Family devotions for Sunday evenings, throughout the year being practical discourses, with suitable prayers / by Theophilus Dorrington.

THE UNPROFITABLENESS OF SIN demonstrated.

Let us Pray. PRevent us, O Lord, in all our doings with thy most gracious favour, and further us with thy continual help, that in all our works begun, continued and ended in thee, we may glorify thy Holy Name, and finally by thy Mercy obtain Everlasting Life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prov. 22. 8. He that soweth Iniquity shall reap Vanity.

THough the Holy Scripture has told us of our Adversary the Devil, that he is a Liar from the Beginning, and the sad Experience of Mankind has found him so, yet has he the Art to impose upon us still, and we

are so foolish as to credit his Suggestions: By the very same Cheat and Delusion with which he drew our first Mother into Sin, does he draw and perswade her foolish Posterity also to the Commission of it. He made her believe it would be of great Advantage to eat the for∣bidden Fruit, that this would mightily improve their Condition, and make them more Excel∣lent and more Happy: God doth know (said he) That in the Day ye eat thereof your Eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Gods, know∣ing Good and Evil. Thus did the Serpent be∣guile her, She took of the Fruit and did eat and gave it to her Husband and tempted him to eat too: But this instead of advancing their Condition sadly impair'd it; immediately were these our Parents driven out of Paradise, they became subject to Sorrow, and Misery, and Shame and Death; and were despoil'd of their greatest Glory, the Image of God in their Souls: Thus instead of becoming more excellent and happy, they render'd themselves and all their Posterity exceeding miserable and vile.

But hereby has our Adversary learnt what sort of Suggestion is very apt to prevail with Mankind; he has found we are ready to receive and follow that which seems kind to us, we love to be flatter'd in our Inclinations, and to have those things said to us which may perswade us to allow and gratifie them, and we listen to that which promises great Advantages. There∣fore he tells Men they need not fear to be wicked, there is not so much ill in it as some Man out of design would perswade them: He

tells them it is the only chearfull and pleasant course of life to follow their inclinations; that 'tis the only profitable and advantageous course and the way to do themselves most good, to conform to the common Sins, to run with the Multitude to do evil; to follow the same ill ways that some are seen to raise their Fortunes by: He tells us, and we too commonly believe him, that in breaking the Commands of God there is great Reward.

To antidote and fortifie our selves against this delusive Suggestion of the Father of Lies, Let us observe what the Spirit of Truth tells us in the Text, and fix our Thoughts a-while upon it at present, that we may hereafter remember it to our Advantage. He says, He that soweth Iniquity shall reap Vanity. He that soweth Iniqui∣ty, that is, He that lives an ungodly and un∣righteous course of Life, he that does any thing that is ill: He shall reap Vanity, that is, he shall be wofully disappointed in his expectations of receiving any considerable, or real advantage thereby. That is said to be vain in Scripture which does not reach the purpose it was inten∣ded for; which disappoints and frustrates the hopes and expectations that are built upon it: So those Oblations are called vain which were not accepted with God: And the Idols of the Hea∣thens, which bore an appearance of what they were not in Reality and Truth, and were not able to help those that trusted in them, are for this reason call'd there Vanities. This then is the Import and Meaning of these Words spoken by Solomon: A course of Wickedness is very false and

deceitfull, it promises Men much perhaps, but performs little; and he who expects any real Advantage, any true Content and Happiness in such a course shall be miserably disappoint∣ed.

I think it not unnecessary to insist upon the Proof of this Truth, for 'tis what the World are not easily convinced of. Though we may see it verified in the Experiences of other men very often, yet we will not impute their ill Successes and Unhappiness to the Deserts and Nature of the Course they chuse, but we im∣pute them rather to some Indiscretion and Fol∣ly of those men in the Management of them∣selves which we purpose to avoid, and so we hope to reap those advantages from the same course of life which we see others cannot. Yea further it is very common, that men are not convinced of this Truth, though their own Experience might inform them: Though they have found an Emptiness and Vanity in a wicked and careless Life so far as they have tri∣ed it, yet they will be so foolish as to hope still for what they can never obtain; they will think there is some Content and Satisfaction beyond them, and on they go in this wrong way to pursue it. He that finds not this in one sort and train of Vices will hope to find it in ano∣ther: He that sees the Emptiness and Vanity of Voluptuousness and Pleasure, will, after that, think there is great Reward in Covetousness and Ambition, great Happiness in the Riches and Honours which he thinks to gain by them; and thus the delusion continues with many

men to the end of their days, and to their final and eternal vexation and disappoint∣ment. I shall therefore industriously prove this Truth; and then add some Application of it.

And we may be fully convinced of this, that He that soweth Iniquity shall reap Vanity, if we will consider well the following Particulars.

1. The Sinner does not always gain the things he pursues by his guilty Endeavours. An over∣ruling Providence governs all things, and brings to pass whatsoever the Universal and Sovereign Disposer pleases: And this Providence often blasts the Endeavours of wicked Men. The Lawless Voluptuary cannot always catch the guilty Pleasures he pursues: Every covetous man cannot be rich, nor does Ambition cer∣tainly rise to the Honour and Authority and Respect it aspires to. We may often see men giving themselves up to worldly pursuits and neglecting every thing else, and yet that they can with all this Application and Endeavour, gain but very little of this World: We may of∣ten see, that the very ways they take to ac∣complish their Desires, as seeming to them the most likely to do so, do tend to frustrate them. The Wise Man expresses this in the Instance of Covetousness, Prov. 11. 24. There is that scat∣tereth and yet encreaseth (says he) And there is that with-holdeth more than is meet, and it tend∣eth to poverty. A man may liberally bestow all that is due to Justice and Charity, and Gene∣rosity,

and yet increase; and another may think to grow rich by fordid saving, by with∣holding his Neighbours due, by crafty and frau∣dulent Bargains, by refraining from Acts of Charity and Generosity, and yet notwithstand∣ing these thriving Tricks may be but poor. In this Respect is their Iniquity vain, that it does not always attain the things it seeks. And it must needs be, that the Wickedness of the World must sometimes meet with this sort of Disap∣pointment, since, as the Scripture tells us, The Curse of the Lord is in the House of the Wicked, Prov. 3. 33. If this be so, it shall work to the Sinners Vexation and Misery in one way or o∣ther, and it does this sometimes in this way.

Though 'tis also true, that God does many times give Men the things which they seek even by guilty Endeavours: He lets the wicked Vo∣luptuary accomplish his guilty Desires, and the Covetous or Ambitious person thrive in Wealth, and rise to Honours by ill Arts, there is many a Villany thus far prosperous in the World.

But then to make good still what our Text says, it may be added,

2. All that a Man can gain by Wickedness is of very little worth and goodness. The Fruits of Sin are very empty things. The Sinner gains but the Goods of this World, the Accommoda∣tions of this present Life. He at best enjoys but Creatures; and they have all their suffici∣ency from God, their greatest Goodness comes from his Blessing, and that the Sinner cannot

enjoy with them: They are like gaudy Clouds, but such as are empty and without Rain, they are as broken Cisterns that can hold no Water: The Sinner feeds on Husks like the wretched Prodigal. These things may please him much while they are new, but in a little time he has suckt out all the Sweetness of them, and they please no more; and like the Bee he often spoils the Flower which he sucks the Honey of his Pleasure from. How often may we see those Enjoyments after a little while loath'd and dis∣dain'd, which were sought with the most earnest Desires, which the Man was ready to do any thing to gain them, and which at first perhaps he thought he should take a great and a long delight in? What he thought would be a great Pleasure and Happiness, he after a little while finds to be an ungrateful Drudgery; and that which he expected would be the Comfort of his Life, proves the redious Burthen of it. Men commonly expect more from the things of this World than they are able to afford, and so are disappointed.

Besides; the Goodness and Usefulness of all that which is gotten by Wickedness, terminates in the Body of a Man; all the Rewards of Sin are but outward Goods: They may serve some∣times the Necessities and Conveniences of his Body, but are of no use to his Soul. And they cannot serve all the Necessities of his Body nei∣ther, so little goodness and worth is in them. A man's Wealth and great Estate cannot give him a strong Constitution, nor certainly pre∣serve him in Health, nor always purchase the

Recovery of it when 'tis lost; as by all our ta∣king Thought we cannot make one Hair white or black, nor add one Cubit to the Stature; Wealth cannot make the crooked body streight, nor the deformed beautiful: The Body may be pleased, but 'tis hurt too by guilty and intem∣perate Pleasures; they destroy the Appetites they please; they impair the Health and Strength, and wither the Beauty of the Body; they are usually closely attended with uneasie Loathings, and painful Diseases. Wealth and Honours cannot defend a man from a Pesti∣lential Air, nor possibly hinder, but that he shall be sometimes incommoded by extremities of Weather; they cannot purchase him a fair Day, nor a warm or cool one according as he has occasion. These cannot reprieve a man from the Grave, nor cure him of Mortality; the Rich as well as the Poor, the Honourable as well as the Mean must die, and go down to the place of Darkness and Contempt; They that trust in their Wealth, and boast themselves in the Multitude of their Riches (says the Psalmist) None of them can by any Means redeem his Bro∣ther, nor give to God a Ransome for him, that he should live for ever, and not see corruption, Psal. 49. 6, 7, 9.

Thus they are but some of our Necessities that the things of this World can serve, and they are only outward ones too, as well as not all them. And besides, as was said, These things are of no use to the Soul of Man which is his No∣blest part: His Soul is utterly neglected, and the Interest of that are forgotten and quitted, while

he in the ways of wickedness pursues and en∣joys the things of this World. The Mind can take no delight in guilty and forbidden Plea∣sures, it is never exercised in a serious Reflecti∣on upon them, but with Pain and Torment. This is the meaning of what Solomon says of them, Prov. 14. 13. In laughter the heart is said, and the end of that mirth is heaviness. And as it has no Pleasure in these, so much rather has it no profit or advantage from them: They in∣deed hurt and prejudice the Soul, they suppress and debase it, they engage its Thoughts and Powers in the Service of the Body, they make it a Slave and Drudge to its Inferiour, while it neglects and forgets its own true Interests and Pleasures; they hinder all honourable Im∣provements of the Mind, or the Exercises of such to our Honour and Comfort. A Man shall never become the wiser or the more useful, the more worthy and commendable, for a large and excessive Enjoyment of sensual Pleasures: His Mind shall not be the more steady or strong, or the more composed and easie for this; but on the contrary, he shall be the more weak and inconstant, disturbed and unquiet, and they will occasion in him a great deal of hurt∣full Folly and Passion.

And as little Profit or Benefit to the Soul can arise from the Wealth or Honours of this World. These cannot cure a shameful Vice, nor con∣ceal, but rather expose it; they cannot allay an uneasie turbulent Passion, but rather inflame such: They cannot heal any of the Distempers of the Mind, nor adorn it, and make it amia∣ble

in the sight of God. Riches profit not in the Day of Wrath: They cannot attone for the Sins which are committed in the getting them: He that sells his Soul for Wealth cannot ransome it again therewith: They are greatly mistaken when they think, that a few outward Acts of Charity at the End of their Lives will make amends for Covetousness and Extortion, Rapine and Fraud, practised through the whole course of them. The Sinner by all his La∣bour and Cares, gets no Interest in God the chiefest Good: Though he possesses vast heaps of Gold and Silver, he has no Treasure in Hea∣ven: Though he has Goods laid up (as he thinks) for many Years, yet has he made no Provision for a happy Eternity. He does not pursue, and therefore cannot gain, in his way, the chiefest and most important good things, the most necessary and the Eternal ones: He gains but some of the lowest and meanest Rank with the best Success of all his Endeavours. Very fitly then to this purpose does the Wise∣man say, The treasures of wickedness profit no∣thing, but righteousness delivers from death, Prov. 10. 2. It is as nothing, all the Benefit that we receive from them, in comparison to this great benefit which we want, and they are not able to bestow.

3. For further proof of our Text it may be added, that whatsoever Worth or Goodness there is in those things which men gain by wicked Practices, the Pleasures and Satisfacti∣on of it are mightily allay'd, and sometimes ut∣terly

spoilt by the usual Attendants of their Wickedness. It is truly said in Scripture, that Evil pursueth Sinners: And this it does so fatal∣ly and surely, that it commonly mars even their Portion in this Life, which is all the Por∣tion of Good that they enjoy. To this pur∣pose is that which Solomon says, Prov. 22. 17. Bread of deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth shall be filled with gravel. Some∣thing or other there shall usually be to spoil the Pleasure and Comfort of the Fruits of Wic∣kedness. I shall mention some such things which are also the usual Attendants of it.

(1.) The restless cravings of inordinate Lusts do often spoil the Pleasure and Satisfaction of such a man's Enjoyments. When he has what he sought, and it may be sold his Soul for, it does not satisfie but rather encreases, and inflames the desire it feeds. Vicious desire (and the Sinners is such an one) is usually boundless and unsatiable too: It does but encrease with gain∣ing the things that gratifie it, whether they be in Pleasures, or Profits, or Honours. Solomen says, He that loveth Silver shall not be satisfied with Silver, nor he that loveth Abundance with Encrease, Eccles. 5. 10. And with respect to sensual Pleasure, he says, the Eye is not satis∣fied with seeing, nor the Ear with hearing. An exorbitant and vitious Thirst is not quenched by the largest Draughts of Pleasures, though Natures just and moderate Desires may be. And the Case is the same with the ambitious Man; one Step of Honour makes him desirous

of another; and after the Addition of one Ci∣ty or Province to his Dominions he thirsts for more. Gather Gold (says one) heap up Sil∣ver, build stately Walks, fill the House with Slaves, the City with Clients, or Creditours; if you cannot compose the Affections of the Mind; if you cannot put an end to unsatiable Desire; if you cannot free your self from vex∣ing Cares and Fears; you but give Wine to one in a high Feaver, or Honey to one sick of the Jaundice: This gratification does but en∣crease the Disease, and then a man is a Slave to his Lust, and must toil with endless Labour to satisfie that which can never be satisfied: and his Enjoyment does not so much sweeten his Labour, as his Labour spoils his Enjoyment. This continual craving is like a continual Thirst or a raging Hunger: His desire of having more, often makes him even despise what he has al∣ready gain'd, though it be never so fit to con∣tent him: And he does in effect want what he has, while it cannot give him content, and rest: He wants not the less for all that he has gain'd, since his Desire and Lust encreases with his Ac∣quisitions: He hazards what he has to gain more sometimes, and it may be like the Dog in the Fable, loses it too. Thus is the Sinner hin∣der'd from the comfortable Enjoyment of what he gains by Wickedness.

(2.) This also comes to pass sometimes from the hatred and envy of the World, which he in∣curs by his wicked Practices. He that gets what he has by the wrong and abuse of his Neigh∣bours,

must needs incur their Hatred and En∣vy with it: If a mans Hand, like Ishmael's, be against every other man, that he may promote his own Advantage, then every other mans Hand will be against his. Wickedness naturally tends to disturb the peace of the World, but Justice and Goodness tend to promote and pre∣serve it. He that loves shall be lov'd, he that hates shall be hated, he that wrongs men will be ready to wrong him, and he that seeks no bodies Good but his own, no body will seek his Good.

Some render the words of our Text; He that soweth Iniquity shall reap Iniquity; which is the same thing with what our Saviour says, what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again. But thus is the Care and Anxiety of the Sinner encreased, which the mistaken man thought he should put an end to, by his gaining such and such things. Nemo autem sollicito bono fruitur, says the Moralist: This care and fear hinders the comfortable enjoyment. 'Tis through ma∣ny hazards and much difficulty and danger perhaps that he got what he has, and now he has not a safe or quiet possession of it. The Psal∣mist, speaking of the Prosperity of such men, says, they are set in slippery places, Psal. 37. 18. When the Sinner has goods laid up sufficient for many years, yet he cannot always say, Soul take thine ease, eat drink, and be merry, because he is al∣larm'd with fears of losing what he has and is troubled with the Uncertainty of his Condition. He is now perhaps in more care, and engag'd in greater toil and labour to keep, than it cost

him to get what he has: And thus is he further hindered from the comfortable enjoyment of it.

(3.) This very often comes to pass from the smart lashes of his own Conscience. His own Mind will not let him enjoy what he has with any comfort; while that is upbraiding and con∣demning him for base treachery and perfidious∣ness, or barbarous cruelty and oppression which he used in the getting it. That gives him great disturbance while it calls him fool and brute in the midst of his guilty Pleasures, and tells him how he hurts his Body, impairs his Estate, wrongs his Neighbour, offends God while he follows them. What pleasure can a man take in the applause of Flatterers, in the respect of Inferiors, while his Conscience tells him that God above hates and despises him, with the world of Holy Spirits he is odious and contemp∣tible. There can be no enjoyment of what a man has, while his Mind tells him 'tis all for∣feited by his Sins, he has it not with the favour of God but with his displeasure; that He whom he has offended in getting it, can take it away when he pleases, that he is therefore in conti∣nual danger of losing it all, he is always ob∣noxious to a divine Vengeance; If he can hope to defend himself from Men; he cannot hope to defend himself from God How unhappy must he be who considers that as he has heap∣ed up riches he has treasured wrath too: that this wrath shall be likely to course his Family, that they shall never have a comfortable en∣joyment

of what he has gathered for them, and that it shall lie heavy upon himself, at farthest when he comes to die, and must go to give an account for what he has done in the Flesh: As it is no profit to a man, so he shall have no comfort in the thoughts of it, if he would gain the whole world and lose his own Soul for it: And such Thoughts as these the guilty Consci∣ence will often afflict a man with. But the Stings and Rebukes of a guilty Conscience will make themselves incomparably more sensible than any sensual pleasures can be: for while these stroke and tickle the Senses and reach but to the Body, they pierce even to the Center of the Soul (as some Philosophers would speak) and fix themselves and dwell there.

(4.) This often comes to pass by the Just Judgment of God upon the Sinner. Here we may remember again what was said before, that the Curse of the Lord is in the House of the wicked. He in Judgment gives them up to the Temptations of the Devil, and to the Conduct of their own violent Lusts: He condemns them to suffer the Tyranny of their own Passions, and the disorder of their Appetites: their hearts shall be continually knawn with Envy, their Spirits may be opprest with excessive griefs even for the smallest or for meerly Imaginary incon∣veniences; their Minds shall be rost and conti∣nually agitated with vain fears, doubtfull and anxious hopes, with restless and inordinate de∣sires: And what comfort can a man take in his life when he is tormented with these painfull

diseases of the Mind! what can be the conse∣quence of these things, but offence and distast, weariness and tribulation! they know not what it is to moderate a Passion, to curb a Desire, to mortifie a Vice, and so are subject to divers Masters, are enslaved to many Tyrants, and ex∣posed to a multitude of Tormentors; which like a Legion of Devils will not let a man rest Day nor Night.

Besides; We are in this vale of tears surround∣ed with many outward calamities, exposed to Innumerable Evils, and we cannot be safe a∣mong them but from the constant protection of the Divine Providence: And this the Sinner has no right to, and he often wants it. The just Providence of God often leaves him to the assaults of these, and sometimes one cross shall make him uneasie, and when that is gone another shall vex him; one while he shall be afflicted with pain, at another time with losses, at another with contempt and re∣proaches. The supream disposer of all things sets himself to mingle sorrows and grief and in∣conveniences with his portion: He will not let him enjoy any thing pure or without the mix∣ture of some sorrow in it.

And further, there is sometimes a strange and secret dispensation of Providence attends the Sinner, which hinders him from taking any delight or comfort in what he has, and we can hardly tell why he does not. This is exprest by Solomon, Eccles. 6. 2. where he says, he had seen A man to whom God had given riches, wealth and honour, so that he wanted nothing for his Soul

of all that he desired, yet God had not given him power to eat thereof: that is, God with-held from him a power to enjoy, to comfort himself and take delight in what he had. This is a strange case, but is what we may see sometimes hap∣pening! We may see some pining and discon∣tented in that condition wherein they thought to be very happy, and they cannot give a good reason why they are so, they cannot take de∣light in what they thought would have been very delightful, and that which is so to others: But the power to enjoy, is it seems from God, and is another and a different gift from the things that we possess; and the Sinner may gain large pos∣sessions by his guilty endeavours, but may want the blessing of God upon them and the power to enjoy them. How many covetous persons may we see wanting what they have while they have no heart to use it to their Credit or Com∣fort; to what purpose are such men made rich? And many may we see thinking themselves mighty unhappy in circumstances which others are ready to envy: and afflicting themselves with Imaginary Inconveniences, while they are under no other real one but onely that of their own sick and foolish Imagination. Thus does the powerfull curse of God mingle its self with the Sinners Portion, and spoil the pleasure of what he has while he possesses it. And this is the third Proof of our Text.

(4.) It may be said he that soweth Iniquity shall reap but Vanity, in that all the Felicity of a Sinner, is of a very short and a transitory du∣ration.

Let him gain what he will; let him take what delight and comfort he can in it; this will last but a very little while: It is a Felicity but of a few moments continuance: His happiness is like a fire of thorns which is almost as soon out as it is kindled. It can last no longer than this present life, and then it must needs be short. This Life is continually hasting away, and so is all his happiness. The Psalmist truly says Man being in Honour abideth not, Psal. 49. 12. And So∣lomon says, If a man live many years and rejoyce in them all; yet let him remember the days of dark∣ness for they shall be many, Eccles. 11. 8. They shall be many in comparison to the longest life on Earth. The Sinner then is to enjoy what he gets here but a little while and is to be much longer without it; for as he came naked into the world so he must return naked out of it. Perhaps he spends the greatest part of his Life in getting, and enjoys but for a little while in the latter end of it. His Labour and Care take up the most of his life, and his rest and ease have but a very small parcel of it. It may be as soon as he has by any means scraped together a plentiful portion of this world, and then pro∣poses to himself to sit down and enjoy it, he is then suddenly snatcht away from all by Death. Let us say then with the Psalmist, Verily every man in his best Estate is altogether Vanity; and by Consequence it must be true what our Text says, He that soweth Iniquity, shall reap but Vani∣ty. And this I think to be now sufficiently prov'd.

APPLICATION.

I shall now briefly suggest some use that we may make of these things and conclude.

1. These Justifie the Providence of God in permitting the outward Prosperity of wicked men, and should keep us from being any way disturbed when we observe it. The foregoing Discourse does abundantly demonstrate that this is a thing very well consisting with a Pro∣vidence, and agreeing enough with the Wisdom and Justice of it. God gives them but a poor, low, mean and outward prosperity: That may be said of any wicked mans Prosperity, which the Prophet says of theirs who were the Ene∣mies of God's Church, Isa. 29. 8. It shall be as when an hungry man dreameth, and behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his Soul is empty: Or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and behold, he is faint, and his Soul hath Appetite; so shall the multitude be (says he) of all the Nations that fight against Mount Sion. Wicked men can have no content, no satisfacti∣on in their Prosperity. We value these low outward goods too highly, we account them better than they are when we envy an ill man the possession of them: These are such things as a man may have without the favour and bles∣sing of God: A man may have them and not enjoy them. When we see the gaudy outside of a sinners condition, and are apt to call the proud fool happy for it, let us consider what

may dwell within him at the same time; and there perhaps we may see shamefull folly, hurt∣full vices, uneasy passions; He is perhaps held bound in the chains of his Sins, and his own disorderly Appetites and Passions are his cruel tormentors; and can we think such a man high∣ly favoured, or so much deserving envy as Dis∣dain or Pity? Let us consider too the short con∣tinuance of all this felicity, and not be afraid of these men, not be discouraged in our duty, nor impatient if we suffer by them. For they shall soon be cut down as the grass, and wither as the green herb, Psal. 37. 2. Within a little while the powerful wicked men will be weak, and the rich poor. He whose Pride and Ambition troubled all the world, and could not be con∣tented with the bounds of a large Kingdom, shall in a little time be stript of all his greatness, be confin'd within the compass of a few feet of Earth, and become Prisoner to a Grave.

2. To conclude: Let what has been said be able to turn us all from a wicked to a good and vertuous course of Life. Let us resolve to leave an unprofitable course of Life; and cease to spend our Labour for that which is not Bread, and our Mony for that which will not profit us. Let us not endure the Thoughts of losing a Life, of living to no good purpose, to no advantage to our selves: 'tis altogether foolish and unbecoming our reason to chuse a vain life, and to aim at no good and profitable end.

But this will appear a very great and strong ar∣gument if we will consider too that this course of

life as it will not profit, 'twill hurt us; as it can afford no great advantage, it will bring great damage: It forfeits and loses us the favour of God, the everlasting happiness he would be∣stow on us: It provokes his wrath and tends to everlasting misery; and should we follow such a course for no advantage, to get nothing that is of any great worth by it? It greatly heigh∣tens the guilt and folly of Sin, that there is so little reason for it, so little inducement to it; It is a thing unnecessary and unprofitable. Let us all then resolve immediately to forsake the ways of Sin, and betake our selves to a course of Vertue and Religion. We shall find that in keeping the Commands of God there is great Reward. We shall not serve God for nought tho' we serve the Devil so: Our Labour shall not be in vain in the Lord; tho' if we sow Iniquity we can reap but Vanity.

THE PRAYER.

O Most great and most righteous God! the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee; nor can any time set Bounds to thy Duration; nor the power of any Creature can resist thee. Thou art worthy to be fear'd and had in reverence by all that draw nigh un∣to shee. We adore and worship thee, O Lord, who art every where present and knowest all things. Thine Eyes behold, and thine Eyelies try the Children of Men. And thou, O Lord, dost dispose of us all as pleaseth thee, thy Kingdom ruleth over all. If thou favour us, it is well with us: If thou hide thy Face, we are troubled and afflicted; if thou take away our Breath, we die, and return to the Dust from whence▪ we were Created. We do entirely depend upon thee, and in thy Hand is our Breath and all our Ways. But, alas, how little do we foolish Creatures consider these things! when we live as without God in the World, when we take little care how we behave our selves in thy sight. We do not regard and seek an Interest in thy favour as our greatest Happiness; nor have we so fear'd thy Displeasure as we should. Oh how foolish and mistaken have we been, while we have thought to mend our Condition, or profit our selves by doing ill, or to do our selves any good by breaking thy Laws! In vain do we ever attempt to be Happy in ways offensive to the pure Eyes of thy Glory. Thou wilt sooner or later reward every Man according to his Works. We believe, O Lord, accor∣ding to thy Word and thy just Sentence and Doom that Evil pursueth Sinners: That all the Profits and Pleasures which we can gain or enjoy by Wickedness are very vain and worthless; that in pursuing such we should weary our selves for very Vanity. Convince us

we pray thee, O Lord, steadily and effectually of these things; let us not sell our Souls for nought; let us not spend our Life in the pursuit of shadows, and neglect substantial things; teach us that he who sows unto the Flesh, shall of the Flesh reap Corruption. And make us to believe, that in keeping thy Com∣mands there is great Reward; to believe that thou art, and art a Rewarder of those that diligently seek thee; that we shall not serve God for nought: But if we do by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Honour, and Immortality, we shall ob∣tain eternal Life. Let thy bounteous and faithful Promises effectually allure us from the ways of Folly and Perdition. O that we were so wise, as constantly to take thy Testimonies for our heritage! to desirea∣bove all things the Happiness which thou hast prepa∣red for them that love and serve thee! O turn thou, we humbly pray, the Byass and Propensity of our Souls that way! Give us not up to the choice and pursuit of this World; condemn us not to have all our Portion in this short, miserable and transitory Life. Strengthen and encrease our Faith of unseen things, that it may be in us the Evidence of things not seen, and the Substance of things hoped for: and let this quicken, let this encourage us at all times to our Duty, by assuring us that our Labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. By alluring us of everlasting Rest to reward our Labours in well-doing, of our having fulness of Joy in thy Presence, and Rivers of Pleasures at thy Right hand for evermore. Deliver us, O Spirit of Truth, from all the deceits of the World, the Flesh and the Devil; lead us into all Truth necessary for us to know in order to Salvation, and make us to pursue the things which make for our everlasting Peace. Give us, we pray thee, a Treasure in Heaven, through the merits of Jesus Christ.

In whose Name we humbly make our Prayers and Supplications for all Men: Give, O Lord, to all Na∣tions Unity, Peace and Concord; and pour out thy

Spirit upon all Flesh, that they may all know thee from the least to the greatest. Bless thy Church and prosper it, and make it yet more Holy and more U∣niversal. Bring in all Jews, Turks, Infidels and He∣reticks into the way of thy Truth, and into the way of Salvation. We pray thee pour down thy abun∣dant Blessings upon these Nations wherein we live; deliver us from those that hate us: continue to us thy true Religion establisht among us in the Administra∣tions of it, and continue us in the due and univer∣sal Practice of what it teaches and requires of us. Bless, we pray thee, our King and Queen, and Magi∣strates; be thou their Guide and Defence, and make them useful Instruments to promote thy Glory a∣mongst us, and our Happiness. Let us know those that are over us in the Lord and admonish us, those who are thy Ministers in Holy things, and esteem them very highly in Love for their Works sake, and follow their Godly Counsels, and good Examples. Grant, we beseech thee, that the means of Grace which we have this Day enjoy'd, may be effectual up∣on us to the Salvation of our Souls. Pardon the im∣perfections of our Services, and graciously accept them through the merits of Jesus Christ. In whose Name we present and dedicate our selves to thee, we re∣commend our Relations and Friends to thy Mercy, and all that are desolate and afflicted; and we pray for the pardon and conversion of our Enemies. We com∣mit our selves to the Care of thy Providence this Night, beseeching thee to keep us in safety while we are not in a Condition to look to our selves: And if it shall please thee to add yet more days to our Lives, we desire to spend them all in thy excellent Service; to which purpose we humbly implore the continual Guidance of thy Spirit, to whom with the Father and the Son, one Infinite and Eternal God, we ascribe all Praise and Glory, for ever and ever.

Our Father, &c.