A general Plan of the Work. Chap. 1.

from this fatal Lethargy, to a Care, (Chap. 2.) an affectionate and an immediate Care, about it. (Chap. 3.) I will labour to fix a deep and awful Conviction of Guilt upon his Conscience, (Chap. 4.) and to strip him of his vain Excuses and his flattering Hopes. (Chap. 5.) I will read to him, O! that I could fix on his Heart, that Sentence, that dreadful Sentence, which a Righteous and an Almighty God hath denounced against him, as a Sin ner; (Chap. 6.) and endeavour to shew him, in how helpless a State he lies under this Condemnation, as to any Capacity he has of delivering himself. (Chap. 7.) But I do not mean to leave any in so terrible a Situation : I will joyfully proclaim the glad Tidings of Pardon_and Salvation by Christ Jesus our Lord, which is all the Sup port and Confidence of my own Soul: (Chap. 8.) And then I will give some general Views of the Way, by which this Salvation is to be obtained: (Chap. 9.) urging the Sinner to accept of it, as affectionately as I can: (Chap. 10.) though nothing can be sufficiently pathetic, where, as in this Matter, the Life of an immortal Soul is in question.

§. 8. Too probable it is, that some will, after all this, remain insensible: and therefore, that their sad Case may not incumber the following Articles, I shall here take a solemn Leave of them: (Chap. 11.) And then shall turn and address myself, as compassionately as I can, to a most contrary Character; I mean to a Soul overwhelmed with a Sense of the Greatness of its Sins, and trembling under the Burden, as if there were no more Hope for him in GOD. (Chap. 12.) And that nothing may be omitted, which may give solid Peace to the troubled Spirit, I shall endeavour to guide its Enquiries as to the Evidences of sincere Repentance and Faith; (Chap. 13.) which will be farther illustrated by a more particular View of the several Branches of the Christian Temper, such as may serve at once to assist the Reader in judging what he is, and to shew him what he should labour to be. (Chap. 14.) This will naturally lead to a View of the Need we have of the Influences of the blessed Spirit, to assist us in the important and difficult Work of the true Christian, and of the Encouragement we have to hope for these Diine Assistances. (Chap. 15.) In an humble Dependance on

which,

Chap. 1. A general Plan of the Work.

which, I shall then enter on the Consideration of several Cases which often occur in the Christian Life, in which particular Addresses to the Conscience may be requisite and useful.

§. 9. As some particular Difficulties and Discouragements attend the first Entrance on a religious Course, it will here be our first Care to animate the young Convert against them. (Chap. 16.) And that it may be done more effectually, I shall urge a solemn Dedication of himself to God; (Chap. 17.) to be confirmed by entering into the full Communion of the Church by an Approach to the sacred Table. (Chap. 18.) That these Engagements may be more happily fulfilled, we shall endeavour to draw a more particular Plan of that devout, regular, and accurate Course, which ought daily to be attended to: (Chap. 19.) And because the Idea will probably rise so much higher that what is the general Practice, even of Good Men, we shall endeavour to persuade the Reader to make the Attempt, hard as it may seem; (Chap. 20.) and shall caution him against various Temptations, which might otherwise draw him aside to Negligence and Sin. (Chap. 21.)

§. 10. Happy will it be for the Reader, if these Exhortations and Cautions be attended to with becoming Regard; but as it is, alas, too probable, that notwithstanding all, the Infirmities of Nature will sometimes prevail, we shall consider the Case of Deadness and Languor in Religion, which often steals upon us by insensible Degrees; (Chap. 22.) from whence there is too easy a Passage to that terrible one of a Return into known and deliberate Sin. (Chap. 23.) And as the one or the other of these tends, in a proportionable Degree, to provoke the Blessed GOD to hide his Face, and his injured Spirit to withdraw, that melancholy Condition will be taken into a particular Survey. (Chap. 24.) I shall then take Notice also of the Case of great and heavy Afflictions in Life ; (Chap. 25.) a Discipline which the best of Men have Reason to expect, especially when they backslide from GoD, and yield to their Spiritual Enemies.

§. 11. Instances of this Kind, will, I fear, he too frequent; yet, I trust, there will be many others, whose Path, like the dawning Light, will shine more and more

8

A general Plan of the Work..

Chap. 1. until the perfect Day (d). And therefore we shall endea, vour in the best Manner we can, to assist the Christian in passing a true Judgment on the Growth of Grace in his Heart; (Chap. 26). as we had done before in judg ing of its Sincerity. And as nothing conduces more to the Advance of Grace, than the lively Exercise of Love to GoD, and a holy Joy in him, we shall here remind the real Christian of those Mercies which tend to excite that Love and Joy; (Chap. 27.) and in the Views of them, to animate him to those vigorous Efforts of Usefulness in Life, which so well become his Character, and will have so happy an Efficacy on brightening his Crown. (Chap. 28.) Supposing him to act accordingly, we shall then labour to illustrate and assist the Delight, with which he may look forward to the awful Solemnities of Death and Judgment: (Chap. 29.) And shall close the Scene by accompanying him, as it were, to the nearest Confines of that dark Valley, through which he is to pass to Glory; giving him such Directions, as may seem most subservient to his honouring GOD, and adorning Religion, by his dying Behaviour. (Chap. 30.) Nor am I without a pleasing Hope, that, through the divine Blessing and Grace, I may be in some Instances so successful, as to leave those triumphing in the Views of Judgment and Eternity, and glorifying GOD by a truly Christian Life and Death, whom I found trembling in the Apprehensions of future Misery; or perhaps, in a much more dangerous and miserable Circumstance than that; I mean, entirely forgeting the Prospect, and sunk in the most stupid Insensibility of those Things, for an Attendance to which the Human Mind was formed, and in Comparison of which, all the Pursuits of this transitory Life are emptier than Wind, and lighter than a Feather.

§. 12. Such a variety of Heads must, to be sure, be handled but briefly, as we intend to bring them within the Bulk of a moderate Volume. I shall not, therefore, discuss them as a Preacher might properly do in Sermons, in which the Truths of Religion are professedly to be explained and taught, defended and improved, in a wide Variety, and long Detail of Prepositions, Argu ments, Objections, Replies, and Inferences, marshalled

(d) Prov. iv. 18.

and

Chap. 1.

A Prayer for its Success.

9 and numbered under their distinct Generals. I shall here speak in a looser and freer Manner, as a Friend to a Friend, just as I would do, if I were to be in Person admitted to a private Audience, by one whom I tenderly loved, and whose Circumstances and Character, I knew to be like that, which the Title of one Chapter or another of this Treatise describes. And when I have discoursed with him a little while, which will seldom be so long as Half an Hour; I shall, as it were, step aside, and leave him to meditate on what he has heard, or endeavour to assist him in such fervent Addresses to GOD, as it may be proper to mingle with those Meditations. In the mean Time, I will here take the Liberty to pray over my Reader and my Work; and to commend it solemnly to the Divine Blessing, in Token of my deep Conviction of an entire Dependance upon it. And I am well persuaded, that Sentiments like these are common, in the general, to every faithful Minister, to every real Christian.

A PRAYER for the Success of this Work, in promoting the Rise and Progress of Religion.

Ο

II Thou great Eternal Original, and Author of "all created Being and Happiness! I adore "Thee who hast made Man a Creature capable of Re"ligion, and has bestowed this Dignity and Felicity 66 upon our Nature, that it may be taught to say, Where "is GOD our Maker (e)? I lament that Degeneracy "spread over the whole Human Race, which has turned our Glory into Shame (f), and has rendered the For"getfulness of GOD (unnatural as it is) so common, " and so universal a Disease. Holy Father, we know it

66

is thy Presence, and thy Teaching alone, that can "reclaim thy wandering Children; can impress a Sense "of Divine Things on the Heart, and render that Sense "lasting and effectual. From Thee proceed all good Purposes and Desires; and this Desire above all, of diffusing Wisdom, Piety and Happiness in this World, which (though sunk in such deep Apostacy) Thine "infinite Mercy has not utterly forsaken.

(e) Job xxxv. 10.

(f) Hos. iv. 7.

"Thou

10

A Prayer for the

Chap. 1. "Thou knowest, O LORD, the Hearts of the Chil"dren of Men (g); and an upright Soul, in the midst "of all the Censures and Suspicions it may meet with, "rejoices in thine intimate Knowledge of its most secret "Sentiments and Principles of Action. Thou knowest

the Sincerity and Fervency, with which Thine unwor"thy Servant desires to spread the Knowledge of Thy "Name, and the Saviour of Thy Gospel, among all to

whom this Work may reach. Thou knowest, that "hadst thou given him an Abundance of this World, "it would have been, in his Esteem, the noblest Plea 66 sure that Abundance could have afforded, to have been "thine Almoner, in distributing thy Bounties to the "Indigent and Necessitous, and so causing the sorrowful "Heart to rejoice in Thy Goodness, dispensed through "his Hands. Thou knowest, that hadst Thou given

him, either by ordinary or extraordinary Methods, the "Gifts of Healing, it would have been his daily Delight, "to relieve the Pains, the Maladies, and the Infirmities "of Men's Bodies; to have seen the languishing Coun

tenance, brightened by returning Health and Cheer"fulness; and much more to have beheld the roving "distracted Mind, reduced to Calmness and Serenity, in

the Exercise of its rational Faculties. Yet happier, far happier would he think himself, in those humble "Circumstances, in which Thy Providence hath placed him, if Thou vouchsafe to honour These his feeble Endeavours, as the Means of relieving and enriching “Men's Minds; of recovering them from the Madness "of a sinful State, and bringing back Thy reasonable "Creatures to the Knowledge, the Service, and the "Enjoyment of their God; or of improving those, who are already reduced.

"O may it have that blessed Influence on the Person "whosoever he be, that is now reading these Lines,

and all who may read or hear them! Let not my "LORD be angry, if I presume to ask, That however weak and contemptible this Work may seem in the Eyes of the Children of this World, and however "imperfect it really be, as well as the Author of it un"worthy, it may nevertheless live before Thee; and "through

(g) 2 Chron. vi. 30.