A27107:941
The practice of piety directing a Christian how to walk, that he may please…
The practice of piety directing a Christian how to walk, that he may please God / amplified by the author
London: printed for Edward Brewster, 1695
A27107:941
The practice of piety directing a Christian how to walk, that he may please God / amplified by the author
London: printed for Edward Brewster, 1695
No title page in the transcription: set from the catalogue record.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
AS soon as thou perceivest thy self to be visited with any sickness, meditate with thy self.
1. That misery cometh not forth of the dust; 1neither doth affliction spring out of the earth. 2Sickness comes not by hap or chance (as the Philistines supposed that their Mice and Emerods came,) but from mans wickedness, which as sparkles breaketh ⟨p. 364⟩out. Man suffereth (saitha Jeremiah) for his sins. Fools (saithb David) by reason of their transgressions, and because of their iniquities are afflicted. As therefore Solomon adviseth a man to carry himself towards an earthly Prince;5 If the Spirit of him that ruleth, rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for gentleness pacifieth great sins: so counsel I thee to deal with the Prince of Princes: If the spirit of him that ruleth heaven and earth, rise up against thee, let not thy heart despair, for repentance pacifieth great sins.6 And who soever returneth in his affliction to the Lord God of Israel, and seeks him, he will be found of him.
1. That misery cometh not forth of the dust; 1neither doth affliction spring out of the earth. 2Sickness comes not by hap or chance (as the Philistines supposed that their Mice and Emrods came,) but from mans wickedness, which as sparkles breaketh ⟨p. 364⟩out. Man suffereth (saitha Jeremy) for his sins. Fools (saithb David) by reason of their transgressions, and because of their iniquities are afflicted. As therefore Solomon adviseth a man to carry himself towards an earthly Prince;5 If the Spirit of him that ruleth, rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for gentleness pacifieth great sins: so counsel I thee to deal with the Prince of Princes: If the spirit of him that ruleth heaven and earth, rise up against thee, let not thy heart despair, for repentance pacifieth great sins.6 And who soever returneth in his affliction to the Lord God of Israel, and seeks him, he will be found of him.
2.c Shut to thy Chamber door; dExamine thine own heart upon thy bed; esearch and try thy ways. Search as diligently for thy capital sin, asf Joshua did for Achan, till thou findest it: For albeit God, when he beginneth to chasten his Children, hath respect to all their sins: yet when his anger is incensed, he chiefly taketh occasion to chasten, and enter with them into judgment, for some one grievous sin, wherein they have lived without Repentance.
3. When thou hast thus considered all thy sins, put thy self before the Judgment-Seat of God, as a Felon or Murderer, standing at the Bar of an earthly Judge: and with grief and sorrow of heart confess unto God all thy known sins, especially thy Capital Offences, wherewith ⟨p. 365⟩God is chiefly displeased. Lay them open, with all the circumstances of the time, place, and manner how they were committed, as may most serve to aggravate the heinousness of thy sins, and to show the contrition of thy heart for the same. Lift up thine hand, and acknowledge thy self before the righteous Judge of Heaven and Earth, guilty of eternal death and damnation, for those thy heinous sins and transgressions. And having thus accused and judged thy self: cast down thy self before the† Footstool of his Throne of grace: assuring thy self, that whatsoever the* Kings of Israel be, yet the God of Israel is a merciful God: And cry unto him from a penitent and faithful heart, for mercy and forgiveness, as eagerly and earnestly, as ever thou knewest a malefactor, being to receive his sentence, crying unto the Judge for favour and pardon; vowing amendment of life, and (by the assistance of his grace) never to commit the like sin any more. All which thou mayest do in these or the like words.
3. When thou hast thus considered all thy sins, put thy self before the Judgment-Seat of God, as a Felon or Murtherer, standing at the Bar of an earthly Judge: and with grief and sorrow of heart confess unto God all thy known sins, especially thy Capital Offences, wherewith ⟨p. 365⟩God is chiefly displeased. Lay them open, with all the circumstances of the time, place, and manner how they were committed, as may most serve to aggravate the hainousness of thy sins, and to shew the contrition of thy heart for the same. Lift up thine hand, and acknowledge thy self before the righteous Judge of Heaven and Earth, guilty of eternal death and damnation, for those thy hainous sins and transgressions. And having thus accused and judged thy self: cast down thy self before the†
O Most righteous Judge, yet in JESUS CHRIST my gracious Father: I wretched sinner do here return unto thee (though driven with pain and sickness) like the prodigal Child with want and hunger. I acknowledge that this sickness and pai• comes not by blind chance ⟨p. 366⟩or fortune, but by thy divine providence, and special appointment. It is the stroke of thy heavy hand, which my sins have justly deserved:1 and the things that I feared, are now fallen upon me. Yet I do well perceive, 2that in wrath thou rememberest mercy, when I consider how many, and how heinous are my sins, and how few and easy are thy corrections. Thou mightest have strucken me with some fearful and sudden death, whereby I should not have had either time or space to have called upon thee for grace and mercy; and so I should have perished in my sins, and have been for ever condemned in hell.
O Most righteous Judge, yet in JESUS CHRIST my gracious Father: I wretched sinner do here return unto thee (though driven with pain and sickness) like the prodigal Child with want and hunger. I acknowledge that this sickness and pai• comes not by blind chance ⟨p. 366⟩or fortune, but by thy divine providence, and special appointment. It is the stroke of thy heavy hand, which my sins have justly deserved:1 and the things that I feared, are now faln upon me. Yet I do well perceive, 2that in wrath thou remembrest mercy, when I consider how many, and how hainous are my sins, and how few and easie are thy corrections. Thou mightest have strucken me with some fearful and sudden death, whereby I should not have had either time or space to have called upon thee for grace and mercy; and so I should have perished in my sins, and have been for ever condemned in hell.
But thou, O Lord, visitest me with such a fatherly chastisement, as thou usest to visit thy dearest Children whom thou best lovest: giving me (by this sickness) both warning and time to repent, and to sue unto thee for grace and pardon. I take not therefore, O Lord, this thy visitation, as any sign of thy wrath or hatred; but as an assured pledge, and token of thy favour and loving kindness, whereby thou dost with thy temporal Judgments draw me to judge my self, and to repent of my wicked life,1 that I should not be condemned with the godless and unrepentant World. For thy holy Word assures me, that whom thou lovest, thou thus chastenest: 2and that thou scourgest every son that thou receivest. That if I endure thy chastening, thou offerest thy self unto me as unto a son: and that all that continue ⟨p. 367⟩in sin, and yet escape without correction (whereof all thy children are partakers) are bastards and not sons; and that thou chastenest me for my profit, that I may be a partaker of thy holiness. O Lord, how full of goodness is thy Nature, that hast dealt with me so graciously in the time of my health and prosperity: and now being provoked by my sins and unthankfulness, hast such fatherly and profitable ends, in inflicting upon me this sickness and correction!
But thou, O Lord, visitest me with such a fatherly chastisement, as thou usest to visit thy dearest Children whom thou best lovest: giving me (by this sicknes) both warning and time to repent, and to sue unto thee for grace and pardon. I take not therefore, O Lord, this thy visitation, as any sign of thy wrath or hatred; but as an assured pledge, and token of thy favour and loving kindness, whereby thou dost with thy temporal Judgments draw me to judge my self, and to repent of my wicked life,1 that I should not be condemned with the godless and unrepentant World. For thy holy Word assures me, that whom thou lovest, thou thus chastenest: 2and that thou scourgest every son that thou receivest. That if I endure thy chastening, thou offerest thy self unto me as unto a son: and that all that continue
I confess, Lord, that thou dost justly afflict my Body with sickness, for my Soul was sick before of a long prosperity, and surfeited with ease, peace, plenty, and fullness of bread. And now, O Lord, I lament and mourn for my sins:1 I acknowledge my wickedness, and mine iniquities are always in my sight. Oh, what a wretched sinner am I, void of all goodness by nature, and full of evil by sinful custom! Oh, what a world of sin have I committed against thee, whilst thy long-sufferance expected my conversion, and thy blessings wooed me to repentance! Yet, O my God, seeing it is thy property more to respect the goodness of thine own nature, than the deserts of sinners, I beseech thee, O Father, for thy Son Jesus Christ his sake, and for the merits of that all saving death which he hath voluntarily suffered for all which believe in him,2 Have mercy upon me, according to the multitude of thy mercies; turn thy face ⟨p. 368⟩away from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities: 3Cast me not out of thy presence, †neither reward me according to my deserts: For if thou dost reject me, who will receive me? or who will succour me, if thou dost forsake, me? But thou, O Lord, art the helper of the helpless: 5and in thee the fatherless findeth mercy: for though my sins be exceeding great, yet thy mercy, O Lord, far exceedeth them all: neither can I commit so many, as thy grace can remit and pardon. Wash therefore, O Christ my sins with the virtue of thy precious Blood, especially those sins, which from a penitent heart I have confessed unto thee: but chiefly, O Lord, for Christ his sake forgive me*. And seeing that of thy love thou didst lay down thy life for my ransom, when I was thine enemy: Oh save now the price of thine own Blood, when it shall cost thee but a smile upon me, or a gracious appearance in thy Father's sight in my behalf. Reconcile me once again, O merciful Mediator, unto thy Father: for though there be nothing in me that can please him: yet I know that in thee, and for thy sake,
And then, Lord, thou shalt see how religiously and wisely I shall redeem the time, 1which heretofore I have so lewdly and profanely spent. And to the end, that I may the sooner and the easier be delivered from this pain and sickness, direct me, O Lord, I beseech thee, by thy divine providence, to such a Physician and helper, as that (by thy blessing upon the means) I may recover my former health and welfare again. And, good Lord, vouchsafe, that as thou hast sent this sickness unto me, so thou wouldst likewise be pleased to send thy holy Spirit into my heart, whereby this present sickness may be sanctified unto me: that I may use it as thy School, wherein I may learn to know the greatness of my misery, and the riches of thy mercy; that I may be so humbled at the one, that I despair not of the other: and that I may so renounce all confidence of help in my self, or in any other creature; that I may only put the whole rest of my salvation in thy all sufficient merits. And forasmuch as thou knowest, Lord, how weak a vessel I am, full of frailty and imperfections: and that by Nature I am angry and froward under every Cross and Affliction:2 O Lord, who art the giver of all good gifts, arm me with patience to endure thy blessed will and pleasure, and of thy mercy lay no more upon me, 3than ⟨p. 370⟩I shall be able to endure and suffer. Give me grace to behave my self in all patience, love, and meekness, unto those that shall come and visit me; that I may thankfully receive, and willingly embrace all good counsels and consolations from them: and that they may likewise see in me such a good example of Patience, and hear from me such godly lessons of comfort, as may be arguments of my Christian faith and profession, and instructions unto them, how to behave themselves when it shall please thee to visit them, with the like affliction of sickness. I know, O Lord, I have deserved to die; and I desire not longer to live, than to amend my wicked life, and in some better measure to set forth thy glory. Therefore, O Father, if it be thy blessed will, restore me to health again, and grant me a longer life. But if thou hast, according to thine eternal decree, appointed by this sickness to call for me out of this transitory life; I resign my self into thy hands, and holy pleasure; thy blessed will be done,
Only I beseech thee of thy mercy forgive me all my sins, and prepare my poor soul, that by a true faith, and unfeigned repentance, she may be ready against the time that thou shalt call for her out of my sick and sinful body. O heavenly Father,1 who art the hearer of prayers, hear thou in heaven this my prayer; and in this extremity grant me these requests: not ⟨p. 371⟩for any worthiness that is in me, but for the merits of thy beloved Son Jesus, my only Saviour and Mediator; for whose sake thou hast promised to hear us, and to grant whatsoever we shall ask of thee in his Name. 2In his Name therefore and in his own words, I conclude this my imperfect Prayer, saying, Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed by thy Name, &c.
Having thus reconciled thy self unto God in Christ;
1. Let thy next care be to set thy House in order, as Isaiah advised King Hezekias: 1making thy last Will and Testament, (if it be not already made.) If it be made, then peruse it, confirm it, and for avoiding all doubts and contention, publish it before Witnesses, that (if God call for thee out of this life) it may stand in force and unalterable, as thy last Will and Testament, and so deliver it locked or sealed up in some Box, to the keeping of a faithful Friend, in the presence of honest Witnesses.
1. Let thy next care be to set thy House in order, as Esay advised King Hezekias: 1making thy last Will and Testament, (if it be not already made.) If it be made, then peruse it, confirm it, and for avoiding all doubts and contention, publish it before Wittnesses, that (if God call for thee out of this life) it may stand in force and unalterable, as thy last Will and Testament, and so deliver it locked or sealed up in some Box, to the keeping of a faithful Friend, in the presence of honest Witnesses.
2. But in making thy Testament, take a Religious Divine's Advice, how to bestow thy Benevolence; and some honest Lawyer's counsel, to continue it according to Law.
2. But in making thy Testament, take a Religious Divine's Advice, how to bestow thy Benevolence; and some honest Law•er's counsel, to continue it according to Law.
Dispatch this before thy sickness doth ••crease, and thy memory decay: lest otherwise thy Testament prove a dotement, and so be another man's fancy, rather than thy Will.
3. To prevent many inconveniences, ⟨p. 372⟩let me recommend to thy discretion two things.
I confess, Lord, that thou dost justly afflict my Body with sickness, for my Soul was sick before of a long prosperity, and surfeited with ease, peace, plenty, and fulness of bread. And now, O Lord, I lament and mourn for my sins:1 I acknowledge my wickedness, and mine iniquities are always in my sight. Oh, what a wretched sinner am I, void of all goodness by nature, and full of evil by sinful custom! Oh, what a world of sin have I committed against thee, whilst thy long-sufferance expected my conversion, and thy blessings wooed me to repentance! Yet, O my God, seeing it is thy property more to respect the goodness of thine own nature, than the deserts of sinners, I beseech thee, O Father, for thy Son Jesus Christ his sake, and for the merits of that all saving death which he hath voluntarily suffered for all which believe in him,2 Have mercy upon me, according to the multitude of thy mercies; turn thy face ⟨p. 368⟩away from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities: 3Cast me not out of thy presence, †neither reward me according to my deserts: For if thou dost reject me, who will receive me? or who will succour me, if thou dost forsake, me? But thou, O Lord, art the helper of the helpless: 5and in thee the fatherless findeth mercy: for though my sins be exceeding great, yet thy mercy, O Lord, far exceedeth them all: neither can I commit so many, as thy grace can remit and pardon. Wash therefore, O Christ my sins with the vertue of thy precious Blood, especially those sins, which from a penitent heart I have confessed unto thee: but chiefly, O Lord, for Christ his sake forgive me*. And seeing that of thy love thou didst lay down thy life for my ransom, when I was thine enemy: Oh save now the price of thine own Blood, when it shall cost thee but a smile upon me, or a gracious appearance in thy Father's sight in my behalf. Reconcile me once again, O merciful Mediator, unto thy Father: for though there be nothing in me that can please him: yet I know that in thee, and for thy sake,7 he is well pleased with all whom thou acceptest and lovest. And if it be thy blessed Will, remove this sicknes from me, and restore me to my former health again; that I may live longer to set forth thy glory and to be a comfort to my friends which depend upon me; and to procure to my self a more setled ⟨p. 369⟩assurance of that heavenly inheritance which thou hast prepared for me.
And then, Lord, thou shalt see how religiously and wisely I shall redeem the time, 1which heretofore I have so lewdly and prophanely spent. And to the end, that I may the sooner and the easier be delivered from this pain and sickness, direct me, O Lord, I beseech thee, by thy divine providence, to such a Physician and helper, as that (by thy blessing upon the means) I may recover my former health and welfare again. And, good Lord, vouchsafe, that as thou hast sent this sickness unto me, so thou wouldst likewise be pleased to send thy holy Spirit into my heart, whereby this present sickness may be sanctified unto me: that I may use it as thy School, wherein I may learn to know the greatness of my misery, and the riches of thy mercy; that I may be so humbled at the one, that I despair not of the other: and that I may so renounce all confidence of help in my self, or in any other creature; that I may only put the whole rest of my salvation in thy all sufficient merits. And forasmuch as thou knowest, Lord, how weak a vessel I am, full of frailty and imperfections: and that by Nature I am angry and froward under every Cross and Affliction:2 O Lord, who art the giver of all good gifts, arm me with patience to endure thy blessed will and pleasure, and of thy mercy lay no more upon me, 3than ⟨p. 370⟩I shall be able to endure and suffer. Give me grace to behave my self in all patience, love, and meekness, unto those that shall come and visit me; that I may thankfully receive, and willingly embrace all good counsels and consolations from them: and that they may likewise see in me such a good example of Patience, and hear from me such godly lessons of comfort, as may be arguments of my Christian faith and profession, and instructions unto them, how to behave themselves when it shall please thee to visit them, with the like affliction of sickness. I know, O Lord, I have deserved to die; and I desire not longer to live, than to amend my wicked life, and in some better measure to set forth thy glory. Therefore, O Father, if it be thy blessed will, restore me to health again, and grant me a longer life. But if thou hast, according to thine eternal decree, appointed by this sickness to call for me out of this transitory life; I resign my self into thy hands, and holy pleasure; thy blessed will be done, 4whether it be by life or by death.