The hand of the diligent shall bear rule. The Subftance of a diligent man is precious. ch.13, 4. The Soul of the diligent shall be made fat. ch, 21.5. The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness. ch. 22. 29. Seeft thou a man diligent in his business? he shall Stand before kings, he shall not and before mean men. See §. 31 and Part 3.ch. 1. S. 9. and Part 1.ch. 4. §. 11. near th' ends.. & ch. 8.§.7.2 S. 49. Ashort Evening Prayer for a Family, upon occafion, The Preface, as§. 4. 15. or 28. The Prayer, O Moft gracious God, who daily multipliest upon us thy Mercies, notwithstanding we every day renew our Provocations; Accept, we befeech Thee, of our most humble and hearty Thanks for thy unspeakable kindness towards us. Bleffed be thy Goodness which has this day fupplied us with Food and Neceffaries, and has preferv'd [fome of us in Health, the chiefest of all outward Injoyments; [and has profper'd the Work of our hands, and lent us our Friends to be still a fupport and comfort to us ;] Adored be thy Love and Patience for allowing us one day more to Amend our ways; and affifting us by the Suggeftions of thy Spirit, and thy gracious Providences to make up that Refignation, Humility, Contentedness, Chastity, Sobriety, Meekness, Charity, and other Virtues which are yet wanting in our Sonls. We defire to fhow our felves duly Senfible of thefe indearing Benefits, by learning to Depend upon thy Provi dence, which has been fo watchiul over us; and to be contented with thy Orderings, which are fo wifely fitted to our own Advantages and by applying all Opportunities to th' Increase of that Righteousness and Holy living which Thou requireft at our hands. We fain wou'd do it,and are here fincere. ly refolv'd to indeavor it: and Thou haft promised to aid all thofe who labor in fo good a Work: Be it then,O Lord, unto thy Servants according to thy Word, and inable us by thy Grace and Holy Spirit fo to do. We are fenfible, O God, how highly we have offended Thee, altho' we stand thus indebted for all we have, or hope t'injoy, to thy free Grace and Bounty; How many ways have we difhonor'd our Profeffion, and revolted from the Vows which we made in Baptism,by Pride, and Envy, and Anger, and Discontent, and Evil-fpeak ing, and ferving divers Lufts, which then we utterly renounced, and promit'd never to live in again? We are heartilly griev'd and afhamed for thefe and all other our Misdoings, and are fully refolv'd, by thy Grace, hereafter to Amend 'em. We unfeignedly Repent of'em, and for Chrift's fake humbly beg to be forgiven, and that thy Grace and Holy Spirit may rid us of 'em for the time to come. Our full purpose is to indeavor after a thorow Amendment of our Ways; and thy Promife is to help us therein: O let thine Arm be our Almighty Aid, and then we shall turn to 'em no more. Keep us under the defence and care of thy good Providence this Night; make our Sleep fafe,and refreshing to us.Fit us for our great Change, that it may not furprise us unawares, but that having led holy Lives, we may be happy in our Deaths, and have Comfort, and well grounded Hope in Thee.Give all Men Grace to Repent of all their Sins, and to become thy faithful Servants. Let all Christians live up to the Laws of that Religion which they profefs, Efpecially blefs thefe Kingdoms, [Country]" wherein we live; let our Governors Rule with Justice, and our People Obey with Chearfulneís; Make the Rich and profperous to show themselves Temperate in ufing, and Charitable in diftributing of their Substance; and the Poor and afAlicted to be Patient and Contented under their Burdens,reliev ing them in thy own good time. And caufe us all to Love as Brethren,and to be Pitiful and tender hearted towards all Men. Preserve our Relations and Friends in their Souls and Bodys. Forgive our Enemies, and make 'em Kindly affected towards us. And do whatsoever Thou feeft fitting for us all; for thy Son, our Advocate and only Savior Jesus Christ, his fake, in whofe Words we befeech Thee further to hear us, according to the full Senfe, and intent of 'em. Our Father &c. give us day by day ¿c. S. Luke 11. The Bleffing, as §. 6. The Conclufion, as §, 7.17.or 30. §. 50. BESIDES thefe Morning and Evening Devotions at Home,we must give daily attendance on thePublick Prayers at Church, when we can have 'em, except fevere Sickness, or unavoidable Business hinder us, and nothing elfe; otherwife tis floth and Covetousness, or Atheism and Irreligion keep us away. The very Heathens, befide their private Requests and Vows, made particular Addreffes to their Tem ples in all their great Concerns, and yet abstained not from the daily Sacrifices,nor from the frequent Festivals of their numerous Deities.In Egypt (as Porphyry relates) they praised theirGods with Hymns three or four times every day. The Turks are call'd to their Houfes of Prayer five times every day, and fix times upon the Frydays; and he that notoriously abfents himself, is punished with disgrace, and has a Fine fet upon him. And if our Savior think it reasonable we fhou'd do fomething more, S. Mat. 5. 47.how dare we call it unreasonable,when we are not injoyn'd to do fo much as they? The Jews had fet hours of Prayers.when all devout people (even Chrift's Apostles) Acts. 3,1. went to the Temple or Synagogues to offer up publick Supplications. The Pharifees not only obferv'd the ufual hours of Prayer,but doubled them, and Zealously kept 'em all. Now Jefus tells us, our righteousness muft exceed theirs, if ever we hope to enter into his Kingdom. S. Mat. 5. 20. The Chriftian Church in th' Apostles times met at daily Prayers; and fo did the Primitive Chriftians for many Ages after, who had their Liturgy Eucharift and Hymns, even in the night when perfecution prevented 'em in the day.Twice a day was not enough for them, wherefore they appointed (in the days of Martyrdom) three fet times in every day for Prayer; Nine, Twelve, and Three; and punctually obferv'd 'em. Afterwards, in more quiet times, it was wonderful to behold th' orderly performance of Morning and Evening Prayer in huge Aflemblies of Men and Women,who fail'd not of their conftant attendance. Thefe are the Men and Times whofe Principles we are reformed by,but I wish that corruptedchurch who forced us to a Separation, do not prove more conforma ble to th' outward part of their practice in a due obfervance of Publick Prayer, than we who have more Knowledge, better Prayers, and fewer Excufes, Wherefore we must not feign our felves too bufy; for we do lay afide our business daily for cau fes lefs weighty,and advantages more inconfiderable. It Vanity or Luft, Satan or his Emiffaries call, we can find Leifure; and why not when God calls? unless we think all that time loft which is spent upon his Service, or as if we needed not his Bleffing. See more. §.8. S. 51. AS we are putting off our Clothes, we muft think with our felves, that the time approaches when we must put off our Bodies allo, and then our Souls must appear naked before God's Judgment Seat, and therefore we had need be careful to make it fo clean and pure by Repentance and Holiness, that He who will not look on iniquity may graciously behold and accept it. §. 52. WHEN we are iuto bed, before we fleep, (for many fleep and never wake again,till they hear the fearful found of the laft Triumper,) we may ufe the Soliloquy in th' Introduction, $. 39. and one or more of the feven Night-Ejacularions in th Introd. Introd. §. 40. and in Part 1. ch.4.§. 15.ch. 5. §. 1 1. ch. 6. §. 15. ch, 7. §. 11. ch. 8. §. 12. ch. 9. §. 10. And if we Wake in the Night, the Meditation and Prayer in th' Introd. §; 41, or the like. §. 53. OUR Sleep must be measur'd by th' End for which It was Ordain'd, to wit, to fupport and Refresh our frail Bodies, and inable us to fuch Labors as the Duties of Religion, and Works of our Callings require of us. So that we must confine our selves to fuch a moderate Degree as our Age, Strength, and Constitution call for, to make us moft lively and fit for Ac tion, and more Profitable, not more Idle. Immoderate sleep injures the Body, for it fills it full of Diseases, and makes ita very Sink of Humors. It dulleth the Mind, and the Wit, and hurts the Brain?Tis the Bane of a Man's outward Eftat. 20V. 24. 33. 34. Te ta little fleep, a little flumber, a little folding of the hands to Beep: Soshall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man. fee §. 48. & Part 3. ch. 1. §.9. end. TO go Bed early, and early to Rife, Will make a man Healthy, and Wealthy, and Wife. And as Sleep is a kind of Death; fo he which gives himself up to it, lives by fo much the lefs time, and in that fense may be faid to Shorten his days, or Dy before his Time, or an Untimely death, they being all one. Put befides its Hurtfulness to the Body, Mind, Eftate, and Life, he that does not thus limit himfelf falls into feveral Sin: under this general one of floth,as 1, He waftes his Time, that precious Talent which was com• mitted to hini by God t'improve, and he that Sleeps it away, does like him in the Gospel, S. Mat. 25. 18. Hide it in the earth. whofe doom was, b. 30. Caft ve the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.. 2, He not only robs the Soul of the Service of the body, but dulls its proper Faculties, making them Ufelefs and unfit for thofe Imployments to which God has defigu'd 'em; of all which ill Husbandry the poor Soul must one Day give Account. Nay, 3, he affronts God Himself in it, by Croffing the very End of bis Creation, which was to ferve God in an Active obedience;but he that Sleeps away his Life, directly Thwarts and contradicts that; and when God faies, Man is born to Labor. Jobs. 7. his Practice fays the direct Contrary, that Man is born to Reft. We must take heed therefore of giving our Selves to immoderate Sleep, which is the Committing fo many Sins in one §. 54 TO. f. 54. TO Conclude, We mult Confider well, and duly Practife the Directions and Devotions, For Sundays, in th' In. troduction, and Part 2.ch. 1. §. 2 and Part 3. ch. 3. §. 4. For other Festivals, in Part 1, ch. 2, §. 1 to 13, and Part 2, ch: 4,all. For Faftings days, in Part 1, ch. 2, §. 14 to 21, and Chap. I all, For Working days, in this Appendix, with th' annext Almanack and Addition. and For the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, all th' Inftructions and Exercises in this whole Tract. . Luke 10.28. THIS do, and thou shalt live. That thou mayft profper in thy way: (Smooth English, Low-and High Dutch rough, But, for the Malabarian's Bliss, And fearch all Hearts, and Habitations Reprove, Exhort, and do thy Best Joshua 24, 15. A☎ for me and my house, we will ferve the LORD. LEEC that, by any means, when I have preach |
