GENERAL DIRECTIONS HOW TO LIVE

 

A HOLY LIFE.

 

INTRODUCTION.

 

 I AM now to give thee some directions how to live that holy life, which I have endeavored to persuade thee to: It shall be my care not to trouble thee _with many things; and I beg of thee that it may be thine, to consider what I say impartially, and to give it the regard which, upon consideration, you shall find it to deserve. Now, because I suppose thee to be convinced, that it is necessary you should live a holy life, if you wouldest be happy eternally: The first thing I shall advise thee to, is,

 

CHAPTER 1

 

Containing the first Advice, seriously to resolve upon a holy Life.

 

 To resolve upon it. Make an absolute resolution to live a holy life.’ I see, it is necessary that I should do so, (may you say.) I cannot be happy for ever, if I do not live so; and therefore I am resolved I will live so; and nothing shall divert or hinder me.' without this resolution, you wilt never be able to do what you may desire. You may begin well, but wilt not persevere to the end. You wilt be as the double minded man which ST. JAMES speaks of, (Chap. 1: 8,) " unstable in thy ways;" one while in the good way, and another while in the bad, according to the circumstances of thy life, and the sway of thy inclinations. But with this resolution begin and prosper. Resolution worketh wonders every day in other matters; and in this be confident it will do much more, because GOD will bless it. Thy work is half done when you art fully resolved; but then care must be taken that thy resolution continue firm and strong; and that it may do so, you must observe the following directions.

 

 2. You must make it soberly and deliberately, not rashly and in haste. You must consider what you art about to resolve upon, what difficulties and discouragennents you art like to meet with, and what dangers and inconveniences may attend thee in it. And when you have done this, ask thyself,’ Is it reasonable that I should undertake and resolve upon such a business as this is Is it possible for me to effect it Can I march through all the difficulties, and overcome all the temptations which may befalll me in it And can I hope for a sufficient recompence for all the trouble it will put me to F And for the avoiding of all mistake, it will not be amiss for thee to put down in writing (if you can) all you art to consider upon, as also thy judgment and determination upon every particular. However, fail not to get as clear an apprehension of every thing as possibly you can: Run through all the parts and duties of a holy life in thy thoughts, and tell thy heart,’ This I must do, this I must fly from, this I must suffer; Almighty GOD requires it, and I cannot hope to be excused in any thing. Tell me, O my heart, (may you say,) wilt you be content I shall do it or not Wilt you not prove false to me if I do resolve it These things I must attend to, not for a few days only, or at some certain times or seasons, but constantly and perpetually, throughout the whole course of my life: It must be my business to obey and please GOD, in all my ways, and all my worldly affairs and pleasures must give place to it. Tell me, O my heart, how dost you approve of this Wilt you be content that I now begin it'

 

 Then suppose within thyself the greatest temptations that can befalll thee, to discourage and draw thee aside; suppose that thy mother who bare thee in her womb, and nourished thee with her breasts, and loves thee as her life, should come with weeping eyes to thee, and, with the most melting expressions that love and sorrow could put into her mouth, should entreat thee to forbear the doing of thy duty in any matter: And suppose the wife of thy bosom, who is as thy very soul, should join with her in the same desire, and tell thee, as DELILAH did SAMSON, " How can you say I love thee, when thy heart is not with me" (Judy. 16: 15.) And it may be, thy dearest friends and familiars may be importunate with thee also for the same thing: And then say unto thyself,’ Shall I be able to withstand all these temptations, to resist the importunities of a kind and tender mother, to turn my back upon the wife of my bosom, and to disoblige all my friends, rather than sin against GOD'

 

 And further, represent unto thyself the worst things that can befalll a man in this world, as likely to befall thyself for thy conscience towards GOD: Suppose you must lose all you have in the world, yea and thy very life, if you wilt not sin against him; suppose you must suffer the sharpest reproaches, and the most cruel death, if you wilt do thy duty: And then charge thy heart to tell thee, whether it will not sink at such a trial, and basely betray thee to sin and shame.’ These are hard things indeed, (may you say,) the bare thoughts of them are dreadful; and how much more will the things themselves be, when you comest to try them! But what good thing was ever obtained without some difficulty And what wise man was ever discouraged with difficulties, that was sure of a recompence far exceeding the worst of troubles he could possibly undergo Is it not reasonable, that I should do and suffer any thing that my GOD shall. impose upon me Should not that life and being which he has given me, be altogether at his service May not my loving SAVIOR justly expect as much from me, since he has purchased me with his most precious blood Did not he undergo much more for my sake, than he requires me to do for his And may not that joy which encouraged him, he a just encouragement for me Will not heaven make amends for all What, if I am weak and frail! What, if there be many subtle enemies to this my undertaking! Is Hot He that is with me, greater than all that are against me Cannot the SPIRIT of my GODmake my weakness strong, and cause me to triumph over all my adversaries Has he not done as much for millions of such as I am Have not old men, notwithstanding the infirmities of age; and young men, notwithstanding the strength of their desires; and women, notwithstanding the frailty of their sex, taken up the very same resolution, and in spite of all the powers of darkness, made it good to the last minute of their lives I know my GOD and SAVIOR will not fail me, and he will make my weakness to redound to the glory of his grace; and therefore I may, I must, I Will, I do resolve upon a holy life.'

 

 Thus I do advise thee, to consider things before you dost resolve, that thy understanding may fully approve of it under the most disadvantageous circumstances, and thy will entirely embrace it, and that nothing may befall thee in thy after life that may stagger thee as not foreseen. This is the counsel of our great and good Master, in two plain parables: (Luke 14: 28, 29, &c.:)’1 Which of you (says he) intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it Lest haply after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish it. Or what King, going to make war against another King, sitteth not down first, and considereth whether he be able with ten thousand men to meet him that cometh with twenty thousand; or else while the other is yet a great way of, he sends an embassage, and desireth conditions of peace." Which parables plainly tell us, that no wise man will begin to build, but upon fore sight that he shall be able to finish That no wise King will begin a war, without first considering his ability to go through with it. Nor can he be' thought wise, that will take upon him to be a disciple of CHRIST, and to follow him in a holy life, before he has well considered what he undertakes, and what trouble and danger it may cost him to do so; the fruits of such rash and unadvised undertakings can ordinarily be no other than shame and sorrow.

 

 3. And therefore in the Second place I shall commend to thee, that you do not fully determine, upon once considering, (how seriously soever you have done it,) but that you take the matter twice or thrice into consideration, after some little intermissions; for so you wilt discern, whether thy resolution be the effect of thy judgment, and thy entire choice: If it proceed from this, what you approvest of this day, you wilt approve of to morrow, and for ever; and the more you considerest things, the better you wilt like thy intended resolution, and the more ready you wilt be fully and finally to fix it. What you have considered one day, then, in order to a resolution, take a review of it the next day; consider afresh what you art to do; consider the pleasures which you must forsake, and the difficulties you must undergo; and if, after all, you find thyself sincerely bent to serve the Lord in a holy life, then fix thy resolution, resolve fully, peremptorily, and irrevocably.

 

 4. When you have done this, it will not be amiss to write down thy resolution and protestation in the very words you have made it, adding likewise the year, and month, and day, wherein you didst thus engage thyself; and to keep it by thee, as a thing of great concernment to thee; and once a month at least to look seriously upon it, saying to thy heart,

 

 See, O my heart, what you have done, observe the bond which you have laid upon thyself; it is thy own act and deed, there is no disowning it, or excepting against it; as sure as I now see it with my eyes, it is recorded before GOD in heaven, and it shall one day be brought forth against lne to my everlasting condemnation, if I do not discharge it Go on, O my heart, go on, as you have begun, to keep thy resolution firm, and to pay thy vows unto the Most High; and be confident that the LORD will prosper thy good desires and endeavors, and reward thee according to his gracious covenant and promise, with everlasting glory and felicity.

 

 5. All this being done, I think you may do well to make known thy resolution to the world, as often as fitting occasions offer, that is, as often as, GOD may receive honor by it, or thyself be secured from temptation or sin. Such occasions you wilt frequently meet with; sometimes you wilt fall into the company of evil men, that dishonor the holy religion which they profess, by their wicked and ungodly lives; and they will not spare to reproach thee for not running with them into the same excesses and debaucheries Then you may do well to tell them,’ That you art fully resolved against such practices, and that you didst long since take upon thee a profession which allows them not, as they have also done; a profession of obedience to the doctrine, and of conformity to the example of the holy JESUS; and that you can not, without gross hypocrisy and inexcusable folly, act so contrary to it as they do.' Such a declaration as this will honor thy LORD and Master, and shame evil doers, if they be not past all shame and all hope of amendment.

 

 Sometimes again you wilt meet with men that will play the Devil's part, and use all their cunning to persuade thee to some sinful act: Such men you must let know without delay,’ That you art in the full purpose of thy heart, as well as in outward profession, a Christian; and that you art resolved to serve thy LORD and Master to thy death, and never to do the thing which you shall know will in the least displease him: That how light a matter soever others may make it, to disown him by their works, whom with their mouths they own, yet you esteemest it so base and shameful a thing, that by the help of GOD's grace you art determined never to be guilty of it; and that you can not but believe it to be as bad, nay much worse, to be false to GOD than to be false to men; and that they who do not think so, do most unworthily prefer vile dust and ashes, before the high and holy GOD of heaven and earth.'

 

 Against this I know but one thing that can be objected, namely, That in case you should fail to make thy good resolution, returning to thy former wickedness or carelessness, you shall bring shame upon thyself, and dishonor to thy holy religion. And true it is, my brother, that these will be the effects of thy failing; and it is as true, that great care ought to be taken, that nothing be done which will produce so great an evil as either of those. But it is not necessary that you should fail thus; nay, it is not probable, if you usest that sincerity, consideration, caution, and circumspection I have recommended, because of the sufficient grace of GOD, which will never fail thee: So that the force of the objection lies not against all resolving or owning thy resolution, but against doing it rashly or unadvisedly, proudly and vain gloriously; and it only admonisheth us to proceed with great deliberation and prudence, and forbear that public owning of it, till we have had some proof of our sincerity towards GOD, by the discharge of our several duties, and the resistance of some of the more dangerous temptations; especially if we know ourselves to be of a hasty temper, and not very constant in other things. But this being secured, I doubt not but you wilt find my advice good; and I did the rather propose it to thee, because of the abounding wickedness of the age; for though almost every one calls himself a Christian, and thinks himself affronted if he be not so esteemed, yet true Christian piety is owned by very few, and it is become as disgraceful, truly to practice it, or to plead for it, (more is our misery!) as it is to disown that good name, which should never be without it; and therefore we take it to be as much our duty now, thus to own the cause of it against the vile practices of those who sottishly reproach and persecute it, even while they call themselves Christians, as it was of old the duty of Christians to own the name and profession against the persecutions of the Heathen world. Certain it is, that CHRIST is as well confessed, by maintaining and defending that real holiness which he came to implant in the hearts and lives of men, he is by the belief of those things which he was pleased to do and suffer in order to it; and therefore on the other hand the denying, the dissembling, or not owning our obligation to this holiness, or our resolution to embrace and live in it, whenever we have a just cause to own it, is as truly denying of CHRIST, as our protesting, in a case of danger, that we know him not. Be not afraid nor ashamed then to make thyself known to the world to be in the resolution of thy heart a true Christian, that CHRIST may not be ashamed of thee before the angels of GOD, in that day when all the secrets of men's hearts shall be made manifest.

 

 Those vile wretches that live to the dishonor of Him whose name they are called by, and to the reproach of human nature, blush not to make known the baseness of their designs, and the lewdness of their actions; they commit their wickednesses in the sight of the sun, and boast of it when they have done; and should you be ashamed to live worthy of CHRIST, to be truly a son of GOD, and to have a design upon glory and immortality No, let them be ashamed that do shameful things; but for thee, thy design is worthy of a man, and a Christian. There is a shame, we are told, that ends in death; and surely this is, that when men are ashamed of that which is truly their glory, and dare not be what they know they ought to be, because they may be reproached when they are known to be so.

 

 6. There is one thing more to be added, namely, that you seek out some good men that have taken up the same resolution, and acquaint thyself with them, and, if possibly you can, make them thy familiar friends. Let them know thy design and purpose of living holily and CHRISTIANITY": Desire their prayers, their instruction, their reproofs, their encouragements, according as they shall see thee stand in need of them; and that they will look upon thee as a poor and unworthy member of that holy body,,to which they belong, and of which CHRIST is the head; and that hopes by the mercy of GOD to be glorified with CHRIST one day, together with them; and that they will therefore have that regard and tenderness for thee which the members of the same body have for one another; and desire them to accept of the like regard and love from thec, and of all the good offices that true Christian, charity can enable thee to do for them. I confess, it will be no easy matter for thee to find such persons; the number of them is but small, and they are generally modest and reserved; perhaps more reserved, all things considered, than they ought to be: For though the vile hypocrisy of pretenders to holiness, in this last age, may seem to commend their desire of being unknown; yet the growth of atheism and profaneness does more strongly require them to lay open that piety which they practice in secret, and to let the world know, by actions suitable to a good profession, that there are some that own the cause of real holiness.

 

 And let me tell thee by the way, that if these good men of this church will show themselves, and unite together in the kingdom, disposing themselves into fraternities, or friendly societies, and engaging each other in their several and respective combinations to be helpful and serviceable to one another in all good Christian ways, it will be the most effectual means for restoring our decaying Christianity to its primitive life and vigor, and the supporting of our tottering and sinking Church. But, not to lead thee too far, if you can find any of these good people, I charge thee, let thy heart cleave unto them, and let there not be the least strangeness, so far as lies in thee, between you. Be all as one man, (thus it was with the primitive Christians,) and so march forward in the good ways of GOD against all opposition, observing and "considering one another, to provoke unto love and to good works;" having an eye continually to the Captain of our salvation, who is entered into heaven, in despite of all the powers of darkness; and is there preparing a place for us.

 

 You wilt be no sooner engaged with these good men in love and friendship, but you wilt begin to feel the advantages of it. You wilt be afraid of no discouragements, when you have gotten the assistance of so many true friends; and you wilt never fall back from that resolution, which has been the occasion of engaging thee in such good company. If you forgettest thyself at any time, you wilt not be without a remembrancer, and whenever you failest, you wilt find a restorer; and when you art seized with any coldness or dullness, they will be ready to warm and quicken thee. These are advantages so considerable, that you can not prudently stick at any pains it may cost the, to procure them: And therefore let me tell thee for a conclusion of this particular, that if you canst not be acquainted with any of these good men, you must do as much as lies in thee to make some of thy old acquaintance good by engaging them in the sane resolution you have taken up thyself. To which purpose you must make use of all the knowledge you have of then, and the interest you have in them; tell them what you art resolved upon, with the grounds and reasons of thy resolution; urge them to consider and weigh them seriously and impartially If they approve of what you have done, press them to do the same; if they have aught to object against it, answer their objections, and remove their prejudices; if one way of discoursing will not take effect, try what another way will do, and remember to fit thyself to their tempers and dispositions, so far as innocently you may: If reason will not prevail, try whether importunity will not; and to all endeavors with them add prayers to GOD for them. One person thus gained, will make thee amends for all thy pains; for besides that he may prove, in a short time, as serviceable a friend to thee, as those that entered upon a holy life before thee; he will be a far greater comfort to thee than any of them; because in all the good he does you wilt have some kind of share; and every step he takes in thos good ways you have brought him to, will be as a new pledge to assure thee of thy future glory, there being no greater promises made to any than to those "who turn many to righteousness."

 

CHAPTER 2

 

Containing the second Advice, To lake up our Cross and forsake all to follow CHRIST.

 

 YOU must deny thyself, take up thy cross, and forsake all. This is the first thing that is to be done, by those that are resolved upon a holy and Christian life; and it is so necessary to be done in the first place, that if you failest, in it, it will be a vain thing for me to offer thee any further direction. Now, it so much concerns thee to be fully persuaded of this truth, that you must give me leave to show thee, that I give no other advice, than what our blessed LORD and blaster has done: See Luke 9: 23, 524. 11 He said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me; for whoso

 

ever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose it for my sake, the same shall save it." The meaning of which words is plainly this, All that will be Christians

 

indeed must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow CHRIST, and not so much as reserve their very lives, but be ready to resign up all for him.

 

 But lest we should imagine this to concern some choice persons only, whom he designed to bring to greater perfection than others are obliged to aim at, he was pleased to speak as much, at another time, to the multitudes that followed him: " There were great multitudes with him, and he turned and said unto them, If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple; and whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple:" (Luke 14: 25 127:) that is, He that will not deny, and forsake (as we are wont to do those things we hate) whatsoever is dear to him in the world, be it father and mother, or wife and children, or brethren and sisters, preferring CHRIST before them all; and is not fully resolved and prepared to suffer any thing, how hard soever, for CHRIST’s Sake, cannot be a disciple of CIJEIST, or a true Christian. To deny ourselves, and all our dearest interests in this world, is essential to Christianity, and therefore he, who will not do this, cannot be a Christian.

 

 Those dear things which he cannot renounce, will not suffer him to take this profession upon him; or if he do take it upon him, they Will in time cause him to repent this undertaking, and to fall away from it. And then in the words following, he advises them to consider seriously what they are about to do, before they took upon them to be his disciples; and that his advice might sink more deeply, he expresses himself in two parables, (which I have before mentioned,) namely, Of a man intending to build a tower, and sitting down first to consider the cost; and of a King coming to make war against another King, and considering first his abilities to go through with it: And then he concludes, " So likewise, whosoever he be of you, that forsaketh not all that he has, he cannot be my disciple." Which conclusion makes it a plain case, that we cannot Wisely nor safely engage ourselves to CHRIST, or list ourselves as soldiers under his banner, till we have denied, renounced, given up all interest in whatsoever is dear unto us. Not thus prepared, we do but exasperate an enemy, our old enemy the Devil, whose forces we shall not be able to withstand; and so lay a foundation for our future shame and ruin; and though at first reading, we may think those comparisons but ill applied, (for what agreement is there between having riches and armies, and forsaking all that we have) yet upon second thoughts, we may perceive a very wise design in it. For Christianity is a spiritual warfare, and some of the most powerful enemies we are to encounter, are, the riches, and pleasures, and honors of this world, and therefore the strength and courage of a Christian soldier, whereby he will obtain a glorious victor , consists in self denial, and a contempt of this world; and a Christian is GOD’s building, the temple of GOD, and the very foundation of this building is laid in humility and self denial, from whence proceed all those divine graces, which both perfect and adorn the building, which make humility and poverty of spirit, renouncing the love of this world, and the very possession of it too, in some cases, as necessary to our becoming Christians, as a great deal of money is to erect a stately building. 

 

 This appears to be a great truth, by the parable of the wedding supper in the former part of the chapter. The master sent his servants to call them that were

 

bidden, when the supper was ready; but they all desired to be excused: One had bought a piece of ground, and he must go and see it; another had married a wife, and he could not come: But when he sent his servants to call the poor, the blind, and the lame, they came in immediately; so that the poor and miserable people of the world, that have no worldly thing to trust to, are better disposed to become Christians, than the rich and the great that have the world at will, as we say, and wallow in the pleasures thereof.

 

 We have a remarkable instance of the mischief that worldly riches do those that both have and love them, in the tenth chapter of ST. MARK's Gospel. In the verses before, we find our blessed SAVIOR displeased with his disciples for forbidding little children to be brought unto him, and saying to them, " Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them riot, for of such is the kingdom of GOD;" that is, Their innocency and simplicity, their willingness to be guided and sustained by others, makes them the fittest emblems of those that truly belong to my church and kingdom. And then he adds, " Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of GOD as a little child, he shall not enter therein:" That is, He that takes not the Christian profession upon him, as a little child, with that very humility, disinterestedness, self denial, and resignation, as is remarkable in little children, will never submit to those laws which I give to the world, and shall never be received by me as a Christian immediately upon this, as a confirmation of this truth, there came a young man to CHRIST, upon a very important business.

 

 This young man's heart was in a good measure set upon eternal life, and he had entertained a great opinion of CHRIST, as appeared by the haste he made, by the humility of his carriage, and the words he used to him. " He came running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life" He had done much in order to it before, he had kept the commandments from his youth up; so be professed, and there is no doubt he spike what he thought, and what he had done in a good measure; for it is said, " that JESUS loved him," that is, he approved of his good beginnings: But when he told him, there was one thing still wanting, namely, " that he must go and sell all, and give to the poor, and take up his cross and follow him;" the young man disliked his counsel, " became sad, and went away" grieved; and why " Because he lead great possessions;" he had then, and he loved them; and who can blame him for being sad, when he was told, that either he must lose eternal life, or part with them He had not got his riches by fraud, violence, and oppression, as many among us have done, and resolve to keep them, and yet hope for everlasting life, (for so he had not kept the commandments, which CHRIST spoke to him of,) his love to the world had not prevailed so far upon him, as to commit such wickedness; but his fault was, that he had so great a love to his riches, that he could not part with them, no not for the obtaining everlasting life. Had he been as a little child, and valued them no more than a child had done, he had obtained his desire, and had entered into the kingdom of GOD: But, because it was not thus with him, his good meanings miscarried, and he fell short of that happiness.

 

 Thus was this unhappy man a;ad instance of our blessed SAVIOR'S words; and so the disciples looked upon him, being astonished at the bewitching power of worldly possessions; they were astonished to see a man that meant so well, and was come so near the kingdom of, GOD, over thrown by his great possessions; and since riches had so great a power over him, and could turn hi r, back from the kingdom of GOD, they believed, they would turn all the rich men in the world from it; if he, after having kept the commandments from his youth up, did trust in his riches, no rich man could be found, they thought, that did not trust in them; and therefore said among themselves, " Who then can be saved" (Ver. 16.) Only they who were as little children, were not afraid nor ashamed to confess CHRIST before their greatest enemies. Then the cross of CHRIST was their greatest glory; and to be made like to him in suffering, and patience, and resignation to GOD, was the great desire and joy of their hearts. Then they could call upon men to deny themselves, and forsake all, as earnestly, as their Master had done before them; for what else do these repeated exhortations signify, " of not living to ourselves; of being crucified to the world; of being crucified, dead and buried with CHRIST; of offering ourselves sacrifices to GOD" And indeed, they did it very effectually, whilst their doctrine and practice went hand in hand together; for, in spite of the wickedness of the world, and the subtle malice of the Devil, they prevailed in all places, and filled every corner of the world with wonders of self denial, and patience, and contempt of the world; with men that could take " joyfully the spoiling of their goods," and that counted not their lives dear for CHRIST'S sake.

 

And such self denying men were Christians generally in the first ages of Christianity: Witness ATHENACORAS, who speaking of those of his time, tells us,’ We are not moved with the loss of our estates, which our enemies wrest from us, nor with the violence that is offered to our reputation, or if there be any thing of greater concern than these; for although these things are mightily valued amongst men, yet can we despise and slight them: Nay, we can not only when beaten refrain from striking again, and make no resistance against those that spoil us; but to those that smite one cheek, we turn the other, and to those that take away the coat, we let go the cloak also.

 

 Thus did the Apostles and first Christians deny themselves, and forsake all; and are not we bound to do so likewise May we be his disciples upon easier terms than they were Has he made the way to heaven broader than it was, and given us allowances which he vouchsafed not to them of former ages No, certainly.

 

 It is true, we are riot altogether in the same circumstances as they were, for the Christian profession (though now honorable among us) was then so vile a thing in the eyes of the world, and so extremely hated, that none could take it up, and own it publicly, without hazarding the loss of all they had; and therefore, if any were so rash as to take it up, before they had denied themselves, they quickly discovered their rashness, by falling away from it: Therefore, it must be granted, that self denial is not now so necessary to the retaining the bare profession of Christianity as it was of old: But as to the practice of it, it is certainly as necessary as ever. For though the profession be honored at present, the practice is as much despised, and the making good what we profess in a pure and holy life, will certainly expose a man to as many evils (God be thanked, that I cannot say to death) as the profession of old was wont to do; and therefore, he that will satisfy that name which he has taken upon him, and observe the profession which he has made in baptism, must be brought to that temper of mind, which those good men in the beginning were brought to, that is, he must be taken off from himself, from all self interests, and self satisfactions, must renounce all propriety in himself and every thing else, be dead to the world, have no more affection to the things of the world, than the dead have; that so nothing may hinder him from living unto GOD. There are but few indeed that seriously consider this, and therefore we see that men generally account themselves Christians from their baptism; and as long as they do not renounce their baptism, they are confident that they are so: But he that has told us, " that many are called," that is, to be Christians; but "few are chosen," that is, will approve themselves to be so, makes another judgment of them; and they will know it one day to their sorrow.

 

 They have fallen by GOD’s providence upon that which is in fashion among us, and they see no reason why they should cast it off, I mean the outward profession of Christianity: But as for that which is not fashionable, that is, the denying of ourselves, and dying to the world, they never understood it; and because they do not deny themselves, and die to the world, cannot live to GOD.

 

 This might suffice, my brother, to convince thee, that you must deny thyself, and forsake all, if you desirest to live a Christian life. But because I know men's backwardness to entertain this hard saying, and because it is so absolutely necessary, that those who will live a Christian life, do both believe and practice it; I shall show thee yet further, that the not considering, or the not practising this self denial, has been the main cause why so many have rejected the Gospel in all ages, and why so many of these that have seemed to receive it, have yielded so imperfect an obedience to it. Didst you never read in thy Bible, bow few of those that heard CHRIST preach whilst he was upon earth, and saw the miracles that he wrought, especially of the greater sort, did truly believe in him " Have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him," was a choking question to any that would dare to speak for him. Those few disciples that he had, were of the poorer sort, that had not much to trust to, or much to lose for his sake; if any of the richer or greater sort were convinced that he was the CHRIST, yet they did not dare to own it, they would go by night to tell him of their faith; but openly they professed it not: And what might be the reason of this Had not these great men those natural powers of judging, of assenting and consenting to the truth, which the others had Was not their natural courage as great, and would they not have showed it as much in other cases, as these poor people could have done Yes, undoubtedly. In all other matters they were the wise, those the ignorant; they the bold and the hardy, those the poor spirited and cowardly: But in this case the wise were fools, and the courageous were bastards.

 

 And how was this Those great, those rich and proud men could not, or would not learn this one lesson, which would have opened their eyes, and raised their poor spirits, to that degree of boldness, which they beheld in the disciples of CHRIST, and wondered at "How can ye believe," said CHRIST himself to them, "as long as ye receive honor from one another, and seek not the honor that cometh from GOD only" (John 5: 44.) They loved themselves, and the praise of men too well, to approve of any thing that would lessen their reputation, or bring them one step lower in the esteem of the world: And they were too covetous, to leave all, to follow one that had not a house to put his head in.

 

 Didst you never observe the monstrous unbelief of many among us, and the gross hypocrisy of others Didst you never observe what great opposition is made by some men, against some of the clearest truths of Christianity, who yet seem very fond of other truths, that are not so clear, and he not so level to human capacities And didst you never take notice, bow strict some men are in some things, who yet allow themselves in the breach of very plain and very weighty precepts Some men can preach and pray from morning till night, and talk Scripture to each other with much seeming seriousness, when like the Pharisees of old they will embrace any fair occasion to devour the house of a poor widow or orphan, or to exalt themselves in the world.

 

 And what, dost you think, is the reason of these things The same, without doubt, that hindered the Jews of old from receiving CHRIST: And if these truths which they profess to believe, and these Christian duties which they are constant in, did as much oppose their interest, as the acknowledging of JESUS to be the CHRIST, did oppose the interests of the unbelieving Jews, they would quickly discover the truth of it, by falling away from those truths and those duties, if not also from the whole religion. Not that I believe, they have been mere dissemblers from their first profession, or that they are, and have been so zealous in some things merely for the compassing of worldly ends, without any conviction of the truth or goodness of them, (for I doubt not but many of them have meant well from the very beginning,) but the corrupt affections, which did so fatally prejudice the Jews against the person of CHRIST, as strongly prejudice them against a great part of his doctrine. Those corrupt affections which they should have renounced at their first setting out, are like a thick cloud upon the eyes of their minds, not suffering them to discern those truths, which to resigned men are as manifest as the sun at noon day, and as a strong bias upon their wills, drawing them aside from those good paths which they have a desire to walk in. They purpose well in the general, like the rich man before spoken of, when he cane to CHRIST, and they do well in those things that oppose not their inordinate affections; but when they are to learn those duties, to which their lusts will not be reconciled, either they are not able to understand them, or have not the power to practice them.

 

 I conclude therefore, that if we are resolved to be Christians, we must in the first place renounce ourselves, and our worldly affections: Our desires and resolutions would he vain, and come to nought, if we fail to do it. It remains, that I endeavor briefly to beget a good opinion in thee of the duty I have been speaking’ of; to show thee, that it is not such an unreasonable thing as some men imagine, and that CHRIST cannot reasonably be thought a hard master for laying it upon us. For, surely,

 

 1. He that has laid nothing upon us, but what our rate and condition, and his own design of love towards us, did make necessary, cannot be judged hard or cruel to us; and has CHRIST required any thing more in this matter No, undoubtedly; he could not give us health and life (how much soevcr he desired it) without removing our diseases He could not be the Author of salvation to us, without taking away that which was our destruction. And what was our disease and ruin, but an inordinate love of ourselves, and our fellow creatures, whereby we fell away from GOD, to be as gods ourselves, to do our own wills, and to satisfy our own desires Now, what is it that we would have, when we quarrel with CHRIST, and call his commandment grievous Would we have our health and our desires too Would we live and die also Would we serve GOD a little, and ourselves much more Or would we serve him so far only, as we shall please ourselves, and have that taken for all the service we owe him If you thinkest this to be unreasonable, as you can not but do, you must needs acknowledge it to be necessary that you should be taken from thyself, and all worldly things, that you might serve thy GOD. But besides, We cannot reasonably look upon him as a hard master, who submitted himself to that which was imposed upon us, being himself the greatest example of self denial, and forsaking all, that ever was. What thinkest you of his appearing in our frail flesh, of his low estate in the world, of his pain and travail, of his thorny crown and cross Was there no self denial in all this, such as angels and men may justly be astonished at for ever He, " who, in the form of GOD, thought it no robbery to be equal with GOD, made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of a man, and being found in fashion as a man, humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." He who might have commanded all the riches and glory in the world, " became poor, that by his poverty we might be made rich." He, who made all mankind to serve and please him, " pleased not himself," but became a servant for our good. He, who could have had more than twelve legions of angels for his guard, yielded his cheeks to be smitten, his face to be spit upon, his back to be scourged, his hands and feet to be nailed to an infamous tree, and his side and heart to be pierced by the vilest sinners, whom with one word of his mouth he might have turned into hell.

 

 Thus did our great Master deny himself, and forsake all And can we poor worthless wretches think it much to deny our vile selves, and to forsake those little things, which we call our own, for his sake Had he dealt with us, as those that once sat in MOSES'S chair did with their disciples, " laying heavy burdens upon them, and grievous to be borne, which they themselves would not touch with one of their fingers;" we might have had some seeming cause of complaint: But since he himself has borne the burden, which he had lain upon us, yea and a far greater, we are most unreasonable, if we open our mouths against him. Be is too soft and delicate a servant that would fare better than his LORD, or be exempted from that work, which his LORD disdaineth not to put his hand unto. But

 

 3. I beseech thee, brother, tell me what it is which you judgest hard and unreasonable in this commandment Is it that we who own ourselves to be nothing of ourselves, and to have nothing of ourselves, should be as nothing to ourselves, and challenge no propriety in ourselves, but in subordination to Him of whom we are, and from whom we have received all Is it that He who has made us for himself, and who has freely given us all we do possess, will dispose of us and all according to his pleasure Is it that we should prefer him before ourselves, and his will before our own, and be ready to part with all that he has given us, whenever he is pleased to call for it Is it that we should be content to receive evil from him as well as good, when he shall see it fit for his own glory and our greater good I dare say, there is nothing in all this, that you wilt except against; and this is all that is required of thee. But yet further,

 

 4. Suppose it appear after all, that what is here required, is not only just and reasonable, but profitable for us; may we not look upon them to be very unreasonable, that quarrel with it And truly thus it will appear to be, upon very little consideration; It is no small advantage, to be at liberty to obey GOD entirely, and to be able to do it, with ease and pleasure: It is no little benefit to he out of the reach of the Devil's malice, and of all those dangerous weapons wherewith he assaults and destroys poor souls. And this we shall infallibly obtain by the practice of this one duty. For what is it, that indisposes us to the service of GOD, that makes his righteous laws to be grievous to us, but our taking upon us to be something of ourselves, and to dispose of ourselves according to our own wills What is it that gives the Devil so much advantage over us, but our disorderly passions and affections; and whence have all his temptations their force, all his artifices their success, but from our inordinate love of ourselves, and these worldly things And therefore, when we have put off this love and banished these things from our hearts, we have disarmed our enemy or taken off the edge of all his weapons; we have baffled his accursed policies, and secured ourselves from his devices. Men may talk of riches, and honors, and pleasures, as long as they please, to those that are dead; and they may threaten them with reproaches and pains, till they have wearied themselves, and not find them moved in the least with it; and no less unmoveable shall we be, to all the temptations of the Devil, if we be but perfectly mortified and resigned. These are great advantages; but there is yet one more, no less considerable, that this will raise us above all the troubles, perplexities and sorrows of this miserable world, so that let what will come upon us here, it shall never be able to. hurt us. For whence have all the evil things of the world (as we are wont to call them) their sting and edge, but from our unrenounced selves, our unmortified passions We will be something, and every thing must be as we will have it; but in the event we find we are nothing, and that we can do nothing, and the stubborn things will not comply with us; and therefore we are troubled, we are in pain, we are overwhelmed with sorrow. This is an evil that has no remedy but self denial, and resignation to GOD; and this is a remedy that never fails. When we have put off ourselves, as we ought, and disengaged our affections from all earthly things, and given GOD leave to dispose of his own creatures, and to govern his own world: Then we shall be in peace, then we shall be happy, and not till then; then nothing can go against us, because we shall be willing to comply with every thing. By this time I hope I have perfectly reconciled thee to this duty, and that you art resolved to put it in practice. It remains now that I show thee, as briefly as may be, how to do it. And,

 

 5. Because you wilt certainly meet with many and great difficulties in thy first endeavors, and the difficulties will be the more and greater, by how much the more you have loved thyself and the world formerly, and has been accustomed to please thyself, and to indulge thy affections; it will be necessary, (1.) That you enter upon the practice of it, with the strongest convictions, both of the necessity and reasonableness of it: And that you arm thyself with such considerations as may beat down all opposition, and effectually encourage thee against all the difficulties you can encounter with. And after this manner may you discourse with thy own heart concerning it:’ I am told, that I must deny myself, and forsake the world, and take up my cross, if I will be a true Christian: I am told it by CHRIST himself, and if I do not believe him, why do I call him my LORD I know that his words have been confirmed, and are confirmed daily by a thousand instances Nay, I am myself an unhappy instance of the truth of them, having made but little progress in Christian knowledge, and less in Christian virtue, merely for want of a serious regard unto them. But if I do believe them, why do I not practice accordingly Does not my everlasting happiness depend upon my being a Christian indeed And can I reasonably stick at any thing that is needful for the securing myself of that Is it fit that such a poor thing as I am, should take upon me to be absolute and independent. What have I done for myself heretofore, and what can I do for myself hereafter, that I should presume to please myself, or seek myself in any thing I

 

cannot add one inch to my stature, I cannot make one hair white or black, I cannot do myself the least good, nor remove from myself the lightest evil; and shall I take upon me to do my own will without respect to Him, by whom alone I am, and without whose influence I can do nothing And what is the world, that I should set my heart upon it, and prefer it before my GOD and SAVIOR Did my love of it ever do any good, or will it do me any without GOD's blessing, or when I am to leave it; that I should cleave so close unto it I know that it is GOD alone gives me any portion in it, that gives me any comfort by it, and I know that he can deprive me of both when he pleases; and therefore I shall be, not only a rebel, but a fool, if I resign not myself and it to him, and say not, whatever is laid upon me, " It is the LORD, let him do whatsoever seems good unto him." Come therefore, O my heart, let us be no longer rebels against heaven, and enemies to our own happiness: We are riot our own, we are not the world's, but we are GOD's, we are CHRIST'S, therefore let GOD dispose of us as he will, and let him give those worldly things to whom he pleases, so that we may have his favor, and enjoy it for ever. O vain, O transitory world! I am now dying, and I will be for ever dead unto thee, that I may follow CHRIST, and live unto my GOD. Favor these good desires, favor them with thy grace, O my GOD, and suffer not a soul, that earnestly aspires towards thee, to fall short of thee.' With these and such like thoughts, you wilt do well to enter upon the practice of this duty. But then I advise thee,

 

 (2.) To do as much as you can, to keep these and the like thoughts continually in thy mind. However, fail not to begin every day with them. When you first beholdest the light in the morning, after you have sent up thy heart to GOD in some short acknowledgments of his mercy towards thee, tell thy heart, that you have by GOD's goodness another day added to thy life, which you must employ for him and his service, who has bestowed it on thee, and not for the pleasing of thyself; and charge it, as it will answer for it at the great day, that it take care to do accordingly. The like thoughts and resolutions will do well again about noon, and indeed at any time of the day, and the oftener they return into thy mind, the more easily wilt you come to that perfect resignation, which you art concerned to aim at. But yet further,

 

 (3.) It will behoove thee to be frequent in exercises of mortification and self denial. Restrain thy wonted liberties, and deny thyself thy accustomed satisfactions; acquaint thyself with hardships, and turn not away from sufferings, remembering that you art a soldier under the ensign of the cross, and therefore must not be nice and tender, soft and delicate. Mortify thy senses, and accustom them to those things that are least agreeable, knowing that there are some offices to be done sometimes by a Christian, such as visiting poor prisoners, and dressing of poor people's sores, which men of a nice and squeamish sense will hardly be persuaded to perform. Mortify thy passions likewise, and keep them strictly within their bounds; for as he is a beast that is a slave to sense, so is he a fool that is governed by his passions. In one word, consider thyself well, mark thy temper, thy inclinations, and keep thyself and them under constant discipline and correction.’ Have you a trifling spirit Art you delighted with the railleries, sportings, and jestings, of wanton fancies and loose tongues Fail not, I beseech thee, to restrain thy inclinations; avoid the company of light persons, and turn away thy thoughts from trivial matters, to the concernments of a soul that must shortly appear before the bar of a just and holy GOD; remembering that the Master whom you professest to serve, was a serious, grave, and useful person, and not a buffoon or stage player. It was the grief of a devout man many years ago (ST. BERNARD) to observe the lightness, laughter, and security of many Christians, and his continual fear, that he should see them forsaken of the divine grace, of which they showed themselves so unmindful. What grief, what fear, dost you think, would have possessed his heart, if be had lived in this age, and had been a witness of our vanity in this kind We live in a merry world at present, and nothing is sacred enough to escape our sportings: But believe it, GOD will shortly spoil our vain mirth, and make us serious, whether we will or not. Art you soft and slothful, inclined to sensuality and voluptuousness Rouse up thyself, and be always doing, take up with coarse fare, fast often, he hard, go frequently to the house of mourning, and keep Him continually in thine eye, who after a life of continued travel in doing good had no easier bed than a cross to rest upon. Do the riches of the world please thee Refuse them when they are offered, or let the hand of liberality immediately distribute them to those that want them; and keep in mind those good men, whom thy Bible tells thee of, who, though they could have enriched themselves by miracles, yet continued poor, and had not so much as an house to put their heads in. Do worldly honors and the applauses of men delight thee Retire from public employment, and hide thyself in meanness and obscurity; be exact and open in the practice of those virtues which are most unfashionable, and which the generality of men have a mean opinion of;' and forget not, that there was a person once in the world, who was able to have governed the whole world, that led the greatest part of his life in country villages, and among poor people, and would not have his great and mighty works publicly spoken of. This is to practice self denial; and by these and the like practices, you wilt in a short time arrive at that perfect resignation, to which I desire to lead thee. But then in the last place,

 

 (4.) Be sure that in these practices, and in whatever else you dost, you take nothing to thyself; but refer thyself and all to Almighty God. You may begin well, my brother, in renouncing thyself, and yet may end ill in that very self which you didst at first renounce; and this you dost, if you do these things for the satisfaction of thyself, and seekest thy own glory in them.

 

 Forget not therefore this last advice; it is not for thyself, but for GOD, that you must be thus employed; that you may be entirely resigned to GOD, and be for ever united with God. You must be as nothing to thyself, and the world must be as nothing to thee, that GOD may be all in all.

 

CHAPTER 3

 

Containing. a third Advice, To give up ourselves, Souls and Bodies, entirely to God.

 

 I. To GIVE up thyself, thy soul and body, all the faculties of the one, and all the members of the other, together with all you hast, entirely to GOD through CHRIST JESUS, uniting thyself to him in the closest manner, and by the strongest bonds that possibly you can, resolving to be his and only his for ever. To make thee capable of doing this, was the design of my former advice; and if you can practice that well, you wilt readily follow this: For those bonds being broken which kept thee from GOD, you wilt as naturally incline to him, as fire does ascend upwards when that which keeps it down is removed; and therefore, the fewer words may serve to enforce this advice. The heads of some few considerations I shall briefly offer thee, which thy own thoughts may work upon, as you seest good. In the first place then,

 

 1. You must acknowledge thyself to be GOD’s creature. He is the only spring of thy being and life. And is it not just then that you should live to him, and to him alone Art you not a very unreasonable creature, if you refusest to be his, by whom alone you art, and without whom you can not be at all Yes, surely.

 

 2. You must acknowledge GOD to be the only Supporter, Preserver, and' Maintainer of thy life and being: You live by him as surely as the tree by its root; and if he withdraw his quickening influence but one moment, you art dead without remedy. Those necessaries for the preserving of life, which the world furnishes thee with, arc all from him, and all the virtue and efficacy they have for that purpose is no less from him. It is he that refreshes thee by heat and light, that nourishes thee by meat and drink, that cures thee by medicine, and without him you couldest have no nourishment, no health, no refreshment. And with what reason then can you withhold thyself from him Surely, with none at all.

 

 3. You believest GOD to be thy Savior, that is, that he has given thee his only begotten SON, to deliver thee from sin and death, and to bring thee to everlasting life; and that as he in our nature has offered up himself a sacrifice upon the cross for thy sins, so he has undertaken to bring back thy lost soul to GOD. And therefore you art a most ungrateful wretch, if you wilt not comply with his gracious undertaking, but refusest to be CHRIST'S, that you may be GOD's for ever.

 

 4 You dost believe and acknowledge, that for this end he has taken possession of thee by his HOLY SPIRIT, who is continually working in thee, to dispose thee, by putting off all selfish inclinations and desires, and by abandoning all that is dear to thee, to offer up thyself, as ABRAHAM offered up his ISAAC, a sacrifice unto God. And therefore you can not, without the guilt of the most abominable sacrilege, take upon thee to be any thing or to do any thing, but for GOD and to GOD.

 

 5. You have made an outward profession of giving up thyself to GOD, and being GOD's long ago. This you didst at thy baptism, when, renouncing the Devil, the world and the flesh, you didst give up thyself to GOD the FATHER, SON, and HOLY GHOST; and this profession you have probably renewed at the table of the Lord, where commemorating the greatest expression of the greatest love to man that ever was, you didst’ offer and present thyself, thy soul and body, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice to the LORD;' and you have seemed to the world, to this very day, to own all this. And therefore, if you art not, if you wilt not be God's, by the full consent of thy

 

heart, you art the vilest hypocrite upon earth, and an accursed traitor to thy great Creator, to thy gracious and loving Savior. To all this you may add,

 

 6. That this is that holiness which the Scriptures so frequently recommend unto thee, and without which you can not hope to see the Lord. When things are separated from common uses, and are given up to GOD so as never to be made use of but for him, or in his worship and service, they are called holy things; and so indeed they are, so far as things can be. Thus when you have separated thyself, taken off thy heart from all created things, and given up thyself to GOD, to be his, and only his, in faithful obedience for ever, you art holy, and not till then; and if you thinkest otherwise, you dost dangerously deceive thyself. Add to this,

 

 7. That this is thy perfection, and the greatest perfection you art capable of. You can do nothing better than to resign thyself to GOD; and you can not possibly be in any better state, than in a state of pure resignation to him. And therefore, in the last place,

 

 8. You may safely believe, that this is thy happiness, and the greatest happiness you can attain to. The truth is, these three words, holiness, perfection, and happiness, are the very same in signification. He that says, that the saints in heaven are blessed, says no other thing than this, that they are made perfect; and he that says they are made perfect, says no other thing than this, that they are completely holy; and he that speaks this, says no more, than that they are entirely God's, that they are perfectly disengaged from every thing that might withhold them in the least from him, and so united to him that nothing can dissolve the union: So that all that I would now persuade thee to, is but to make thyself as perfect and happy as you can be And methinks in this case it should be no hard matter to prevail with thee, when you can not but see thy interest in that which is recommended to thee as thy duty; it is impossible, if you art the man I now suppose thee to be, but you must yield thy full consent unto it. And therefore leave these things to thy serious thoughts, and proceed to give thee some directions how to perform this good and happy work.

 

 2. That you art concerned to take the greatest care that may be to do it well, I presume I need not tell thee;; and therefore, as I earnestly recommend the following directions to thee, so I hope you wilt not fail to practice them. And because it is a matter of great moment in every thing to begin well, I advise' thee,

 

 1. To separate thyself for some time from the world. Retire into thy closet, or into some secret place, where no eye may see thee, and nothing divert or disturb thee. And when you art there, consider, that you art come thither about a business of the greatest importance; you art to give thyself to GOD, to unite thyself more firmly to him; but of thyself, and without GOD's special grace, you art not able to do it: If be does not draw thee, if he does riot overcome thy heart by the sweet and powerful influences of his love, you wilt make but faint and feigned offers of thyself unto him. And therefore you must not fail, in the First place, To fall upon thy knees, and with the greatest reverence to acquaint him with the desires of thy soul, and to beg his acceptance of them, and his blessing upon them. And if you knows not how to do it better, you may make use of this form of words: , My LORD, and my GOD, you knows the very bottom of my heart, and my desires are not hid from thee: I am encouraged by my own happy experience of thy goodness, as well as by thy gracious declarations of thy will, to present myself before thee, notwithstanding I know myself to be unworthy of the least favor from thee. I am ashamed when I think how I have demeaned myself hitherto towards thee; and that I have lived so long a stranger, yea an enemy to thee, taking upon me to dispose of myself, and to please myself in the main course of my life. I abhor myself for it, and acknowledge that I deserve for ever to be abandoned by thee; but you have not dealt with me according to my deserts, blessed be thy goodness for it; and therefore, I now desire unfeigndly to return unto thee, and renouncing all interest and propriety in myself, I desire to give up myself entirely to thee; I would be thine, and only thine, in all love and obedience for ever; but, I know I am nothing, and can do nothing of myself; and if ever I am thine, I must be indebted wholly to thy goodness for it. O my GOD, My SAVIOR, and my Sanctifier, turn not away thy face from a poor soul that seeks thee; but as you have kindled these good desires in my heart, confirm, increase, and satisfy them. Reject not that poor gift which I would make of myself unto thee, and enable me to make it in such a manner, that it may be acceptable in thy sight. LORD, hear me, help me, and show mercy to me, for CHRIST JESUS'S sake. Amen.'

 

 2. When you have thus offered thy desires to GOD, rise from thy knees, and, Secondly, Begin to stir up thy soul, to a perfect surrender of itself, by the arguments before laid down, pressing them upon thyself with all thy might. And that they may have as great an influence upon thee as is possible, you may imagine that you hearest Almighty God speaking to thee from heaven in this manner: , Consider thyself, O man, and take notice what you art, and what good things you dost possess: Look upon thy body, and all its useful members; consider thy soul and all its faculties, and tell me whence you art, and to whom you art in debted for them: Look upon the world that furnishes them with all things necessary; and tell me, who was the framer of it, and who made it serviceable to thee Can thou deny, that I have done all this And wherefore then hast you lifted up thyself against me, and presumed to act as if you hadst no dependence upon the, or obligation to me If

 

you sowest thy seed in thy field, you expectest to reap the crop; if you didst nourish and provide for, a poor beast, you thinkest that you may use him at thy pleasure: But I have maintained and preserved a creature, (hear, and be ashamed of thyself,) and you wilt allow me no right and title to him and his service. Tell me, O you unjust and ungrateful wretch, did I ever give thee liberty to dispose of thyself Did I ever give thee occasion to think that I made no reckoning of thee, or that I expected no acknowledgment from thee No, wretched creature, you didst know that I made thee for myself, and that I would not give away my interest in thee; and that as I made thee capable of serving me, so I expected and desired it from thee And therefore did I love thee from the beginning, and bestowed innumerable gifts upon thee: I gave thee all things that were fitting for thee, and assured thee that I would withhold no good thing. from thee; yea, I gave thee my own only begotten SON, who descended out of my bosom to assure thee of my love, as well as to convince thee, that you hadst deserved my hatred. You can rage against a

 

poor servant that neglects his business; yea, thy poor neighbor shall feel the effects of thy displeasure, if he wrong thee; they must seek thy pardon, and think themselves beholden to thee, if by so doing they can make their peace.

 

 And yet I have humbled myself to thee, you vile worm, and have not spared my own SON, that I might spare thee, and bring thee to a due sense of thy duty to me. Heaven and earth can witness for me, that I have stooped low enough, in desiring the friendship of rebellious dust and ashes; and they shall also witness the justice of my severity to thee, if so much love and condescension will not work upon thee.'

 

 Here you may pause a while, and observe how thy soul is affected with these things; and then you may imagine again, that you Nearest Almighty GOD speaking further to thee, and more fully relating the wonderful history of his love in CHRIST JESUS. And after he has given thee an account of his mean birth, of his humble and painful life, of his cruel death, and his design in all this, proceeding to show thee with how much love, and with what tender regard for thee, he left this world, and ascended to his Father; and how, after he had done and suffered in his own person, as much as was necessary, he sent the HOLY GHOST to complete the great work of thy eternal salvation. And then imagine, that he tells thee what that blessed SPIRIT has for his part done for thee; what gifts he has

 

bestowed, what wonders he has wrought, what methods he has used, and with what goodness, and patience, and long suffering, to bring thee to a right understanding, and a real sense of his love, and of all thy duty to him; and to excite, encourage, and enable thee to the performance of it; and in the end bespeaking thee:’ And now, wretch that you art, must all his love be lost upon thee; and must I lose thee for ever, after all that I have done for thee Will nothing work upon thy hard heart, upon thy proud and stubborn will Will nothing conquer the perverseness of thy Spirit Not the commands of thy Maker! Not the death of thy SAVIOR! Not the good motions and inspirations of thy Sanctifier! Can you withstand my power, that you art thus obstinate against my goodness And if you wilt not suffer me to save thee, dost you think that I am not able to destroy thee O foolish creature, and unwise! consider these things seriously; remember what you have done, and what unreasonable courses you have taken hitherto, and proceed no farther in thy folly, but return to that love that calls thee, that entreats thee, that would save thee.'

 

 Here you may pause a little, as before: And if any thing more be necessary to shame and humble thee, to soften and melt thee, you may turn thyself to consider thy own engagements, and to charge upon thyself that monstrous perfidiousness which you bast, and wilt continue to be guilty of, if you dost now withstand the calls of GOD. And that thy perfidiousness may appear the more detestable, you may consider in the last place, what that is which you have been engaged in, and art now called upon to do; it is not to do any thing unjust or unreasonable, it is not to destroy thyself; but on the contrary, to do the justest, the most reasonable, and the best thing that you art capable of doing; it is to return to the Author of thy being, and thereby serve the end of thy creation, and consult the only happiness of thy soul; it is to unite thyself to the Supreme Good, to make thyself his, and to make him thine for ever. And is this a thing so much against thee, that you needest so much persuasion to it’ O my soul, my foolish soul, (may you say,) what can you say for thyself in this case Is there any excuse for thy folly, any plea for thy wickedness No, far be it from thee to seek for any: Let us rather amend what we have done amiss, and be more wise for the time to come. Happy had we been, if we had needed, from the beginning, so much invitation to destroy ourselves; but since we could do that upon none at all, let us no longer withstand this which is so importunate with us to save ourselves.'

 

 Then turning thyself to GOD, (in whose presence you have been all this while,) you may speak, as I hope you wilt be able with truth to do, in this manner to him I am overcome, I am overcome, O GOD, I can no longer withstand thy mighty love: I must, I do yield myself a captive to it. I am thine, I do acknowledge, by all right, and I will be thine for ever. I can do no less in return to that wonderful love you have showed me; and I can do no more. O let this little' be accepted by thee, and receive me for thine own; take possession of me by thy SPIRIT, and let it preserve me for ever to thyself, as I now sincerely resign up myself and all I have to thee.' Then,

 

 3. Casting thyself upon the ground, say thus; and say it with all thy heart and soul. ' To GOD the FATHER, SON, and HOLY GHOST, my Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, do I give myself, soul and body, and all that belongs unto me, to be guided, governed, and disposed of according to his will, and to his honor and glory; and may he be a witness to this my act, which I promise never to revoke; I do it with an upright heart, and an unfeigned purpose to make it good to my life's end. You art my witness, O my GOD, be you also my helper with thy continued grace, and so shall I be faithful to thee according to my heart's desire. Amen, Amen.' But then;

 

 4. As in matters of the world, that which is done in private between man and man, must in some cases receive a further confirmation, by such solemnities as are appointed by human laws; so that which you have done thus between GOD and thy own soul, must be farther confirmed, and as it were completed, by those solemnities which the laws of God require; and therefore fail not to take the first opportunity to go to the table of the LORD. At that holy table GOD will not fail to meet thee, attended with an innumerable company of angels: And therefore, when you art at that table, and beholdest what manner of love is there showed thee, let thy heart speak in this manner to Almighty GOD: ' There is all the reason in the world, O heavenly FATHER, that I should give up myself entirely to thee, since you have not withheld thy SON, thy only SON, from me. There is all the reason in the world, O my blessed SAVIOR, that I should surrender myself, and all I have, into thy hands, since you didst offer thyself a sacrifice upon the cross for me, and dost now offer these pledges of the all sufficient virtue of that sacrifice to me. There is all the reason in the world, that I should resign myself to thee, O holy and blessed SPIRIT, since you dost offer thyself to be a principle of holiness and life in me. And therefore, as I now accept, with all thankfulness, those inestimable favors, and declare my acceptance of them in the sight of these thy servants, and all thy holy angels here present, by receiving these tokens and pledges of them, according to thy command and institution; so do I give up myself and all I have to thee, and declare it before the face of all these witnesses; and I earnestly desire, that even my unworthy self may be accepted through the perfect sacrifice of Iny dearest SAVIOR, and be sanctified by the HOLY GHOST, and be owned by my GOD, to the everlasting praise of the holy, blessed, and undivided Trinity, whose I am, and whose I will be for ever and ever. Amen.' But then,

 

 5. When you art gone from this holy table, retire as soon as possibly you can, whilst these good thoughts are warm in thy breast, into thy closet; and there take the book of thy spiritual accounts into thy hand, (for I would not have thee to be without such a book, for recording these things wherein the welfare of thy, soul is concerned, lest you be condemned by the care and exactness of those whom we call good husbands in worldly matters,) and with thy pen write thus: 6 In such a year, and such a month, and on such a day, I did, through GOD'S grace, with all the devotion of my heart and soul, make an entire surrender of myself, and all things belonging to me, to Almighty GOD, protesting and vowing, that he should have the full guiding, governing, and disposing of me and mine for ever.'

 

And then that you may have a more distinct understanding of what you have done, you may under write these following particulars, namely, I have given up myself entirely to GOD; and therefore I must not serve myself, but him all the days of my life.

 

 I have given him my understanding; and therefore my chief care and study must be to know him, his nature, his perfections, his works, his will. These must be the subject of my meditations night and day: As for all other things, they must be as dross and dung to me; "and the knowledge of them must be as loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of GOD in CHRIST." I must believe all his revelations, and, silencing all carnal reasonings against whatsoever he teaches me, I must rest myself on his veracity, being fully persuaded that he can neither be deceived himself, nor deceive me.

 

 I have given him my will; and therefore I must have no will of mine own; whatever he wills, I must will also: I must will his glory in all things, as he does; and that must be my chief end in every thing: I must prefer it before all desirable things, and subordinate my own desires, delights and satisfactions to it: I must say, as the Psalmist, "Whom have I in heaven but thee And there is none upon earth, that I desire besides thee:" I must do whatsoever GOD commands me, and forbear whatever he forbids; and I must do it for this reason chiefly, because he does command or forbid me: Nay, I must delight to do it; and it must be to me "as my meat and drink." (John 4: 34.) I must consent to suffer whatever he will lay upon me; and though it may be his pleasure to lay hard things upon me, and grievous to be borne, yet I must not repine or murmur, but with cheerfulness and thankfulness submit myself to it. Whatever threatens me, I must say, " It is the LORD, let him do what seems him good;" and whatever befall me. " I must give thanks; for that is his will concerning me in CHRIST JESUS."

 

 I have given him all the passions and affections of my soul; and therefore he must dispose of them, govern, and set bounds unto them; he must have my love, my fear, my delight, my joy; and nothing in the world must have any share in these, or any of my affections, but with respect to him, and for his sake: What he loves, I must love; what he hates. I must hate; what he is well pleased with, I must rejoice in; what he is grieved with, I must mourn for; the objects of his pity I must have compassion on: And all in such measures and degrees as he is pleased to prescribe me.

 

 I have given him my body; and therefore must glorify him with it: I must not dare to abuse it by gluttony, drunkenness, adultery, fornication, or any other uncleanness: I must look upon it as his temple, and therefore must preserve it pure and holy, fit for my GOD to dwell in: I must not wrong it by pampering or indulging it; nor by showing too much rigor towards it, in over much fasting, watching, laboring; but must keep it, as far as in me lies, healthy, vigorous, active, and fit to do him all manner of service.

 

 I have given him not myself only, but also all that belongs to me; and therefore, my children, my friends, my servants must all be his, if I can make them so.

 

I have given him all my worldly goods; and therefore I must prize them, and use them only for him: His house, his Priests, his poor must have their portions from me with a willing mind; and though I have no more than necessaries for my life, yet I must be content to part with them when my Lord shall command me.

 

 I have given him my reputation; and therefore I must value it, and endeavor to maintain it only in respect to him, as it may do him service, and advance his honor in the world. I have given him myself and all; and therefore I must look upon myself to be nothing, and to have nothing out of him: He must be the sole Disposer, Governor, and Guide of myself and all: He must be my Portion and my All.

 

 And then in the close you may add this: Thus have I given myself to GOD, and to all this have I bound myself in the most solemn manner; and with my own hand do I now testify my full consent unto it, and I am resolved to make good the whole, and every part of it, GOD assisting me, to my life's end. I doubt not but I shall meet with many temptations to the contrary, I shall be often told of my singularity and preciseness; and some may tell me in kindness, that I do more than is necessary, and that I must accommodate myself to this or that person, company, custom; but my answer shall be to all, I am not my own, I am not for myself, nor for my friends, nor for the world, nor for its customs; but for my GOD. I will "give to CAESAR what I owe to CAESAR, and to GOD what I owe to GOD." The LORD be merciful to me, his unworthy servant.'

 

 All this, I say, you wilt do well to write in thy book of spiritual accounts; and as often as you art called to the table of the LORD, take a view of it, and call thyself strictly to an account how you have made it good, and how and wherein you have failed; and give GOD thanks for what you have been able to do, and humble thyself before him for all that you have omitted, confessing it with sorrow, and earnestly begging pardon for it, renewing thy resolutions and vows, and imploring a greater measure of his grace to enable thee to do better for the time to come. You should do this once a week at least, upon the Saturday in the evening, or early in the morning on the LORD's day. I must confess, I am not able to promise thee, but you wilt discern many failings when you comest thus to examine thyself, though you have been ever so careful to keep close to GOD; but yet, let not this discourage thee, because you have to do with a GOD that knows thy frailty, and abounds in mercy and compassion; and as long as you dost not withdraw thy heart from him, nor slack thy endeavors to make good thy resolutions, you may rest thyself assured you shall not want the choicest tokens of his love, I mean a daily supply of grace, and strength to obey and please him. You may feel thyself at first to be weak as a little child, but be not dismayed at it, for you wilt find in a little time, that SPIRIT which first breathed into thee this new life, will preserve and cherish it, and make thee to "grow up to a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness Of CHRIST."

 

 Thus have I showed thee, my dear brother, how you mayest become a real Christian, "a new creature in CHRIST JESUS." And when these things are done, you may safely account thyself to be one; and all those privileges which the Holy Scriptures assure thee belong to real Christians, you may justly challenge as belonging to thyself. Are they "one with CHRIST" So art thou. Have they " the SPIRIT of CHRIST" So has thou. Have they "fellowship with the FATHER and the SON" So has thou. Are they " the children of GOD, heirs of GOD, and co heirs with CHRIST" So art thou. This is a happy and honorable estate; no ambitious soul can aim at any thing higher. It is that to which all that call themselves Christians, pretend; but they, and they only, that have thus resigned themselves to GOD, have attained. But by how much the greater thy happiness is in this estate, so much the more you art concerned to take care that you fall not from it, and to use all diligence to keep thyself' ill a firm possession of it; remembering that you art not yet in heaven, where there is no falling away from GOD, but in a place of manifold temptations, where many draw back, and. after they " have known the way of righteousness, turn from it;" for which purpose I must proceed to give thee some further directions.

 

CHAPTER 4

 

Containing the fourth Advice, To grow in the Knowledge of GOD, and of the Things of GOD.

 

 1. Thou must endeavor daily to grow in the knowledge of GOD, and to get more clear, distinct, settled apprehensions of the things of GOD.

 

The reason of this advice is plain; the more you knows of GOD, and the more clear thy apprehensions of divine things are, the better you wilt love GOD, and the more closely will thy heart cleave unto him.

 

 There are some things indeed of such a nature, that the less men know them, the more they esteem and love them Whilst they look upon them at a distance, and know them but imperfectly, they seem great and good, worthy of esteem and love; but when they come to handle them, and know them thoroughly, they are convinced that they deserve neither. But the things of GOD are of another sort; such is the perfection of their nature, that the more they are unfolded, the more we admire tham, and the more strongly do they draw our souls towards them: And if there be any men that do not value them, we may be confident that they do not know them. What is it else that ST. JOHN means, when he tells us, " By this we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments: He that says he knows him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." (1 John 2: 3, 4.) Does not this imply plainly, that they who know GOD truly, will obey him, and that the reason why they do not love and obey him, is their ignorance of him Either they know not GOD at all, or their knowledge is so slight, so imperfect, that it makes little or no impression on their heart: Their conceptions of GOD are like those conceits which we have of some things in our sleep, which either affect us not at all, or are forgotten by us, as soon as we awake. But he that does know GOD, does also know himself; and he that knows GOD and himself, cannot but keep in a state of resignation and subjection to GOD continually. He will feel those impressions upon himself, which holy JOB did, when GOD had made himself a little better known unto him than he was before, and will say from the very bottom of his heart, " Behold I am vile;" he will know' that it is not for a worm to contend with the Creator of all things, not for him that was born like a wild ass's colt, to presume to find out the Almighty to perfection. He will feel the truth of what the Psalmist says, " They that know thy name will put their trust in thee:" (Psal. 9: x:) And will heartily assent to a saying of a great man,’ That the more we reject ourselves, and commit ourselves to GOD, the better it is for us.' He will say, as a devout man once did,’ What art You, O Lord, and what am I' He will be continually admiring his sovereign greatness, and will be no less sensible of his own worthlessness. He that knows GOD truly, will also know the world; and he that knows GOD and the world aright, will never be drawn from GOD by any of the world's allurements; he will know, that the world is nothing of itself; and, will he set his heart upon that which is not He will know, that without GOD it can contribute no more to his happiness, than it did to his being: And can this steal away thy heart from the Author of all good, which never did nor can bestow the least good upon thee How vile does this earth seem unto us, when we lift up our eyes and look upon the heavens Surely much more vile will all things be esteemed by him, whose soul is possessed with a true knowledge of the Maker of them. It was therefore a true saying of a holy man of old, (ST. AUGUSTINE,)’ That no man loses GOD, but he that is deceived.' And another person many years after him is said to speak no worse, when, being in an ecstasy, he cried out,’ O my GOD! O my LORD! O the GOD of my heart! O that all men did know thee! they would never offend thee, they would ever love thee.' For surely, (as the author of the Book of Wisdom tells us,) " To know GOD is perfect righteousness, and to know his power is the root of immortality." (Wisd. 15: 4.) This may suffice to show thee the reason of my advice. Let me now as briefly direct thee how to practice it.

 

 II. To this purpose let me tell thee,

 

 1. That you art not concerned to know as much as may be known of GOD: But only so much as is necessary to keep thee entirely resigned and obedient to his will; and therefore you must not trouble thyself with those iii e and curious speculations, which are of no use or tendency to this end. That knowledge, whatever the object of it is, which will not conduce to make thee better, is impertinent, useless, and unprofitable; the hunting after it has ruined thousands, but never saved one soul.

 

 2. Though you art not concerned to know as much as may be known of GOD, yet you must endeavor to know these great and useful things I have spoken of, as well as possibly you can; and therefore, you must not content thyself with that slight and superficial knowledge, which the generality of men have of them, who rather dream of divine things, than know them; but you must labor for a clear, distinct apprehension of them, and for a firm and well grounded persuasion, both of the truth and goodness of them. And to this purpose, you must,

 

 3. Apply thyself to the use of all good means, and that with great care and diligence; remembering, that if it be a folly to do meaner things slightly, to be careless and slight in such a matter as this, can be no less than madness.

 

Now the means that you are to use, are these that follow:

 

 (1.) Reading the Holy Scriptures, and hearing them read: This you art to do daily; you must borrow some part of every day from thy worldly employments, to read or hear them read. Our blessed SAVIOUR bids us search the Scriptures. (John 5: 39.) And ST. PAUL tells us, " They are able to make us wise unto salvation." And if any man's words are of greater weight with us than theirs, we ill deserve the name of Christians.

 

 (2.) Reading good books: I call those good, which treat of the great things of GOD discreetly, plainly, convincingly, and affectionately: Of which sort I know not many in the world, and therefore you art to take the best advice you can have, in the choice of them.

 

 (3.) Hearing of sermons and good discourses made by CHRIST'S Ministers. These discourses CAESER's Ministers are commanded to make, for the edification of CHRIST'S Church; (see 2 Tim. 4: 1, 2;) and therefore Christian people must needs think themselves bound to attend unto them; and they are over wise or over good, that conceit they have no need of them: I mean, they are neither wise nor good.

 

 (4.) Frequent conferring with serious Christians about divine things; which is a means of improving knowledge, that has several advantages above any other: For besides this, we shall instruct others as well as ourselves, imparting our own knowledge to them, whilst we receive of theirs That which we thus learn, we apprehend more clearly, and are more deeply affected with, than we are with that which we receive any other way; and therefore, it is much to be

 

lamented that it is no more used by those that call themselves Christians: And if we may not infer from the neglect of it, that men are not so knowing in the things of GOD, as they take themselves to be; I am sure that they are not so good as they ought to be: They seldom forbear to talk of that which they love, when there is occasion offered for it; so they would never be silent in these things, if they had that hearty affection for them, which they ought to have.

 

And as for the common excuse among the more serious sort of people, that they would not be taken for hypocrites It is so far from justifying their neglect, that it manifests the naughtiness of their hearts, whilst they show themselves more careful for their own esteem, than for the honor of GOD, and the concerns of their souls.

 

There would be little or no religion seen in the world, if the abuse of it by hypocrites would warrant men to cast off the profession of it. There were too many hypocrites in holy DAVID'S time, and " yet his tongue did not cease to speak of GOD'S righteousness, and of his praise all the day long." (Psalm xxxv. 9.8.) And the Apostles' times were not so happy as to be without them, and yet they call upon Christians, " to exhort one another daily;" (Heb. 4: 13;) " and to teach and admonish each other," and that by "psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs," as well as other ways. (Coloss. 3: 16.)

 

 Those good men did never think, that the danger of being accounted hypocrites would discharge them from " seasoning their discourses with salt," or from speaking such things in their conversation with each other, as might be profitable, 11 and minister grace unto the hearers." (Ephes. 4: 29.)

 

 (5.) Meditating frequently upon the good things we read and hear. This is another means for the improvement of our knowledge in the things of GOD; and it is so necessary, that without it all the rest will avail us but very little; for this is the digesting of what we read and hear: It is that which implants those notices of things which we have got in our hearts, and makes them bring forth those good fruits which in their own nature they are fit to do.

 

 You must be frequent then in the use of this means, and let no day pass without spending some time in it: And if you art in such circumstances, that you must either omit to read good books, or to meditate, I advise thee to omit that, rather than this: For he that reads but little, and meditates much, will be a wiser and better man, than he that reads much, and meditates little.

 

 (6.) Prayer. This is a means which must accompany all the rest, and ought never to be omitted; for certain it is, that we can know no more of GOD, than we are taught by him; if he do not manifest himself unto us, if he do not enlighten our minds, we shall advance but little by all we can do. The Psalmist tells us, that " it is GOD that teaches men knowledge," (Psal. xc. 1O,) and ST. PAUL tells us, that wisdom and knowledge are the gifts of the SPIRIT (1 Cur. 12: 8;) and if we desire that Spirit, or those gifts, we must ask for them; for thus did the holy men of old, as the Scripture assures us. (Psal. 25: 4; cxix. 66.) And this the Apostle ST. PAUL taught us to do, when he prayed for the Colossians, " That they might be filled with the knowledge of GOD, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that they might walk worthy of the LORD, unto all pleasing; being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of GOD." (Coloss. 1: 9, 1O.)

 

 (7.) And then, in the last place, there is another means of improving our knowledge, of as great use, though little thought, of, as any of the former; namely, the making a right use of that which we know; by applying it to practice, and regulating our lives and conversation according to it: By thus using what we know, we shall come to know it better; for there is no knowledge comparable to that which we call experimental; and he that tastes how good the LORD is, and how good the things of GOD are, knows them as much better than others do, as they that taste the sweetness of honey, know it better than they that have only heard of it.

 

Besides, by this use of what we know, we are put into a better disposition to know those things which as yet we know not; for, as some of the old Heathen wise men are wont to say,’ as no eye can behold the sun, if it has not the image of the sun in it, so too man is capable of understanding the things of GOD, but he whose soul is in some measure fashioned to the likeness of GOD;' and this is confirmed by a more skilful man in divine things, than the wisest of them, I mean ST. PAUL, who tells us, " that the natural (or animal) man receiveth not the things of the SPIRIT of GOD, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned;" (1 Cor. 2: 14;) which assertion is grounded upon this truth, that there must be some conformity between the knowing faculty, and the thing to be known, or else there can be no knowledge; and therefore, if we do not improve that little knowledge which we have, to the mortifying our corrupt affections; and if we use not those external helps which GOD gives, to the spiritualizing of our minds, we can never truly understand the things of the Spirit; whereas, doing this, we shall be able to judge (or to discern) them clearly. And this is that which our Great, master teach us, (John vii. 17,) where he shows us, what we must do to attain a true and saving knowledge of his doctrine: If any man will do his will, he shall know of my doctrine, whether it be of GOD, or whether I speak of myself:" And in another place, to encourage us to the practical use of what we know, he tells us, " He that keepeth my commandments, he it is that loves me, and he that loves me, shall be loved of my FATHER, and I will love him, and manifest myself unto him," (John 14: 21.)

 

CHAPTER 5 Containingafafth Advice. To live always as in GOD’s Sight.

 

 1. You must live always as in GOD's sight, or (as the words of the Psalmist are, set GOD always before thee. This is a rule of so great use in a holy life, that some have thought, it may serve instead of other rules. And truly, if we suppose men to have sound knowledge of GOD, which I have but now advised thee to seek after, I know no reason but it may; however, the usefulness of it must be acknowledged to be great, and it lies so plain, that many words need not be used to show it thee; for if clear and sound apprehensions of GOD's Majesty, and his sovereign power, unsearchable wisdom, goodness and truth, will possess our hearts with love and fear, and bow our wills to his obedience: Surely that which will keep those apprehensions always present, and in force upon our minds, will keep us always resigned and obedient to him.

 

 We know by experience, that the eyes of those whom we honor, and in whose favor we desire to be, have a great influence upon us, and make us take heed to ourselves, and to all our behavior; and therefore the masters of virtue among the Heathens were wont to advise their scholars to imagine some excellent person, for whom they had a great veneration, to be always present with them, as an observer of their actions.

 

 And can the remembrance of GOD'S all seeing eye be less powerful with us, to make us circumspect in our ways, and careful to approve ourselves in all things to him Can we have a greater regard to the eyes of mortal men, whose favor can never stand us but in little stead, than we have to the eyes of the everlasting GOD, in whose favor is life, and in whose approbation consists our everlasting happiness No; it is impossible. u I have thought on thy name," says the Psalmist, a and have kept thy law." And in another place, “My ways are always before thee, therefore have I kept they testimonies.” (Psalm cxix. 168)

 

 It is a good story, which we have of a young man, who, being tempted by a strumpet, seemed to consent to her unlawful desires, but required some secret place to content her She therefore led him into a private room, and when he excepted against it as not private enough, she led him into another; and that not pleasing him, she brought him into the most secret place in the house, and told him that it was not possible any eye should see him there: But then the young man, putting on a more serious countenance, demanded of her, whether she thought they could there be concealed from the eyes of Almighty Gull With which question, and some short discourse that was pertinent to it, he was a means of converting her altogether from her sinful course of life.

 

 Now if the consideration of GOD's presence does sometimes work these effects upon some of the worst of men, how happy will the effects of it be upon those, who have so known and loved him, as to renounce both themselves and the world for his sake; who love him as much for his goodness as they fear him for his power Surely, as those men cannot but delight to think of him, and cannot but account themselves happy, that they are always under so good an eye; so the consideration of it must needs keep them constantly resigned to him, and in all things obedient to his will.

 

 2. Thus much for the reason of my advice: I proceed, Secondly, To direct thee in the practice of it. It must be confessed, that it will be a hard matter for some to practice it: Those "whose consciences are burdened with the guilt of sin, will find it very difficult, if not impossible: Such men must first practice the duties of self denial and resignation: But to those that are resigned to GOD, and united to him by love, as I hope you art, nothing can be more easy, pleasant, and delightful; our souls willingly employ their thoughts upon that which they love, and gladly embrace all opportunities of being in its presence; and therefore very brief directions may suffice thee concerning it And,

 

 (1.) Let me advertise thee, that the practice of it must be grounded upon a firm persuasion of GOD's omnipresence and omniscience: He " fills heaven and earth." He encompasses them without, and he fills them within; and as the Author to the Hebrews assures us, "all things are naked and open to his eyes;" they pierce to the very marrow of our bones, and to the bottom of our bowels; they accompany all the wanderings of our imaginations, and discover the hidden images of our memories: They look through the closet foldings of our hearts, and discern the most subtle devices of our spirits.

 

 (2.) Now, the firm belief of those things being laid for a foundation, you must accustom thyself, to behold GOD in every thing; though he is no where to be seen by the eye, yet thy mind may perceive him in every place, and in every thing, in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath, and in every part and corner of them: In the men you conversest with, and in the beasts you rulest over; in the fowls of the air, and the fish of the sea; in the grass of the field, and the trees of the forest; in thyself, and in every thing round about thee; in all these he may be clearly discerned exerting that power, wisdom and goodness, which first

 

gave being to them, in sustaining, preserving and disposing of them.

 

And does he thus he open to thee in every thing, and has he made thee capable of discerning him, and wilt you take no notice of him Far be it from thee.

 

 (3.) But then, Thirdly, You must not only behold GODin every thing, but you must behold him in every thing looking upon thee, observing what regard you have to him, and how you demeanest thyself before him; as thy heart must tell thee wheresoever you art, and whatsoever you lookest upon, GOD is there; so it must tell thee likewise, that there GOD seeth thee. GOD is with thee every where, and his eyes are always upon thee; be you also at all times with GOD, by an actual application unto him. The people of Israel committed great wickedness, because they said in their hearts,’1 GOD has forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not." (Ezek. 9: 9.) Do you bring thy heart to tell thee the contrary in all thy ways, and that will restrain thee from every evil thing.

 

 (4.) But then to make this practice both more profitable, and more pleasant to thee, you wilt do well, in the last place, to accustom thyself to frame some acts of love upon every apprehension of GOD's presence, and in all humility to offer them unto him. As GOD is worthy of the greatest love, so in every thing we look upon, he appears to be so And therefore it is very fit, that we should express ourselves to be sensible of it, by some acts of love, as often as any thing presents him to our minds: Now these acts may be made several ways; I will set thee down some of the chief of them, to the end you may more readily lay hold upon all occasions for so good an exercise. They may be made,

 

 [1] By way of Admiration. Thus, O GOD f how great is thy Majesty! how great is thy goodness towards the sons of men! what manner of love is that wherewith you hast loved us! " O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of GOD! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!"

 

 [2.] By way of Esteem. Thus may you say, as a devout man was wont, ’My GOD, and all things!' And as another,’ None but CHRIST, none but CHRIST:' And as the Psalmist, " Whom have I in heaven but thee And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee." And again, " There be many that say, Who will skew us any good But LORD, lift you up the light of thy countenance upon us."

 

 [3.] By way of Protestation and Resolution. Thus ST. PETER said thrice to his LORD and Master, " LORD, you knows that I love thee." Thus the Psalmist, " I will love thee, O LORD, my Strength." And in another Psalm, " I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments."

 

 [4.] By way of Desire. Thus may you say with a holy Father,’ Let me find thee, O the desire of my heart! Let me possess thee, O love of my soul! O let me hold thee fast for ever in the very midst of my heart, O blessed Life! O sovereign Sweetness!' Or with the Psalmist, " As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God; my soul thirsts for God, for the living GOD; when shall I come and appear before GOD" When will the LORD call home his banished When shall I return to my Father's house

 

 [5.] By way of Oblation and Resignation. As thus LORD, I am thine, I am thine by a thousand titles; and I will be thine, and none but thine for ever; thine I am, thine is all I have, and therefore to thee do I resign myself and all.

 

 [6] By way of Humiliation. Thus good JACOB, " I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies." Thus holy Joa, "Behold, I am vile." And. thus the Psalmist, LORD, what is man, that you takest knowledge of him; or the SON of man, that you takest account of him Man is like to vanity, his days are as a shadow that passes away." What art You, O LORD and what am I Surely you art the fullness of being, but I am nothing.

 

 [7.] By way of Confidence and Reliance upon GOD. Thus: " Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb Yea, they may forget, but GODwill never forget his people. Though my father and mother forsake me, yet the LORD will take me up: Though I perish, yet will I trust in him. He clothes the lilies of the field, and feeds the fowls of the air, and will he not feed and clothe me He has given me his only begotten Son, and will he not with him give me all things"

 

 [8.] By way of Praise. Thus: " Great is the LoRD, and worthy to be praised; yea, his name is exalted above all blessing and praise. All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD, and all thy saints shall bless thee. Whilst I live I will praise the Lord, I will sing praises unto GOD whilst I have any being."

 

 These are some of the ways wherein holy men have been wont to express and exercise their love to GOD; and in some or other of these, I would have thee to be continually exercising and expressing thine, according as occasion is given thee, or as the things that bring GOD to thy mind direct and lead thee. Thou wilt not be long accustomed to these practices, but you wilt be sensible of such advantage by them, as no words of man can express: You wilt perceive thy heart more closely united to GOD every day, and wilt have such a sense of his love continually upon thy soul, as will make all the changes of thy life comfortable, and fill thee often with joys, that can be compared to none but those of the saints in heaven.

 

 The truth is, we are never more like to those blessed spirits, than when we are thus employed; for what do they but contemplate the beauty of his Majesty, and make acts of love to him But here is the difference, they see him clearly as he is, they behold his unveiled face, and consequently exercise their love with the greatest fervors, and partake of the highest joys; whereas we, beholding him only in the glass of his creatures, are much more cold in our love and therefore less happy in our joys.

 

 I can foresee but one thing that you can object against these exercises, namely, That they will be a hindrance to thy worldly business. But this, one word may serve to remove; for these being works of the soul, and not requiring any help from any member of the body, may be intermixed with all thy ordinary employments; and if there be any of such a nature, as will not admit them, without some little stop, as requiring a full application of thy mind; yet that stop will be no hindrance, but rather a furtherance to them; for whilst you dost thus look up to GOD, upon whom the success of every thing depends, you wilt be able to proceed more cheerfully in thy employments, and with greater vigor, through the confidence of his blessing upon all that you art doing. There is one advice more, which shall conclude this part, and may supply all that is wanting in it.

 

CHAPTER 6

 

Containing the last general Advice,

 

To commit our Souls to the Care and Conduct of spiritual Guides.

 

 THAT you must commit thy soul to the care and conduct of a spiritual guide. There are three or four things which are well known to Christians, and I hope will be readily acknowledged by thee; which being well considered will let thee know both how necessary, and how beneficial this advice will be to thee.

 

 1. You wilt acknowledge, that CHRIST has settled an order of men as his substitutes upon earth, to take care of souls to the end of the world. This we find him doing immediately before his ascension into heaven. Thus we read in ST. MATTHEW'S Gospel, (chap. 21: 18, 19, 2O,) " All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth; go therefore and teach (or disciple) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the FATHER, and of the SON, and of the HOLY GHOST, teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo! I am with you always even to the end of the world." And thus in the 2Oth chapter of ST.

 

JOHN, (verses 21, 22, 23,) " As my FATHER has sent me, so send I you: And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said, Receive ye the HOLY GHOST; whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained." That our blessed SAVIOR said all this to his disciples, no Christian can doubt; and that, by these words, he did commit that power and authority to them, which he had received from his FATHER, for the good of men's souls, is not to be denied; and if any question be made, whether this concerned the Apostles only, it may clearly be resolved by considering,

 

 (1.) The meaning of these words, " I am with you always, even to the end of the world:' For how could he be with them to the end of the world, if we suppose those words to concern their persons only

 

 (2.) By considering the necessities of the world: For what an unhappy condition would they be in, who were to live in succeeding ages, if no provision were made for their instruction in the Christian faith.

 

 (3.) By considering that the Apostles, after they had received the HOLY GHOST, according to CHRIST'S promise, did understand the commission otherwise; and therefore we find, that they did by prayer and imposition of hands (the ordinary way of conferring offices among the JEws) confer the like power upon others, as they saw good for the edification of the Church: And those persons, upon whom they conferred this power, are charged by them " to take heed to the flock, and to feed the church of CHRIST;" and are said to be called and appointed thereunto by the HOLY GHOST. (Acts 2O: 28.) And further, those persons that were thus ordained by the Apostles, are charged by them to ordain others in the same way; and directions are given them, what manner of persons they were to ordain to so great an office. Thus ST. PAUL having put TIMOTHY in mind of that sacred office to which he had been ordained by imposition of hands, (2 Epist. 1: 6,) and " of that form of sound words, which he had heard from him in faith and love," (ver. 13,) charges him to “commit the same to faithful men, who might be able to teach others also." (ii. 2.) And the same Apostle tells TITUS, to whose care he had committed the church of Crete, " that he had left him there," and appointed him " to ordain elders in every city." To these ST. PAUL gives directions, " how they should behave themselves in the church of GOD," (1 Tim. 3: 15,) not only as to the ordaining of others, but likewise in many other things relating to the edification of the church; namely,

 

 [1.] As to preaching. 11 That they should hold fast that form of doctrine which they had received, and teach that, and none other." (1 Tim. 6: 14.)

 

 [2.] As to the public worship of God. (1 Tim. 3: 1, 2, 3.)

 

 [3] As to government and discipline, the receiving of accusations, the conventing of the accused publicly, the correcting of heretical and other disorderly persons, and the excommunicating them, or casting them out of the church, " charging them to prejudge no man's cause, and to do nothing by favor or partiality." (1 Tim. 5: 19 21.) And so likewise as to the reconciling of penitents, and restoring them to the communion of the church, the hopes of pardon. (1 Tim. 5: 22.) By all which it appears plainly, that CHRIST did not commit the care of those souls, which he had redeemed with his most precious blood, to those only, who were in a particular manner called his Apostles, in the words before set down, but that he did there settle an order of men, and give authority to that order in a perpetual succession to watch over them, and to see that none of them perish, or fall short of that happiness which he designed for them. But,

 

 2. You must acknowledge likewise that this order of men, thus settled by CHRIST to take care of souls, are authorized and empowered by him to preach the Gospel, to make known the love of GOD, as manifested in CHRIST to the world; to receive those that believe the Gospel, into the covenant of grace, and society of Christians, by baptism; to instruct those, whom they have baptized, in the will of GOD, both publicly and privately; to encourage them in their obedience to it; to excite and quicken them, when they are dull and slothful; to reprove and admonish them, when they do amiss; to restore them when they are fallen, to com

 

fort them in their sorrows, to feed them with the body and blood of CHRIST; to pray for them, and bless them in CHRIST's name, to help them all the ways they can in the whole course of their lives, and to assist then in their last agonies, that so they may finish their course with joy. This you wilt plainly see, if you wilt consider, beside the places of Scripture already mentioned, the following texts; Acts 2O: 2O, 21, 26, 27, 31; 2 Tim. 4: 1, 2; Gal. 6:'1 Luke 22: 19, 2O; 1 Cor. 11: 23, 24; Jam. 5: 14, 15.

 

 3. You must acknowledge, that CHRIST has promised’ to be with those his officers and ministers,' and accordingly he has been, is, and will be with them, in the exercise of the several parts of their office, " to the end of the world;" that is, he will assist them with special illumination, direction, and power, sufficient for the dispensation of the Gospel, and the edification of the church, and according to the necessities of the times wherein they are to live: He will furnish them with all necessary gifts, will accompany their endeavors with his HOLY SPIRIT, will hear their prayers, confirm their censures, protect their persons. This we are plainly taught in several places of Scripture, beside those already pointed to See John 14: 16, 26, where CHRIST promises his Apostles G a Comforter to be with them for ever, and to teach them all things." And see Ephes. iv, where the Apostle, speaking of the several officers that CHRIST has appointed in his church, and of the gifts and graces which he does furnish them with, does intimate that these shall be continued in the church, in such a manner and measure as is necessary, " till we all come (that is, both Jews and Gentiles) into the unity of the faith, and unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the.fulness of CHRIST;" that is, to such perfection in knowledge, wisdom, and goodness, as that there will be no further danger " of being like children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine." (13, 14.) And further, thou may observe, that, as they are called " the ambassadors of CHRIST," and are said to "beseech men in CHRIST'sstead;" (2 Cor. 5: 2O;) SO CHRIST is said "to speak in them and by them," (2 Cor. 13: 3; Ephes. 2: 17,) " and work mightily and effectually in them." (Gal. 2: 8.) And further, they are said " to be workers together with CHRIST;" (2 Cor. 6: I;) and " to be laborers together with GOD:" (1 Car. 3: 9:) " GOD giving the increase, whilst PAUL. planted, and APOLLOS watered." (6, 7.) And " GOD opened men's hearts." (Acts 16: 14.) Lastly, See Rev. 1: 13, 16, where, to denote. CHRIST'S perpetual presence, assistance, and protection, to these his officers, the appointed guides and governors of the church, after all the times of the Apostles, JOHN only excepted, CHRIST is represented, though in glory, yet walking in the midst of the seven churches of Asia, and " holding the seven stars," that is, the Angels or Bishops of those churches, (ver. 2O,) " in his right hand."

 

 4. You must acknowledge likewise, that, as CHRIST has appointed an order of men, thus to guide and govern his church, and has charged them to attend unto it with all their might, upon pain of answering for those souls that shall perish through their neglect or default, so be has charged all men to respect them as his officers, as the guides and governors of their souls on earth under him, and to submit themselves to their conduct and government, in all things relating to the salvation of their souls: And this upon pain of losing all the advantages and benefits, which they can hope for upon the account of what he has done and suffered for us. Of this you wilt see no reason to doubt, if you wilt consider, that this gracious provision which CHRIST has made for men's souls, in appointing these guides and governors, and vouchsafing them all necessary assistances for the discharge of their office, will signify very little, in case men be at liberty to submit to them or not, and may be saved, though refusing to submit to them. But besides this, (to give thee all the satisfaction that may be in a matter which many are unwilling to understand,) thou may consider some few places of Scripture, which plainly inform us of the mind of CHRIST concerning it.

 

 As GOD the FATHER was pleased to declare, that he had constituted his SON CHRIST JESUS to be the supreme Guide and Governor of souls, and to charge all men to hear and obey. him, of which we have clear testimony, Matt. 3: 17, and Malt. 17: 5: So CHRIST has left to the world a clear testimony, that he did commit the authority, which he had received. from his FATHER, to his Apostles. and their successors; (" As my FATHER sent me, send I you;") and that it is his will, that all hear and obey them, who will have any interest in him, or benefit by him: "He that heareth you," says he, " heareth me; and he that despises you, despises me; and he that despises me, despises him that sent me."

 

 Where we see, that, as he has given that authority, which he had received from his FATHER, to these his Ministers, so he does require all men to own it, and submit unto it; and that he will account the disowning, the not obeying, the rejecting, and despising them in the exercise of it, as the disowning, rejecting, and despising of himself and his authority. But this is not all that the Holy Scriptures. speak concerning this matter; it was foreseen by GOD, how hardly the generality of men would be convinced of these things, and therefore the HOLY SPIRIT stirred up the blessed Apostles, frequently to put men in mind of the authority of CHRIST's Ministers, and the duty that we owe unto them. Thus we find ST. PAUL telling the Corinthians, " That they are the ambassadors of CHRIST, and stewards of the mysteries of GOD, and charging them to esteem them as such:" (1 Cor. 4: 1:) And we find him beseeching the Thessalonians " to know them that did labor among them, and were over them in the LORD, and did admonish them; and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake." (1 Thess. 5: 12, 13.) And the author to the Hebrews charges them, " to obey them that had the rule over them, [or their guides, or leaders, so the word signifies,] and to submit themselves;" and he backs his charge with this reason, " They watch for their souls, as those that are to give account;" that is, they are appointed by CHRIST to watch for men's souls, and they must give an account to him of the souls committed to their charge And this they can never be able to do with comfort, if they will not obey and submit themselves to them.

 

 I forbear to mention any more places of Scripture, and I omit to urge the practice of the first and best Christians, as also the black characters that are given by some of the holy writers, of those that did slight the guides and governors of the church, and refuse to submit themselves unto them. Now, having carefully observed and weighed these things, give me leave to put some few questions to thee. Dost you believe that there is no need of these spiritual guides in the world If there be no need of them, why did CHRIST appoint them Why did he not leave men to themselves in the concerns of their souls, as he has done in those things that concern their bodies, and their estates For, that he has not appointed any order of men, to teach men how to provide for their bodies or to increase their estates, is confessed by all. Was there need of these guides for the first preaching of Christianity to the world, and is there no need of them for the maintenance of it in the world I forbear to press thee with the natural blindness of men's understanding, with that inconsideration, rashness, levity, inconstancy, which are inseparable from human nature; as also with that averseness to the things of GOD, and the great interests of our souls, which all men feel, and good men cannot but complain of: We may be confident, that if CHRIST had not known the world needed spiritual guides, he would never have appointed any such, nor have promised them those assistances, which you have now heard of, nor have taken any care to inform men of the duty they owe them; and therefore are not those men too much puffed up in their fleshly minds, that account these guides to be of no use to them, or are wanting in that respect for them which they ought to have I doubt not, but you wilt confess it. But further, dost you not understand, by what has been said, that men may receive great advantages by their spiritual guides

 

 Besides, was not the making this provision for the good of men's souls, a great demonstration of CH1RIST's love and care for them And therefore must not they be great despisers of the love of CHRIST, and enemies to their own souls, that make little account of it Or can they with the least shadow of reason call themselves Christians, or expect those benefits which he has promised to his faithful servants, who have no regard to his ordinances and institutions, or no other regard at all to them, than as they please their own humors Therefore you can not but acknowledge that my advice is good: That you commit thy soul to the care and conduct of a spiritual guide. I proceed now to show thee briefly, how you must practice this advice.

 

 You must make choice of a good guide. I call him a good guide, who is able to direct thee aright in all the concerns of thy soul, and will be faithful to thee: CHRIST has no where promised, that none shall take upon them to be guides of souls, but those that have authority from him; nor that all those that have authority from him shall discharge their office faithfully. Among his twelve Apostles there was a JUDAS, and among the seven Deacons ordained, by the Apostles, tradition tells us, there was one that failed And in those writings that we have of some of the Apostles we find complaints of some, that loved the world more than

 

CHRIST. And therefore it is no matter of wonder, if there be some such now; but it ought to be matter of caution to thee, with whom you dost trust thy soul.

 

 Thy soul is a jewel of too great value to be put into the hands of every pretender, yea, or of every one whose office it is to take care of souls. And those that are ready to follow the conduct and counsel of every one that will take upon him to be their guide or instructor, are not much less to be blamed, than those that will commit their souls, to none; and therefore, you art to take the greatest care, and to use the best skill you hast, in the choice of thy guide; and because it is a matter of no little difficulty, it will not be thought impertinent to give thee some assistance. And, 1. I advise thee to betake thyself to thy closet, and to beg of GOD to direct thee in thy choice. Though you have ever so much skill in judging of men, yet it is possible that in this case you may be deceived; and the more you trustest to thy own skill, the greater danger you art in of being deceived; GOD usually suffering those that have a great opinion of themselves, to miscarry in their best undertakings.

 

 And therefore in this, as well as in other things, thy security lies in an humble confidence of GOD's direction, which you art to beg of him by fervent prayer; and though the blessing be great, yet you have no reason to doubt but you shall obtain it; for since he has done so much for thy soul already, he will not deny thee any thing, that he knows to be necessary for its welfare. “If any of you lack wisdom," says ST. JAMES, " let him ask of GOD, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him." And what greater wisdom can you desire, than that which may enable thee to choose a good guide; except it be that which may enable thee to follow him Which you art also to ask of GOD. But then,

 

 2. Though you must not confide in thy own skill, but in the assistance and direction of Almighty GOD; yet, since his assistance and direction can be expected only in a rational way, it will behoove thee to make use of that skill which GOD giveth thee; and that, with as much care as if thy success depended altogether upon it. This in other matters, you thinkest thyself bound to do; and I can see no reason why you should not in this case.

 

 You must therefore look out and consider, who, among those guides of souls that are known to thee, is most fit to be trusted; and if you dost desire the opinion of some serious and discreet friends, as you art wont to do when you needest a Physician for thy body; I think you wilt do very well: Only let me caution thee, that you do not presume to make judgment of any one, with whom thou art not throughly acquainted; for otherwise, though it is possible you may hit right, yet it is two to one that you wilt be deceived. And the same caution you art to take in receiving the judgments of others, which you wilt not think to be needless, if you dost consider, that some have better repute in the world than they deserve. And it is commonly observed, that many excellent men have suffered very much from many, merely because they have given credit to the reports of those who were never intimately acquainted with them, and yet have presumed to pass their censures on them.

 

 But to help thee as much as I can in this matter, which is of very great importance, it will not be amiss to give thee a short account of the qualifications of a good guide, referring thee, for further instruction, to the Epistles of ST. PAUL to TIMOTHY and TITCS. And,

 

 (1.) A good guide is a man of knowledge. He is able to teach thee as much as you art bound to believe and practice: His lips preserve knowledge, and his tongue can show thee right things. He cannot be a good guide to others, that has need of a guide himself. 11 If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch."

 

 (2.) He is a man of prudence and discretion; which appears both by his conversation, and in the exercise of his ministry, fitting his instructions to the necessities and capacities of his people; he pours not new wine into old bottles;" he feeds not children with strong meat, and strong men with milk: He provides for every one what is fitting for him, and that in due season. Indiscretion does oftentimes as much mischief as the grossest ignorance.

 

 (3.) He is humble, meek, and peaceable. So was the great Shepherd of our soul: He was no lordly, domineering person; no breaker of the peace of the world, or overturner of governments: But was a servant of all, even the meanest of the people: He pleased not himself, but others for their good, and submitted himself patiently and quietly to the authority of the Chief Priests, and of the Roman Emperor.

 

 (4.) He is very grave and serious; not out of sourness or sullenness, but from the real sense of the sacredness of his office, the worth of souls, and the account he must give of them. It is said of a devout man, that when some desired him to give them a certain mark, by which they might know a man to be truly spiritual, he answered them in this manner,’ If ye see any one that takes delight in sporting and jesting, in the railleries and drolleries of the world, that cannot patiently suffer contempt and reproach, take heed that ye believe not that man to be spiritual, though you should see him work miracles.' This good man was undoubtedly in the right, and I think he had not been mistaken if he had omitted the latter part concerning the not suffering contempt, and given the affectation of wit and drollery for a sufficient mark of a very imperfect Christian however it may serve for a mark to discover a bad guide For if every Christian should be a serious person, (because CHRIST was so,) the ambassadors of CHRIST should be more so; their deportment should be such as may awe the men they converse with, and in a silent way deter them from their sins; and their persons should speak what the statue of SENACIERIB is said to have done,’ He who looketh to me, let him be religious.' But though a good guide be thus grave and serious, yet he is not crabbed or morose; but,

 

 (5.) Affable and courteous, and of a sweet and' winning conversation; he disdains not to converse with the meanest people, and that freely too; nor to conform to the innocent customs of the world, so far as it consists with the sacredness of his office, and the decorum of his person; having a due respect to those, he becomes all things to all men; and though his gravity shows them to be an enemy to their sins, yet his innocent and cheerful compliances show him to be a lover of their persons. There was never any person more remarkable for this, than our blessed SAVIOR; who though his gravity was such, that he was never seen to laugh; yet was he of a sweet and benign temper, and courteous and compliant in all his carriage and conversation, and to his example does every good guide of souls conform himself in this as well as in other things.

 

 (6.) He is a man of courage, he fears not the faces of the greatest persons upon earth, nor is discouraged in the doing of his duty by the thoughts of their displeasure. He is another JOHN the Baptist in this respect, who was not afraid to tell the tyrant HEROD, that it was not lawful for him to have his brother's wife." (Mark 16: 18.) And like ST. PAUL he can be contented, if GOD will have it so, u not only to be bound, but to die for the name of the LORD JESUS." (Acts 21: 13.)

 

 (7.) He is wholly devoted to the work that CHRIST has appointed him to do; it is his only business, and sole care; and as CHRIST said of himself, that it was his meat and drink to do the will of his FATHER, so it is his, to do the will of CHRIST, in taking care for souls. He is no plodder for the world, no seeker of the fleece, no hunter after preferment; these worldly things are as dross and dung to him, and he will not sell poor souls for such gains.

 

 (8.) He is a great lover of souls, and of much tenderness and compassion towards them; he will do any thing, yea, suffer any thing for their good, and lay down his life (if need be) for their sakes; he is grieved for their miscarriages more than for all worldly things, as CHRIST’ “was grieved for the hardness of men's hearts," and is better pleased with their well doing, than with the greatest earthly prosperity; they are his joy and crown that do well by his ministry He thinks no honor greater, and knows no greater joy. Lastly, He is a man of a holy life; his example teaches us as much as his tongue; and he is a pattern for his people

 

to walk by. His “conversation is in heaven," and he can boldly call upon men to “ be followers of him, and to walk as they have him for an example." Though he is not with out his failings and imperfections, as he is flesh and blood, yet no gross sins, nor any indulging, or allowing himself in the least, can the sharpest eye behold in him.

 

 Thus have I given thee a short account of the qualifications of a good guide. Such a guide you may boldly commit thy soul to, and if you wilt follow his directions, he will keep thee, through the grace of GOD, from all things hurtful, and lead thee into all things profitable for thy salvation.

 

 Being resolved as to the person you designest for thy guide, I advise thee to go to him; and having informed him of thy desire to save thy soul, and to put thyself under his conduct in order to it; beseech him to receive thee into his care, and to give thee such directions, as he shall think necessary for thee; assuring him that you wilt follow them to the utmost of thy power. And that he may be the better judge of the sincerity of thy heart in what you tellest him, and know what directions you have most need of; be not ashamed to make thyself fully known to him; tell him what manner of education you have had, what manner of life you have led, what convictions you have had at any time of the evil of sin, what resolutions you have taken upon these convictions, how far you have made them good, and wherein you have failed: Acquaint him with thy natural temper, and thy acquired inclinations: Tell him what evil habits you have contracted, what vicious customs you have been, or art engaged in; what temptations you have found thyself most obnoxious to, and overcome by. In a word, I advise thee to open thy very soul unto him, and conceal not the least thing from him.

 

 You wouldest not scruple to discover the state of thy body to a Physician, when you needest his help; why then shouldest you be shy of acquainting thy spiritual Physician with the state of thy soul Art you more ashamed of the diseases of thy soul, than you art of the infirmities of thy body The greater reason you have to desire their cure, and in order to it, to make them known. Will thy physician keep the infirmities of thy body secret No less safe will the secrets of thy soul be in the bosom of thy spiritual guide. Away then with that unseasonable modesty, which will not do thee the least good, but may be the occasion of thy ruin

 

Having thus acquainted the spiritual guide with thy desires, and having fully opened thyself unto him, set thyself to receive his instructions; hear him as you wouldest hear CHRIST himself, whose Minister he is, speaking to thee; mark what he says with the greatest care: If any thing fall from him, which you dost not fully understand, desire him to explain his meaning; if you dost distrust thy memory, his instructions being many, desire him to repeat them; and when he has made an end, give him, together with thy thanks, thy promise to follow his directions; and so begging his prayers, and his blessing in the name of CHRIST, take thy leave of him.

 

As soon as you art gone from him, begin to recollect the ad vices you have received, and to practice accordingly; and omit not the doing of any thing he has advised thee to do. Be careful to observe his directions in every thing Remembering that as a sick man can receive no benefit by the best physician in the world, how well soever he has made him to understand his disease, if he puts up his prescriptions in his pocket, and makes no further use of them; so the advices of thy guide (how good soever they may be in themselves) will be of no advantage to thee, if you dost not follow them: Nay, let me add, (which you art concerned to remember,) that thy case will be much worse than the case of such an imprudent person: For, though he is not like to be benefited by the prescriptions of his Physician, yet he can receive no hurt by his not using them; whereas you wilt receive much damage by neglecting those that have been given thee: For, besides this, that all insincere dealing in matters of religion, and trifling in holy things, does in itself tend to harden thy heart, it will certainly provoke GOD to withdraw his grace from thee, and to leave thee to fall into that destruction, which you takest no care to avoid.

 

 Return to thy guide after some time, and give him an impartial account of the use you have made of his instructions, and the benefit you have received by them; if you have failed in any thing, confess it freely, and declare thy resolution to do better for the time to come; if you can say you have failed in nothing, give GOD thanks, and say, as the young man did to our blessed SAVIOR, (Matt. xix. 2O,) " What lack I yet" And then receive his directions, as you didst before, and take care to practice accordingly.

 

 Keep a constant correspondence with him as long as you live; acquainting him, from time to time, with the state of thy soul, with thy progress in wisdom and virtue, with thy temptations and discouragements, with thy failings and imperfections, with thy doubts and fears, with thy joys and sorrows, and undertake not any thing of importance without his advice and approbation; you wilt quickly be sensible of such advantages by this course, as will effectually encourage thee to proceed in it.

 

 I beseech thee therefore, my brother, by all that is dear to thee, not to despise my counsel. Defer not to make choice of a guide; and when you have done it, be not slack to desire his advice, nor backward to follow it; you may be confident of the blessing of GOD in so doing: Thy guide is particularly concerned to give thee the best advice he can, and GOD is concerned to make it effectual for thy good, since he has particularly ordained it for that end.

 

 But in all thy intercourse with thy guide, you must look beyond him; namely, to thy GOD, whose minister he is, and who guides and blesses thee by his ministry, to whom you must daily address thyself by prayer for a blessing upon his endeavors, and to whose goodness and mercy you must daily ascribe all the benefit you dost receive by them. I conclude all with the words of our LORD, now "you knows these things, happy art you if you doest them."

 

END OF VOL. 26