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<DATE>2014-07-25</DATE>
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<NAME>Alexis Jakobson</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>A SERMON Concerning the <HI>Wor&s;hip of God in Private:</HI> Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL. <HI>June,</HI> 7th. 1691.</P>
<P>By <HI>THO. LYNFORD.</HI> D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to their Maje&s;ties.</P>
<P><HI>Publi&s;hed by Her Maje&s;ties Special Command.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>James Adam&s;on</HI> at the <HI>Angel</HI> and <HI>Crown</HI> in S. <HI>Paul's Church-Yard.</HI> 1691.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="1" REF="2">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL><HI>Matthew vi. 6.</HI></BIBL>
<Q>But thou, when thou praye&s;t, enter into thy Clo&s;et, and when thou ha&s;t &s;hut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in &s;ecret, and thy Father which &s;eeth in &s;ecret, &s;hall reward thee open|ly.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>OUR Saviour in the words of the Text, in&s;tructs us to be aware of that Hypocri&s;ie, which the Phari|&s;ees were guilty of at their Prayers. All they de&s;ign'd by &s;uch acts of Devotion, was to gain the Applau&s;e of Men, and therefore they Prayed <HI>&s;tanding in the Synagogues, and in the corners of the Streets:</HI> But our Saviour ad|vi&s;eth his Di&s;ciples to &s;tudy rather how to plea&s;e God, than Men; and therefore for the avoiding all manner of O&s;tentation, to pray in &s;ecret, <HI>and their Father who &s;aw them in &s;ecret, would not fail to reward them openly.</HI></P>
<PB N="2" REF="3">
<P>By which Advice he doth not de&s;ign to pre|fer Praying in Private before Praying in Publick, for they are both good in their kind: And there are two great ends of Pray|er, <HI>viz.</HI> the Glory of God, and the Edification of others, which are chiefly promoted by the latter, and not by the former. But all that he hints to us thereby, is, that we &s;hould not propo&s;e to our &s;elves by-ends in any acts of Devotion which we perform; but &s;hould all the while we perform them, be &s;ure to take care of the inward &s;entiments of our Minds, and endeavour to be &s;o af|fected towards God, as it becomes &s;uch &s;in|ful, &s;uch indigent Creatures as we are; which may be effectually done, altho we Pray never &s;o &s;ecretly, and no body has any knowledg thereof, but God and our &s;elves.</P>
<P>This &s;eems to be the purport of our Sa|viours Di&s;cour&s;e; which I &s;hall not at pre|&s;ent in large upon, but &s;hall only take occa|&s;ion from the Text, to give a De&s;cription of that Wor&s;hip, which may, and ought to be paid to God in Private; and then endeavour to repre&s;ent to your con&s;ideration, &s;ome of tho&s;e Advantages which accrue to tho&s;e who are con&s;tant in the performance there|of.</P>
<PB N="2" REF="3">
<P>I begin with a De&s;cription of that Wor|&s;hip which may, and ought to be paid to God in private. And becau&s;e there are &s;ome other in&s;tances thereof, be&s;ides that which is made mention of in the Text, I &s;hall make it to con&s;i&s;t in the&s;e following particulars.</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>In entring into our Clo&s;ets</HI> (as our Sa|viour here expre&s;&s;eth it) <HI>and there Praying to our Father which is in &s;ecret.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. In frequently Conver&s;ing with the Scripture and &s;uch good Books as treat about Religious Matters.</P>
<P N="3">3. In private Meditation upon Spiritual things.</P>
<P N="4">4. And la&s;tly, In &s;ecret Reflexions and &s;hort Ejaculations in all places, at all times of the day, and in all tran&s;actions of Life.</P>
<P N="1">1. One part of private Wor&s;hip is, when at &s;ome &s;et times we retire into our Clo&s;ets, and there offer unto God our Prayers and Thank&s;givings.</P>
<P>This has been the con&s;tant Practice of the greate&s;t Examples of Piety as ever the World &s;aw.</P>
<P>To name two or three, which the Scriptures make mention of.</P>
<P>The Prophet <HI>Daniel,</HI> we are told, <HI>kneeled
<PB N="4" REF="4">upon his knees three times a day, and Prayed and gave Thanks,</HI> Dan. 6.10. And the P&s;almi&s;t tells us, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 119.164. That <HI>&s;even times a day he did prai&s;e God, becau&s;e of his righteous judg|ments.</HI> In the 10th of the <HI>Acts v.</HI> 9. we find St. <HI>Peter</HI> at Prayer by him&s;elf on the Hou&s;e|top. And our ble&s;&s;ed Lord and Ma&s;ter thought fit to &s;eparate him&s;elf now and then from the re&s;t of the World, that he might Pray Privately; more e&s;pecially in the time of his greate&s;t Di&s;tre&s;s, and ju&s;t before he was to Suffer &s;o Cruel and &s;o Ignominious a Death. So that if we would tread in the &s;teps of tho&s;e Eminent Patterns of Virtue and true Holine&s;s which are gone before us; if we would follow our Saviour's Example as well as his Advice, we cannot but think our &s;elves oblig'd to make the &s;ame acknow|ledgments in private as well as publick of our dependence upon God for what we either want or have received, as we find they did.</P>
<P>To determine indeed how much time is to be &s;pent in &s;uch Acts of Devotion, mu&s;t be left to the Prudence and Sincerity of every particular Per&s;on, who is bound to con&s;ider impartially his own circum&s;tances,
<PB N="5" REF="4">and to govern him&s;elf according to them. But the general Rule to be ob&s;erved, is, That things of this Nature mu&s;t not be wholly neglected, and that they who have mo&s;t lei|&s;ure, either from the publick, or from their own nece&s;&s;ary concerns, ought to employ mo&s;t time therein. For what rea&s;onable pretence can be made for the total neglect thereof? Who is there who has &s;o much Bu&s;ine&s;s, as that when he ri&s;eth in the Morn|ing, he cannot &s;ecure &s;o much time to him|&s;elf, as may &s;uffice to return Thanks for that comfortable Repo&s;e which has been af|forded him, and to beg God's Protection the following day. Or that when he is a|bout to lay him&s;elf down to Sleep, he can|not &s;pare a few Minutes to commit him&s;elf to the cu&s;tody of him who neither &s;lum|breth nor &s;leepeth?</P>
<P>It is not the number of words which God is plea&s;ed with upon &s;uch an occa&s;ion; and they who have not lei&s;ure to pour forth their Souls in &s;ome longer Petition, will be accepted by him if they do it in &s;ome le&s;&s;er Form. And it may be found by Experience, that to keep up a Reverence for him with|in our Minds, it will be much better to
<PB N="6" REF="5">u&s;e only the Lord's Prayer, provided it be done with due Attention and Devotion, than not to Pray at all.</P>
<P>They indeed &s;eem to have mo&s;t to &s;ay for their being excus'd from this Duty of pri|vate Prayer, who Pray daily with their Fa|milies, or are con&s;tant at the Prayers of the Church; neither can there be any doubt, but that upon particular occa&s;ions it may be lawfully omitted by them. But be&s;ides, that praying when we are a lone, and by our &s;elves, does di&s;po&s;e us to Pray with more affection when we Pray with others. There are &s;ome ca&s;es wherein private Prayer is ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary, and we &s;hall not be able to Pray to God in &s;uch a manner as we ought to Pray unto him, unle&s;s we Pray by our &s;elves.</P>
<P>As for example, When we know our &s;elves to have been lately guilty of any par|ticular Sins, in order to beget within our Minds an hearty Sorrow for them, and to e&s;tabli&s;h and confirm our Re&s;olutions in for|&s;aking them; It is fit that we lay them open in the pre&s;ence of God, together with all their aggravating circum&s;tances: That we bewail our Folly and Ingratitude with
<PB N="7" REF="5">Floods of Tears, with ringing of Hands, mo&s;t bitter Sighs and Groans, and all the other &s;igns of true Contrition: That we be more than ordinarily earne&s;t at the Throne of Grace for Pardon and Forgivene&s;s. And how can this at any other time be done, than when we are alone, where we are not tied up to tho&s;e rules of Speech and behaviour as we are all the while we are placed in the &s;ight of others?</P>
<P>Thus when any great misfortune befalls us, it becomes us to bemoan our &s;elves in Private, and (in &s;uch a pa&s;&s;ionate way, as it may not be &s;o Decent to make &s;how of in publick) to intreat the Almighty to remove tho&s;e Evils with which we are oppre&s;&s;ed.</P>
<P>So in matters of great con&s;equence and difficulty, where we are either to ad|vi&s;e and act our &s;elves, or to de-pend up|on the advice and actions of others; our Ca&s;e is after a more particular manner to be made known to God, and we are to in|large upon it (which cannot be done in pub|lick) with &s;uch peculiar Expre&s;&s;ions as do be&s;t &s;uit it, and do at the &s;ame time te&s;tifie our reliance to be wholly upon him for his Favour and Direction.</P>
<P>So when we Pray for others, for &s;ome par|ticular
<PB N="8" REF="6">Per&s;ons who are very dear unto us; for &s;ome kind Friend who Langui&s;heth on the Bed of Sickne&s;s; for &s;ome near Relation who&s;e Per&s;on is expo&s;ed to very great diffi|culties and dangers, what lifting up of Eyes and Hands, what humble Pro&s;trations ought we to u&s;e, what earne&s;t &s;truglings with God on &s;uch an ones behalf? All which it is mo&s;t fit that God &s;hould be the only witne&s;s of, and no body el&s;e.</P>
<P>In the la&s;t place, when God &s;hews extra|ordinary kindne&s;s to any one, when he de|livers him out of danger, when he ble&s;&s;es his endeavours with unexpected &s;ucce&s;s, makes him thrive and pro&s;per in the World after a more peculiar manner, and the foot|&s;teps of a Divine Providence concerning it &s;elf on his behalf, are manife&s;tly &s;een in &s;e|veral remarkable in&s;tances; It does behove him who is thus ble&s;t, to fall down upon his Knees, and acknowledg the kindne&s;s of God towards him.</P>
<P>But this can't be done with that Attenti|on, that Fervencie, that particular Enume|ration of all tho&s;e events wherein he has had &s;ucce&s;s, as when being alone, he is al|lowed the liberty of expre&s;&s;ing his thankful|ne&s;s to God with what words and ge&s;tures he &s;hall judg mo&s;t fit and proper.</P>
<PB N="9" REF="6">
<P>In publick Forms of Prayer (wherein we joyn with others) there are indeed always &s;uch gene|ral Expre&s;&s;ions as do contain under them all par|ticular Ca&s;es what&s;oever. And therefore the De|vout Chri&s;tian, does without que&s;tion, as he goes along with the Offices of the Church, confe&s;s all his particular Sins, does make known his parti|cular Wants, does give Thanks for all the parti|cular Mercies which have been be&s;towed on him.</P>
<P>But the Mind in &s;uch a ca&s;e, has not time to dwell upon the&s;e things &s;o long and &s;o particular|ly as it ought to do.</P>
<P>And therefore upon particular occa&s;ions a Man mu&s;t retire into his Clo&s;et, and there u&s;e particu|lar Offices of his own making; that &s;o he may with the greater Pa&s;&s;ion, either bewail any Sin which he has newly committed, or beg what at pre&s;ent he &s;tands mo&s;t in need of, or give Thanks for what he has lately received.</P>
<P>2dly, The private Wor&s;hip of God con&s;i&s;ts in fre|quently Conver&s;ing with the Scriptures, and &s;uch good Books as treat about Religious Matters.</P>
<P>The Scriptures do contain a perfect account of all tho&s;e things, the knowledg whereof is ne|ce&s;&s;ary to make us wi&s;e unto Salvation.</P>
<P>They do give us an exact Scheme of all God's Laws.</P>
<P>They do acquaint us with what he has pro|mi&s;ed
<PB N="10" REF="7">to do for us, and what he expects at our hands for all his kindne&s;s towards us.</P>
<P>So that the more we con&s;ult the Sacred Oracles, the more we &s;hall become acquainted with our Duty, and under&s;tand how we ought to behave our &s;elves towards God in all in&s;tances what&s;o|ever.</P>
<P>And as Good and Pious Books are &s;o many Pa|raphra&s;es and Commentaries upon the Holy Scriptures; by how much the more time we &s;pend in being Conver&s;ant with them, the more fully will our Duty be explain'd to us. The more &s;trongly will the Arguments and Motives to prevail with us to Practi&s;e it, be imprinted on our minds.</P>
<P>And here again, as to the fixing how much time is to be &s;pent in a concern of &s;uch great con&s;e|quence, it mu&s;t be left to the Con&s;cience of every particular per&s;on, who be&s;t under&s;tands how much he can &s;pare from what he may ju&s;tly call his nece&s;&s;ary Affairs. But it mu&s;t be great impru|dence in any one to &s;uffer him&s;elf to be &s;o much imployed as not to be at lea&s;ure to Read &s;ome &s;mall Portion of the Word of God every day, and now and then a page or two in &s;ome good Book that treats about Religion and Vertue.</P>
<P>What numbers of hours do many of us &s;quan|der away in poring on the News-books and tho&s;e
<PB N="11" REF="7">trivial Pamphlets, which &s;warm among&s;t us.</P>
<P>Should we not do much better, if in&s;tead of tho&s;e which are the mo&s;t Innocent and mo&s;t Di|verting, (how much rather, if in&s;tead of tho&s;e which are good for nothing but to debauch our Minds, by &s;tamping on them a reli&s;h of Vice, even of tho&s;e Vices, which we have not, perhaps, as yet dared to Practi&s;e.)</P>
<P>If, I &s;ay, in&s;tead of the&s;e, we took &s;ome times the Writings of the In&s;pired Pen-men into our hands, and carefully peru&s;ed the Sacred Records of tho&s;e Divine Truths, which Heaven by them, has thought fit to Reveal unto us?</P>
<P>As for &s;uch as have abundance of Bu&s;ine&s;s, &s;uch as are forced in the &s;weat of their Brows to Eat their Bread, even the&s;e would find that their Bu|&s;ine&s;s went on with much greater &s;atisfaction to them&s;elves, and that they had rea&s;on to hope that their Labours would be &s;ooner ble&s;&s;ed with Suc|ce&s;s, if the &s;tudy of God's Word was intermixed with them: And they were as intent &s;ometimes upon under&s;tanding the Precepts of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and the Prophets, of Chri&s;t and the Apo&s;tles, in reference to their Eternal Welfare, as they are upon learn|ing the &s;everal Rules of their Arts and Callings in reference to their Temporal Advantage.</P>
<P>But as for tho&s;e whom God has ble&s;t with a plentiful Sub&s;i&s;tance in this World, who have no
<PB N="12" REF="8">occa&s;ion to Toil and Moil for the making a due provi&s;ion for them&s;elves and Families: What can they offer in excu&s;e, if they don't appropri|ate part of that time, which will be otherwi&s;e too often &s;pent in folly and wickedne&s;s, in this u&s;eful and (as they may find by experience, if they plea&s;e) this delightful way of filling their minds with all manner of Divine Knowledg?</P>
<P>But how mu&s;t it needs be matter of Wonder and Lamentation too, &s;hould &s;uch as the&s;e prefer as a more acceptable Entertainment, the pa&s;&s;ion|ate Di&s;cour&s;es of fond Lovers, the Relation of &s;ome Bloody War, or Deceitful Treaty, the Rithms of &s;ome needy Athie&s;t, the cunning Ob|&s;ervations of Crafty Politicians, before the mo&s;t endearing Expre&s;&s;ions of a good and gracious God to wo &s;inners to Repentance? Before the Hi&s;tory of his own Son's glorious undertaking in the Fle&s;h, and of that Covenant which was ratified in his Blood for us? Before the Devout P&s;alms of <HI>David,</HI> the Wi&s;e Maxims of <HI>Solomon,</HI> St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s ad|mirable Coun&s;els and Directions how to behave our &s;elves in all our &s;everal Relations inoffen&s;ive|ly towards God and towards Man?</P>
<P>3dly, The private Wor&s;hip of God con&s;i&s;ts in private Meditation upon Spiritual things.</P>
<P>It is not enough to under&s;tand our Duty, unle&s;s we endeavour all we can to imprint it on our Me|mories,
<PB N="13" REF="8">and to make it familiar unto us, that &s;o we may be the more ea&s;ily preval'd with to practi&s;e it.</P>
<P>Now how can this &s;o well be effected, as when being alone, we do often recollect into our minds what we have learnt from the Scriptures, and do dwell &s;ome time in the Contemplation of it?</P>
<P>And therefore the Holy P&s;almi&s;t giving a De|&s;cription, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 1.2. of one who delighted in the Law of God, &s;aith of him, <HI>That he meditated therein day and night,</HI> i. e. When he was alone in the day time, when at night all the re&s;t of Mankind were a&s;leep, and he only awake;</P>
<P>Then was he mu&s;ing upon the Excellency of Religion, and the many Advantages which at|tend an Holy and Godly Life;</P>
<P>Then was he admiring the Wonderful Works of God's Creation and Providence;</P>
<P>Then was he carefully Examining the Nature of his Duty, and how far his Actions had been conformable thereunto;</P>
<P>Then was he con&s;idering within him&s;elf the many Arguments and Motives to the Perfor|mance of it, and what a Folly it would be to neglect &s;o rea&s;onable a Service;</P>
<P>Then it was that he was plea&s;ing him&s;elf with the thoughts of having made Vertue his choice, and that when others &s;pent all their time in the
<PB N="14" REF="9">gratification of their &s;inful Lu&s;ts and Affections, he had made it the chief end of all his endea|vours to plea&s;e God.</P>
<P>So many are the Temptations with which we are &s;urrounded, and &s;o powerful an influence tho&s;e things which affect our Sen&s;es, are wont to have upon us, that it is plainly nece&s;&s;ary for us to retire &s;ome times at a di&s;tance from them, and to be wholly intent on the Contemplation of Spi|ritual things; that &s;o the&s;e nobler Objects may le&s;&s;en the others influence, and by making a la&s;t|ing impre&s;&s;ion of them&s;elves upon our minds, may prevent their enticing us to act contrary to any of the Divine Precepts.</P>
<P>God does not tie us up to &s;uch hard terms, as to oblige us to &s;pend all our Time in the Contem|plation of them.</P>
<P>He knows that in this imperfect State, neither our nece&s;&s;ary Affairs will allow of it, nor the&s;e lumpi&s;h Bodies of Clay which we carry about with us, endure it.</P>
<P>And therefore, all that he requires at our hands is, that we would not permit our tempo|ral Concerns to take up all our thoughts and time, nor &s;uffer our Recreations (which are only allowed us for our pre&s;ent refre&s;hment, and to re|new our decayed Spirits) to divert us wholly from Meditating upon tho&s;e Truths, upon the
<PB N="15" REF="9">knowledg whereof our Eternal Happine&s;s &s;o much depends.</P>
<P>4thly and La&s;tly, The private wor&s;hip of God con&s;i&s;ts in &s;ecret Reflections and &s;hort Ejaculati|ons in all places, at all times of the day, and in all tran&s;actions of Life.</P>
<P>The truly Devout Chri&s;tian is not content to have his &s;et times for the keeping up within his mind a &s;en&s;e of God and Religion: But where|ever he is, and what-ever he is doing, he takes care that &s;omething of Devotion towards God be intermixed with all his Actions.</P>
<P>Is he &s;uddainly invited, or urgent bu&s;ine&s;s pre&s;|&s;es him to go where he is likely to meet with tem|ptations? He as &s;uddainly makes &s;ome private Re|&s;olutions within him&s;elf to with&s;tand them with all his might, and in a word or two, begs of God to inable him to keep &s;uch his re&s;olution.</P>
<P>Does he at any time fail in his Duty?</P>
<P>He immediately cries out, <HI>God be merciful to me a Sinner.</HI></P>
<P>Is he unexpectly called to enter upon &s;ome con|&s;iderable Action?</P>
<P>He in the &s;ame Minute, with &s;ome &s;hort Sen|tence or other, intreats the Almighty to give him Succe&s;s therein.</P>
<P>Does any &s;uddain Misfortune befal him?</P>
<P>It is le&s;s than I de&s;erve, he cries, but for thy
<PB N="16" REF="10">goodne&s;s &s;ake take pity on me, O thou Pre&s;erver of Men!</P>
<P>Do things fall out according to his Wi&s;hes? O what grateful Expre&s;&s;ions flow from him!</P>
<P>And thus in all Occurrences what&s;oever, he keeps up a Reverence for his Maker, and expre&s;&s;es a due e&s;teem and value for him. And this he does with ea&s;e, without giving the lea&s;t trouble to the Company, with which he conver&s;es, or at all di&s;turbing his own Affairs.</P>
<P>His innocent Mirth is not at all damped by any &s;uch pious Reflexions: Nor does his bu&s;ine&s;s the le&s;s go forward for tho&s;e &s;hort Ejaculations, which upon &s;uch occa&s;ions breath from him.</P>
<P>And therefore if there could be any excu&s;e made for the neglect of tho&s;e other parts of pri|vate Wor&s;hip, there can be none made for the neglect of this. For it is &s;uch a re&s;pect to God, as neither the greate&s;t Per&s;onages, nor the mo&s;t Worldly-minded Men can want lei&s;ure, nor tho&s;e of the mo&s;t ordinary Capacity, power to perform. For what Man of what quality or con|dition &s;oever, may not on the &s;uddain, in &s;ome &s;ort of words or other (or what though it be without words) either beg God's A&s;&s;i&s;tance in what he is about to undertake, or thank him for any good that has befaln him, or intreat him to forgive what he has done ami&s;s, to remove tho&s;e
<PB N="17" REF="10">misfortunes which have hapned to him; and to pour into his Lap what he &s;hall judg mo&s;t fit and convenient for him:</P>
<P>So that although upon &s;ome extraordinary em|ergency, or for want of Abilities, either private Prayer, or reading the Scriptures, or Meditation upon Divine things, &s;hould happen to be omit|ted by us; yet there can be no rea&s;on why this la&s;t way of Serving God in &s;ecret &s;hould.</P>
<P>When we are Dre&s;&s;ing our &s;elves in our Cham|bers, when we are Walking in the Streets, when we are making of Bargains and Contracts, when we are Eating and Drinking, in what Affair &s;o|ever we are ingaged, what trouble can it be to us to awaken now and then within our Minds a De|vout Thought, an Holy Wi&s;h, a Pious Re&s;oluti|on, or to Offer up to God &s;ome &s;hort comprehen|&s;ive Petition as may be mo&s;t &s;uitable to our pre|&s;ent Circum&s;tances?</P>
<P>Having thus Di&s;cour&s;ed of the Nature of that private Wor&s;hip which may be u&s;ed by particu|lar Chri&s;tians when they are alone, I de&s;ire in the &s;econd place, that the&s;e following Advantages, which will certainly accrue to tho&s;e who are con&s;tant in the Performance thereof, may be con|&s;idered by us.</P>
<P N="1">1. That hereby we &s;hall be prompted to per|form all Religious Duties with much greater Strictne&s;s and Accuracy.</P>
<P N="2"><PB N="18" REF="11">2. That we &s;hall hereby gain for our great Sa|tisfaction and Comfort, one of the mo&s;t convinc|ing Arguments of our own Sincerity.</P>
<P N="3">3. That we &s;hall hereby be be&s;t inabled to perform all Acts of Publick Wor&s;hip after the mo&s;t Solemn manner.</P>
<P N="4">4. That this will be a mo&s;t excellent Preparati|on for Death, which is &s;o uncertain.</P>
<P>5thly, and La&s;tly, That it will very much in|crea&s;e our Joy hereafter, to be openly rewarded for what we have done thus in Secret.</P>
<P>I begin with the fir&s;t, That by our thus Wor|&s;hiping God in Secret, we &s;hall be prompted to perform all Religious Duties with much greater &s;trictne&s;s and accuracy.</P>
<P>If any thing can make us in all re&s;pects tru|ly Religious, it mu&s;t be an in&s;ight into the Na|ture of Spiritual things, and a frequent application of our Minds to the Contemplation of them.</P>
<P>When therefore any one by his own &s;et times of Prayer, by his daily Reading the Scriptures, by con&s;tant Meditation upon God and Vertue, has di&s;po&s;ed his Soul to be heartily Affected with what concerns its Immortal Welfare; when he has brought him&s;elf to that pa&s;s, as in every Action of his Life to intermix &s;omething of De|votion towards God.</P>
<P>How mu&s;t this needs, if any thing can, make
<PB N="19" REF="11">him eager &s;o to behave him&s;elf in all re&s;pects what&s;oever, as may Intitle him to an higher in|tere&s;t in God's Favour, and to the expectations of greater Bli&s;s hereafter?</P>
<P>The&s;e things do lay a kind of force upon him to be Religious, and to &s;trive as much as he can to improve in every Grace and Vertue.</P>
<P>When by his being thus con&s;tantly Employed in the Contemplation of Spiritual things, he has them always in his View, he mu&s;t do Violence to him&s;elf to run contrary to them.</P>
<P>And it will be no &s;mall Puni&s;hment to him at the fir&s;t, if by a wilful Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of his Duty he Lives in a direct Oppo&s;ition to his own Senti|ments.</P>
<P>It is the want of a due &s;en&s;e of Holy things which makes Men &s;o Irreligious as they are.</P>
<P>They have no true Apprehen&s;ions, no reli&s;h of Divine matters, and this makes them run from them as far as they can.</P>
<P>Were but an early &s;en&s;e of them impre&s;&s;ed up|on their Minds by tho&s;e ways which I have been &s;peaking of, they would not have the hardine&s;s to be guilty of tho&s;e wicked Practices which we now &s;ee daily Committed by them. Their Con|&s;ciences being by this means kept <HI>in Life and Sen&s;e,</HI> would render them unea&s;ie whenever they go a|bout to Tran&s;gre&s;s any known Duty. They
<PB N="20" REF="12">would be always repre&s;enting to them the equi|ty of God's Laws, the greatne&s;s of the Rewards which accompany them; The &s;everity of the Puni&s;hment which follows the neglect of them; Their own Folly and Ingratitude, &s;hould they de|&s;pi&s;e &s;uch excellent Means of Salvation as are &s;et before them.</P>
<P>And what can deter Men from acting a mi&s;s? nay, What can &s;pur them on to further Ad|vancements in all manner of Vertuous and Holy Living, if the Con&s;ideration of the&s;e things thus forcibly urged upon their Minds cannot?</P>
<P>2dly, Another Advantage which would accrue to us by our thus Wor&s;hiping God in Secret, is, that hereby we &s;hall obtain for our inward Comfort and Satisfaction, one of the mo&s;t con|vincing Arguments of our own Sincerity.</P>
<P>Nothing affords a greater Satisfaction to any ones Mind, than to be able to Ju&s;tify his own Proceedings to him&s;elf, and to be fully Convinced that his Behaviour has been &s;uch as it ought to have been.</P>
<P>Now there is no better way to gain &s;uch a Comfortable A&s;&s;urance of having done Well, as by thus &s;ecretly Devoting our &s;elves to God's Service.</P>
<P>Let Men &s;eem never &s;o Zealous in their Pub|lick Devotion, it may all be Counterfeit, and in order only to promote &s;ome di&s;hone&s;t de&s;ign.</P>
<PB N="21" REF="12">
<P>Thus the Devotion of the Phari&s;ees, how &s;pe|cious &s;oever it appeared, was only to be &s;een of Men, and that they might thereby gain a better opportunity of devouring Widows Hou&s;es.</P>
<P>So that as to what is done in the &s;ight of others, although it may be done at &s;ome times with a very hone&s;t intent, yet at other times we may be deceived therein, and phan&s;ie we are doing God's Service, when it is only &s;erving our &s;elves of &s;ome Temporal Advantage, which we hope thereby to promote.</P>
<P>But now when what we do is in &s;ecret, and no body &s;ees us but God him&s;elf; when we might have followed the example of the re&s;t of the World, who never trouble them&s;elves about the&s;e mat|trers; and yet we have cho&s;en rather to do our Duty privately, and to approve our &s;elves to God in a way which is only Cogno&s;cible by him and by no body el&s;e;</P>
<P>This mu&s;t needs convince us of our Sincerity, and afford us the Satisfaction of being inward|ly a&s;&s;ur'd that we have a greater regard for God and Vertue, than we have for any thing el&s;e be|&s;ides.</P>
<P>3dly. That we may be the more per&s;waded thus to Wor&s;hip God in &s;ecret, let us con&s;ider that hereby we &s;hall be be&s;t inabled to perform all acts of publick Wor&s;hip after the mo&s;t &s;olemn manner.</P>
<PB N="22" REF="13">
<P>The rea&s;on why many keep away from the &s;o|lemn A&s;&s;emblies, and others behave them&s;elves &s;o Irreverently whil&s;t they are pre&s;ent at them, is, becau&s;e they want tho&s;e di&s;po&s;itions of Mind as would qualifie them to attend upon Holy things with delight and &s;atisfaction.</P>
<P>Their Souls do every Minute hanker after un|lawful Objects.</P>
<P>They are wholly intent upon the Vanities and Plea&s;ures of this World, and this makes them have &s;o little a kindne&s;s for what ever relates to God and Religion: So that they come to the pub|lick Wor&s;hip, as if it were to their own Exe|cution, and are glad of any excu&s;es to keep from it.</P>
<P>Now had they but accu&s;tom'd them&s;elves to the Wor&s;hip of God in private, they would be &s;o far from being aver&s;e to the Wor&s;hip of him in publick, as to be glad of any &s;uch kind invi|tation, <HI>Let us go into the Hou&s;e of the Lord.</HI></P>
<P>Their Minds being beforehand Ravi&s;hed in the delightful Contemplation of the Divine At|tributes of God's mo&s;t Holy Laws, of what he has done, and is ready to do for tho&s;e who &s;in|cerely Love him.</P>
<P>What Devout Exerci&s;es can come ami&s;s to them?</P>
<PB N="23" REF="13">
<P>Their Harps are always &s;trung, and their Souls always in Tune to Sing Anthems of Prai&s;e and Thank&s;giving to their Heavenly Maker.</P>
<P>They enter his Courts with Joy, and whil&s;t others are full of Coldne&s;s and Indifferency towards the Wor&s;hip of him, there is no Holy Ordinance on which they don't attend with great Plea&s;ure and Satisfaction.</P>
<P>4thly. Another Advantage which attends the private Wor&s;hip of God, is, that it will be an excellent preparation again&s;t Death.</P>
<P>Since Life is &s;o uncertain, and there are &s;o many things which can &s;natch us out of the World before we are aware;</P>
<P>It mightily concerns us &s;o to order our Affairs as that we may be fit to go hence on the &s;uddain with Comfort and Satisfaction.</P>
<P>Our future Happine&s;s depends upon tho&s;e di&s;|po&s;itions, which we carry out of the World with us.</P>
<P>As we are affected towards God and Vertue when we go off this Stage, &s;uch will be our Reward hereafter.</P>
<P>To have our Oyl therefore to Buy, and our Lamps to Trim when the Bridegroom Sum|mons us to Attend him, is the way to be for ever Excluded from the Marriage Fea&s;t.</P>
<PB N="24" REF="14">
<P>And therefore although the Fooli&s;h part of Mankind go on unconcerned in their Wick|ed Cour&s;es, and Live whil&s;t they are here, as if they never were to Live any where el&s;e.</P>
<P>Yet the more Prudent, who know that their be&s;t Stake is in another World, will endeavour to &s;ecure it by being always prepared to leave their pre&s;ent Station with &s;uch a temper of Mind as will mo&s;t certainly Intitle them to the Joys that are above.</P>
<P>Now what can better tend to effect this, than to keep up within our Minds a con&s;tant Re&s;pect for God, and for his mo&s;t Righteous Laws, by this private Wor&s;hip of him?</P>
<P>When we do every day in &s;ecret lament our pa&s;t Follies, and are earne&s;t for his Pardon and Forgivene&s;s;</P>
<P>When we do every day expre&s;s our depen|dance on him, by be&s;eeching him to give us what is mo&s;t fit and convenient for us, and by giving hearty Thanks for tho&s;e Mercies which we have already received at his Hands;</P>
<P>When we do every Day by our &s;elves admire the extraordinary perfections of the Divine Nature;</P>
<P>Are intent in our Meditations upon his Com|mandments;</P>
<P>Are Ravi&s;hed in the Contemplation of his un|&s;peakable Kindne&s;s towards us;</P>
<PB N="25" REF="14">
<P>When Devout Thoughts do every moment &s;pring up within us, and Pious Expre&s;&s;ions flow from us;</P>
<P>When we are always thus di&s;po&s;ed, how can Death at any time &s;urpri&s;e us? We may bid it Well-come every hour of the day.</P>
<P>It is the greate&s;t Ble&s;&s;ing as can happen to tho&s;e who are thus prepared for it; for it Tran&s;plants them into a place where their Minds will be full of the &s;ame Pious Thoughts and Affections, and where they will produce the &s;ame Vertues they do here, but with far more Ea&s;e and Tran&s;port, being freed from all tho&s;e Troubles and Incum|brances which Clog and Imbitter, at pre&s;ent, our mo&s;t Religious performances.</P>
<P>5thly. and La&s;tly, It will very much increa&s;e our Joy hereafter, to be openly Rewarded for what we have done thus in &s;ecret.</P>
<P>This is the Argument which our Saviour here makes u&s;e of to per&s;wade his Di&s;ciples not to take the Phari&s;ees for their Example (who made a great &s;how of Piety, only that they might be &s;een of Men:)</P>
<P>But to approve them&s;elves to God, altho it were never &s;o Privately.</P>
<P><HI>Viz.</HI> That how few &s;oever the Advantages might happen to be, which would accrue to them by &s;uch their Behaviour at pre&s;ent; yet
<PB N="26" REF="15">they would be made a &s;ufficient amends, and that publickly too, hereafter.</P>
<P><HI>Thy Father which &s;eeth in &s;ecret, &s;hall reward thee openly.</HI></P>
<P>Although Devout Chri&s;tians make no noi&s;e in the World, but chearfully Pay the great Crea|tor of all things that Tribute which they know ju&s;tly to belong to him:</P>
<P>Yet he who is a con&s;tant In&s;pector of their Hearts, who knows their Integrity, and beholds their Devout Carriage, when it is hid from all the World be&s;ides; will not &s;uffer it to be al|ways covered with Darkne&s;s, but will one day make it manife&s;t, to the Eternal Honour and Advantage of &s;uch his Good and Faithful Ser|vants.</P>
<P>The time will come when in the Pre&s;ence of all his Holy Angels, and Immortal Spirits, he will call them forth, and him&s;elf bear publick Te&s;timony to the Sincerity of their Affections towards him.</P>
<P>Then will their frequent Prayers, their dili|gent Study of the Scriptures, their devout Me|ditations, their Pious Reflections, their Heaven|ly Ejaculations be all Enumerated, and every thing which they have done in Secret, be &s;et in a due Light.</P>
<PB N="27" REF="15">
<P>Upon the Di&s;covery whereof, how will tho&s;e Glorious Beings above Admire &s;uch their Devotion!</P>
<P>How will they run into their Embraces, and Congratulate the great Honour God has done them, in thus making manife&s;t tho&s;e Excellen|cies in them, which none before but him&s;elf had any knowledg of!</P>
<P>And what can afford them greater Satisfaction of Mind, than to have the Supreme Gover|nour of all things, and their mo&s;t Merciful Father thus to atte&s;t their Piety, and tho&s;e who are his chiefe&s;t Favourites, and make the neare&s;t approaches unto him, upon their know|ledg thereof, to Love and Applaud them for it?</P>
<P>To Conclude then this whole Di&s;cour&s;e; we &s;ee what great Advantages the Wor&s;hip of God in Secret brings along with it.</P>
<P>Let us deal impartially with our own Souls, and not &s;uffer any pretences what&s;oever, by cau&s;ing any neglect thereof, to deprive us of them:</P>
<P>But let us from our Plea&s;ures, from our Bu&s;i|ne&s;s re&s;erve &s;ome time thus to Pray unto God, to give him Thanks, to Conver&s;e with his Sacred Oracles, to Meditate upon Holy Things, and to
<PB N="8" REF="16">pour out our Souls in Private Whi&s;pers unto him upon all Emergencies what&s;oever;</P>
<P>That &s;o having by this means fixed a true Prin|ciple of Holine&s;s within us;</P>
<P>Having furni&s;hed our Minds with &s;uch excel|lent Di&s;po&s;itions as do be&s;t qualifie us to be made Partakers of the Heavenly State;</P>
<P>In a word, having made our &s;elves throughly acquainted with God and his mo&s;t Righteous Laws, we may from hence be In&s;tructed &s;o to Behave our &s;elves towards him in this World, that we may Live for Ever in his Pre&s;ence in the World to come.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="16">
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
