The Authors advice.

THis Covenant I advise you to make, not onely in heart, but in word; not onely in word, but in writing; and that you would with possible reverence spread the wri∣ting before the Lord, as if you would present it to him as your Act and Deed. And when you have done this, set your hand to it▪ Keep it as a memorial of the solemn transactions that have passed between God and you, that you may have recourse to it in doubts and temptations.

And now Beloved, having shewed you the way the Father, give me leave to be instant with you, in pressing you to hearken to me herein, to come and joyn your selves thus to the Lord. And if you will not be perswaded to this solemn and express way of Covenanting with him, which I believe you will find a great advantage, and do therefore make it my great request unto you) yet, if you will not do that, take heed you refuse not to engage your hearts to the Lord, and make a full closure with Christ, upon all the particular terms laid before you, till that be done, I must be bold to tell you again▪ as I have told you already, that you are short of Christianity, stran∣gers from the Covenant of Promise, and Aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel.

Page  210 Brethren, the Lord God hath sent me amongst you upon the same E••and, as Abraham sent his ser∣vant, Gen. 24. To take a wife for his Son, to espouse you to Christ: I am not without •ear, as that servant was not, that some of you will not follow me; but if the Lord see it good to send his Angel before me, to make my way prosperous, if the Lord give me success in this great thing, that I may thus bring you into Covenant with him, I shall therein have performed the main part of my Ministerial work among you, I shall have espoused you to Christ, ma•∣ried you to that one Husband; I shall have brought you within the strait gate, and set your foot safe in∣to that narrow way that leads to life, and have laid the foundation of your following the Lord in ho∣liness and comfort here, and of living with him in blessedness for ever. For,

1 When once you are sincerely in Covenant, from thenceforth you have a God that you may call your own, to whom you may have free access, with whom you may be sure to find grace, to help in all times of need. How blessed is his condition, who is able to say, I have no fri••• in the world, but I have a God in Heaven; I have many enemies, but I have a God; I have no house, nor money, nor lands, but I have a God; I have troubles, I have sins that are a daily torment and vexation to me, but I have a God, a God to feed me, a God to suc∣cour me, God to shelter me, a God to pardon me, a God to sanct•fie me, to •ave me.

2 From the time of this your Covenant Uni∣on with Christ, you have the blessing of communi∣on with him.

〈◊〉 Whatsoever is Christs, is now become Page  211 yours; the husband gives the wife leave to set he• name on all his goods, and all that Christ hath, you may now write your name upon it, & say bold∣ly, All this is mine; his prayers, his tears, his obe∣dience, his blood, his spirit, all are mine, because he is mine.

2. Whatsoever is yours, is his; your sufferings, your sins your debts, your wants are all upon your husband. Christ says to you, as the old man, Judg. 19. 20. to the Levite, Let all thy wants be on me; and so all thy debts and straits, and fears, and troubles, let them all be on me.

3 Christ and you shall have your lot together; God deals with Christ and a Believer, as one and the same party who must be absolved and condemned, stand or fall, live or die together. In Christs be∣ing justified, your justification is secured; in Christs Resurrection, your Resurrection; in Christs Glori∣fication, your Glorification is secured for ever; Be∣cause I live, ye shall live also. This is the portion, this is the Inheritance of all Gods Covenanting-Servants.

You that are yet in your sins, in your old Cove∣nant with Death, and agreement with Hell, Will you yet be perswaded by what hath been said, to say one to another, Come let us break these bonds asunder▪ and cast these cords from us; come let us go over to Christ▪ let us joyn our selves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant that never shall be forgotten,

You that are sincerely come within the bonds of this Covenant of the Lord; the Lord is henceforth become your God, Christ is henceforth become your Saviour, you have shot the Gulf; that good work is begun, which the Lord will perform to the Page  212 day of Christ; you are gotten within the gate, you are entred into the Path of Life.

2 In the next place therefore, I shall give some advice to the godly▪ or those that are already in Christ, whom I shall direct:

1 To a right performance of holy duties; these four duties especially, Prayer, holy Meditati∣on, Self-examination, and renewing their Co∣venant.

2 To a right improvement of holy Duties.

3 To the carrying on an holy course.

In all which, though I shall apply my self espe∣cially to those that are in Christ, yet I shall also give some farther helps to those that are yet out of Christ.

Before I shall enter upon the Directions for the right performance of holy Duties, it will not, I hope, be lost labour, if I prefix a word of encou∣ragement to duty, by laying before you the influen∣ces which holy duties will have upon the carrying on a holy life, which I shall dispatch in these four particulars.

1 Duties are the exercise of Grace. Grace out of exercise grows quickly out of case; Idleness breed• ill humours and diseases in the body, and no less in the soul; stirring keeps us warm and healthful. Now Duties are the stirrings and exercises of the soul. Reading of the word is not the exercise of the eye onely, but of the understanding; Prayer is not an exercise of the tongue onely, but of the heart; it sets all the faculties of the soul on work, it sets the several graces on work, i• sets faith on work, it sets hope and holy desires on work; and grace kept in action, will be by so much the more Page  213 active and powerful in the whole course▪

2 In Duties we have an intimate converse with God: Therefore they are sometimes called, Our drawing •igh to God, Lev. 10. 3. I will be sanctified in them them that come nigh me. Sometimes, Our meet∣ing with God, Amos 4. 12 Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel; to meet with a Present, as Jacob met his angry Brother; to meet him with a Prayer, and supplication, Exod. 25. 32. There will I meet thee; when the Saints go up to meet the Lord, the Lord comes down to give them a meeting: Sometimes, Our visiting of God, Isay 26. 16. In their trouble they have visited thee. When God visiteth his people with a Rod, they visit him with a Prayer; when we come to Duty as we ought, we put our selves under Gods eye, we set the Lord before our face, it's necessa∣ry to the right performance of Duties, that we have right and clear apprehensions of God, deep impressions of the Majesty of God, of his Omnipo∣tence, Omnipresence, Holiness, Goodness and Faithfulness upon our hearts; This is required in that forementioned expression, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me. Now what an influence will this have upon the upholding and carrying on the life of God in us, to have daily such a sight of God before our eyes, and such a sense of God upon our hearts.

3 In Duties we obtain new supplies, and fresh in∣fluences from God. The flourishing state of a Chri∣stian is set forth, Isay 58. 11. by a well-watered Gar∣den; and Jer. 31. 12. it is promised, They shall come and flow together to the goodness of the Lord for Wheat, and for Corn, and for Wine, and for Oyl. And their soul shall be as a well-watered Garden:

Page  214 Where observe these three things:

1 That the watering of the soul is from the goodness of the Lord; all the dews and showers of Grace are from above, our Springs do not rise in our own Gardrns: All my Springs are in thee.

2 All the influences of the grace and goodness of the Lord, are gotten down by your applying your selves to him in duty: That is the meaning of that expression, They shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, they shall assemble and come together to seek the Lord.

3 The People of God in their addresses to him in Duty, though it be but for a supply of things temporal, do get something for their souls; They shall come for Wheat, and for Wine, &c. And their (souls) shall be as a well-watered Garden. We never come to pray for any temporal mercy, and pray as we should, but our souls are gainers thereby. A Christian can∣not come near the Throne of Grace for any thing, bot his heart hath a share in the Blessing. And there are three Reasons for it.

1 A Christian never prays for temporal mercies, but he hath some words or other to speak for his soul.

2 Prayer, whatever it be for, is the souls draw∣ing nigh to God, and exercising it self on God: And the soul never goes to God, but it brings back something of God upon it, even then when it may be denied the temporal mercy it seeks: As when a Saint is praying for a Sinner, and God will not hear him for that Sinner, yet he loses not that Prayer, but hath it returned into his own bosome. So when the soul is praying for the concernments Page  215 of the outward man, though it be denied in its par∣ticular request, yet its prayer shall not be lost to it self.

3 Temporal mer•ies obtained as a return of prayer, are soul-blessings.

But now when the matter of our requests is parti∣cularly for our souls: When Grace is that we come for▪ when love, and life, and zeal, and spiritual strength, is that we come for: when the watering of a dry and barren, and the refreshing of a weary heart, is that we seek for, shall our souls then be sent b•rren, and weary, and empty away.

Our hearts are as Cisterns, which however some∣times they may be full of water, yet if there be not a supply from the Well, the waters and the Cistern will waste, and mud, and at length dry away, Duties are our labouring at the Pump, which will keep the Cisterns full Isa. 12. 3. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the W•lls of Salvation.

Christian, thou complainest thy heart is barr•n and dead, and dry, and fit for nothing: Why, is there not a Well by thee, where there is water e∣nough to refresh and fill thee? Why do•st thou no oftner let down thy Pitcher, or labour at the Pump, why art thou no oftner with thy God? Thy heart wants watering, get thee oftner to the Well: more praying, more fasting, more conversing with Christ, studying the Gospel, searching and suck∣ing the Promises, would quickly get thee into a better plight. He that is much with God, is rich in grace. Thou art not so much stra••ned, thou canst not be brought so poor, and Iean, and out of case, but thou knowest where there is enough to fetch thee up again, thou knowest where Page  216 there is a Well, that hath not onely water enough, healing water, but Wine, and Milk, and Honey e∣nough; but thou must go oftner for it. if thou wilt have the benefit of it; Go therefore, and let down thy Pitcher, and thou needest not fear its coming up empty. Onely in exercising thy self in duty, take heed thou mistake not the Pitcher for the Well; take heed thou fix not thine eye on duty, as if this were thy Christ, thy Fountain out of which thou mayest be supplyed. Duties are but the pipes, it is the Lord that is the Fountain from whence all the water comes.

4 Duties are our conflicting with corruption▪ or striving against sin. When ever we are striving with God, we are thereby striving against sin. Duty and sin contend for the Victory; whilest Duty holds up, sin goes down: when Duty flags, sin gets up. Holy Prayer will make us weary of i••quity; or our iniquity will quickly make such praying a wea∣riness unto us: it is not for the interest of the flesh to suffer the heart to be much in prayer, or other du•ies, and therefore we find for the whole Generation of carnal men, a little of it must serve their turn.

There is no such way for Christians to be re∣venged on sin, and to see their desires on this E∣nemy, as to bring it before the Lord. They never fight against it with greater zeal, or with more success, then upon their knees. When the sinner kneels in earnest before his God, his lusts must quickly kneel to him; our confession of sin, and laying it open before the Lord, our complaining to the Lord of it, our ••ying to the Lord against it, pressing him upon his Promise, upon his Cove∣nant Page  217 to help against it; these are the mightiest •at∣teries our souls can make, to the beating down its strong holds: When the Lord hears the groanings of his Israel, under their oppressing Egyptians, he will arise and relieve them. Christians tell one another, how sad it is with them, what woful work they have with a proud heart, or a covetous heart, or an hard heart, or an hypocritical heart; and you mry tell one another such stad stories long enough, and find little help: Goe tell thy God of thy sins, carry them be∣fore the Throne of Grace, make thy complaints a∣gainst them there, and there thou▪ wilt find compas∣sion and deliverance.

Now gather up these four particulars together, consider them well▪ and then you will see, you that intend holiness in earnest, wh•t great reason you have to set close in with Duties, and to accept of those Directions which shall now be tendered unto you.

The first sort of Directions are such as concern the right performance of the Duty of Prayer; the ad∣vice I shall give you touching this, take in these four particulars.

1. Bring your selves, and hold your selves to a fre∣quent and constant performance of this duty.

There must be performance, or there cannot •e a right performance: Those that pray not, or but seldome, is a shrewd signe that the root of the mat∣ter is not in them; they that can live without prayer are dead while they are alive: Prayer is the first fruits of Christianity: It was said of Saul, a• a token that he was a Convert, Behold he prayeth. The living Childe comes crying into the World▪ Page  218 and as it is a token of life, so it is a meanes by which this New Life is nourished. Prayer is a Christians Key to unlock the Store-houses and the Treasuries of Souls, he that can pray, God hath given him a Key to all his Treasuries. Prayer will not on∣ly unlock the Clouds as Elijahs prayer did, and bring down Rain to refresh the dry and parched Earth, but it will unlock Heaven too. It will un∣lock the Ark and the Mercy-seat, and get downe Spiritual blessinge on the Soul: Praying is a Chri∣stians knocking at the Gate of Heaven, that knock∣ing to which the promise is made, Matthew 7. 7. Knock and it shall be opened. The word which the Lord speakes to us is Gods knocking at our doores; Rev. 3. 20. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. And praying is our knocking at the Lords door, at the Gate of Heaven, that this may be opened. By the way learn, that if you will not hear God knock▪ it is just to hear not yours. If Gods voice may not be heard on Earth, your voice will not be heard in Heaven; fear not, you shall be heard, if you will hear; hear him that speaks to you from Heaven, and your cry shall enter into Heaven.

Our Soules will never thrive or flourish, unless the Rain and the Showers of Heavenly Grace de∣scend and fall upon them, and we cannot look that those Showers should come down, unless we look up.

Persons that pray not, may be written among the Heathens, Jer. 10. 25. Pour out thy fury upon the Heathen, and the Families that call not on thy Name. Among the Prophane ones of the Earth, who are de∣scribed by this Character, Psalm 42. 4. They call not upon God, they are altogether become filthy and abomi∣nable, Page  219 there is none that doth good, they call not u•∣on God.

Where Prayer is not, there is usually cursing and swearing, and every abomination; look upon the non-praying persons, look upon the non-praying fa∣milies among you, and see how little good there is to be found; see if they be not as so many dead and dry Trees, on which no Spiritual fruit appears, as so many dark holes, into which no Spiritual light doth ever shine, as so many filthy sinks, in which every vile thing lodges.

Beloved, I have often pressed this Duty on you, both personal secret Prayer, that there be not one per∣son found among you that prayes not; and Family joynt Prayer, that there be not one Family found a∣mong you, among whom God is not thus worship∣ped; I have often pressed this upon you, and given you particular helps and Directions about it, and have not been negligent to put you in remembrance of it, so that if there be prayerless persons or fami∣lies found among you, the guilt of it must lie at your own doors.

But will you yet hearken to me in this thing? Will you give your selves to prayer? No word that is spoken to you for the good of your Soules, will ever prosper with you, if this Word prosper not, it is in vain for me to perswade you to live a Godly life, if you will not be perswaded to live a praying life. Would you ever come to any thing, see then that this Exhortation doe not come to nothing, be ye therefore serious, Be yee therefore sober▪ and watch unto Prayer, 1 Pet. 4. 7. Be ye instant, be constant in Prayer; Set up your resolutions Page  220 and set your time; set your times, and keep your time; do not put off this Duty, by pretending you pray alwayes, every day, and every hour; as the pre∣tence of an every dayes Sabbath comes just to no Sabbath, so it is usually in the case of prayer, some Carnal wretches praying alwayes is •ot prayiug at all: Get thee into thy Closet, saith Christ, get thee a place, set thee a time, wherein thou sayest vacare De•, wherein thou mayest make it thy business to seek the Lord.

Brethren, I say again, if you will not suffer me to prevail with you in this thing, I may even spare my labour of speaking any other things to you, wherein I shall have no hope of success, if I speed not here: Some among you in some private Conferences I have had with you, have given me some good hopes of the work of grace begun upon your hearts: I have found that there hath been stil a neglect of daily prayer, this hath struck such a damp upon my spirit, as hath brought down those hopes to be even almost as low as nothing, and by experience I have found, that such persons, as upon advice and warning would not afterwards be brought to the constant exercise 〈◊〉 this duty, if they have retained any favour of Reli∣gion at all, have yet from year to year been at a stand, and not the least sign of any improvement hath been to be seen. If ever therefore you will hearken to me in any thing that I tender for your souls good, de∣ny me not in this, set upon the daily exercise of secret prayer; and if you be resolved on the per∣formance, I shall then be encouraged in the next place to help you on in the right performance. Therefore.