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
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
faithful Author of this Doctrinâ— will abundantly and to the fulâ— perform what he hath promised tho in the beginning it be unknown to believers seeing hâ— who freely and graciously hath promised standeth not in need oâ— the goodness of others nor iâ— made poorer by conferring hiâ— own but by how much the morâ— he is liberal and bountiful by sâ— much the riches of his goodnesâ— and inexhaustible mercy does encrease Rom. 10. For the samâ— Lord over all is rich unto all thaâ— call upon him Whether then the reward of the Discipline of Christ be fully known to his followers or but darkly shadowed out to them yet it shall not be denied to those who with a pure and holy heart seek after it nor shall it want any thing of that amplitude and fulness which the divine nature of the thing it self and the Majesty Authority and Bounty of him that promises it does require Esa 55. For as the Heavens are higher than the Earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts For as the rain cometh down and the snow from Heaven and returneth not thither but watereth the Earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater so shall my word be that goeth forth of my mouth it shall not return unto me void but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it for ye shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace the Mountains and the Hills shall break forth before you into singing and all the trees of the field she clap their hands Instead of tâ— Thorn shall come up the Fig-treâ— and instead of the Bryar shall comâ— up the Myrtle tree and it she be to the Lord for a name for aâ— everlasting sign that shall not bâ— cut off A clear proof of thâ— appears in Abraham whom God heretofore having selected and separated him from the Doctrinâ— and Manners of the Gentiles proposed as an excellent pattern to be imitated by those who would imbrace and submit to this Discipline how he having received and by firm Faith believed thâ— promise of an earthly inheritance did not instantly know what extent of Land was assured to him referring that to thâ— Almighty who had made the Promise but thought it was enough for him to relie on the promises of the God of the whole Earth who having freely spoken the word was best able and most willing to perform it And no sooner was the Promise made but he trusting it obeyed the command and submitted to the conditions enjoyned him Gen. 12. For the Lord said unto Abraham get thee out of thy Country and from thy kindred and from thy Fathers house unto a Land that I will shew thee and I will make of thee a great Nation and I will bless thee and make thy Name great and thou shalâ— be a blessing And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee and in thee shall all families of the Earth be blessed So Abraham departed as the Lord had commanded him knowing neither whither he went nor how large the possession was that he was to have which the Apostle observing saith By Faith Abraham when he was call'd to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance obeyed and he went out not knowing whither he went wholly trusting to the word of him who could and would perform more than he was able either to ask or think and looking upon it as his duty to obey the Master whose Disciple he was that had promised him large inheritance to be revealed and discovered unto him in due time as the event made appear For Abraham having made a competent progress in the discipline he had embraced being called by God to whose institution he had resigned himself was fully instructed by him not only in the exâ—ent of the Earthly inheritance but of the Heavenly Blessings also which were shadowed and typified thereby as it is written Gen. 13. And the Lord said unto Abraham after that Lot was separated from him lift up now thine eyes and look from the Place where thou art North-ward and South-ward and East-ward and West-ward For all the Land which thou seest to thee will I give it and to thy Seed for ever And I will make thy Seed as the dust of the Earth so that if a Man can number the dust of the Earth then shall thy Seed also be numbred Arise walk through the Land in the length of it and in the breadth of it for I will give it unto thee Wherefore seeing no Man can doubt but that what things God hath promised will more fully be accomplished than he who is to receive them can wish for oâ— think it will be the duty of a true Believer and Disciple of Christ to set diligently about the performance of the condition imposed upon him and to leave the blessings and favours which he does expect to the arbitrement of him to whose conduct and doctrine he hath resigned himself even to God Almighty the powerful and rich Father of all Mercies who maketh it to rain upon the Just and the Unjust and who by the mouth of his own Son in whom he hath spoken and made the greatest of promises to us hath promised to give his good spirit to those that seek him For if he most graciously fulfilled what at sundry times and in divers manners he spake and promised unto the Fathers by the Prophets and if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast how can we be denied or disappointed of any thing that hath been promised to us by the Son of his Love the faithful interpreter of his Will and bountiful dispencer of his Grace and Mercies This made a most approved Apostle who by his own and the experience of others was convinced of that truth break out in thankfulness to God Rom. 8. What shall we then say to these things If God be for us who can be against us He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not also with him freely give us all things So that on the part of him that promises no doubt can be made nor any impediment interpose why those things which have been promised should not superabundantly be fulfilled Luke 6. good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over shall men give into your bosom And the truth of this Christian Doctrine for ever stands firm and unshaken Tit. 1. According to the Faith of Gods Elect and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness In hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie promised before the World began but hath in due times manifested his word Heb. 6. For when God made promise to Abraham because he could swear by no greater he sware by himself saying surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee
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
fruits of serious Repentance as in his holy Baptism he promised But how is that performed by those who never depart from iniquity or if they do it is but for a time upon occasion of Confessing or taking the Sacrament that they may again fall into the same or more heinous crimes when notwithstanding the conditions required of a Penitent that would worthily receive the Sacrament are satisfaction and amendment of life which if sometime they set about it they soon forsake and relapse into the accursed manners of a stubborn inflexible nature but not he that beginneth Mat. 24 but he that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved Isa 1. Wash ye make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well seek Judgment relieve the oppressed Judge the fatherless plead for the widow Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord though your sins be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Snow tho they be red like Crimson they shall be as Wooll Cease to do evil learn to do well saith God who comparing the noble beginnings of Christian simplicity and Piety with the subsequent corruption of manners and defect of Repentance and Obedience in his ancient People thus laments over them How is the faithful City become an Harlot It was full of Judgment Righteousness lodged in it but now Murderers Thy Silver is become dross thy Wine mixt with Water Thy Princes are rebellious and companions of Thieves are every one that loveth Gifts and followeth after Rewards they judge not the Fatherless neither doth the cause of the Widow come unto them That Faith then which is accompanied with Repentance and Obedience is the Faith whereby Men obtain the gracious promises of God not I say an idle and dead Faith but that which worketh by Charity and believes and obeys the word of God does what is commanded and is deterred by no difficulties but rather with heroick resolution and assurance performs whatever is enjoyned it as it is written Heb. 11. By Faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry Land which the Egyptians essaying to do were drowned By Faith the Walls of Jerico fell down after they were compassed about seven days By Faith the Harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she had received the Spies with Peace And what shall I now say For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Baruch and of Sampson and of Jeptha of David and also Samuel and of the Prophets who through Faith subdued Kingdoms wrought Righteousness obtained Promises stopped the mouths of Lions quenched the violence of the Fire escaped the edg of the Sword out of weakness were made strong waxed valiant in Fight turned to flight the Armies of the Aliens Women received their dead raised to life again So that the Faith of all those shewed it self in great Works it being their care and study to approve themselves to God not barely by the profession of an idle Faith but by the obedience and practice of a lively and active Faith and to omit nothing that for Godliness sake they were commanded to do and on the contrary to act nothing which Religion and Obedience taught them to shun and avoid and rather to suffer all inconveniencies and losses even to death and reproach than to violate those Precepts which the will and word of God delivered to be observed by them And therefore they also have left to Posterity patterns and examples of true Repentance and Obedience as it follows in the same place And others were tortured not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection Others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings yea moreover of Bonds and Imprisonment They were stoned they were sawn asunder were slain with the Sword they wandred about in Sheep-skins and Goat-skins being destitute afflicted tormented of whom the World was not worthy they wandred in Desarts and in Mountains and in Dens and Caves of the Earth And these all having obtained a good report through Faith received not the Promise God having provided some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect The Apostle calls the works of those holy Men and their practice of Obedience the Testimony of Faith as well in undergoing and acting what they were commanded to act and undergo as in declining and shunning those things that were prohibited to be done and yet they obtained not the Promise that is not the full enjoyment of the Kingdom of Heaven which before the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ was not as yet opened that they might not be made perfect without us who came at the eleventh hour tho they were severally at several hours before us bore the heat and burden of the day and wrought diligently in the Vineyard However must the reward appointed to be paid first to those who were called at the eleventh hour be given to the idle and negligent By no means for these workmen were not called that they might be idle but rather they were rebuked that they spent almost the whole day in Sloth and Idleness Why saith the good Man of the House stand ye here all day Idle Now they are call'd idle who have no work no business to do as the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 employed by the Evangelist does clearly import Therefore they who were called and sent into the Vineyard at the Eleventh hour were not called to an idle lazy Faith only but to the exercise of a lively Faith in obedience to the Will and Commands of him that called them and to labour in the Vineyard no less than they who were called before them whose Faith hath been proved and tried in divers works much labour and pain This appears evidently by the Testimony of those who came first delivered in that excellent Parable who affirmed that the last wrought but one hour They said not that they who were called at that hour were idle in the Vineyard but that they wrought it was favour and bounty enough shewn them by the good Man of the House that having wrought less and being excused from the heat and burden of the day they first of all were rewarded by the gracious bounty of the Lord who is willing to give to the last as to the first From what hath been said then it is manifest and clear that an imputative Faith only laying hold of the Promises and otherwise lazy and unactive is not that Faith which God does require of those whom he calls to the Communion of Saints and Inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven but a lively Faith and such as exerciseth Believers in the Obedience and Observation of those things that are commanded by him that calleth them For as it is not enough to lay hold on the Promises barely by Faith unless we actually enjoy and possess the same so it is not enough neither to answer the
and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repenteth him of the evil Nevertheless we must always be upon our guard and take diligent heed lest securely trusting to past Pardons and the confident expectation of Gods future mercy we never cease to do evil and learn to do good that is not the use but the abuse of divine Clemency and Mercy The Mercy of God is indeed from Generation to Generation but upon those that fear him and I will hear saith the Psalmist Psal 85. what God the Lord will say for he will speak Peace unto the People and to his Saints but let them not return again to Folly Again Isai as saith Isa 30. Therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you The Lord will wait that he may be gracious saith he not that they who are waited for should heap sin upon sin and return unto the vomit but because he hath promised mercy to them who with their whole heart so turn unto him that they stand in awe and greatly fear any more to offend him otherwise as the same Prophet saith Therefore will the Lord be exalted that he may have Mercy upon you for the Lord is a God of Judgment who denies not his promised Mercy to any that rightly seek it but withall does not for ever delay but in due time inflict the punishments which are appointed to those whose heart is not right and stedfast with him There is no time with God void of Mercy towards those who hinder not their own Mercy Now they do hinder it who after the hardness and impenitence of their heart treasure up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath Isa 66. To this Man will I look saith the Lord even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word But concerning those who are not truly poor of a contrite spirit and tremble at his word he hath pronounc'd this Sentence He that killeth an Ox is as if he flew a Man he that Sacrificeth a Lamb as if he cut off a Dogs neck he that Offereth an Oblation as if he Offered Swines Blood he that burneth Incense as if he blessed an Idol 1 Kings 8. they have chosen their own ways and their Soul delighteth in their abominations They therefore that have committed sin for as Solomon saith there is no Man that sinneth not must constantly keep in the way of Repentance and denying themselves hear and follow him who hath said Not he that beginneth but he that endureth to the end the same shall be saved They must from their whole heart and Soul Renounce the Devil and all his works the pomps and vanities of this wicked world as they have promised and vowed in their Baptism otherwise Jer. 8. thus saith the Lord shall they fall and not arise shall he turn away and not return why then is this People of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual back-sliding The Lord calls it a perpetual back-sliding when men in their manners retain and follow that wicked course of life which in word or thought they may have condemned and falsly professing and boasting of their Repentance do not conscientiously perform the duty of it but belying their own hearts deceive themselves and not God nor his Minister to whom they promised a serious amendment of life This the Lord finds fault with by the same Prophet They hold fast deceit they refuse to return I hearkned and heard but they spake not aright no Man repented him of his wickedness saying what have I done Every one turned to his Course as the Horse rusheth into the Battel The Lord indeed waits that he may have mercy upon us and uses patience not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance Come to Repentance saith that Apostle who knew that Repentance was necessary to sinners for appeasing the wrath and obtaining the mercy of God Now the Holy Spirit does plainly tell us that the long-suffering of God is not everlasting tho we believe and confess his Mercy to be infinite Psal 7. God Judgeth the Righteous and God is angry with the Wicked every day if he turn not he will whet his Sword he hath bent his Bow and made it ready he hath also prepared for him the instruments of death He ordaineth his arrows against the Persecutors When God Almighty was about to destroy the old World because of sin he allotted them a certain time to repent in as it is written Gen 6. And the Lord said my Spirit shall not always strive with Man for that he also is Flesh yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years At the end of which all Mankind perished in the Flood save only the Family of Noah who in that Age was found Righteous in the sight of God The People of Niniveh being warned by the Prophet that after forty days they should be destroyed delayed not their Repentance until the last day but set about it so soon as they heard the denunciation all that time I say was employed and spent in fasting and prayer for averting the wrath of God imploring divine mercy and amending their sinful lives as it is written Jona 3. And Jonah began to enter into the City a days Journey and he cried and said yet fourty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown So the People of Nineveh believed God and Proclaimed a Fast and put on Sackcloth from the greatest of them even to the least of them for word came unto the King of Nineveh and he arose from his Throne and he laid his Robe from him and covered him with Sackcloth and sate in Ashes and he caused to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the Decree of the King and his Nobles saying let neither Man nor Beast Herd nor Flock tast any thing let them not feed nor drink water But let Man and Beast be covered with Sackcloth and cry mightily unto God yea let them turn every one from their evil way and from the violence that is in their hands Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not and God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not The Men of Nineveh will rise in Judgment against those who having been warned not once but often yet have not turned from their evil ways or who have delayed the duty of a serious Repentance to the last day of their life living in the mean time wickedly and following the Vanities Lusts Ambition Pride and Vices of the World whereas no Man ought or can say that he is allowed to put off the exercise of Repentance to the extremity of life since upon the first call and admonition all Men are commanded to turn and be converted unto the Lord. To day saith the Holy Ghost if you will hear his voice harden
not your hearts Heb. 4. Let us therefore fear saith the Apostle lest a Promise being left us of entring into his Rest any of you should seem to come short of it For unto us was the Gospel Preached as well as unto them Let us labour therefore to enter into that Rest Now he shall not enter who obeyeth not the voice of him that calleth him nor he be owned who hath not lawfully striven 1 Cor. 9. Know ye not saith St. Paul that they which run in a race run all but one winneth the prize so run that you may obtain We are to run and not go back to run and not to stand still according to the Apostle We are to run not slowly but lawfully and with so much more the greater pains diligence and care by how much the Prize set before us is to be esteemed and preferred before a Crown of Olive Smallage or Oak-leaves Now what pains and labour they were at to exercise themselves who were to run in the race that neither Luxury might soften nor Laziness dull them they who have written on that Subject inform us Qui cupit optatam cursu contingere metam Multa tulit fecitque puer sudavit alsit Abstinuit Venere vino c. The Youth who strives the wish'd goal to obtain Much anxious toil endures colds heats and pain And Wine and Women shuns c. And they as St. Paul saith are temperate in all things that they may obtain a corruptible Crown but we an incorruptible Now it is manifest that the long-suffering and patience of God for the repentance of all and every sinner is limited within certain bounds for after death there is no place for repentance so that we must if ever repent in this life And therefore since experience it self convinceth us of the shortness of life besides what divine wisdom teacheth us that Man is of few days and the number of his months is with thee Job 14. we ought to consider the extent and limits of divine patience and long-suffering and not to trust to that dangerous hope which hath deceived many who have deferred the thoughts of serious repentance to the very last day of their life For tho the use and improvement of life be left to the will and pleasure of Man yet the time and manner of death is not in his option Now as the way and manner of living is two-fold the one large and broad and the other strait and narrow so it is left to Man to choose which of the two he pleaseth yet he is not only advised but even commanded to choose that which is best and safest as it is written Deut. 30. See I have set before thee this day life and good and death and evil in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments that thou mayest live c. Therefore chuse life that both thou and thy seed may live that thou mayest love the Lord thy God and that thou mayest obey his voice and that thou mayest cleave unto him for he is thy life and the length of thy days Now of the nine hundred and seven ways of death which are observed to happen unto Man without violence it is not left to him to choose which of all he would submit unto but that is reserved to the Providence and Will of God in whose hands are the issues of death It is great madness and folly then and no less dangerous temerity to neglect those things which are laid before us as safe certain present to our view and but few in number and to set our minds on things that are remote foreign to our happiness uncertain many and various and likewise most difficult Again who seeth not how wicked a thing it is to expect and desire that the designed and affected loss of our whole life should be made up by the Prayer of a Minutes or less continuance at last And that he should look for the honour and prize of the race or fight who hath neither run nor fought when yet he might and ought to have done it In a word how is his judgment depraved who desires wickedly and carelesly to live and to die holily Whatever others may think of this matter I am little concerned but am still of opinion and do affirm that such opinions are full of danger and that many have been thereby deceived If the instance of that sinful woman or of the Thief in the Gospel be objected to us we shall willingly admit of it for confirmation of the truth and retort it back again For that woman who was a sinner in the City when once she had come to Christ and found him merciful by a continued exercise of Repentance and Sanctity of life for the future she secured to herself his favour and blessing so far was she from estranging him from her by new sins and offences And the Thief at the same time that he was instructed in the truth of Christ began a serious Repentance which with a constant mind he continued till the last breath of his life and would in all probability have continued it longer if either he had escaped death that day or hung longer alive upon the Cross whom that common torment of the punishment made greater by the breaking of his legs diverted not from the thoughts of his own Salvation nor the contemplation of his Saviour And we have reason to think that if he had known the grace and truth of Christ before he would have forsaken his wicked courses and purpose of virtue and amendment till the last day of his life Is that to imitate the Thief Mary Magdalene or St. Peter who coming to himself acknowledged his sin and avoiding that croud by whose company and discourses he had been drawn and almost forc'd into his offence went forth and wept bitterly returning no more to those who had been the occasion of his Fall but cleaving close to the society of the other Disciples whom both by example and discourse he confirmed in the hope of their Masters Resurrection doing as his Lord commanded him and thou when thou art converted strengthen thy brethren These are the instances of a Repentance most acceptable to God and profitable to Man which whosoever will seriously imitate to his own Salvation must nenounce himself that is his concupiscenses the pomps and vanities of the World reform the course of his life walk carefully in the ways that God does approve of and having taken up his cross with a lively Faith and constant Obedience follow Christ cast off all impediments that may divert him from or hinder him in his Journey and always have in his mind what the Lord hath recommended to our serious practice Luke 9. If any Man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross daily and folly me Mat. 24. And he that shall endure unto the
end the same shall be saved And no Man having put his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God He that hath ears to hear let him hear God deceiveth no Man Let every one take heed then that he deceive not himself nor suffer himself to be deceived by others This is the plain sure and safe way that hath the promise of good success Repentance I mean which every one ought carefully to set about persist in and prosecute to the end This is the way that never deceived any Man but will certainly bring those that walk therein to eternal Salvation at last For it is written Psal 69. Psal 105. Your hearts shall live that seek God Seek the Lord and his strength seek his face ever more He that seeketh his face always in what manner soever he may end this mortal life yet his Son shall live Psal 9. For thou Lord hast not forsaken them that seek thee The death of Lazarus was mean and obscure in the eyes of Men but that of the rich Man conspicuous and his Funeral pompous The rich Man died and was buried however the Soul of the former was received into Abraham's bosom when this Mans Soul was sent down into Hell Wherefore let those who either never set about the work of Repentance aright or put it off to the hour of death or often in their life-time begin it and as often again leave it off let them I say consider what ground they have to do so and what divine promise they can pretend to trust to for it is not in our power to command our time when we would and whether God will grant it to us according to our wishes is much to be doubted As 't is written Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy Statutes for their deceit is falshood No Doctor of the Christian Church for what I know ever taught us to put off and delay Repentance and amendment of life till the last day of living nor promised any happy success to those that did so nay St. Austin doubts of the condition of those delayers of serious Repentance till the hour of death and we have no reason but with St. Austin to doubt of the same Wo be to fearful hearts and faint hands and the sinner that goeth two ways Wo will be unto many to whom opportunity and the advantages of amending their lives has been offered and granted whilst they were alive and in health and whilst God waited for them and who still persisting in their wickedness their too late desire of Repentance will through their own fault be unprofitable to them Many instances of wicked Men who die without Repentance happen daily some snatcht away by sudden death others killed some cast away at Sea others slain in Battel or brought to their end by thunder lightning and many other ways who perhaps if their lives had been longer would have seriously set about the work of Repentance but it hath seemed otherwise to the Judgment and Decree of God who seeing he does all that is necessary for reclaiming of sinners is not always wont to superadd more than ought to be expected Mat. 11. Had God done the mighty works in Tyre and Sidon which he did in Chorazin and Bethsaida he knew that they would have repented in Sack-cloth and ashes And if the mighty works which were done in Capernaum had been done in Sodom it also upon the word of our Saviour would have remained until this day But seeing the Almighty had done for those places what was enough in his most righteous Judgment he was not willing to add more than was sufficient How many of those who have led a wicked and sinful life and still professed an inclination and desire to die well have either had the death they wished for or a blessed and happy end How every Man shall end his days depends not on himself but on the Counsel and Decree of God as it is written Psal 68. He that is our God is the God of Salvation and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death But God shall wound the head of his enemies and the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his Trespasses Most terrible also and yet most certain is that Sentence pronounced by divine Oracle Psal 34. Evil shall slay the wicked and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate But great are the Promises and hopes that the Scripture gives to those who love piety and are of a penitent and obedient heart which we should always have before our eyes The Lord redeemeth the Soul of his Servants and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate Let us then a little consider what these Men do who leaving off to after he had left his The Example of Abraham Country Kindred and Fathers House never returned again into Chaldea or Mesopotamia but travelled and So journed in several places according to the will and appointment of God spending his whole life even to death in the obedience of Gods commands and that he would not die nor be buried any where but there where he had received the Promises nor move a foot from those places wherein he was warned from Heaven to tarry and abide Wherefore the Holy Scripture admonishing those who are the true children of Abraham that is his spiritual Children who is called the Father of many Nations of their duty in imitation of their fathers example saith Isa 51. Hearken to me ye that follow after righteousness ye that seek the Lord look unto the rock whence ye are hewen and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged Look unto Abraham your Father and unto Sarah that bare you for I called him alone and blessed him and encreased him as being a Man who firmly believed and diligently obeyed God that called him Col. 3. So then they which be of the Faith and imitate the example of Abraham are blessed with faithful Abraham Wherefore my dear fellow Christians being furnished with all these precepts and instructions of God the Father and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord and Master let us in the first place take diligent heed that we sin not For that indeed is best but because all the Sons of Adam are under sin the wisest counsel and most acceptable to God that can be given in the next place is that he who hath sinned would with all his heart and mind turn to God 1 John 2. for we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world If he be sought of us with a contrite and humble heart which the Lord himself declares To this Man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word Wherefore the Apostle St. John admonishes us saying 1 John 3. Beloved if our heart
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
away and the lusts thereof but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever From all which divine sentences we may conclude that they who have not carefully avoided the corruption and pollution of life and manners and have not laboured to shun those things that are to be shunned will with all their actions works and oblations be displeasing and so enemies to the pure and holy spirit of God Divine wisdom it self asserts this and therefore advises us not to lose the fruit of our good works through our own fault and negligence Prov. 15. The Sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord Eccles 34. He that sacrificeth a thing wrongfully gotten his Offering is ridiculous and the gifts of unjust Men are not accepted The most high is not pleased with the Offerings of the wicked neither is be pacified for sin by the multitude of sacrifices The Prophet expostulates the same thing with those who by their perverse actions and deeds both publick and private polluted the sacrifices which they frequented Bring no more vain oblations incense is an abomination unto me the new Moons and Sabbaths the calling of Assemblies I cannot away with it is iniquity even the solemn meeting Your new Moons and your appointed Feasts my soul hateth they are a trouble unto me I am weary to bear them And when ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you yea when ye make many prayers I will not hear your hands are full of blood Wash ye make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well seek Judgment relieve the oppressed judge the Fatherless plead for the Widow Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord tho your sins be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Snow tho they be red like crimson they shall be as wooll If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the Land but if ye refuse and rebell ye shall be devoured with the Sword for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it This divine expostulation is made up both of promises and threatenings to those who either doe or will not obey wherefore by the same spirit the author of this expostulation we are invited and stirred up by strong and often repeated reasons to seek to God for mercy and the accomplishment of his promises Isay 55. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous Man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Seeing therefore it hath been made out unto us by many clear and manifest testimonies and Texts of both the Old and New Testament that these three heads to wit the fear of the Lord Repentance and brotherly Charity as the pure fountains and sources of all pious actions accompanied with Faith are most acceptable to God and through his gracious favour very instrumental not only to make us escape the wrath and indignation of God but also find grace and mercy in time of need and are so necessary to salvation that without them we cannot please God nor obtain the accomplishment of his promises concerning our immortal state and the celestial inheritance purchased to us by the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ And seeing by the Covenant of Grace all Believers are assured that through the diligent study and practice of these three points every one may attain their share of that Promise and Obligation which God himself hath graciously and freely proposed to us for our salvation I thought it my duty being moved with Christian zeal and fervent Charity to admonish and exhort all my fellow Christians not only by what we have hitherto alledged but by all the oracles sentences precepts admonitions and exhortations uttered by the holy spirit and laid up in the Treasury of sacred Record that they would carefully set about the duties of Piety and diligently prosecute the same in the constant practice of these three principal Points the Fear of the Lord Repentance and Charity For no Man putting his hand to the Plough and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God but he that endureth to the end the same shall be saved Now that these things may be religiously and rightly performed we must put off all the carnal affections and lusts that war against the Soul these I say which resist divine grace and retard and keep back the effects of that love whereby Joh. 3. God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life 2 Tim. 2. If a Man therefore purge himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honour sanctified and meet for the Masters use and prepared unto every good work And being enriched with the blessings of divine Grace he shall even in this life being to tast and see that the Lord is good to those that love and fear him That we may therefore briefly summ up all that hath been said of this rule of Christian Piety which hath been confirmed by the word of God delivered in the oracles of the Prophets and asserted in the sentences of the Apostles and all Holy Writ we affirm that these three heads of Religion are not only of principal use but even absolutely necessary to all ranks and conditions of Christians for obtaining the salvation of their souls and the inheritance and possession of the Kingdom of Heaven and that this is a rule common to all Men who would live according to the Doctrine Precepts and Instructions of our Lord. Now these Heads which we have often mentioned are the Fear of the Lord Repentance and Charity or Brotherly love which all of us who profess the Doctrine of the Christian Religion must not only know but also carefully practise through the assistance of the divine grace which as we have already shew'd will be denied to none that rightly seek it as our Lord and Master himself does plainly assure us Luke 11. I say unto you ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you For every one that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened If a Son shall ask bread of any of you that is a Father will he give him a stone or if he ask a Fish will he for a Fish give him a Serpent or if he shall ask an Egg will he offer him a Scorpion if ye then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the holy spirit to them that ask him We also testifie and from the reading The Use and Practice of this Rule and observation of the holy Scriptures do affirm and declare that the corruption depravation and malignity of life and manners which is to be found amongst
Dexterity and Success and thereby for the working out of their own Salvation the very Offices and Charges which they bear do declare For such Ministers are appointed by God not that they should only consult their own interests and indulge and please their own humours but that they should with all care and industry provide for the people of God those things that are known to conduce to the promoting of true Christian Piety publick honesty peace and tranquillity innocence and uprightness according to the Precepts and directions of the divine wisdom Now they who endeavour and study to do so must shew themselves to be Princes indeed not slaves to pride ambition strife hatred deceit frauds and avarice not approving desiring or admitting any thing that is not good just and honest not imitating crafty arts the slyness of dissimulation and humane cunning nor out of private revenge or for fulfilling their own lusts or ambitious desires being the authors of the devastations plundrings and ruine of Countrys Cities Towns and Villages nor vexing and oppressing poor Christian People with heavy and insupportable Taxes and Impositions but proposing themselves as patterns and examples to other Men of publick equity innocence and righteousness and making their lives and conversations a rule to private Men of continence modesty and godliness reckoning themselves no less than other Christians bound and obliged by that Covenant which they entered into in their Baptism and diligently observing that necessary renunciation which they then made of the Devil and all his works If these things were rightly observed one Prince would not invade the Kingdoms Cities Towns and Rights of other Christians nor detain what he had unjustly usurped By this means mutual Charity and Peace would keep not only Princes themselves but also their Vassals and Subjects in their duty honesty would commend and Majesty and Authority adorn them Justice would reign amongst People the zeal of Gods honour every where appear in exact obedience to the precepts and holy commandments of God and lastly in common and united desires purposes words and works that promise would be fulfilled which was made by all Christians none excepted in Baptism For if the true nature of Regal Imperial and Princely Authority be considered it will manifestly appear that these high and supreme dignities have for that end been instituted by God that they who are honoured with them should be the Guardians asserters and avengers of the holy Laws of God be and have the title of the fathers of their People that they should rightly administer Justice punish the guilty and transgressors of the Law put to death open and incorrigible Malefactors protect the poor and weak from the violence and oppression of the powerful and rich defend the innocent against the attempts of the wicked and maintain the fatherless and widows In a word that they should endeavour what in them lyes to keep and preserve all the Members of the State both high and low great and small rich and poor in peace concord tranquillity and security This I say is the true end for which the dignity and authority of Kings Princes and chief Magistrates is appointed by God from whence it follows that needless Pomp and ostentation with voluptuous greatness the affectation of Arbitrary dominion the designs of boundless ambition and the consequents thereof the dangers and losses of souls bodies and estates and the excessive harassing and overcharging Subjects are both displeasing to God and grievous to the people Nor is it only the Office of Kings and Princes to cause the rest of Mankind to be instructed and kept in the duties of Religion Piety Honesty and in the fear of God and to shew themselves the Ministers of the Will of God and Ecclesiastical Discipline but it is their proper duty also as they are Princes To know the Law of God carefully attend to and diligently practise and obey the same being led by the fear of the Lord in all the actions of their lives and administrations of their Government As it is enjoyned by this singular Precept Deut. 17. It shall be when the King sitteth upon the Throne of his Kingdom that he shall write him a copy of this Law in a Book out of that which is before the Priests and the Levites And it shall be with him and he shall read therein all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord his God to keep all the words of this Law and these Statutes to do them that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren and that he turn not aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left neither shall he multiply Wives to himself that his heart turn not away neither shall he greatly multiply to himself Silver and Gold lest trusting therein he fall into avarice and covetousness which the Apostle calls Idolatry and the root of all evil They are not to respect persons in Judgment nor to take bribes Eccles 20. For Presents and Gifts blind the eyes of the Wise and make them liable to that dreadful Sentence pronounced against those that pervert Judgment Deut. 27. Cursed be he that perverteth the Judgment of the Stranger Fatherless and Widow Of which execrable practice these Judges and Magistrates are taxed of whom it is written 1 Sam. 8. They turned aside after lucre and took bribes and perverted Judgment But seeing it is impossible that so many Provinces The Duty of inferiour Magistrates Cities and Towns as may happen to be in one Christian Kingdom can be Governed by the pains and care of the Prince alone divine Providence has appointed that Judges Magistrates and other publick Ministers should be constituted who may carefully and dutifully discharge the Offices and Trust that is reposed upon them Deut. 16. As it is written Judges and Officers shalt thou make thee in all thy Gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout all thy Tribes and they shall Judge the People with just Judgment Thou shalt not wrest Judgment thou shalt not respect persons neither take a gift for a gift doth blind the eyes of the Wise and pervert the words of the Righteous That which is altogether Just shalt thou follow And in another place Exod. 18. Provide out of all the People able Men such as fear God Men of Truth hating Covetousness and place such over them to be Rulers of Thousands and Rulers of Hundreds Rulers of Fifties and Rulers of Tens And let them Judge the People at all Seasons c. Which kind of Men when Jehosaphat had chosen he thus admonished them 2 Chron. 19. Take heed what ye do for ye Judge not for Man but for the Lord who is with you in Judgment Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you take heed and do it for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God nor respect of Persons nor taking of Gifts Thus shall ye do in the fear of the Lord faithfully and with
a perfect heart And that this course was followed by Princes and Magistrates who were approved of God Holy History assures us Now so much holier ought Christian Princes and Magistrates to be so much more versed in the study and knowledge of Law and Equity by how much they have obtained a more perfect Testament than the Ancients did not only because of the clear and plain exposition of the divine Precepts made by Christ and his Apostles but also because of more abundant grace promised and prepared for Believers under the Gospel It is very far from their duty then either by commission or omission to break the Law and violate the sacred Precepts and that they who are commanded always to read and meditate on the Law and not to turn aside from the right neither to the right hand nor to the left should mind nothing but pleasures pomp ambition and avarice and go astray after their own inventions making and imposing Laws upon others which make more for the appetites and desires the greatness State Majesty and Glory as they are pleased to call it of the Governors and for establishing many new titles of Authority Prerogative and Superiority which they daily invent than for the true Worship of God and good of the People Besides it is a sort of perverseness most odious to God for Princes or inferiour Magistrates to covet to be rich and to leave great Estates to their Children out of the publick Revenues and not being satisfied with an honest reward for their labours that is with a modest competency of subsistence according to their quality to be insatiably set upon the getting of wealth and riches either by the liberality of Princes or defrauding the Publick and to make it the whole desire of their Souls that they may raise great Houses and Families whereby they may perpetuate their Names upon Earth rather by a long Succession of Heirs than by the Monuments and Examples of Virtue Innocence Sanctity and real Honour Samuel born in Ramah a little Town and in a Montainous Country being from his childhood brought up in the sacred Ministeries of the Temple had a garment given him yearly by his Parents suitable to the meanness of their Fortune When he was grown up to be a Man by the command of God he took upon him the Government of the Common-wealth and during the space of fourty years as Prince Judg and Ruler in Peace and in War Ruled the populous rich and flourishing State of the whole twelve Tribes of Israel being as painful and assiduous as vigilant and active as any Governor either before or since and yet during that whole time he neither encreased his Estate nor changed his abode from his own mean native habitation to a more conspicuous City at least in his own Tribe nor for his pleasure made use of the delights and varieties that other places did afford but having in War recovered and re-established the State of the Israelites and setled a firm Peace all over the Country he kept Assemblies at certain times for administring Justice to the People and when he had done so that he might not be troublesom or chargeable to any Town or Family he returned home to his own mean but contentful habitation where he neither excused himself from business nor omitted any opportunity of promoting the worship of God As it is written 1 Sam. 7. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel And the Cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel from Ekron even unto Gath and the Coasts thereof did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistins And there was Peace between Israel and the Amorites And Samuel Judged Israel all the days of his life And he went from year to year in Circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpeh and Judged Israel in all those places And his return was to Ramah for there was his house and there he Judged Israel and there he built an Altar unto the Lord. By the short description of this instance the Holy Ghost manifestly shews us with how much care diligence innocence piety continence and abstinence that great Man discharged the Offices of a valiant and expert General in War and of an excellent Prince and Magistrate in Peace who when afterward he had dimitted the Government and resigned up the Authority to a chosen King was neither richer nor more wealthy nor was his Family advanced to greater dignity or splendor but he contentedly returned to the same statâ— wherein he was born For Samuel went to Ramah where he spent the rest of his days neither did he build Palaces or stately Houses either in Ramah or in any other more conspicuous place nor erected for himself a magnificent Monument or burying place on which either at Jerusalem or any other City taken in War he might transmit to Posterity the Trophies of his Atchievements or the Titles of his Fame 1 Sam. 25. But Samuel died and all the Israelites were-gathered together and lamented him and buried him in his house at Ramah For they who aim to be rich by their Magistracy must of necessity either cheat the King or defraud the Publick and apply that to their own private use which might far better and more profitably be expended on the Publick Now the publick treasure being exhausted the people must needs be harassed with new Taxes and Impositions and so the Wealth and Riches of a few must cause the want and poverty of many But how much God is offended at these covetous desires the Prophet plainly declares Isa 5. Wo unto them that joyn house to house that lay field to field till there be no place that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth In mine ears said the Lord of Hosts of a truth many houses shall be desolate even great and fair without Inhabitant Now if it be unbeseeming a Christian Magistrate to heap up riches from the Salaries or larger Perquisits of their Offices how detestable and accursed must it be in the sight of God to get Estates and Dignities by accepting of Persons Injustice Rapine Fraud Bribes Oppression Calumny and Cheating God forbids Kings Princes and Magistrates to multiply to themselves Gold and Silver for the greedy thirst after Gold and Riches sets the minds of those who are infected therewith upon the committing of any Sin and Wickedness it is the cause of the Oppression of People with grievous and heavy Impositions of Quarrels Strife and Wars amongst Princes themselves of the slaughter and murdering of Subjects and other abominable and flagitious cruelties that are committed by Soldiers and in a word of the ruine and loss of many Souls as the Holy Ghost himself assures us Jam. 4. From whence come Wars and Fightings among you Come they not hence even of your Lusts that War in your Members ye lust and have not ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain ye fight and war
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
only to treat of the Virtue and Grace of Repentance which is the end and complement of that other part for it is not enough to lament and bewail what is past as is commonly said to confess our sins and not commit the same again unless they who can do bring forth fruits worthy of Repentance And therefore this part which consists in the amendment of life and in the exercise and practice of Righteousness otherwise called the Virtue and Grace of Repentance is the subject whereof we shall treat at present Now the Doctrine of the Holy Scriptures makes this Repentance the Grace of Heavenly Wisdom to consist chiefly in this That Man should war against his own Lusts subdue and overcome his natural affections abstain from worldly and carnal works and with all care and industry endeavour to perform what is commanded and approved of by God For this Law was laid upon the first Parent of Mankind by that Mysterious and Divine Oracle delivered under the Name and Figure of the Earth Gen. 3. Cursed is the Earth for thy sake in Sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life Thorns also and Thistles shall it bring forth to thee and thou shalt eat the herb of the field In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread God declared to Man that that humane Earth called Adam from whence he himself had the name of Adam was for his sake that is for his transgression of the Command of God cursed and made disobedient foretelling him that in sorrow and labour he should eat of the fruits of that earth which was not through the curse become altogether so barren that it would bring forth no good fruit but that the good and profitable fruit which it did bring forth must be the effect of much labour and pain For as that Earth was of it self to bring forth nothing but Thorns and Thistles that is various difficulties springing from Lust and Pride which must be rooted out by him who desires to feed on good and generous fruit so there is need of indefatigable pains and labour even to the sweat of the brow that is to the mastering and disciplining the Will and Affections that by so doing he may obtain that heavenly bread which God hath promised fully to bestow upon those who in that manner work out their own Salvation Many Oracles of divine Scripture confirm the truth of this as Rev. 2. 3. To him that overcometh and keepeth my works to the end will I give to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God and a Crown of Life And I also will give him to eat of the hidden Manna and will give him a white stone and in the Stone a new Name written which no Man knoweth saving he that receiveth it And I will give him the Morning Star and he shall be cloathed in white Robes and I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life but will make him a Pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go no more out and I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the City of my God which is the new Jerusalem and my new name Rev. 21. He that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my Son But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and Murderers and Whoremongers and Sorcerers and Idolaters and all Liars shall have their part in the Lake wich burneth with Fire and Brimstone which is the second death The gracious goodness of God to admonish us of these things and of what concerns our Salvation gives to all and every sinner this seasonable warning Rev. 3 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich and white raiment that thou mayest be cloathed and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear be zealous therefore and repent Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me Most graciously and freely then does the Lord invite to the joys of his Supper all who being decently cloathed and prepared as they ought pray and long for the gladness of that most excellent Feast which being liberally offered by him that invites them they shall at length fully enjoy and rejoyce with him who hath made them partakers of the greatest Promises But we have a clear Instance that he who durst come to the Wedding-Feast not cloathed with the Wedding Garment which is Repentance and the observation of the Precepts of Christ was rebuked by the angry King and had this dreadful check and sentence Mat. 22. Friend how camest thou in hither not having the Wedding Garment Then said the King to his Servants bind him hand and foot and take him away and cast him into outer darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth The Doctrine therefore of the Gospel requires not only Faith but Obedience also in him who desires to be an Heir of the promised Salvation and this Obedience begins by a true and unfeigned Repentance and shews it self in the serious exercise thereof heavy Judgments being denounced by God upon those who obey noâ— the Law of the Gospel Noâ— by the Gospel Law in this place we mean the conditions requâ—red of them who really and iâ— effect desire to be made partakerâ— of these glad tidings for otherwise without Repentance and the observation of the Precepts of God Men are so far from obtaining the divine Promises thâ—â— they must certainly expect the wrath and anger of God 2 They 1. In flaming Fire taking Vengâ—ance of them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of oâ—â— Lord Jesus Christ who shall be pâ—nished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power whâ— he shall come to be glorified in bâ— Saints and to be admired of all them that believe Now this Wedding-Garment which every one that is called to the Marriage and desires to be admitted into that holy Feast must and ought to be cloathed with is made up of Repentance and the observation of the divine Precepts and that it is so we have the word of the King himself the Lord and Master of the Feast for it who commanded his Servants whom he sent to call the Guests Saying Mat. 22. Go ye therefore and teach all Nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I command you That is to say Repentance and the study and observation of the Precepts and Commands of God For so the Lord himself expounds it who when he went about performing the office of an Evangelist taught publickly Mark 1. saying The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand Repent ye and believe the Gospel
A clear instance of this is to be seen in Abraham whom God proposed as a pattern of his free and most gracious Election exhibiting unto us under the type and figure of earthly and sensual things the whole and sum of this great mystery for such was the counsel of God that what things really and truly happened unto him the same should shadow out and represent the spiritual blessings which belonged to us As it is written 1 Cor. 10. All these things happened unto them for ensamples or types and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the World are come Abraham being first called believed in God who had called him and promised to make him a Father of many Nations In God I say who calleth those things which be not as tho they were and trusted to the divine election knowing that to be the most acceptable obedience to God when one willingly and diligently complies with his call and without doubting undergoes that saving discipline as proceeding from him who being the Fountain of all Goodness freely bestows himself His Graces and Blessings upon those who believe and obey him so that when he was commanded by him from whom he had received the Promise to leave his Country his Kindred and his Fathers House he obeyed and went out leaving those advantages which those who live after the manner of this world reap from their Country Kindred and Fathers House for the native Country affordeth acquaintance and confidence the Fathers House Wealth and Riches and Kindred Means and Substance to those who lead their lives according to the dictates of Lust and Ambition Abraham therefore departed as the Lord had commanded him leaving his Country Kindred and Fathers House and chose to be a Stranger and Sojourner in a strange Land following the Command of God that called him Now we know that Strangers and Sojourners have no mind means nor confidence to spend their time in delights and pleasures so long as they think of their condition and behave themselves like Strangers and Sojourand propose to themselves that that is not their Country or place of rest but an Inn or place of refreshment which they must shortly leave and go forward unto a place of more commodious habitation So Abraham being called and commanded to go out of his Country into a Land that was to be shewn to him not only believed but obeyed and put it in execution for he really and indeed forsook his Country Kindred and Fathers House and not in word and inclination alone He said not I will do it or I desire to do it and did it not but actually performed what he was commanded and in that manner Abraham believed in God and it was accounted to him for Righteousness not that he believed only but that believing he obeyed and went out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance not knowing whither he went Heb. 11. And that by Faith he Sojourned in the Land of Promise as in a strange Countrey dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob the Heirs with him of the same Promise According to this precedent whoever is called to the gifts and blessings of the Heavenly Promises believes in and would please him that hath promised desiring to have them made good unto him must not only by Faith Will and Inclination but also in Deed and in good Earnest renounce the Pomp Vanity Corruption Delights Pleasures Ambition and other Vices of this World and perform what he obliged himself to and promised before the blessed Trinity in which he professed his belief in presence of his God-Fathers God-Mothers and Witnesses in his Baptism through the grace and assistance of him that called him to whose service he resigned himself and in whose name he was Baptised that is in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost which grace and assistance will never be wanting to those who from a pure and holy heart implore and beg the same as we have already demonstrated Luke 12. I am come to send fire on the Earth and what will I if it be already kindled Now he promised to renounce the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and what are the works of the Devil and Vanities of the World but Ambition Lust Avarice and the delights and pleasures of the Flesh that is to say the corrupt manners customs of this World which according to the Doctrine of the Apostles breed cherish and encrease sin and wickedness as it is written 1 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 the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life is not of the Father but is of the World And again the Apostle S. James saith James 4. Ye Actulterers and Adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of this 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 envie Wherefore we must not only by Faith and in words but in our endeavours acts and deeds renounce all worldly Pleasures Lusts and Ambition for Virtue consists not in words but in deeds And therefore St. Paul saith 2 Tim. 2. If a Man therefore purge himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honour sanctified and meet for the Masters use and prepared unto every good work And St. Peter alluding to Abraham thus admonisheth 1 Pet. 2. Dearly beloved I beseech you as Strangers and Pilgrims abstain from fleshly Lusts which war against the Soul having your Conversation honest among the Gentiles that whereas they speak against you as evil doers they may by your good works which they shall behold glorifie God in the day of Visitation Wherefore that Faith which is commended and praised in Abraham was not an idle and dead but a living Faith quickned by Charity and shewing it self in the practice and exercise of Obedience and so it was imputed to him for Righteousness because he really left his Country Kindred and his Fathers house and obediently went unto the place appointed him thereby setting before us a lively instance of true Obedience Which Moses imitating Heh 11. when he was come to years refused to be called the Child of Pharaohs daughter chusing rather to suffer affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season esteeming the Reproach of Christ greater Riches than the Treasures in Egypt for he had a respect unto the recompence of Reward By Faith he forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the King for he endured as seeing him who is invisible In deeds then and not in words alone or an empty and idle boasting of Faith must every one shew himself obedient to God and bring forth the