Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n
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A66073
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Characters of a sincere heart and the comforts thereof collected out of the Word of God by Hen. Wilkinson.
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Wilkinson, Henry, 1616-1690.
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1674
(1674)
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Wing W2229; ESTC R27587
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61,872
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145
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may behold the Sun of Righteousness and be approved of by Almighty God Another word to be opened in that Text is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Qui inoffenso cursu pergit Qui non possit offendi qui nusquam offendat inoffensive in the Original it's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. We should so look to our steps as that we may not stumble and we should walk so prudently as we may neither give nor take offence This inoffensive walking the Apostle injoyns in the extent and latitude of it 1 Cor. 10. 32. Give none offence neither to the Jews nor to the Gentiles nor to the Church of God The same Apostle gives in special charge to the Corinthians 2 Cor. 6. 1. We then as workers together with him beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain And how must they evidence their not receiving the grace of God in vain He adds verse 3. Giving no offence in any thing that the Gospel be not blamed All Ministers in an equal manner ought to keep up the honour of their Ministry by a faithful and diligent discharge of their duty and by the holiness of their lives and conversations Many foul-mouth'd rash Censurers are so ignorant as not to distinguish between the Ministers and Ministry and therefore blame the whole Ministry for the default of some particular Ministers Wherefore Ministers and People especially such as are Professors of Religion must labour to walk so unblamably as they may what in them lies preserve the Reputation and Honour of the Gospel-Ministry Inoffensive and circumspect walking is the wisest walking See saith the Apostle Ephes 5. 15. how circumspectly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you walk Not only the matter but the manner is required and this precise walking is the wisest walking Not as fools but as wise They who walk in dissolute courses and live without God in the World they are the fools and so will be found to be another day And an especial effect of circumspect wise walking consists in redeeming of time Redeeming the time because the daies are evil Ephes 5. 10. He then whose heart is without guile evidenceth it so to be in the integrity of his life and conversation as a good tree is known by the good fruits which it bears And this upright walking is the only sure and safe walking but the contrary thereof is alwaies accompanied with variety of dangers and mischiefs As Solomon saith Prov. 10. 9. He that walketh uprightly walketh surely but he that perverteth his waies shall be known CHAP. XI Of Mortification of the Deeds of the Body THe eleventh Character of a sincere Charact. 11. Mortifiation of the Deeds of the Body Sect. 1. Heart is Mortification of the Deeds of the Body i. e. all manner of Lusts and the evil fruits of corrupt nature Carnal lusts and all the works of the flesh must be mortified And that we may the better know what they are the Apostle gives us a large Catalogue of the works of the flesh Gal. 5. 19 20 21. Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness idolatry witchcraft hatred variance emulations wrath strife seditions heresies envyings murthers drunkenness and such like Our duty is to confer the strength of our best endeavours to set upon the practice of mortification of all those fore-mentioned and not of those only but of all other sins For not only one particular member not only one particular act not only one particular affection or faculty must be mortified but the habit nature and constitution even the whole body of sin must be mortified Every sin must have a mortifying blow and not only be left half dead but dead altogether I have heard an observation made of two eminently Learned and Dr. Job Reynolds and Dr. Guil. is bitaker Valiant Champions of the Truth that one of them fought so long with his Adversary that he conquer'd and slew him in his Disputations the other did not only slay his Adversary but buried him Thus must we deal with every sin our endeavour must be to destroy all our sins utterly to kill and bury them that so they may never rise against us in this World to our shame nor in the World to come to our condemnation Where-ever we find the cursed fruits of sin we must utterly destroy them neither must sin only be destroyed in the fruits but in the roots also both root and branch must be pluckt up When the plague of Leprosie was spread in any house God gave a special command That the Priest should break down the house and the Levit. 14. 45. stones of it and the timber thereof and all the morter of the house Sin is a spiritual infectious Leprosie and wherever it is it ought to be rooted out The morter of a Leprous house may not be made use of for daubing of any house no more may any sin be mingled in the worship of God We read of the barbarous cruelty of Pilate Luke 13. 1. who mingled the bloud of the Galileans with their sacrifices But it 's most just for God to reject all our services and destroy us when we mingle our sins vain fancies and sinful inventions with the purity of his worship Nadab and Abihu are standing examples and warning-pieces against offering strange fire unto the Lord. And that is strange fire which is after our will-will-worship and devised by our own brains and not according to divine Institution We have the History upon record Lev. 10. 1. And Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron took either of them his censer and put fire therein and put incense thereon and offered strange fire before the Lord which he commanded them not And there went out fire from the Lord and devoured them and they died before the Lord. We may not offer to God the lame and the blind And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice is it not evil and if ye offer the lame and sick is it not evil offer it now unto thy Governor will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person Mal. 1. 8. saith the Lord of hosts As for all those who put such a high affront and indignity upon God as to offer the refuse and worst of their services as if they thought any good enough for him they incur that dreadful curse Mal. 1. 14. But cursed be the deceiver who hath in his flock a male and voweth and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing for I am a great King saith the Lord of hosts and my Name is dreadful amongst the Heathen If then we would offer any acceptable sacrifice unto God we must mortifie our sins and corruptions and offer unto God the best of our services the male in the flock and the best male Sect. 2 Although the Lord commanded the sacrifice of Bullocks and Rams c. yet he rejected the sacrifices of the Jews and had no respect to their
swallowed up in glory and we then shall attain to the end of our hope the salvation of our immortal Souls CHAP. VIII Shewing that where the Heart is sincere there is a strict Watch set upon the Heart and Life to keep us from bosome Sins THe eighth Character of sincerity is a Charact. 8. A strict Watch against bosome Stâ—s strict Watch set upon the Heart and Life against all and every bosome and beloved Sin Be thy sins as dear and as near as a right hand or a right eye they must be cut off and pluckt out for so saith our Saviour Observemâ—s in hac Christi admonitione quo serio qno fervore quamque vehementi cautione opus sit regnum Dei quaereâ—ibus ut offendiculorum occasiones undicunqâ—e irruentes amputent Musch in Loc. Matth. 5. 29 30. And if thy right eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast into Hell And if thy right hand offend thee cut it off and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast into Hell But these words may not be understood literally of mutilating and of dismembring of our selves but we are to understand them as spoken by way of caution and of strict command not only to avoid all sins but all manner of appearance of evil and likewise all sorts of occasions and temptations to sin The Psalmist gives a clear note of distinction between him whose heart is upright and him whose heart is not upright towards God Psal 18. 23. I was saith he upright before Neque quisquam ia pietatis siudio perget nisi qui sedulo se custodiet ab iaiqâ—itatc sua Caiv. in Loc. Ab iniquitate meâ i. c. ad quam naturaÌ„ meâ proius sum h. e. ne quid pravi admilterem aut nescclus admitterem quas antea admisissem Vatabl. him and I kept my self from mine iniquity It 's plain and evident from that Scripture that every bosome sin which David calls mine iniquity ought in an especial manner to be watched against and prevented and if we be overtaken with it we should loathe and leave it That sin is a bosome sin which is peccatum in deliciis a darling sin like a Delilah in the bosome an Agag a ruling sin a Gibeonite a pretending sin any sin that pleads with an Exceptive as Naaman did 2 Kings 5. 18. In this thing the Lord pardon thy Servant that when my Master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there and he leaneth on my hand and I bow down my self in the house of Rimmon the Lord pardon thy Servant in this thing All these and such like Apologies and pleadings pretences and excuses for sin must be utterly abhor'd and abandon'd altogether Suppose thy sins may be lesfer comparatively than some others yet no sin can be so little but it 's greatly hated and abhor'd by Almighty God and deserves his wrath to be poured down upon the Sinner unto all eternity As for instance suppose thou accustomest thy self to petty and lesser Oaths frothy and vain discourse jesting lyes c. yet all these have filth and guilt in them and are odious and abominable in the fight of God and therefore we ought to detest and utterly forsake them One of the ancient Fathers of the highest rank declares his judgment That none ought Augusti to tell though but one a lye although the telling of that one lye might save the whole World The Reason of that Assertion is grounded upon that Proposition of eternal Truth We may not do evil that good may come thereof Ancient sins which are of long standing and custom such as are sins of pleasure and profit such as suit most with the genius complexion and constitution of particular men and conduce most to the satisfaction of carnal lusts and to the pleasing of flesh and blood and corrupt nature are so far from being extenuated as notwithstanding Custom and Antiquity they carry a greater Aggravation with them Thieves Murtherers and such notorious criminal persons cannot expect to fare a whit the better but the worse altogether for pleading a custom and habit in their wickedness Wherefore then let us in good earnest loat he and detest all sins and after loathing and detesting leave and forsake all manner of sins and break off both acts and habits of sinning by unfeigned repentance and conversion to God And let us fulfil that Prophesie by our daily practice Isai 30. 22. Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven Images of Silver and ornament of thy molten Images of Gold Thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous Cloth thou shalt say unto it Get thee hence Let none presume to plead for any sin as Lot pleaded for Zoar Is it not a little one and my Soul shall live A little leak in a Ship if it be neglected and not stopt up presently may sink the Ship and so all in the Ship may be suddenly drowned A little Thief put into a Window may open the Door and let in a multitude of such desperate Cut-throats as may quickly destroy a whole Family A little Pen-knife a little Aul or Bodkin may kill a man as soon as either Sword Spear or Gun Sisera the General of Jabin's Forces ran away on his feet and so escaped the edge of the Sword in the open field but by Jael he was kill'd in the Tent for we read Judges 4. 21. That Jael Heber's Wife took a Nail of the Tent and took an Hammer in her hand and went softly unto him and smote the Nail into his Temples and fastned it into the ground for he was fast asleep and weary so he died Sect. 2 In our most composed and deliberate thoughts let us consider that there is no sin so little but without the interposing of the merits of Christ will damn us both Body and Soul into the nethermost Hell There is no little God no little Price paid to make an Attonement for Sin and no little Hell the place of Torments Oh then as thou consultest the good of thy precious Soul lay aside altogether all manner of Apologies pretences pleadings and expostulations and all manner of hopes of obtaining any Dispensations for any one Sin which may be comparatively lesser than some others As for that sin which in thy account is not to be regarded as if it were either a little one or none at all without repentance and pardon purchased through the Bloud of Christ thy Soul and Body may be cast into that Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone to all eternity One of the chiefest rank of the Roman Historians relates what Hanno said of Hannibal That such a Parvus hic igâ—is iaceâ—dium â—â—geis exuscitet Iav little Spark might cause a great Flame The Embers of