The crucified Jesus, or, A full account of the nature, end, design and benefits of the sacrament of the Lords Supper with necessary directions, prayers, praises and meditations to be used by persons who come to the Holy Communion / by Anthony Horneck ...

CHAP. XXIV. (Book 24)

Of judging our selves, the Third Preparative Duty, in order to our worthy Receiving of the Blessed Sacrament. (Book 24)

The CONTENTS.

Judging our selves, contains three Acts; Confession of Sin, Self-Condemnation, and inflicting Judgments on our Selves. The Nature of these Acts explained. This judging our selves, proved to be pleasing to God. What it is that makes it so. Confession of Sins, if rightly per∣formed, is a great Work. Men are loth to confess those Sins, which they are loth to leave. Carnal Men wonder at the great stir, that some Penitents make. In inflicting Judgments on our selves, the Word of God must be made our Rule. The Prayer.

I. I Mention this Judging of our selves, as a Duty preparatory for the Holy Sacrament, because it is certain, that St. Paul makes it so. 1 Cor. 11. 31. If we would judge our selves, we should not be judged. God's judging of us, or proceeding to Judgment against us, hath in all Ages appeared very terrible to good Men, because it speaks his Anger, and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Heb. 10. 31. And therefore David doth so often deprecate God's Judg∣ment, particularly, Psal. 143. 2. Enter not into Judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight no man living shall be justifi∣ed: And Psal. 119. 120. My flesh trembles for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy Judgments. And, Psal. 66. 3. How

terrible art thou in thy Works, or Judgments! And though, Psal. 26. 1. he prays, Judge me, O God; yet, by that, he means no more, than that God would plead his Cause, and vindicate his Innocence, which was abused, bespat∣ter'd, and oppress'd, by his Enemies. God's judging of us, differs very much from judging our selves; and when we are exhorted to judge our selves, it is not to oblige us, to beg of God to send Judgments upon us; but it is to do something, whereby the Judgment of God, we have deserved, may be prevented and averted; and upon attending to the scope and drift of the Apostle in that Advice, we shall find, that it consists, partly in accu∣sing our selves, and confessing our faults, partly in condemn∣ing our selves for the faults we have committed, and partly in exercising acts of Justice, and executing Judgment upon our selves, of which we are to speak in order.

II. The First Act of judging our selves, is, confessing our Sins, and accusing our selves, and Act very proper after Self-Examination; confessing, I mean, such Sins, as, up∣on strict examination, we find our selves to have been guilty of, without being afraid of giving our selves Names too harsh, and too reproachful. It's true, no Man is obliged to accuse himself of Sins he was never guilty of; and to charge our selves with the guilt of Fornication, or Adultery, or Murther, or Blasphemy, or Theft, &c. which, through the restraining Grace of God, we never thought of, and have been strangers to, is, to tell God a lye, except we understand those Sins in a Spiritual Sense; and, in this case, a Man or Woman may say, they have been guilty of Adultery, by depart∣ing wickedly from their God, whom they were so∣lemnly Marry'd, and joyn'd to, in Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord, and by doting upon a miserable transitory World, which St. James calls Spiritual Adul∣tery, Jam. 4. 4. And, upon this account, a Man may say, he hath been guilty of Blasphemy, in dishonouring the Gospel by his vain and wicked Life, whereby he he hath given occasion to the Enemies of the Lord to

blaspheme him, and speak evil of Religion; and, after the same manner, he may justly accuse himself of Mur∣der, if he have often stabb'd his Neighbour's Repu∣tation by Slanders, Reproaches, and evil surmises against him, and disparaging of him to those, from whom he expected signal kindnesses: But, set aside this Spiritu∣al Sense, a Man is not obliged by any Law of God, to confess, that he hath been formally guilty of sins he ne∣ver committed to his best remembrance; but in those he hath actually run into, either wilfully, or by surprize, he ought to be his own severe accuser, especially to God, whom he hath thereby grievously offended; and he truly judges himself, that, upon a deep search of his Heart, finding what Precepts of the Gospel he hath wittingly acted against, cries out, Lord! I have been that rotten Sheep of thy Flock, which, by my ill example, hath infected other! I have been that Viper thou hast put into thy Bosom, and which hath threatned death to those Bowels that gave it life; and been a Rebel, by my monstrous ingratitude, to my Father which is in Heaven! I have been that Prodigal, that hath run away from his Father's House, and travell'd into a far Country, as far as Hell it self! I have been that Fool, that mad Man, that hath said to his Soul, Thou hast Goods laid up for many years, eat and drink, and be merry! I have been that Satan, that Adversary, that have savoured the things that be of Men, more than the things which be of God! I have been that bewitch'd Creature, that have begun in the Spirit, and thought to end in the Flesh! I have been that Judas, that have betray'd the Son of Man with a kiss! I have been that brutish Man, that, by my careless life, have as good as said, The Lord sees not, neither will the God of Jacob regard is! O that I had Wings like a Dove, for then would I fly away, and bewail my folly in some Wilderness! But in this Confession, or Self-accusation, some necessary Rules must be observed.

1. A Man must not content himself with general Con∣fessions, but, in the Accusation, descend to particular Errors and Neglects of his Life. General Confessions

do well in Publick Liturgies, and Offices of the Church, in which a whole Congregation is to joyn; but in pri∣vate, the case very much alters. The Church, accor∣ding to the old saying, non junicat de occultis, judges not of secret things, and knows not what particular Sins eve∣ry Man is guilty of, and one may have stain'd his Soul with certain Sins, which another hath not; and there∣••ore, wisely prescribes only general acknowledgments of Offences, that the whole Assembly may comply with the Duty; but in private every Man knows, or may know, where the Shooe doth most pinch him, and therefore, here particular Confessions are necessary: He that in private contents himself with General Confessi∣ons, shews no great desire to be better; and notwith∣standing his Confessions, may allow himself in abun∣dance of Sins, and miscarry, and perish, for all his ge∣neral Confessions. But he that in his Confessions spe∣cifies the particular Acts, wherein he hath walk'd con∣trary to God, discovers an earnest desire to grow in Grace; and, in this, St. Paul shews us an example, 1 Tim. 1. 13. where he doth not say, I have been a great Sin∣ner, but a Blasphemer, spoke ill of the way to Life, a Per∣secuter, afflicted, oppressed, and made havock of the Churches of God, injurious, done great injuries to St. Stephen, and to abundance of other Christians. In a word, such a person, by his particular Confession, deals faithfully with his own Soul, and, by mentioning the particular Diseases that annoy him, manifests his ear∣nest desire of a Cure, whereas General Confessions leave the Soul ignorant, dull, careless, and unaffected with the great Concerns of Salvation. And tho' a person, every time he accuses himself, or confesses his Errors, is not bound to enumerate all the particular Sins of his Life he can charge his Memory with, yet if he never did it before, it's fit he should do it, at least when first he re∣ceives the Holy Sacrament, and at other times, con∣fess such fins, as he finds himself most inclin'd to, and most apt to harbor in his Bosom.

2. These Confessions must be accompanied, especi∣ally the Confessions before the Sacrament, with aggra∣vations of our Offences, and with shame and confusion of Face. I joyn these two together, because aggrava∣ting of them is the cause of that confusion, and he that reflects in his Confessions, what light, what knowledge, what checks of Conscience, what motions of God's Spi∣rit, what goodness of God, what mercy, what patience, what promises, what threatnings, he hath sinn'd against, what time he hathlost, what opportunities he hath neglected, what a gracious, what a merciful God he hath offended, even love it self, and sweetness, and beauty it self, and what blessings, what priviledges, what advantages, what offers he hath slighted, will find himself obliged, to have very low and mean thoughts of himself. This was the Publican's case, Luke 18. 13. Who standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his Eyes to Heaven, but smote upon his Breast, saying, God be merciful to me a Sinner. He was ashamed, and confounded. His Conscience told him, how unworthily he had dealt with his Creator, how strangely he had carried himself to God, his best and greatest Friend, how unthankful, and how base, he had been to his most gracious Benefactor, and how strange∣ly he had carried himself to the best of Beings. He was confounded with the thoughts of his vileness, and conscious of his guilt, he ••ast his eyes to the ground, unable to look his offended Father in the Face. His Heart was full of grief, Sorrow fate heavy on his Soul; and though his Tongue could not express his particular acts of injustice, oppression, pride, anger, and greedi∣ness after the World, yet his Mind confess'd them, thought of them, his Heart was ready to break at the dismal sight, and this was a very acceptable Confessi∣on.

3. These Confessions must be joyned with invincible purposes, to endeavour after a better and more Spiritu-Temper. So the wise Man tells us: He that confesses his

Sins, and forsakes the••, shall find mercy, Prov. 28. 13. Without this Qualification, our Confessions are mere Lip-services, and rceive not one gracious Look from above, nay, are accounted no better than Israel's Devo∣tion, Hos. 10. 1. Israel is an empty Vine; He brings forth fruit unto himself: Why unto himself? The reason is, because, in that fruit, he aim'd not so much at God's Glory, as his own Profit: Nor was any Person the better for it, the design was selfish, it was just to satisfie the present terror within, no love of God lay at the bottom, the ground of all was self-love, and God had nothing to do with it. The same may justly be said of him that confesses, but is not concern'd, whether his Flesh be subdued to the Spirit, or not. Such a Confession is his own invention, it is not that Confession which God re∣quires. If he confesses, it must not be to himself, for God regards it not; and indeed, till this actual endea∣vour to forsake them is added to the Confession, our Sins continue still in God's Books of Accompt, look still as black as ever, not one of them is blotted out, for the enmity against God is still maintained, and whilst that lasts, it naturally follows, that God and we cannot be friends.

III. The second act of judging our selves, is, upon this Con∣fession to condemn our selves. And indeed, if the Soul be truly awake, and the Heart sincerely sensible of its errors and miscarriages, the Penitent cannot but condemn himself, and acknowledge, that the Judgments threatned in the word of God, are due to him, and cry; Ah! my God, and my Lord! Who shall deliver me from the Body of this death, from this confluence of Misery! I have deserv'd with Adam, to be thrown out of Paradise, and to be for ever forbid eating of the Tree of Life! I have deserv'd to drown'd with the first World, or to be consumed for ever as Sodom and Gomorrah. I have deserved the sudden and un∣natural death of Nadab and Abihu; to be stoned with Achan; to be struck with Leprosie, as Miriam; to be swallowed up ••live by the Earth, as Dathan and Abiram. I have de∣serv'd

Manasseh's Prison, and Zedekiah's Chains, and, what is worse, the everlasting Chains of Darkness. I ac∣knowledge, that I have deserved, it should be more tolerable for Infidels in the Great Day, than for me; for I have seen the mighty works of God, and continu'd a stranger to Repen∣tance. I have deserved to be called upon at Midnight, as that careless Man, Thou Fool, this Night thy Soul shall be re∣quired of thee, and whose shall be, which thou hast provided? To this Wretch, that is before thee, belongs nothing but Wrath and Indignation. On this Head of mine, thou mightest just∣ly discharge the Ordinance of Justice, and pour out the Vials of thy Wrath! On me, thou mightest justly rain snares, and Fire, and Brimstone. I have deserv'd to be plagued with Di∣seases, tormented with grievous Pain, haunted by panick Ter∣rors. If any of these Judgments do not fall upon mee, it is thy Patience, not my Goodness, and I may wonder I have esca∣ped them all this while. I have deserved to be made a Prey to that Devil, whose Temptations I have swallow'd with Greediness. Instead of rejoycing over me to build me up, thou mightest justly rejoyce over me, to destroy me. Just∣ly, O Lord, thou mightest send upon me trembling of Heart, and fainting of Eyes, and sorrow of Mind. I have de∣serv'd, that my Life should hang in doubt before me, that I should fear day and night, that, in the Morning I should say, Would God it were Even, and at Even, Would God it were Morning. Mercy, Lord, I have deserved none. The Crums that fall from thy Table, are Blessings too good for me; if I deserve any thing, it is thy Rod, thy Scourges, thy Waves, thy Billows, and a horrible Tempest. To condemn, is the proper act of a Judge, and he that thus condemns him∣self, judges himself.

IV. The third act of Judging our selves, is, to inflict Judgments upon our selves. By which, I do not mean maiming or wounding our selves, or cutting off an Arm, or a Leg, or whipping our selves, but inflicting such Judgments on our selves for the Sins we have been guil∣ty of, and so often fallen into, as are neither hurtful to the Body, nor unprofitable, nor prejudicial to the Soul,

but serve rather to bring the Soul into an excellent tem∣per. These Judgments, though the design of them is to meliorate the Soul, yet they are in a great mea∣sure to be inflicted on the Body, because the Body tempts the Soul to great extravagancies, and by present∣ing a thousand pleasant Objects to her, leads her into Nets, and Snares, and Dangers. The Judgment there∣fore must be laid upon that part, which is the tempter, and that being under restraint, the Soul may more free∣ly move toward her Center, God blessed for evermore. It's true, naturally, no Man hates his own Flesh, but cherishes it, and makes much of it; but Grace, and the Gospel, teaches us to treat it with greater rigour. To be too fond of the Body, in St. Bernard's sense, is a Charity which destroys Charity, a Mercy which is full of Cruelty, for this is to serve the Body, in order to kill the Soul; Is this Charity, saith he, to tender the Body and to neglect the Soul? To caress the Handmaid, and to let the Mistress starve? Let no Man think, that for being thus merciful, he will ever ob∣tain mercy. So that the Flesh and Body are to be treat∣ed as a wild or unruly Horse, if we curb him not, he will give us a fall. Our Bodies are greater Enemies than we are aware; they are friends too, but the hurt they do too often to our Souls, shews, they are greater Enemies than Friends, and therefore the Fathers do so often call the Flesh, the Grave of the Soul; a Prison, where we are held Captive; and a Dungeon, where we sit in Darkness. The Platonists used to say, that our Souls, deriving their Original from Heaven, are sent into this World to shew forth the Praises of God here on Earth, as the Angels do in Heaven: but the Body, the Soul is in, is a kind of Inchanted Castle, in which the Soul, through the flatteries of the Flesh, forgetting too often her nobler Extraction, is diverted from her glorious Designs, and debased to vile Employs: And to this purpose, Seneca, That the Body is the weight and punishment of the Soul, lying heavy upon it ready to link it, and putting Shackles upon her, if Philosophy do not make a Reformation. The Body therefore, be¦ing

such a treacherous Servant, must feel the effects of our Justice, as it hath been the great instrument of the Sins we have committed, that it may be more modest in its Desires. And accordingly we find, that good Men in all Ages, when they have sate as Judges upon themselves, to shew their detestation of the Sins they have been guilty of, have inflicted Judgments on that part, which is most sensible of any thing that is uneasie, not out of any ill will to it, for it is God's Creature, but to preserve both Body and Soul unto Salvation. So David punish'd himself for his Sins, sometimes by ming∣ling his Drink with Weeping, Psal. 102. 9. Sometimes by making Sackcloth his Garment, Psal. 69. 11. Sometimes by weakening his Knees with Fasting and Prayer, Psal. 109. 24. Sometimes by making his Bed swim with Tears, Psal. 6. 6. Sometimes by great acts of Self-denial, as overcom∣ing Shimei's Malice with Patience and Meekness, 2 Sam. 16. 10. And delivering him, that without cause was his Ene∣my, Psal. 7. 4. And keeping Fasts and Humiliation Days, for the recovery of those that were his Enemies, Psal. 35. 13. Sometimes by lying all Night upon the Earth, or Floor, 2 Sam. 12. 16. Sometimes by rising at Midnight to praise God, Psal. 119. 61. So the Penitent Publican punish'd himself by a violent smiting his Breast, Luke 16. 13. So Mary Magdalen punished her self, by washing the Feet of the Lord Jesus with her Tears, and wiping them with the Hair of her Head, Luke 7. 37. So Zacheus punish'd him∣self, by giving the halfe of his Goods to the Poor, and by fourfold Restitution, Luke 19. 7. So St. Paul punished himself, by keeping under his Body, and bringing it into sub∣jection, 1 Cor. 9. 27. By making himself a Servant to all, that he might gain the more, 1 Cor. 9. 19. By labouring Day and Night that he might not be chargeable to the Church, 1 Thess. 2. 9. By denying himself in Marriage, 1 Co. 9. 5. So Daniel punished himself for his own and his People's Offences, three Weeks together, by eating no pleasant Bread, by avoiding Flesh and Wine, and forbearing to anoint himself, Dan. 10. 2, 3. So the Primitive believers punish∣ed themselves by various Self-denials in the Pleasures,

Satisfactions, and Recreations of the Flesh, and of the World, thereby to express their Anger, either against Sin in general, or against some particular Sins they had run into. But the most usual Judgment that good Men have ever inflicted on themselves, as a Testimony of their Displeasure against themselves, for offending God, hath been Fasting and Prayer, or chastening their Flesh by frequent Fasts spent in deprecations of God's Judg∣ments, and in other exercises of Humiliation, and when Men have said to them, Why are you so cruel, as not to spare your Flesh? They have answered, We spare, or use it, as we do the Earth, which we plough and cut with Coulters, that it may bring forth more Fruit.

V. This judging our selves in all its acts, is certainly very pleasing to God, especially before we come to the Holy Communion, else St. Paul would never have told us, in the passage mentioned in the beginning of this Chapter, that, by doing so, we do put a stop to God's judging of us. So that we have reason to believe, that God, upon our accusing our selves, or humble Confes∣sions, stops the mouth of the Accuser of our Brethren, which is open against us; who this is, we may learn from Rev. 12. 10. even the Devil, who brings severe Accusations against us before God night and day; and as he wants neither Wit nor Malice to do it, so we have an instance of it in the History of Job, Chap. 1. Ver. 9. Where appearing among the Sons of God, whether wrapt up in a dark Cloud, or in the form of an Angel of Light, is not said, but among the Angels, that gave an account of their Negotiations here on Earth, to God, he appear'd; and as those Ministring Spirits were com∣mending Job for his exemplary Virtue, so he, displeased at the fair Character, immediately seeks to blast and sully it, by aspersions and misconstructions; and thus, we must suppose he deals with other persons that have the same inclinations to Virtue, for those Examples are re∣corded in Scripture, not only to tell us what happened just at such a time, but what will happen in future Ages,

under the same Circumstances. And therefore, though our actions be never so innocent, nay, though our good Works be never so sincere, yet they shall not want his false Glosses, and Comments, and Misconstructions; and where our Actions are ill, we must expect, he will ag∣gravate them, make them worse, and blacken them, to an high degree. But where the Penitent says all the ill he can of himself, gives as bad a description in a manner of himself, as the Enemy can do; prostrates himself before God, grants all that is brought against him by the De∣vil, with any colour of Truth, is so for far from palliating his Follies, that he unfolds and lays them open before God, and makes as full a Narrative of them as he can, pleads guilty to all that is laid at his door. This inge∣nuous accusation or confession, dashes the Devil's at∣tempts, and at the sight of it, the Bowels of Almighty Mercy yearn and melt, and the Enemy is bid to spare his pains; and the Accusations that drop from the Pe∣nitent's Mouth, are much sweeter in the ears of God, than those, which the base Foe brings forth from an en∣vious and malicious Breast. This self-accusation, in the Penitent, is pleasing Rhetorick in Heaven; God hears the humble Orator, is delighted with his sincerity, and charges the Enemy to hold his Peace. And as this self-accusation renders the accusations of the Devil against us ineffectual, so our condemning our selves blots out the Hand-writing that is against us, and makes void the sentence of Condemnation our Sins have deserv'd, and this is to conform to God's Justice, as well as to his Pre∣cepts; God looks upon our Sins, as having deserv'd un∣quenchable Fire; and, by his Conscience, tells the Sin∣ner, Thou art an Heir of Damnation, and a Child of Wrath; and where the Sinner eccho's the Thunder of God, and answers in the same Voice and Language of Condemnation, is both sensible, and owns, that he hath deserv'd the Punishment that Rebels do; this makes ad∣mirable Musick in Heaven, Musick so delightful, that God changes the voice of Terror into a still one, and the Accents of Wrath into softer strains of Mercy. In this

Self-condemnation, if it be hearty, God hath his end; for when he threatned the Sinner with Condemnation, it was to oblige him to condemn himself; the End be∣ing gain'd, God's Condemnation ceaseth, and, as it was at Athens, a free and ingenuous confession of a fault sa∣ved the Malefactor's Life; so this condemning our selves and throwing a black Stone into the Box against our selves, renders God so favourable, as to let us draw out a white one, the sign of a gracious Absolution; our ad∣judging our selves to the everlasting Prison, frees us from it, and our sentence against our selves, makes so great an alteration in God's Sentence against us, that Justice gives place to Mercy, the Judge descends from the Tri∣bunal, gives us his hand, and talks of nothing less, than gathering us with everlasting kindness. The same must be affirmed of inflicting Judgments upon our selves. It is of that power, that even the Temporal Judgments, which were design'd against us, are either with-held, or remov'd upon it; or if not all, yet such as would have been most afflictive and painful, and most durable; in doing so, we do that which God would have done, and doing it voluntarily, and of our own accord, we escape the Judgment of God: For God having a mind to stop us in our sinful career, intended to deprive us of our ease, either by Sickness, or by Losses, or some other trouble and disaster; and since we voluntarily de∣prive our selves of our ease and quiet, and sensual satis∣faction and repose, by inflicting something that's irk∣some to Flesh and Blood upon our selves, God looks, as it were, upon his Judgment, as needless, and super∣sedes it. The King of Israel 1 King. 21. 27. makes but an external shew of afflicting himself, and he got the fear∣ful Judgment threatned him by Elijah, transferr'd from himself to his wicked Posterity; what then may we think of these Acts of vindictive Justice upon our selves, if the Heart joyn with the outward Man, and the Soul bear her share in the Mortification, as well as the Body. How the Pagan King of Niniveh, his Nobles, and his People, punish'd themselves for their sins, is graphically

described, Jon. 3. 6, 7, 8, 9. And what follows, v. 10. God saw their Works, that they turned from their evil ways, and God repented of the Evil he said he would do unto them, and did it not.

VI. That which renders this judging our selves so ac∣ceptable to God, next to the merits of our ever blessed Jesus, with whom alone God is well pleased, and for whose sake it is, that he is kind and favourable to us, as to any thing we do: That which, next to this, renders this accusing, condemning, and inflicting Judgments up∣on our selves, so acceptable to God, are,

1. The Humility that appears in it. That's the plea∣sing sight, and the glorious thing, which the high and lofty One delights in. That's the Flower God loves to smell to, the beautiful Garment he loves to see the King's Daughter in, the sweet Frame he hath made so many gracious Declartions to: He sees the Soul abominating her self for her Abominations; an huge sense of her own vileness over speads all that is within her. He be∣holds, what lowly thoughts the penitent Creature hath of himself, and how despicable he is in his own Eyes, and what strong apprehensions he hath of God's Great∣ness, and his own vileness; That attracts the Divine Fa∣vour, that inclines and draws that Sovereign Benevolence, that, in a manner, compels the Almighty into thoughts of Peace toward him. This Humility is the Image of his own Son, and with that Face he is ever pleased. The Soul having no opinion of her self, God conceives the greater of her. The Waters of Heaven stay not up∣on the tops of Mountains, but roll down into the hum∣ble Valleys, there the Rain gathers, and causes Fertility, and a nobler Verdure.

2. There appears in this judging our selves, a willing∣ness to do any thing to be reconciled to God, and that's another thing, which very much takes with the Father of the Spirits of all Flesh; He that accuses, condemns,

and inflicts Judgments upon himself, discovers a long∣ing desire to be receiv'd into God's Favour upon any terms, and shews, That he cares not whatever it cost him, so he may be but so happy, as to enjoy that Sun∣shine. His great concern is, how he shall be pardon'd for what's past; as for the future, he will make no bar∣gains with his God, but is content to hear his Voice in all things that he shall say unto him. He is willing to run upon what errand soever God shall think fit to send him? willing to be advised, counselled, and directed by him; willing to forego all Interests, so he may but have one in his love, and kinder smiles, and may have leave to call him Father, and to look upon him as his God, as his Lord, and as his reconciled Father; and this wil∣lingness is the Plant, God loves to water with Celestial Dew. Indeed it is a Plant of his own planting, and an effect of his writing his Law in the inward Parts, and upon that, it follows, I will forgive their iniquity, and re∣member their Sins no more, Jer. 31. 33, 34. But this doth properly belong to the fourth preparatory Duty, which is Self-resignation, whereof more in the following Chap∣ter.

The Preceding Considerations reduced to far∣ther Practice.

I. COnfession of Sins is no such trivial, slight and easie thing, as Men commonly make of it. The Confession, that a great many Men make to God, in Publick especially, while their Thoughts are wandring, their Eyes staring upon sensual Objects, their Souls feel∣ing no compunction, no remorse, no grief, and their minds without any lively apprehension of God's Holi∣ness, and their own Vileness; such Confessions, instead of obtaining God's pardon and forgiveness, are prepara∣tives and attractives of his Indignation. Alas! Sinner, that's no Confession, where thy Lips only speak thy

Sorrow and Offences, and thy Heart still goes after Co∣vetousness. In this case, thou dost but speak into the Air whilst thou confessest not with shame, and confu∣sion of Face, and with purposes strong and Masculine, strong as Mount Sion, to offend thy God wilfully no more; such Confessions reach not the Throne of Grace and Mercy, but, like Smoke, are dispers'd in the ascent, and cause no delight, but in the powers of Darkness, who are glad to see thee play with Religion, and jest with Devotion.

II. It is a certain Rule, where Men are loth to for∣sake their Sins, they will be loth to confess them too. There are divers Actions of Human Life, which being ve∣ry pleasing to the Flesh, and suited to the humour of the Age, and such as preserve our Credit and Reputation with Men, which we overlook, take to be no Sins, in∣deed are loth to be depriv'd of them, and therefore, do not so much as mention them in our Confessions. Search thy Heart, Christian, and take a serious view of thy Dress, thy Habit, thy Looks, thy Behaviour, thy Speeches, and thy Conversation, and see, whether thou hast not reason to suspect many things, of being contra∣ry to the stricter Rules of the Gospel, yet thou art loth to know them, loth to own them, loth to confess them, as Sins, and all because thou hast no mind to part with them. Thy wanton looks and glances; thy lascivious gestures, and postures, and dresses; thy striving for pla∣ces, and discontent at other Men's omitting to give thee the Honour thou fanciest to be due to thee; thy despi∣sing and scorning thy Neighbour in thy Heart; thy touchiness at Trifles; thy secret Injustice; thy careless and unprofitable Talk; thy gaudy Attire, which feeds thy Pride; thy delight in imitating the looser and more wanton sort of People; thy mispending thy Time in dangerous Sights and Recreations; thy neglect of read∣ing the Word, and praying with thy Family; thy ea∣sie exceptions at thy Neighbour's Actions; thy wilful mis∣constructions of Men's words; thy hidden things of disho∣nesty;

thy doing evil, that good may come out of it; thy extenuations of Sin, thy putting favourable names upon what thou art loth to leave, &c. What Man of sense, and who reads the Word of God, but must suspect, that these things, and such like, are disagreeable to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ? And yet, because thou wouldst fain preserve and keep all these, or some of these, or others, that are not unlike these, thou art wil∣lingly ignorant of their sinfulness, or wilfully forgettest them, or dost carelesly pass them by, and confessest on∣ly such Sins, as thou canst not well avoid acknowledg∣ing. Thou thinkest; if once thou confessest these things to be Sins, thou must be forc'd to leave them; for in∣deed, it is perfect impudence to tell God, that I sin against him in such things, and yet to go on in com∣mitting of them. And therefore, the only advice that can be given in this case, is this, Look upon Heaven as worth doing any thing to gain it, and thou wilt not be afraid, either of knowing thy particular Sins, or of con∣fessing of them, or of bending the force and powers of thy Soul against their insinuations.

III. We may easily guess at the reason, why a carnal Man wonders at the stir, a Penitent keeps to be recon∣ciled to God; He sees not, he knows not, what Poison there is in Sin. A Person, who never troubled his Head much about Religion, seeing a Man or Woman take on for their Offences, accuse themselves, condemn them∣selves, and inflict Judgments of Fasting, of Mortifica∣tion, and of Self-denial, upon themselves, no doubt, will admire what ails the Fool to keep such a whining and howling, and put himself to such needless troubles to recover the favour of God, which, he fancies, is to be had at as easie a rate, as Children's Smiles, and Infants Tears. Indeed, if the love of God may be had with a wish, and a Man could no sooner send for it, but have it; or were it a thing we could command to attend us at a minute's warning, prostrations and lyings on the Ground, and Sackcloth, and Alms-giving in larger pro∣portions,

and all the rigorous Ceremonies of Repen∣tance, would be Phantastical, and a mere distemper of the Brain; but when the Men, whom God favoured much, vouchsafed his Inspirations to, and who conver∣sed with the fountain of Wisdom, with him, that is the Way and the Life, did all this, and much more, and re∣commended the same Acts of Mortification to their Suc∣cessors, and God himself expresses the welcome Dress of Repentance, as to the External part, in such things as these, Jer. 6. 26. Jer. 7. 29. There we must give Men leave to laugh, to wonder, and to think us distem∣per'd for doing so. Stange! Men should not see the ne∣cessity of denying their Bodies in that ease and latitude, they are so apt to take, in order to a better Life, when is evident, that the Flesh, in the Circumstances it is un∣der naturally, is in a continual fermentation of evil de∣sires, and covets altogether sensual satisfactions, with∣out considering, whether they are agreeable to Reason, or no; and, like Salomon's Horse-leech, cries still, Give, Give; And if a Man give his Eyes, or Taste, the plea∣sure they desire to day, to morrow they shall still crave more; so that if a severe Mortification do not stop, and cast them off, especially if he intends to be saved, he will continue a carnal Man to his dying day. It hath been the practice of all the Primitive Saints, to inflict seasonable Judgments on themselves; not one, but the greatest part, have taken that way, and the reason is clear, for we must become Saints by the Spirit of the Cross, which is evidently a Spirit of Mortification both of Soul and Body; The design of Holiness is to make us conformable to the temper of our Saviour; and if his Spirit be in us, we shall be desirous to dye to the World, and have great inclinations to suffer with him; and this is not to be done, but by bridling both Soul and Body, through a severe Mortification.

IV. In inflicting Judgments upon our selves, the Word of God must be our guide. He that should use all the Mortifications he meets with in Ecclesiastical Hi∣story,

especially in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries after Christ, might run himself into great Errors and Incon∣veniencies. The Scripture is ever the safest Rule, which, when Men have forsaken, and thought to do more than is commanded, or recommended by Examples in that Book, they have been often lest exposed to great Temp∣tations. He that follows an Example of Penitential ri∣gor, recorded in Scripture, though some imprudence may mingle with the imitation, yet it is an error of the Right Hand. There have been excesses of Devotion in all Ages, and even good Men have sometimes run be∣yond the bounds prescribed them by Almighty God, into superstition, especially in things relating to volun∣tary affliction of the Body; and from hence have grown those abuses in Popery, where Penances have swallow'd the measures of substantial Piety, and Men's inflicting of Judgment upon themselves, hath been a means to make them neglect Faith, Judgment, and Mercy. This shews the necessity of keeping close to the Rule of Scrip∣ture, which, besides the Precepts, hath thought fit to Record such Examles, as are sufficient to instruct us both in the nature of Repentance, and the Rigors that in some cases are to bear it company. It's certain, that in some persons, strong habits of Sin will not be dissol∣ved or broke, but by Corrosives, and violent Remedies, and where a Man sees, that the corruption, which cleaves to him, baffles all softer Applications, he must needs save himself, from being undone, by lancing the wound; Maimonides, the learned Jew, in his Rules of Ethicks,* 1.1 gives this advice to his Disciples, that would arrive to any considerable degree in vir∣tue. He, saith he, that hath been guilty of one ex∣treme, i. e. He that finds an habit of a certain sin in himself; to become good, must, at first at least, run into the opposite extreme of the Virtue, which is its contrary, till he be qualified to walk in the middle way without danger; i. e. He that finds himself very cholerick and passionate, to arrive to an habit of meekness, must at first run into an ex∣cess of meekness, and be patient, and silent, and contented,

even under injuries and actions, that, in some measure, de∣serve his anger, and continue thus for some time, till his Soul be quieted like a weaned Child, and then he may abate of that excess, and use his meekness with greater discretion; so he that hath been proud, to mortifie that ill habit, or extreme, must apply himself to the other, and be humble, even to con∣tempt and reproach, so long, till his stubborn affection be subdued, and then he may use his humility with greater mo∣deration. We see, by this, that Jews as well as Christi∣ans, are sensible, that, without a rigor and severe Di∣scipline, there is no arriving to any height of Goodness, and Religion; yet as this inflicting Judgments upon our selves, is a thing of great use in the weighty Work of true Repentance, and in the support of a serious Life; so care must be taken, that all opinion of Merit be laid aside in the practice of it, for if such a Worm get into the Timber of the Sanctuary, it soon rots it; nor must we think, that after we have exercised such Acts of Ju∣stice upon our selves, for the Sins we have committed, we may, upon the credit of it, take fresh liberty to of∣fend God. The design of it, is, to mortifie our Appe∣tite to Sin, an therefore, must not prove fewel of that Fire. To this must be added Discretion and Moderati∣on in the management of these Acts of Justice, and, as by inflicting upon our selves the Discipline of Fasting and Humiliation before the Holy Sacrament, not a few Christians find much Comfort, if their Bodies be able to bear it; so in times of Sickness, or bodily Weakness, this inflicting of Judgment on our selves, becomes use∣less and unnecessary, for, in these cases, God inflicts Judgments, and therefore we need not: All we have to do at such times, is, to kiss the Rod, and to bear God's gentle Corrections, as things we have both de∣serv'd, and are intended for the renewing of our in∣ward Man. Our English Histories tell us of two Men, in the time of Popery, one, who, upon his Death-bed, when the Priest came to him with the Holy Sacrament, would be dragg'd like a Traitor out of his Bed,* 1.2 to the place where the Priesthood;

and another, who, hearing the Bishop was come to Administer the Sacament to him, would needs crawl out of his Bed half naked, with an Halter about his Neck to receive it: But as I know not, what Motives or Impulses they might have for these Actions, so I am loth to judge, whether they did ill, or not.

The PRAYER.

MY Lord, and my God! my Shepherd, my Master, my Helper, and the Lifter up of my Head, my Light, my Way, my Wisdom, my Righteousness, my Sanctification, my Redemption! O, how I could be revenged on those Madnesses, Follies, Vanities, I have been guilty of! I do not only confess them unto thee, O thou searcher of all Hearts! but I could even bruise, and wound, and tear my self, for being so basely, and so monstrously ungrateful to the best of Masters, if that were a Sacrifice pleasing unto thee! How stupid, how sensless have I been! How averse from that, which is my greatest inte∣rest! Ah! how like a blind Creature have I groped in the dark, and thought my self secure and safe, while I have stood upon the brink of destruction! How bold and daring have I been, and what pains have I taken for Pleasures and Recre∣ations, which, besides the unreasonableness, and transitoriness, and inconstancy of them, could not be expiated neither, O dear∣est Saviour, but by thy Blood and Death! O, how heavy, how dreadful, must my Sins be, that require so costly a satis∣faction! O Eternal Father, To see what thou hast done for my Salvation, To see how, for my sake, thy Son, thine only Son, is in a manner left destitute, without Help, without Assist∣ance, without Comfort, what can I think but that in some respect thou didst love me more than him? That I might rejoyce, he must be sorrowful to a Prodigy; that I might be healed, he must be wounded; that I may be cleansed, he must spill his precious Blood! O, how faithful art thou to forlorn

Man! Thou hast piomised to restore him, and behold, Thou givest the richest Treasure of Heaven to effect it. Ah! how can I see my dear Redeemer weep, and not weep my self! He grieves not for his own Sins, but for mine; he bewails not his own faults, but my Transgressions; he never sinn'd, but I am he that hath offended thee a thousand times! I beseech thee, accept of the Oblation of thy dear Son, and blot out all my Transgressions! Accept of that incomparable Sacrifice, and forget the Injuries I have offered thee! I should be afraid of being sent away empty from thy Throne, (my Sins are so many and so great) but that I know thy Sons Merits are great∣er than my Sins! If my Sins and his Goodness, my Trans∣gressions and the Merits of his bitter Passion, were laid in a Ballance together, these would weigh for heavier than mine Offences! What Crime so great, that such a Sorrow, such Af∣fliction, such Obedience, such Humility, such invincible Pati∣ence, and, what is more than all this, such infinite Love, can∣not expiate? What Iniquity can there be in the World, above which the Death of Christ doth not preponderate! O Heaven∣ly Father! I have nothing of mine own to offer thee! But I offer thee my Saviour, my Redeemer, thine only Son, with all possible Devotion and Gratitude! Accept of his unspeakable Grief and Anguish, known only to him, and to thy self, for my Sins, and that Grief I should have, and do not feel! Ac∣cept of his bloody Sweat and Tears, for want of my Tears! Accept of his most fervent Prayers, for my dulness and dead∣ness in Prayer! Accept of all that ever he did, and suffer'd, for my great and multiplied Transgressions! I accuse my self for my Carnality, I condemn my self for my backwardness to serve thee, I am willing to inflict Judgments upon my self for my innumerable Follies, yet even these Services will look dull, and weak, and imperfect, except thou art pleased to look upon them, through the Merits of thy dear Son! O blessed Jesu, who can comprehend thy Charity! O, pour into my Heart true Contrition, soften my harden'd Heart into true Compunction, give to mine Eyes abundance of Tears, that I may bewail the many Indignities I have offered to thee! Deal not with me af∣ter my Sins. Let thy bitter Passion step in betwixt thy Fa∣ther's Anger, and my miserable Soul! And whatever mine

Iniquities have deserv'd, let thy Death atone for them, and let thy Blood wash them away! O thou, who hast overcome the World, and the Prince thereof, overcome all my rebellious and inordinate Affections! Let nothing separate betwixt thy Love and me! Remove, and conquer, that Disagreebleness, that is betwixt my Nature, and thy Holiness; and as thou wast obedient to thy Father, even to the Death of the Cross, so make my Soul obedient to thee in all thing! O let me see, and feel, that there is nothing so vile, so abject, so unwor∣thy, as I am; and, in this sense, let me admire thy Love, that it may appear great and wonderful to me, and dash all those Excuses and Delays, I have pretended too long, to cloak my unwillingness to please thee; What can melt my heart, if thy Love cannot melt it? O melt it by that Fire, and purge away all my Dross, and all my Tin, that, being purified by thee, I may enjoy the Comforts of that Purity for ever. Amen, Amen.

Notes

• * 1.1

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.2

  Willam de Raley, and Wil. Longspe.