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A84930
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A friendly letter to all young men who are desirous to live Godly lives, and are true members of the Church of England. Imprimatur Octob. the 5th. 1688. R.M.
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1688
(1688)
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Wing F2222; ESTC R226182
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5,037
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8
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Converse according to St. Pauls Advice Thess 5. 14 15. Warning them that are unruly Comforting the Feeble minded supporting the Weak patient towards all Men seeing that none render Evil for Evil to any man but ever follow that which is Good both among your selves and to all Men and if you are Laugh'd at for your pains Consider that Blesled are they who shall be Reviled for Christs sake you may possibly cast your Pearl before Swine but let them know that mock at Piety what a sad after reckoning they shall have when the judgment shall be set and the Book opened 5th of Wisdom Then says Solomon shall the Righteous Man stand in great boldness before the Face of such as have afflicted him and made no account of his Labours when they see it they shall be troubled with a terrible Fear and shall be amazed at the strangness of this Salvation so far beyond all that they looked for then they Repenting and Groaning for anguish shall say within themselves This is he whom we have had sometimes in Derision and a Proverb of Reproach we Fools counted his Life madness and his End to be without honour how is he Numbred among the Children of God and his Lot is among the Saints Then in Sorrow and Grief of Heart shall they Cry out upon themselves What hath Pride profited us Or what good hath Riches with our vaunting brought us All these things are vanish'd like a shadow and as a Post that passeth by but the Righteous live for evermore their reward also is with the most Highest Intreat them therefore that they stand in aw and Sin not that they Die unto Sin and live unto Righteousness beseeching them to Consecrate the Morning and the youth of their Age to God making them sensible of the Benefit of Reigning over their sinful Desires and Passions beg of them to curb their Anger and Refrain their Lusts Moderate their Joys and watch over their sensual Delights to keep themselves within bounds to Conquer their hatred towards their fellow Christians to grow Eminent in the love of God and to advance in Charity to their Neighbours to kill their Covetousness and surmount the Hills of Pride to keep Holy God's Sabbath and to obey his Laws Tell them that without doing these things they serve not God but themselves and are so far from being Subjects to him that they make themselves professed Servants of the Devil Lay open to them what a Glorious Benefit it is to be a Subject to the King of Heaven and what a Gracious Priviledge to submit to his Laws and become his Servant that this will make them Govern their inordinate Passions and Lusts for all these fleshly Enemies by God's Grace and Assistance shall be put in Subjection under their Feet That he who can do this is a King indeed for it hath been acknowledg'd by all Wife Men in all Ages that he that Conquers these Rebels is a greater Commander than he that lays whole Cities and Countries waste for in subduing these he Acts but according to his Brutish Appetite But in Conquering these inordinate desires he overcomes himself and in that consists the highest perfection of Virtue O tell them therefore that desire either to be happy in this World or in the World to come that they First seek the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and then all other things shall be added unto them Exhorting that they think it not enough to give him the sleepiest hours of the Day while they bestow the lively upon the World for to sin as long as they can and then to turn to God is to play with Religion First to secure our Temporal Interest and then to think of making sure of Everlasting Life is to imagine that God and Death will forbear us till our Old Age although we have given our Youth and tender Years unto the Devil O desire them not to flatter themselves with a fancy that they may go on in Wickedness as well as their Neighbours or the rest of their Companions and yet live to Repent at last for how many alas have been cut off in this Childish stupidity and they know not with how small a Thread the Sword of Justice hangs over their own Heads for though God is Merciful yet he is just and hath a Trumpet of War to affright the sinner from his Wickedness as well as a Scepter of Love to encourage and allure the Good He hath Magazines of Vengeance Store-houses of Curses and can ruin a sinful Creature a Thousand ways and yet how Merry notwithstanding all this is the Drunkard over his Cups and how boldly doth the Swearer send up his dreadful Oaths to Heaven and all this because God is merciful and long suffering But O let them know what a terrible abuse it is to let God's Mercy provoke them to Wantonness and his Patience to cause Sin to live in their Souls that his Goodness should tempt them to be foolish and his Compassion tempt them to affront his Glory that his kindness should prove their Bane and that the Meat he gives them should increase their Corruption that his Corn and Wine should be turn'd into Contempt of his Majesty and that they should make use of the Ease he gives them to fight against his Laws that the Plenty they enjoy by his Providence should Encourage them to make War with him from whence all their Plenty flows O! What monstrous Abuses are here if their Children should serve them so what Plagues would they think too big for them Or ask them if their fellow Servants should recompence their kindnesses thus would they not hate the very sight of them and yet must God put up Affronts which they will not Must he be contented under Scorns and Abuses which they will not take Bid them consider how he waits for their Repentance and perswades them to it Turn ye turn ye saith the Lord your God why will ye dye And yet they frustrate his Clemency he is patient and would have them prevent the blow and yet they are ready to pluck it down on their own Heads O ask them how they dare turn Grace into Wantonness and yet expect to be Applauded at last with a well done thou Good and Faithful Servant Have they not heard of that unprofitable Servant that was delivered to the Tormentors till he should pay even the uttermost Farthing and is not this their Case who make light of God's Anger because he doth not pour it out upon them so soon as their Sins deserve To such the Apostle speaks thus Rom. 2. 1. Therefore art thou inexcusable O Man whosoever thou art that despisest the Richness of his Goodness and forbearance and long suffering not knowing that the Goodness of God leads to Repentance Therefore my beloved Brethren be ye Stedfast Vnmoveable always abounding in the Work of the Lord forasmuch as ye know that your Labour is not in vain in the Lord 1 Cor. 15. 58. I shall Conclude all with the Words of St. Chrysostome To know the Art of Almes is Greater than to be Crowned with the Diadem of Kings and yet to Convert one Soul is greater than to pour out ten thousand Talents into the Basket of the Poor FINIS LONDON Printed for Dan. Brown at the Black Swan and Bible without Temple-Bar 1688.
A Friendly Letter TO ALL YOUNG MEN Who are desirous to live Godly Lives And are True MEMBERS OF THE Church of England Imprimatur Octob. the 5th 1688. R. M. DEarly beloved Brethren and Fellow Members of the Church of England it is to you that I now Write as a Friend and a Brother for I am sure we should be so one to another and our Saviour maketh it the Great visible Badg of Christianity For he saith By this shall all Men know that ye are my Disciples if ye have Love one for another Now to love the Lord our God with all our Hearts and our Neighbours as our selves being the true Foundation of Christianity let us Encourage one another in the practice of the Duty just now mentioned and let us not refuse the hardest and most severe Rules that are prescribed in Order to it Though possibly at first Tryal they may be hard yet custome will make them easie for thus saith Christ My Yoke is easie and my Burthen is light And that you should not only begin but hold also out to the End you must not only do this your selves but Encourage one another to do the same and tho' you have seen by sad Experience that some have begun in the Spirit and ended in the Flesh Yet let not this Discourage you but take your Saviours Advice St. Mat. 10. 22. For he that indureth to the End shall be saved For he tels us in St. Luke 9. 62. No man having set his Hand to the Plow and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God Therefore as ye have begun endeavour to go on from Virtue to Virtue and you that have found the comfort of leading a good Life the Joy and Pleasure of a good Conscience the Advantage and Benefit of frequenting the Sacrament the Comfort and Satisfaction of frequenting the Publick Service of the Church that now see the Odiousness of those Sins that others dote upon the Deformity of those Vices others wallow in You that see the Beauty of that Virtue that others scorn who taste the Charms of that Grace that others Laugh at seeing the reasonableness of Christs Precepts which others count an intollerable Yoke and have some sense of another World while Thousands live as if there were none In a Word you that see the Necessity of Holiness while others make a Mock at it O! let not these Comforts be hid within your Breasts but knowing your selves Converted strengthen your Brethren as it is Commanded St. Luke 22. 32. And that you should all sincerely set about this Duty is the Chief and only design of this Letter And since it is Charity to direct the Blind in his way or if we see our Neighbour in danger of being Robb'd or his House in danger of being Burnt to run and help him is Charity Then certainly it is greater Charity to Instruct the Ignorant by shewing them the right way to Salvation And therefore if you see your Brother or Fellow Servant in danger of being ruined by keeping ill Company or their Souls in danger of Hell Fire by Prophaning God's Sabbath Neglecting his Laws and forsaking his Commandments to help such by Godly Advice and good Example must be a far greater deed of Charity and your Duty too For thus saith the Lord Levit. 19. 17. Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thy Heart Thou shalt in any wise Rebuke thy Neighbour and not suffer Sin upon him Be not guilty of this great Crime upon what pretence soever But Exhort one another daily while it is called to Day least any of you be hardned through the Deceitfulness of Sin as Heb. 3. 13. Knowing that he which Converteth a Sinner from the Errours of his ways shall save a Soul from Death and shall hide a multitude of Sins Epist of St James 5. 20. and that you may do this regularly and in order take our Saviours Advice Mat. 7. 5. First cast the Beam out of thine own Eye then thou mayest see clearly to cast out the Mote which is in thy Brothers Eye And if a man be overtaken in a fault restore him in the Spirit of meekness Gal. 6. 1. and build him up again in the Lord. All the Texts almost of Holy Scripture point to this Duty either by Exhorting or Commanding us to set about this necessary Work First To lead Good Lives our selves and then to Encourage others to do the same It is not Controversie that I exhort you to nor to meddle much with those of another Perswasion for that is the Ministers Work but this is your one thing needful to meddle with those that own the same Church and Profess the same Faith and yet Act contrary to it in their Lives and Conversations Put these in mind of their Baptismal Vow how they then Promis'd to Renounce the World the Flesh and the Devil and yet live within the Embraces of them all that they dare blame others for their unbelief while they live like Atheists themselves that they dare condemn others for their separation from the Church when their own Lives and Conversations are quite contrary to the worthy Doctrine thereof That they dare Reproach others for want of seriousness when they live loose Lives themselves and consequently are so far from remembring their Creator in the Days of their Youth that they live in almost all manner of sins But intreat them to take the wise Mans Counsel Eccles 5. 7. That they make no tarrying to turn to the Lord God and put it not off from Day to Day Put them in mind of the great Benefit of a Holy Life and early Piety and what a Pleasure it will be when they come to die to look back upon a well spent Life and you that have already tasted those Joys which are the products of a good Conscience and the Pleasures of a good Life and Godly Conversation be not afraid to encourage others to do the same but since you see that wicked Men take such pains to serve their Lusts to please their appetites and gratifie their Senses why should not you take some pains also to serve your God to advance his Glory yea and to Encourage others likewise to do the same and if there be but two in a Street that intend really to serve God to frequent the Sacrament and Prayers of the Church let them make it their business to Encourage two more to do the same and let your Prayers be frequent and servent to God that he would increase the Number of True Believers and that it would please him to bring into the way of Truth all such as have Erred and are Deceived O Brethren if you would have God Honoured and his Laws obeyed set about this work and let men see you are of the best Religion by your living or the best Lives and as our Reverend Divines are not wanting in Publick do you take care to do it in Private and especially to those with whom you have free liberty to