou seest the fatal hand upon the wall , and do not thy knees smite one against another ? thou must shortly appear before all the host of heaven , and art not thou got farther yet in holiness ? dost not thou quake to think , that the revenger of blood is upon thy heels ? as thou art a christian , thou art a son of god , and dost thou express that filial disposition in thy gate , and looks , and face , and life ? art thou born of god , and canst thou degenerate from his nature ? art thou made after his image , and by grace renew'd after his similitude , and canst thou be contented under a temper so different from that holiness , which is thy great father's perfection and glory ? does god expect thee at his tribunal with the qualifications of a child , and wilt thou appear before him as a rebel ? hath he given his son on purpose to adopt thee , and thinkest thou to present thy self before him in the shape of a prodigal ? thou art designed for a citizen of the celestial jerusalem , and wilt thou appear before him as an inhabitant of hell ? thou art one of god's family , and wilt thou appear before him as a traytor ? thou art purchased by his blood , and wilt thou live as if that blood had been spilt in vain ? thou art wash'd in the laver of regeneration , and canst thou wallow with the swine in the mire ? thou hast known the way of righteousness , and wilt thou with the dog return to the vomit ? or art thou not afraid of that saying , that dogs must stand without ? thou art called to be faithful , and hast given thy faith to god ; wilt thou break thy faith , and hope to be guiltless at this bar ? will not god revenge this breach , or canst thou think he will let thee go unpunish'd for thy treacheries ? how canst thou expect the performance of his promises , while thou art so false to thy engagements ? thou hast vow'd thy self to him both in baptism and the supper of the lord , and canst thou imagine , that thy perjuries will not be remembred when thou comest to look the judge in the face ? by giving thee opportunity of becoming a christian , god hath made thee a king , and wilt thou run to the bramble , and say , come thou and reign over me ? as a king , thou hast power given thee to vanquish flesh and blood , to tread upon lions and adders , to defie principalities and powers , and to crush devils , and wilt thou make thy self a slave to those enemies , over which god hath given thee power to trample them under thy feet ? as a king thou art to appear before him , and wilt thou come in the posture of a miserable vassal ? shall those passions rule over thee which thy god hath given thee for servants and handmaids ? and what a dismal sight will it be , when thou art to come before the throne laden with conquests , to appear fettered with chains and the devils trophies ? god designs thee to be his priest ; this is one of the priviledges that came by the blood of christ ▪ but where are thy sacrifices ? the sacrifice of fervent prayer , the sacrifice of an humble and contrite heart , the sacrifice of praise , and delight in god and wilt thou come without the mar● of thy office before the great shepherd and bishop of souls ? thou art enlightned by the spirit of god , and do● thou think to live in darkness , and after all to share in the boundless inheritance with the children of light how unlike thy self wilt thou appea● before god , if thou come without these qualifications ? thou art a christian but where is the life of christ tha● should be in thee ? will the judg● ever take thee for his sheep , when it'● evident , thou dost not hear his voice ? how ridiculous is that man that hangs out a bush , and yet hath no wine to sell ? and how foolish is that apothecary that writes glorious names upon his pots , when the rich drugs that are named , have no being in his shop ? and will it not tend to thy everlasting confusion that thou hast had the name of a christian , and done nothing like a christian ? thus the particular proceedings of that future judgment must be applied to our selves , if we resolve that the prospect of a future judgment shall damp our carnal delights and satisfactions , and without using this method , we do but trifle , and talk of breeding mountains , and bring forth ridiculous mice ; play with religion , and are not in good earnest , when we say , we believe a future account . 3. but neither the reflections aforesaid , nor the application we have spoken of , will make any deep impression , except all be seconded with earnest prayer , that god by his holy spirit working in our minds , would make the attempt effectual ; this must set to the seal , drive in the nail , and clench it . the eternal spirit must give success to these enterprizes , and in vain do we plant or water , except he gives the increase . he is that anointing , which must supple the soul , and crown all with laurels and victory . by strength of thought , and application , the fort of sin may be assaulted ; but without this spirit lends his helping hand , it will never be taken or subdued . his power must overcome the oppositions our flesh and the world will certainly make in this case , and if he blows upon our hearts , the strong holds of iniquity , like the walls of jericho , will fall , and nothing can stand before him , and he will certainly come in to our assistance , if our prayer and addresses be fervent and importunate . upon such devotions , the frequent discourses of this day of judgment , we read or hear , will be so far from bringing the thing into contempt with our souls , that our hearts will be awakened more , and it 's impossible , we can miscarry in the pious design , if with strong cries we apply our selves to him , who hath appointed a day , in the which he will judge the world in righteousness , by that man whom he hath ordained , whereof he hath given assurance unto all men , in that he hath raised him from the dead , acts 17. 31. that which we are chiefly to insist upon in these addresses , is , that we may get lively apprehensions of that day , and such apprehensions , as no pleasure , no folly , no temptation of the world may darken or destroy ; and here let the soul break forth into such ejaculations : o god , great and glorious , make me deeply sensible of that day , and of that hour , when the son of man will come , when the goats shall be separated from the sheep , the tares from the wheat , the good from the bad ; when neither prayers nor tears shall be able to deliver the guilty and polluted soul from the impendent danger ; when it shall be said to the humble , friend , sit up higher ; and to the proud fool , give place to him that is more honourable than thou art ; when the book of conscience shall be opened , and the dead judged by the contents of that book ; when the sinner will not know where to flee , and his spirits will fail him , for fear of him that sitteth upon the throne . o god! fix these considerations in my soul ; strengthen my faith , that i may believe these things unseen , without wavering . how apt is the world to get between this tremendous day , and my sight ? quicken thou mine eyes , that i may see through all impediments into that process , and reflect , what manner of person i ought to be in all holy conversation and godliness . lord jesu ! great judge of the world ! let the lines of that judgment be written so legibly in my mind , that my soul may delight to read them , that nothing may divert me from studying and considering them ; let this be my chief study , and let me feel the fame effect , that those men did , who were converted at thy apostles sermon ; let me be prickt at the heart , and cry out , what must i do to be saved ? let the thoughts of this day make a reformation in my outward and inward man , that it may appear , that thou hast touch'd me with a coal from the altar . o god , to whom vengeance belongs , shew thy self , and disperse my foolish desires . let my soul feel the transactions of that day as well as believe them . clear my understanding , and enlighten my mind , that i may have a livelier prospect of it . i will not let thee go except thou bless me : look down from the habitation of thy holiness , and visit my soul. expel the prejudices i have against severity of life , and with the thoughts of this day destroy them utterly . let the consideration of this day so work upon me , that my ambition , covetousness , pride , and anger may tremble at this sight , and leave their habitation , and may be ever afraid of returning . oh tell me , that this day will certainly come , and that the day of my death will be the emblem of it . oh assure me of the terror of that day , that shall burn like an oven , wherein all that do wickedly shall be stubble , and the fire shall burn them up , that it shall leave them neither root nor branch ; let me not take example by the careless world , that put this evil day far from them . let it be always before me : let my mind be never free from the contemplations of it . let it mingle with my business , with my meals , with my converse , with my sleep , and with all my undertakings . in every sin i am tempted to , let it frighten me in my going out and in my coming in , let it continually beat upon my mind . oh my lord ! let me muse upon this day of retribution , this day of recompence , this day of trouble , this day of terror , this day of joy , this day of comfort , this day wherein thy promises and threatnings will be fulfilled , this day which must decide the controversie of my life and death , this day which will bring to light all hidden things , this day which will revive the good , and confound the bad ; this day of consolation , this day of consternation , let me ruminate upon it , till thoughts of this judgment prevail with me to become a new creature ; thy grace must melt my stubborn heart ; without thee i can do nothing . o relieve me ! o come in with the light of thy countenance ! stir up my soul , and rouze it from its carelesness ! call to me as thou didst to thy people of old : let that voice sound in my ears , the great day of the lord is near , it is near , and hasteth greatly , even the voyce of the day of the lord ; the mighty man shall cry bitterly ; that day is a day of wrath , a day of trouble and distress , a day of wastness and desolation , a day of darkness and gloominess , a day of clouds , and thick darkness , a day of the trumpet , and alarm against the fenced cities , and against the high towers , and i will bring distress upon men , that they shall walk like blind men , be cause they have sinned against the lord , and their blood shall be poured out as dust , and their flesh as the dung ; neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the lord 's wrath. o let me not lose the sense of this day ! oh let me consider , how much better it is to be humble and contemptible , and to hunger and thirst , and to suffer here , and afterwards to enter into my great masters joy , than to be a slave to my lusts and pleasures here , and to be bound at last with everlasting chains of darkness , chains which never wear out , chains which always bind , are always grievous , always painful : oh let me consider , how much better it is to mourn here , and to water my couch with my tears , and to afflict my soul , and after this , to triumph with the spirits of men made perfect , than to feed upon pleasures , which at the best , are but like the crackling of thorns under a pot , and then to be sent away to howl with devils : help lord , help , that my soul may be concern'd at her danger , and despise the world , and prepare against that day , and encounter with powers , and principalities , and spiritual wickednesses in high places ; if by any means i might attain unto the resurrection of the dead . such prayers offered from a heart , that hath no reserves ; from a heart , resolved to do any thing rather than miss of salvation ; such prayers , i say , if they express the very desires of our souls , will certainly put death and paleness into our sensual pleasures , and oblige us to entertain other thoughts of the gauds and gaieties of the world , than now we have , and make us sensible , that this casting such a damp on the foolish fatisfactions of the flesh with the prospect of that day , is not only a task fit for hermits , and melancholick scholars , and contemplative men , but a duty incumbent on all that carry immortal souls in their breasts , which calls me to the fourth point . 4. whether every man is bound to embitter his carnal delights with this prospect ? to this i must answer in the affirmative : for though the young man be particularly mentioned here , yet since the expression in the text reaches all men who are fit for action , all such must necessarily fall under the obligation of this duty , and all that are capable of such delights , are bound to make use of the aforesaid consideration , in order to this self-denial ; if the young man is obliged to this seriousness , much more older men ; if god will not allow of these delights in youth , they must necessarily be intolerable in years of greater maturity ; and if the tender age be concerned to embitter them with this prospect , when it meets with any temptation to them ; without all peradventure the stronger cannot be excused . and the reasons are these following : 1. if they be not embitter'd with such thoughts as these , they will infallibly lead the soul into innumerable dangers ; and there is no man but is obliged to preserve his soul from danger . it is said of the prodigal , luke 15. 13. that he took his journey into a far countrey ; these sensual pleasures alienated his soul from god , drove it away from him , made him travel as far as hell ; the truth is , the soul is lost in such sensual pleasures , they wear out the bright notions the soul had of god and religion ; as it is said of the sicilian dogs , that running through the sweet and flowery fields , they lose their sent in hunting ; so the soul , where these pleasures , these white devils become her familiars , loses the noble apprehensions it once had of gods omniscience and omnipresence , of his holiness and goodness , and of the truth of his promises and threatnings ; and these characters , like letters written with bad ink , vanish , and consequently the life of the soul ; for which reason the prodigal , who drowned himself in these delights , is said to be dead , v. 32. these choak the good seed that 's sown in the noble ground ; and as you have seen a field of wheat , where the red poppies spring up as fast as the richer grain , though the proud flowers are pleasing to the eye , yet they retard and hinder the growth of the more useful blade , and suck away the moisture that should have fed the other ; so sensual delights , where they are taken in as partners , and suffered to grow in the soul , in which some fruits of the spirit do appear , in a short time blast those excellent fruits , the effects of the holy ghost , or education , or the ministry of the word , and prove bryars and thorns , which will not fuffer any of the better corn to grow under them . mans soul and body are like two buckets , while the one comes up full , the other goes down empty : carnal delights advance the brutish or fleshly part , make it grow strong , lusty and vigorous , whereby it wrests the scepter out of the hand of reason , and the soul loses her strength , and power , and sagacity in spiritual things , grows weak and faint , and at last expires and dies ; i mean the vertuous principles , which either kind nature , or kinder grace , or afflictions , or some other means and instruments have incorporated with the soul , which indeed are the life of that excellent creature ; and the soul being thus dead , it falls a prey to devils , who rejoyce over so great a prey , and lead it in triumph , take it prisoner , and make it draw in their victorious chariot ; and now all the curses of the law are in force against it , the threatnings of the gospel become her portion , and there is nothing left to stand betwixt her and eternal grief and anguish , but the slender thred of this mortal life ; which , if it chance to break or tear , the soul sinks irrecoverably into the gulph of perdition , from whence there is no returning ; so fatal is the influence of these flattering guests , which in time starve their keeper , and finding the house empty , swept and garnished , like the evil spirit spoken of , matth. 12. 45. go and take with them seven other spirits more wicked than themselves , and they enter in , and dwell there , and the last state of that man is worse than the first ; and thus they plunder , and boldly rob the soul of her riches , and hinder her from that holiness which is her food , her cordial , and her greatest support , and without which no man can see the lord ; they had need therefore be embittered with something that 's sour and unpleasant to flesh and blood , can smite the stream , and turn those sweeter waters into blood , which nothing will do more effectually than the aforesaid prospect . 2. this embittering of sensual and carnal delights is a thing of the greatest concernment , and therefore must be necessary , and all must be concerned in the vertuous enterprize ; the greatest blessings ( the want of which make a man perfectly miserable ) depend upon it , even god's love of complacency , and the application of christ's merits , and the benefits of his death and passion ; these belong not to the soul , that is enamoured with sensual delights , no more than they appertain to dogs or swine ; nay , they are useless and insignificant to such a soul , as much as the mathematicks are to an ass or ideot . there is a perfect antipathy betwixt these and the comforts we speak of ; for they are intended only for humble , broken , contrite hearts , which temper a person that 's fond of sensual delights ; is not capable of , nor can such a man relish them , they are as hay , and straw , and stubble to him , and like a person , whose appetite hath been spoiled by a raging fever , he looks upon them as unsavoury and insipid food , and though he may talk of them , yet it is only as blind men do of colours . as it is in nature , the meat we eat must be agreeable to our stomachs , so it is in grace . there must be a holy principle within , that makes these spiritual comforts agreeable to it ; but sensual delights destroy that principle , and as darkness drives out light , so these two are incompatible ; and indeed our blessed saviour is very peremptory in his assertion , that he who doth not deny himself , cannot be his disciple , matth. 16. 24. and what self-denial can there be , where we do not deny our selves in that which is most pernicious to our better part ? for so are these sensual delights : not to be christ's disciple , is to have no part in him : not to have any part in him , is to be none of his sheep ; and not to be of his sheep , i● to be placed with the goats at the lef● hand in the last day ; and what the consequence of that is , you may read , matth. 25. 41. it 's true , maugre all that we can say to the contrary , men who are resolved to indulge themselves in their brutish delights , will , notwithstanding the contradiction they must needs be guilty of , believe that they are christ's disciples , and favourites of heaven , and that christ hath purchased eternal life for them , and that at last they shall enjoy it ; but alas ! they know not what eternal life , nor what believing means ; as well may a man in bedlam fancy him self to be a king , as such persons , that they are the beloved of god , while they live in that which is most contrary to his nature , and like enemies to the cross of christ , like persons that have nothing but body , nothing but flesh ▪ nothing but sense about them . if men may be saved contrary to christs word , contrary to his declaration , contrary to all the most solemn protestations he hath made in the gospel , then such men may be saved , not else ; who can reflect upon these doings without indignation , or grief , or sorrow , or wishing for rivers of tears ? that men should pretend to own the gospel , and yet live directly contrary to the laws of it , argues either malice , or distraction , or stupid ignorance ; yet with such men for the most part we have to deal ; which makes s. paul's exhortation highly reasonable , finally , brethren , pray for us , that the word of the lord may have free course , and be glorified , and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men ; for all men have not faith , 2 thes. 3. 1 , 2. 3. this embittering our carnal and sensual delights , is that which men for certain shall wish they had done , when they come to stand before the great tribunal . in that day mens eyes will be opened , and things will appear to them in other colours than now they do . their understandings will not be clogg'd with this world , or divertisements . they will have other apprehensions of the nature of vertue and holiness , and the truth of what christ hath delivered in the gospel : the reasonableness of his precepts , the equity of his commands , the excellency of his doctrine , the divinity of his miracles , the infallible certainty of his promises and threatnings will all shine bright in their eyes ; of all these they will be throughly convinced , and no doubt , no scruple , no ambiguity will remain as to any of these points ; the vileness of their pleasures , the brutishness of their satisfactions , the rashness of their delights , the baseness of their enjoyments , the brightness of those vertues they have despised , the glory of that grace which they might have had , and would not , and the trivialness of the things they preferr'd before these , will then appear so plain , so legible , that there will be no room left for ignorance . it 's true , these things might be known here , and would men take the right way , they might come to be convinced and perswaded of them on this side eternity ; for some we find are fully satisfied as to these particulars , and walk sutably to them , and therefore it cannot be impossible for others to attain to it ; but their insensibleness is rather an argument of stupid negligence , and wilful laziness ; and so it must be , where people are not , or pretend not to be satisfied in things of this nature . it is therefore necessary there should a time come , when they shall be able to make no excuse , nor to evade the force of these truths , and when they shall behold how wise a choice the self-denying soul hath made , and what her mortifications , and severities do end in , what applauses they receive in heaven , what kind looks from the everlasting father , what honour , what dignity , what preferment is designed and appointed for her , how such a soul triumphs at this time over hell , and devils , dares all the furies of the burning-lake , scorns those foes which led the sensual sinner captive , makes her nest among the stars of heaven , is placed in the quire of angels , meets with all the caresses of a gracious god , is encirled with laurels , and crowns of joy , and all her misery , and sorrows , and fears are at an end . reason tells us that the sensual sinner , when he shall behold all this , will wish , he had follow'd her example , for that 's the necessary and eternal consequence of all imprudent actions , especially those that are grosly so ; for afterward men do as naturally wish , that they had acted the part of wise men , as balaam , that he might die the death of the righteous . thus men become wise after the fact , and when they find what fools they have been , would be content that they had foreseen the evil , and hid themselves : who would not wish in that day he had embittered his sensual delights , that finds he is undone by eating of those luscious apples ? and i need not tell you , that it is every man's interest not to do that which he will wish he had not done , when it is too late . but of this i have said enough before . the next point follows , and is a case of conscience , how far sensual delights must be embittered with this prospect . 5. whether a christian that would be saved , is upon this account obliged to forbear and abandon all sensual and worldly delights and recreations whatsoever ? so not a few have thought in the primitive times which made them retire from the world , and deny themselves in all the comforts of this life , and put themselves to very great hardships and self-denials , being of opinion , that they who laughed here , would mourn hereafter , and such as enjoyed the good things of this life , would be miserably poor hereafter . they looked upon the two worlds as opposites , and consequently believed , that the means to arrive to the happiness of the future , were directly contrary to all present satisfactions ; they concluded , that they who would be happy hereafter , must be unhappy here ; and that they who would be happy here , could not be so hereafter ; from hence rose their selling all they had , and giving it to the poor , and the strange severities they used upon their bodies , whereof i have discoursed elsewhere ; and indeed the gospel gives very little encouragement to any thing that savours of worldly pleasure , nor do the apostles allow much liberty in this particular ; whether it were that they thought that all sensual delights were improper for a state of persecution , in which the church then lived , or whether it was , that they were afraid such delights would damp their spiritual fervour ; this is certain , that there is little to be gathered from their writings in favour of sports and recreations . yet as strict as the gospel is , it grants that we have bodies as well as souls , and that if the bow be not unbent sometimes , the string will crack and become useless ; and though its possible for our minds to soar so far above the world , as to know and care for no other delights but what savour of god and the glories of another life ; yet those spiritual delights will not be of any long continuance , without the body be allowed sutable refreshment , and hath its intervals of ease and relaxation . were not some divertisements lawful , christ would scarce have vouchsafed his presence at the wedding-feast in cana , much less provided them wine to encourage temperate chearfulness ; and hither may be referred st. john the evangelist's playing sometimes with a bird , and going into a common bath , whereof ecclesiastical histories give us an account ; yet since there is nothing more common with men , than to confound their sinful delights with lawful recreations , it will be necessary here , to explain the point in these following porticulars : 1. this must be laid down as a grand principle of our religion , that a spiritual delight in god , in a crucified saviour , and in the blessed effects and influences of the holy ghost , in the graces and fruits of the spirit , in feeling the operations of the divine power and glory upon our souls , in the precious promises of of the gospel , in the revelations , god hath vouchsafed to mankind , in the good we see wrought in our selves and others , in the providences of god , and in contemplation of his various dealings with the several states , orders and degrees of men , in psalms , and hymns , and praises of the divine majesty , in the thoughts and expectations of a better life , in the treasures god hath laid up for them that fear him , in another world , and in the various priviledges , prerogatives and advantages of holy men , &c. it is certain , i say , that delighting and rejoycing in such spiritual objects , is the chief , the principal and sovereign delight which a christian is with greatest application of mind to labour after , and in comparison of this , is obliged to count all these outward comforts dross , and dung , and dogs ▪ meat ; this is the delight which must engross his desires , affections and inclinations ; this must rule in his soul , this must be mistress and queen regent in his mind ; to this all must stoop , and then things cannot but go well , if this be secured and established . without worldly pleasure , thousands of saints have arrived to everlasting bliss , but without this none ; sensual delights are no part of a christians comfort ; but this spiritual delight is the one thing necessary ; and till a prospect of a future judgment causes this delight to rise in our souls , whatever sudden impression it may make sometime , the plant is not of our heavenly fathers planting . such must be the temper of our souls ; in the aforesaid objects our souls must delight more than in all riches ; and this delight being once setled in us , such worldly delights as are subservient to this , and do neither diminish , nor darken , nor hinder , nor quench it , may justly be said to be lawful . 2. this being premised , we do not deny but such worldly delights , as are neither sinful in themselves , nor apparent occasions of evil , are allowable . and of this nature are all those masculine exercises , whereby the body is preserved in health , and rendred more capable of serving the soul in her religious severities ; as walking , or riding abroad to take the air , planting , gar , dening , raising curious plants and flowers , running , wrestling , fowling , hawking , hunting , fishing , leaping , vaulting , casting of the bar , tossing the pike , riding the great horse , running at the ring , and such divertisements which stir the blood , make us active and vigorous , fit us for greater and more useful enterprizes , and promote chearfulness and liveliness ; such cannot be supposed to be forbid by the gospel , provided that they be used , 1. seasonably ; not on those days and hours which are appointed , either for devotion , or more weighty business ; and therefore these cannot be proper exercises of the lords day , or days of fasting and abstinence , or days of mourning . 2. with moderation ; so that much time be not spent upon them , and our love to them may keep within its due bounds and limits . 3. for a good end ; which must be to render our selves fitter for the discharge of our duty to god and man. 4. with purposes of self denial ; so that we can leave or quit them for a greater good ; when either a work of piety , or an act of charity is to be performed , or scandal to be prevented ; where these limitations are not observed , the honey turns into gall , and that which deserv'd only our civility and transient respect , becomes our idol , and our souls receive considerable hurt , which , had these divertisements been used with circumspection , might have been beholding to them in some measure for their welfare and edification . 3. from this rule we may rationally infer , that delight in orchards , gardens , rivers , ponds , either natural or artificial , and in the comforts of wife , children , friends , in our trades , and relations , houses , buildings and possessions , the bountiful hand of heaven hath bestowed upon us , is consistent with a serious prospect of a future judgment ; not but that excesses may be committed in this delight , as the best and most harmless things may be abused ; yet where we delight in them , as they are the gifts of god , more than as they are satisfactions to the flesh , and build not upon them , rest not in them , but still look upon them as things volatile and transitory , and are ready to part with them , whenever providence shall think fit to remove them , without grumbling or murmuring , and do let the world see , that in these delights we forget not the rules of gravity , modesty , decency and charity , they may lawfully be called inoffensive , and as a snake whose teeth are pulled out , handled without danger : and though solomon calls these delights vanity , yet that which made them so , was the immoderateness of his love toward them , and his setting his heart , and doating upon them , and placing felicity in them , making them his mark , which should have been only a passage to nobler enjoyments , and fixing there , where he should have lodged only as in an inn , and so marched on to the city , which hath foundations , whose builder and maker is god. delight in things of this nature , may soon run beyond its bounds , if either too much cost be spent upon them , whereby the poor are robbed of their due , or men forget to employ their thoughts upon sublimer objects . 4. the same may be said of delight in musick , whether vocal or instrumental ; a delight harmless enough , if used as salt , not as meat ; as sauce , not as food ; as a bit on the by , not as a standing diet ; and though the men the prophet speaks of , isa. 5. 12. are severely checked for the harp and the viol , the tabret and pipe in their feasts , yet it was because they made their musick an appendix to their drunkenness , and as it is said in the same verse , regarded not the work of the lord , neither considered the operation of his hands . david's playing upon the harp was no sin , while it was not to encourage wantonness , but with an intent either to praise god , or to divert saul's melancholy ; nor can i discommend the pythagoreans , who , before they went to sleep , composed their minds with musick . we read in gellius , aelian , and others , how men have been cured not only of irregular passions , but of very strange distempers of the body by musick ; and what is signally conducing to the good and benefit of mankind , we must suppose is allowed by that god , who himself consults the health and welfare of his creatures ; and this made jubal's profession lawful , who was the inventer of musical instruments , and therefore called the father of all such as handle the harp and organ . the end for which such delights are used , makes them either tolerable , or impertinent ; and as he that designs them to refresh either his own , or other mens weary spirits , and to glorifie god by them , deserves commendation , so he that makes them instrumental to feed mens lusts , or to promote lasciviousness and lightness in conversation , renders himself unworthy of the name of a christian ; and therefore those fidlers and musicians , who shew themselves at merry meetings , or promiscuous dancings , which serve only to pamper the flesh , and to encourage extravagance and luxury , will be able to give but a very sad account of their profession ; and if ever they come to take a serious view of their past lives , will have reason to wish that they had spent that time in mourning for their sins : christianity , which allows us moderate recreation , bids us abhor all delights which serve to render the mind vain and foolish , and alienate the soul from her true centre , or tempt us to mispend the precious hours , the almighty hath lent us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling . 5. delight in books , and natural sciences , such as astronomy , physick , philosophy , mathematicks , histories of all sorts , and in searching into the nature of plants , stones , minerals , fruits , juices , herbs , gums , birds , fishes , beasts , &c. as it is a thing useful , so it cannot be contrary to the rules of christianity ; and though astrology , as it is abused into telling of fortunes , and good or ill success in businesses , discovering of thefts and stoln goods , and knowing future events , is no proper object of this delight , partly , because the rules are uncertain and imaginary ; partly , because it tempts people to unlawful curiosities ; partly , because the scripture forbids these fears and hopes , which are grounded upon the aspect of the signs of heaven , and looks upon them as mistrusts of the divine providence ; yet that 's no argument but that a man may lawfully with some delight enquire into the nature , and influences of the stars , to see , whether what the world hath talked of them , is grounded upon any scientifick principles . i need not say here , that delight in magick , or the black-art , as they call it , is as great abomination in the sight of god , as the sin it self ; nor can i give any favourable judgment of delight in palmestry , because that art seems to interfere with that self-resignation and dependance upon the wisdom and goodness of god , which is required of us ; and even delight in lawful arts , books and sciences , must have its rules , whereby it must steer its course ; for the affections may stick too close to delights of this nature , and the delight justle out our warmer desires after that knowledge , wherein consists eternal life . an inordinate delight in knowledge , was the cause of our first apostasie ; and it is too often seen that our ambition to know , slackens our endeavours after a practical love of god ; and while we doat upon speculation , we forget to do that which would make us like our father which is in heaven . 6. delight in drinking and tipling , must needs be as odious to god , as delight in wantonness , or uncleanness , or lasciviousness , or lechery , or impure kisses , touches , glances , passions , desires , thoughts , gestures , postures and imaginations , or feeding our eyes with obscene sights , and spectacles , or filthy , smutty , and lewd communications , discourses , jests and expressions , &c. for this is to delight in things god hath forbidden , and to take pleasure in that , to which he hath threatned the burning lake , and the worm that dies not ; and though custom hath made delight in drinking fashionable , and he that doth so , is not at all reproached , or thought the worse man for it , yet who knows not , that god's thoughts are not as our thoughts , nor will the almighty make the customs of this world his rule in passing sentence in the last day . not but that a man may delight in a cup of drink , as it is the gift of god , when he is dry , and nature requires it , and necessity calls for it ; but there is a vast difference betwixt satisfying the meer necessities of nature ▪ and gratifying the desires of voluptuousness and idleness ; to delight in the former , is to preserve , but to delight in the other , is to weaken and destroy nature ; and where men are at a loss how to spend their time , and therefore make drinking their delight and sport ▪ they act like solomon's mad-man , who cast fire-brands , arrows and death and said , am i not in sport ? prov. 26 18 , 19. nor is it the example of gentlemen , and persons of wealth and quality , that will justifie this dangerous delight at the great tribunal ; since believing the word of god is a greate● duty , than to regard our neighbours practices ; and did the whole world espouse a vice , this would not absolve a man from his obligation to obey that known law , exod. 23. 2. thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil . the pretence men have in this case that they have no calling or imployment , or have nothing to do , and therefore must some way or other divert themselves , is as vain and sinful , as their delight ; and the time will come when they will be convinced , that they were under no impossibility to employ themselves in useful exercises , there being innumerable opportunities of doing good , of exhorting , teaching , admonishing , helping , assisting and encouraging our neighbours , and improving our own minds , and far better ways of spending our time , than in drinking , pledging of healths , talking idly , censuring our neighbours , pleasing our appetite , keeping ill company , and throwing that away upon our lusts which might with greater satisfaction have been given to christ's distressed members . 7. delight in cards and dice , is a sport , which very few divines and wise men do approve of ; and those that have allow'd of it , have given such restrictions and limitations , as makes it evident , that they wish it were rather totally left , than practised with so much danger as this delight is commonly attended with . the council of eliberis would not admit any person to the holy communion , that plaid at tables ; and if the offender did repent of his sport , it was a whole year after his repentance , before they would admit him to the holy table ; and to this purpose speaks the sixth council general of constantinople . the truth is , this delight is a manifest occasion of evil ; and where there is one that comes off without sinning , there are forty that involve themselves in various transgressions . what wise man would stand upon a precipice , when he can walk in a beaten road ? and where men love to go to the utmost limit of what is lawful , they commonly fall , and engage themselves to commit errors they did not think of ; the holy ghost therefore hath not thought fit to reveal to us these utmost bounds , that we might keep within the compass of known duties , and by a due distance from what is sinful , preserve our innocence , and gods favour . we blame children for medling with knives and swords they know not how to use ; and why should we be guilty of a folly and imprudence we condemn in them ? he that abstains from cards and dice , most certainly doth not sin , and who would not take the surest side of the hedge ? those casuists who do allow of this recreation , make it lawful only with these provisoes : 1. provided , that men play without eagerness , or being much concern'd . 2. that they give no occasion to men to quarrel . 3. that they give all the money they win to the poor , or some pious use , else it is a sign they do not play for recreation , but for gain . 4. that they spend but very little time in it , not above an hour or two . 5. that they avoid all light , vain , and foolish words , jests and expressions . 6. that the end they propose to themselves , be only to exhilarate their spirits ; that they may with greater chearfulness apply themselves to more useful labours . 7. that they play without using any fraud or deceit , 8. that they give no offence to them who are weak in faith. 9. that they do not comply with the sinful actions , speeches and behaviour of those they play with . and with these restrictions , i question not , but this recreation may be lawful ; and the same may be said of bowling , and some other divertisements of this nature . what some divines object here , that playing at cards and dice , is a thing of the nature of lots , and these being things sacred , ought not to be made jocular , hath not that substance in it , which at first it seems to have ; for though these games and the events of them , be things casual , yet every thing that 's casual , is not of the nature of a lot , else a mans putting his hand in his pocket , and taking out what money comes next to his hand , and dropping it among people that stand underneath , whereby one gets a shilling , another sixpence , a third a groat , must be called a lot too : but however , let 's grant , that these games are of the nature of lots , how doth it follow from hence , that all lots are things sacred , because sometimes there is a sacred use made of them , must therefore the use of them be sacred at all times ? there is a sacred use made of dreams , of bread and wine , of clay and spittle , &c. but must these things therefore be sacred at all times , and in all places ? as well might a man infer , that all worship is religious , because some is such ; if it be said , that in lots there is either a tacit or express imploring of a divine determination ; i answer , that in some lots there hath been such a thing practised ; but that therefore the same must be practised in all lots whatsoever , is absurd to imagine . the apostles indeed , acts 1. 24. when they cast lots , add a prayer to it ; but the additional prayer is not therefore necessary in all lots , because some persons upon special occasions have made use of it . a lot , or casting of lots , is properly an action of meer contingency , used to determine a question by the event , which action , if it be used in things sacred , and of great consequence , may justly be seconded with formal prayer and imploration of the divine direction ; but if used in things civil , ordinary and trivial , there is no need of any such sacred rite or ceremony : that god hath a hand in all lots , is no argument , that no lot may therefore be jocular ; for god hath a hand in our laughter , and in other contingent things which are jocular , yet doth it not follow from thence , that they are therefore absolutely unlawful , but only as circumstances , and the abuse of them may make them so . however , my intent is not to turn advocate for gamesters , who abuse these recreations , as much as the drunkard doth his wine and strong liquor . i have therefore limited the sport , which limitations shew how dangerous the recreation is , and how he that plays at these games walks in a manner upon thorns , and had therefore need walk very cautiously , that some mischief doth not befal him . if the aforesaid restrictions be observed , it is a sign we make some conscience of our ways , and with david , set the lord in all places before our eyes . i am sensible , men will plead impossibility of keeping to these bounds , and pretend that this way they shall have no sport ; but if it be so , and they cannot play without greater liberty or licentiousness , it is not only far better , but necessary totally to abstain from it . he that knows such a diet will not agree with him , by a natural instinct forbears , and refuses to meddle with it ; and if we know that by such recreations our souls cannot live according to the strict rules of conscience , what can be more reasonable than to shun and avoid them ? wisdom is as necessary in spiritual things as in temporal ▪ and he that doth not practise it in the concerns of his soul , as well as in those of his body , cannot be supposed to be a man of any ardent devotion . 8. delight in feasting , or in going to feasts , though this seems to be harmless , and some will wonder , why this should be brought upon the stage , and the lawfulness of it questioned ; yet there are rocks even in this delight , which if the soul doth not shun , it may be in danger of ship-wrack ; and though its true , that eating , and drinking , and sleeping , and using physick , where the body is in danger , are necessary delights , and such , without which nature cannot be kept in its due order and health , and aptitude for working ; yet intemperance may be committed in all these , and consequently , these delights deserve to be taken notice of , and fenced with sutable cautions , that we do not exceed our measure . and as nothing is more certain , than that the voluptuousness of cleopatra , heliog abulus , apicius , and other gluttons , is a most detestable vice , so it may justly be demanded , whether feasting , which borders upon that voluptuousness , especially if a man take delight and pleasure in it , may not deserve very great circumspection ? plato looked upon dionysius as a monster , because he did eat twice a day ; yet cannot this be a rule , whereby we may give judgment of this delight , since the constitutions , climates , countreys , and the complexions and necessities of men require various applications of food and nourishment . that feasts are things lawful in themselves , no man of sense or reason can deny ; for not only the examples of holy men in scripture , but gods command , or permission to the jews , deut. 4. 6. are a sufficient demonstration ; and the love-feasts the primitive christians used , st. jude approves of , v. 12. not to mention that they are bonds of union , and preservatives of friendship and respect , and that the universal consent of nations doth warrant them . these feasts , as they are usual either at inaugurations , or at nuptials , or upon some other solemn occasions , or among friends and relations , so the delight a christian takes either in making them , or in going to them , must be regulated by these following observations . as to the party that makes them ; 1. that he do not confine his invitation to the rich and wealthy , and who are able to feast him again , but extend it withal to the poor and naked , to the blind and to the lame , according to christ's rule , luke 14. 13 , 14. 2. that he do not make any feasts for ostentation sake , but with a pious intent of preserving and augmenting friendship , love and charity ; for ambition to be talked of and commended , is against the general prohibition of desiring vain glory , gal. 5. 26. 3. that he do not feast on those days on which a nation fasts , or humbles it self , to deprecate gods wrath and anger ; for this is expresly forbidden , amos 6. 4 , 5 , 6. 4. that he do not study too great curiousness , or delicacy in his dishes , nor bestow too much cost upon the entertainment ; for this looks like expecting of applauses , and catching the praises and admirations of men , which is below a philosopher , and therefore much more a christian. 5. that he leave every guest to his choice and liberty , and press no person to eat or drink more than satisfies nature , in which particular , ahashuerus his practice is to be commended , est. 1. 5. 6. that he suggest unto his guests opportunities to discourse of subjects grave and serious , either divinity or history , or something useful to the publick , or philosophy , whereby his friends may receive some edification ; and this seems to be the purport of st. paul's admonition , 1 cor. 10. 31. 7. that he encourage nothing of ribald talk , no promiscuous dancing , no ballads , no vain drinking of healths , no apish actions of fools and jesters , and give no occasion by word or deed to contention or unseemly behaviour in any man ; for this were to make himself accessory to other mens sins ; a thing contrary to the law of christ , 1 tim. 5. 22. as to the party that goes to a feast , his delight deviates from the rule of the gospel ; if , 1. he goes to it with no higher intent than to please , and to fill his belly with the good chear he hopes to find there . these are base ends , differ not from those of brutes , and discover a temper that hath not yet tasted of the powers of the world to come . it is true , whoever goes to a feast , goes with an intent to eat there ; but to a christian philosopher this is only a subordinate end ; in this he places no felicity , with this he doth not greatly please himself , but a desire to express his respect and affection to his friend , hopes of hearing or doing some good at such times , and a design by his own temperance and sobriety , to teach or invite others to their duty ; these are the principal ends which make him go : and this is most agreeable , not only to the rules of his faith , but to reason too . 2. his delight grows irregular and sinful , if he sits very long at it ; for hereby much time is lost , and god expresly condemns it , es. 5. 11. time , as it is one of the richest talents god vouchsafes us , so care must be taken , that much of it be not spent upon carnal satisfactions , which are things too mean to throw away so great a treasure upon ; and though that time at feasts and entertainments is well spent , which is spent in serious and profitable discourses and conferences , yet since these are altogether out of fashion , and people think they are not welcome except they may laugh at every trifle , and speak whatever comes next ; this makes spending but little time at such meetings necessary ; for the longer this unprofitable spending lasts , the greater grows our account , and with the account our inexcusableness . 3. his delight degenerates , if at such times he be not a strict observer of the rules of temperance . feasts , as they require guests , so they require self-denial in the guests too ; and though i cannot much commend the custom of the pythagoreans , who would come to a feast , and to let men see their victory over their appetite , depart from it without eating any thing ; yet to eat and drink with great moderation , is at such times the more necessary , by how much the temptations are greater ; and st. hierom's rule in this case , is so to eat and drink , as not to indispose our selves after it for prayer and meditation . 9. delight in fashionable cloaths and habits ; though the great liberty men and women take in things of this nature , hath infected peoples minds with that stupidity , that few do think it worth questioning whether it be lawful or no ; yet notwithstanding all this , he that shall impartially examine the various invectives the holy ghost makes against this delight , will think himself concern'd to be more inquisitive in this point ; cloaths as they were given , 1. to cover our nakedness . 2. to keep out cold and other injuries of the air. 3. to make a difference betwixt men and women . 4. to consult the health of our bodies , which being subject to sweats and perspirations , are hereby refreshed . 5. to distinguish men in places , offices , dignities , from the meaner sort , the noble from the ignoble , and consequently to keep up order in a common . wealth or kingdom ; as they were designed by the almighty for such uses , so we see that where persons suffer their affections to delight in the fineries , and fashions , and modishness of them , their minds are too often drawn away from more excellent satisfactions , vanity enters into them , and whatever formality they may keep up in matters of religion , spiritual things begin to be dull and insipid to them , at least their relish and admiration doth in a great measure decay and vanish . i know not how it comes to pass , but experience assures us , that simplicity in cloaths doth very much cherish seriousness , as vanity and excess in such things doth strangely weaken & debilitate its force and power ; and though cloaths seem to be foreign to religion , and small , inconsiderable trifles , yet so it is , that the smaller and the more trivial some things appear , the more insensibly they incroach upon the spiritual part , the soul , and render it earthly and sensual , and therefore deserve our greater cautiousness and circumspection . st austin therefore is very peremptory : he that is fond , saith he , of outward splendor , whether in cloaths , or other things , soon betrays himself that he is in love with the pomp and glory of the world nor can such a person deceive any serious man with a shew of holiness . as it was part of our saviour's province to reduce things to the primitive institution , so , if we reflect , how god ▪ when he cloath'd our first parents , did not study splendor , but necessity ; no● gayety , but conveniency ; and made them coats of skins , and by so doing ▪ warned us against pride and extravagance ; we shall find but little reason to be fond of over-curious and fashionable habits , especially if we cast our eyes upon the original of cloaths ; for sin caused shame , and shame produced cloathing . i do not deny , but that it is lawful to make use , not only of a plain and homely suit , but of richer vestments and habiliments ; for since god hath allowed us not only bread and water for our sustenance , but variety of food , if used with moderation and thanksgiving ; so i doubt not , but richer habits , especially if our places , offices , and stations , and ranks oblige us to it , may be allowable ; but it is one thing to go rich and gaudy meerly because our condition requires it , another to delight and take pleasure , and great satisfaction in it ; for this insensibly emasculates the mind , depresses it , and renders it vain and enamoured with the world , every man that strives for mastery , is temperate in all things , saith st. paul , 1 cor. 9. 25. it is evident , that we all profess striving for an incorruptible crown , and if temperance in all things be necessary in order to it , this temperance must necessarily appear in our cloaths , as well as diet , else the temperance is partial , and consequently no part of that wisdom which is from above . a christian should be the humblest , gravest , and modestest creature living ; and who can be so irrational as to think that delight in imitating every fashion , is agreeable to this gravity , modesty , and humility ? and though what judas said , john 12. 5. was spoke with an ill end , yet it may justly enough be applied to the case in hand ; why might not such things purely superfluous , be sold , and given to the poor ? that by such things there is injustice done to the poor , who might be fed with these superfluities , wise men have complained in most ages ; in the primitive church , when men priz'd religion at a higher rate , it was a thing very common for persons who were converted , for women especially , when god was pleased to give them a vehement desire after the felicity of the next life , to sell all their richer garments , and feed christ's poor disciples with the money , and for the future , to give that away to charitable uses , which formerly they used to bestow upon their luxury in cloathing . they knew they had nobler things to mind , than adorning this lump of flesh , which was shortly to be meat for worms , and to putrifie in the grave ; and thought , while they were curious in dressing , and covering their bodies , they should forget to trim their souls ; and while their better part and its beauty engrossed their desires and affections , they were the less curious in the setting out and garnishing of the other . women , as they are naturally more prone to this delight , so the apostles , in giving precepts about cloathing , do in a peculiar manner address themselves to them , justly supposing that if it be unlawful for them , men , who have not ordinarily that inclination nor those temptations to it that they have , ought to think themselves obliged to live above it ; and though i do not think , that in those places broidered hair , and gold , and pearls , and costly array , are absolutely forbidden , yet they are so far forbid , as they are impediments to godliness , to shame-facedness , sobriety , modesty , good works , and the growth of the hidden man in the heart , and to that ornament of a meek and quiet spirit , which is in the sight of god , of great price ; as is evident from the opposition the apostles make between the one and the other ; and that delight in such cloaths , is a great enemy to all these , i need produce no other argument , but what is drawn from common experience . that which is usually pleaded for peoples going rich , and splendid , that by doing so , they set poor men to work , who would be at a loss for a livelihood , if they did not take off their commodities , such as modish laces , ribbands , silks , velvets , embroideries , &c. is a pretence rather than an argument , and seems rather invented , as a salvo for peoples vanity , than a testimony of the sincerity of their intentions ; for , not to mention , that at this rate men might argue , that players , fencers , bull-baiters , juglers , &c. would want employment , if men did not go to see their sports ; were there no persons to take off such things at their hands , men would betake themselves to other trades and callings , and professions . however , in these cases , it 's worth examining our consciences , whether we wear these things out of compassion to the poor workmen , or out of pride , and delight in the pomp and splendor of the world ; and if we deal faithfully with our hearts , we shall soon find , that the pity we pretend to the workmen , is only a cloak to cover the secret satisfaction we take in conforming to the world ; and this is evident from hence , that let the workmen work never so hard , if the thing they make , be not exactly in the fashion , i see no person so chritable as to take it off of their hands . there is no doubt but a woman , who is married , is in a great measure obliged to please her husband , and the apostle seems to allow so much , 1 cor. 7. 34. and from hence this conclusion is commonly drawn , that if it be the husbands pleasure , that the wife shall go fine and gaudy , it is her duty to obey ; nor do i perceive , that divines do ordinarily find fault with this conclusion ; for fine cloaths being things in themselves indifferent , lawful , or unlawful , according to the end and design men and women have in them , and the use they make of them ; if the party's conscience that wears them , bears her witness , that not out of any delight or satisfaction , or secret pleasure in such gauds and empty things , but meerly out of obedience to her husband , she both buys and puts them on , much may be said in her justification ; for though this desire in her husband may be irregular , and an argument that he hath no very great sense of religion , yet the thing being in it self indifferent , the wife in this case may lawfully comply , as mothers and nurses please froward children by whistling , or singing a childish tune to them . it was from hence , that queen esther professes to god in her prayer , that it was not any fondness to that rich habit she wore , or any delight she took in it , that made her put it on , but a desire to comply with the king ; and that , as to the cloaths themselves , she looked upon them as menstruous rags . so that the result of all is this : rich cloaths may be worn , 1. provided that we do not wear them out of emulation , with an intent to vye with our neighbours , or to let them see , that we have as much money , and can afford it as well as they . 2. provided that all pride and ostentation in things of this nature be laid aside , and that we do not think our selves the better men for these accoutrements , nor despise others , who either will not , or cannot imitate us . 3. provided that we do not make them allurements to lusts , or baits of vanity , nor wear them to attract the applause , and courtship , and commendations of spectators , nor hope to be therefore admired by the croud , or men of little consideration , nor seek to deceive others by this outside , thereby to obtain our base and sinister designs . 4. provided that the place , calling , office and dignity in the kingdom or common-wealth we live in , require it . 5. provided that we spend but very little time in putting on such habits . 6. provided that in the putting of them on , or wearing of them , we reflect much on the nobler garb of the king's daughter , which is all glorious within , and how far greater satisfaction it is to be cloathed with the garment of righteousness and humility . 7. provided that we do it only to please those whom god hath made our superiors and governors , whether in the civil or oeconomick state. 8. provided that in these habits we behave our selves with that modesty , gravity , and gentleness , as becomes christians . 9. provided that we do not go to the extream of every fashion , but keep within the compass of these modes , and imitate the most religious , and the most moderate persons . 10. provided that we do deny our selves in the number of them , and bestow the superfluous upon those that want them more than we , or give something equivalent to such as are in straights and necessities ; in a word , that we do not forget to cloath the naked , nor hide our selves from our own flesh , as god speaks , isa. 58. 7. with these restrictions i doubt not , but rich cloaths may lawfully be wore , though still i say , that the plainer and more modest our outward habit is , the nearer we approach that christian simplicity , which god hath the greatest value for . but for any delight in splendid habits , or being pleased , or tickling our fancy and imagination with them , that 's a thing which no serious christian can allow of , and the primitive believers were so peremptorily against it , that they scarce looked upon such persons as christians . to this purpose , st. cyprian doth very pathetically address himself to the virgins of that age. some of you , saith he , are rich , and abound in wealth , and these pretend that they may lawfully make a shew of their riches in their outward dress , and use those blessings god hath given them . but be it known to you , that she is properly rich , that is rich toward god , and she only wealthy , who is wealthy in christ jesus ; these are the true riches which are spiritual , divine , and heavenly , which ledd us unto god , and are like to continue with us in the presence of god for ever : but as to other things which are pleasing to the world , and remain in the world , those ought to be despised as much as the world it self , whose pomp and glory we then renounced , when in our baptism we gave our selves up to god. st. john therefore adjures us . love not the world , nor the things that are in the world ; for if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him ; for all that is in the world , the lust of the flesh , and the lust of the eye , and the pride of life , is not of the father , but is of the world , and the world passes away , and the lust thereof , but he that doth the will of god abideth for ever , 1 joh. 2. 15 , 16. therefore divine and eternal objects must be pursued , and all things done according to the will of god , that we may tread in our great masters steps . thou saist thou art rich , but st. paul answers the objection , and confines thy garments and habit to certain bounds , and so doth st. peter ; and if they oblige even wives to the observance of this rigor , and ecclesiastical discipline , who have somewhat to plead for themselves , because they must please their husbands , how much more is a virgin tied to live up to these holy rules , who hath no excuse for her gaudy dress ? thou saist , thou art rich , and canst afford it ; but all that thou canst do , is not therefore lawful to do , nor must the luxurious desires of the flesh , which rise only from ambition , go beyond the limits of virginity , since it is written , all things are lawful , but all are not expedient . thou saist , thou art rich , and therefore thinkest thou maist use what god hath bestowed upon thee ; use it in the name of god ; but then use it to such things as god hath commanded . let the poor find that thou art rich ; let the needy feel 〈◊〉 it thou dost abound ▪ gain the favor of thy god by thy patrimony , feed the hungry jesus , and lay up thy treasure there where thieves cannot break in and steal ; get thee possessions , but let them be celestial , such as the moth cannot corrupt , nor rust eat away , nor the hail destroy , nor the sun dry up , nor the rain melt away : thou sinnest against god , if thou thinkest thy riches are given thee not to make a wholesome use of them : god hath given man a voice , must he therefore sing amorous , and undecent , and obscene tunes with it ? god hath made iron , must thou therefore murther men with it ? and because he hath vouchsafed unto us frankincense , and wine , and fire , must we therefore sacrisice to idols ? or , because thy herds and flocks are great , must thou therefore commit idolatry with them ? riches are great temptations , except they be employed to pious uses . in scripture the where of babylon is brought in array'd in purple and scarlet colours , and decked with gold , and precious stone , and pearl , and her judgment is said to be great and terrible ; and the prophet esaias threatens a fatal humiliation to the daughters of sion , because of their bravery ; when they were exalted thus , they fell , being trimmed thus , they deserved to have their perfumes turned into a stink ; being deck'd with silk and purple , they could not put on christ ; being adorned with bracelets and jewels , they lost the true ornaments of their hearts and consciences ; who would not shun that whereby others have perished ? who would desire that which hath been a sword and arrow to others ? if a man should drop down dead upon drinking of a cup , we should conclude it was poyson that killed him ; and what stupid ignorance of the truth must it be , what madness to be fond of that which hath always done , and still doth hurt , and to imagine thou shalt not be undone by that , whereby thou knowest others have been ruined ? thus far st. cyprian , who lived about the year of our lord 248. an eminent bishop , and who afterwards died a martyr in christ's cause , and in all probability spoke not only his own sense but the judgment of the universal church in this point , i will conclude this subject with a passage out of tertullian , st. cyprian's master , who thus reasons the case with the women of his age : what means that saying , let your light shine before men ? why doth our lord call us the light of the world ▪ why doth he compare us to a city seated upon a hill , if we shine not in darkness , or do not stand up among the drowned part of the world ? if thou hide thy candle under a bushel , thou must needs , being left in the dark , be subject to numberless assaults . these are the things which make us lights of the world , even our good works . true goodness is not enamoured with darkness , but rejoyces to be seen , and is glad to be pointed at . a modest and shame-faced christian doth not think it enough , that he is so , but he delights to appear so too ; for such must be the fullness of his vertues , that it may burst out from the mind within , to the habit without , and press from the conscience to the outward man , that men from without may see what store , and treasure he hath in the secret recesses of his soul. voluptuousness , and wantonness must be renounced , for by these the vertue of faith loses its masculine vigor . i doubt the hand that hath been used to bracelets , will never endure the sturdiness of a chain for christ jesus ; nor can i apprehend , how the knee used to a soft garter will be able to endure the stocks , or racks for the gospel ; and i very much question , whether that neck which glistered with pearls , and precious stones , will ever yield unto the sword of persecution ; therefore my beloved , let 's chuse hard and uneasie things and we shall not feel them , let 's forsake the pleasant things of this world , and we shall not desire them ; these are the anchors of our hope ; let 's lay aside these outward gayeties , if we aim at the wedding garment in heaven ; let not gold prove the object of our love , by which the sins of israel are expressed ; let 's hate that which hath undone the patriarchs , and was adored by them after they had forsaken the fountain of living waters . come forth beloved , and set before you the rich attire of the prophets and apostles of our lord ; take your fairness from their simplicity , your blushes from their modesty , paint your eyes with their shamefacedness , and your lips with their self-denial in speaking ; instead of pendants , insert in your ears the word of god , and let your necks bear the yoke of christ jesus ; submit your heads to your own husbands ▪ and then you 'll be dressed like christians ; employ your hands about wool , and as much as you can , keep at home , and this will render you more amiable than gold ; clothe your selves with the silk of innocence , with the velvet of holiness , and with the purple of chastity , and thus adorned , god will fall in love with you . 10. delight in painting and patching , and artificial meliorations of the fate and skin , to please and delude spectators , or to draw others into admiration of our persons , as it is a thing which the very heathens have condemn'd for reasons drawn from the light of nature , so it is almost needless to discourse of it , or to batter it with arms and weapons out of the magazine of the gospel . this delight hath in most ages been infamous , and the thing it self counted incongruous with the law of our very creation . the fathers of the second , third and fourth centuries , derive the original of it from the devil , and will allow nothing of this nature in any person that looks like a christian . it is a sign that the spirit of christ doth not dwell in a person that dares delight in such vanities ; for that spirit inclines the soul to other things , makes her regardless of beauty and external comeliness , obliges her solicitous about inward accomplishments , and how she may please him that died , and hath purchased an eternal salvation for her ; and it 's enough , that he that hath not the spirit of christ , is none of his . a soul that hath the spirit of christ , hath other things to do , than spend her time and care in mending the face ; for they that are after the flesh , do mind the things of the flesh ; but they that are after the spirit , the things of the spirit . and what are the things of the spirit , but setting our affections upon the things which are above , meditating of the purchased possession , longing after the light of god's countenance , despising the world , self-denial , taking up the cross of christ , a transcendent love of god , a burning zeal to his glory , laying up in store a good foundation against the time to come , growing strong in the lord , and in the power of his might , resisting temptations , growing in grace , labouring after a greater hatred of sin , a greater fore-taste of heaven , a greater conformity to the will of god , a greater sense of the love of god , &c. and he that in good earnest minds these things , will have no great desire to busie himself about such pitiful , trivial and impertinent things ; these will be trash and dirt to him , and his soul will soar above them , and scorn them , as the devils lime ▪ twigs , whereby he lies in wait to deceive . and though i will not deny , but that a man in case of danger , and when his life is in jeopardy , or when he would pass through a party of his enemies , may lawfully disguise himself , and by art change and alter his countenance , that he may not be known ; and though a man who hath lately had the small pox , or hath been sun-burnt , or whose face hath been parch'd with wind , may lawfully take care by ordinary helps to reduce his face to his former , or native colour and complexion ; and though we do not judge it against the law of god , to hide some great blemish or defect in the face , whereby spectators may be offended , and particularly women that are with child , frighted ; and though it is not inconsistent with the rule of the gospel , to wash the face when dirty ; yet all those pains and additional washes , and artificial black spots , whereby men and women endeavour either to set off their complexion the better , to give themselves a more pleasing colour , or to mend their meen , or to make themselves look more beautiful , or to attract the eyes , and admiration , and sometimes the unlawful amours of those they converse withal , are things which a christian must be a stranger to . when i say men , it is not without reason ; for we read of such a beast as paul , the second pope of rome , who whenever he went abroad , painted himself , that the beauty of his face might in some measure be answerable to the comeliness of his stature , which was procere and tall ; and it is to be feared , that this effeminacy dwells in too many persons of the masculine sex at this day : however , as women are usually more faulty this way , than men , so they give us but small hopes to believe , that they are heirs of heaven , while they are so industrious to please their acquaintance and others here on earth . st. paul would not please men , no not in the ceremonies of the law , which were things formerly commanded by god , thinking it unworthy of a christian , that had been freed from that yoke by the son of god ; and how unworthy must it be then to please men in things which god hath never commanded , nay by many hints and places discovered his dislike of ? how justly may god look upon it as presumption , to alter that face which he thought fit to create in that shape it is of ? and what is it but contending with our maker , and expostulating with the potter , why hast thou made me thus ? and controuling his art and wisdom , while not content with the countenance he hath given , we seek to appear in a better ? as we are christians , sincerity must be our character , not only in heart , but in the outward behaviour ; and what sincerity can there be in cheating men with our faces , and to make them believe that to be natural , which we know is counterfeit and artificial ? we that are naturally prone to pride , and levity , and lightness of deportment , had not need encourage it by such incentives , and put oyl to that fire , which , without great help is apt to burn into hell. we shall meet with impediments enough from the world and the devil , in our spiritual race ; it is madness therefore to encrease those obstastacles by new inventions of our own , and we that know how apt every thing is to damp our holy fervors , had not need make use of such vanities to extinguish them . in the whole scripture we read of no women that ever painted themselves , but one that was cursed to a proverb , even jezabel , 2 kings 9. 33. and eusebius makes mention of a great instrument of the devil , whereby he sow'd heresies in the church , that used this trade , viz. maximilla . even among the heathen , those that did so , were none of the best fame and credit in the world , such as poppoea , nero's wife , and others ; and in holy writ , for the most part this delight is described as meritricious , and a quality of strumpets and harlots , as we see , ezek. 23. 40. and certainly neither these examples nor descriptions can be any great ●nticement to a christian to imitate such infamous patterns , who is to remember those who have spoken to him in the name of the lord , and to follow their faith , considering the end of their convversation , heb. 13. 7. it was an excellent character st. gregory nazianzene gave of the pious gorgonia ; no gold , saith he , adorned her temples , no flaxen hair , no borrowed locks , no artificial curles flew about her sacred head , no flowing mantles , no transparent vails , no looser garb that wanton'd in the air , no costly stones vying with the brightness of the stars , no painters arts help'd to grace her noble frame , no operator assisted her to countermine the work of god in her , and by deceitful colours to hide the curious fabrick of her face , or to prostitute the divine shape that was in her , to wanton and impurer eyes , or to vitiate her natural image , which was reserved for god and another world , by an adulterous , fictitious beauty . but even then , when she was acquainted with all the tricks and modes of ornaments , she would acknowledge and own none but what her piety , and the harmony of her soul did give her . no other red pleased her , but what her modest blushes caused ; no white but what fasting and abstinence brought into her cheeks ; and as for painting and modish looks , and borrow'd beauty , she left those impertinencies and vanities , to actors and ministers of the stage , persons who have forgot to blush , and are ashamed of nothing so much as of sobriety and gravity . this is an example for all christian women to write copies by ; and though the age we live in , hath long ago learned to despise this self-denial , as a starcht formality and precise niceness , yet that doth not make it of less value before almighty god , who sees with other eyes , and is resolved to rectifie these wilful mistakes , if other means here on earth will not do it , with eternal vengeance . to this purpose st. cyprian , art not thou afraid , vain woman , who makest use of paint , and washes , and such other curious fooleries about thy face , art not thou afraid that thy creator , when thou comest before him , will not know thee , but exclude thee rather from the promised inheritance ? may not he reasonably use the language of a censor , and a judge , and say ▪ this is not my creature , here i see nothing of my image ; thou hast polluted thy skin with false applications , the hair i gave thee is changed by adulterous colours , thy face is nothing but a lie , the figure of it is corrupted , it is another thing than what it was ; how canst thou see god , when thou hast not the looks god gave thee , but infected rather by the devil ? him thou hast follow'd , thou hast imitated the old serpeut , thou hast borrowed thy ornaments from thine enemy , and with him thou must burn . o my friends , are not these thing to be considered by god's servants ? a●● not these things at which they may justly tremble day and night ? let those who ar● married and flatter themselves , that they do it in complisance to their husbands ▪ look to it , and see whether they do not in making such excuses , accuse themselves of being partners in the sin ; and as for virgins and maids who use these unlawful arts , i cannot reckon them in th● number of true virgins , but judge rather , that they ought to be removed from other young women , like so many rotten sheep , that they do not infect others by their corruption . in vain do people plead here , that the apostle , 1 cor. 12. 23. allows us to bestow more abundant honor on those members of the body , which we think to be less honourable , and therefore a homely face may be trick'd up with suitable paints , and spots , and washes ; for not to mention that the apostle by those members doth not mean the face and cheeks , but such as modesty bids us conceal ; the honour there spoken of , cannot be understood of paints and washes , for they are no ornaments , but dissimulations and deceptions , and the honour that is allow'd to such uncomly parts , is hiding of them from the sight of men , which i suppose such vain persons will never practise on their faces . and what if the ingredients of such fucus's be gods creatures , so is poison too , and yet we see few persons so mad , as to make use of it so as to drink it , nor doth it signifie much , that persons may have a good end in all this , since we are not to do evil , that good may come out of it . it 's granted , that natural beauty may provoke spectators to lust , and lascivious desires , as well as artificial , yet from thence it follows not , that therefore the artificial ought to be allow'd of , as well as the natural , for there is not the same reason for the one that there is for the other ; the natural , god bestows and cannot be blamed , nor did the person that hath it spend time , and pains , and care to get it ; the artificial as people cannot endeavour after it , but their corrupt minds and affections must prompt them to it ; so it argues discontentedness with what god hath thought fit to give them , and an itching desire to deceive the unwary spectator . and suppose natural beauty allures and tempts voluptuous men , must therefore more evil be added to the former ? must people therefore increase temptations with artificial beauty ? is not the world bad enough ? and must it be made worse ? must sin be therefore multiplied , and the sickly minds of carnal men , more and more distemper'd ? is it not enough that natural beauty is so dangerous ? and shall we encrease the danger by tricks and artifices ? st. chrysostomes advice here is very seasonable ; consider i beseech you , sarah and rebeckah , and such matrons , who have all undervalued this vanity , and leah , tho' she was not handsom , nor so well beloved as rachel , yet used no art to make her so , but the lineaments , and features of her face remained as nature had disposed them , nor was she at all concerned at her homeliness , though educated by parents who were pagans and idolaters ; and shalt thou whose head is christ , and who pretendest to be a believer , approve of these inventions of the devil ? dost not thou remember the water that was sprinkled upon thy face in baptism , nor the sacrament whereby thy lips and tongue were blessed ? didst thou seriously think of this , whatever fond desires thou mightest naturally have after such dangerous ornaments , thou wouldst not dare to fulfil them ; remember , thou didst vow to be conformable to christ jesus , and thou wilt hate this deformity , for he delights not in these deceitful colours , but requires a sublimer beauty , even that of thy soul and spirit ; why shouldst thou attempt a thing so vain , so needless and superfluous ? there is no defect in any of gods works , nor is there any thing that stands in need of thy making it better than it is ; none dare add any new strokes to the picture of a king , and if he dares , h● smarts for it ; when thou darest ad● nothing to the workmanship of man● art not thou afraid to make gods work better than it is ? doth not the fire of the burning lake come into thy mind , and dost not thou think how thy soul will one day be totally forsaken , whose concerns thou must needs neglect now while thou appliest all thy care and study and thoughts to thy body ? why do i say , thou neglect est thy soul ; thy very body doth not enjoy what thou wishest for , which is evident from hence , because , while thou seekest to be handsom , thou dost really appear homely ; thou seekest by this to please thy husband , whereas it cannot but be a grief to him , no● is it he only that blames thee , but others also do despise thee . thou would est fain appear young , but thy very paint hastens old age ; and whereas thou fanciest that this will make thee look glorious , thou dost but prepare for thy shame . but why do i mention things of this nature , while i forgo the greater arguments , as that thou offendest god , underminest modesty , raisest jealousie , and makest prostitute women thy patterns . all which being laid together , i beseech you despise these hellish ornaments and unprofitable arts , and renouncing this formosity , or rather deformity , learn to be ambitious of that beauty , which angels do desire , which god is enamour'd with , and which cannot but be pleasing to your husbands too , that having spent and led your life honourably here , you may attain at last to everlasting glory . 11. delight in dancing is another common recreation , and though dancing in it self , as it is an agility or motion of the body , whereby the body is preserved in health , and vigor , cannot be said to be unlawful , no more than singing and exercising the tongue ( not to me●●●on that agility of body is a gift of god , ●nd if it be moved and exercised with observing time and measure , there is nothing in the word of god directly or indirectly against it ) yet the manner and use , and the ends and designs of it , make a very great difference in the lawfulness and unlawfulness of it . that david danced before the a●● of god , to testifie his joy , and exultation at so great a blessing , we read , ● sam. 6. 14. and michaels despising him for it is noted as an errour , for which by a divine judgment she was doom'● to be childless ; v. 23. which shews that god approv'd of that expression o● his joy , and the prophets of israel permitted the women to sing and dance and to answer one another , saul hath slain his thousands , and david his te● thousands , 1 sam. 18. 6 , 7. a custom which in all probability they had learned of miriam the prophetess , the sister of aaron , who after the victory over the aegyptians took a timbrel in her hand , and all the women went out after her , with timbrels and with dances , exod. 15. 20. but then this dancing was still upon a spiritual account , with an intent to praise god , and to glorifie him not only in their souls , but bodies too ; and besides , the women danced by themselves , and the men by themselves without mixing one with another , and only upon extraordinary occasions , when gods power and goodness was to be celebrated , and the younger sort were to be incouraged to chearful hallelujahs , which is an argument , that dancing out of wantonness , or promiscuous dancing , men and women dancing together to please spectators , and to divert themselves , hath no warrant from the sacred oracles . this is the reason why mixt and lascivious dancing hath been condemned , not only by the primitive fathers , but by almost all the reformed churches ; nay the more serious sort of papists look upon it as a thing intolerable among christians . he that will not wilfully blind his eyes , must necessaryly see , that this mixt dancing had its original from the heathens , who worshiped their gods by such extravagant motions , and there are not a few precepts in the gospel , which forbid us to work the will of the gentiles , and to live in the flesh , to the lusts of men , as st. peter phrases it , 1 pet. 4. 2 , 3. and indeed he that will impartially consider the extent of that chambering and wantonness , st. paul speaks against , rom. 13. 13. must confess , that this mixt dancing , as it is usually practised , is comprehended under it . to any man that reads the scripture with attention and soberness , it will appear very evident , that nothing is pressed more by the apostles , than gravity , modesty and great decency in our postures , actions , speeches , cloathing and behaviour ; and how this mixt and jovial dancing , is agreeable to all this , no sober man can easily imagine . that this mixt dancing , though not necessarily and naturally , yet for the most part through the vitiousness and corruption , that is in the generality of mankind , is an apparent occasion of lasciviousness and levity , and impurer lusts , and an incentive to effeminateness , pride and vanity , is a thing past controversie , and then sure christianity can give no encouragement to it . the usual concomitants of this sport are drinking , foolish and frothy talk , and other immodest postures and actions , so that to plead for it , is to plead for an accumulation of sins and enormities . and what doth this sport betray , but a weak , soft , easie , vain and empty mind ? what snares are hereby laid for spectators to entertain evil and dangerous thoughts , which too often hurry them on to impurer enterprizes , and when so many councils , synods , and wise and learned men have apprehended the danger of it , writ against it , preached against it , made it their business to enquire into the nature of it , and upon examination of its tendencies and consequences , have loth publickly and privately represented it , as improper for christians , and an enemy to that seriousness , which ought to be their essential character ; it must be either pride or stupidity , that makes men stubborn or careless under such censures . and is it probable , that people who never studied the point , or at the best , survey'd , and look'd into it negligently , should be so well able to judge of it , as those who upon weighing what can be said for and against it , have at last concluded and infer'd the undecency , and unlawfulness of it ? the romans when they were yet heathens , counted dancing a very dishonourable thing , and salust tells us of sempronia , that she was more than ordinarily vers'd in singing and dancing , which , saith he , was more than became a grave and honest matron ; to this purpose cicero affirms of a good man , that rather than dance before spectators , he would lose a very considerable legacy ; it was laid to lucius maraena's charge , as a crime , that he had danced when he was in asia ; and cicero observes upon that passage , that no man sure would dance , that was any way sober , it being the quality of a madman , and therefore among the errors , and misdemeanours , he objects against anthony , he brings in dancing for one . these were the thoughts of the heathen sages , before the flood-gates of debauchery were open'd , and while rome retain'd somewhat of her ancient sobriety ; and what witnesses will such men be against christians , who are taught to go beyond heathens in gravity and sobriety ? what if this mixt and promiscuous dancing , be not expresly forbid in scripture ? no more is the belief of mahomets riding upon his alborach or white steed to heaven , no more is the doctrine of transubstantiation , and the mass , and the popes triple crown , purgatory , and the immaculate conception of the virgin mary ; yet what serious protestants will infer therefore , that these are lawful doctrines and positions ? it 's enough , that there are such lessons set down there , which any rational man may easily conclude to be inconsistent with such recreations . it 's enough that the apostle forbids all those things which the greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signifies feasting mixt with dancing , gal. 5. 21. we translate the word revelling , but it includes the extravagant action of mixt dancing whereby lusts and vanities are kindle● or encouraged in the minds of men ▪ and he asserts , that they that use such things , or delight in them , shall not inherit the kingdom of god. nor will it avail here to say , that if any lascivious and impure desires be raised by this mixt dancing , men and women one with another , that this is only by accident , the thing it self may be harmless enough ; for in things of morality , and where conscience is concern'd , we must not always take our measure by the nature of the thing , but very often by the humour and temper of sinful men , that make use of it , as the learned peter martyr very well observes ; for let 's grant that here and there a sober man may be found , who can with the greatest chastity of mind be both a spectator , and an actor of such promiscuous dancings , but what becomes all this while of the multitude , and of the greatest part of men and women , which are present at such sports , who cannot , will not keep within bounds ? so that in this case we are not to respect what may possibly be done , but what for the most part uses to be done ; in things of a moral nature , we must not go to the very edge of that which is lawful , but keep within a considerable distance of it , for the nearer we come to the utmost bounds , the nearer we approach to that which is unlawful , which is the reason , why the apostle bids us avoid the very appearance of evil , 1 thess. 5. 22. i do not deny , but men may do worse , but what necessity is there for their doing that which is bad , to avoid that which is worse ? must i therefore slander and abuse a man , because it is a less sin than to murther him ? i know such doctrines are usually branded with the name of foolish preciseness , but sure i am , they are agreeable to that wisdom which is from above ; and he that means to arrive to this wisdom , must of necessity become a fool , a fool in the eyes of world , and that must be a christians greatest glory ; for know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with god● whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world , is the enemy of god , jam. 4. 4 ▪ upon which words antonius thus paraphrases ▪ a friend of the world is he that loves the pomp , the lasciviousness , the pride and vain glory of the world , and h● that will please men in things of this nature , things usually found in promiscuous dancings , becomes an enemy of god. ludovicus vives tells us of some poo● indians , that were brought from th● farther parts of asia , who seeing some of our europeans dancing together ▪ wonder'd what madness and fury ha● possess'd them ; indeed he that shoul● stand upon a hill afar of , withou● hearing any musick , and see people skip about , and sometimes beat th● earth with their feet , sometimes li●● themselves up into the air , sometime● in such a posture , sometimes in another , could think no less , than that they were forsaken of their reason . i need not here alledge any examples of men and women , who have found by sad experience , what a sad exit their dancing and revelling hath had , how in the ball , which lodowick the design'd arch-bishop of magdeburg gave his kindred and relations , the house fell upon the dancers heads , and crush'd the burgemaster and his friends to death ; nor how that vertuous virgin in famianus strada was ravished in a ball. the misfortune that befel john the baptist through the jocular dancing of herodias , ought to fright devout persons from having any esteem and veneration for it ; upon which passage st. chrysostom thus comments , where there is lascivious dancing , there the devil is always present ; god hath not given us feet for dancing , but to walk modestly , not to skip like camels , but that we might be fit to stand one day in the quire of angels ; if the body be deformed , or disfigured by such leaping , how much more the soul ? such dances make the devil dance , and this way men are cheated by the ministers of darkness . it were endless to rehearse here , what men of learning and wisdom have said against this sport ; one passage out of cornelius agrippa may serve for all ; nothing can be more ridiculous than promiscuous dancing ; this lets loose the reins of wantonness , is a faithful friend to sin , the great incentive to uncleanness , an enemy to chastity , and a recreation unworthy of rational men. here many a matron hath lost her honour . here many a virgin hath learned that which she had better been totally ignorant of ; from hence many have come away worse than they were , but none better . 12. delight in seeing stage-plays must not be omitted here ; and how far this delight may be allow'd of , and how far detested , i cannot shew you better , than by giving you the contents of a letter , i formerly writ to a young gentleman upon this subject . sir , though you did pitch upon none of the best casuists , when you sent your case to me ; yet since you have thought fit to ask my opinion , whether it be lawful to go and see a play , a thing our gallants are so exceeding fond of , i must crave leave to tell you , that in the primitive ages of the church , such a question from one who professed himself a follower of the holy jesus , would have been looked upon with no very pleasant aspect , they supposing that every christian , who knew , or was sensible into whose name he was baptized , understood , that things of this nature are as foreign to christianity , as lasciviousness and wantonness , and as contrary to the design of our noble religion , which is to plant a spiritual life in us , as wallowing in voluptuousness or luxury . but the times are altered , and our virtuosi have allowed of it , and what men in former ages scarce thought fit to be named among christians , this hath made not only convenient , but in some respect necessary , and essential to a person of quality ; so that this question as the case stands , may with some justice be ask'd , and even a very sober person may now with some reason demand , whether there be any harm in beholding these dramatick representations ? and here i would not be thought so rigid , or foolish rather , as if i believed no representation of history , or mens actions in the world lawful , for that would be directly contrary to christ's own practice , who instituted a sacrament to represent his death and passion by , and to keep up the remembrance of it to the worlds end ; and tho' this is not acting things to the life , yet it at least imports so much , that something historical may be represented in lively and significant characters , the management of which must be left to the prudence and discretion of sober men. but then these representations must be restrain'd altogether to vertue and goodness , and such accomplishments of the soul , which the wisest & holiest men in all ages , have been desirous and ambitious of ; and though vertue cannot be well either discoursed of , or represented without its opposite vice , yet such is the nature of vice , such the unhappy consequences of it , that if either the pleasure , or ease , or prosperity and success of it be shewn and acted , tho' but for a few minutes , whatever fate it ends in , it 's so agreeable to the corrupted tempers of men , that it leaves a pleasing impression behind it ; nor is the after clap or doleful exit of it , strong enough to prevent a liking or satisfaction , especially in the younger sort , who are generally more taken with its present content and titillations , than frighted with its dull and muddy conclusion ; for while its present success , and sweetness is acting , the cupid strikes the heart , and lays such a foundation there , as mocks all the death and ruine , it after some time doth end in ; i doubt not , but the joys of angels , and the triumphs of glorified souls might be acted to the life , and great good might issue from the gaudy opera , and if justice , patience , sobriety , humility , and contempt of the world , with all the garlands , and solid joys that attend them , were represented with their future recompense , in a serious way , without jesting or raillery , not a few men and women might be signally edified by it , their affections raised above their ordinary level , and their courage kindled to press towards the noble prize ; but then there must be nothing of the present amiableness of vice mingled with the scenes , for tho' vice must almost necessarily be named in these living landskips , yet it should be only named , and never named but with horror , and the generosity and grandure of vertue only acted to the life , for indeed nothing is fit for action , or imitated but vertue ; vice should never appear but in its ugly ▪ shape , for if you dress it in its shining robes , tho' it be but for a quarter ▪ of an hour , such is the venom of this basilisk , it breaths a poisonous vapour , both on the actor and the spectator , and while the one comes to see sport , and the other to get money both go away from the theatre worse than they came ; and tho' both come away laughing , yet both prepare for bitter mourning and lamentation . i have shewn you what drama's may be useful and commendable ; but sir , all this differs very much from the modern plays , the aforesaid question relates to , these being things fitted for vanity and luxury ; for in these , though the punishment of vice , and rewards of vertue are represented to the life , yet it 's done rather with advantage to the former , than to raise the credit of the latter , and the effect shews it , viz. the corruption and debauchery of youth , and persons of all sorts and sizes , which i shall more largely speak of in the sequel . the plays we speak of , are suited to the loose humour of the age , which seems to hate all things that are serious , as much as rats ▪ bane , & delights in nothing so much , as in jests and fooleries , and seeing the most venerable things turned into ridicule : here no play relishes but what is stuft with love tricks , and that which makes people laugh most , is the best written comedy ; wantonness is set out in its glittering garb , and the melting expressions that drop from its lips , are so charming to a carnal appetite , that the young lad wishes himself almost in the same passion and intrigue of love , he sees acted on the stage , it looks so pleasant end ravishing . here religion is too often traduced , and through the sides of men that differ from our church , the very foundation of christianity is shaken and undermined ; not but that hypocrisie in religion ought to be severely lash'd , but then it must be done in a grave , becoming and serious way ; such as christ and his apostles used against the painted sepulchres , the pharisees . the stage hath that unhappy character , that it is looked upon by the generality , as the grand place of divertisement : men come thither not to learn , but to be merry ; and since acts of hypocrisie look so very like acts of true religion , the danger is , that while you raille the counterfeit , you hurt the original , and while you dress the image in a fools coat , the substance suffers in the ridiculous representation . so that here men and women are insensibly poison'd , and the good thing they see made aukward in an enemy , in time looks but odd and strange in a friend , and by degrees the vertue , is hated in good earnest , because one that was in the habit of an hypocrite , did practise it . here few sacred things are spared , if they serve to make up the decorum of the act , and heathenism is reduced into christian territories in a pleasant way . the pagan gods must make the drama great , and while these are in all the actors mouths , the licentious spectator in time applies that to the true , which the fond poet ascribed to fictitious deities . here the supream creator is too often reviled through the ill language that 's given to heathen numens , and things that savour of real piety , rendred flat , insipid and impertinent ; here all that may raise the flesh into action and desire , is advanced , and whatever serves to lay reason asleep , and to exalt fancy and imagination , and the glory of the world , is made the proper object of admiration ; here all th● wanton looks and gestures , and posture● that be in the mode , are practised according to art ; and you may remember , yo● have seen people when dismist from a play , strive and labour to get that grace and antick meen , they saw in the mimick on the stage ; here men swear and curse , and actually imprecate themselves , and tho' they do it under the name of the person they act , yet their own tongue speaks their sin , & their body is the agent that commits it ; and thus they damn themselves for a man in imagination . and are these things fit for a christian to behold ! a christian who is to be a new creature , a candidate of eternity , an heir of heaven , an enemy to the world , a spiritual prince , a king over his lusts , and emperour over his carnal desires ? is this a sight agreeable to the strait way , and the narrow gate which leads to life ? can you , or any man reconcile such darkness with light , such idols with the temple of god ? is there any thing in the gospel more plainly forbid , than conforming to the world ? and what can that prohibition import , if conformity to the world in beholding these dangerous sights , be not in a great measure meant by it ? we may put forced glosses upon the words , but doth not this look like the natural sense of them ? holiness , for without it no man shall ever see the lord , is the very character of men , who name the name of christ , if they bear not that name in vain ; and will any man of sense be so bold , as to say , that shews , which have so much sin in them , are suitable to that holiness ? we know who said , turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity ; and who sees not that he who delights in such shews , neither dares pray that prayer , nor can have any desire to imitate david in his holiness , for he is pleased with vanity , fixes his eyes upon it , makes it the pleasing object of his sight , and consequently instead of turning his eyes away from it , turns them to it , and would not for a world lose that pleasure . if thy right eye offend thee , pluck it out , and cast it from thee ; for it is profitabl● for thee , that one of thy members shoul● perish , and not that thy whole body shoul● be cast into hell ; said he , who hath protested , that not the least tittle or jota o● his words shall perish , matth. 5. 29. if there be any sense in this passage , the meaning must necessarily be , that if the eye , or beholding an object , prove an occasion of evil , the eye must be so carefully , and so totally withdrawn from that object , as if it were actually pluck'd out , or were of no use in the body ; what an occasion of evil the beholding of such scurrilous shews is , none can judge so well as he who takes notice , how by these sights , the horror which attended some sins , is taken off , and men are tempted to entertain a more favourable opinion of them ; how apt upon these occasions they are to laugh at those sins which require rivers of tears , and to smile at the jest they hear , which deserves their most rigid censures ; how natural it is to be affected with these representations ? and if there be any thing of evil in them , how readily is it imbi●ed , for if not imbibed , yet excused , if not totally excused , yet qualified , and construed as a thing of no great hurt , and thus its dreadfulness abates , and it 's afterwards left out in the catalogue of errors . god was either so jealous of his own glory , or so tender of the spiritual welfare of the israelites , that he would not suffer them to take the names of the heathen gods in their mouths , nor suffer them familiarly to mention them , for fear their frequent naming of them should lessen their awful apprehensions of the supream deity , or they be tempted through that familiarity , to think there was no great harm in worshiping of them ; this was no ceremonial precept , nor judicial : the substance is moral , and consequently cannot be supposed to be abolish'd by the death of christ ; and since god would not permit it to the jews , how should he be supposed to give leave to christians , of whom he requires greater strictness , to be lavish in such expressions ? how i● our modern plays in most addresse● wishes and imprecations , the heathe● deities are brought in , i need not t● you : the actors indeed swear b● god in the singular number , but 〈◊〉 their entire harangues , or witty sentences or expressions , which they i● tend shall move most , the gods ar● call'd in , and that 's the grace 〈◊〉 their part . if it be said that this 〈◊〉 done out of a reverential respect t● the true god , who is too great to be mention'd in such trivial speeches 't is soon replied , that it 's a very marvellous thing , they should stand i● awe of the true god , and yet ma●● nothing of swearing by him , and takin● his name in vain ; and tho' they min● their oaths sometimes , yet that do●● not excuse the crime , as long as 〈◊〉 shews their willingness to act it ; b●● the truth is , such men seek to tu●● religion again into paganism , so th● style they use in their respectiv● speeches about things above , is fitte● for that purpose . i know that it 's commonly alledged , that the stories which are acted , relate to transactions among the gentiles , and that it would be incongruous to represent their actions , and not to mention their deities , or to speak in their language ; but not to mention , that there is no necessity of representing passages of this nature , ●here being as noble things among christians , that deserve remembrance , why cannot the vertues of pagans be represented without mentioning their gods , or the sins and extravagancies of their gods , whereby corrupted nature is so easily debauch'd into a mean opinion of the great sovereign being , and tempted to believe the powers above either subject to the same infirmities , that we are , or at ●east not much displeased with our irregularities here below ? he that makes bold with false gods , does very easily slide into contempt of the true ; and while men are brought in to dare the supposed deities above , they 'll be more ready to affront him , that is the same yesterday , to day , and fo●ever . nor will it follow , becaus● books that treat of heathen god may be read , that therefore those deities may be acted , and mentioned o● the stage ; for there is a great difference between reading a thing , an● seeing it acted with all the vanit● and boldness that usually attends i● in reading , a mans serious thought are not dispersed or scattered , bu● keep within the compass of modesty and weigh things in the ballance o● reason ; whereas being acted to th● life , they naturally strike vanity int● the mind , affect the sensual part , driv● away seriousness , and leave an unhappy tincture behind them . and if it be against the divine law familiarly to mention or talk of the● fictitious deities , it cannot be very agreeable to the sense of it , for christ●ans to go and hear that idle talk ; fo● as in other concerns the receiver is a● bad as the thief , so he that with deligh● hears that which another is forbid t● speak , makes himself accessory to h● sin , and draws needless guilt upon his soul. flatter not your self , sir , with a fancy , that these plays are no where forbid in the bible , and that therefore it may be lawful to see them , for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , revelling , i mentioned before , and to which the apostle threatens exclusion from the kingdom of heaven , gal. 5. 21. and from which the word comedy in all probability is derived , though i know others fetch it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a village , because in ancient times , they did sing songs about country towns , i say this word includes all such vain , lascivious , ludicrous and jocular representations , not only dancing and luxurious ▪ feasting , but wanton , light and amorous interludes , and all that belongs to the pampering and satisfying of the flesh , such as amorous songs , complementing of mistresses , love-tricks , and immodest parts and speeches , which make the vainer sort of the company merry , for the word is very comprehensive , and being so , one would think should fright every serious person from coming within the guilt of that , which hath so severe a threatning annex'd to it . and is it worth losing heaven , and eternal happiness for the sight of such jocular shews ? are the pleasures arising from hence , of that consequence , that they will counter-ballance so great a loss ? had you rather forfeit gods favour , than these ludicrous transactions ? are these momentary satisfactions of that value , that you would run the hazard of being for ever deprived of the beatifick vision for them ? that usual exception , that god will not be so cruel , as to condemn men for such harmless sports , is of no weight at all ; for god hath no where declared , that he will govern himself by mens fancies , but his eternal wisdom is the rule he 'll go by ; if men will have their pleasures , he hath thought fit to forbid , they must thank themselves , if they go without his favour ; and since they were warned of this danger , they can have no excuse , but are as the apostle speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 condemn'd of themselves , tit. 3. 11. let 's but consider the nature , scope and drift of our religion ; it commands us decency , modesty , sobriety , vigilancy , or watchfulness over our thoughts and words , and actions , simplicity in the inward and outward man , redeeming the time , employing the hours god hath lent us , in profitable discourses , and things useful and tending to edification . it bids us abstain from fleshly lusts , which war against the soul ; it condemns all rioting , chambering , wantonness , and making provision for the flesh , to fulfill the lusts thereof : it commands us to walk after the spirit , to be heavenly minded , to have the same mind and temper in us , which was also in christ jesus , to grow in grace , to advance in goodness , to grow strong in the lord , and in the power of his might ; it bids us stand up for the glory of our god , and to be concern'd when his name , or religion , or things sacred are abubused ; it bids us avoid scandal , and take heed we do not by our example either draw people into errors , o● confirm them in their sins ; it bids us take heed of discouraging our neighbours from goodness , and of laying a● stumbling-block in the way of weaker christians ; it bids us exhort one another daily , and beware lest any of us be hardned through the deceitfulness of sin ; these are some of its principal rules , and i need not add , what our great master hath told us , ye are my friends , if ye do whatsoever i command you , joh. 15. 14. how these rules can be observed by persons that delight in these shews , i cannot apprehend ; is it modesty to be a hearer of that ribaldry and filthy communication , which some plays are stuffed with ? or to be a spectator of so many undecent and wanton gestures , postures and actions , which in some comedies make up the greatest part of the shew ? is this sobriety , to stand by and hear men curse and swear , and talk of things which should not be so much as named among christians ? is this decency to afford your presence in a place , where the most debauched persons assemble themselves for ill ends and purposes ? is this your fear of god to go and hear the most solemn ordinances of god railled , and undervalued , such as marriage , and living up to the strict rules of reason and conscience ? is this your watchfulness over your thoughts and words , and actions , to go and expose your selves to temptations , to run into the devils arms , and give him an opportunity to incline your heart to sinful delights , and being pleased with things which god abhors ? is this that godly simplicity , the gospel presses , to pay for your being affected with the vain shews of this sinful world , and to take liberty to hear and see , what men of little or no religion shall think fit to represent to you ? is this redeeming of your time to throw away so many hours upon fooling , and seeing mens ridiculous postures , gestures and behaviours ? is not this making war against you● soul ? is not this fighting against you● happiness ? is this the way to gro● in grace , and to advance in goodness and to abound more and more in the love of god , which your christianity obliges you to ? is not this to clo● your soul ? is not this to throw impediments in her way to felicity ? is not this the way to make her inamour'd with the world , from which a christian is to run away , as much as he can ? by your saviours rule though you are in the world , yet you are not to be of the world ; these shews alienate other mens affections from the best of objects , and what security have you , that they will not alienate yours ? or have you a peculiar exemption from that danger ? if you have , shew us your warrant , let 's see your patent ; if you take the same way that profane persons take , to dull their religious desires , how can it be otherwise , but it will have the same effect in you ? if you use the same means , why should you not fear the same unhappy influence ? why should you shut your eyes against a thing as clear as the sun ? do not you see , do not you perceive , how sin grows upon you by frequenting these places ? do not you find , how under these shews , the brutish part in you grows strong and vigorous , how the flesh distends its plumes , grows easie and pleased , and in time engrosses all the nobler faculties of your soul ? as you are a christian , you are to bring your flesh into subjection , and to keep under your body ; and do not these shews signally help towards its power and dominion over the nobler part , and promote its soveraignity , and triumph over the reasonable appetite ? what pampers it more than such sights ? what feeds its preposterous longings more than these ? do not these evidently make this slave usurp authority over her mistress ? and is this fit to be done by christians , who are to crucifie the flesh with its lusts and affections ? who sees not , that these sights are meer incentives to lust , and fewel to feed the impurer fire in our breasts ? and is this to walk after the spirit , as we are commanded ? if they that walk after the flesh cannot please god , how can you hope to please him , while you allow your self in this work of the flesh ? is this to promote a lively sense of god ? is the stage likely to produce vigorous apprehensions of gods grace and favour ? you know it damps and obscures them , you know it is an enemy to them , you know it is the worm that hinders you spiritual growth , and yet will you fancy a necessity to frequent it ? men may count it necessary to be drunk , and to kill a person they do hate , but will this necessity hold water when the great judge comes to examine it ? the flesh may count that necessary , which reason apprehends to be absurd , and impious , and he that hearkens to the dictates of the brute within him , will call any thing necessary , though never so contradictory to the oracles of heaven , and the lessons of our great master jesus ? is this to have the same mind in you , which was also in christ jesus ? i hope you do not question the duty , and if you believe it incumbent upon you , can you imagin , that in frequenting the stage , you imitate his example ? did he ever encourage such empty things ? is there any thing in all the history of his life , that may be said to countenance such doings ? could he applaud these follies , do you think , whose life was a perfect pattern of holiness , nay , are not all his precepts levell'd against these scurrilities ? is it possible to live up to his precepts , and feed our eyes with these shews ? is it possible to be his friend , and a friend to these vanities ? he whose life was a perpetual selfdenial in the pleasures of this life , could he give the least colour , or shadow of approbation of them ? he who preached up the doctrin of the cross , could he have any liking to that , which is directly contrary to that doctrin ? would any man that looks upon the jolly assembly in a play-house , think that these are disciples of the crucified god ? do they not look liker mahomet's votaries , or epicurus his followers ? would not one think that they had never heard of the cross , and that whoever their master was , they were disciplined only to live merrily ? would not one think that these persons are very different in their tempers from those christians , the primitive fathers do describe , who trampled on the world , and were afraid of any thing that favoured of its satisfactions ? would not one think , that they are rather disciples of some heathen , jupiter , or venus , or flora , or some such wanton minion , than of the grave , the austere , and the serious jesus , for such he would have his followers to be , these he would have tread in his steps ; th●se he would have known by actions , and a behaviour like his own , and is a play likely to plant this noble temper in you ? is the sight of a comedy a probable means to make you live above the world ? are the profane railleries that are used there , fit preparatives for austerity of conversation ? is this the way to promote gravity , to visit the stage , where all gravity is look'd upon as pedantry , and traduced as a thing proper only for old usurers , and women who are past their sins and vices ? is this the way to advance seriousness , to be much at places , where seriousness is censured as a trick of divines , or at the best , as an effect of vapours , and the natural result of melancholy and the spleen ? as a christian , you are to shun the very appearances of evil , and is this your obedience , to delight in that which is evil , to applaud it with your smiles , to commend it with your tongue , and to encourage it by your presence ? as a christian , you are the salt of the earth , and consequently are to preserve your neighbour from corruption ; and is this the way to preserve him from infection , by your presence in such places , and being as vain as he , to encourage not only the actors in their unlawful profession , but the spectators too in their disobedience to the gospel ? and what is this , but to make your self a proctor to sin , to help people to be undone , to assist them in going to hell , and to make your self accessary to their folly ? are these the christians , that are to help one another to heaven ? are these the christians , that are to go hand in hand together , to gods everlasting kingdom ? are these the lights , the shining , the burning lights , that are to light the ignorant brother to the inheritance of the saints in light ? is not this to be blind to the great design of the gospel ? and if the blind lead the blind , shall not they both fall into the pit ? wo to that man by whom the offence cometh ; it had been better for him , that a mill stone were hang'd about his neck , and he drown'd in the midst of the sea , saith our great master , matth. 18. 6. does not this threatning fright you ? doth this put no sad thoughts into your mind ? do you believe he spoke true ? and do not you think you are concern'd ? what is your going to a play-house , but giving offence ? what is it but hardning other men in their sins ? is not this tempting young people to those extravagancies they should detest ? is not this justifying the players profession , and to make them think that you approve of their ludicrous vocations ? their profession is infamous by our law , which looks upon them , as persons of no honest calling ; and if you go to see their actings , and to see how they prostitute themselves , doth not this look like a commendation of their undertakings ? and have not you sins enough of your own to answer for , but you must transfer other mens upon you too ? are you afraid , gods anger to you will not be great enough , except you add your neighbours offences , to make his wrath the heavier ? all those persons of your acquaintance that go to a play , because you do , are all scandalized by your example ; and is not this putting a stumbling-block in your neighbours way , especially if people believe that you have some goodness in you , or have a name that you are religious , how bold doth this make other persons to venture on these vanities ? and how dreadful must this make your account ? either you do not think much of another world , or if you do , you cannot but conclude , that these things will lie very heavy upon your conscience one day ? what if you do not think it to be sin , will your thinking so excuse you ? willful ignorance is as bad as a known sin , and how easily might you know such doings to be sinful ? but being unwilling to be better informed , judge you , whether it will not agravate your condemnation ? how could the primitive christians , know these things to be sinful ? and is it not possible for you to know it ? they had the bible ; so have you : they had the same precepts that you have , only they did not read the scripture so superficially , as perhaps you do , and that was the reason why they came to the knowledge of this sin , while you halt betwixt two opinions ; their affections did not lean and bend so much to the the world as perhaps yours do , and therefore they might easily perceive christ's and the apostles meaning , while you , who dote too much upon these outward things , have a cloud or mist before your eyes , that you cannot discern the sense of the holy ghost . your present divertisements may hide the guilt from your sight , but when the summons of a terrible god to appear at his bar , shall rouze your conscience one day , you 'll be of anothermind . how ? did christ come down from heaven and die , and spill his blood for you , that you might securely indulge your carnal genius ? did he sacrifice himself for you , that you might please your self with such fooleries ? hath he appeased the almighties wrath for you , that you might spend your time in a theatre ? is this a proper end of the mighty purchase he hath made ? did such phantastick actions deserve so great a condescension ? is it likely that he would have astonish'd all the angels of heaven with his descent into this valley of tears , if this security in carnal satisfactions had been his design ? one would rather think , that so deep a humiliation called for the greatest severities , and was shewn on purpose to engage poor mortals to the profoundest acknowledgments of his favour ; one would think , that such miracles of charity challenged a most serious behaviour , and that after this , men should not dare to think of trivial and impertinent things ; this is more likely to be the end of his incarnation and suffering , than the other . to delight in such vanities is a disparagement to his love , a blemish to his charity , a disgrace to his condescension , and an undervaluing of so great a mercy ; and do you thus reward him ? do you thus requite his kindness ? is this the return you make him for his sweat and agonies , for his sighs and groans , for his pains and all his labours ? did he bleed , that you might grow strong in sin ? did he die , that you might cherish the lusts of the flesh ? did he make himself of no reputation , that you might please your self with divertisements , invented only to affront him , and to render his endeavours to convert our souls ineffectual . have not you observed it ? have not you taken notice , how men and women , who have had some zeal for religion , and very pious inclinations , how that zeal hath decreas'd upon their frequenting these houses , how their goodness hath decay'd , how flat they are grown in devotion , how weak in their holy performances ? how dull in the work of meditation ? how slovenly and superficial in gods service ? may be , they have kept up some outward shews , some external formality , some earnestness for the fringes of religion , or for the ceremonial part of christianity ; but have not you seen , how they are become strangers to that life , which must adorn it , to that contemplation of good things , they formerly delighted in , to that strictness they once professed ? have not you seen how they have remitted in their warmth , and how the holy fire that once burn'd in their breasts is gone out ? and is your christianity so fierce and violent , that it needs a bridle ? is it so hot , that it must have an extinguisher ? is it so flaming that it wants this stolen water to quench it ? with what face dare you approach the table of your lord , who have been a spectator of such shews but a little before ? with what eyes can you appear in the presence of that king of kings , who have but a little before prostituted your soul to the devil ? with what conscience can you promise the lord jesus to follow him , when you intend to expose your self again to these temptations ? do not you blush to think , how you serve both god and mammon , christ and the world , contrary to your redeemers protestation , that you cannot serve two masters ? if you come to the lords table one day , and run to a play-house another , do not you destroy all that you built the day before ? if you come to the supper of the lord there to profess your sorrow for loving the world ; are you in good earnest sorry for it , or are you not ? if not , why do you play the hypocrite , or do you think to put a cheat upon the almighty , as if he did not see your heart , or would be taken with shew and pomp ? if you are , how can you run into the same temptation again , or go to a place where you will infallibly be tempted to the love of the world ? is not this to shut the gates of mercy against you ? is not this to make your self odious to that god whose favour you expect in the last day ? is not this to live in contradictions ? in this sacrament you profess to imitate your lord in despising the world , and is this imitation , to go one day into the house of god , and the next into a den of thieves ; for so the stage may justly be called , where men are robb'd of their rellish of spiritual objects . whence hath come that atheism , that looseness , that indifferency in things divine , that low esteem of the tremendous mysteries of christianity , which of late like a land-flood hath over run us ? have they not deriv'd their boldness from these places ? have not the vices represented there in jest , been practised by the forward youth at home in good earnest ? and can a christian have a good opinion of these houses , where so many have lost their vertue ? can any man of reason think , that after all this mischief , they may be safely hugg'd and applauded ? those many notorious fornications and adulteries we have heard , and know of , those bare-faced cheats , mens boastings of their sins , and glorying in their shame , their impudence their courage to do evil , their daring to do things which sober heathens have detested , whence have they come in a great measure , but from these poison'd fountains ? why should we be afraid to call a spade , a spade ? do not even wicked men confess so much , men who have been guilty of such crimes ? shall men of no great sense of religion complain of it , and shall a christian do any thing , that may contribute toward the holding of them up ? if wanton , lustful , and obscene jests are expresly forbid by the great apostle , nay , are not so much as to be named among christians , how can a man that makes profession of that religion , hear them , or be taken with them , when gods name is profaned in such houses ? when religion is mock'd ? when vertue is rendred odious ? how can you hear it without reproving the men that do it ? how can you have patience to let them talk at this rate ? you are bound by your profession to rebuke your neighbour for notorious sins , and not to suffer iniquity upon him ; can you hear these things , and see men affront their maker , and be possess'd with a dumb devil ? how can you discharge your conscience , to let your neighbour do evil without giving him an item of gods displeasure ? if we are to exhort one another to take heed , lest any of us be harden'd through the deceitfulness of sin , how can you see men harden themselves in their sins on the stage , without a fraternal admonition ? if you have no courage to admonish them , what makes you appear there where you must be silent under the indignities offered to your master ? had you a friend whom you loved , and saw his concerns in danger , his reputation attack'd , his credit torn , his good name wounded , would not you stand up in his vindication ? you own christ for your friend , and profess you love him , and can you see his laws trampled on , and his blood and wounds made a complement of speech , and not be moved at it ? or if you have some little regret upon your spirits , where is your tongue to speak for your friend ? do you think such men are like to be his favorites ? and is not this to fall under the lash of that threatning , whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my gospel , in this adulterous and sinful generation , of him shall the son of man be ashamed , when he comes in the glory of his father ; since you have not spirit enough to reprove such sinners , why do not you stay away ? why do not you keep out of their company ? you are obliged to do either one or the other , if you cherish any hopes of salvation ; and since to reprove them you are ashamed , staying away must necessarily be your duty . do you ever examine your self at night about the actions of the day ? and if you do , doth not your presence at such shews , and your being pleased with them , fly into your face ? do not you think , what have i done to day ? how did i spend my time , might not i have spent it better , than at a play-house ? how many persons have i harden'd , and confirm'd in their sins by my example ? how much lightness and vanity have i encouraged by my presence ? hath not such a sin been pleasing to me ? have not i been delighted with seeing my neighbour abus'd ? have not i been tickled with mens speaking ill of him ? had god struck me dead in that place , how sad would my condition have been ? how many vain and foolish thoughts have these sights sent into my mind ? if you examine your self in this manner and find these effects , have not you reason to ask god forgiveness ? and if you ask him forgiveness , how dare you run upon the same rock again ? will you sin wilfully after this ? will you sin against your knowledge , will you do that again , which will require a new repentance ? what is this but a mock-repentance , to go on in a circle of confessing and sinning , of sinning and confessing ? but i doubt , this self-examination is a thing you do not trouble your head with , and you shun it , as men do their creditors that dun them ; you are afraid it will fill your head with scruples , and therefore avoid it , as those who are unwilling to look into their accounts , that they may not be surpriz'd with the sum they owe ; if visiting the stage makes you neglect this self-examination , it makes you neglect a known duty ; and if so , it must be sinful , and if sinful , how dare you meddle with it ? do but take a view of the writings of the primitive fathers , and you 'll find them unanimous in this assertion , that in our baptism , when we renounce the devil and his works , and the pomp and glory of the world , we do particularly renounce stage-plays , and such ludicrous representations . they that lived nearest to the apostolical times , in all probability knew , what was meant by this renunciation , and this they profess to be the sense of it , this they assure us is meant by those pomps and glories , and why should we presume to put a new sense upon that vow ? they received this interpretation from the apostles , and propagated it to posterity , and in this sense we make the abjuration . sir , have you abjured these things in your baptism , and dare you venture on them ? have you renounced them , and dare you fall in love with them ? have you protested in the presence of god and angels , that you will not meddle with them , and will you break your vow ? have you solemnly professed before the congregation , that you will not have any affection for them , and do you make nothing of perfidiousness ? how darest thou o christian , run into a play-house after baptism , saith salvian , when thou hast confessed those very plays to be the works of the devil ? thou hast renounced the devil and these stage-plays , so that if thou willingly and wittingly frequentest them , it 's evident that thou returnest to the devil too , for thou hast renounced both , and hast professed both to be one , so that if thou return to one , thou returnest to both . i know what is commonly objected , that the reason why the fathers are so much against christians seeing of a play , was , because the heathenish idolatries were acted to the life upon the stage , and that proselytes might not be in danger of being enticed to idolatry , was the great motive , why they inveigh'd so much against sighes of that nature ; but those that use this plea , most certainly have not read the fathers , or if they have read them , have not considered all their arguments ; for to go no farther than tertullian , after he had condemn'd these sights for the idolatries committed on the stage , he produces other reasons for which they are utterly unlawful ; as 1. because the spirit of the gospel , is a spirit of gentleness , but the actors are forced to put themselves into a posture of wrath and anger , and fury , and the spectators themselves can not behold them without being put into a passion . 2. because vanity , which is proper to the stage , is altogether foreign to christianity . 3. because we are not to consent to peoples sins . 4. because men are abused in these places , and neither princes nor people spared , and this being unlawful elsewhere , must be unlawful too upon the stage . 5. because all immodesty and scurrility is forbid by the law of the gospel , not only acting of it , but seeing and hearing it acted . 6. because all players are hypocrites , seem to be what they are not , and all hypocrisie is condemn'd by the gospel . 7. because the actors very often belie their sex , and put on womens apparel , which is forbid by the law of god. 8. because these plays dull and damp devotion and seriousness , which is and ought to be the indeleble character of christians . 9. because it is a disparagement to god to lift up those hands to applaud a player , which we use to lift up to the throne of grace . 10. because experience shews , how the devil hath sometimes possess'd christians in a play-house , and being afterwards cast out , confest , that he had reason to enter into them , because he found them in his own place . 11. because no man can serve two masters , god and the world , as those christians pretend to do , that frequent both the church and the stage . 12. because though some speeches in a play are witty and ingenious , yet there is poison at the bottom , and vice is only coloured , and gilded with fine language , and curious emblems , that it may go down more glib , and ruin the soul more artificially . these are some of tertullians arguments , and he that shall attentively consider them , will easily find that they are not only applicable to such comedies where idolatry is acted , but to those of this age , where scurrility , vanity and immodesty , and other vices are incouraged ; and whereas some pretended , that if they saw no plays , they should want sport , and be without necessary recreation , the learned presbyter doth very handsomly reply ; why art thou so abominably ungrateful , to complain of want of recreation , when god hath given thee such great variety of pleasures ? for what can be more pleasant , than to be reconciled to god the father , and the knowledge of the truth , our deliverance from darkness and error , and a free pardon of all our sins ? what greater pleasure can there be , than the loathing of carnal pleasure , contempt of the world , true christian liberty , a conscience void of offence , a spotless life , freedom from the fear of death , trampling on the heathen gods , expulsion of devils , the gift of healing ; prayer for illumination , and living to gods glory ? these are the pleasures , these are the plays of christians , holy , free and perpetual ; in such things as these , fancy thou seest a play ; here see the course of the world , behold the gliding time , view the distance betwixt this life and eternity , expect the consummation of all things , defend the church , rouze thy self at gods signal , listen to the arch angels trumpet , glory in the martyrs laurels ; if learning and knowledge do delight thee , behold in the scripture there are verses enough , witty sentences enough , songs enough , and voices enough ; no fables of poets , but solid truths ; no sophistry , but majestick simplicity ; wouldst thou see gladiators and wrestlers , here thou hast them , here thou mayst see lasciviousness overcome by chastity , perjury by faithfulness , cruelty by mercy , wantonness by modesty , and these are our olympick games , in which he is crown'd that strives for mastery ; dost thou love to see blood drawn in a publick shew ? behold thou hast the blood of jesus ; and what a noble sight will shortly appear to our eyes , even the coming of our glorious lord , the exultation of angels , the resurrection of his holy ones , the stately kingdom of believing souls , and the sight of the new jerusalem ! there is another shew behind , even the last day of judgment , a day unlook'd for , a day despised by fools , a day wherein the old world will be swallowed up of fire ! how glorious a sight will that be , when i shall behold with astonishment and joy , so many kings , whom their flatterers placed among the stars , sighing in outward darkness with jupiter , and their parasites ? so many persecutors of the christian name melting in insulting flames ! so many philosophers with their disciples , who gave out , that god was careless of the affairs of this lower world , trembling before christ's tribunal ! at that time i shall know tragoedians by their loud cry in misery , stage players by their being tormented by fire more than other men , the charioteers in the publick games , by their being red upon a flaming wheel , and the mimick by his being tossed in sheets of fire . thus far that excellent man , whom st. cyprian exactly imitates . and certainly he that hath the same sense of religion that he had , cannot but be of the same opinion . so that it is for want of searching , and diving into the nature of christianity , and what is more , for want of feeling the power of religion , that makes men speak in vindication of plays and interludes . what a pitiful shift is it to say , that great good may be gained by them , when it is plain that the evil which ensues upon them , doth signally preponderate and out-weigh the pretended benefit ? what if a moral saying , or a witty sentence , or an ingenious apothegm lie scattered here and there among the rubbish , will that grain of goodness counter-ballance a whole talent of ill that 's seen there , or got by seeing it ? some have been so vain , as to give out , that they may learn as much by a play as by a sermon ; but not to mention , that such persons spiritual appetite is extreamly vitiated , while they continue in this opinion , they 'l never be much edified , either by a play or a sermon ; and till they have a nobler opinion of gods ordinance , it 's just with god to suffer the devil to lead them captive at his will. and what are the mighty advantages men get by the representations of the stage ? may be they learn to court a mistress well , or the vanities they see there , serve them to maintain a loose discourse , or it enables them to make the company merry ; but are these things that tend to reformation of life and manners ? who ever learned to abandon a sin he is addicted to , by seeing its punishment on the stage ? or who ever thought himself obliged to practise that virtue which he sees acted on the theatre , except it be , to resent an affront that 's offer'd him , and to know how to maintain the punctilio's of honour and bravery ? and are these christian virtues ? are these the graces that must make us glorious in the sight of god ? such arguments are signs of a desperate cause , and tacit accusations of the illness of the thing , since the aprons that cover it are made of fig leaves . and what if some plays be more innocent , and not so prophane as others ; if i go to one , doth not my example encourage men to go and see those which are more loose and wanton ? if i mean to discourage sin in others by my actions , i must not give them occasion to do that which is evil : sensual men distinguish not betwixt the more harmless and the more hurtful ; and if i encourage the one by my presence , i encourage the other too ; and if by my example i approve of the players profession in one thing , i approve of it in another too , and harden them in their folly ; not to mention , that my seeing the more harmless , as i call them , will in time entice me to see the more prophane ; for sin is catching , and one vanity draws on another , and from the lesser we run to greater , and when the horror of sin is once abated in our minds , the things which are most contrary to christianity , begin to appear harmless , and thus the soul glides insensibly into darkness and eternal misery . that which you use to pretend sometimes , that there are divines of the church of england , who approve o● these shews , hath nothing of validity in it ; for suppose there were some ▪ who allow of these vanities , doth i● therefore follow , that the church of england doth encourage them ? the opinions of some divines are not the standard of our church , nor are the private sentiments of a few men prescriptions for her to go by . the church of england hath no where declared so much , and as long as the church is silent , it 's presumption to interpret the fond opinions of some men , as her rule and doctrin . how can our church countenance such things , that professes strict adherence to the word of god , and looks upon the judgments of men , that are contrary to it , as heterodox and erroneous ? at this rate you might as well argue , that because some divines have been seen at a play , that therefore they have encouragement from the doctrin of our church . the doctrin of a church is one thing , and the practice of some of her pretended members is another . the churches case would be very hard , if she were to answer for all the misdemeanours of her seeming votaries ; and who knows not , how in all churches the professors generally deviate from the rules that are extant in their books and canons ? but after all , it 's worth enquiring , whether those divines you speak of be of the graver , or the younger sort ; that some young men who want experience , and perhaps a lively sense of religion , should be taken with these shews , i do not wonder ; but who takes a raw youth , and such as think any thing great and good , that 's witty , and serves to tickle the fancy , who takes such men for judges in an affair of this importance ? as to the graver sort , i doubt you 'll find none , or but very few , that are favourers of these spectacles , or if they do declare at any time , that if plays were reduced to their true decorum , they might be inoffensive , from hence it will not follow , that they countenance the common tragedies and comedies , which so manifestly go beyond the limits of decency . and what if you do go but now and then , doth your going but seldom justifie the action ? all that this excuse will amount to , is only this , that you do not sin so often as other men ; but doth this free you from the guilt , or make you innocent in the sight of god ? how would you take it , if a man should give you a box on the ear but now and then ? or how would you resent it , to have your good name taken away by a person , not always , but whenever his humour prompts him ? and from hence you may easily guess at the weakness of this exception , and if you have that mean opinion of god , that low esteem of his greatness , as to think , that to affront him but now and then can do no harm , you are unworthy to be his disciple , and judge your self unworthy of eternal life . but i am forced to go , you say , my superiours command me to wait upon them to a play , and how can i refuse it , except i will lose their favour , and the place i hold under them ? and is this such a bug-bear to fright you from your duty ? to whom have you greater obligations , to god or man ? if to god , why dare not you prefer his favour before the favour of men , and be guided more by his laws , than by the benevolence of dust and ashes ? have not you courage to make a vow , and when you are solicited by your superiours to go , cannot you speak out , and tell them , that you lie under the obligation of a vow not to go , and who will be so profane , as to desire you to break it ? had you rather sin than displease men , or is a poor creature more terrible to you , than he who thunders in the heavens ? if you are perswaded in your conscience , that to be present at these shews is sinful , shall a creatures smiles make you venture the displeasure of the most high ? and what if you lose something considerable by pleasing god ? hath god no ways to make you amends for your losses ? hath he no glory , no kingdom , no reward , no recompence to redintegrate your fortune ? if you lose this world for his sake , is not the felicity of the next recompence enough ? but why should you mistrust him even in this present life ? he that made moses after he had left the court of egypt , general of his own army and advanced joseph , who hated to be great and rich by sin , to be viceroy of the realm , and preserved daniel in his grandeur for this reason , because he would not depart from his conscienciousness ; is his arm shortned or is his strength abated , that he can do nothing equivalent to all this ? are not the hearts of men in his hand , and doth not he turn them as streams of water ? how often doth he make it appear to the world , that where a mans ways please the lord , he makes his very enemies to be at peace with him ? nay how often do these generous self-denials work by gods providence upon superiours , and they that at first sollicited a man to do that which was vain , and contrary to the laws of religion , when they see him resolute in his conscienciousness , how often have they been perswaded to reflect upon themselves , at least to have a better opinion of the person who fears god more than them ? what you have often told me , that from this way of reasoning it would follow , that it is unlawful to write or to read a play , will deserve some consideration : as for the writing of it , though poetry be a thing lawful and commendable , and is sufficiently warranted by the writers of divine poems in holy writ , yet that will not justifie all the subjects , poets pitch upon , and a consciencious man will take as much care , that the subject he writes of , be grave and serious , at least innocent , as he would do of his discourse in common conversation . i do not doubt , but that writing things obscene and filthy , and undecent , and contrary to good manners , and whereby others may be scandalized , and either drawn into sin , or harden'd in it , is as bad as speaking of them . without all peradventure a man may be witty without being profane , and exercise his fancy to the edification of readers , without launching out into things , at which nature and religion teaches us to blush ; and i need only put you in mind of what the incomparable mr. cowley saith , in his preface to his works , speaking of the admirable subjects that the scripture affords for the exercise of wit and poetry ; it is not without grief , saith he , and indignation , that i behold that divine science employing all her inexhaustible riches of wit and eloquence , either in the wicked and beggarly flattery of great persons , or the unmanly idolizing of foolish women , or the wretched affectation of scurril laughter , or at best on the confused and antiquated dreams of senseless fables , and metamorphoses . as for reading of modern plays , he that considers what an aversion from seriousness , and better things , the reading of them causes in the younger sort , will find no great reason to encourage them in such trifles , but rather to disswade them all he can from studies of this nature ; and though i believe that a grave , serious man , whose senses are throughly exercised to discern betwixt good and evil , may lawfully peruse them , to see the humour of the age , and to know how to obviate and confute the debaucheries , and errors which are growing , and tending to the ruin of good manners , as skillful physitians may meddle with poison , to make antidotes of it ; yet to persons whose understandings are slippery and weak , whose passions are stronger than their reason , and who have already too great a tincture of sensuality , and consequently may easily encrease the ill humour by such divertisements , they ought to be debarr'd from them by those , who have the care of their education . these sir , are my thoughts of the query you proposed to me , and tho' the letter be somewhat long , yet i hope the arguments i have laid down , are not impertinent ; that they are liable to exceptions , i question not , being sensible that it 's easier to cavil , than to answer , and where men are resolved to maintain the vain humour , they have imbibed from conversation , they will always have something to say against the most sober truths and assertions . the drift and design of the gospel is certainly on our side ; if any be fond of preferring the dictates of flesh and blood , or the suggestions of the world , before the mortifying lessons of our crucified redeemer , all that we can say is this , that we would have healed babylon , but she would not be healed . i shall only add my wishes and prayers , that what you have read here , may be a means to bring you to a noble sense of a better world , and convince you , that the way to attain a future bliss , is very different from that , which leads to sensual delights and satisfactions : our natures are generally too prone to gratifie the flesh , and we had not need add fewel to the fire , but to do all we can to quench that , which is already kindled , that after our self denials here , we may reign with the self-denying jesus , with whom we cannot live hereafter , except we suffer with him here , and endure the loss of the pleasures of sin for a season ; nor sit with him in his throne , except we continue with him in his temptations here . and i am perswaded , that did you live more in heaven , and gave your self time to meditate on the things which are not seen ; did you incorporate those everlasting joys with your mind , and riveted the belief of that endless bliss into your very spirits , that your faith might be the substance of things unseen , and the evidence of the treasures hoped for , you would despise these shews and glories of the world , as much as you do value and esteem them now , and would be so far from stopping your ears against the reasons i have given , that you would study and invent more , to controll the vulgar errors of mankind . get but once a true rellish of spiritual things , and you will look between anger and scorn on these trivial objects , admired by the vulgar . and why should not you raise your soul above the bubbles of external pomp ? whatever difficulty there may be in the attempt , the fruit that grows on the tree at last , will sufficiently recompence your labour . our souls are active or unactive , according as we take pains with them , and though there be some irksomness in swimming against the stream of carnal inclinations , yet if the hill be once conquered , the serene air that is on the top of it , the gentle gales , the glorious sun-shine , the sweetness of rest , that crowns all the hardships , will make you bless the day that you begun to mind the things which belong unto your peace . and that you may do so , is the unfeigned desire of , sir , your daily orator at the throne of mercy , &c. and having hitherto discoursed of the nature of sensual delights and recreations , and how far a christian is bound to deny himself in them upon the account of a future judgment ; to compleat these meditations , it will be necessary to draw some useful inferences from the premises . inferences . 1. this clears what the wise man says , eccles. 7. 2. that 't is better to go to the house of mourning , than to the house of feasting . so sad a prospect , as that of a future judgment is , one would think , were enough to hush all mirth and jollity whatsoever ; however , we may rationally conclude , that it 's enough to turn the byass , and make the soul have less affection for mirth , than sorrow and severity of behaviour . the antient heathens make use of this apologue ; sorrow and mirth presented themselves one day before jupiter , and desired him to determine which of them two was best , and most to be chosen . sorrow pleaded , that it made men pensive and serious , caused them to think , brought them to a due sense of their own frailty , and a profound veneration of the divine majesty , made them compassionate and tender-hearted , besides many other advantages the dull world took no notice of . mirth on the other side alledged , that it cheer'd the spirits , made them lively and fit for service , enabled them to do great and noble things , made men good company and belov'd of their neighbours , beguil'd the tedious hours of humane life , and was an emblem of the joys , the gods themselves were drunk withall . jupiter having heard them plead a considerable time , and weigh'd the reasons on both sides , found the decision of the case so difficult , that he dismist them without any other . answer but this , that he could not tell . but what a heathen oracle could not resolve , a christian , guided by the word of life , may soon determine ; and he that believes the tremendous things , the scripture speaks of , cannot but conclude , that there is less danger in seriousness and sorrow , than in mirth and jollity , because there are fewer temptations in the one than there are in the other . our natures certainly are not so prone to sin in a charnel house as they are at a theatre , nor our affections so apt to run out into licentiousness in a church , as they are at a publick shew . and though a man may be strong , and couragious , and able to defie all dangers , yet a sampson may be overcome by a dalilah ; and if he be not overcome , yet something may stick by him , which may put an everlasting stop to his growth in grace and virtue . he that goes much to the house o● mourning provides infinitely better for the safety of his soul than he that frequents the house of mirth and feasting the former walks in a beaten path , whereas the other ventures over a narrow bridge , or treads on the edge of a wall , where it 's possible he may come off with safety ; but for one that escapes without a fall ; there are twenty and forty that miscarry . he that presses through a hedge of thorns may possibly get through without tearing his cloaths ; but he that hath patience till he comes to a gate , and opens it , and so passes on , takes the surer way . the wisest men in all ages have judged it better to converse with spectacles of misery , than with objects savouring of external splendour . he that visits a hospital , where he beholds variety of distressed creatures , some lame , some blind , some wounded , some deaf , some sick , some roaring under grievous pains , will certainly go away more edified than he that feeds his eyes with all the gayeties of a luxurious court ; the former may leave some kindly impressions upon him , and oblige him to admire the distinguishing mercy , goodness , and compassion of god , who hath suffer'd no such accident to befall him , and season his heart with pity and compassion , with tenderness and charity ; whereas the excess and extravagance of the other will , do what he can , leave a touch of lightness and vanity upon his affections . that 's the reason why some provident men heretofore , have carried their winding-sheets with them in their march , others digg'd their sepulchres and graves in their gardens , others at their solemn feasts have had a death's-head served up , and placed upon the table , others in a certain room in their house , have set an empty coffin on purpose , that looking upon these spectacles often , their minds might be taken off from admiration of worldly satisfactions , and placed upon objects which might furnish them with more melancholick contemplations : and this , in all probability , will be the effect of conversing with such objects , if we view them , not as they belong to our trade , but as thinking men and philosophers . the sexton that digs his neighbours grave hath an object serious enough before him ; but he goes to it as a man that must maintain his family with the gain , and therefore is never the wiser for his familiarity with such spectacles . the chyrurgion that goes among the lame and bruised , and wounded , with no higher ends , than to fill his purse , and to discharge the office of his art , will come home as little edified as he went : but he whose choice of such mortified objects is voluntary and deliberate , attended with suitable designs of meliorating and advancing the mind , cannot but return enrich'd with that wisdom , the merchandise of which is more precious than that of gold and silver . whatever the merry sinner may think , it 's better to weep than to laugh . our great master , the lord jesus , who is a good christian's pattern , was of this opinion : and in imitation of him , not a few eminent saints have preferr'd a feast of tears before a banquet of mirth and sensual pleasure : arsenius , olympias , domnina , abraham the hermite , the solitary pambo , and st. austin , are famous in history for their tears ; to st. jerom they were in the nature of daily bread , and he professes , that when his eyes were fullest of tears , he saw the quires of angels , and could discern the orders of seraphim and cherubim ; such a perspicuity of sight do tears give to a holy soul. that which made these great men weep so much , was either a sense of their own and other mens offences , or a lively prospect of the love of god , or a glorious foresight of the joys above . but , worldly sorrow is no virtue ; and he that weeps much , either because he cannot have those conveniences he would have , or is cross'd and disappointed in his designs , or because he hath lost such a great man's favour , or because some other loss befalls him , weeps in vain , nay sins by his weeping , and his sin , if he continue impenitent , brings on death 2 cor. 7. 10. floods of tears upon a mere temporal account , are insignificant in heaven , and no more than water spilt upon the ground ; such tears god doth not put into his bottle , nor have the blessed angels any charge to number the drops that fall ; but where religion , and a mighty sense of god , and tenderness of his honour and glory , causes rivers of tears , and where the soul hath so delicate a taste that it cannot think of god without weeping , nor speak of him without weeping , nor reflect upon his goodness without weeping , there the man is come up to a perfection , which is the very suburbs of heaven . it 's true , all people cannot weep , nor are they therefore in a damnable condition ; for they may be sincere in goodness , and yet not be able to express their sincerity in tears , though i am apt to believe , that it is for want of refining the soul into a high relish of divine objects , that puts a stop to these sacred floods in most men ; yet where they can weep , and something they see ●n god , or in the word of god , or in the providences of god , is the true cause of those tears , every drop is richer than a diamond , and such a soul may vye happiness with the greatest monarchs . they are inestimable treasures ; and though man knows not how to value them , yet the spirits above esteem them at a mighty rate , and magnifie them in gods presence , luke 15. 10. it 's a huge mistake , that men cannot rejoyce except they laugh ; there are tears of joy as well as tears of grief , and the very heathen saw , that true ●oy was a very serious thing . hence 〈◊〉 was , that they confined true joy to their philosophers , and left the louder ●aughter to slaves , and carters , and ●loughmen : and how often have i ●en the richest joys bubble forth from ●●e largest tears ? nor would men in those circumstances change condition with the most potent prince in the world , such content , such satisfaction , such riches , such wealth , appears in these tears which religion forces . how much better is it to be afflicted where our prosperity and a good conscience are inconsistent , than to enjoy kingdoms and principalities without the light of gods countenance ? this was the excellent choice of moses , and of all the martyrs of old , who were content to be sawn asunder , to be stoned , to be tormented , to wander about in caves and dens , weeping and destitute , rather than desile their souls with sin ; which puts me in mind of the good advice st. jerom gave to his friend heliodorus , did the babe , thy grand child , saith he , hang about thy neck ; should thy mother that bare thee , bid thee look upon the breasts thou hast sucked ; should thine own father lie prostrate at thy feet , and intreat thee to spare thy self , and to forbear venturing on the strictness and severities of religion ; get away from them , my friend , and with dry eyes fly unto the banner of christ jesus : in this case , to be cruel is the greatest piety . this was the case of the primitive believers , who preferred their distresses before nero's chair of state , and took greater pleasure in their seemingly forlorn condition , than claudius or caligula in their affluence . in the midst of their tears they were greater men than their persecutors ; and though they wanted all things , and their enemies had all that heart could wish , yet they justly believed themselves happier in their funeral dress , than the other in their triumphs . the man that roars in a tavern , or sings in an ale-house , or rejoyces in his sin , had more need to wish , that his head were water , and his eyes a fountain of tears ; were he in his wits he would do so : but his reason is distorted , his understanding darkned , his eyes blinded , his mind unhing'd , his desires perverted , his affections led astray , and like a distracted creature , he rejoyces in his nakedness . ah brutish and inconsiderate soul ! thou weepest to see a child or a near relation dye , and canst thou see thy soul die , and be robb'd of that goodness which must give her life , and be unconcerned ? thou weepest at the loss of a thousand pounds , and canst thou remember how thou losest god's favour , and all right and interest in the merits of a crucified saviour , and keep thine eyes dry ? thou weepest to see a friend drowning or burning in a merciless fire , and canst thou think how thou flingest thy self into the furnace of god's wrath , makest his anger kindle , and wax hot against thee , and dost what thou canst to turn it into a fire , which no man , no angel can quench , and will no tears flow into thine eyes ? how barbarous , how inhumane is thy joy ? what dost thou rejoyce in ? that sin which makes thee merry , that folly which chears thy spirit , what is it but ingratitude to thy kindest benefactor ? what is it but requiting the greatest good with the greatest evil ? what is it , but contempt of him who keeps thy soul in life ? what is it but bidding defiance to him who carries thee on his wings , and out-does the tenderness of a mother , the care of a father , and doth all that 's fitting to guard thy soul from ruin ? and are these fit things to rejoyce in ? are these fit objects of thy mirth ? are these divertisements proper for a creature that holds his very being of god , and is beholding to him for all the blessings he enjoys ? what wonder if after all this impiety and stubborness , god rejoyces too , rejoyces in thy groans , rejoyces in thy anguish , rejoyces in thy agonies , rejoyces in thy sense of his justice , rejoyces in thy howlings ? this he must do at last to secure his honour . this he will be obliged to do in the end , to vindicate the veracity of his threatnings . this he will be constrained to do after all , that devils may not mock his holiness , nor deride his thunders , nor upbraid him with partiality . at that time , this will appear very good divinity , no fable , no romance , no trade of priests , no invention of politicians , no old wifes tale , no idle story ; and if thou could'st exhaust the sea in that day , and weep it out again , to testifie thy unfeigned sorrow , thou would'st do it . happy the soul that thinks of this ! happy the man that believes these terrors before he feels them . how much wiser are those tender hearts that do little else but weep and mourn , and make their life a valley of tears without a metaphor ! whose fear of offending god is so great , that every little defect , and every accidental miscarriage , forces tears from their eyes : though there may be some indiscretion in the management of their conscientiousness , yet notwithstanding all this , their tears are the wine of angels ; these are the gaudy dress of a holy soul. the almighty that sees her adorned with these pearls and glistering in these pendants , falls on her neck , and kisses her . fear not , ye afflicted , and toss'd with tempests : so the lord jesus wept , though not for his own sins , yet for the sins of others , and was receiv'd into glory ; so mary magdalen wept , and on those streams a gracious pardon was convey'd into her soul ; so the great st. paul wept , and found the consolations of christ abounding in him ; so the penitent publican wept , and went justified to his house . they that sow in tears shall reap in joy. blessed are ye that weep now , for ye shall laugh , luk. 6. 21. there is a place high , wondrous high above , where all tears shall be wiped away , and no sorrow , no grief , no anguish shall appear ; so we have heard , so we shall see e'er long in the city of our god : verily , verily , i say unto you , that ye shall weep and lament , but the world shall rejoyce , and ye shall be sorrowful , but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. a woman , when she is in travel , hath sorrow , because her hour is come ; but as soon as she is deliver'd of the child , she remembers no more the anguish , for joy that a man is born into the world. and ye now therefore have sorrow , but i will see you again , and your heart shall rejoyce , and your joy no man takes from you , joh. 16. 20 , 21 , 22. 2. see here , how differently spiritual things affect men , as they either attentively , or inattentively think upon them . the process of the day of judgment to a man that retires , and through desire , separates himself to think of it , as the covetous doth of his gold , or as the timorous doth of his danger , i. e. in good earnest , it will prove an invincible motive to self-denial . another , that looks upon it , as a thing spoke of in course every lords day , thinks of the words as he hears them , but ruminates not upon the sense , is no more moved with it , than the carcasses that sleep in their graves , forbears not one sin for it , but doth still , as he used to do , mind his body , gratifie his flesh , pursue his temporal interest , comply with sinful men , please himself , regard religion on the by , and set his affections on things below . and as it is in this , so it is in other truths ; for , do but take a view of the publick assemblies ; here the glad tidings of god's mercy to penitent sinners shall make an humble spirit weep , melt his heart , and force him into humble thoughts , and lively admirations of god's condescension ; there sits another , and either sleeps all the while , or continues in as even a temper as he came : what 's the reason ? one weighs the importance of this truth , considers the vast distance betwixt god and sinful man , thinks , if these things be true , how marvellous god's love must be ; and that touches him to the quick. the other's thoughts are unstable , as water , uncertain and inconstant : he satisfies himself with this , that he hath heard a sermon , performed his complement to god , and consequently finds no alteration in his inward man. how have i seen sometimes a pious soul transported with a lively description of the unseen everlasting glory , while the greatest part of the congregation have been no more concerned at it , than if the orator had spoke of common trees , and herbs , and the hysop on the wall ? the reason is plain , the one thinks of it as a believer , the other as an infidel . the one reflects , lord , what am i , and what is my father's house , that thou intendest to advance me to this dignity , lift up a poor worm from a dunghil to a throne , and place him with princes ▪ even with the princes of thy people , the innumerable company of angels ! the other pleases himself only with the sound , mingles the thoughts of the world with his devotion , suffers not the glorious object to lye long in his mind , and so it passes , as it came , without any impression . here one rejoyces at the precious promises of the gospel , his very heart leaps at the joyful news , and they come like oyl into his bones , warm his very soul , and pierce even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit : there another sits like a stock , and wonders what ails his neighbour to keep such a stir about a few empty words . but why should'st thou wonder at the change thou see'st in thy friend ? he thinks of the veracity of god , and how these promises will most certainly be fulfilled ; he thinks , how the riches god promises exceed all the treasures of this present world , and what satisfaction they afford to a hungry soul , how far they do transcend these earthly glories , and how to have a share in them , is a far greater priviledge than to be related to the greatest monarchs ; and that raises his soul into that secret joy. thou thinkest no more than a lyon or elephant , thinkest more of thy profit and gain , than of these intellectual treasures ; thy thoughts are not busie about these enjoyments ; thou thinkest it time lost to spend any serious thoughts upon them , and how should thy duller soul be affected with them ? here the example of a valiant saint , that fought with his lusts , overcame his desires , stood stedfast in the hour of temptation , conquer'd the devil , vanquish'd all oppositions , kept the faith , finish'd his course with joy , draws an attentive soul into imitation of his virtues . there another that hears or reads the same description , feeds still on his husks , follows his careless neighbour , delights in vain company , continues in his aversion from the stricter lives of holy men. the reason is evident ; for , the one thinks of the noble attempts such souls have made , how they are applauded in heaven , how they have signaliz'd their valour , what comforts they have prepared for , and of the reward they now enjoy : the other looks upon them as melancholick men , thinks of his present pleasure more than of a future recompence , dives not into the nature of these conquests , reflects not how agreeable they are to reason , or how necessary in order to a crown , but thinks he may have the diadem spoken of with less trouble , and therefore he sits still upon his dunghil . vain sons of men ! how long will ye turn your glory into shame ! hath god bestowed upon you a faculty which beasts are strangers to , and for which devils envy you , even reason and understanding , the true image of your maker , and will you let it lie dormant in the ashes and rubbish of your sensual inclinations ? when god hath distinguish'd you from the ignobler brutes , will you be like the horse and mule , whose mouths must be held with bitt and bridle ? behold , the almighty hath prepared a supper for you ; and when the morning and noon of your life is spent , designs a feast for you at night , immediately after death ; a feast , where the lamb that was slain sits master , and intends to bid you welcome ; a feast , where the meat will be angels food , the wine hallelujahs , and the entertainment , perfection of bliss and glory ; the company , the apostles of the lamb , and the spirits of men made perfect ; a feast , where no good will be absent , and no evil present , where plenty and affluence will last for ever , where joys will abound , and the beatifick presence of god will charm and ravish souls to all eternity . to this feast he calls you , to this banquet he invites you , to this table he sends for you , to these dainties you are bid , to these delicates you are entreated to come , of these varieties you shall be made partakers ; and is it not worth considering , what this mighty offer means ? what if you see it not with mortal eyes ? your thoughts may see it , your understanding may behold it , your reason may take a view of it . your thoughts will tell you , that god , who cannot lye , hath promised it , the son of god , who is truth it self , hath revealed it ; the apostles , who came attended with the power of miracles , have publish'd it . these will tell you , that there can be no doubt of it , and that it is as certain , as if you were actually sharers of it . give but your understanding leave to search into this mystery , and you will be charmed with it ; give but your reason leave to ascend and descend upon the ladder of the word of god , and you will feel a hunger and thirst after it ; your souls will long for it , your affections will breath after it , and your inward and outward man will labour after it , and strive to enter in at the strait gate ; and shall all these riches be lost upon you for want of thinking and contemplation ? could you by thinking make those joys visible to you , and will ye refuse it ! could you by meditating make that glory present to you , and will you neglect the opportunity ? could you by musing and pondering bring heaven into your chambers and closets , and will ye debarr your selves of that glorious sight ? see what you lose by your inconsiderateness ! see what consolations , what satisfactions , what cordials , you deprive your immortal souls of ! can you see other men run away with all the comforts of the gospel , and remain senseless ? can you see others get into the pool of bethesda before you , and recover , and are you fond of continuing lame , and blind , and poor , and miserable ? can you see others carry away the crown , and feel no ambition in you ? can you see others take away the blessing of your father from you , and be unmoved at the want of it ? can you see how other men by thinking arrive to perfection , and will you lye groveling in the dust ? o! think while thinking may do you good . in hell you 'll think , but it will be too late ; there you 'll think , but your thoughts will be your torment ? there your thoughts will be the undoing of you ; there you 'll think what happy persons you might have been if you had imitated abraham's faith , and moses's resolution , david's candour , and josiah's piety , st. paul's courage , and st. peter's tears , st. john's love , and lydia's attentiveness , the berrhoeans zeal , and the macedonian churches charity , zachoeus his restitution , and the publican's repentance ; but these thoughts will then be your vexation , since the working time is past , and the day of vengeance come . there you 'll think that christ was your friend , indeed , when he made himself of no reputation , but took upon him the form of a servant , became obedient to the cross , and dyed for you ; but to think that he is your enemy now , because you refused obedience to him , because you made light of his offers , and would not accept of him for your governour , must needs fill you with endless grief , and bitterness of spirit . now consider this , ye that forget god , lest i tear you in pieces , and there be none to deliver , psal. 50. 22. 3. and is not the greatest part of the world to be pityed , that can delight in nothing but what they can grasp and feel ? the covetous can delight in nothing but in gold : if he want money all his joy is gone : if his coffers be full , and his barns stock'd with corn , and plenty doth surround him , his heart rejoyces , his soul triumphs , and cheerfulness plumps his cheeks ; but without this , his mind is disturbed , his faculties languish , his countenance is dejected , and he looks like a dying man. who would imagine , that this man hath a rational soul ? who would think , he were created after the image of god ? who would conclude him to have lived in a land where the gospel is preach'd ? who can inferr from his actions , or behaviour , that this man believes a word of scripture ? who would take the wretch for a disciple of the poor and afflicted jesus ? who that looks upon him , would not be apt to cry with him , sit anima mea cum philosophis , let me die the death of some brave self-denying heathen philosopher ? for these certainly are in a likelier way of salvation , at least of escaping the wrath to come , than the covetous christian. diogenes being desired of alexander the great to beg either gold or silver of him , received this answer , do but stand out of the sun , and do not hinder that glorious light from shining upon me , and i have enough . the brave crates having sold what he had , and turned it into money , generously threw it all into the sea , saying , it is far better , i should drown thee , than that thou should'st drown me in perdition . alexander having sent to the great phocion two talents of gold , the wise man ask'd the messengers , seeing there were so many good men at athens , why the king should of all men make choice of him , to present him ? the ambassadour ; answer'd , because of all men he look'd upon him as the honestest . say you so ? replyed the philosopher , then let alexander give me leave to be still an honest man , which i can be without all these presents , and glistering treasures . cimon had two large cups sent him from a persian king , the one full of gold , the other of silver . he looks upon them smilingly ; and asks the man who brought them , whether his master intended , that cimon should be his friend or his servant ? the man replied , it was out of ambition to have him for his friend , that he sent it . oh! then saith he , take them back again , for being his friend , when i have need of them , i can send for them at any time . epaminondas , when some came to corrupt him with gifts , invites the ambassadours to dinner , and there entertains them with roots , and herbs , and with small sour wine . dinner being done , go home , saith he , and tell your prince , that epaminondas being content with such a dinner , is not easily to be drawn by bribes into a base and trayterous action . fabritius , the roman general , having concluded a peace with the samnites , the magistrates of the samnites , by way of gratitude send six ambassadours to him with vast sums of money , begging of him to accept of it ; but he stroaking his head , and face , and breast , and knees , gentlemen , saith he , while i can command these limbs i have no need of money ; and so dismissed them . curius gave the same answer to them , adding , that he had rather rule over persons , that had money , than be possess'd of money himself . these men were heathens , whose delight in virtue drown'd their delight in these outward comforts . they saw , what an impediment to goodness , these heaps of silver were , and therefore scorn'd to delight in a thing so base and trivial ; they were sensible , that the soul had her riches as well as the body , & as the former by the confession of the wiser sort of mankind , went beyond the other in value , so it was reasonable they should delight in the one more than in the other . these men were better christians by the light of nature , than thousands among us are with all the helps that revelation and grace affords ; not that the fault lies in the means , which are larger and richer than pagans and infidels have , but that men stupifie their souls more under these advantages , than heathens did under the lesser irradiations of the divine light and splendour . so then the very heathens saw , that the more spiritual the delight was , the nobler it was , and the more it was refin'd , and purified from the dross of the world , the more rational it was , and therefore more amiable , and fitter to be embraced : and sure , god must have provided but very ill for mankind , when he embued and impregnated their souls with a sense of religion , if he had not put something into religion , that 's charming and lovely , whereby their souls might be attracted to delight in it . religion being derived from him , who is the fountain of delight and satisfaction , must necessarily have that in it which may make humane souls rejoyce , and exalt their delight into a victorious supremacy above all worldly pleasures . what did the lord jesus delight in , who lived upon alms ? what did the apostles delight in , who were in much patience , in afflictions , in necessities and distresses , in stripes , in imprisonments , in tossings to and fro , in labours , in watchings , in fastings ? what did all the primitive believers delight in , that were poor , and naked , driven into exile , banish'd , forced to work in mines , chased away from the comforts of wife , children , and relations ? something certainly they delighted in ; for humane nature cannot well subsist without delight in something . it could not be the riches of this world , for they had them not ; nor indeed did they care for them , when they were offered them : it was religion , that engrossed their delight . this made them joyful in all conditions ; this raised their drooping spirits under the rage of their persecutors ; and certainly it would be hard , if a glorious god , with all his attributes , and the wonderful things he hath revealed to our comfort , were improper objects of delight : and since these are the genuine delights of a christian , o besotted soul , why dost thou delight in broken cisterns , when thou hast the fountain of living waters to delight in ? why dost thou delight in apes and peacocks , when thou hast the creator of all these to rejoyce in ? why dost thou delight in a morsel of meat , when thou hast the birth-right of eternal glory to delight in ? why dost thou delight in the shade of the bramble , when thou hast the shadow of god's wings to delight in ? why dost thou delight in the nether springs , when thou hast the upper springs of mercy to delight in ? why dost thou delight 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , when thou hast a house made without hands to delight in ? why dost thou delight in the rivers of damascus , when thou hast the river of god's pleasure to delight in ? why dost thou delight in a fading beauty , when thou hast him that 's altogether lovely to delight in ? why dost thou delight in the voice of a deceitful siren , when thou hast him whose voice comforts the mourners of sion to delight in ? why dost thou delight in the slavery of thy lusts , when thou hast him , whose service is perfect freedom to delight in ? why dost thou delight in a little gain , in drops of happiness , in crumbs of bliss , in shining dust , when thou hast a sea of glory to delight in ? how deep must thy soul lye immerst in body , if such illustrious objects cannot delight it ! how far must thou be yet from the kingdom of heaven , if things of this nature cannot content thee ! how earthly must thy heart be , how debauch'd , how perverted from the end of its creation , if these spiritual delights are insipid to it ! there are some among us i believe , who have tasted of both delights , the sinful ones of the flesh , and those which are proper for holy souls ; tell me , i beseech you , whether you think a fit of laughter , or a drunken bout , or a merry meeting , you once delighted in , so sweet , so comfortable , so refreshing , as the gentle , and soft , and kinder influences of god's spirit , when you have been engaged in prayer , and praises , and contemplations of a future state ? when you have been wrestling with god , and after that work of love have felt a holy assurance of god's favour upon your spirits , can any thing be more pleasing , or charming , than those divine communications ? when you have entred into meditation of god's goodness , and the love of god hath shined bright upon your souls , have not you felt that , which hath been as much beyond all sensual delights as an oriental pearl is beyond brass or copper , or such baser minerals ? have not you found a joy stealing upon your souls after such refreshing considerations , as hath transported you even into love of martyrdom ? how contented have you been after such exercises , or after some signal self-denial ? how harmonious have your spirits and affections been after such enjoyments of god's loving kindness , and how like soft and curious musick have these gales of the divine goodness composed your troubled thoughts , and hush'd them into a lasting peace ! and is not this infinitely better , than the pleasures of sardanapalus , of dives , and other luxurious men ? will not this turn to better account at last than fleshly lusts , which war against the soul ? look upon heliogabalus , who tryed how great a monster a man could make himself ; in his cloaths you should see nothing but gold and purple , his beds were embroidered , and the feathers that were in them must be the softer feathers of partridges taken from under their wings , mix'd with the finest rabbets hair . he would ride in a chariot shining with rubies and diamonds , and not only in the out-side of his shooes , but even within , he would have precious stones : he would not ride abroad under six hundred coaches with him ; his beds and rooms were strow'd with all sorts of curious flowers , and an everlasting perfume filled his halls and parlors : sometimes in a frolick he would be drawn in a chariot by four mastiff dogs , sometimes by four stags , sometimes by four tygers as bacchus , sometimes by four lions , as cybele , sometimes by four beautiful women . now and then he would cause ships to be richly laden with all costly commodities , and then sink them in the sea. at some of his meals he would have six hundred estriches ▪ heads at the table ; and when the humour took him , all his courses should be nothing but pheasants heaped and piled together in dishes , sometimes they should all be pullets ; sometimes nothing would serve him , but to have all sorts of deformed men at his table , eight lame men , eight blind , eight blacks , eight gouty , eight fat , eight bald , eight deaf . in such fooleries he delighted ; and because the syrian priests had told him , that he would die an unnatural death , he would keep poison in golden vessels , to kill himself , before any person should be able to lay hold on him : to this purpose , he would have silken halters about him , and penknifes set with diamonds to dispatch himself , when he should see occasion . and he built also a tower , which he over-laid with gold , that in case of any sudden attack , he might throw himself from the top of it . these were the sottish delights of this man , and yet after all , he died in a jakes . i have mention'd this brute , and his actions , because there are in his short life all the extravagant actions that a distemper'd brain can invent , and all the delights that a mad man could think of , yet who would not prefer a delight in a good conscience , and delight in god's worship , and delight in acts of charity , and delight in heavenly thoughts before it ? sensual delights must at last expire , but spiritual delights do not die ; but as you have seen those vast balls of burnish'd brass on church-steeples cast a glorious lustre assoon as the sun shines upon them , so at a serious man's death , his delight in holiness , upon god's favourable acceptance of it , instead of expiring and decaying , immediately grows bigger in its glory , the rays of it spread , and enlarge their borders , and stretch themselves into eternity . and therefore , 4. who can harbour any hard thoughts of religion , because it debars us of disorderly sensual delights ? in doing so , it does us a kindness , is our friend , prevents our danger , saves us from the pit , delivers us from hell , makes us live like men. it doth not debar us of that which will make us happy , nor hinder us from solid joy , nor deprive us of such sensual delights , as are necessary for our preservation . the delights it keeps us from , are fitter for swine than for rational creatures : it separates us from delights , which will lead the soul into the shadow and valley of death , from delights , which dethrone the ruling part in us , make the master serve the man , and from princes debase us to a state of thraldom . it denies us such delights as make god our enemy , move him to depart from us , and provoke him to indignation . it will not suffer us to meddle with delights , which destroy the glory of the mind , damp our zeal● , alienate the heart from god , and drive away his holy spirit from us . it is against all such delights as would make us miserable , and enamoured with sin , and the world , and in being an enemy to such delights it consults our good . it is more favourable to us than we are to our selves , and seeks to make us like god. god is above all sensual delights , he is not taken with the beauty of the face in man or woman ; he undervalues a great table , and hates the prodigality of the spend thrift ; he hath no body to please , no eyes to satisfie ▪ with glittering objects , no ears to delight with artificial sounds , no blood to cherish with studied cordials ; and though the world be his , and the fullness thereof , yet he solaces not himself in the pleasures of it ; his delights are great , like himself ; spiritual like his essence , infinite as his glory , eternal as his being ; he delights in himself , and is to himself the object of his pleasure : he delights in the eternal brightness of his own glory , and the express image of his person : he delights in his own boundless understanding , whereby he knows all things , past , present , and to come , and sees all beings before they are , and what will come to pass , and dives into their nature , ends , designs , and the accidents that befall them : his delight lies in doing good , and communicating the rays of his holiness to his subjects . he delights in his own perfections , and virtue is the amiable spectacle of his eyes : he delights in a soul that loves him , and an humble heart is to him a glorious sight . the soul that loves her own lowliness , and is content to be little , and despised in the world , embraces contempt and reproaches , and like the mighty jesus , runs with patience the race , that 's set before her ; this causes joy in heaven . to this likeness , religion would advance the soul ; not that it attempts to give it the same perfection , but that it designs to work some resemblance betwixt her , and that sovereign being . the soul being in some measure capable of this delight , its endeavour is to bring her to a sense of it . in a word , it seeks to reduce man to the first state of innocence , from which by sin he fell . and though adam had all the riches and glories of the world concentred in his paradise , yet his delights were more spiritual than sensual , since his joys were not so much from the flowers , and trees , and animals themselves , as from the excellency , power , wisdom , greatness of god , which glistered in their make , and use , and the ends , for which they were created . he saw indeed the proud tulip , the fragrant rose , the odoriferous jessamin , and rejoyced ; he beheld the cherry , the fig , the almond , and the apple , and triumph'd ; he cast his eyes on the laden trees , and how they seemed to let down their arms to put their richer fruits into his mouth , and was glad ; he took a view of the fishes , that danced , and leap'd in the chrystal rivers , that water'd the glorious place , and his spirits were enliven'd ; but at the same time , the bounty , liberality , and omnipotence of the great architect of all , appeared so lively to his mind , that he made his garden a true emblem of heaven , fell down , and day and night sung the praises of his creator , as if he vyed with the angels of the upper world , and were trying , who should hold out longest at melodious hallelujahs . this kindness religion intends to our souls , and therefore suggests unto us the promises and threatnings of god , to keep our feet steddy in the way , they are to walk in : to this purpose it tells us , that he who loves sensual pleasure shall be a poor man , poor in grace , poor in gifts of god's holy spirit , poor with respect to god's favour , poor even to contempt , destitute of those richer incomes , which sanctified souls receive , deprived of the juice and sap , which flows from the flourishing vine , the lord jesus , in want of a fore-taste of heaven , and of a sense , what the hope of god's calling is , and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance is in the saints , and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward them that believe , according to the working of his mighty power , which he wrought in christ , when he raised him from the dead , and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places , eph. 1. 18 , 19 , 20. who can grumble at religion after all these advantages ? who can find fault with it after this prospect of its benefits ? who dares asperse that beauteous virgin after such fruits it bears ? who would not esteem it ? who would not prize it ? who would not honour it ? who would not speak well of it ? who would not look upon it as a horn of plenty , and a treasury of the greatest comforts ? who would not maintain the honour of it , against all opponents ? who would not vindicate it , when it is abused ? who would not rise up in defence of it , when blasphemous tongues would traduce , and revile it ? let no man say here , i can follow my carnal pleasures , and yet be religious too ; alas ! what piety can that be , where thy affections are divided betwixt religion , and worldly pleasures , and where these delights commonly have the greater share ? may be thou sayest thy prayers , so have i seen parrets , and magpies repeat a few sentences , which they have been taught : may be , thou goest to church ; so have i seen a blind man sit down by a candle , but to no purpose : thou mayest attempt to reconcile the temple of god , and idols , but these attempts are as vain , as thy pleasures are ; while these sensual delights ingross thy mind , the word must needs be a dead letter to thee : heaven cannot supple thy soul ▪ hell cannot fright it ; the thunders of god are insignificant to it , and thou art unfit to dye , unfit to appear at the great tribunal . the heathens tell this fable , that ceres coming down from heaven one day , gave out , that she was a nurse ; whereupon , king eleusius took her to attend his son triptolemus , and having him under her tuition , in the day time she sed him with celestial milk , and in the night she cover'd him with fire , to give him immortality . religion is that fire , which must make you immortal ; this purges away your dross , and cleanseth you hearts from the dregs of sin and death , makes you bright and shining , and capable of eternal light. no nurse is so tender of you as religion is : it feeds you with celestial milk that you may be strong in the lord , and able to put on the whole armour of god , and grow up into a perfect man in christ : what ? if it will not suffer you to please your flesh beyond what is necessary for it's subsistence , must it therefore be your enemy ? will you count it a foe because it denies you the sword which would kill you ? how lovely should this very thing make it in your eyes ! how dear should this make its holy precepts to you ! how should you rejoyce , that you have such a monitor to prevent your ruine ! what praises do you owe to god , that witholds you from that which would precipitate your souls into the gulf of perdition ! i conclude the inference with this story : two brethren were travelling , one a very prudent man , the other rude and silly ; coming to a place where two ways met , they dispute , which of the two they should take ; one look'd as if great art had been bestow'd upon it , flowers grew on both sides , and it seemed to be most frequented ; the other look'd rough and uneven , liker a foot-path than a high-way : the weaker brother , charmed with the out-side , was clearly for making choice of the former ; but the wiser , though he saw that the pleasant way invited the eye , yet i fear , saith he , it will not bring us to a commodious lodging , the rather because i have heard , that the less beaten path leads to an inn , where we may have excellent accomodation . the foolish fellow was peremptory in it , that the most pleasant way must be the right way ; and prevails with the brother to bear him company : and being advanced considerably in it , they light upon a company of robbers , who immediately clap shackles on their hands and feet , and hale them both to their captain and governour . here one brother accuses the other ; the wiser charges the other with stubbornness ; the weaker blamed the other's facility , and alledged , that since his brother pretended to greater wisdom than he , he should not have been perswaded . in fine , both are found guilty , and both laid up in prison . these two brethren are your souls and bodies : your soul is the wise , your body the foolish brother . let not your body by its importunity prevail with the soul to consent to its desires and fondnesses of the dangerous delights of the world. o! hearken not to the perswasions of a sensual appetite , that chooses a present satisfaction , but considers not , there are robbers at the end of the way , which will certainly throw both into outward darkness . 5. the great day is at hand , let 's prepare for it . so christ told his disciples , and so the apostles taught the christian world ; nor must we wonder , that the blessed jesus should fright his followers with the approaches of that day , when he knew , it would not come in sixteen hundred years , and more , which are past , since his appearing in the world. i omit here the calculations of curious men , who have been bold to determine the year in which the day of judgment will happen ; some that follow the tradition of elias have allow'd two thousand years to the oeconomy before the law , two thousand to that under the law , and two thousand to that under the gospel , and after this have placed the succession of that tremendous day . but i doubt that this is rather a jewish criticism than a real prophecy : for , god having created the world in six days , and a thousand years being as one day with the lord , it 's like men have concluded from this notion , that as the world was created in six days , so after six days , i. e. six thousand years , it would be destroyed . some when they have seen any extraordinary judgments of hail , or rain , or thunder , or locusts , or great confusions happen in the world , have from thence inferr'd the immediate coming of this day . some have placed it in one year , some in another , but all these are needless speculations . it 's enough that the decree is sealed in heaven , that there will be such a prodigious day ; and it was as truly at hand in christ's time , as it is now , and now , as much as it was then ; nay as much now , as it will be but a year or a month before it comes in good earnest ; for the day of our death is at hand , and we know not when , or how soon , whether this hour or the next , the fatal messenger will arrest us in our journey . the day of our death is the fore-runner of that greater day , and according as our souls are found at the day of our death , so they will be judged in that glorious day : the judgment , that will be pronounced upon our souls at our death , will be proclaimed aloud before the whole world another day ; and if they be so unhappy as to be condemned upon their departure hence , they will all that while , till the great day comes , torment themselves with the thoughts of that sentence , and the shame that will ensue upon it , as holy souls will comfort themselves with the thoughts of their absolution . therefore , when our souls leave this body , that day and hour , is really a day of judgment to us : and that this day is at hand , none but a sot can deny ; and accordingly all men of sense have made , and do make early preparation for it ; and he that doth not imitate them , is so far from giving proof to the world , that he is wiser than they , that he proclaims his stupidity , and in a manner , renounces his portion in the inheritance of the saints in light . but then by preparation i do not mean those little sprinklings of devotion , which hypocrites , and men who pretend to love god , yet will not part with their lusts , usually lay upon his altar , not the pharisees alms , and fasts , and prayer , which were performed with sinister designs , out of vain-glory and ostentation , not ahab's repentance , who put on sac● 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 walk'd softly , but still kept an unmo●●●ed heart ; not the harlots piety solomon speaks of , who said her oriso●● , and paid her vows , and her peace-offerings , and thought to make god amends for the crimes she lived in , by these services ; not judas his sorrow , who lamented his sin , because he saw the hell he was like to drop into ; not demas his temporary severity , which soon chang'd into fondness of the world ; not the angel of sardis his profession of religion , who had the name that he lived , but was dead ; not the jews zeal for the ceremonial part of god's worship , while they neglected justice , mercy , chastity , sobriety and charity ; not the zeal of ezekiel's hearers , who loved to hear , but were loath to do : but , if you would prepare for this day of account , so as to be commended by the judge , the preparation must have these following ingredients . 1. pity those inconsiderate men that live as if there were no future judgment . say not , where are they to be found ? there is no country , no city , no town , no village , no street , but the greater part of the inhabitants live so . all that profess it , all that talk of it , all that live under sermons which declare it , do not therefore believe it . no man believes it , that is not thereby restrained from lusts , which war against the soul. all that dare be lewd , and repent not , and do not amend their ways and their doings , whatever opinion they may have of themselves , in despight of their profession are infidels , and so much the greater infidels , because they enjoy means of grace , and motives , and reasons , and arguments , and helps to believe it ; and yet act as if there were no such thing . express your compassion to their souls by your tears , since they will not weep for themselves . ah! miserable creatures ! e'er long they shall see him whom they have pierced , and mourn , as one that mourns for his only son , and they are not aware of it ! they are hastening to the shambles , where they will be barbarously butcher'd by hellish furies , and they are not sensible of it ! oh , mourn for them ! they deserve your pity more than galley-slaves , more than wretches in turkish captivity : oh! call to them , and see whether ye can yet perswade them into a livelier faith of this terrible day . o that you could yet save their souls from death , and cover a multitude of sins ! it 's like they 'll scorn your tears , and laugh at your admonitions , for the god of this world hath blinded them ; but , oh! pray for them , that their eyes may be open'd , that they may see the precipice they run upon , and behold the bottomless gulph , upon the brink whereof , they stand . they are rolling down the hill ; oh! stop them , if you can , that they fall not into the lake beneath : seeing your zeal for their souls , your concern for their welfare , your entreaties to save themselves from this generation , your sorrow for their undone estate , your grief for their hardness of heart , they may yet relent , and turn before the lord comes , and smites the earth with a curse . 2. every day spend some time in reflecting on this day . is half an hour , or a quarter of an hour every day , such a business , that thou canst find no time for it ? how many parts of every day dost thou spend idly and foolishly ? wouldst not thou find greater profit in bestowing a few minutes in contemplation of that judgment ? say not , who doth so ? what ? if none did it , if it be useful , and a duty , a wise man would think himself obliged to practise it , though he had no company . it 's granted the age is bad , and few there be that will deviate from the customs of their neighbours ; but without all peradventure , some there are , that are seriously concerned about their salvation , who make conscience of it . had men , when christ conversed on earth been discouraged , by the small numbers that followed him , from embracing his doctrin and discipline , how would the world have been peopled with christians ? good elijah was not frighted from cleaving to the true god , when he thought all the world was become idolatrous , and why shouldst thou be tempted to forget thy everlasting interest , because every body in the parish thou livest in , is not devout , and wise , and serious ? suppose thou didst live in a street , where all the men were beggars and vagabonds , would that be a motive , to follow their unlawful calling ? if a treasure were to be had in such a place , and all about thee should be regardless of it , wouldst thou be as lazy as they ? the merchant ventures into that country , where he thinks none hath been before him , and doth promise himself a richer return . in trades , men commonly chuse that , of which there are but few masters , in hopes , they shall thrive the better for it . the same may be applied to the business in hand , reflecting every day upon that dreadful account , which few will venture upon ; thou wilt be a greater gainer , and purchase a richer peace and satisfaction ; thou wilt rest more sweetly at night , than thy neighbours , and thy conscience will be more at ease ; thou wilt go about the works of thy calling more cheerfully , and thou wilt be able to comfort thy self better , if any affliction or loss do befall thee , than others , who converse little with god and their own souls . in the life of pachomius , we read , that every day he used to bespeak the several parts and members of his body , and talk to them , as if they had been rational creatures : behold , saith he , my beloved parts , i will advise you to nothing but what is wholsom , and useful for you , and therefore shew your selves obedient to my counsel , and let 's serve god cheerfully till we get to a better place . as to you my beloved hands , the time will come when you will no more be able to strike your neighbour , or play at cards and dice ; and when you will not be able to reach any more after goods , that do not belong to you . as to you , my beloved feet , the time will come , when the way you have gone will be stopp'd up , and when ye will be no longer able to run into vain and loose company . hearken unto me my senses , and whatever helps to make up this mortal frame , let 's strive lustily before death overtake us , and stand boldly in the evil day , and fight bravely , till the great god put an end to our sweat and labour , and call us to his heavenly kingdom . what will it profit you to taste of all the sweets of this world , if any thing can be called sweet in so much misery ? why should ye be loath to labour , when to labour ye were born ? why should ye refuse to suffer when shortly you must die , and mingle with dust ? why should ye seek after a soft and easie life , when e'er long you 'll meet with it in heaven ? this is no time , no place for pleasure ; that 's only to be found among the blessed above . this is it , that i would have you comprehend above all things , that through sensual delights and satisfactions men go into unquenchable fire ; but through bryars and thorns lies the way to joys , which shall never have an end . why do ye murmur against me when i bid you fast , and watch , and pray ? should i indulge you , it would be your bane , it would be cruelty in me to spare you ; to give you ease would be the way to precipitate my self and you into endless torment . thus spake that holy man to the respective parts and members of this body : and thus , christian , do thou preach to thy soul every day ; ask it , which of those two sentences , that shall be pronounced in the last day , art thou most desirous of ; of that , come ye blessed , or of the other , depart ye cursed ? if ( as no man is fond of misery ) thou dost hunger and thirst after the former , come my soul , let 's retire , let 's ascend the hill of god , and from thence take a view of what will be hereafter . the posture of affairs thou seest now , will not continue long ; fancy thou sawest a man whom the divine bounty hath crowned with variety of temporal blessings . this person having a mind to take his pleasure , retires with his family to his country-house , adorned with tyrian silks , and persian carpets , and with all the eastern riches , and there lives merrily , and at his ease ; one night being very jovial at supper , a servant of his , base and ill-natured , puts some lethargick , or opiate potion into his master's and fellow-servants cup ; and having rocked them all asleep , opens the doors , le ts in thieves , and robbers , who having plunder'd the house , at last lay violent hands on the master , and to make sport with him , drag him thus intoxicated into the open field , and there leave him . in the mean while the heavens grow black , and a hideous tempest gathers in the clouds , and the sky begins to lighten , and the voice of thunder to be heard , and a dreadful rain falls ; and in the midst of all this noise and confusion , the besotted master wakes , looks about , quakes , trembles , believes himself in another world , is astonish'd to see himself lying on a barren turf , without servants , without attendants , without friends , without necessaries , without conveniencies , among showers , and storms , and tempests , stist with cold , frozen to death almost , and beholding nothing but misery about him . o my soul ! thou canst not but look upon such a person , as the very emblem of confusion , and while thou dread'st this fearful state , take heed thou dost not prepare for it , or drop into it ▪ take heed of carnal security , for that will expose thee to the rage and fury of hellish thieves , and make god's indignation strangely surprizing . the terror that will seize the sleepy soul , when it is summon'd away to the bar of a righteous god , will be beyond storms of hail , and tempests of rain , and flashes of lightning , and claps of thunder . when covetousness would entice thee , shew it the miserable gehazi trembling before the throne of god : when luxury would tempt thee , bid it look upon the wretched belshazzar , mourning to eternal ages for his intemperance : when worldly mindedness would debauch thee , find out nabal among the damned spirits , and with that sight fright the foolish lust away : when envy would enter into thy soul , call out cain from that unhappy crew , and bid it see its doom in his funeral : when present satisfactions would make thee slight the after-hopes of glory , bid the profane esau stand forth from his fiery cell , to which he is condemned , and it will lose its courage . thou readest of the syrians , how in a consternation sent upon them from above , they fled in the night , leaving all their provision behind them . but what is this to the consternation , the judgment seat of christ will strike into that man , who having slighted his commands , is on a sudden ordered to come and answer the reason of his contempt ; and forced to leave all his vain excuses , and apologies behind him . the name of some warriours hath frighted men , women , and children ; and then how terrible will the name of the lord of hosts be to them , that have fought against his holy spirit by their stubbornness ! o my soul , blessed is he that watches , and keeps his garments , lest he walk naked , and they see his shame , rev. 16. 15. 3. walk circumspectly every day , and use that conscientiousness , you would use , were you sure , you should be summon'd to judgment at night . to be sure a dayly conscientiousness can do no harm . it may possibly deprive thee of the pleasure of bad company , but where is the loss , when by that means thou preservest thy better part from being wounded ? may be , thou may'st get the ill will of some men , that hate any man , that will not run with them into excess of riot , but their hatred is better than their love ; not that a man is to be fond of the hatred of others ; but since the world does love his own , and is fond only of people , as loose as themselves , it is a mercy to be hated by such men , because it is a sign we are not of their temper . the love of good men is ever to be valued , but that of men loose and profane , is but a trouble , except it can be had , without participating of their sins . say not , next year , or when i have accomplished such a business , i will trim my lamp , and make it ready against the bridegroom comes . every day to live in expectation of the summons , is the act of a wise and blessed servant : and he that every day walks with god , walks in a mighty sense of his omniscience , and omnipresence , and in his company , business , conversation , dealings , keeps god in his eye , sets his laws before him , walks as one resolved to please god in all things , le ts not a day pass over his head without doing some good , uses the world , as if he used it not , and if through inadvertency he slips , rises again presently , and arms himself with fresh resolutions , is the person , that lives every day , as if it were his last day . sinner , wert thou sure , that this night thou shouldst be summon'd to the bar of god , wouldst thou swear and lie , and dissemble , and be cholerick , or backward to good works ? live , as if thou wert sure of it : for suppose thou continuest in the land of the living that night , thou losest nothing by this preparation , nay , thou art a mighty gainer by it , for hereby thy soul is refresh'd thy mind preserved in an excellent temper , thy goodness strengthen'd , thy graces renew'd , thy affections enlarg'd , thy understanding enlightned , thy will made more tractable , thy spirits eased , thy calmness maintain'd , and thy very body kept in health . god loves thee , the promises of the gospel belong to thee : devils cannot hurt thee , thou livest like a christian , actest like a man of reason , preparest for thine own quiet , thy condition is happy , thy estate safe , thy life out of danger , thy conscience clear , thy confidence in god encreases , thy satisfaction swells , thy comforts grow bigger , and thou freest thy self from that mire and clay , in which so many souls do stick , and deliverest thy soul from that terrible pit , which swallows up so many imprudent travellers . 4. when ever you see , or hear of the judicial process of a malefactor , think , and reflect upon this day . to take occasion from things we see or hear , to improve our minds ; and to meditate on things useful and great , and beneficial , is the part of a wise man , and a christian , who is to remember , that his reason is not given him , only to teach him how to live easie , but chiefly to direct him , how to purifie his outward and inward man. the great design of the gospel , is to refine our reason , and to make it subservient to the purposes of a spiritual life ; and he that makes external objects instruments of spiritual thoughts , and leads his consideration from things visible , to those , which are not seen , imitates the holy apostles , and the best patterns , 2 cor. 4. 18. the judicial process of a malefactor hath many circumstances in it , which very much resemble the proceedings of the last day . indeed our saviour , mat. 5. 25 , 26. describes the last judgment , by the processes made for malefactors in this world. agree , saith he , with thine adversary quickly , while thou art in the way with him , lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge , and the judge deliver thee to the officer , and thou be cast into prison : verily , i say unto thee , thou shalt by no means come out thence , till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing . in which words , christ represents to us the scene of the future judgment , and consequently intimates , that when we behold the one , we should spend some serious thoughts upon the other . think how terrible the sight of the judge is to the guilty prisoner , and how much more terrible the sight of a majestick god , will be to the unhappy sinner that would not be kept in by the laws , and sanctions of the great commander of the world , and stood more in awe of a child , or servant , when he was going to commit lewdness , than of him who gave him life , and being : think how the malefactor is frighted and confounded with the vast company of men and women , that crowd in to hear his tryal , and how much more the impenitent sinner will be ashamed in the last day , when all the people that have been since the creation of the world will look upon him , and hear what his fate will be ; some orators have been struck dumb with the greatness of their auditory , what effect then may we suppose will the congregation of mankind have upon a wretch , that never saw the hundred thousandth ▪ part of them before ? think how it must be with the malefactor , before the sentence of death passes upon him , how heavy his mind is , how melancholick his thoughts , how drooping his spirits are , and what palpitations he feels about his heart , and how far greater the heaviness of the sinful soul must be before the sentence of condemnation proceeds against her , from the mouth of god , how much more sad remembrances , how much more dismal reflections will seize upon her ! and if it be so sad with her , before the sentence be past , what trembling and horror will invade her after it ? a malefactor here on earth may yet entertain hopes of pardon , his prince may be merciful , pity the distressed condition of his family , remember past services , and relent , and change the sentence , but the sinful soul once condemned to suffer , hath no hopes of forgiveness , no hopes of being repriv'd , no hopes of being released ; not but that god is infinitely more merciful , than the meekest prince on earth can be , but the time of mercy is past . once he was merciful to her to a miracle , his mercy was her shield , mercy did encompass her , mercy lay entreating her , mercy courted her ; mercy though abused , came again , and tryed new arguments ; mercy followed her , mercy preserved her from a thousand evils , mercy would not suffer the roaring lion to touch her for many years , mercy stood by her , even then , when she desperately affronted her maker , mercy was patient towards her , mercy wept over her , mercy call'd to her , mercy would have pull'd her away from her errors , but she thrust this bright angel away , would have none of it , made light of it , laught at its charms , despised its entreaties , scorned its carresses , disregarded its smiles , refused its offers , rejected its embraces , and therefore cannot feed her self with hopes of pardon now . nay , the malefactor here on earth , when men will not pardon , hath yet hopes , that upon his true repentance god will pardon him ; but the soul that departs hence in a sensual , carnal condition , the same she lived in , hath no higher court to appeal to , none above god to make her moan to , none beyond the supream law-giver to address her self to . the god she hath despised , and whose mercy could make no impression on her , is to be her last judge , and therefore how much more disconsolate must her state be , than the condemn'd malefactor's here on earth ! 5. whenever you converse with sick and dying men , and are present , when their breath leaves their bodies , think , and reflect upon this day . he visits a dying friend to little purpose , that only comes to condole with him , or to look upon him , or to ask him how he doth , or what medicines he hath taken , or what physitian he hath made use of . the chamber of a dying person should make us as serious , as a church , and compose our thoughts as much , as an oratory : in such a room there are various objects , that invite us to pious thoughts , and do naturally suggest to us , very serious considerations ; the sad looks of the spectators , the groans of relations , the tears of friends , the lamentations of neighbours , and the dying persons pain and misery , and perhaps doubts of his salvation , which are not to be beheld with a careless eye . so that when you see the dying person near expiring , think with your selves , this man is going to be judged , his soul is entring into the territories of another world , to know what her everlasting state must be : this will shortly be my case . i must e'er long follow her to god's tribunal ; here my stay will be but short ; here i have no continuing city ; here i am not to tarry long ; my friend , that 's gone , shews me the way that i must go . i saw him expire , i heard his last groans , i was by , when his eye-strings broke ; if the lord jesus gave him any assurance of his favour , before he died , with what chearfulness will his soul meet her bridegroom in the air ; how welcome will he be in the court of the great king ! what rejoycing will there be , when he , and the other glorified spirits behold one another , and they see that one more is added to their number ; for there is no envy in heaven , no grudges , no fretting , because so many are admitted into the everlasting mansions , but the more holy souls do enter there , the more their joy encreases : if this my friend hath lived above the world , while he lived here , with what gladness will his soul be brought , and enter into the kings palace ! how will his name be remembred there ! how kindly will angels talk of him ! how favourable will the judge be to him ! but if his devotion and piety hath been but paint and shew , what a surprize will it be , immediately upon his coming among the spirits of another world to be arrested at the suit of the great god , and to be carried away to his tryal ! he is taken away from his sick bed , but should his soul be sent away with a curse , how much worse will hell be , than his sick bed ! in a sick bed physick may yet give some ease , but hell scorns all medicines , no drugs are of any use there , no cordials , no cataplasms are to be found there , no vulnerary herbs grow in that wilderness : on a sick bed , friends may yet comfort us ; but in hell , there is no friend , all are enemies , all hate one another , because none can deliver the other from his torments : in a sick bed neighbours may give their advice , but in hell no advice can be given ; for the inhabitants are not capable of taking it : the devils indeed may advise them to speak evil of god , because of the irreversible doom they lie under , but that 's a remedy infinitely worse than the disease , and they that follow this counsel increase god's anger , and their own plagues , and as they venture upon new sins , so god must inflict new curses , and try new rods and new scourges , which makes the misery truly infinite . such reflections the sight of a sick and dying man will cause ; nor is this judging of his everlasting and final state but a mere occasional meditation , undertaken for no other end , but to affect our own souls with the day of god's righteous judgment , to improve our own thoughts , and to make a holy use of such occasions , as god's providence thinks fit to present to us . 6. whenever you go to a funeral , think of this day of judgment . it 's a marvellous thing to see , how men spend their time at funerals . though they are in the room where the dead body lies , yet they drink , and laugh , and are merry , and talk of any thing , that their fancy , or their business , or the reports of people abroad do suggest . though death stands before them , and the corps seems to exhort them to contemplations of their mortality , and the consequences of death , yet how carefully do they shun all discourses and thoughts of that nature ? the life , the actions , the vertues , and the good qualities of the dead persons , might deserve some pious conferences ; or his change , and passing from this life into another , and being freed from the burden of the flesh , and from innumerable troubles and vexations , which this life is subject to , would be no unseasonable subject of discourse upon such occasions . but so great is the aversion of most men from such kind of entertainments , that any thing rather than this , though never so frivolous , shall be hearken'd to , and either the news of the town , or their trade , or their merchandise , or their sports , or some ▪ thing of this nature , is preferr'd before the melancholy prospect of eternity : or if some pious person , begins a spiritual discourse , or to talk of something suitable to that occasion , the company is struck dumb on a sudden , and glad when the stream turns , and some other impertinent subject is pitch'd upon . in a word , men go to a funeral , as to a play , or shew ; and as they bring no serious thoughts with them , so they carry none away . but thus it must not be with you , who are sensible that such opportunities are presented to you by providence , to strengthen your inward man. and therefore , when you see the mourners go about the streets , when you your selves accompany the corps to the grave , think of the great sentence the soul will receive upon her approaches to the throne of the heavenly majesty . st. hierom describing the funeral of the happy paula , that famous saint , who while she lived here , was eyes to the blind , a nurse of the poor , a staff to the lame , and an example to all religious persons , tells us , that when she was dead , there were heard no shrieks , no howlings , no weeping , no despairing lamentations , but psalms , and hymns , and spiritual songs : her corps was carried to the grave upon bishops shoulders , prelates carried lamps and wax-candles before her , and a quire of singing-men accompanied her to her tomb , and most of the people of palestina came together to attend the funeral . the monks crept out of their cells , the virgins from their retirement , and good men , in all places thereabout , thought it sacriledge not to pay the last office to her . the widows and orphans , as in the case of dorcas , came , and shew'd the garments she had made for them ; and all the indigent and needy cryed , they had lost a mother : and for three days , psalms were sung in greek , hebrew , latin , and syriack ; and every body celebrated her funeral as if it had been their own . when you behold the funeral of such a holy person , think , how with far greater pomp the angels meet the soul of the deceased at the gates of heaven , and on their shoulders , carry it to the throne of everlasting mercy . think how joyfully those blessed ministers conduct such a soul to her eternal rest , and how they triumph that she is deliver'd from the burden of the flesh , and advanced from a valley of tears , to a place of endless glory . when the great constantius died in britain , his ashes were put in a golden chest , and with great pomp carried through france , and italy , to rome ; but , think how far greater honour it is , for such a holy soul to be convey'd by the spirits of light into the city coming down from heaven , prepared as a bride adorned for her husband , the twelve gates whereof are twelve pearls , and the streets pure gold , as it were transparent glass . on the other side ; when you see the stately funeral of a voluptuous and sensual man , such as attila was , the soldiers tearing their hair , the courtiers weeping , the body wrap'd up in silk , the guard proclaiming his valiant actions , and monuments erected upon the grave , of gold , of silver , and of iron ; think on the more dismal funeral of his soul , in case it was not wash'd here with the waters of repentance , and which is the greatest purification , with the blood of jesus : think , if the soul be for ever separated from the glorious presence of god , and commanded away into everlasting darkness , not all the stately monuments raised for the honour of her body will qualifie her misery in the other world ; not all the acclamations or applauses of flatterers will give her any comfort , not all the riches she enjoy'd on earth , nor all her wealth and greatness , and dominion , will there extinguish the least spark of fire her conscience will feel . this dreadful funeral will be attended with crouds of unhappy spirits , who , instead of mourning , will rejoyce at the guest that 's come into their tents , and lycaon like , cover her with eternal darkness . such a soul is laid in a worse grave than her body , even in the burning lake , where the misery is proportion'd to her former sins , and her conscience frighted with scenes of horror ; and the remembrance of her quondam pomp encreases her discontent and anguish : think of this , and learn to be sober ; think of this , and learn self-denial ; think of this , and learn not to love the world : think of this , and learn to secure the light of god's countenance : think of this , and learn to honour them that fear the lord : think of this , and learn to do good in your generation . 7. to avoid the terror of this future judgment , judge your selves here on earth ; for if we would judge our selves , we should not be judged , saith the apostle , 1 cor. 11. 31. then we judge our selves , when we confess our particular errors ; and condemn our selves for the commission , when with grief , and sorrow of heart , and indignation against our selves , we do acknowledge , that we have abused the divine mercy , and by so doing , deserved his taking his holy spirit from us ; when we lay his threatnings before us , and confess that these plagues are due to us , and that we have deserved them , and wonder at the patience of god that hitherto hath been loath to give order to the destroying angel to seize on us ; when , from a sense of our neglects and sins , we cry , it is a bitter thing and evil , that we have forsaken the lord , and that his fear hath not been in us , and are so convinced of our demerits that we can give no other reason for our escape and preservation so long , but god's infinite goodness . this is to accuse our selves ; a necessary part or action in this judgment ; so far from being unnatural , that it is a very ordinary , nay , necessary effect of true repentance . in humane courts of judicature , the malefactor is not bound to accuse himself ; but in the court of conscience , when we stand before god , and remember we have to deal with the searcher of hearts ; to accuse our selves before him , is not only our duty , but our interest ; we are gainers , and advantage our cause by it , and render god propitious and kind , not that we make any alteration in god's nature , but we rely upon his promise , which is , that he will spare us upon this self-accusation : nor is this all , but we prosecute the task of judging our selves , when we are angry with our selves for our imprudence in neglecting so great salvation , and study , how to be revenged upon our corruptions ; when we decry our inward , and outward failings , and are resolved to mortifie them , were they as dear to us , as our right hand and foot , and the apple of our eye ; when we erect a tribunal in our souls , and bid our disorderly thoughts , and words , and actions appear before us , and give an account of their behaviour , and finding they have been exorbitant , lash them into better manners ; when we lay mulcts on our inordinate desires , in case they will not yield , and put our flesh to some more than ordinary trouble , in case it will not be kept within its due bounds and limits ; when we punish our eyes , by fixing them so many minutes on heaven , or on the word of god , because they gazed on things , which god hath forbid ; when we chastise our ears with hearing so many sermons , because such a day , they listned with pleasure to an offensive story ; when we inflict silence upon our tongues for some days , because such a time they spake things either undecent , or injurious to our neighbours ; when we bid our feet keep at home for a considerable time , because they ran into evil company , when they should not ; when we deny our body its necessary food and refreshment for some time , because it pamper'd it self such a day , and play'd the wanton ; when we will not let our sensual appetite enjoy its harmless , and innocent delights for a certain time , because the other day it was greedy after outward and carnal satisfactions ; when we suffer our selves to be reproached without answering , because such a day we flew out into an unruly passion . this is to judge our selves , and they that do so , may be confident , they shall not be condemn'd with the world ; in doing so , we do that to our selves , which god would have done to us , if we had continued impenitent , and insensible , and take that vengeance of our selves , which god would have taken of us in a severer manner , in case we had not bethought our selves ; and thus we prevent his anger , and shew , that we dread his wrath , and seek his love , that his threatnings fright us , and that we have just apprehensions of his indignation ; and such men the holy ghost counts happy , for , blessed is he , that feareth always , saith the wise man , prov. 28. 14. 8. in your actions , regard not so much how they are relish'd with men , as whether they will hold water , and endure the test , before the judge , when your naked souls must appear before him . it is a very great fault , to govern our selves by the opinion of men : even heathen philosophers saw , that the way to virtue , was to despise the opinions of men. and indeed , where we make meer opinions the measure of our goodness , we cannot but run into very great errors . it 's true , we are to provide things honest in the sight of all men , and we are not to give offence to others in any thing , especially in matters where duty is not concerned , and we are concerned to let our light shine before men , that others may see our good works , and may praise our father which is in heaven ; but this differs very much from governing our selves in matters of good and evil , by the opinions of men. we are not therefore to think , our actions are truly good , because men have a high opinion of them , nor to believe there is no hurt in many things we do , because men see none , or because they are charitable , and will not put an ill construction upon them . abundance of our actions appear plausible to men , who see no further than the outside ; but let 's consider , whether they will bear the piercing eye of this all-seeing judge ; it 's true , should god lay our righteousness to the line , and measure our religious actions by the exact rule of his wisdom , justice and holiness , he would spy innumerable flaws even in the services of the devoutest person living , but he proceeds not according to that rigour , for the great mediators sake he makes large allowances for accidental infirmities , and incogitances , and unforeseen , and involuntary slips , and the sincerity of a good work is , that he chiefly takes notice of , whether the intention was good , whether the design was holy , whether love was the principle of it , whether it was without reserves of some secret sin , whether there was candour , and ingenuity in it , and whether the offering was free , unforced , unconstrain'd by any outward motive , and whether charity lay at the bottom . many of our actions may want these qualifications of sincerity , and yet appear specious , and gay , and glorious in the eyes of spectators , and those we converse withal : look not christians on the commendations of your neighbours in your acts of piety , but on the commendations of that judge , to whom ye must give an account ; for not he that commends himself , or whom men commend , is approved , but whom the lord commendeth , 2 cor. 10. 18. if he do not commend our works , all the approbations of mortal men , will do us but little good another day ; and serve only to tell us , that we were cheated by those encomiums . alas ! how many men are counted just and righteous , honest and good , here on earth , whom the great judge will not find so , when he comes to examine their deeds by the rule of sincerity ! sirs ! matter not , whether men do look upon you as devout , but pray that god may esteem you so ; alas , what doth it signifie , that men call me religious , when god knows , i am an hypocrite ? what comfort can it be to me , that men think me charitable , when god sees , i give alms to be seen of men ? what will it profit me , that men call me zealous and fervent , when god sees , that gain , and profit is the cause of it ? what doth it avail me , that men say , i pray well , when god sees , i study to please the company ? what great matter is it , that men applaud me for a single virtue , when god sees i am partial in my obedience ? what great advantage can it be to me , that men say i am humble , when god sees pride in that very humility ? the apostle therefore bids us look to the manner of our performances ; he that gives , let him do it with simplicity ; he that rules , with diligence ; he that shews mercy , with cheerfulness ; let love be without dissimulation , be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love , &c. rom. 12. 8 , 9 , 10. so , when you pray , let your hearts breath out holy desires ; when you sing , let your minds bear a principal part in the hymn ; when you come to the table of the lord , let your souls be touch'd with the love of jesus ; when you are kind to your neighbours , banish all sinister designs ; when you express any holy fervours , let god's glory be in your eye ; when you discharge any part of your duty to god and man , let a cheerful obedience to the gospel be the motive : do all this as unto god , not as unto men ; do it , as if no creature saw you ; do it , as if none but god were before you ; do it , as if you were to be summoned this moment to judgment : such services will endure the probe , such devotions will stand good , such acts of piety will bear searching , such works god himself will bear witness of , that they were wrought according to his will , and by the power of his holy spirit . 9. what injuries you receive in this world from men , bear them patiently , out of regard to this great day of judgment , when god will set all things to rights , and take care that you lose nothing by your sufferings . rejoyce christian in thine innocence , which god intends to proclaim in this day before all men and angels . he 'll wipe off all the dirt and aspersions that are thrown upon thee , in that day : he will bring forth thy righteousness as the light , and thy judgment as the noon-day . what need'st thou take notice of an affront offer'd to thee , when thy god stands engaged to take notice of it with a witness in that day ? what need'st thou seek revenge , when thy master whom thou servest , is resolved to judge thy cause in that day ? what need'st thou fret and rage at the contempt , men put upon thee here , when thy great lord will be sufficiently angry with the offender in that day ? what need'st thou grieve that men abuse thee here , when thy sovereign master will grieve every vein of the reviler's heart in that day ? what need'st thou be concerned for the reproaches men cast upon thee for thy righteousness sake , when he , for whose name thou sufferest , will vindicate thy wrongs , and call the persecuter fool for his pains in that day ? say not , at this rate there will be no living for me in the world ; but trust that god , who hath promised to clear thy innocence in that day , and he will hide thee under the shadow of his wings , while thou art in this troublesome world : he that preserved elijah when ahab , and jezabel , and all the prophets of baal were enraged against him , knows how to keep thee in the hour of temptation . ay , but revenge is sweet ! what if it be so to flesh and blood ? it will prove bitter to thy spirit : and if ever thou art saved , a bitter repentance must come in , and salve the wound ; and wilt thou prepare for a needless and uncertain repentance ? how knowest thou , whether god will after the fact , give thee his holy spirit to come to this repentance ? and what cruelty is it , when god is resolved to revenge thy quarrel , that thou wilt needs revenge it too ? if thou revengest it , god will take no care to plead for thee ; but if thou leave thy cause entirely to him , thy patience will be infinitely recompens'd in that day . thus did thy blessed master , who when he suffer'd , threatned not , but committed himself to him that judges righteously . wilt thou boast of being his disciple , and art thou loath to follow his example ? fear not , those men who wrong thee now , will be sufficiently sorry for the injury , either here , if ever they be truly converted ; or hereafter , when the almighty will convince them to their everlasting grief , how much they were mistaken in their verdicts , and what sinister constructions they put upon thy actions , how barbarous their rage was against thee , how inhumane the ill language they gave thee , and how unjust all their reproaches were . do but stay a little while , and thou shalt see it with thine eyes : have but patience until that appointed day , and thou wilt find , the prophet was in the right , when he said , the righteous shall rejoyce when he sees the vengeance , so that a man shall say , verily , there is a reward for the righteous ; verily , he is a god that judges in the earth , psal. 58. 9 , 10. 10. consider particularly , that it will be more tolerable for heathens , and professed infidels at this day , than for christians ; and not without reason . treason is more excusable in a stranger than in a citizen or domestick , and more may be pleaded for a sinful life in a pagan , than in one of christ's own houshold . a heathen is obliged to god by the right of creation and preservation ; but a christian hath , besides these , baptism , and his vows , to tye him : his motives to the fear of god are stronger than they can be in other religions . where the greatest rewards are , there we may justly believe people will be most industrious , most laborious , and most sedulous . no religion proposes those rewards , that christianity doth . the heathens either had doubtful apprehensions of an everlasting happiness , or were strangers to the nature of it . among us this endless glory is not only professed , but most clearly revealed ; we are sure of it , confident of it , have no reason to dispute the certainty of it , and the nature of it is discovered to us by him who came out of his fathers bosom ; therefore he that under these manifestations proves careless and negligent of god's love , can have no excuse . and as heaven is or may be seen in all its glories among us , so we are assured of a burning lake , of an endless misery , which attends the unconscionable and disobedient ; whereof the notions of pagans , and idolaters , were but dark , and consequently we have a stronger bridle to curb the violence of our sinful desires than they ; and therefore this must make our doom more terrible . the helps we have to arrive to vertue are not only more in number , but more powerful , our knowledge is greater , our instructions greater , our illumination greater , our means of grace richer ; and we have greater examples of holiness than ever the heathen had ; we have besides philosophy , and the law of nature , the sacred scriptures , and besides conscience , the spirit of god to exhort us , to reprove us , to admonish us , to assist us , and to help our infirmities . if a heathen sin , he doth but stumble in the dark ; if a christian sin , he falls at noon-day . we have sacraments to bind us to a perfect hatred of sin ; and semiramis took no more pains to fence her city with brick walls , than the almighty doth our souls from falling a prey to the prince of darkness ; nay , our impediments in our way to bliss are less than the pagans had : by baptism , and the power of christs death , the powers of darkness are broken , the devil's strength is much abated , his arrows are not half so fiery as once they were . the heathens have far greater obstacles . the devils power among them seems unlimited , and therefore for us to fall a prey to this enemy , for us to yield to his suggestions , for us to be drawn into his net , will scarce admit of a charitable apology . these things are now made light of ; but nothing is more reasonable , than that they who have abused the greatest mercy , should feel the severest lashes ; christian , why should god give thee greater light , and greater advantages , than to other men ? they are men of the same passions thou art of , and they are flesh , and have reason , and are god's creatures ; and depend upon his providence , as well as thou ; and why should god make a difference betwixt thee and them ? no other reason can be assigned , but his undeserved compassion . thou wicked servant , had thy master a greater kindness for thee , than for thy fellow-servants , and could not this distinguishing kindness prevail with thee to be faithful , and loyal to him ? thy ingratitude is abominable , and thy torment shall be pro●●●tionable : thy impiety was intolerable , and thy flames shall be so too : thy baseness is inexpressible , and the plagues shall be so too : thy unworthiness is uncommon , and thy agonies shall be so too : thou deservest a bitterer cup , and thou shalt drink it too . if god should not punish thee more than heathens , he would be partial , his honour would suffer in the indulgence , and he hath but little encouragement from thy good nature to lessen his wrath and fury . dionysius talked atheistically , as well as thou , but he had no scripture to direct him . the sybarites were luxurious as thou art , but they knew not what the gospel meant . novellius torquatus was given to drunkenness , as thou art , but he never made vows against it in a sacrament of baptism . tarquinius was proud , as thou art , but he never heard of the humble jesus . julia was vain in her dress and habit , as thou art , but she understood not , what the stupendious work of redemption meant . decius mundus was lecherous as thou art , but he was not acquainted with a holy , sanctifying spirit . themistocles was envious , as thou art , but he never heard god speaking to him by his son. epicurus was careless of a future immortality , but he had not ministers to preach to him . simonides was covetous , as thou art , but he knew of no articles of belief . philagrius was cholerick as thou art , but he made no profession of goodness and religion . sisamenes was unjust as thou art , but he never heard , that the unrighteous are not to inherit the kingdom of god. unidius was uncharitable as thou art , but he had not that cloud of witnesses , those holy examples that thou hast . sardanapalus minded nothing but his lusts , and belly , as thou dost , but he never heard of a crucified saviour . democles was a flatterer and dissembler , as thou art , but the terrors of the lord were never manifested to him . all which advantages thou possessest above these pagans , therefore it must needs be more tolerable for sodom and gomorrah at the day of judgment , than for thee . 11. let the process of this day among other vertues , engage you particularly to a practical charity , and readiness to do good to others , who are under affliction , especially where god hath blessed you with conveniences , and superfluities ; for the judge is resolved to insist upon this vertue more than others : this he has not only assured us of , matth. 25. 34 , 35 , &c. but it is also the most reasonable thing in the world , that we who hope to find mercy in that day , should be acquainted with shewing mercy to christ's distressed members here ; for it is christ's rule , that with what measure we mete here , with the same measure it shall be meted to us again ; and to this purpose the apostle , he that soweth sparingly , shall reap also sparingly ; but he that sows bountifully , shall reap also bountifully , 2 cor. 9. 6. — the virgins that wanted oyl , were excluded from the wedding-feast , when the bridgegroom came ; that oyl was charity , which therefore the good samaritan poured into the wounds of the distressed man ; and as oyl supples the the joints , gives ease to the part , which is in pain , and is an ingredient of most chyrurgical operations , so charity relieves the miserable , and refreshes the calamitous , and hath an influence upon all other vertues . it was therefore wisely said by that pious duke of savoy , when one ask'd him , where his hunting dogs were ; he led them into his hall , where abundance of lame , and blind , and poor people fed at his cost and charges ; these , saith he , are my dogs that serve me in my hunting after heaven and happiness : all other vertues lose their glory , where charity doth not bear them company . to this vertue we are born , and it is the most easie of all the rest , and therefore to want it when we come before the judge , must needs turn his face , and favour from us . and it is remarkable , that the judge represents all the acts of charity , he reckons up in this day , as done to himself , i was an hungred , and ye gave me meat : i was thirsty , and ye gave me drink , &c. whereby he doth not only intimate the close union , and communion , the poor man hath with him , insomuch that he is one with him , but shews , that in our alms , and doing good we must have respect chiefly to christ jesus . let the man , that begs thy charity or wants thy relief , be brought to poverty by his own folly , let him be wicked , let him be ungrateful ; give him with respect to thy saviour ; look upon christ when thou dost supply his wants ; have the lord jesus in thine eyes , regard not so much the poor man's nature , because he is of the same flesh with thee , nor so much his relation , because he is of kin to thee , nor so much his country , because he is of the same town , that thou art of , nor so much his religion , because he professes the same faith with thee , nor so much his person , because he is a gentleman , nor so much his readiness to extol thy bounty , as the love and charity of the holy jesus to thy soul and body . have that in thine eye chiefly , when thou openest thy hand , let him be in thy mind , when thou distributest thy bounty ; this makes thy charity amiable , and acceptable , and fit to be proclaimed , and commended in this day . and indeed , how dost thou know christian , but that thy saviour may sometimes disguise himself , and appear to thee in the shape of a poor man , and wilt not thou give freely , wilt not thou give cheerfully , wilt not thou give readily , since thou knowest not , but thou may'st give it to thy saviour himself ? and how glorious an encomium will it be in the last day , to hear him say before the world , i was naked , and this good man cloathed me , i was in prison , and he visited me ! the three angels of old disguised themselves in the shape of travellers , to try abraham's hospitality , and from hence possibly came the heathenish fables , that their jupiter came in the habit of a poor man to philemon , who entertaining him , jupiter made his house a temple , and the owner , the priest of it ; and that apollo coming as a traveller to mydas , and being kindly entertain'd by him , rewarded his bounty with vast wealth and riches ; tho' we have no warrant from scripture to believe that christ doth actually disguise himself to us in such shapes , and appears to us to try our charity , yet it is no impossible thing , and we may piously believe it , thereby to encourage our selves to cheerful contributions , lest finding us hard-hearted , and ill-natured , covetous , and incompassionate , he deal with us , as jupiter among the heathens , is said to have dealt with lycaon , whom when he came to visit as a guest , and found cruel instead of being hospitable , he turned him into a wolf. christ hath threatned the hard hearted a worse , and stranger metamorphosis , for they that will not be like him in doing good , shall be doomed to be like devils , to mourn and lament as they , and to eternal ages too , for this is the sentence , go into everlasting fire , prepared for the devil and his angels , for i was an hungred , and ye gave me no meat , &c. mat. 25. 41 , 42. 12. let nothing discourage you from admiring those men who live in the thoughts , and contemplation of this future judgment ; we admire men for their parts , abilities and accomplishments ; we admire aristotle for his learning , archimedes for his mathemathicks , socrates for his gravity , absolom for his beauty , achitophel for his policy , saul for his tallness , arion for his musick , asahel for his nimbleness , the men of benjamin for their skill in slinging , darius for his gratitude , cicero for speaking , virgil for poetry , urbino for painting , &c. but these are poor things for our reason to admire ; men that live day and night in a sense of this future judgment , live continually in expectation of the arch-angel's trumpet , or the summons of almighty god , these are the men , whose praise we ought to shew forth in the gates . let others admire demosthenes for his rhetorick , i will admire st. paul , who so look'd at the things not seen , even at this judgment , as to rejoyce in tribulation , and though troubled on every side , yet was not distressed ; though perplex'd , yet was not in despair ; tho' persecuted , yet was not forsaken ; tho' cast down , yet was not destroyed ; appeared to the world , as sorrowful , yet was always rejoycing ; as poor , yet made many rich ; as having nothing , and yet possessed all things , 2 cor. 4. 7 , 8 , 18. 2 cor. 6. 10. let others admire arcesilaus for his prudence , scipio for his fortitude , aristoclides for his humanity , pythagoras for his philosophy , i will admire the primitive believers , who stood in such awe of this great day , that their constant thoughts and contrivances were , how to resist their adversary the devil , and upon this account stood fast in the faith , quitted themselves like men , were strong , and always abounding in the work of the lord. the thoughts of that day made them vigilant , sober , heavenly minded , despisers of the world ; charitable , kind , tender-hearted , fruitful in all good works , and why should we delude our selves , or fancy we need not do so , or that they did more than they ought to have done ? the best of men , the wisest men , the holiest men that ever lived , have been frighted , over-awed , supported , preserved in goodness by the contemplations of that day , and therefore , if we are not , it 's no sign , that we are wiser than they , but that we are more stupid ; we are all ambitious of participating of their glory , and why should we be afraid of taking the way , that led them to it ? these are the men , who choose the better part . these are the men , who though laugh'd at by the world , are a crown of glory , and a royal diadem in the hand of their god ; and for their shame they shall have double , and for their confusion , they shall rejoice in their portion . their light shall come , the glory of the lord shall rise upon them : they shall break forth on the right hand , and on the left , and in righteousness shall they be established : they shall dwell on high , their place of defence shall be the munition of rocks ; bread shall be given them , their water shall be sure : their eyes shall see the king of glory in his beauty , they shall behold the land , that is very far off ; even the land , where rivers of pleasures flow , where no tears are to be seen , no sorrow to be found , no anguish to be heard of . these are the men which at last shall sit down in the throne of god , and having suffered hunger and thrist with the holy jesus here , shall eat , and drink at his table in his kingdom . these men will at last be look'd upon with greater fear and reverence , than now they are , and when the bruitish world shall see them advanced to the highest seats of bliss , and behold that these which once were the most contemptible creatures , shall judge the world with the son of god , they will change their voices , and with the maltheses be ready to call them gods , whom but a little before they condemned , as varlets and villains . i conclude this discourse , with st. peter's exhortation , 2 pet. 3. 9. 15. the lord is not slack concerning his promise , as some men count slackness , but is long-suffering to us-ward , not willing that any should perish , but that all should come to repentance . but the day of the lord will come , as a thief in the night ; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise , and the elements shall melt with fervent heat ; the earth also , and the works that are therein shall be burnt up ; seeing then , that all these things shall be dissolved , what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation , and godliness , looking for , and hastening unto the coming of the day of god , wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved , and the elements shall melt with fervent heat ; nevertheless we according to his promise look for new heavens , and a new earth , wherein dwells righteousness ; wherefore beloved , seeing that ye look for such things , be diligent , that you may be found of him in peace , without spot , and blameless . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44543-e190 socrat. eccl. hist. l. 1. c. 7. notes for div a44543-e1710 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 acts 24. 25. plat. in phaed. psal. 8. 6. 2 sam. 15. 23. isa. 1. 3. lam. 1. 12 , 13 , 14. chrysost. hom 2. in 2 thessalon . rev. 22. 15. zeph. 1. 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18. prov. 5. 11 , 12. happy asectic , p. 425. & seq . phil. 4. 4. eccles. 2. 4 , 8 , 10 , 11. gen. 4. 21. conc. eliber . c. 79. conc. const. 6. c. 50. es. 3. 18 , 19 , 20 , 21. 1 tim. 2. 9 , 10. 1 pet. 3. 3 , 4. de serm. in monte lib. 2. 1 tim. 2. 9 , 1 pet. 3. 3. vid. chrysost. hom. 10. in col. vid. cypr. de habit. virg. ed. oxon. p. 95. est. 14. 16. cyprian de habit . virgin. rev. 17. 4. tertul. de cult . foem . l. 2. c. 13. vid. celada commentar . in judith , c. 10. plutarch . in apophthegm , aelian var. hist. l. 8. rom. 8. 9. rom. 8. 5. platin. in paul 2. euseb. l. 5. c. 15. greg. naz. in laudem gorg. de habit. virg . p. 100. homil. 31. in matth. vid. p. martyr . loc . com . class . 2. c. 11. p. mart. loc . cit . summ. part. 2. tit . 6. c. 6. ss . 3. de bell. belg. l. 1. hom. 49. in matth. de vànit . scient . c. 18. ps. 119. 47. exod. 23. 13. vid. gerh. joh. voss. de idol . l. 2. c. 8. matt. 5. 13. ephes. 5. 4. mar. 8. 38. salvian . de gubern . dei. lib. 6. tertul. de spect . c. 15. c. 15. c. 15. c. 16. c. 17. c. 23. c. 23. c. 25. c. 25. c. 26. c. 26. c. 27. c. 29. 2 cor. 6. 4 , 5. pro. 7. 14. vid drexel . tribun . christi . l. 1. c. 8. ss 5. in epitaph paulae rom. rev. 21. 20 , 21. psal. 37. 6. 1 pet. 2. 23. matt. 11. 22. luke 6. 38.