THE SCHOLARS Winter Garment OR The Garment of Righteousness Wherein is declared the duty of every Christian both to God and Man being very necessary both for young and old to learn With many good Exhortations to every Man Woman and Child to obey Gods holy Will and Commandement Written by THO. ROBINS B of D. A Well-wisher to the Gospel of Jesus Christ Prov. 6. 21 22 23. My Son keep thy Fathers commandement and forsake not the law of thy Mother bind them continually upon thy heart and tie them about thy neck when thou goest it shall lead thee when thou sleepest it shall keep thee when thou awakest it shall talk with thee London Printed for Tho. Passenger at the three Bibles on London-bridge 1667. THE Scholars CAVIAT YOu Scholars all that doth this Caviat view When you have read You 'l find nothing but 's true First God obey and then thy Parents honour All that do so fight under Christ our Bannar From needy men turn not thy face away Comfort the comfortless faint not when thou dost pray Be reverent always in company Hate idleness much good doth come thereby Shun hateful pride which is the root of evil And covetousness which cometh from the Divel Learn this in time time is a precious thing For rich for poor and all for Begger and for King Then learn in time it will thee profit gain And heavenly joys Christ will send thee for thy pain So I rest Yours in Love and duty T. R. The Author May 1660. Ephes 6. 1 and 2. Verses Children obey your Parents in the Lord for this is right Honour thy Father and Mother which is the first commandement with promise MY Beloved Brethren I would desire you all both young and old rich and poor or of what degrée soever you be I say I would have you to take notice what is here set down which I hope is for the good of your salvation And first of all I would desire every Child of God to make good use of what is declared unto you and my first exhortation is to obedience and with the same words as the Apostle Paul spake to the Ephesians Children obey your Parents in the Lord for this is right Ephes 6. 1. Here you sée the obedience of Christian â—ne to another is part of the first Commandeâ—ent with promise as in the first verse of this Chapter But indéed this is contrary to many â—ens minds now adays for there is many â—hat will not indure to hear talk of obeying â—ne another no not so much as to suffer their â—hildren to show any duty to them which we â—ay perceive that they strive to bring them â—p quite contrary to the Commandements of God and yet they do profess themselves to be â—ervants of God but how can we say with a â—afe conscience that we be the servants of God â—hen we deny his Commandements nay our â—isobedience is not all but our daily séeking â—o intice seduce others for as we are taught â—y our parents so we shall be apt to do For â—rain up a child in the way he should go and â—hen he is old he will not depart from it And â—ndéed we may sée it so with us here now for â—here is so many ancient people that is so â—lindly led as I may say that they will suffer â—o child they have to show them nor to any oâ—her and this is contrary to that Commanâ—ement of God for as I told you before look â—nto Ephes 6. 2. and there 's your assurance â—or it in the words for the words says there â—onour thy Father and Mother which is the first â—ommandement with promâ—se Nay if you do but read the third verse of this Chapter you may plainly understand the promise which is made unto all such as do strive to kéep this Commandment of Obedience for there the Apostle tells us why we should be obedient That it may be well with thee and thou mayst live long on the earth and no doubt but that it will go well with every poor soul that doth strive to kéep the Commandements For as it is in Proverbs the second the first and second verses My Son forget not my law but let thy heart keep my Commandements For length of days and long life and peace shall they add unto thee Hear ye Children the instructions of a Father and attend to know understanding for I give you good Doctrine Forsake you not my law for I was my Fathers Son tender and onely beloved in the sight of my Mother He taught me also and said untâ— me Let thine heart retain my words keep my Commandements and live Prov. 4. to the 4 verse O that every one of us would but strive tâ— kéep the Commandements of God and tâ— hearken to the good instructions of our goodlâ— minded Teachers and not to give our mindâ— to bearken to the inticements of every vaiâ— fellow which would seek night and day to delude you to difobedience towards God and man as I may say For he that strives to counsel any man woman or child to disobedience towards their Parents they strive to draw you away from Gods Commandements But I desire you all that be here present to have a care of such people and as the Apostle Paul exhorteth the Ephesians so I desire to exhort you all Let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these thing cometh the wrath of God upon the Châ—ldren of disobedience be not ye therefore pertakers with them Eph. 1. â—6 7. Know therefore in this thy day and consider in thine heart thâ—t the Lord he is God â—n Heaven above thou shalt keep therefore hâ—s Statutes and his Commandements which I â—ommand thee this day Deut. 4. 39 40. How can that man say he keeps Gods comâ—andemâ—nts when he daily and hourly seeks â—o break them by being disobedient both to God and man for he that doth not obey his â—arents doth not over Gods Word thereâ—â—re I desire every Christian to consider with â—imself whâ—ther it be beâ—ter to obey the true â—ord of God or be led away with the fancy of men meaning such as will give no obedience unto their Parents For this I will assure you that the disobedience you carry towards your Parents is a fore-runner and a great sign of your disobeying God For can a man obey God and deny the two Doctrines of his word no certainly no man câ—n do it Indéed I must néeds tell you that the disobedience of a Christian is more abomination to the Lord then many do take it to be or else pâ—ople would have a great deal of more care to obey his will and to kéep his Commandements I pray you look into the 27. of Deut. and there you shall see the curse that is allotted for those that are disobedient to Father or Mother For the Word saith there Cursed be he that setteth light by his Father and Mother Deut. 27. 16. I pray God that there be not
it is possible for a woman to forget her Child which she gives suck yet the Lord says he will not forget a sinner Indéed if our hearts be not made of flint these loving mercies of the Lord shewed to us would mollifie and soften the flintiest heart in the world Oh my beloved awake out of the deadly sléep of sin and let us cry unto the Lord and say Who is among us that feareth the Lord God of Hosts Oh let us shake off those old Rags of sin and strive to cloath our selves with this winter Garment of righteousness Oh it is warm clothing Oh it is cloathing that will kéep warm both body and soul Oh let us cry out The Lord God will help me therefore shall I not be confounded Happy is that Christian that hath so much confidence in the Lord For the Lord desireth not the death of a sinner but ratheâ— he would turn from his wickedâ—ess and live I desire every one of you which be herâ— present to look into the eleventh Chapter oâ— Jeremiah beginning at the second verse anâ— there you may hear how the Prophet proclaimed Gods Covenant to the Iews and how he reâ—â—ked them for their disodedience I pray you take notice of it cursed is the man that obeyeth not the word of this covenant And I pray God this Nation wherein we live do not deserve the same curse For I believe no Nation under the Sun hath rebelled more against Gods commandements then we and there is no way to escape his punishment but by prayer and repentance and turn unto the Lord and call unto him for mercy and as Job says in Job 26. 5. Behold he is mighty in strength he preserveth not the life of the wicked but giveth right to the pooâ— O here is comfort for poor sinners for the Text says the Lord despiseth no sinner but alas we are too prone to fall into sin as hatred and â—nvying and the like but look into Job 34. and you l find that 't is not fit to give angry words one towards another for is it fit to say to the King thou art wicked much less to him that accepteth not the person of Princes no nor the rich more then the poor for they are all the works of his hands Here we may perceive that we ought not to revile one another either poor or rich King or Magistrate for as Davâ—d says in the 36. Psalm about the 2 3. He flatters himself in his own eyes until his wickedness be found hateful the words of his mouth are inâ—quity and deceit c. And â—ndéed there is too many that deviseth mischief night and day but the Lord give us all more grace and to call upon him for mercy And as David says in Psalm 3. Let us all cry bless the Lord oh my soul and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all thine iniquities c. and in Psa 10. he tells us like as a Father pittieth his child so the Lord pittieth all them that fear him Here you may sée the Lord doth promise very much to poor sinners if so they would but strive to kéep his Commandements which the Lord of his mercy give us all grace so to do And so much concerning the obedience of a Christian and as I have shewed you the joys and benefits of those that obey God and their Parents so I have declared the torments of the disobedient So I pray God give us all grace to be obedient to him to our Parents Prince and Governours and so I conclude with this short Exhortation out of Prov. 3. 1 2 3 4. Read at your leisure So the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all bless guide and keep you all this day and for ever more Amen The Second part THe second Part of this Book doth teach young Schollars their duty to all sorts of people First those Schollars that desire to serve God must every morning prepare their hearts to put on this Winter Garment of faâ—th and strive to shake off the old rags of sin which must be done by faithful prayer First down on thy knées every morning and pray to the Lord to give a blessing to thy up-rising and to thy down-lying to thy going out and to thy comming in and when thou hast done so down on thy knées to thy parents and desire them to pray to God to give you a blessing and no question but the Lord will bless such children which be obedient to him and their Parents For as Solomon saith in Prov. 4. 4. Hear ye children the instructions of a Father and attend to know understanding and in chap. 6. there he saith My Son keep thou thy Fathers commandement and forget not the law of thy Mother So I desire all you that be Schollars that either reads it or hears it read let it be a good instruction for you all in the first place to learn to serve God secondly to give honour and obedience to thy Parents thirdly let not thy heart over-slip thée with â—nvy and hatred towards thy Neighbour but be always ready with diligence to do any thing for them which lyeth in thy power to do not wronging thy Parents nor thy self The duty of a Scholar is if thou méet any man or woman in the stréet thou art to carry thy self very civilly to put off thy hat and to give them the time of the day for in so doing thou shewest thy bréeding more-over there will be some sign of grace in thy old age for as the Scripture saith Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it And I pray God give every child grace to lead his life in his youth that he may have joy and comfort both in this world and in the world to come without end Amen A short Prayer for every Schollar to learn every morning before he goes to School oâ— beginneth any labour then after this the Lordâ— Prayer A Prayer for the morning O Most gracious Lord God thou that sitteâ— upon thy throne and seest into all the coâ—ners of the World thou mad'st the heaven and the earth and all things belonging thereto thou art a God of mercy thou art a God of favour and love and even so thou art a God of justâ—ce and wrath yet slow to anger or else what would become of poor sinners O Lord I do give thee humble and hearty thanks for this good blessing which thou hast bestowed upon me this night past in giving me such quiet rest and sleep O Lord I confess thou mightest have made my bed of ease a bed of death But O Lord seeing it hath pleased thee to preserve my life a little longer so O Lord I do desire thee out of thy tender mercy to give me this day a heart of true Repentâ—nce that I may truely repent me of my sins and lament for all my transgressions O God thou knowest the flesh of man is weak
too many now a days that deserves this curse For certainly there is too many such abroad that hath but little care of their Parents Nay I must needs tell the Parents that hath such children that it is long of them and not of their Children For how should a Child learn obedience when they are brought up where it is not taught how should a schollâ—r learn all languages that never hears no word but English teach them that which is good and they will learn it for as the Text saith train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it Oh happy is that man or woman that hath so much grace in their hearts as to bring up their children in the fear of God and to learn them to know their duty towards God and man For how should they know their duty toward God which they nevâ—r saw when they will not show no duty to their own Parents which they are daily withal Therefore give ear a while unto me and I will let you understand a little more concerning the ioy and comfort that belongs to the obedient child And then lastly I shall by Gods assistance declare to you the torments which belongs to them which are disobedient for look but into the 28. Chap. of Deuteronomy and begin at the first verse and so on I pray give your attention to it and when you have heard it the Lord of his mercy give you all grace to make good use of it And it shall come to pass If thou shalt hearken dâ—ligently unto the voice of the Loâ—d thy God to observe and do all his Commandements which I command thee this day then the Lord thy God will set thee above all Nations of the Earth and all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee If thou hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God then blessed shalt thou be in the City and blessed shalt thou be in the field blessed shall be the fruits of thy body and fruits of thy ground Deut. 28. 1 to 5. Nay this is but small to the blessings which is promised to them that strive to be obedient and kéep his Commandements For if thou wilt be pleased but to read this Chapter at thy leisure you will find a great many comfortable blessings for those that truely honour obedience and do their indeavours to kéep Gods Commandements which I pray God give us all grace so to do truly I desire at the hands of our gracious God that he would put it into the hearts of every one of us to consider how the Lord threatned the people for their sins as you may find in Isaiah the third I pray you consider with your selves whither you be not in the very same condition at this present day For behold the Lord the Lord of Hosts doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water The mighty man and the man of war the Judge and the Prophet and the Prudent and the Ancient the Captain of fifty and the honourable man and the Counsellor and the cunning Artificer and the eloquent Orator And I will give children to be their princes and Babes to rule over them And the people shall be oppressed every one by another and every one by his Neighbour the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient and the base against the honourable Isa 3. 1 to 6. And as before I say still I pray God that we be not almost under the same punishment as those people was for what sin can we read of in Scripture but that we are subject unto Then how should we think to go frée from the punishments which are ordained for those sins For when was there more crying out against false decrées and unrighteous dealings then there is now adays or when could you hear of more wrong done to the Widow and the Fatherless as there is now and hath been this many a daâ— But I desire every one that hath any hand in such matters to look into Isa 10. 1 and 2. verses there you may see the woe that is pronounced against these that oppress the Widow and the Fatherless for there he saith Wo unto them that decree unrighteous decrees and that write grievousness which they have prescribed To turn aside the needy from judgement and to take away the right from the poor of my people that Widows may be their prey and that they may rob the Fatherless Isaiah the 10. Chapter the first and second verses But now a days we make no conscience at all to wrong the Widow and the Fatherless and to oppress the poor and needy No no I am afraid that there be too many that make a common practice to wrong the widow and fatherless But the Lord of his mercy give every one more grace For he that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches and he that giveth to the rich shall surely come to naught Prov. 22. 16. He that giveth to the poor shall never lack but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse Proverbs 8. 22. And too many there be that will turn away their faces from the poor but you may sée many that is ready to give to the rich But alas my Brethen you may see by this place of Scripture that it is contrary to Gods Comandements which is a vile and terrible thing for if we would but secretly examine our hearts and consciences and consider with our selves and we shall find that this precéeds from a disobedient heart and therefore we should pray God to give us obedient hearts Which I pray God give every one grace to consider in time and pray to the Lord night and day that he spake not to us as he spake to the people in Isa 43. 22. and these be the words But thou hast not called upon me O Jacob but thou hast been weary of me O Israel Truly it is to be feared the Lord hath a just cause to speak the same words to us For how can we say but that we are weary of him when we will not strive to kéep his Commandements O let â—s turn unto the Lord and he will look upon us with the eye of mercy as in Isa 45. 22. Look upon me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else Oh what a blessed and comfortable spéech was here spoken to poor sinners this was from the mouth of God and not from man O what a miserable condition is this that we should be so stony-hearted one towards another when we sée the Lord so loving to us Can a woman forget her sucking Child that she should have compassion on the Son of her womb yea they may forget yet I will not forget thee Isa 49. 15. O what a comfortable spéech is this if we would but consider on them for though
and frail yet we know thou art able to put strength into the weakest soul therefore I beseech thee out of thy tender mercy for to strengthen my faith put grace and wisdome into my heart that I may do nothing but what is pleasing to thy sight And grâ—nt O most merciful Father that whatsoever I shall think or speak or take in hand it may tend to thy glory the good of my friends and neighbours and for the joy and comfort of my poor soul and that for thy Son our Lord and Saviours sake I will farther call upon thee in that most holy and perfect prayer which thou taught thy Disciples in that holy place of Scripture Mat. 6. 9. where he said to his Disciple â—â— you pray pray thus saying Our Father c. Lastly when thou hast spent the day call into thy mind how thou hast spent it and if thou hast done any thing which thy conscience telleth thée is not right then fall on thy knées and desire the Lord to forgive thée and that with a true heart and then no doubt but the Lord will hear thy prayers A short Prayer for the Evening O Lord God Heavenly Father I beseech thee hear my prayer and let my cry come unto thee consider my prayer O Lord my God lighten thou mine eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death and so be utterly lost I cannot but confess I have sinned against thee but O Lord I know thou art merciful and will shew mercy to all such as will consess their faults and truely repent them of their sins and strive to forsake their wicked ways and turn to the Lord and live therefore turn me O Lord and I shall be turned make me to know the way to righteousness and give me thy spiritual grace that I may flye from the way of the wicked and turn unto thee for salvation O Lord my God and my redeemer and as it hath pleased thee to give me this day liberty to follow my calling which thou hast called me unto so O Lord I beseech thee to give me thy favour and countenance this night set thou a guard of Angels about me that no evil spirit have power to entice my poor weak and sinful soul that by thy power and protection I may take quiet sleep and rest under the shadow of thy wings that when I sleep I may not sleep unto death but sleep unto life everlasting and all for thy Son our Lord and Saviour in his words I pray farther saying Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy Name thy Kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil Amen So I remain your faithful Servant in Christ Jesus Tho. Robins FINIS These books following being of a small Price are printed for Tho. Passenger at the three Bibles on the middle of London-bridge THe christians Combate or his true spiritual Warfare by C. Love late Preacher of the Word in the City of London The wise Merchant or the pearl of price by T. Calvert Minister in York The Book of Graces with prayers for Morning and Evening These are all but three pence a peice The sinners warning peice or Heavens Messengers by T. Robins B. of D. Mans chief guide to Salvation by T. Robins B. of D. A Wonder of Wonders or Gods people the Worlds wonder by R. Hough a lover of the truth Englands golden Legacy or a brief descriptiâ—â— of the manifold mercies the Lord hath bestowed upoâ— his sinful Nation Gods message from Heaven to sinners on Earth by T. P. B. of L. Christ upon the cross suffering for poor Sinners Gods call to unconverted sinners to â—urn from their sins and repent a very useful and comfortabâ—e book Now or Never School of Learning Door of Salvation Englands sorrow for Londons misery These Eleven last are but two pence a peice FINIS