Christian Classics
‹ Holy Living
Contents
A Sketch of the Life and Times of Bishop Taylor. · Part 1A Sketch of the Life and Times of Bishop Taylor. · Part 2A Sketch of the Life and Times of Bishop Taylor. · Part 3Chapter 1. Consideration of the General Instruments and Means Serving a Holy LIfe, by Way of Introduction.The first general instrument of Holy Living, Care of our TimeRules for employing our Time.The Benefits of this Exercise.The Second General Instrument of Holy Living, Purity of Intention.Rules for our Intentions.Signs of our Purity of Intentions.Section III. The Third General Instrument of Holy Living; or the Practice of the Presence of God.Several Manners of the Divine Presence.Rules of exercising this Consideration.The benefits of this Exercise.For grace to spend our time well.The first Prayers in the morning, as soon as we are dressed.Another Form of Prayer for the Morning.An Exercise to be used at any time of the day.Evening Prayer.Another form of Evening Prayer, which may also be used at bed-time.Ejaculations and short Meditations to be used in the night, when we awake.>A Prayer for holy intention is the beginning and pursuit of any considerable action, as Study, Preaching, etc.A prayer meditating and referring to the Divine presence.Of Sobriety in the General Sense.Evil Consequences of Voluptuousness or Sensuality.Degrees of Sobriety.Rules for suppressing Voluptuousness.Of Temperance in Eating and Drinking.Measures of Temperance in Eating.Signs and Effects of Temperance.Of Drunkenness.Evil Consequents to Drunkenness.Signs of Drunkenness.Rules for obtaining Temperance.Of Chastity.The evil Consequent of Uncleanness.Acts of Chastity in general.Acts of Virginal Chastity.Rules for Widows or Vidual Chastity.Rules for Married Persons, or Matrimonial Chastity.Remedies against Uncleanness.Of Humility.Arguments against Pride, by way of consideration.Acts or Offices of Humility.Means and Exercises for obtaining and increasing the Grace of Humility.Signs of Humility.Of Modesty.Acts and Duties of Modesty, as it is opposed to Curiosity.Acts of Modesty as it is opposed to BoldnessActs of Modesty as it is opposed to Indecency.Of Contentedness in all Estates and Accidents.Instruments or Exercises to procure Contentedness.Means to obtain Content by way of considerations.Poverty or a low fortune.The Charge of many Children.Violent Necessities.Death of Children, or nearest Relatives and Friends.Untimely Death.Death unseasonable.Sudden Death, or Violent.Being Childless.Evil or unfortunate Children.Our own Death.Prayers for the Several Graces and Parts of Christian Sobriety.Chapter III. Of Christian Justice.Of Obedience to Our Superiors.Acts and Duties of Obedience to all our Superiors.Remedies against Disobedience, and Means to endear our Obedience; by way of consideration.Degrees of Obedience.Of Provision, or that part of Justice which is due from Superiors to Inferiors.Duties of Kings, and all the Supreme Power, as Lawgivers.The Duty of Superiors as they are Judges.The Duty of Parents to their Children.Rules for Married Persons.The Duty of Masters of Families.The Duty of Guardians or Tutors.Of Negotiation, or Civil Contracts.Rules and Measures of Justice in Bargaining.Of Restitution.Rules of making Restitution.A Prayer for the Grace of Obedience, to be said by all Persons under Command.A Prayer to be said by Subjects when the Land is invaded and overrun by barbarous or wicked People, enemies of the Religion or the Government.A Prayer to be said by Kings or Magistrates for themselves and their People.A Prayer to be said by Parents for their Children.A Prayer to be said by Masters of Families, Curates, Tutors, or other obliged Persons, for their Charges.A Prayer to be said by Debtors, and all Persons obliged, whether by Crime or Contract.A Prayer for Patron and Benefactors.Chapter IV. Of Christian Religion.Of the internal Actions of ReligionSection I. Of Faith.Signs of true Faith.The Means and Instruments to obtain Faith are,Of the Hope of a Christian.The Acts of Hope are,Rules to govern our Hope.Means of Hope, and Remedies against Despair.Of Charity, or the Love of God.The Acts of Love to God are,The Measures and Rules of Divine Love.Helps to increase our Love to God, by Way of Exercise.The two States of Love to God.Cautions and Rules concerning Zeal.Of the external Actions of Religion.Of reading or hearing the Word of God.Rules for hearing or reading the Word of God.Concerning Spiritual Books and Ordinary Sermons, take in these Advices also.Of Fasting.Rules for Christian Fasting.The Benefits of Fasting.Of keeping Festivals, and Days holy to the Lord; particularly the Lords Day.Rules for keeping the Lords Day and other Christian Festivals.Of Prayer.Motives to Prayer.Rules for the Practice of Prayer.Caution for making Vows.Remedies against Wandering Thoughts in Prayer.Signs of Tediousness of Spirit in our Prayers and all Actions of Religion.Remedies against Tediousness of Spirit.Of Alms.Works of Mercy, or the several Kinds of corporal Alms.Works of Spiritual Alms and Mercy are,Rules for giving Alms.Motives to Charity.Remedies against Unmercifulness and Uncharitableness.Remedies against Anger, by way of consideration.Of Repentance.Acts and Parts of Repentance.Motives to Repentance.Of Preparation to, and the Manner how to receive the holy Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.The Effects and Benefits of Worthy Communicating.A Prayer for the Graces of Faith, Hope, Charity.Acts of Love by way of Prayer and Ejaculation; to be used in private.A Prayer to be said in any Affliction, as Death of Children, of Husband or Wife, in great Poverty, in Imprisonment, in a sad and disconsolate Spirit, and in Temptations to despair.Ejaculations and short Meditations to be used in time of Sickness and Sorrow, or Danger of Death.An Act of Faith concerning the Resurrection and the Day of Judgment, to be said by Sick Persons, or meditated.Short Prayers to be said by Sick Persons.Acts of Hope, to be used by Sick Persons after a pious Life.A Prayer to be said in behalf of a Sick or Dying Person.A Prayer to be said in a Storm at Sea.Then make an Act of Resignation thus:A Form of a Vow to be made in this or the like Danger.A Prayer before a Journey.A Prayer to be said before the hearing or reading the Word of God.A Form of Confession of Sins and Repentance, to be used upon Fasting Days, or Days of Humiliation, especially in Lent, and before the Holy Sacrament.The Prayer.Special Devotions to be used upon the Lords Day, and the great Festivals of Christians.A Prayer to be said on the Feast of Christmas, or the Birth of our blessed Saviour Jesus; the same also may be said upon the Feast of the Annunciation and Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.A Prayer to be said upon our Birth-day, or Day of Baptism.A Prayer to be said upon the Days of the Memory of Apostles, Martyrs, etc.A Form of Prayer recording all the parts and mysteries of Christs Passion, being a short history of it: to be used especially in the week of the Passions, and before the receiving the blessed Sacrament.The Prayer.A Form of Prayer or Intercession for all Estates of People in the Christian church. The parts of which may be added to any other forms; and the whole office, entirely as it lies, is proper to be said in our preparation to the Holy Sacrament, or on the day of celebration.The Manner of using these Devotions by way of Preparation to the receiving of the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper.A Prayer of Preparation or Address to the Holy Sacrament.Ejaculations to be said before or at the receiving the Holy Sacrament.

Jeremy Taylor · 126 of 155

Of Repentance.

, of all things in the world, makes the greatest change: it changes things in heaven and earth; for it changes the whole man from sin to , from vicious habits to holy customs, from unchaste bodies to angelical souls, from swine to philosophers, from drunkenness to sober counsels, and God himself, ‘with whom is no variableness or shadow of change,’ is pleased, by descending to our weak understandings, to say, that he changes also upon man’s , that he alters his decrees, revokes his sentence, cancels the bills of accusation, throws the records of shame and sorrow from the court of heaven, and lifts up the sinner from the grave to life, from his prison to a throne, from hell and the guilt of eternal torture, to heaven and to a title, to never-ceasing felicities. If we be bound on earth, we shall be bound in heaven; if we be absolved here, we shall be loosed there; if we ; God will , and not send the evil upon us which we had deserved.

But is a conjugation and society of many duties; and it contains in it all the parts of a holy life, from the time of our return to the day of our death inclusively; and it hath in it some things specially relating to the sins of our former days, which we now to be abolished by special arts, and have obliged us to special labours, and brought in many new necessities, and put us into a very great deal of danger. And, because it is a duty consisting of so many parts and so much employment, it also requires much time, and leaves a man in the same degree of hope of pardon, as is his restitution to the state of and holy living, for which we in baptism. For we must know, that there is but one in a man’s whole life, if be taken in the proper and strict evangelical sense, and not after the ordinary understanding of the world: that is, we are but once to change our whole state of life, from the power of the devil and his entire possession, from the state of sin and death, from the body of corruption, to the life of , to the possession of Jesus, to the kingdom of the gospel; and this is done in the baptism of water, or in the baptism of the Spirit, when the first rite comes to be verified by God’s coming upon us, and by our obedience to the heavenly calling, we working together with God. After this change, if ever we fall into the contrary state, and he wholly estranged from God and religion, and profess ourselves servants of unrighteousness, God hath made no more of restitution to us; there is no place left for any more , or entire change of condition, or : a man can be but once; and such are voluntary malicious apostates, witches, obstinate impenitent persons, and the life. But if we be overtaken by infirmity, or enter into the marches or borders of this estate and commit a grievous sin, or ten, or twenty, so we be not in the entire possession of the devil, we are, for the present, in a damnable condition if we die; but if we live, we are in a recoverable condition; for so we may often. We or rise from death but once — from sickness many times; and by the of God we shall be pardoned if so we . But our hopes of pardon are just as is the ; which, if it be timely, hearty, industrious, and effective, God accepts; not by weighing grains or scruples but by estimating the great proportions of our life. A hearty endeavour, and an effectual general change shall get the pardon; the unavoidable infirmities and past evils and present imperfections and short interruptions, against which we watch and pray and strive, being put upon the accounts of the cross, and paid for by the holy Jesus. This is the state and condition of : its parts and actions must be valued according to the following rules: