And so after he had patiently endured he obtained the Promise For Men verily swear by the greater and an Oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife Wherein God willing more abundantly to shew unto the Heirs of Promise the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an Oath that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us which hope we have as an anchor of the Soul both sure and stedfast and which entereth into that within the Vail whither the forerunner is for us entered even Jesus made an High Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedec It remains then which is the design of this little Book that we handle the Parts and Offices that are incumbent on Believers and the Scholars of Christ but especially those which indifferently concern all ranks ages and conditions of Men and without which their learning will be in vain and the Doctine insignificant Let every one then whether King or Priest Prince or States-man private or publick rich or poor Bond or Free Father or Son Husband or Wife Young or Old Merchant or Artificer Soldier or Peasant Learned or Unlearned provided he profess himself to be a Disciple and Follower of Christ and Christian Doctrine provided he be Baptized into the Faith of the Catholick Church without which there is no Salvation let every one I say learn in what Station soever he be how he ought to keep his Post behave and carry himself in this World and that from the Precepts and Institutions of the Holy Ghost himself who ought to be his Guide and not from us who do but as Students in the same School deliver to our fellow Scholars the Precepts and Doctrine of our great Master who hath called us from Darkness to his marvellous Light and let him take it in good part if perchance we inculcate some things which way seem hard and uneasie to the Manners Customs and Opinions of this present Age not interpreting what we say as a reproof to any person in particular but judging it the duty of a faithful Minister and Servant to declare and manifest to his fellow servants the Will of the Lord in his own words whereby if any Man out of Conscience Ignorance or Fear shal think himself censured he must not be offended with the Doctrine and Precepts which are Just and Holy nor with his fellow Servant who delivers them but with himself his faults and vices who having professed this Doctrine hath not submitted himself to the Laws and Conditions thereof which are Constant Universal and Immutable and not made and published that according to the desire humour lust and counsels of every private man they may be altered and changed but which command Obedience by changing all those Desires Passions Lusts and Counsels that may be a hindrance to the punctual observation of the same our Lord himself having said Mat. 5. Think not that I am come to destroy the Law or the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfill That is to make those who believe in me pure holy and faithful in observing and fulfilling the same For verily I say unto you till Heaven and Earth pass one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law till all be fulfilled 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 but whosoever shall do and teach them the same shall be called great 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 Now if the entry into the Kingdom of Heaven be denied to those whose righteousness and obedience to the Laws of God does not exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees not of the wicked and hypocrites but of the good Scribes and Pharisees who seemed most to excell in the study of observing the Law what will become of him who through hatred or favour of Man shall pervert change conceal dissemble or any other ways make void the rules of righteousness that he is to deliver to his fellow Christians and teach so He shall indeed be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven and deemed unworthy to be admitted into that Heavenly Communion and Society into which all that are received are called Kings and great Now to be a King and to be the least are inconsistent hence it follows that in the Kingdom of Heaven it is the same thing to be the least and to be none for no man that breaketh the Commandments of God and teacheth others so to do shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but they only shall enter whose righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees and who being not only hearers but doers of the Law shall be justified before God Wherefore if in the Precepts Rules and Instructions of the Doctrine that hath been delivered unto us any thing may seem to any Man stricter than his own Will Opinion or predominant Affections can comply with or submit unto let him if he intends to enter into life be persuaded that neither the way which God hath once fenced in is to be changed or enlarged nor that strait and narrow Gate made wider for the sake of any particular Person and that he must become Humble Lowly and poor in Spirit striving to walk in the narrow way and to enter at the strait Gate which will not be difficult to those who truly love this Doctrine and earnestly implore the assistance of Divine Grace that will be denied to none who dutifully and carefully submit to the rules and dictates of this Discipline For Psal 145. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him to all that call upon him in truth He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him he also will hear their cry and will save them And so he shall underderstand that the ways of the Lord are broad and pleasant to those who as Pilgrims and Strangers abstaining from and renouncing the carnal desires that war against the Soul and becoming poor in Spirit undertake that holy Journey and enter into the right way as the Royal Psalmist saith Psal 119. And I will walk at liberty for I seek thy Precepts I will speak of thy Testimonies also before Kings and will not be ashamed And I will delight my self in thy Commandments which I have loved My hands also will I lift up unto thy Commandments which I have loved and I will meditate in thy Statutes I know that good and holy Men will willingly listen to their fellow Christian and not so much mind the language and learning of him that writes as the sayings which proceed out of the mouth of the living God whose sacred and infallible
filled and animated with divine Fear follow the ways of Godliness which Fear as we have said is the beginning or principal part of Knowledg that is it is a reverent care to avoid sin obey the Will and worship the Majesty of God And therefore the holy Mother of our Lord affirms Luke 1. That his Mercy is on them that fear him from Generation to Generation thereby intimating that that divine and inexhaustible Mercy was in no Age ever wanting to those who Fear and religiously Serve the Lord. And indeed divine Wisdom hath by many and frequent Testimonies and Oracles out of the mouths of all the Prophets and Holy Men asserted the Dignity and Excellence of the Fear of God and amongst others by that of the Son of Sirach Ecclus. 25. Oh how great is he that findeth Wisdom yet there is none above him that feareth the Lord. For Knowledg and Wisdom do indeed illuminate and instruct the Mind but that holy Fear of the Lord turns the heart effectually unto God and inclines it to the Obedience and Observation of the Precepts of the divine Law As the same Son of Sirach does expresly teach Ecclus. 2. saying My Son if thou come to serve the Lord prepare thy Soul for Temptation Set thy Heart aright and constantly endure and make not hast in time of trouble Cleave unto him and depart not away that thou maist be encreased at thy last end Whatsoever is brought unto thee take chearfully and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate For Gold is tried in the Fire and acceptable Men in the Furnace of Adversity Believe in him and he will help thee order thy way aright and trust in him Ye that fear the Lord wait for his Mercy and go not aside lest ye fall Ye that fear the Lord believe him and your reward shall not fail Ye that fear the Lord hope for good and for everlasting Joy and Mercy Look at the Generations of old and see did ever any trust in the Lord and was confounded Or did any abide in his fear and was forsaken Or whom did he ever despise that called upon him For the Lord is full of Compassion and Mercy Long-Suffering and very Pitiful and forgiveth Sins and saveth in time of Affliction Wo be to fearful hearts and faint hands and the sinner that goeth two ways Wo unto him that is faint-hearted for he believeth not therefore shall he not be defended Wo unto you that have lost Patience and what will ye do when the Lord shall visit you They that fear the Lord will not disobey his Word and they that love him will keep his ways They that fear the Lord will seek that is well pleasing unto him and they that love him shall be filled with the Law They that fear the Lord will prepare their heart and humble their Souls in his sight saying we will fall into the hands of the Lord and not into the hands of men for as his Majesty is so is his Mercy Nor do the holy Scriptures affirm only that the Fear of God is an useful proper and effectual means for working out our own Salvation but also that it is absolutely necessary and without which no Man can be saved seeing he who is not endowed with this Religious and Godly Fear can neither rightly set about nor with a steddy and constant purpose of mind go through with the work of Repentance nor yet faithfully keep the Laws of God as they ought to do who endeavour to approve themselves to God and procure the blessing of Justification and Christian Sanctification And therefore it was the Decree and Purpose of Heaven that a messenger of the Salvation which was coming into the World should as a fore-runner be sent before to Preach the Repentance and observation of the Divine Laws to Men and by that means prepare the way for Christian Righteousness Mat. 3. For John the Baptist came preaching in the Wilderness of Judea and saying Repent ye For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand For this is he that was spoken of by the Prophet Esaias saying The voice of one crying in the Wilderness prepare ye the way of the Lord make his paths streight For the same purpose the Apostles were sent out by Jesus Christ the Author and High-Priest of our Salvation to Publish and Preach this necessary Duty of Repentance for as the Evangelist saith Mark 6. They went out and Preached that Men should Repent The Apostles excepted none that heard them and desired to be partakers of the Salvation which they Preached from the Duty and Care of Repentance The Apostle Paul affirms before King Agrippa that he was enjoyned and had performed the same duty both towards the Jews and Gentiles without any distinction Preaching throughout all the wasts of Judea and then to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn of God and do works meet for repentance When the Jews and others at Jerusalem asked the question what was to be done by those who desired to be saved St. Peter answered Acts 2. Repent and be Baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of Sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost For the Promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off even as many as the Lord our God shall call It might be proved by above six hundred Testimonies from the Holy Scripture that without the fear of the Lord and Repentance which is the second Head of Doctrine we now treat of and without the keeping and observation of the Laws of God no Man that is come to Age and that knows God and the nature of good and evil can obtain remission of sins and the inheritance and enjoyment of the Kingdom of Heaven This our Saviour himself the best Interpreter of his Fathers will asserts saying Luke 13. Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish Mat. 5. and except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Now seeing the word Repentance is often to be mentioned in this little Book that it may clearly appear what we mean we are to take notice that Repentance comprehends two things a detestation and forsaking of our sins and ill life past and an earnest and sincere practice and performance of those Virtues Acts and Deeds which are known to be acceptable to God As to the first part that is the detestation and forsaking of sin and a sinful life that Repentance chiefly relates to it which is enjoyned and taught by the Christian Church of which the particulars are the sorrow and contrition of heart the confession of the mouth and satisfaction in deed to use the common phrase and expression of the learned for knowing the nature whereof we shall refer you to the Books of the Learned who have fully handled and discussed that Point being resolved here
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
luxury but rather condemn them The Christian Doctrine that advises those who would be saved not to trust to Riches commending Honesty Modesty Temperance Innocence Continence Mercy Bounty Liberality and the other Duties of Piety and Religion and on the contrary detesting and disswading from the opposite vices as Pride and Haughtiness Delights and Pleasures Injuries Robberies and Oppression of the Poor detaining or Cheating the Labourers Wages Usury Monopolies enhaunsing of prices and every thing else that is either disgraceful to the doer hurtful to our Christian Brethren or inconsistent with the publick good in the Judgment of God himself For he who reckons all Christians his Brethren and Children of one Common Father the Just Merciful and Bountiful God and shall know that they stand in need of his help ought to assist them partly by giving and partly by lending without any hope of profit benefit or interest and thereby magnifie God the Father who hath enabled him to shew that kindness to his Brethren which the liberal goodness of God hath promised to recompense with a sure and excellent reward For so it is written Luke 6. Do good and lend hoping for nothing again and your reward shall be great and ye shall be the children of the highest for he is kind to the unthankful and to the evil Be ye therefore Merciful as your Father also is Merciful To this duty of beneficence enjoyned by Christ to his Disciples we may add that strict command of God Deut. 15. If there be among you a poor Man of one of thy brethren within any of thy Gates in thy Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee thou shalt not harden thy heart nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart saying the seventh year the year of release is at hand and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother and thou givest him nought and he cry unto the Lord against thee and it be sin unto thee Thou shalt surely give him and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him because that for that thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto For the poor shall never cease out of the Land therefore I command thee saying Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother to thy poor and to thy needy in the Land The sincere Disciples of Christ ought to set before their eyes and think on that command of God that is backed with so many reasons commended by so many promises and armed with so many threatnings against the neglecters of it and freely bestow and lend according to their abilities avoiding what in them lies that sentence pronounced by the Holy Ghost against the rich Men of this World and not in good works Jam. 5. Go to now ye rich Men weep and houl for your miseries that shall come upon you Your riches are corrupted and your Garments are Moth-eaten your Gold and Silver is Cankered and the rust of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire ye have heaped treasure together for the last days Behold the hire of the Labourers which have reaped dawn your Fields which is of you kept back by Fraud erieth and the cries of them which have reaped are entred into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth Ye have lived in pleasure on the Earth and been wanton ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter Consonant to this sentence is that dreadful commination of Christ Luke 6. Wo unto you that are rich for ye have received your consolation Wo unto you that are full for ye shall hunger wo unto you that laugh now for ye shall mourn and weep And is it not a very terrible sentence that is pronounced and with an asseveration confirmed by our Saviour against rich Men Mat. 19. Verily I say unto you that a rich Man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven And again I say unto you it is easier for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich Man to enter into the Kingdom of God The reason of this difficulty the Holy Ghost affirms to be because the desire and love of riches deceives Men and turns them often out of the streight road of Equity and Justice For he that desires to be rich hastens to be so but then what respect is there to the Law what fear or shame in him who sets his soul upon wealth nay plenty and opulency when once it is acquired debauches both Men and Women from an innocent modest and honest way of living into luxury vanity and pomp into pride and strife and into other violations of the divine commandments and contempt of Christian simplicity setting off enormous vices with great and plausible names so prone is the sinful appetite of Man to abuse even the advantages and blessings of earthly things a fault carefully to be avoided as the Apostle admonisheth 1 Tim. 6. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown Men in destruction and perdition for the love of money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows And therefore that good Men may be ware of that deceitfulness of riches Psal 62. The holy Ghost by the mouth of the Prophet gives this admonition If riches encrease set not your heart upon them Nor is the holy Doctrine of our Lord and Master The duty of Merchants and Tradesmen more remiss or obscure in informing all those who live and endeavour to get Estates by Traffick and Trades For such are taught by the fear of the Lord the study of Repentance and Brotherly Love to deceive no Man not to adulterate or change diminish or increase their goods and commodities nor to neglect any thing that relates to them which the nature of the goods require not to change and raise their prices nor to deal fraudulently in weights and measures for the holy Scriptures assure us that all such frauds and cheats argue a contempt of divine Justice Christian simplicity and uprightness and are extremely offensive to the supreme Judge of all Men. Prov. 11. A false ballance is abomination to the Lord but a just weight is his delight And again Prov. 20. Divers weights and divers measures both of them are alike abomination to the Lord. Nor is that custom of cheating and circumventing our brethren by false prices and oaths and a cunning wheadle of words less abominable to God as it is written Amos 8. Hear this O ye that swallow up the needy even to make the poor of the Land to fail saying when will the new Moon