Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A58125
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The Christian monitor containing an earnest exhortation to an holy life, with some directions in order thereto : written in a plain and easie style, for all sorts of people.
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Rawlet, John, 1642-1686.
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1686
(1686)
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Wing R347A; ESTC R32275
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44,028
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60
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overcome evil by doing of good If another strike us we may not strike again if he rail upon us and revile us we must not return the same ill Language but either by silence or by gentle and soft answers endeavour to appease his wrath For the Rule is not to deal with others as they deal with me but as I in reason desire to be dealt with and another Man's fault will not excuse mine If he do me an injury I must not be judge in my own Cause nor take upon me to revenge it but in weighty Cases may fly to the Magistrate for relief But upon no account whatever may we bear any grudge or hatred in our Hearts against any Man though never so wicked or never so much our enemy but we must pity him and pray for him that God would give him a better mind If ever we hope to find mercy with God and have our trespasses forgiven we must forgive those that offend us as we learn from the Lord's Prayer and many most plain places of Scripture See Matth. 5. 44 c. Matth. 18. 21. to the end Rom. 12. 14. to the end We must shew meekness and gentleness to all men and never willingly say or do any thing to provoke another to anger nor should we be easily provoked but very easily appeased and reconciled It 's very sad to consider what wretched and miserable Lives many of the poorer sort lead by their continual brawling and scolding quarrelling and contending with one another and sometimes when they have scarce Money to buy Bread they 'l throw it away in vexatious Law-Suits meerly out of Spite and Revenge And the People of this Rank ought especially to beware of envying those that are in better Condition than themselves We ought to have that true kindness and good will for all Men that we should be glad of their prosperity though we our selves be in affliction as on the other hand we ought to have great compassion for those in misery though we be in prosperity And let such that are in want take heed that their Necessities put them upon no unlawful Course for their Relief Particularly beware of stealing any thing though of a small value By degrees it 's to be feared you will go on to greater matters and so may bring your selves to shame and punishment in this World as well as that to come The best way to avoid this is to be very diligent in your lawful Calling as the Apostle directs in that place before named Eph. 4. 28. If you are not able to work it 's lawful to beg But by no means betake your selves to this lazy unprofitable Life of begging if you are able to subsist by any other lawful course He that will not work when he can deserves not to eat But rather than either steal or starve you may seek for Relief from your Neighbour's Charity But do not go about to deceive him by borrowing what you know you are never like to pay for this is downright cheating Rather deal plainly and make known your Necessities If you trust in God and do your duty he will take care of you And though you may be in straits sometimes yet still you will find a supply And to prevent your poverty let me especially warn you against that common bruitish sin of Drunkenness which brings both this and many other mischiefs along with it as I have before told you Indeed it hinders every thing that 's good and leads Men into all manner both of sin and misery This Vice it is that makes more Beggars than any other cause Wherefore if you have any regard to your Families any love to Soul or Body avoid all riot and excess Eat and drink moderately as may tend to keep you best in health and make you most fit for the service of God and your own Callings And lastly beware of that filthy sin of Whoredom which very often goes along with Drunkenness and as often brings the curse of God both upon Men's Bodies and Estates And to keep you innocent avoid idleness as well as intemperance And flie from all lewd and wicked company where you are in danger of being enticed and ensnared and do not so much as allow your selves in any unclean thoughts or desires nor in filthy Discourses or in any wanton carriage and behaviour For the preventing of all wickedness in this kind God hath allowed Marriage which is said to be honourable in all but Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge Hib. 13. 4. Wherefore let them who are in that state keep strictly true to their Marriage Vow And all both Married and Single preserve both Body and Soul so chast and pure that the holy Spirit of God may now dwell in their hearts and they may be fit to dwell for ever in the presence of the most holy God And thus I have briefly given you an account wherein consists that holiness of life to which all Christians are obliged by the Precepts of our Blessed Saviour and by their Baptismal Vow which binds them to keep his Precepts and to follow his Example who himself lived in the same holy manner that he taught and hath commanded all that say they abide in him to walk as he walked 1 Joh. 2. 6. The summ of all you have in few words which the Gospel teaches even that we should deny ungodliness and all wordly lusts and live soberly righteously and piously in the World Tit. 2. 11 12. And now let me again beseech you seriously to consider whether it has been your care to live such holy and good lives yea or no. And whereinsoever your Conscience does accuse you that you have neglected the duties God has commanded or committed those sins which he hath forbidden do you humbly acknowledge and confess the same to Almighty God with true godly sorrow for the same earnestly begging Mercy and Pardon for Christs sake who dyed on the Cross for sinners and through whom all that confess and forsake their sins shall find mercy Wherefore do you henceforward resolve by his Grace that you will forsake your sins and amend your lives and make it your chief business to keep Consciences void of offence toward God and Man not allowing your selves in any known sin nor in the wilful neglect of any known Duty Do not object against this and say that it is impossible to lead such an holy Life For thousands in the World of all Ranks and Conditions have done it in all Ages by the assistance of God's Grace which you shall never want if you seek it earnestly and improve it diligently And though there may at first be some difficulty in leaving an ill course yet by degrees it will grow easie and you will then find nothing so sweet and pleasant as Religion and Vertue And do not I beseech you fancy that it is not for poor people to think of being so Religious and godly that this is only for the Rich who have
they would venture upon it And indeed it sinks them thither as naturally as a stone falls to the ground Even here on earth the proud and covetous the malicious and revengeful the profane and sensual do kindle somewhat of Hell in their own Souls and whilst they carry along with them the same wicked temper of mind it must still needs make them most wretched and miserable in another World as long as ever their Souls live and these vices stick to them that is to all eternity Let not him that carries fire in his bosom accuse Gods providence for making the fire hot when he feels it burn him but let him blame his own folly and wilfullness And so must self-condemned sinners be forced to do And now tell me I beseech you Is there not all the reason in the World that you should speedily repent you of your sins and cast them from you with loathing and detestation and henceforward set upon a course of serious holiness that so you may escape all this misery threatned to the wicked and may partake of that glory which is promised to the pious and good Does not a thousand pound a year deserve the labour of one day And will not all the joys of Heaven that shall last for ever and ever abundantly reward our diligence in Gods service for this short life time And are not the eternal torments of Hell enough to restrain Men from a loose and sinful life though it were never so profitable or pleasant here for a little while But you have before heard it fully proved that even at present an holy life is in all respects most for our benefit and comfort So that without doubt a good Man finds more sweetness and satisfaction in the way to Heaven than sinners do in the way to Hell Our gracious God appoints us an easie and honourable service and gives glorious rewards But the Devil is a most cruel Master and sets his slaves to the vilest drudgery and afterward paies them very sad wages Rom. 6. 21 22 23. Whether then will you be Christ's freemen or the Devil's bondslaves Whether will you walk in the good ways of God that bring peace and comfort here on Earth and eternal glory in Heaven or in the crooked paths of sin which now bring sorrow and shame and pain and hereafter will plunge you into eternal misery and torment in Hell Thus are life and death happiness and misery set before you What choice then will you make One would think there was no great difficulty in the case to a Man that has the use of his reason if he will at all make use of it in the affairs of his Soul A little thinking serves turn to convince Men that there is no reason why they should chuse poverty and reproach pain and imprisonment if they can honestly avoid them rather than Riches and Honour ease and liberty But I am sure there is a thousand times less reason for a Man to disobey God and damn his Soul for ever rather than to please and serve him and to make sure of eternal Salvation Wherefore let me again beseech you to take the matter into consideration and think seriously what is most reasonable and most for your own interest and then chuse accordingly And I pray God direct your hearts to make so wise a choice that you may never have cause to repent of it either in this World or that to come Amen CHAP. II. A brief description of an holy life with some short Directions in order thereto IF you now demand of me wherein consists this Holiness of life to which I have been thus long and earnestly exhorting you that I hope you may in some measure understand by reflecting on what I said at the beginning and by attending to what I have intimated all along my Discourse Yet for your assistance I shall somewhat more plainly represent it to you though but very briefly as no other can be expected in this little Paper In the general then as I have before exprest it I am only perswading you to live as becomes true Christians according to your Baptismal Vow in the keeping of which consists your Christianity Now by your Baptism you are engaged to believe in and obey God the Father the son and the Holy Ghost You must sincerely and heartily own God the Father as your maker and Preserver the son of God as your Redeemer and the Holy Ghost as your Sanctifier Guide and Comforter And accordingly must you behave your self both in heart and life And therefore you must renounce the Devil the World and the Flesh which would draw you off from God and must stedfastly believe the Articles of your Christian Faith and carefully keep Gods holy will and commandments all the days of your life Your faith is required in order to obedience For if you do not believe Christ's Gospel you are not like to obey it In these two things then consists the Religion of a Christian to which he is engaged by his Baptism viz. in Believing what Jesus Christ hath revealed and in doing what he hath commanded In short he is a good Christian who does firmly believe his Creed and carefully keep the Commandments The doctrines which we are to believe are indeed more largely and fully delivered in the Holy Scriptures which were written by Men inspired by the Holy Ghost and accordingly ought to be received as the word of God and to be diligently read and stedfastly believed But the chief articles of the Christian Faith are briefly sum'd up in that which we call the Apostles Creed I believe in God the Father c. This I hope you are well acquainted with it being so short and plain and daily repeated in the Church Service and therefore I shall not set it down at large And this also I hope you do believe to be most true You would take it ill if I should question your belief of the Creed without which you are not to be reckoned as Christians But let me advise you to consider seriously and frequently of these great truths contained in the Creed that you may more clearly understand them and be more affected with them And pray see that your belief of them be very firm and deep-rooted in your Soul that so the fruit of your faith may appear in the holiness of your life Without this the bare knowing of the Creed and repeating it never so often will stand us in no stead For as I told you obedience is the end of Faith And all the Articles of our Belief do most plainly tend to make us holy and good if we will but carefully attend to them and consider well of them To shew it in few words If we bâ—â—ieve that God the Father Almighty made us and all the World then are we bound to love and honour him to worship and obey him as our maker and preserver who is Almighty in Power infinite in Wisdom goodnes and all manner