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A69130 The Christian mans walke with the most regardable and remarkable steppes thereof, the true rule according to which, and manner how we must walke: shewing the infallible properties of the children of light. Newly published by the author Nathanael Cole, Preacher at S. Leonards Bromley in Middlesex, on the backside of Stratford-Bow neere London. Cole, Nathaniel, 1584 or 5-1626. 1624 (1624) STC 5534; ESTC S115975 148,624 710

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such a moderation of our affections and passions there is no true faith Thus wee must bring forth the fruits of repentance being changed in our minds laying aside the purpose of sinning resoluing by Gods grace to sinne no more and being heartily sory for offending so good a God and so for obedience to endeauour in the vse of all good meanes to performe it from all the powers and parts both of soule and body and where this is in trueth there will follow a change in the will thoughts and affections and all the actions of our life For they that are Christs haue crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Galat. 5. 24. Thirdly They must all be entire and totall not partiall Thus wee must beleeue all that the Prophets haue spoken Luk. 24. 25. Repentance must bee of all sinne or else of none wee must not haue a dispensation for any one sinne and obedience must bee totall to the whole will of God in yeelding cheerefull obedience to euery commandement without partialitie For he that breaketh one Commandement is guilty of all Iam. 2. 10. Therefore Christ saith Yee are my friends if ye doe not some things but whatsoeuer I commaund you Iohn 15. 14. And as Paul saith This is our proofe whether wee be obedient in all things 2. Cor. 2. 9. Fourthly All must bee voluntary with a cheerefull and willing minde nothing violent will last long Thus Gods children are described to bee voluntaries Thy people O Lord shall come willingly at the time of assembly Psal 110. 3. Dauid gaue Salomon this counsell to serue GOD namely in the whole course of his seruice and in all the parts of his worship whereof Faith Repentance and New Obedience are chiefe with a willing minde 1. Chron. 28. 9. Thus did Dauid himselfe delight to doe Gods will Psalm 40. 8. and it was our Sauiours meate and drinke to doe his Fathers will Iohn 4. 34. Thus doe the Angels in heauen who are described to haue wings to shew their speede alacrity willingnes and cheerefulnesse in doing Gods will and wee must bee like them Some beleeue but it is onely for a time and in time of temptation fall away such a faith was neuer willingly so neuer sound Some rep●●t o● rather seeme to repent and to leaue sinne when sinne leaues them when in regard of opportunity or feare or age or some such like respect they cannot commit sinne yet they regard sinne in heart This is no sound repentance and so for obedience many performe a constrained obedience as the deuils wicked Church-Papists and the like and so no sound obedience and thus though grace bee imperfect and full of many infirmities as no grace can be perfect in this life yet if there bee in vs a willing minde it is accepted according to that a man hath 2. Cor. 8. 12. Thus with the Corinthians We must beleeue repent and obey and not onely beginne to doe but to be forward and to haue a readinesse as to will so to performe 2. Corinth 8. verses 10. 11. Fiftly All the former graces that they may be sound must bee accompanied with a good conscience without this all our Faith Repentance and Obedience are but counterfeit Thus wee must indeuour alwayes to haue a conscience void of offence toward God and men Acts 24. 16. that wee may truly say with Paul I haue liued in all good conscience before God vntill this day Acts 23. 1. Thus Saint Peter saith Wee must haue a good conscience 1. Pet. 3. 16. This good conscience is such as hath no manner of purpose to liue in any one sinne whatsoeuer but is resolued to please GOD in all the wayes of his Commaundements and that continually and it doth excuse not accuse On the contrary the bad conscience is when a man resolueth to cherish or purposeth to liue in any one sinne whatsoeuer Thus Paul counselleth to keepe faith and a good conscience from which good conscience some haue erred and as concerning faith for it was but a temporary and counterseit faith haue made shipwracke 1. Tim. 1. 19. Wee must hold the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience 1. Tim. 3. 9. Thus the end of the Commandement is loue out of a pure heart and a good conscience and faith vnfained c. 1. Tim. 1. 5. 6. in which place it is plain that a pure heart a good conscience and a sound faith are three inseparable companions neither is it possible one to bee without the other so for Repentance and Obedience yea the whole seruice of God must bee with a good conscience as Paul saith My God whom I serue from my forefathers with pure conscience 2. Timoth. 1. 3. Wee must haue a good conscience in all things Hebr. 13. 18. that wee may say in all these how I beleeue repent and obey my conscience beares mee witnesse Rom. 9. 1. Lastly All must be sound in Continuance It is no sound grace to beleeue for a time and in time of temptation to fall away It is not to seeme to repent to hang down the head like a bulrush for a day and to looke heauily and to doe some good things by fits and afterward to returne to the former vomit of our sinnes but wee must be faithful vnto the death Reu. 2. 10. by liuing continually to our liues end in Faith Repentance and new Obedience Wee must bee stedfast in the faith 1. Pet. 5. 9. Wee must stand fast in the faith 1. Cor. 16 13. Wee must continue in the faith grounded and setled c Coloss 1. 23. So for Repentance it must bee daily renewed increased and continued for this cause our Sauiour Christ so often vrgeth the duty of repentance vpon the Churches in the Reuelation Chapt. 2. and 3. signifying the continuance and daily renewing of it though they had repented before and great reason it should bee thus because so long as wee liue wee sinne daily For there is not a iust man that doth good and sinneth not Eccles 7. 20. therefore wee must repent daily so for Obedience we must with the Philippians alwayes obey and still worke out our saluation with feare and trembling Philipp 2. 12. passing the whole time of our soiourning here in feare 1. Pet. 1. 17. and finishing our sanctification in the feare of God 2. Cor. 7. 1. And herein let this bee well obserued that where any grace is begun if it bee in truth it is constant if it fades away it was neuer true Therefore this was Pauls perswasion Being confident of this very thing that God who hath begun a good worke in vs will performe or finish it vntill the day of Iesus Christ Philipp 1. 6. Thus haue I shewed plainly wherein the soundnesse of these graces consist and that I may vse Pauls words this is sound doctrine Tit. 1. 9. both to exhort and conuince the gainesayers Thus haue I spoken that which becomes sound doctrine Tit. 2. 1. where wee are exhorted to bee
and the saluation of our brethren like to bee hindred wee must for a time lay aside meeknesse and bee inflamed with Zeale that wee may say with Dauid The zeale of thine house hath euen consumed vs. Psalm 69. 9. Wee are redeemed to bee a peculiar people zealous of good workes Titus 2. 14. This zeale is the feruency of the spirit arising partly of loue partly of anger Of loue causing vs eagerly and earnestly to maintaine Gods worship both in our selues and others Of anger moouing vs to griefe and anger when wee see God dishonoured It is of that nature that it cannot beare with them which are euill which was the commendation of the Church of Ephesus Reuel 2. 2. And Saint Paul saith It is a good thing to bee zealously affected alwayes in a good thing Galat. 4. 18. Vse 1 First This reprooues all those who are too remisse in this dutie either not reproouing at all or if they doe it is coldly sparingly negligently or else being neither hot nor cold but luke-warme Innumerable are the sinnes committed daily but where is the man that zealously reprooues it the party offending seldome or neuer heares of it But cursed be hee that doth Gods worke negligently Ier. 48. 10. True zeale will haue his vent Iob 32. 18 19. Secondly This condemnes the preposterous zeale in a number which is a bad zeale proceeding neither from faith repentance nor knowledge as the zeale of Iehu 2. King 10. 16. to 29. 31. so a number are so precise as a man must doe nothing not so much as laugh but they are ready to finde fault they know not for what euen condemning them to the pit of hell for trifles I might instance in many particulars wherein these curious rash bold-hardy fooles shew their preposterous zeale a man must feed their humour and doe nothing but as they do and be of the same hew as they are of say as they say doe as they doe or else we are worse then naught according to their censure but they being so absurd and ridiculous I forbeare yea I am ashamed almost to name them This onely I say to all such They straine at a gnat and swallow a camwell Matth. 23. 24. They turne aside to vaine iangling for want of true loue a pure heart a good conscience and faith vnfained desiring to be teachers but vnderstanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirme 1. Tim. 1. 5 6 7. They zealously affect you but not well c. Gal. 4. 17. And I will beare them record they haue a zeale but not according to knowledge Rom. 10. verse 2. Eleuenthly We must reprooue Profitably that is so as it may be best for Gods glory and the good of our brethren it must be for to winne and gaine them Matth. 18. It must be to bring them to repentance and to winne them to the faith wee must alwayes propound this end in our reproofes for the end of reproofe is to bring men to repentance and then reproofe ceaseth We must not seeke our owne profit but the profit of many that they may bee saued 1. Cor. 10. 33. Rebuke them sharpely that they may be sound in the faith Tit. 1. 13. We must reprooue with doctrine 2. Tim. 4. 2. Now all Scripture is giuen by inspiration from God and is profitable for reproofe correction c. 2. Tim. 3. 16. And forasmuch as we are zealous of spirituall gifts of which I spake before we must seeke that we may excell to the edifying of the Church 1. Cor. 14. 12. We must speake with vnderstanding that we may teach others Vers 19. Let all things be done to edifying Vers 26. if all things then reproofe Vse This reprooues diuers sorts of people which I will onely name 1. Those that reprooue others in that nature as they bring them to desperation 2. Parents and Masters who prouoke vnto wrath and so to discouragement as Saul to Ionathan 1. Sam. 33. 34. Againe this condemnes all such as are in place of Magistracie I say not all but those that abuse this censure Ecclesiasticall for their owne gaine excommunicating for euery trifle whereas this beeing a maine part of spirituall Iurisdiction ought to bee vsed with great conscience reuerence care and consideration Lastly we must reprooue Impartially that is without partiallity or respect of persons either for feare fauour affection or any other sinister respect This partality is a great hinderance to effectuall reproofe and respecting of persons either makes vs altogether neglect it or to doe it by halfes whereas wee must doe it faithfully in the feare of God and with a perfect heart 2. Chron. ●9 9. which place ought to bee obserued of Magistrates in place of authority especially when they sit in the seate of iustice Wee may bee said to bee partiall either in regard of our selues or others In regard of our selues when wee can be content to reprooue some sinnes in our selues but not other the smaller but not the greater and herein many are iniqui Iudices partiall Iudges who will not lay the greater matters to their charge lest they should cōdemne themselues but wee must know for a truth that God will admit no dispensation for any one sinne bee it great or small In regard of others when wee so regard mens persons as we will reprooue some but dare not others some sinnes in them and not others which proceedes many times from this that wee are guilty of the same sinnes our selues But Saint Iames saith Haue not the faith of our Lord Iesus Christ with respect of persons which if yee doe are ye not partiall Iam. 2. 1 2 3 4. I confesse there must bee a due respect had vnto men according to their place and calling as our equals must be reprooued by friendly admonition Superiours as Magistrates and Ministers with submisse exhortation Those that offend of infirmity with gentle and affectionate perswasions not alwayes to vse cutting and searing but mollifying ointments and mundifying waters Those that are more refractary to do with sharpe reprehension and Inferiours as occasion shall serue to vse due correction But so to regard any mans person as either not to reprooue at all or to doe it partially is flat against the word This ought Ministers especially to looke into Cry aloud and spare not Esa 58. 1. we must not feare the faces of any nor winke at sinne in any This partiall reproofe was in Eli to his sonnes honouring his sonnes more than God And thus much for the Manner of reproofe Quest But it may bee asked Is this kind of reproofe alwaies necessary Answ Except in these cases First if wee are ignorant of the fault either hauing no certaine knowledge or at least a credible information Secondly if wee see our reproofe will doe hurt or no good Thirdly if the party to bee reprooued repents Fourthly if he doth promise speedily to amend Fiftly if it may better by others be done Sixtly if another time will serue