ed, a place of Prayer, which kind of Places were very frequent in Judea, and fome of them continued till Epiphanius's time, as himself afferts; and they were only plots of Ground enclosed with a Wall, and open above, and were ordinarily, if not always upon Mountains, whither the Jews ufed to refort to pray together in great Multitudes. And this feems to be the proper meaning of these words, where our Saviour is faid to go into a Mountain, and to continue all Night, Teod yn F Dev, in one of thofe Profeucha's of God, a place dedicated to his Service. Yet how foever we cannot fuppofe but that he went thither to do what the place whither he went, was defigned for, even to pray. And by confequence, that feeing he ftayed there all Night, queftionless he spent the whole Night in Prayer and Meditation, in order to fo great a Work as the ordaining his Apoftles was.

Here therefore is another Copy which our Mafter Chrift hath fet us to write after, at Leffon that all must learn and practise that would be his Difciples. Though we or dinarily converse with nothing but Dirt and Clay, and with our fellow Worms on Earth, yet as Chrift did, fo fhould we often retire from the Tumults and Buftles of the World, to converse with him that made

us;

up

us; both to praise him for the Mercies we have received, and to pray unto him for what we want;. only we fhall do well to have a care that we do not perform fo folemn a Duty as this is, after a careless and perfunctory manner, because none fees us but God; for his feeing us is infinitely more than if all the World befides fhould fee us, and we must still remember that Prayer is the greatest Work that a Creature can be. engaged in, and therefore to be performed with the greateft ferioufnefs, reverence, and earnestness that poffibly we can raise our Spirits to. And befides our daily Devotions which we owe, and ought to pay to God whenfoever we fet upon any great and weighty Business, we must be sure to follow our Saviour's fteps, in fetting fome time apart, proportionably to the Bufinefs we undertake, wherein to ask God's Counfel, and defire his Direction and Blessing in the most serious and folemn manner that poffibly we can. I need not tell the Reader what benefit we fhall receive by this means, none of us that shall try it but will foon find it by experience.

I fhall obferve only one thing more concerning our Saviour's Devotion, and that is, that although he took all occafions to inftruct or admonifh his Difciples and Followers, whether in the Fields or upon

the

the Mountains, or in private Houses, even wherefoever he could find an opportunity to do it; yet upon the Sabbath-days he always frequented the publick worship of God; he went into the Synagogues, Places appointed for publick Prayers, and reading and hearing of the Word, a thing which I fear many amongst us do not think of, or at least not rightly confider it; for if they did, they would not dare methinks to walk fo directly contrary to our bleffed Saviour in this particular; for St. Luke tells us, that when he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, as his custom was, he went into the Synagogue on the Sabbathday, Luc. iv. 16. From whence none of us but may easily obferve, that our Saviour did not go into a Synagogue, or Church, by the by to fee what they were doing there; neither did he happen to go in by chance upon the Sabbath-day, but it was his cuftom and conftant practice to do fo, even to go each Sabbath-day to the publick Ordinance, there to join with the Congregation in performing their publick Service and Devotions to Almighty God.

AND here I must take leave to fay, that was there no other Law, nor any other Obligations upon us (as there be many) to frequent the publick Worship of God, this Practice and Example of our bleffed Saviour, S

doth

doth fufficiently and effectually oblige us the all, to a conftant attendance upon publick Ordinance. For as we are Chriftians, and profefs our felves to be his Difciples, we are all bound to follow him; he com. mands us here and elsewhere to do it 5 and certainly there is nothing that we can be obliged to follow him in, more than in the manner of his Worfhipping God. And therefore, whofoever out of any humour, fancy or floathfulnefs, fhall prefume to neglect the publick worship of God, he doth not only act contrary unto Chrift's example, but tranfgreffes alfo his Command, that enjoins him to follow that example. What they who are guilty of this will have to answer for themfelves, when they come to ftand before Chrift's Tribunal, I know not. But this I know, that all those who profefs themselves to be Chriftians, fhould follow Chrift in all things that they can, and by confequence in this particular, and that they fin who do not.

BUT in whatsoever other things we may fail, I know the generality of us do herein follow our Saviour's fteps, that we are ufually prefent at the publick worship of God; but then I hope this is not all that we follow him in, but that as we follow him to the publick Ordinances, fo we do likewife in our private Devotions, yea and

in our behaviour both to God and Man. Which that we may the better do, I have endeavoured to fhew wherein especially we ought to follow Chrift, in being obedient to our Parents, fubject to our Governours, lowly to the loweft, loving and charitable unto all; as alfo, in growing in Wisdom and the Knowledge of God, in contemning the World, in devoting our felves wholly to the service of God, in refigning our Wills to his, in loving of him, in trufting on him above all things elfe, in daily praying unto God, and frequenting his publick Ordinances; to which I may alfo add, in denying our felves, and taking up our Crof fes, which himself hath done before us, as well as required of us.

WHAT now remains, but that feeing the fteps wherein our Saviour walked, we fhould all refolve to walk together in them. And I hope that I need not use Arguments to perfuade any to it; it is enough one would think, that Chrift himself, whose name we bear, expects and commands it from us. And in that the fum of all our Religion confifteth in obeying and following Christ, the Circumftances of whose Life are recorded on purpofe that we may imitate him unto the utmoft of our power, not only in the matter but manner of our actions,

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