CHAP. I.

That there is an Art of Conversing with God .

AN Art being nothing else but a multitude of Infallible Precepts , directing us Infallibly to an End , we could not at all , at least not so easily , attain to with the sole aid of our Innate Capacity ; 't is clear , there is an Art of Conversing that Invisible , All-sufficient , and All-Glorious Being we call God , since through the perverseness of our Corrupted Nature , we meet with such obstacles to this Blissful Conversation as could deprive us entirely of such a great good , if we were not taught some Infallible Method , either to Shun , or Surmount 'em : There must then be certain Rules given , and an Infallible Method pointed out , whereby we may remove whatever is capable to hinder or uneasie our familiar access to God : For whatever esteem we have for him , though we acknowledge him our Creator , our Soveraign , our all ; yet we are so bewitched with the Objects that strike most our Senses , that we scarce ever come near him by Prayer or Meditation , but with I know not what Reluctancy , which if it were Invincible , would occasion men to think Blasphemously of Gods All-bountiful Providence , as if it had not furnished them with means necessary to their attaining that End he Created them for , which was no other but his own Glory , the sole aim of all his Undertakings .

CHAP. II .

That God is Gloryfied by this Art , and in what it consists .

GOD only has right to do nothing , but for his own Glory , because of his Infinite Excellency , whose undoubted of Prerogative is to be Alpha and Omega , the beginning and end of all things : Though his other Creatures contribute not a little towards this Design , yet I may say , without scruple , none promotes it in so great a Measure as Man does , whom it seems he has fram'd particularly to his own Image and Resemblance for this End.

That we may understand how he performs this Duty , and Gloryfieth more his Maker , than all other Mute Creatures , 't will not be amiss to decide clearly , what that is , which Men commonly call Glory , and so few comprehend : 't is defin'd vulgarly thus , Clara cum claude notitia ; a distinct knowledge , with praise of the Person we intend to Gloryfie . This Notion declares sufficiently , the Properties of that Glory one Man receives from another : For Men are Gloryfied to the satisfaction of Ambition it selfe , if we , convinc'd of their extraordinary merits , pay to them the due Homage of a proportionable praise : Yet methinks 't is defective by respect to God , whose Glory receives a greater encrease of lustre by our Prayer than by our Praise : The former being an Infallible mark of our dependency , not the latter : this definition then shall be Compleat , if we conceive it in these terms , Gloria est clara cum laude & prece notitia : We Gloryfie God by a clear knowledge of his Perfections , in that Degree it may be had here , with Praise and Prayer .

The meer Speculative Knowledge of God contributes but little towards the increase of his Glory , for the Ancient Philosophers were convinc'd of his being Infinitely Perfect , Powerful , and Wise , and yet Gloryfied him not as God , because of their slight performance , or rather intire omission both of Praise and Prayer : They were not acquainted with this Art of Conversing Familiarly , their Soveraign Lord , by which only he is perfectly Gloryfied in this life ; for we never place him in that Degree of Glory he deserves , and we are capable of , unless besides a not ordinary knowledge of his perfections , we break out both in Praise and Prayer , asking him , as All-Good , and Almighty , our needs Spiritual and Temporal ; and this we shall perform with greater Facility than we can yet Imagine , if we are but once proficient in the Art of Conversing with him ; and such we shall undoubtedly prove , if we reflect seriously on Four things . 1. On the time he makes choice of , to speak to us . 2. On the Subject of his Speech . 3. On our indispensible Obligation to speak to him . 4. In what manner we ought to acquit our selves of so necessary a Duty .

CHAP. III .

When God speaks to us .

TWO Persons are said to Converse together , when they speak one with another ; in the same Sense we ConversE with that Soveraign Being , when he vouchsafeth to speak to us , and we are permitted to speak our needs to him ; and as in all Regular Conversation , while the one Discourseth , the other with a respectuous silence is attentive to his Discourse , we must recollect our selves , and hearken to his Oracles , lest he address to us his Speech , and we through a Criminal disrespect , take no notice thereof , or hear it not , which would make us accountable to his Justice , as neglecting such an undeserv'd Favour , as is the opportunity , never perhaps to return again , of receiving from his All-liberal hand , what each one knows he most stands in need of .

Because in a Familiar Conversation som are so distracted with other thoughts , that they must be told when they are spoken to ; the same thing may happen in our Case ; Men not reflecting on that Critical Minute God makes his Applcation to them ; either because he is Invisible and seldom thought on , or being too attentive to the frequent suggestions of the Flesh , they listen not to what concerns the Spirit : I shall therefore assume for thy Spiritual Interest , this Charitable Office , and Advertise thee , if perhaps thou be of this number , when particularly God speaks to thy Heart , and when thou art indispensibly obliged to hear with an Attention suitable to the quality of such a Speaker .

God speaketh to us , either immediately , or mediately ; immediately by Revelation ; mediately , by Inspiration ; the former is extraordinary , and granted to few , of this I shall say nothing ; the latter is ordinary , and denied to none ; it consists chiefly in two things , in the Illumination of the Intellective Faculty , and Motion of the Affective , I mean the Will .

Whensoever then God illuminates thy Understanding , or moves thy Will , he speaks to thee , and this he does at every moment , or at least , as often as thou but opens thy Eyes to contemplate his wonderful Works : He has no Tongue I know to speak withal , but all his Creatures , how mute soever they be , speak his Mind in a most Eloquent and Intelligible manner to all such as make use of their discerning faculty .

Run out then into the Fields , thou needs no other Company there but God and thy self to Converse withall ; the vast extent of this Visible World tells thee he is Immense , and without either Compass or Measure ; the Beauty of every part thereof assureth us , that what we admire so much , is but a slight Representation of that Substantial , Essential , and Unparallable Beauty , never failing , but always subsisting in and by it self : the confus'd language of a raging Sea , declares distinctly the inconceivable fury of his wrath against Sinners . The Earth , though but a dull Mass , informeth us of his Immutability ; the Air of his Subtility ; the Fire of his Activity ; the Heavens of his Glory ; the Stars and Planets , with as many Tongues as Beams , Preach his Magnificency ; in fine , a numberless number of his Creatures bear Testimony to his Wisdom by their Industry and Dexterity , and all sound aloud the infinity of his Power , by their wonderful passage from the dark Abyss of nothing , to the clear light of Existency , and his All-bountiful Providence , by the unwearied of Protection of that being he has given them ; can we think it then either hard or impossible to Coverse with God , he is every where to be met withal , he is Visible in every Corner of the World to a Man that hath Eyes , Jupiter est quodcumque vides , Jovis omnia plena . lest we should be dazeled with the Glory of his Majesty , he has laid it aside and hid himself in the meanest of his Creatures , but we shall easily discover him by the Rays of his Godhead Gloriously shining in the lowest Work of his Hands .

CHAP. IV .

When God Speaks and Converseth with us more particularly .

GOd Converseth with us in the foregoing manner , when he quickens our Understanding , in order to discover to us his wonderful perfections in the Works of his Power : But there are two other noted times he speaks to us more particularly ; to wit , Adversity and Prosperity ; in time of Adversity he punisheth as a Father , in time of Prosperity he Caresseth as a Mother .

These great Riches thou art possessed withal speak distinctly enough in his Favour , if thou hast so much of Wit as to understand their Language ; we are , say they , or rather God himself by their Mouths , Convincing Arguments of that Extream Care your Celestial Father takes to provide for your Bodily wants , that you may with less disturbance think only on what concerns your Souls ; Remember always you are not Proprietarys , but meer oeconomers , you are accountable for the good or ill use you make of us to a Master extreamly rigorous , though just in the highest degree , by whom we are allowed to be the Instruments of your Beneficency , not of your Riots and Debauchery : Forget never , you will certainly at the utmost leave us when Death comes , and we in all probability , as being inducements to your daily Crimes , shall leave you before that time .

Such is the mute Eloquence of that Gold , of that Silver , of those Immense Treasures thou heaps up in thy Coffers so Carefully ; but perhaps they stand like a Wall betwixt thee and God , hindring thee to hearken to his Voice ; well , he shall overthrow it , and take away these Riches that are the cause of thy Spiritual Deafness : Affliction perhaps will give thee understanding , and make thee understanding , and make thee the more attentive to his Inspirations . He was never more Familiarly conversant with Job , nor Job more attentive to his Oracles , than upon the Dunghil , and in his greatest Miseries .

Thou art then now forsaken by these Riches thou gloryed so much in , and trusted so much to ; thy Friends are no more , and the chief Props of thy former Grandeur are overthrown ; every one shuns thy Company , as hoping no more the same advantage thereby now as formerly : But take Courage , God himself shall be thy Companion , and Converse with thee , as with his dearly beloved Child : He will Discourse to thee in this Conjuncture particularly of the Vanity of whatever expects an end , as Riches , Honours , Imployments , Pleasures ; he will mind thee of thy Pleasures , how they were simul in ortu , simul in occasu , ended in the very first moment of their being , as to that brutish satisfaction thou was so much taken with in their enjoyment , but still persevering in the trouble and sting of thy Restless Conscience .

This is a Secret known only to the Spiritual and Discerning sort , that God would have us to Spiritualize every thing , and Envisage in the meanest of his Creatures his highest Perfections , the best attractives of our affections : He desires all Men to reflect seriously , he expresseth his extream love towards them , in a sensible tho different manner , no less when Fortune smiles , yea perhaps more too than when it frowns .

Take notice yet of another Christian Truth , conducive in no small measure to thy Spiritual proficiency , and my present Design : God speaks to us by all such as have Authority over us ; such are Superiors either Civil , or Ecclesiastick ; their Will must be look'd upon as his in all things not repugnant to his written Word , insomuch , that if we resist , in Lawful things , our Lawful Superiours , we oppose not only them , but God himself , whose Lieutenants they are ; and as such ought to be Reverenc'd by all their Subjects : What they say in reference to our allegiance , we must conceive to be said by him , or by his Inspiration , whom they represent : Let all Inferiors then reflect , that God Converseth with them , by these good Instructions and wholesom Advices they receive from such as he has set over their Heads : If we but once accustom our selves to take whatever happens to us here below in this Spiritual Byass , we have attained to an infallible Method how to find God every where , and Converse with him intimately upon all occasions .

CHAP. V.

The Subject of Gods speech to us .

THE Subject of Gods Speech to us is ever proportionable to that Degree he has plac'd us in in this World , and is as different as our Imployments are here , and his Designs on us hereafter ; yet we may say generally , his Converse with us aims always at our greatest perfection ; he will not have us to content our selves with an ordinary Virtue , because he prepares us an extraordinary Reward ; in Contemplation whereof he stirs us up to great Enterprises for his Glory , to fight constantly against our three most dangerous Enemies , the Devil , the Flesh , and the World ; he puts us in Mind to go on stoutly , and not to weary by the way in our Spiritual Progress ; for he would be highly offended , if we imagin'd any Tropicks , or non plus ultra , in the career of perfection .

But when we take a course contrary to his Designs , and our own Spiritual Concerns , he Exhorts us to Repentance , and useth us , as an Expert Physician his Patient : He Imploys first Lenitives , to cure the Malidies of our Souls ; such are sometimes Riches , Honour , Good Success , Great Imployments , bestowed often on most Undeserving Persons , in aim only to gain by such Favours their affections ; but if they are not prevailed upon by such liberal profusions to acknowledge their Benefactor , and their own unworthiness of his Benefits , the Distemper now being come to a great height , he shall have recourse to the last and extream Remedies , he shall dispoil us of these Riches , the only source of all our disorders , abandon us to the wrath of those we look upon as the chief upholders of our Fortunes , make away that wife , those Children we love so dearly , deprive us of that health so instrumental to our Debaucheries , that so forsaken by all Earthly things , we may be forced to come back to him and our selves again .

Thou could not hear his Voice in time of Prosperity , by reason of the Tumult of thy vast Retinue , of thy Numerous and boisterous Family , and continual Disturbance of active and passive Visits ; now all this past , and being now by a friendly stroke from above reduced to a mean condition , thou shalt have leisure in a silent solitude to hearken to the least of his whispers and be more attentive to his Fatherly Instructions , all tending to thy Spiritual Progress in the Career of perfection .

To come to Particulars , he speaks to each one conformably to that State of Life he has called them to ; he remembers Princes , they are not for themselves , but for the People ; they ought to look upon their Subjects as their Children , not as their Slaves ; that they must provide for their Temporal welfare , by Just Laws ; and Eternal Interest , by not suffering any Crime they may hinder : He Exhorts again all Inferiors not to be deficient in any part of their Duty towards their Respective Superiors , whom they ought to reverence as his Vicegerents .

His more Particular Converse with us in private , aims always at the rooting out of that predominant Passion which influences Powerfully all our Actions . Our Conscience , or rather God , by and in it , tells us , that too insatiable desire of Riches overweighs our Poor Soul , and draws it down to Hell it self , whither we are ready to go , if we thought to meet there with a Treasure : If this be the Devil thou art possessed withal , thou art told by the secret Voice of Inspiration to wrestle him out of Doors without respite , and with all speed . Another Sacrificeth all , his Soul not excepted , to Momentary and Brutish Pleasures ; but he hears God whispering in his Ears , in all times , and in all places , the Idol of Pleasures he adores , is the false Deity he must Renounce too , if he will shun his Eternal Ruine : Others , and those too many , are overpowered by that undertaking Passion of Honour ; at this Goliah of Worldly Grandeur , such ought to aim continually , for if they are so happy as to give him once a Mortal blow and overthrow him , 't will be easie to put all the rest of the Philistims to flight ; I mean if once we extirpate our predominant by the very Root , our other imperfections , its defective Offsprings , shall never bide us a pull .

CHAP. VI .

Our Indispensible Obligation to Speak and Converse with God .

UPon several accounts we are indispensibly obliged to Speak and Converse with that Soveraign Being we understand by this Word , God . 1. Because 't is it seems the very End he Created us for ; not that he had need of ours , or any other Creatures Company , but because as he is infinitely good by Nature , nothing can please him more , than to Communicate himself to whatever is capable of his Friendship . 2. Because he is our Judge , and shall decide in last Instance of our happy or unhappy Eternity . Tho he be Infinitely Just and Rigorous beyond all Imagination ; yet , he may be gain'd in some manner as other Judges , with Gifts , not of Gold or Silver , but of Praise and Prayer .

Munera crede mihi placant Hominesque Deosque Placatur donis Jupiter ipse datis .

What would be your opinion of a Man , who would neglect so far his most important Affairs , as never to recommend them to the Judge on whose only favour the good success depends ? Such an one , you say , hath not his Wits about him , as slighting his most material concerns , ex ore tuo te judice , you have pronounced against your self with your own Mouth : The greatest affairs of the World , of Commerce , and Confederacy , Peace and Wars , &c. are but meer Trifles , and Childish Plays ; there is but one thing in the World I can conceive , as deserving the Name of Affair , which is our Eternal happiness : Are not we then in a fit of a notordinary folly , if we neglect a business of this moment , or never own him from and by whom only we may expect the good success thereof ?

God is our Father : He has given us such extraordinary marks of his love by our Creation , Redemption , and Conservation , that we are oblig'd least we incur the guilt of an extream Ingratitude , to render him often thanks for such undeserv'd and wonderful benefits ; we are his Children , we stand in need of his Fatherly protection against our Enemies , both Visible and Invisible : He will supply sufficiently all our wants , both Spiritual and Corporal , but we must pay to him first the due homage of a humble Prayer ; since we may procure to our selves so great an advantage at so easy a rate , can we prudently neglect it ?

God is our Physician , whom we are concern'd to Consult in all our Distempers both of Body and Soul . That Patient desires not to be cured , who never makes an overture of his Indisposition to him that only is able to cure it . God , I confess , understands perfectly our strong and our Weak , the most secret and hidden Maladies of our Souls , but yet he will be told of them by us , as if he knew them not , that at least by that Allmover proper Interest we may turn our selves often to , and Converse with him , which is undoubtedly the greatest happiness we can attain to in this life , and as a foretast of our Future Conversation with that God of Majesty , in the Splendour of his Glory .

CHAP. VII .

In what manner we ought to Converse with God .

I Design not in this place to write a Spiritual Treatise : There is nothing more Common in the Age we live in , than Books of Instruction for such as profess a not-ordinary Piety : I intend only to speak home to the scope of this present Treatise , and to set down an easie and practicable Method to Converse with God at all occasions , for the advancement of our Spiritual Concerns .

It consists chiefly in these three following Things ; in Knowledge , Praise , and Prayer . We Converse with God by Knowledge , when we Meditate upon his Wonderful Perfections : By Praise , when we extol his Mercies : By Prayer , when we ask him our Needs . There is nothing here but may be easily performed by a Man of an ordinary Capacity .

To attain to a sufficient Knowledge of Gods Infinite Perfections , we need not have recourse to the Abstract and Metaphysical Meditations of Divines .

Let us but open our Eyes and look about us , wherever we are , and we shall see them written with sensible Characters in the Foreheads of all his Creatures : His Infinite Wisdom a seeing man cannot but discover in the Beauty , Order , Harmony and Structure of this Universe , and of himself as a wonderful Abridgement of all his Works : We see clearly his Power , Goodness , and his other Attributes in the Creation , and constant Conservation of the vilest Objects our sight meets with : Let us then break out in Praise of his Glory , Power and Goodness , of his Innumerable Mercies bestowed upon us from the very moment of our Birth , yea and before we opened our Eyes to see the light of Heaven .

Every Creature may be to us an ample , subject to run out in Praise of , and Prayer to God : This is a great secret of the Spiritual Life , to Discern and Spiritualize for the good of our Souls , these sensible Objects , which so many misuse to their own Damnation : That Beauty thou admires , betrays perhaps thy Soul to a dangerous and restless Passion , because thou looks upon the enjoyment thereof as thy Soveraign happiness ; but another clearer sighted than thou art , considers it only as an imperfect Copy of that Original and never fading Beauty : And so , what is a cause of sin to some , is to others an occasion of Spiritual Proficiency : This Instance Instructs thee sufficiently how to pass through the sensible Objects , to that Invisible Being , who Created them designedly for this end .

I shall discover as yet , three most important Practices , whereby we may attain in this life in the midst of our greatest Affairs , to a not ordinary Intimacy and Union with God . First , If we are so busie that we can spare no set time for our Prayers , let us Offer unto God , as a Morning Sacrifice , all the Actions we shall do that day : This Intention , called commonly by the Mysticks a virtual one , remains still , tho not reflected on , so long 't is not interrupted by a sinful Action , for such an one cannot be of the number of those we present God withal at our uprising ; this Act Sanctifyeth our most indifferent Actions , and makes those much more valuable that are good by their own Nature : This Method of uniting our selves to God , is so easie , that none can be excused from practising it . The Ladies , that spend a part of the day in admiring that Beauty which Nature gave them not , but the Art of Painting , may allow it easily one moment , which perhaps would be an occasion to withdraw some of them from spending so much of their time so idlely : The Statesmen , Lawyers , and all such as have few spare hours , from their own , and Publick Affairs , may in the aforesaid manner be as much United to God , as ever the Anachorets of Egypt were in their silent solitudes .

The second Method to Converse with God in this life , and very proportionable to the weakness of our Nature , soon weary of deep and long Meditations , is that of frequent Ejaculations whereby in the very midst of our Mirth we may be seriously Conversant with our Maker , by suddain and short Acts of Love , Hope , Faith , Praise and Prayer ; and this we may perform without altering in the least our Exterior Behaviour , which is the securest way I know of to honour God in Spirit and Truth , and the remotest from all danger of Hypocrisie . Tho I am well persuaded we are obliged to do good , not only in the sight of God , but also before Men , that they may be encouraged and edified by our good example .

There remains a third Practice , which if Men did reflect upon , would render their Converse with God easie and sweet in the midst of their greatest disturbances , it consists in taking whatever befalls us from the hand of God , without accusing either our Enemies or a Frowning Fortune : For certain 't is , Fortune is but a Heathenish Deity , and a meer Fiction , unless we thereby understand Gods Eternal Decree . Whensoever then , for Instance , an Enemy wrongs you in your Repute , remember he is the Instrument of a Just God , who Chastiseth thus thy Ambition ; some suddain and unexpected accident makes away thy Children , they Husband , thy Wife , thy nearest and dearest Relations , thou must adore in all this his Divine Will , and impenetrable Designs : thou art disposest perhaps of a Great Estate , Great Riches and Honours , by the oppression and calumny of thy Enemies ; behave thy self in this Conjuncture as a Christian , acknowledge the heavy hand of God upon thee , without Railing against , or Revenging thy self upon those who are the Executioners of his Justice .