elegant language unless we also carefully and studiously practise and observe them This is the express Doctrine of our Lord and Master Mat. 7. Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven Many will say unto me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out Devils and in thy name done many wonderful works and then I will profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them I will liken him unto a wife Man which built his house upon a Rock and the Rain descended and the Floods came and the Winds blew and beat upon that House and it fell not for it was founded upon a Rock We must therefore take care that the structure of our salvation be founded upon this Rock of true Obedience lest that after we have built much and long some contrary gust beating upon it it fall to the ground Now this Obedience is performed in observing the will of our heavenly Father according to the Doctrine of our Saviour saying He that doeth the will of my Father who is in Heaven And the Father himself hath declared that his will is that we should know hold fast and carefully practise the Doctrine of his dearest Son Mat. 17. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear ye him If then we would desire to know what we are to do for obtaining the salvation which this beloved Son hath brought into the World let us seriously consult him who was proposed and confirmed to us by the Father in presence of most reverend witnesses two of the Old and three of the New Testament as the wise and infallible interpreter of his Will and we shall hear him thus answering and teaching us John 15. If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love even as I have kept my Fathers commandments and abide in his love John 14. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest my self to him and again Joh. 15. ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you And elsewhere Mat. 11. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls For my yoke is easie and my burthen is light By which words we are plainly taught that the desired rest of our souls cannot be found but by those who do the Will of the Father Now for discovering of this Will the Father himself referred us to the hearing of his Son and the Son tells us that it is his Fathers Will that they who would find rest to their Souls should take his yoke upon them and that his yoke is neither hard nor heavy but soft and easie and that his burden that is the sum of the Doctrine of the Law and Commandments is a light burden And indeed the thing it self not only speaks it to be so but the noble instances also of many who have submitted to that yoke fully confirm it For the yoke we speak of is no more but that sincere and brotherly love which by another name is commonly called charity as our Lord and Master does frequently inculcate John 15. This is my commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you These things I command you that ye love one another And he affirms this constant and perpetual precept to be so properly and peculiarly his own that he would have it to be the badg and mark of his Disciples and followers John 13. A new Commandment I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you that ye also love one another By this shall all Men know that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another St. John the great Disciple and Witness of our Lord and Master again and again confirms this 1 John 3. Beloved if our heart condemn us not then have we confidence towards God and whatsoever we ask we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight And this is his commandment that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave us commandment And of how great necessity the keeping of this commandment is the same Apostle fully demonstrates unto us 1 John 2. He that hateth his brother is in darkness and walketh in darkness and knoweth not whither he goeth because that darkness hath blinded his eyes This is so true and plain a Doctrine of Christian Religion that that famous Expositor of the divine Oracles made no scruple to prefer this love before all the other virtues acts and endowments of the mind of Man 1 Cor. 13. Though I speak with the tongues of Men and of Angels and have not Charity I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling Cimbal And tho I have the gift of prophesie and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and tho I have all Faith so that I could remove Mountains and have not Charity I am nothing And tho I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned and have not Charity it profiteth me nothing And so far is Charity commended by this Apostle that he calls it Col. 3. the bond of perfectness Now if Charity be so necessary that without it the Apostle affirms all things else to be unprofitable to salvation how far is he from salvation who not only loves not his brother but even hates and persecutes him if he who loves not banishes from himself the love of God in what condition is he and how shall he be esteemed in the eyes of God that hateth his brother No less than a Murderer and according to the sentence of the holy word of God he is guilty of that crime John 3. Whosoever hateth his brother is a Murderer in thought and affection which God chiefly takes notice of he is accounted a Murderer who loveth not his brother and ye know saith he that no Murderer hath eternal life abiding in him As elsewhere He that hateth his brother walketh in darkness Wherefore St. James admonisheth Christians lest being corrupted with this vice which under some disguise or other uses to creep and steal into mens minds they should make void the name and profession of Religion and so deceive themselves or others James 3. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts glory not and lie not against the truth Calling and boasting your selves to be Christians This wisdom descendeth not from above but is earthly sensual divilish For where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work But the wisdom that is from above is first
THE PRACTICAL RULE OF Christian Piety CONTAINING The Summ of the whole Duty of a true Disciple of Christ Written Originally in Latin By Benedictus Aria Montanus AND Translated into English By A. LOVEL M. A. LONDON Printed for Joseph Hindmarsh Bookseller to his Royal Highness at the Black Bull in Cornhill 1685. THE Author's Preface TO THE Christian READER THEY who from the Study of the Holy Scriptures and of the nature of worldly things learn and do confess that God takes care of sublunary affairs do clearly perceive that the rough Tempest wherein most Christian People are at present tossed is not the effect of the uncertain influences of the Stars nor that it is raised by hidden and obscure causes None of them doubt but that the publick Calamities of Kingdoms People and Cities are sent by the Judgment and Providence of God the avenger of wickedness and that before they happen they are Prophesied and foretold by Pious and Chosen Men for the glory of divine Justice and the amendment of the lives of sinful Men as it is written Amos 3. Can two walk together except they be agreed Will a Lion roar in the Forrest when he hath no Prey will a young Lion cry out of his Den if he have taken nothing Can a Bird fall in a snare upon the Earth where no Gin is for him Shall one take up a Snare from the Earth and have taken nothing at all Shall a Trumpet be blown in the City and the People not be afraid Shall there be evil in a City and the Lord hath not done it Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the Prophets Now for what causes such Commotions are raised both in publick and private affairs the same Prophet does declare pubish in the Palaces at Ashdod and in the Palaces in the Land of Egypt and say assemble your selves upon the Mountains of Samaria and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof for they know not to do right saith the Lord who store up Violence and Robbery in their Palaces Therefore thus saith the Lord an adversary there shall be even round about the Land and he shall bring down thy strength from thee and thy Palaces shall be spoiled To me truly the visible cause o' the divine Judgment against us appears to be our publick and common sins whilst I see the greatest part of Christians rent into several Sects not only seduced and led away by many errors but also proud and puffed up in them and others who live in the Communion of the Church and profess the true Doctrine neglecting the duties of the same and almost wholly perverting it and so whilst I reflect upon the depraved minds of some and the corrupt and dissolute lives of others and the Dissentions Jars Oppositions Enmities and perverse courses of both I often think with my self upon this The Lord looked down from Heaven upon the Children of Men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God They are all gone aside they are altogether become filthy there is none that doth good no not one Tho I neither be a Prophet nor the Son of a Prophet yet I dare be bold to foretel greater Storms hanging over our heads unless they be prevented It is enough to me to make me affirm this that I see those crimes in the Earth which God Almighty by infallible Oracles has threatned not to let go unpunished For if the Lion roar who will not be afraid if the Lord hath spoken who shall not prophesie Therefore he may very lawfully predict future evils who sees the manifest causes from which God Almighty calling Heaven and Earth to witness has foretold that difficult and sad times will arise Isa 1. Now the causes which I observe I think are obvious to all Men to wit Deut. 32. our contumacy and insolence our hardned obstinacy in wicked courses and a kind of contending with God that punishes us which the Prophet Isaiah takes notice of in the Jews Isai 1. Why should ye be stricken any more ye will revolt more and more The whole head is sick and the whole heart faint From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores they have not been closed neither bound up neither mollified with Ointment And would to God! that in this tossing and agitation of the World there were no other loss but of the wealth dignities splendour and honours of the age which tho they be highly valued yet it might justly be born with nay and perhaps to be wished seeing such heavy loads and burdens are many times hinderance to the prosperity of our course but which is most sad and grievous when the danger of the loss of one poor soul ought in right to be prevented by the throwing over-board of all the goods and Cargo of the Ship yet in such doleful Ship-wrecks innumerable numbers of souls are observed to perish and be swallowed up in the deep which is the greatest of all humane miseries Now seeing it is the duty and office of the Masters and Pilots to bestir themselves for the safety of the beaten Vessel and that I observe many of those who are concerned diligently labouring for that purpose tho I want both authority and skill to act amongst those who rule the Ship yet as being of the number of those who in common danger ought not to be idle spectators but busie in lending a hand or at least assistant with fervent prayers I thought it my duty according to the mean and low station that I stand in in the Church of God with all humility and modesty to propose what I have judged proper for remedying of the evils whereof the causes are so obvious to be known especially since we bend our care to the admonishing and helping of those who when they are unable to understand higher and greater matters are not perhaps frequently taught those things which are more useful and necessary to be known of all Men in general and which if they be ignorant of they can never attain to salvation nor to the knowledge of those Points which are reckoned more noble and sublime truths Nor do we fear that these our endeavours will seem unseasonable or superfluous to those great Men who are more learned and skilful in the art of instructing and teaching the way of living we are rather confident that the considerate will approve of our design hoping that if we have given any hints that may serve for forewarding their duty they will take it kindly and in good part For in great Storms the chief Masters and Pilots receive sometimes good advice from the Passengers when they are pleased to hear them In how much then we have learned from the Doctrine and Word of God for the obtaining of God the salvation of our souls in the next World and publick Peace and Tranquillity in this we conceive
two things are to be done the one is that we persevere in the pure and holy Faith of the Catholick Church and the other that we endeavour the amendment of our lives and manners according to the Rules and Precepts of our Lord and Master constantly praying against sin that endangers our souls and for eternal life which is their happiness and bliss If these things be purely religiously and holily set about they will procure us the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ as the Holy Ghost by the mouth of his Prophet does assure us Psal 107. Oh that Men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the Children of Men. They that go down to the Sea in Ships that do business in great waters These see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy Wind which lifteth up the waves thereof They mount up to the Heaven they go down again to the depths their soul is melted because of trouble They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken Man and are at their wits end Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble and he bringeth them out of their distresses He maketh the Storm a Calm so that the waves thereof are still Then are they glad because they be quiet so he bringeth them unto their desired haven Oh that Men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the Chilren of Men. Let them exalt him also in the Congregation of the People and praise him in the Assembly of the Elders Whose is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord. THE Practical Rule OF Christian PIETY The First Part. THE scope and design of all Philosophers who have treated of the Nature and Actions of Man and have given precepts and rules for the conduct of humane life seems to have been to find out and demonstrate a supreme Perfection to which when Man had once attained he had no further desires to disturb him but rested content in an entire and peaceable enjoyment of the chief and most Humane Felicity desirable good And this they called a state of Happiness or Bliss Constant and daily experience made it manifest that The common condition of life the way of living which most part of Mankind followed being obnoxious to care and anxiety labour and pain trouble and perturbation of thoughts came far short of that perfection of humane Nature that rest and tranquillity of mind that Mankind aspired to And that the various states and conditions of Men made no difference in the case seeing Kings Princes Magistrates and common People the Rich and the Poor the Whole and the Sick all were dissatisfied and uneasie in their own condition Wherefore many have made it their business to search out and discover several means how they might attain to that chief good which might produce a solid and universal repose in the minds of all Men. But the different biass of passions and inclination so divided and distracted the thoughts of the undertakers that they were wide of the Mark and erred in the way of finding true happiness for some placed chief good in the delights and pleasures of the Body others in the affluence of Riches others again in indolence or exemption from grief and pain and some in a freedom from all Passions and Affections Every one in their several Studies and Actions pursued the end they had proposed to themselves and laid down Maxims and Rules for others to do the like whom by large promises and exhortations they invited to the same course of life However the Opinion of those who placed the chief end and happiness of Man in bodily delights pleasures and sensual lusts in the judgment of the wiser hath been totally exploded As not only in the act and enjoyments of delights and pleasure but also in the manner of attaining to them rendering the nature of Man inferiour and more unhappy than that of Beasts But the opinion of those who made the perfection of life chiefly to consist in the soundness of the mind and in virtue tho in general it was approved yet the determination of the things that did constitute and the method prescribed for arriving at that felicity were found liable to so many errors and difficulties that being measured by and compared with the standard of true happiness they were at length condemned and rejected as ineffectual For some being ignorant of the true Original of the Souls of Men and not acknowledging God for the author of them they fancied to themselves a certain perfection of Virtue which they were so far from attaining to that neither they nor their Disciples could ever reach within the view thereof Some again tho they knew God to be the Supreme and true Author of Humane Nature yet they owned him not to be the chief end and happiness of Man and tho indeed they might acknowledge that yet without the revealed will of God himself they could not rightly understand how they ought to seek and by what means come to the enjoyment of him nay and that also being known they could not without the assistance of divine Grace set about the performance of the duties required therein God was therefore in the first place to be known and applied to by Faith and that supreme Master to be consulted who might shew and declare himself and his Doctrine unto them by those secret and divine ways whereby he can and is wont to do it for without Faith it is impossible to please God But the quite contrary course was taken by those who attributed so much to the industry and sharpness of humane understanding that they thought that there was nothing to be sought from God judging it unseeming a quaint and accurate Philosopher to have recourse to the will of God as being the act rather of a slothful Soul than of a prying and inquisitive Mind that searched into the nature of things That Man might and ought of himself find out the excellent nature of Virtue carefully and industriously pursue after and labour to obtain it and having obtained it preserve and improve the same which tho they promised to themselves and endeavoured to accomplish yet seeing they were neither rooted in Faith nor had begged and desired the aid of divine Grace their search was in vain so that no where finding what they lookt for they fatally misled themselves and those that followed them And losing all hopes of attaining to the happiness they proposed they at length degenerated into the basest and most corrupt kind of life This the Holy Ghost takes notice of and thus condemns Eph. 4. This I say therefore and testifie in the Lord that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind having the understanding darkned being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in
them because of the blindness of their heart who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness to work all Vncleanness with greediness They again who were not without a sense and knowledge of God but would not conform to a steddy and sure rule of Conduct studying rather to follow their own humour than to comply with the simplicity of truth have broached most idle Notions of the excellence of the divine Nature and erroneous and most dangerous Perswasions of the way of imitating the same leading most part of Mankind first into error and a snare and then into utter destruction as it is written Rom. 1. The wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them For the invisible things of him from the Creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even the Eternal Power and Godhead so that they are without excuse Because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkned Professing themselves to be wise they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible Man and to Birds and four-footed Beasts and creeping things Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonour their own bodies between themselves who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed for evermore The Doctrine therefore of Men that had no conformity to the Faith of God or that fell off from the knowledge of God unto Vanity false and foolish imaginations could neither rightly define nor exhibit and declare the true happiness of Mankind That only Doctrine which the revealed Will of God doth teach is capable through the power and goodness of its author to perform what it hath promised to those who truly and sincerely become its Disciples For the Scripture saith Psal 119. The Proud have digged Pits for me which are not after thy Law All thy Commandments are Righteousness There are many instances which manifestly prove that the Doctine of the word of God hath fulfilled and made good what it promised and foretold to the true Disciples and followers thereof and that it can and daily does perform the same to those who are guided thereby Now this Doctrine hath promised Salvation eternal happiness and the inheritance of the kingdom of Heaven in and through the Son of God who was to be sent into the World and the descent of the Holy Ghost into the minds of Believers which as a sure pledge and earnest of the celestial inheritance might by his inspirations teach them the true and saving use of the Heavenly gifts and Graces of this the Disciples of our Lord had experience as the holy Ghost himself bears witness 2 Pet. 1. Simon Peter a Servant and an Apostle of Jesus Christ to them that have obtained the like precious Faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Grace and Peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord according as his divine Power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the World through lust The Apostle St. Paul treating of the vanity of the Doctrine of the Gentiles and of the truth and benefits of the Christian Discipline says to the same purpose Eph. 4. But ye have not so learned Christ if so be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceiful lusts And be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Acts 3. Ye are the Children of the Prophets and of the Covenant which God made with our Fathers saying unto Abraham and in thy Seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed Vnto you first God having raised up his Son Jesus sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities Now that state and condition to which the true Disciples and Followers of the Christian Doctrine are by the grace and goodness of God advanced does in honor dignity and amplitude of glory and bliss far exceed all that the natural Man the Wit of Philosophers and the pains and study of mortal Man can conceive define or comprehend without the special favour and assistance of divine grace Isa 64. For eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him 1 Cor. 2. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God For what Man knows the things of a Man save the spirit of Man that is in him even so the things of God knoweth no Man but the spirit of God This state and condition may in some measure indeed be delineated and described which by the help of God in time and place convenient we shall attempt but that will be but a faint emblem and adumbration rather than a true and lively representation of the same for the fulness of this solid and excellent happiness is not to be expressed in the common way of speech nor conceived by the thoughts of men unless of those who by the influence and operation of the Holy Ghost are rendred capable of so great mysteries Eph. 3. For this cause saith the Apostle I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole Family in Heaven and Earth is named that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell in your hearts by Faith that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God Now although a Disciple of this Christian Doctrine may not at first comprehend the greatness and excellence of the state to which he is called until by divine favour he hath attained to it nevertheless the dignity and extent of the happiness is not therefore less nor will it by any disappointment be diminished for the mosâ—
plainly declares to those who moved with a pious study and zeal yet proposed to themselves other courses than were enjoyned them by his Counsel and Precepts Isa 48. Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldst go Oh that thou hadst hearkned to my Commandments then had thy Peace been as a River and thy Righteousness as the Waves of the Sea From which holy Sentences it follows that every Disciple ought at least to know the chief Heads of the Discipline that is profitable unto him those I mean which may be known retained and practiseâ— by all and require neither mucâ— Labour great Study a deep Wiâ—â— length of Time nor far Travâ—â— for attaining to the knowledge them as it is written Deut. 3â— For this Commandment which I command thee this day is not hiddâ—â— from thee neither is it far off 〈◊〉 is not in Heaven that thou should say who shall go up for us to Heâ—ven and bring it unto us that 〈◊〉 may hear it and do it Neither it beyond the Sea that thou should say who shall go over the Sea for 〈◊〉 and bring it unto us that we 〈◊〉 hear it and do it But the Wordâ— very nigh unto thee in thy moutâ— and in thy heart that thou maâ— do it This Piety then that is to 〈◊〉 known and practised by us is dâ—vided into three parts to wit Fear Repentance and Charity with the observation of the Laws of God which whosoever being rightly taught shall keep and observe they will through the most bountiful Promise and Covenant of God confirm and encrease to him the Grace and Mercy of the Lord to his own Salvation and at length bring him to the possession and enjoyment of the Kingdom of Heaven For such is the efficacy that the Will and bounteous Liberality of God hath granted to these three Parts or Virtues if you had rather call them so that he whose mind is filled and endowed with them may thereby avoid the wrath and dreadful Judgment of God and find Grace and Mercy in the Eyes of the Almighty In the first place then they who would practise the Duties of Christian Piety must have their minds filled with a divine Fear that is with an awe reverence and watchful observation of those things which are known to be either acceptable or displeasing to God that they may wholly detest flie and abhor the last and with all care and diligence pursue and seek after the first For that disposition whereby the mind so reverences God that it wills nothing which may offend that immence goodness and rejects nothing which it knows to be conform to the Will of God that disposition of mind I say is called the fear of the Lord and is said to be the beginning of all true Wisdom which by another name also the Latins have called Religion Philosophers have divided this into a servile and filial fear and the Christian School have admitted the same distinction condemning the servile fear so far as it was a forerunner to and made way for the filial But we whose design it is not so much to dispute nicely about these matters as to accommodate them to vulgar capacities and to square our discourse according to the rule of sacred Oracles following the definition given by the Holy Ghost call this fear of the Lord Religion or Reverence whereby the mind of an holy Man being affected observes and follows what he knows to be acceptable to God and on the contrary rejects and shuns what is displeasing to him Wherefore this pious disposition of mind is by Wisdom so defined The fear of the Lord is the beginning or principal part of Wisdom that is to say a Religious observation of those things which by Knowledg or Wisdom we know to be desired or shunned Now by Wisdom in this place is to be understood the knowledg and notices oâ— the divine Will whether attained by word writing or tradition or by revealed rules and rational intimations Now this divine Fear puts him in whose heart it is upon the exercise of true repentance incline him to the Study and observation of the Laws of God and stiâ— him up to a search and diligent enquiry into the nature oâ— both For when once a Maâ— hath resolved with himself tâ— reverence and practise all thaâ— he knows to be acceptable to God and to flie and shun those things which do displease him he makes it his chief care to learn what it is that God approves of and what he condemns and being so taught he implores the assistance of the divine Grace repents of the former sins of his mispent life and proposes to himself the way of Gods Commandments wherein persisting in a steddy and uninterrupted course he is made partaker of the Heavenly Promises stipulated by the Covenant of Grace and enjoys the fellowship and communion of that blessing which the Father of Love has promised can and will make good to them who believe in him and which in effect he hath fulfilled to those who have obeyed his most Just and Holy Will Wherefore the Wisdom of God knowing what extraordinary fruits spring from this root of divine fear that it might dehort Men from the violation of the Laws of God and deter them form the danger of everlasting Wrath and indignation by the mouth of the Son of Sirach callâ—â— Ecclus. 1. The fear of the Lord a Crown of Wisdom Honour and Glory and Gladness and a Crown of Rejoycing And to explain and commend it more effectually and plainly saith that the fear of the Lord is a Fountain of Life The fear of God is therefore called the beginning and fountain of Life because reclaiming Man from the violation of the Laws of God and inducing him to true repentance it sets him upon the keeping and performance of the Commandments that he may obtain Grace and Mercy in the sight of the Almighty whereby he becomes the son of God and heir of eternal Life through the most gracious Promise and Covenant of that God who freely and of his own accord takes upon himself the care conduct instruction and sanctification of all those who cleave unto him by Faith and true Obedience and therefore the Royal Psalmist sings Psal 145. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him he also will hear their cry and will save them and in another place Psal 103. For as the Heaven is high above the Earth so great is his Mercy toward them that fear him As far as the East is from the West so far hath he removed our transgressions from us Like as a Father pitieth his Children so the Lord pitieth them that fear him And again The Mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him By all which we are taught that the never failing Mercy of God is infinite eternal to those who
Call by Faith alone unless we also pay Obedience to him that hath called us What Man is he that will say that it is enough for him to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven by Faith that is by believing tho he never attain to the actual fruition and enjoyment of the Kingdom of God Did God do so with the Israelites and the Seed of Abraham that the Promises which they laid hold on by Faith were never made good unto them No for the blessing of God whom they believed and obeyed they obtained the enjoyment and possession of the earthly Promises Of Abraham a great Nation was really made and from one Isaac in whom God would have his Seed to be called there sprang so great a People that Moses confessed Deut. 1. I am not able to bear you my self alone The Lord your God hath multiplied you and behold you are this day as the Stars of Heaven for multitude The Lord God of your Fathers make you a thousand times se many as you are and bless you as he hath promised you The People that were brought out of Egypt who continued in Faith and Holy Obedience did actually obtain and possess the promised Land of Canaan as it is written Josh 1. Arise go over this Jordan thou and all this People unto the Land which I do give to them even to the Children of Israel Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon that have I given unto you as I said unto Moses From the Wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great River the River Euphrates all the Land of the Hittites and unto the great Sea toward the going down of the Sun shall be your Coast God not long after confirmed the truth of all this Josh 24. I have given you a Land for which ye did not labour and Cities which ye built not and ye dwell in them of the Vineyards and Oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat David also believing the promise that he should obtain the Kingdom endured and overcame the hardest of times and dangers and having at length obtained the Kingdom thus did sing Psal 116. I believed therefore have I spoken I was greatly afflicted I said in my hast all Men are liars What shall I render unto the Lord for all his Benefits towards me c. So that all these Ancients not only by Faith laid hold on the earthly Promises but really obtained them through the blessing of God that promised to fulfil them to those who believed and obeyed him And therefore they obeyed the Law-giver not by Faith and in words only but with all care and dutifulness they also practised true Piety and performed the Precepts and Commandments nor did any of those who expected the desired Promises think or say it was enough for him that his fore-fathers Predecessors or Friends had obeyed the Commands and Precepts of God unless he himself did his duty in obeying and fulfilling the Law Abraham himself being called went out David being anointed King and having obtained a Promise of the Kingdom believed did and suffered all those things which we read with admiration So also that we may return to our selves if we desire as we ought to do to be truly and indeed made partakers of the Spiritual Promises if we have a real love for our selves and aspire to everlasting bliss we must not only believe the Promises but likewise in all sincerity practise Piety and perform our several duties in obeying those things that are enjoyned and commanded us Nor must we think it enough that Christ hath fulfilled for us the Law and all Righteousness unless believing in Christ we also submit to that part of the Law which belongs to us to wit the Precepts and Commands of the Decalogue wherein is comprehended the summ of the Will of God and Law of Nature and to whatsoever may be lawfully deduced and inferred from thence and so obey the Law that we may not be called Hearers only or Readers Interpreters or Expounders thereof but rather Doers of the same and become like to those of whom it is written Luke 1. And they were both righteous before God walking in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord blameless Rom. 2. For not the Hearers of the Law are Just before God but the doers of the Law shall be justified Wherefore whosoever being called to the Marriage of the Son desires to approve himself faithfully to him that calleth him He is chiefly to mind that there is nothing hidden from him who searcheth the secrets of the heart and reins and knoweth the thoughts of Men afar off And therefore let him seriously set about the duty of true and unfeigned Repentance and being grieved for all the offences of his ill-spent wicked past life let him with a contrite and humble heart sincerely confess his sins and plead guilty in the presence of God and his Church that iâ— of the lawful Ministers of the Church Piously and Religiously obey the Counsels Admonitions and Instructions that are given him and having received Ecclesiastical Absolution from the sins and wickedness which he hath promised to God and to his Minister as a Witness and Judge upon Earth to forsake let him turn with all his mind and might from that wicked life and filthy conversation from all impure thoughts all Guile Malice and corrupt Manners and then having shaken off and overcome the Temptations of Pride Vanity Covetousness Lust Earthly delights and Pleasures and of whatsoever may and is wont to turn Men from God let him constantly persist in the right way and by diligent and frequent Prayer call upon God and beg his favourable and gracious assistance whose Mercy and provident care over him he will to his experience certainly find if from a pure and holy heart he earnestly craves the same For no less hath been offered and promised to all sinners by him who willeth not nor desireth their death but that rather they may repent and live Jer. 3. Return ye back-sliding children and I will heal your back-slidings Jer. 4. If thou wilt return O Israel saith the Lord return unto me and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight then shalt thou not remove O Jerusalem wash thine heart from wickedness that thou mayest be saved How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee Jer. 29. For I know the thoughts that I think towards you saith the Lord thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end Then shall ye call upon me and ye shall go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you And ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart And I will be found of you saith the Lord. And again Joel 2. Turn ye unto me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning And rent your heart and not your garments and turn unto the Lord your God for he is gracious
salvation who when he would have Men to turn to him with their whole heart and mind and so obtain life he patiently waits for their Repentance and this the holy Scriptures clearly testifie Isa 30. Therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you and therefore will he be exalted that he may have mercy upon you And the Apostle St. Peter saith The Lord is not slack concerning his Promise as some Men count slackness but is long-suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance Now that the Conversion and true Repentance of sinners is most acceptable and pleasing to God his own Son shews us in that saving Sermon which he made in the three Parables of the prodigal Son the lost sheep and groat whereby he exhorted all Men that they would endeavour by their conversion to please God and cause joy in the whole Court of Heaven that so they might tast of the wonderful goodness of God who is rich in mercy towards all that call upon him with a pure and single heart and upon whom if they approve themselves by Faith and the practice of true Repentance and Obedience he bestows great mercies and the spirit of sanctification with all his gifts and graces which St. Peter affirms was given to all that obey him and our Saviour promised to be given saying John 14. If ye love me keep my commandments And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive Now in the sence of St. John the world are they who live according to the lust of the eye the lust of the flesh or the pride of life that is who are slaves to lust delights pleasures or ambition for those shall not feel the power and virtue of that holy spirit abiding in them as the Lord himself pronounces Gen. 6. My spirit shall not always strive with Man for that he also is flesh With Man who is flesh and striveth not to mortifie the deeds of the Flesh as the Apostle saith if ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if ye through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live to wit through the spirit of God given and communicated unto you for so it is written Isa 66. Thus saith the Lord the Heaven is my Throne and the Earth is my Footstool where is the house that ye build unto me and where is the place of my rest for all those things hath mine hand made and all those things have been saith the Lord but to this Man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word Those divine gifts and graces whereby Men upon Earth are changed into other creatures and become almost celestial avoiding the corruption that is in the World through lust and having their conversation in heaven examples and instances of these gifts I say which were very frequent of old are now rare to be found on the Earth because we have neither that strong and lively faith in the Promises of God nor purely and sincerely obey his Precepts neither are we filled with the holy fear of the Lord but by a double and deceitful heart wicked and perverse thoughts and actions we are wanting to our selves and to the grace and goodness of God of God I say who trieth the heart and searcheth the reins and sees us wholly given over to impure thoughts the delights and pleasures of the flesh and to pride and ambition like adulterous Women dealing treacherosly against their lawful husbands which kind of hearts estranged from or divided in their chief love he neither loves nor approves of The mind must be pure and single and fervent in love that aspires to the heavenly marriage of this bridegroom and would have it confirmed and made good to it The wise Son of Sirach advises us to endeavour that as much as we can when he saith Ecclus 1. 2. Distrust not the fear of the Lord and come not unto him with a double heart Wo be to fearful hearts and faint hands and the sinner that goeth two ways And the word of God by the mouth of his holy Prophets does also in many places expresly admonish us heartily to renounce the vanities sins and pollutions of this World and make it our whole care to forsake them Jer. 4. O Jerusalem wash thine heart from wickedness that thou mayest be saved how long shall thy vain thoughts lodg within thee Whosoever come so provided to seek the Lord shall certainly find him to be loving gracious and bountiful Jer. 29. Ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart and I will be found of you saith the Lord whose blessed Son hath also said Mat. 5. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God God is to be seen by the pure in heart saith our Saviour He is to be seen dwelling in them whom he consecrates for a holy Temple to himself as it is written Isa 57. For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones Psal 147. He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up then wounds This contrition of heart so acceptable unto God and so much commended in Scripture doth not dwell nor abide with the anxious desire of worldly things and of the pomp and glory of the age which are hateful to the Lord. Nor let any Man perswade himself that he can serve two Masters that is that he can please God and at the same time fulfil the lusts of the flesh pursue the vanities pride and ambition of the World and obey the dictates of carnal wisdom The Apostle St. James declares it to be impossible Jam. 4. Ye adulterers and Adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of the World is enmity with God whosoever therefore will be a friend of the World is the enemy of God Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy And therefore we are earnestly warned by the Apostle St. John that being deluded by vain arguments or any idle and groundless hope and opinion we should not retain the love of this World but wholly reject it if we would approve our selves to God whom we ought to love for our own salvation John 2. Love not the World neither the things that are in the World If any Man love the World the love of the Father is not in him for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world And the world passeth
I speak concerning Christ and the Church Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his Wife even as himself and the Wife see that she reverence her Husband Now those houses Domestick Discipline and families are most acceptable to God which are reared upon the Foundations of the fear of the Lord Repentance and Brotherly love where Children and Servants are both by institution and example instructed in the duties of Virtue and true Piety and taught to discharge the several offices of their stations to fear and reverence their Fathers and Masters and to submit to the Authority of the Master of the Family as appointed and established by the Laws of God Wherefore it ought to be the care and study both of Masters of Families and of Children and Servants That all should diligently discharge their several parts the one in commanding the others in obeying and all in mutual helping and assisting of one another in promoting the good of the Family the practice of Piety and the salvation of their Souls For so are Families enjoyned by the Holy Ghost to know and practise their duties Ephes 6. Children obey your Parents in the Lord for this is right Honour thy Father and thy Mother which is the first Commandment with Promise that it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long on the earth And ye Fathers provoke not your Children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Servants be obedient to them that are your Masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in singleness of your heart as unto Christ not with eye-service as Men-pleasers but as the Servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to Men knowing that whatsoever good thing any Man doth the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free And ye Masters do the same things unto them forbearing threatning knowing that your Master also is in Heaven neither is there respect of persons with him Nor is it consistent with Christian Doctrine and Truth that Children who ought to be educated by their Parents in the fear of the Lord and in the knowledge and practice of Piety should be bred up in the Principles of corrupt and perverse Doctrine and led in the broad way that tends to destruction being from their infancy indulged and pampered in Pomp and Pride countenanced in Luxury Worldly Delights and Lustful Pleasures taught all the lewd Songs Sports and Exercises of the Age and made acquainted with the factious Principles Feuds and Animosities of their Parents which from their Cradle upward they pursue and promote seeing thereby it happens that the Children of Christians who ought to be holy and imitable examples to all the World of Religion Honesty Reverence and Piety towards God become the scandalous patterns of Dishonesty Uncleanness Irreverence and Impiety both against God and their Parents Servants and Domesticks also encouraged by the publick and private examples of wickedness both in societies abroad and families at home grow through the neglect of those who should punish and correct them proper instruments of Unfaithfulness Disobedience Robberies Thefts Oppressions and the disgrace of Families so that all those employments almost which in themselves are good and lawful run out of course and degenerate into corrupt Nuysances Now it is manifest that this perverseness and depravation of manners always happens when Christian People are not taught the pure simple true and severe Discipline of the Gospel or if they be taught it either through an inveterate habit of sinning wholly slight and neglect it or if they commend and approve it yet think it not so absolutely necessary as that they ought to prefer it before all other things that come in competition therewith and so receive the word that is sown by the Husband-man in stony or thorny ground But we ought greatly to fear and have a care that that complaint of the Lord may not seem to be uttered against us Jer. 5. A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the Land The Prophets prophesie falsely and the Priests bear rule by their means and my People love to have it so and what will ye do in the end thereof Now to conclude what sinner soever moved by the fear of the Lord shall seriously consider upon the wrath and indignation of God that he hath deserved and the severe and terrible Judgment to which he has made himself liable and shall again meditate in his own thoughts that Grace Mercy and the blessing of Heaven is ready prepared for him if he will but carefully and heartily endeavour to be cloathed with the Wedding Garment that is to follow the rule of Piety above described unless he be more than impious and given over to a reprobate sense there is no doubt but that he will turn with full purpose of heart and soul from Vice to Virtue from corruption to integrity from madness and folly to a sound mind and in a word from the slavery of the Devil to that merciful Lord who is so pleased with the serious and true Repentance of Sinners that with an Oath he has sworn he desires it and has freely promised his blessings to those who hope in his Mercy and turn to him with their heart As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live He that hath ears to hear let him hear and turn to Repentance if he desire to obtain mercy from the most High who healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds by whose grace assistance good will and pleasure we have written this practical Rule of Christian Piety for the instruction of our fellow-Christians hoping that the meditation and study thereof may be useful to them for obtaining salvation through the goodness of God to whom be honour and glory for ever and ever Amen It hath not been our purpose to set off this Christian Institution with the ornaments and flowrishes of exquisite Language and Rhetorick but rather in few and plain words to accommodate this Doctrine of Piety to the capacities of all Christians who might thereby more easily both learn and retain it it being our desire rather to deliver and teach useful and good sense than gay and painted words Now the sum of all that hath been said is shortly this That extraordinary and supernatural gifts and graces are promised to all Men who will believe and accept the same not only in this life but also more especially in that which is to come and the same purchased and conveyed to them by the virtue and efficacy of that wonderful mystery of the conception birth death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of God who is ready to bestow them on every one who in the fear of the Lord obeys the holy dictates and precepts of the Law and is diligent and sincere in the practice of Brotherly-love and Charity For God requires that Men should fear obey worship and serve him and upon these conditions gave us his promises to the performance of which he obliged himself out of meer grace and bounty And this is the duty which every Christian whether high or low learned or unlearned ought to know and practise But for all other things which Men may desire to know and learn relating either to their private capacities or to the rank and quality which they bear amongst Men and wherein they may be deceived mistaken and err since all Men are not competent Judges of such things we have purposely omitted them exhorting all and every one that having diligently considered and observed the abovementioned three heads they would keep that station wherein by right and Law they are placed not declining to the right or to the left from their common duty which being faithfully performed God of his goodness will impart to all what is necessary to be known and practised by every one in the place and degree that he is called to in society Now if any thing appear unseemly and not altogether so justifiable in the actions and conduct of others it is not the part of any private Man to Judg and Censure it or to endeavour any change or alteration in the Duties and Offices of others but to leave the care of that to the lawful Ministers and Magistrates and to pray the Lord of the Vineyard that he would send fit Labourers into his Vineyard and that he would advance protect and defend his own Harvest Without doubt the Lord will have pity on his inheritance and take care of the welfare and prosperity of his people and will highly approve that no Man for the fault or errour of another withdraw himself from the unity and concord of the established Church and Government but that every Man mind not what other people do but what be ought to do and perform himself and with heart and soul set about it FINIS