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A49187
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A practical discourse concerning repentance and the nature of the Christian religion. By A. Lortie, rector of Barton, near Nottingham. Imprimatur, Oct. ult. 1692. Guil. Lancaster, R.P.D. Hen. Episc. Lond. à Sacris.
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Lortie, André, d. 1706.
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1693
(1693)
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Wing L3078; ESTC R218635
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34,929
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144
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at by all God's Dispensations Let us always remember then to make it the end of our Faith Our Saviour tells us The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field the which when a man has found he hideth and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he has and buyeth that field Matth. 13.44 That is they that will purchase the Kingdom of Heaven must part with all their darling Sins and all their beloved Lusts Christianity is not to be attain'd unto any otherwise O then how many dream of Divine Treasures and Kingdoms fancy they have found the Pearl of great Price and as we say Build Castles in the Air and are still errant Beggars as to the concerns of the everlasting Riches and in the sight of God How many are there in the World call themselves Christians and have nothing at all of it but just the Name They have nothing to shew for their Title to the Kingdom of Heaven but their own false and impudent Claim without any Grounds But we may as well call our selves Jews and Mahometans when we do not observe the Laws of Moses or of the Alcoran as call our selves Christians when we do not live according to the Precepts of the Gospel would you therefore know whether you are Christians Compare your Lives with the Laws of Christianity Our Saviour hath commanded us to let our light shine before men that they may see our good works and glorifie our father which is in heaven Matt. 5.16 And in the following Verses he adds a warning very necessary to this present Generation Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the propbets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time Thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment And whosoever shall say to his brother Racha shall be in danger of the Council but whosoever shall say Thou fool shall be in danger of hell fire Ye have heard that it was said Thou shalt not commit adultery but I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart If thy right eye offend thee pluck it out and if thy right hand offend thee cut it off It is better for thee that one of thy members should perish than that thy whole body should be cast into Hell Swear not at all Love your enemies Be ye perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect All these we find in the 5th Chapter of St. Matt. and in the 11th of the same Gospel at the 29th Verse Take my yoke upon you says our blessed Saviour and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart We are infinitely unreasonable if we fancy that to be a Christian it is sufficient to own Christ by an outward Profession without actual Obedience to all his Commands He declares expressly Matt. 7.21 That 't is not every one that says unto him Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of God Yet after all this we have but too much reason still to complain and cry out with the Psalmist Psal 82.5 They will not be learned nor understand but walk on still in darkness all the foundations of the earth are out of course Still Men will needs fancy themselves Christians that is members of the kingdom of Heaven when they are evidently the Subjects of the Kingdom of Darkness How many are there that commit Sin and yet pretend that they are born of God against the positive Declaration of the Apostle St. John 1 Joh. 3.9 But some will say If none were true Christians but those who keep the Commandments of God and do not commit sin who then can be a Christian I answer in the words of our blessed Saviour Matt. 7.14 Straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it Few God knows few they are especially in these our days that are true Christians indeed tho' there be many that call themselves by that holy Name But the mischief is the greatest part of them who name the Name of Christ depart not from iniquity and therefore the greatest part of them that call themselves Christans shall find by a sad Experience at the great and terrible Day of the Lord that they have no share in Christ Jesus For either we must not believe the Scriptures or we must be sure that all Drunkards Swearers unjust or uncharitable Persons c. are far from being Christians and yet how many such do we find among the Professors of Christianity What more frequent now a days than Wrath Malice and Revenge Fraud Injustice Drunkenness Swearing and all sort of Sin And still if you believe it we are all Protestants that is the purer sort of Christians But how few notwithstanding all this pretended Purity how few are there among us that are truly humble meek and lowly in heart charitable patient and of long suffering How few are there that do not to others what they would not others should do unto them How few do we see that will bear an affront or an injury without resentment and revenge How few can find in their Hearts to forgive their Enemies How few then love their Neighbours that is all other Men as themselves And yet we may be sure that without all this our Pretentions to Christianity are groundless vain and insignificant But is it then impossible to be a Christian No such matter we read of many in the holy Scriptures that they were just in their Generations and perfect in the sight of the Lord as of Noah Gen. 6.9 Job Job 1.1 David 1 Kings 11.34 14.8 Asa 1 Kings 15.11 Josias 2 Kings 22.2 and Zacharias and Elizabeth Luk. 1.6 Which shews that God doth not expect of us a perfect state of Impeccability but a perfect Sincerity I say a perfect Sincerity We must love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind Matt. 22.37 And therefore we must obey his Commandments and do his will with all the power of our Soul and all the sincerity of our Mind and sure that is not impossible But never flatter your selves that you have done all you can and that you are sincere as long as yon continue in a wicked course of Life Alas you are then worse then Heathens Don't you believe that God affords
but omitted at Night Give us Grace to do and undertake nothing but what we are sure is agreeable to thy Will and to thy Glory and the Salvation of our Souls and then let thy Blessing be upon all our Endeavours O may we so live that we may be always prepared for Death * This to be said at Night Grant us a comfortable Rest and Sleep that we may be the better fit for our Duty the next Day And give us Grace O Lord when we lie down in our Beds always to remember that the time will shortly come when we shall lie down in our Graves that by serious thoughts and a holy Life we may timely prepare for our Death So that whenever it comes we may not feel the Horrours and Torments of a guilty Mind but may be fit and content to leave this World and looking upon Death only as a Passage to a far better we may receive it with that Resolution and Constancy as becomes them that hope for Eternal Life Grant this O most merciful Father for the Blessed Jesus his sake who has taught us when we pray thus to say Our Father c. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen THE RECAPITULATION WITH A Prayer and an Exhortation TO ALL Who desire to lead Christian Lives to be constant in PRAYER REpentance is a change of Mind that shews it self to be read by all our Actions which then are contrary to our former Practices Nothing absolutely can be Repentance in religious Matters but an actual forsaking of Sin ceasing to do evil and learning to do well Isa 1.16.17 and contracting all the Habits of Vertue Christianity is a state of Purity and Holiness It is Repentance perfected and an entire Conformity to the Will of God The three general Heads of the Christian Religion are Piety towards God Justice towards all Men And Sobriety in respect of our selves That is the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven and that Heavenly Constitution and Government which is agreeable to the Nature of God and is as much unalterable as his Nature It is therefore impossible for a Man to be a Christian that is a faithful Subject of the kingdom of Heaven if he has not repented of all his Sins since to be a Christian is to live soberly righteously and godly Tit. 2.11 12 13 14. from a Principle of Faith in Jesus Christ in Obedience to his Commands and in Expectation of his Promises No Doctrine can be more antichristian more contrary to nor more destructive of the Design of the Gospel than such as encourage Vice or allow Men in a loofe way of living They are infinitely mistaken who fancy the Essence of Religion to consist in Speculation and not in Practice Saving Faith is an operative Faith a faith that worketh by charity Gal. 5.6 The end of Revelation is our Sanctification 1 Thess 4.1 2 3 c. The turning us away from our iniquities Acts 3.26 which otherwise would prove our ruine Ezek. 18.30 It is therefore a gross Error to think there 's any thing revealed that has no Influence upon Practice and is not designed and conducive to the Conversion of the World and the Amendment of our Manners Those then that undervalue and vilifie Morality vilifie and undervalue the Christian Faith and Religion We see plainly in Scripture that the end of Faith is Holiness it is required to no other end than that believing we might have life John 20.31 Which is not to be attained unto without holiness for without it no man shall see the Lord Heb. 11.14 and none but the just shall live by faith Hebr. 10.38 For that which is altogether just we must follow and we must seek good and do God's commandments that we may live Dent. 16.20 Amos 5.14 Matth. 19.17 Luk. 10.28 and true Morality is true Religion For true Morality is an enaxt Conformity of our Lives and Actions of our Thoughts Words and Deeds to the eternal Laws of right Reason naturally that is by God himself imprinted upon our Consciences and as it were reprinted and that more deeply by the Gospel of his Son Our grand Business therefore is to study from our Duty from a Principle of Faith to have it persect and to practise it accordingly As we have any serious Concern for our Souls we must neglect nothing that is necessary and conducive to that end to the purifying that is of our Spirits and making us holy We must prosecute the means of Grace with all the Earnestness and Diligence imaginable For it is but a folly to pretend to the Name of Christians if we do not live according to the Rules of Christianity and do not govern our selves according to the Laws of the kingdom of Heaven Repentance is but the Preparative to Christianity He that intends to live the Devil 's Subject as long as he can enjoy his Life and Health though he is loath to have his Portion with the Devil in the other World and designs to repent upon his Death bed is resolved not to be a Christian whilst he lives The Design of the Christian Religion is to make Men as Good and Holy as it is possible for Men to be And our blessed Saviour has taught us expresly that it is not the crying Lord Lord will serve to enter into the kingdom of Heaven but the doing of the will of God Matth. 7.21 As we desire then to be admitted one Day into Heaven Let us from this Moment conform to its Divine Laws and let us detest and abhor all those Antichristian Traditions which make the commandments of God of none effect Matth. 15.6 God hath not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness 1 Thess 4.7 In particular let all that shall be willing to strive to enter into the Gates of Righteousness and shall be perswaded of the Obligation and Necessity of a good Life be constant in Prayer Prayer is not only a Duty of Religion which we cannot omit without a defiance of Christ's Precepts and Authority and a profest Contempt of that great salvation which was spoken by the Lord Hebr. 2.3 But it is also the best means in the World to become truly religious A Man is never entirely reformed till a new Principle governs his Thoughts and nothing makes that Principle so strong as frequent Addresses to God and serious and deep Meditations of his Nature and Will of all the Benefits we have received and do still receive daily from him the Engagements and Obligations we are in to serve and obey him the great Neglect we 've bin guilty of in a Business so vastly concerning and how much reason there is to set more earnestly about it than ever The Effects of such Addresses to God and of such Meditations besides the Grace of God we draw upon us thereby which is promised to our Prayers are very sensible they make very evidently