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Therefore, in surveying the State of our Minds, we should have an Eye to those Places that will least bear an Assault, those Appetites or Passions that most frequently occasion our Fall.

Q. Why ought this to be the main Subject of our Examination ?

A. Because it is reasonable we should secure ourselves from our greatest Danger, which is that which threatens us from this Quarter: for when we have once vanquished our strongest and most terrible Enemy, who gives us the greatest Disturbance, the Rest that remain will more easily be overcome, by a Mind raised with so noble a Victory.

Q. What Questions are proper to put to ourselves every Evening?

A. How we have spent the whole Day? What Sin we have committed? What Duty we have omitted? Whether we performed our Morning Devotions, and how? Where other opportunities of serving God had offered themselves, how we have behaved ourselves in relation to them? If we have conversed, whether with Candour and Affability? Whether we have kept at a Distance from Slander and Evil-speaking, the Bane of Society? If we have had Leisure from Business, how we have improved our Time? If we have been engaged in Affairs, with what honesty and Fidelity we have discharged them? If we have diverted ourselves, whether innocently, and within the Bounds of Christian Moderation? What Mercies we have received, and how thankful we have been for them? What Temptations we have resisted? What Ground we have got of the Sin which does most easily beşet us? How we have governed our Passions in the little Accidents that daily happen to provoke us? What Opportunities we have had of doing Good, and how we have used them? What Opportunities we have had of discouraging Evil, and how we have opposed it? Now, by recollecting the whole Time from our rising till our going to Bed, to which Purpose a very few Minutes before our Evening's

Devotions will suffice, we shall very easily be enabled to answer the preceding Questions; so that we may heartily beg God's Pardon for those Sins we have been guilty of, and shew ourselves thankful for those Blessings he hath bestowed upon us. Q. What Considerations are proper to excite us to a thorough Examination of ourselves?

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A. These two especially; that when we are searching into the State of our Minds, we are in the Presence of God, to whom our most secret Thoughts are open and naked; and therefore we should be impartial, and bring our most private Actions to the Test of his Laws; for though we may impose upon ourselves and others, nothing can be hid from his Omniscience. And that we shall shortly appear before the dreadful Tribunal of God, to be tried for all that we have done in the Body; and nothing will better prepare us to escape the Terrors of that approaching Trial, than frequent calling ourselves to an Account, and thereby making our Peace withGod, and reconcile ourselves to him by a sincere Repentance; for if we judge ourselves, the Sentence of Condemnation will not pass upon us.

Q. How ought this Examination to be performed, when we set a longer Time apart for this very Purpose?

A. First, We should beg God's Assistance in the Discovery of our own Vileness, that no Partiality may conceal from us the Sight and Sense of our Sins. Secondly, We should try ourselves by some Heads of Examination, such as are collected together in The Whole Duty of Man, or such as I have added at the End of this Treatise, out of the Measures of Christian Obedience; and where we find ourselves guilty, to write down the Instances of our Crimes. Thirdly, We should consider the several Aggravations of our Follies, whether committed against the Light of our Minds; with the free Consent of our Wills; and in Despite of the Checks of our own Consciences? whether they have been often repeated; whether transient Acts or settled Habits. Fourthly, We ought to observe all those

previous Steps that have made us transgress, and which have been the fatal Occasions of betraying our Virtue and corrupting our Innocence.

Q. What ought to follow this Examination of ourselves?

A. Humble Confession of our Sins to God; hearty Sorrow for having offended him; earnest Supplications for Pardon through the Merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ; with firm Purposes, and effectual Resolutions of better Obedience for the time to come, and of keeping at a Distance from those Occasions which have betrayed us. Where we have been preserved from Guilt, we must give Glory to God, and thankfully acknowledge that Grace which hath restrained us from Evil. If our Sins have been not only against God, but against our Neighbour, we must make him Satisfaction: we must restore whatever we unjustly have taken from him by Fraud or Force: we must vindicate his Reputation, if we have blemished it by Calumny and Evil-speaking: we must endeavour his Recovery, by making him sensible of such Sins and dangerous Errors as we have drawn him into, that he may be put into a Way of Pardon. And we must from our Hearts forgive those that have injured us, if we expect Forgiveness from God.

Q. What are the great Advantages of frequent Examination ?

A. It makes us thoroughly acquainted with ourselves, a Knowledge which is of the greatest Importance to us. It prompts us to Repentance, as the only Cure for that Guilt which oppresses our Minds. It disposes us to Humility, from a lively Sense of our frequent Errors and Miscarriages. It keeps our Accounts clear and even; and consequently contributes very much to make Death easy and comfortable to us; for how can that surprize us, when we are ready and prepared to give up our Accounts? It is an admirable Means to advance us towards Christian Perfection, by making us careful to avoid those Faults for the future, which we have discovered in our former Conduct.

THE PRAYERS,

I.

Christ's

ALMIGHTY God, who hast given thine only ThankfulSon to be unto us both a Sacrifice for Sin, and also ness for an Example of Godly Life; give me Grace that I Sacrifice, may always most thankfully receive this his inesti-and for mable Benefit, and also daily endeavour myself to his Exfollow the blessed Steps of his most holy Life, ample. through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

II.

imitating

Religion.

LORD of all Power and Might, who art the For true
Author and Giver of all good Things; graft in my
Heart the Love of thy Name, increase in me true
Religion, nourish me with all Goodness, and of thy
great Mercy keep me in the same, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.

III.

ous Exa

Lives.

ALMIGHTY God, the great Searcher of Hearts, For seriwho knowest all our secret Thoughts, nothing mination being hid from thine all-seeing Eye; dispose me of our frequently to examine the State of my own Mind, to compare my Actions with the Rule of thy Laws, that nothing contrary to thy holy Will may ever find a settled Abode in my Soul: but let me so consider my Ways as to turn my Feet unto thy Testimonies; Grant that I may so impartially judge and condemn myself, that I may not be condemned at thy dreadful Tribunal. Let not Self-love impose upon me in a Matter of such vast Consequence. Let not Sloth and Negligence deter me from keeping my Accounts clear. Let no darling Passion be so far indulged, as to escape the Scrutiny of serious Examination; and when, O Lord, I have discovered my own Vileness, grant that by the Assistance of thy Grace, I may humble myself under the Sight and Sense of it; that I may from my Heart condemn-all those Follies whereby I have provoked thy Wrath and Indignation against me; that I may earnestly solicit thy Pardon and Forgiveness through the "

HEADS OF SELF-EXAMINATION.

Merits of Christ the Son of thy Love; that I may be careful to stand upon my Guard for the future, and by Prayer and Watchfulness engage thy powerful Protection, which is so necessary to support me in the Hour of Temptation, and the Day of Trial. Grant this, O Lord, for the Sake of Jesus Christ, my only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.

The Prayers for Good-Friday may properly be used on every Friday.

A particular Enumeration of Sins; whether against God, our Neighbour, or Ourselves; Taken out of The Measures of Christian Obedience, which are all there explained in the second Book.

SINS against ourselves, are Pride, i. e. too high a Conceit of ourselves, and Contempt of others; Arrogance, i. e. assuming too much to ourselves in setting off our own Praise; Vain Glory, i. e. intemperate Affectation of the Praise of others; Ambition, i. e. a restless Pursuit of Honour and great Places; Haughtiness, in contemptuous, scornful Carriage; Imperiousness, i. e. a lordly Way of Behaviour, in commanding Men no Way subject to us; Worldliness, i. e. an over-eager Care of worldly Things; Gluttony; Voluptuousness; Drunkenness; Revelling; Incontinence; Lasciviousness; Filthy or obscene Jestings; Uncleanness; Sodomy; Effeminateness; Adultery; Fornication; Incest; Rape; Covetousness, i. e. Unsatisfiedness with our own, and an impatient Desire of more, or of what belongs to others; Refusing the Cross, i. e. deserting a Duty to avoid it; Idleness, Sensuality, i. e. an industrious Care to gratify our bodily Senses; Carnality, i. e. Subjection to our fleshly Lusts and Appetites.

Sins against God, are Atheism; Denying Providence; Blasphemy; Superstition; Idolatry; Witchcraft; Foolishness, or gross Ignorance of our Duty ; Unbelief; Hating God; Want of Zeal; Distrusting him; not praying to him; Unthankfulness; Discontent in our present Condition, or repining at his or

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