desperate danger testified with feasting before God with joy and gladness sending Presents to our friends and Portions to the needy 1 Chron. 16. 8 Chap. 29. 10 11. Neh. 8 10. Hest 9. 22. G God is a Spirit infinite eternal and unchangeable in his being wisdom power holiness justice goodness and truth Iohn 4. 24. Iob 11. 7 8 9. Psal 90. 2. Ia. 1. 17. Exod. 3. 14. Psal 147. 5. Revel 4. 8. Chap. 15. 4. Ex. 34. 6 7. H Holy Ghost is a true and co-eternal God with the eternal Father and the Son and is given to me to make me through a true faith partaker of Christ and all his benefits to comfort me and to abide nigh me for ever Phil. 5. 7. Gen. 1. 2. Is 48. 16. 1 Cor. 3 26. Chap. 6. 19. Acts 5. 34. Gal. 4. 6. Mal. 23. 19 20. 2 Cor. 1. 22. Gal. 3 14. Acts 9. 31. Iohn 14. 16. 1 Pet. 4. 14. Iohn 15. 26. I Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who in time became Man for his Elect Gal. 4. 4. Institution is an Act of Gods free Grace wherein he pardoneth all our sins and accepteth us as righteous in his sight onely for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone Rom. 3. 24 25. Chap 4. 6 7 8. 2 Cor. 5. 19. 21. Rom. 5. 17 18 19. Gal. 2. 16. Phil. 3. 9. M Mortification is that grace whereby our natural corruption is subdued and vivification or quickning is that grace too wherby inherent holiness is renewed in us Ephe. 4. 22 23. Rom. 6. 4. 11. 13. Col 2. 12. O Obedience now is a careful endeavour to give unfeigned obedience to all Gods commands according to that measure of strength wherewith God doth enable us Luke 16. 74 75. 1 Pet. 4. 2. 5. 1 Iohn 3. 3. Ch. 5. 3. P Petition is a prayer wherein we desire the preventing or removing things hurtful and the obtaining of things needful either for this life or that which is to come Isa 37. 20. Mat. 6. 13. Psal 6. 1. to 5. Prayer is an offering up of our desires to God for things agreeable to his will in the name of Christ with confession of our sins and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies Psal 62. 8. 1 Io. 5. 14. Io. 10 23. Psal 32. 5 6. Dan. 9. 4. Phil. 4. 6. Gods Providence is his most wise holy and powerful preserving and governing of all his creatures and all their actions Psal 145. 17. Psal 104. 24 Isa 28. 29. Heb. 1. 3. Psal 103. 19. Matt. 10. 29. to 31. R Reconciliation is that grace whereby we are freed from Gods curse and restored to his fatherly favour Rom 3. 10. 2 Cor. 5. 8 9. Eph. 2 16. Col. 2. 21. Repentance is a saving grace whereby a sinner out of a true sence of his sin and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ doth with grief and hatred of his sin turn from it unto God with full purpose of and endeavour after new obedience Acts 11. 18. Ch. 2. 37 38. Icel 2. 12 Ier. 3. 32. Ch. 31. 18. 19. Ezek. 36. 31. 1 Cor. 7. 11. Isa 1. 16 17. S A Sacrament is an holy Ordinance instituted by Christ wherein by sensible signs Christ and the benifits of the new Covenant are represented sealed and applied to believers Gen. 17. 7. 10. Exod. 12. 1 Cor. 11. 23. 26. Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God 1 Iohn 3. 4. The Soul is the inward and spiritual part of Man which is mortal and never can dye Eccle. 12. 7. Mat. 10. 28. 2 Cor. 5. 8. Revel 6. 9. The Supper of the Lord is a Sacrament wherein by giving and receiving bread and wine according to Christs appointment his death is shewed forth and the worthy receivers are not after of a corporal and carnal manner but by faith made partakers of his body and blood with all his benefits to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace 1 Cor. 11. 23. to 27. Ch. 10. 16. Sanctification is the work of Gods free Grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God and are enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness 2 Th. 2. 13. Eph. 4. 23 24. Rom. 6. 4. 6. T Thanksgiving is a prayer wherein we render thanks to God for his general goodness and particular favours 1 Sam. 2. 1 Psal 136. 1. Psal 103. 1. to 6. V A Vow religious is a solem promise unto God made by a fit person of some lawfull thing which is in his choice to restifie his love and thankfulness Deut. 23. 21 22. Psal 116. 12. W The word of God is the holy Scriptures imediatly inspired which is contained in the Books of the Old and New Testament 2 Tim. 3. 16. FINIS THE Faithful SHEP HEARD Guiding his Flock in a way of walking with God dayly CHAP. I. INdeavour to be sensible of thy original corruption dayly how it inclines thee to evill and indisposeth thee to good groan under it and bewail it as Paul did Rom. 7 24. tkâ—e special notice of your actual sins or dayly infirmities in thought word and deed Indeavour to make your peace with God for them two waies I. By repenting them and confessing them to God working your heart to grieve for them by some melting considerations as of Gods goodness to you thy unreasonableness and unprofitableness of sin the prejudice and damage thereof to the soul 1 Iohn 1. 9. II. By believing or casting your self wholly on Christs righteousness for the remission therof and reconciliation with God Rom. 3. 22 to 26. Cleaving to Gods promises of pardon and peace Isa 43. 25. Rom. 5. 1. waiting til the Lord shal speak to you Psal 85. 8. CHAP. II. GEt your union with and interest in Christ cleared and confirmed to you dayly more and more that you are a branch in his vine a member in his body 2 Cor. 13. 5. This may be done three waies I. By the dayly renewal of your faith in Christ especially of that act of faith whereby the soul knits or ties it self unto Christ casts or roules it self upon Christ for salvation Cause your heart in a solemn manner every day to act this part or put forth this primitive act of faith in view of the whole soul The dayly exercise hereof will increase and strengthen the divine habit of faith in the soul and make the soul sensible of the very act of it by frequent believing you shall feel at your very heart that you do believe so shall you have a witness in your self that you are in Christ 1 Iohn 5. 10. II. By examining your heart upon what grounds you take Christ to be yours and they are five 1. A fight and sence of your sins of the guilt power and punishment of them of your misery by them Matt. 9. 13. 2. Your want of Christ seen and felt at your very heart to justifie sanctifie redeem and save
unwilling to do good that 's worst but some are willingly willing and that 's best 'T is not so much a mercy to have wherewithall to do good as to do good with what we have No man but he hath received more good than he hath done and hath done more evill than he hath first suffered and therefore should be content though he receive but little good and not discontent though he suffer much evill The good which we receive is not for our own sake and the good which we do is not by our own power it s the mercy of God that moves him to do any thing for us and that enables us to do any thing for him A man should not omit good when he hath nor commit evil though he have an opportunity to do it Inward goodness without an outward shew of it is like a tree without fruit useless And outward shews of goodness without inward sincerity is like a tree without heart liveless Goods Wicked men have their goods from the will of God but the Saints have theirs from the good will of God Men are not more happy in having more goods but in doing more good than other men Godliness a Mystery Though the mystery of godliness be not without great controversies yet great without controversie is the mystery of godliness Men that resolve to make gain their godliness will never gain godliness unless they resolve counter to make godliness their gain Some men instead of making godliness their greatest pleasure and gain make gain and pleasure their greatest godliness Gold a vanity Gold is a solid well compacted and weighty metall and yet gold not onely leaf gold or light gold but gold that 's weighty is lighter than vanity Glory In this life the glory of heaven is but revealed to us but in the life to come it shall be revealed in us The glory of all our hereafter glory will be an oneness of communion with the Father Son and Spirit Angels and one another in God who is one in all and all in one Glorifie We cannot be said to glorifie God though we do the things that glorifie him unless we do the things to glorifie him Gospel The Gospel discovers a just God to be a friend to unjust man without being unjust either to himself or man The Gospel of peace is a great blessing but the peace of the Gospel is a greater blessing The Gospel breaks hard hearts and heals broken hearts Grace One grain of grace is more worth than many pounds of gifts or a gift of many pounds Grace makes a man more a man and more than a man Grace is glory begun and glory is grace made perfect Seeing God will turn grace into our glory hereafter we should turn grace into his glory here The motions of grace are abundantly more excellent than the notions of grace That can never be a grace to the body which is a disgrace to the soul There are promises of grace and there are promises to grace The promises of grace are made good by working the grace of the promise in the soul But the promises to grace are not made good till the grace to which the promise is made be acted by the soul Grace out-works and works out sin in Saints Grace is the best wear for it wears not out in wearing all other things perish in the using The God of all grace and all the grace of God is engaged to keep the Saints to eternal life We may well wait for the Lords grace seeing the Lord waits to be gratious 'T is one thing to be wanting in grace 't is another thing to want grace All Saints have all grace in some degree but few have all grace in an high degree Going on in grace is a kind of growing in grace for growing in grace is not so much a new thing as the same thing renewed 't is acting the same graces over and over and better and better Abounding is growing in grace What could God do more for us than accept us of his grace and what less could God require of us than to accept of his grace Men may speak of grace unto us but God onely can speak grace into us Saving grace is everlasting grace A Saint feels the grace which he cannot express an Hypocrite expresseth the grace which he doth not feel The meanes of grace is but a mean thing if compar'd with grace which is the main thing There may be an omission but never an amission of grace A Saint doth not desire grace onely that he may be glorified but that he may glorifie God not onely that he may be saved but that he may be sanctified Greatness and goodness Goodness without greatness is better than greatnsss without goodness 'T is not mans goodness but Gods goodness which makes a difference betwixt man and man To be very great and very good is a very great good H Heart A thankful heart for all Gods blessings is the greatest of all blessings That mans heart can be but seldome pure whose tongue is often impure for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh Some men set their hearts on that on which God would that they set onely their feet viz. the earth We have alas but too often our hearts to seek when we come to seek God whom we should seek and serve with all our hearts When the heart is upright with God he accounts all as well done as if all were not well done yea he looks on that as done which was never done The hearts of Saints are larger than their words but the words of Hypocrites are larger than their hands God brings his people into various conditions that they may know what is in their hearts towards him and what is in his heart towards them Worldly Happiness Corn and Wine and Oyle is the worldlings happiness and but a worldly happiness for when the world is at an end happiness it at an end with them Hatred Love The Devil doth not nay the Devil cannot hate a Saint so much as God loves a Saint Heaven While the Saints are on earth Christ is preparing heaven for them and them for heaven If we doe not find that in heaven which we did imagine yet we shall find more than we did imagine Helping-hand It many times falls out that that hand is farthest off from helping that is neerest at hand to help the helpless Holy Saints strive to be holy as God is holy they know they cannot be as holy as God is holy Holiness Our holiness causeth not Gods love but Gods love causeth our love A Christian should not onely be perfecting holiness but we should also be perfect in holiness He that loves not holiness in the seed time of his life cannot expect to reap happiness in the harvest of eternity Hope Patience A Christian should possess his soul in the patience of hope untill his soul possess that which he hath patiently hoped for Honour To deserve
cross Psal 50 15. and together with the thing cast all your care fear sorrow and trouble of mind about it wholly upon the Lord Matt 6 31. 1 Pet 5 7 Psal 55 22. IV. Renew your faith in those promises every day which most concerns your present state As 1. In promises of supplyes if you be in want Psal 34 8. Psal 37 3. Ps 84 11. Matt 6 30. 2 Of direction if in doubts Iam 1 5. 3. Of deliverance if in trouble Iob 5. 19. Of a good end and ductified use of all Deut 8 16. James 5 11. Rom 8 28. Heb 12 10. V. Lastly labour to see Gods hand Psal 34 9. Believe Gods love Heb 12 6. Rev 3 19. and with all meekness patience to resign up your self wholly to Gods will in every affliction Maâ—t 2â— 39. CHAP. VII GEt and keep a savory relish continually of your Christian priviledges wherewith you are invested as you are new creatures in Christ more especially of these six I. Of your dignity that you are Gods Sons 1 Iohn 3 1 2. Christs brethren Heb 2 11. Heavens heirs Iohn 20 17. Partakers of an high and heavenly calling Iam. 2 5. II. Of your liberty that you are the Lords free men Phil. 3 14. delivered out of the hands of all enemies 1 Cor. 7 22. 2 Kings 17 39. III. Of your victory that you are through Christ more than Conquerors over all the world of creatures Rom. 8 37 38. 1 Iohn 5 4. of evils temptations persecutions IV. Of your safety that you have an almighty God for your place of refuge Psal 18 2. an hedg of providence Iâ—h 1 10. a guard of Angels Psal 91 11. an inclosure of mercy Psaâ— 32 10. and Gods promise as a writ of protection for defence Heb 13 5. 6. V. Of your riches as durable substance in heaven Heb 10 34 an incorruptible inheritance 1 Pet 1. 4. a kingdom of glory Luke 12 32. and a crown of life Rev 2 10. for you are heirs of God and co-heirs of Christ VI. Of your joy and pleasure pretious for kind and plentiful for measure Psal 16 11. peace unconceivable Phil 4 7. joy unspeakable 1 Pet 1 8. the Masters joy O get your hearts affected with all these as being yours Chew and suck them by serious meditation work and warm them upon your hearts by close applycation rubbing them into your affections Oppose these your spiritual priviledges to your temporal pressures setting the one against the other as your heavenly friends to your earthly foes your high dignity in Christ to your meanness in outward condition your wealth above to your want below your future joy and rest to your present troubles and sorrows This will not onely make you patient under your afflictions in this life Rom 12 11. but joyful in them Rom 5 3. and triumphant over them 1 Cor 15 55. Thus did Paul Rom 8 18. 2 Cor 4 17. Chap 6 8 9 10. These will provoke to duty 1 Pet 2 9 11 12. and preserve from fainting 2 Cor 4 16 17. and from trouble of heart Iohn 14 1 2. CHAP. VIII SAnctifie God in your hearts dayly 1 Pet 3 15. make him your fear Ps 37 4. To this end do these four things I. Have often high and honourable thoughts of God serious meditations of his glorious attributes as his wisdom power mercy justice c. and work them upon your hearts that they may eccho to thee with pure and melting affections this will encrease and nourish up the divine nature fast in you 2 Pet 1 4. II. Labour to be affected with all the works of God As 1. To behold and admire the works of God Iob 37 14. in the Creatures Psal 136 5. 2. To see and tast Gods goodness in every mercy Psal 34. 8. 3. To take notice of and tremble at the anger and displeasure of God in every affliction or judgment Ps 119 120. Hab 3 16. That so you might answer the dispensations of Gods providence with suitable despositions your hearts carrying a countenance in affection to all Gods actions Isa 26 8. III. Wrestle with God by praying and believing for an heart of flesh Eze 36 26. which will receive impression from the very thoughts of God in the mind IV. Apply promises to particular affections as 1. Of love Deut 30 6. 2. of fear Ier 32. 40. 3. of delight Isa 58 14. There is heat and life in these promises sufficient to quicken and warm thy dead and frozen affections CHAP. IX GEt a publick spirit to mind things of Jesus Christ as rationally as if they were your own things Phil 2 30 31. to look on the things of others prefer Jerusalems welfare before your chiefest joy Ps 137 5 6 the Gospels liberty before your own as Paul did Acts 21 13. To mourn for the sins of the times as the godly in Jerusalem did Ezek 9 4. Especially lay to heatt I. The Churches misery when Gods ordinance go down and herisie and superstition go up when any thing fals out which gives a blow to Religion or prove an impediment to the Gospel If the Ark be taken call your comforts Icabods 1 Sam 4 21. II. The afflictions of Joseph Amos 6 6. the sufferings of Gods servants ' whether Magistrates Ministers or people O simpathize with them Heb 13 3. Nehe 1 4. labour to feel their troubles and sorrows at your very hearts and pray earnestly for them as the Church did for Peter Acts 12 5. III. The signs of the times which Hipocrites cannot discern though they be well verst in the face of the sky h. e. The sad simptomes and presages of approaching judgments as these seven following signifies 1. The commonness of sin for all sorts transgress in all kind of open sinfulness with an high hand against light and nature and meanes of grace Gen 15 15. Ezek 12 3. Chap 22 4. 2. Contempt of Gods ordinances misusing of his Ministers 2 Chron 36 16. 3. The departure of Gods glory from his house Ezek 9 3. 4. Incorrisibleness after former and under present judgments Levit 26 15. 5. The death of many righteous men Isa 57 1. The carrying away of others to hiding places 6. The Vials of Gods wrath powred upon the Churches beyond the Seas Ier 17 12 14. 7. An Inundation of spiritual judgements as a spirit of error Appostacy superstition c. which do commonly conclude and end in temporal plagues Isa 6 10 11. Now O Christian the Holy Ghost is a publick spirit breathing and acting in all the members of the body mistical pray for it Luke 11 13. believe for it Gal 3 14. CHAP. X. LAstly get your heart renewed from the world and from those creature comforts in it which are dearest and sweetest to you wife children friends goods liberty house life this Christ requires of those that follow him Luke 14 26 27. Mark 10 29 30. This will prepare you either to suffer or to die elther of which may put you upon it to love all To this consider seriously these four things As I. All the world and all Creature comforts cannot satisfie the heart when thou hast injoyed them to the full Eccl 1 8. Chap 5 9 10. you soon grow weary of them or glutted with them so that you desire some new delights or more of the old or some over again II. Nor can they sastisfie you but expose oft to many lusts 1 Tim 6 9 10. temptations destractions to a spirit of the world and they hinder from following Jesus Christ Matt 19 22. III. Nor can they save you from Gods wrath from death or judgment Prov 11 4. The wicked whose portion is onely here oft have the greatest share of them Psal 17 14. Iob 21 7 to 14. IV. They serve onely for this life whil'st we are on this side of the grave they shall not be the least ingredients into our celestial happiness O Christians when we come to be happy in heaven we shall stand in no need of food raiment physick marriage Matt 22 30. for we shall be like the Angels of God in heaven we shall then hunger no more nor thirst any more Revel 7 16. we shall then and there live by the alsufficient spirit of God which needs no refreshing we shall be cloathed then with long white robes of immortality Revel 7 9. To Conclude when we come to heaven the place of Gods habitation we shall enjoy the face and beatifical presence of the most glorious Jehovah blessed for ever as an object wherein all the powers of our souls will be satisfied with ineffable delight and everlastingness God will be to us all in all 1 Cor 15 28. O come LORD JESUS Revel 22 20. FINIS