the most honourable perfonage in the room? O what noble matter of heart-felt joy must this needs afford to a truly pious foul, who has experienced the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost (r)! I would further defire to know, whether before you exclude the fun in order to go to fleep, you use your Morning or Evening Prayers? Or whether, as it is uncertain which are most proper, you esteem it moft prudent to use neither? Lastly, let me ask you, with a serious concern for your eternal welfare, what you can poffibly think of the state of your fouls, who, whilst so many Christians are praifing the Lord for having refreshed them with feasonable reft, and for having fafely brought them to the beginning of a new day; whilst so many Chriftians are thus happily employed, what can you, I fay, think of the state of your fouls, who, wearied with your last night's revel, are finking into your beds with the din of the concluding country-dance in your ears, and having spent the night in the works of darkness, (in order to compleat the whole) muft waste the day in Лleeping? Was I to intreat you to spend a few hours in Prayer and Meditation, you would think me an bard task-mafter, and would readily afk, What? Are we to be always on our knees? Is there no time for relaxation? Yet, while you are capering about like fo many frantic Bedlamites, when your usual time for Evening Prayer is come, I fear you never (~) Tit. iii. 5. once once fay, What? Are we to be at this work all Is there no time for Prayer and Medi night? tation? Believe me, your case is very deplorable, and fo much the more fo, as you do not fee your danger, O how happy is Satan when he can make people wear his chain and think themselves at liberty! To proceed: Do you confider what heinous mockery you are guilty of before God every time you fay your prayers, till you give up all thoughts of ever going to another BALL? For inftance only, in the Lord's Prayer. How can you beg that the Name of God may be hallowed (r), when you are calmly refolved to neglect the common duty of waiting upon God in Evening Prayer (perhaps alfo in Family-Prayer) in order to go to a diverfion which directly tends to the difhonour of Chrift, and to the fubverfion of every holy temper? How can you pray that God's kingdom may come, and bis will be done in earth, as it is in heaven (s); whilst you continue to practife fuch things as would not only thwart his will, but have a tendency to establish the kingdom of Lucifer, and to overthrow the kingdom of God? Laftly, How can you, without the highest degree of hypocrify, befeech the Almighty not to lead you into temptation, and to de= liver you from evil (1); when you are absolutely determined to run yourself headlong into tempta tion? And fo far to choose the evil, and refufe the D (r) (s) () Lord's Prayer. good, good, as to pafs over your stated times and exercifes of devotion, on purpose to obtain the former and reject the latter? Can any body fay that there is the leaft aggravation in calling this a folemn mockery of Almighty God? May the Lord give you grace to lay thefe confiderations seriously to heart: but if you are yet determined not to leave off going to BALLS, I dare not affirm, but that you had better leave off faying your prayers, for though you bonour God with your mouth, your heart is far from him (q); and the prayer of the wicked is an abomination to (r) him. I cannot conclude this fection without earnestly defiring all MOTHERS and AUNTS well to confider these things, and inftead of leading their Daughters and Neices about to BALLS, PLAYS, CARDTABLES, &c. to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (s), and fee that their relaxations are fuch as Chriftians may innocently take; but, in general, fo little do they reflect on the guilt they hereby pull down on their own heads, that many dear children of God have been forcibly compelled to go to these nurseries of fin and vice by their carnal relations; I mean, not only by fuch as are notorioufly wicked, but even by the more decent formalifts, who can pity careless finners, and rail at the degeneracy of the age, whilft their greateft uneafinefs is to fee the true marks of real piety in any of their family. (9) Matt. xv. 8. (r) Prov. xxviii. 9. SECTION SECTION THE THIRD. ESIDES all this, what can be more full and perfuafive than thofe words of St Paul, Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ (s) ? And again, Thofe things which ye have both learned, and received and beard and feen in me, do (t). Whatfoever ye do, do all to the glory of God (u), &c. I know it is eafy to put fmooth, gloffy interpretations upon these and other texts of Scripture, and fo to accommodate the whole Bible to the manner in which we choose to live, our lives to the Bible; inftead of conforming which many are bold enough to do, and fo wreft the Scriptures to their own (x) deftruction*; but I think it would be ra It is amazing how fome people (efpecially fuch as have a name to live and are dead) will twist and torture the Scriptures, in order to bring the meaning of texts to the ideas already formed in their minds, and to lull themselves into a wretched fecurity, whilft by dividing their hearts between God and the world, they are buried in lukewarmness and blinded by formality. Thus almoft every expreffion in the whole book of God, that enjoins an holiness of life beyond what suits their taste and convenience, they either tell you is confined to primitive times, or is not to be taken in a literal sense. And when neither of these falvo's will ferve their turn, rather than fuffer their eyes to be opened to fee the naked state of their fouls, they will quarrel with the translation. So that fetting afide what is confined to primitive times, what is not to be taken in a literal fenfe, and what is not tranflated according to the fancy of men of corrupt minds; Christians, now-a-days, would be deprived of no incon fiderable part of God's word. ther more prudent, if they would first make it appear, that when the holy Ghost says one thing, he means another, otherwise, till it can be proved that this holy Apostle went to BALLS, (the very idea of which is even fhocking to conceive) and that they tend to promote the glory of God; how can it poffibly be thought lawful for us to go to them, who are so folemnly called upon to imitate him, and to make the glory of God the end of all our actions? It may be objected, that you are not called upon to be an Apostle. I anfwer, that though you are not called to be an Apostle; yet you are as much called upon to be a fervant and child of God, to be a new creature in Christ Jesus (y), to perfect holinefs in the fear of God (z), to ftrive to enter in at the ftrait gate (a), and to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things (b), as any of the Apostles are; nor can you, without renouncing both Reafon and Religion, indulge yourself in any practice that appears to you totally inconfiftent with the piety of any other Christian whatever, and at the fame time fancy that you are abftaining from all appearance of evil, and are of the number of thofe, whofe Spirit and foul and body shall be preferved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jefus Chrift (c).. But methinks you are by this time ready to say, "Why, if this be the cafe, we must e'en feclude our« felves from all fociety, bid farewel to chearfulness and relaxations, but ourselves up in convents, " and (y) 2 Cor. v. 17. (a) Matt. vii. 13 (z) 2 Cor. vii. 1. (b) Tit. ii. 10. |