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A91514 The pathway to peace and truth, with holinesse directed to all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in truth and sincerity. 1646 (1646) Wing P716; Thomason 669.f.10[75]; ESTC R210568 6,034 1

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brotther in want and shutteth up the bowels of his compassion against him the love of God is not in him For if thou hadst all other vertues and graces and want Charity thou art nothing V. And if thou canst not live so holily as thou desirest and as the word of God requires yet thou must ardently endeavour it For the holy desires of the Saints have alwayes been accepted of God as the deed if in the mean time thou labour to crucifie the world and through the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the flesh If therefore thou canst not bring great offerings of devotion unto God as prayer thanksgiving alms and the like come unto him with that which thou hast and offer it with good will and holy desires For so much as thou desirest to offer unto God so great doth he esteem thy Sacrifice in his sight for he hath given thee no more and more then he hath given thee he will not require at thy hand And Christ shall fulfill thy lame and imperfect prayers and sacrifices with his most absolute perfect sacrifice And then it cannot be but God shall accept thine at thy hands as acceptably as he did his Sons For herein he doth as it were exchange Christs merirs with thee for thy pious desires and for thy imperfect sacrifie shall out of the abundance of his mercy and not for any merit of thine give thee an eternall weight of glory hereafter VI When thou findest these former graces bestowed upon thee by the Lord take heede thou be not puffed up with spirituall pride to say in thy heart as the Pharisee did Lord I am not as other men for unto this Satan will continually provoke thee labouring to destroy the image of God in thee and to set up his own and so infecting thee with that sin for which he was cast out of heaven to bring thee into the same condition with him and so deprive thee of all spirituall comfort for ever But remember thou the words of the Apostle What hast thou that thou hast not received And if thou hast received it why boastest thou as if thou hadst not received it for God is the giver of every good and perfect gift the good thoughts of thy heart come onely from him he like a rich Jeweller putteth his treasures into what trunke or chest he pleaseth and at his pleasure removeth them againe Serve thou the Lord with fear and endeavour to improve those gifts and graces which he hath given unto thee lest he take them from thee and bestow them upon others who will bring forth the fruits of them VII Whatsoever thou doest in Gods worship and service or in thy duty to thy neighbour let it be done in uprightnesse and sincerity of heart without dismulation or hypocrisie and be not so stupid as to thinke the Lord sees not or knowes not for he that made the heart knoweth the inwards thereof and will judge thee according to the same and he hath given thee a conscience who within thee executeth the office of a Clarke writing up every word thou speakest every deed thou doest and every thought thou thinkest so that it is a folly to dissemble he writeth nothing more then he should neither omitteth any thing And as he writeth it for thee so doth he continually read it unto thee that thou can'st neither forget or deny any the least part of it and at the barr of Gods judgement at the last day thou shalt have no other judge to acquit or condemn thee There shall be no defending or proving nor need of any other witnesse Remember then the Councel of holy David to his son Solomon who commands him in the first part of Gods worship to serve him with an upright heart adding the reason for the Lord saith he searcheth all hearts and understandeth the secret imaginations of the thoughts 1 Chron. 28. 9. so that of all fooles in the world he that thinkes to deceive the Lord is the greatest VIII Be not over-curious in prying into the faults of others nor too rash in censuring them for though they have not proceeded so far as thy self in the performance of externall duties yet they may suddenly be converted and exceed thee And though they live in grosse sins condemne them not but pitty them and pray for them and be thankfull to God who hath called thee to some obedience who might have left thee in a worse estate then they are in if his grace had not prevented thee It is oftentimes seen no greater hypocrites nor unsound and hollow-hearted people then these find-faults whom our Saviour calls hypocrites commanding them to cast the beam out of their owne eye first that they may the clearer see the moat in anothers For while thy mind is wandring abroad to find fault with others Satan in the mean time builds a nest at home in thy heart where he hatcheth these unclean birds of pride hypocrisie self-love disdain of others c. which devour the blessed fruits of the Spirit as humility meeknesse lowlinesse brotherly love kindnesse much hindering the growth of grace in thee and diminishing spiritual comfort and will lie heavie upon thy conscience when God shall discover it unto thee As therefore thou lookest unto others with one eye look into thy selfe with the other lest thou fall under the reproof of our Saviour fore-mentioned Luk. 6. 41. 42. IX If thou wouldst enjoy the blessings of God either spirituall or temporall with comfort labour for peace both in thy self and with others For peace is unto all Gods blessings as salt is to meat which seasoneth it in such manner that it continueth long both profitable and comfortable without which it would soon become unsavoury and uselesse Wherefore the Apostles frequently in their Epistles wishing all good to the Churches of Christ mention only grace and peace including all other blessings therein as 1 Pet. 1. 2. Phil. 1. 2. Gal. 1. 3. yea and somtimes no more but the word peace alone as 1 Pet. 5. 14. The want of this blessing hath brought this Kingdom almost unto utter ruine and thousands of persons and families altogether to destruction both of their bodies and estates If therefore thou wouldst enjoy this blessing thou must first make account to undergoe much wrong at the hands of men which although it be displeasing to thy nature yet it is well-pleasing to God and agreeable to the exhortation of Christ and will bring much comfort to thy soul Secondly give not liberty to thy tongue to revile when thou art reviled nor scoffe when thou art scoffed for these two vices are commonly the fomenting instruments of all mischief amongst friends and neighbours as the Apostle speaks Jam. 3. 6. And when thou seest two striving to vanquish each other in either of these thou mayst boldly conclude they contend who shall run swiftest to Hell Remember then that divine heavenly caveat of the Apostle Jam. 1. 26. If any man among you seem to bee religious and bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his own heart this mans religion is in vain And Jam. 3. 2. If any man offend not in word he is a perfect man and able to rule the whole body X. The last exhortation which I give unto thee at this time is that thou through covetousnes use no fraud deceit or guile in thy calling This is a sin as dangerous as common and because it brings with it some worldly profit men are content to live in it though to the hazard of their most pretious souls yea even many whom God hath honored with rare and excellent gifts of zeal and devotion as constant in hearing and reading the word in prayer and family duties and full of heavenly exhortations yet are as deeply guilty of this sin as those who are openly prophane and never think of answering at the last day And this is lamentable to consider I wish all men therefore to remember what Solomon saith Pro. 13. vers. 11. Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished And Jer. 17. 11. He that gathereth riches and not by right shall leave them in the midst of his dayes and at his end shall be a fool And what shall it profit thee to win the whole world and lose thy own soul I would demād of thee if thou be cōscientious what thou wilt do with mony falsly gotten Wilt thou pray to God to blesse it unto thee Then thou makest him what in thee lies partner with thee in thy cheating thievery according to Psal. 50. 18. Wilt thou buy meat or drink with it Thou mayst fear it will either choke or poyson thee Wilt thou buy raiment therwith Thou mayst tremble in putting them on fearing lest they should infect thee with some loathsome disease Wilt thou buy house or land therewith It will never continue to the third generation Wilt thou give it the poor It is no way acceptable to God because it is not thine own Wilt thou put it among other mony lawfully gotten It will be but as a coal of fire in a peece of wax to melt and consume it Wilt thou cast it into the Treasury of the Church It is but as the hire of a Whore or the price of a Dog forbidden by Moses Law Deut. 23. 18. Wilt thou cast it away That were a sin What wilt thou then doe with it Surely Zacheus resolution is the only way viz. Luk● 19. 8. to restore it fourfold But if thou knowest not how or to whom to restore it then in my judgement it properly belongs to the poore But alas those who are once infected with this disease of Covetousnesse may fitly be compared to cloath which once died black is ever after uncapable of any other colour so those whom Satan hath once lul'd asleep in this sin seldom or never awake but with the scorching flames of hell fire about their ears From which the Lord deliver us all Amen ECCLES. 12. 13. 14. Let us heare the conclusion of the whole matter Feare God and keep his Commandements for this is the whole duty of man For God shall bring every work into judgement with every secret thing whether it bee good or evill Published according to Order Printed by J. C. 1646.
The Path way to Peace and Truth with Holinesse Directed to all those who love the Lord JESUS CHRIST in truth and sincerity John 13. 17. If yee know these things happy are yee if ye doe them GAL. 6. 16. And as many as walk according to this Rule peace be on them and mercy and upon the Israel of God To the Friendly Reader FRiend and Reader if it be thy lot to view this small Piece it may be thou mayst make good use of it and give God thanks but if thou scoffingly stile me Independent Separatist or Anabaptist thou art too rash and wilt meet with a modest reproofe in the ninth of these Precepts They all tend to holinesse of life which is the first step to peace For when a mans wayes plea●e the Lord his enemies shall be at peace with him saith the Word But There is no peace to the wicked saith the Lord PSAL. 119. 165. Great peace have they which love thy Law and nothing shall hurt them PSAL. 119. 5. O that my wayes were directed to keep thy Statutes I. THE first thing that thou art to look unto in this businesse is to receive Christ into thy heart when he knocketh at the doore thereof as he doth many wayes but principally by his Word and Spirit For untill then all the service thou offerest him is abominable Thou mayst take an example from thy selfe For when a Friend whom thou dearly lovest knocketh at thy doore thou first openest unto him and receivest him into thy house causest him to sit down and then administrest unto him But if thou offer him any thing at the doore it is a signe he is a Beggar and one whom thou rather hirest by thy gifts to depart from thee then invitest to abide with thee And when Christ hath once possession in thy heart he will purge it of all corruption and uncleannesse This is that which David so much desired Psam 51. 10. Create in me a clean heart O God And then all other Christian duties will follow as the threed followeth the needle and Christ shall sweetly subject every part and faculty both of soul and body to a willing obedience of the Gospel And as thou entertainest him into thy house of clay so will he entertain thee into his Fathers House wherein are many glorious Mansions and there thou shalt remain with him and the rest of his blessed Saints and Angels in eternall joy for ever and ever II. The next thing thou art to endevour is to become if thou be not already a member of the true Church of Christ of his spirituall Kingdome which he hath chosen and purchased to himselfe with the price of his most pretious blood as his peculiar inheritance unto whom and with whom he hath made his covenant promise of love presence protection preservation and blessing and upon whom he wil multiply the graces of his holy Spirit abundantly This is his Vineyard which his own right hand hath planted in a fruitful land with the choisest vine and fenced it about for safety Isa. 5. from the wild Boares of the Forrest and from the little Foxes which destroy Cant. 2. 15. This is his Walled Sheep fold in which are inclosed his tender lambs which he leadeth into pleasant pastures and conducteth in the paths of righteousnesse and causeth them to lie down in safety Psal. 23. himselfe being the good Shepheard John 10. 11. This is his watered Garden wherein he taketh delight Cant. 4. 12. This is the Citie of the great God wherein he is worshipped and his Name called upon whereof thou art a Citizen This is Gods House of whose Family thou art which House and City are built upon a sure foundation Of this spirituall Kingdom Christ is the only King Governour and law-giver Take heed therefore that thou submit not thy selfe unto any conscience-binding law of Antichrist his enemy beare not his mark neither on thy fore-head nor in thy hand if thou do thou losest all the former priviledges for Christ will admit no partner with him in his govrnment the Ark of God and Dagon cannot stand together nor Christ and Belial No Kingdome so safe as this because the Keeper thereof neither slumbreth nor sleepeth and all the Officers are watch-men watching over all the subjects ingenerall and every subject also watching over each other in particular III. When God hath thus honoured thee as to make thee a subject of his Kingdome see that thou yeeld obedience unto all his Lawes and subject thy selfe wholly thereunto and utterly renounce obedience unto the Lawes of any King or Kingdome that hold not correspondency with this and let the grace of God which thou hast received teach thee to deny all ungodlinesse and worldly lusts and to live righteously and soberly in this present world that thou dishonour not the profession which thou hast taken upon thee by thy ill conversation but let thy light so shine before men that they seeing thy good workes may glorifie thy father which is in heaven and say of a truth God is in thee indeed and so be induced to walke with thee in the wayes of piety and godlynesse For the reproach of a scandall in thee reflecteth not so much upon thy selfe as upon thy profession for the uncircumcised in heart wil frequently say This is the religion of such a Church such a people and so the Gospel of Christ is evill spoken off through thy bad conversation and a multitude of pretious Saints may undergoe rebuke as the Church of Corinth did 1 Cor. 5. for one mans offence or else punishment as many thousands did for one Achan O that men would therefore feare the Lord and depart from iniquity that it might go well with their soules IV. Neither must thou rest thy selfe contented with these former graces viz. that thou art Gods servant and livest uprightly and justly doing no man wrong but thou must apply thy selfe to doing good For many bruit beasts wil live amongst us all their lives and never hurt either us or any of their own Species or Kind but thou who hast obtained faith and other graces from God must be active in doing good For the Apostle James 1. 27 teacheth a religious man to visit the Fatherlesse and widow as wel as to keep himself unspotted of the world And David counsels us as well to doe good as eschew evill Psal. 14. If thou be a Vine in Gods Vineyard he expects grapes from thee If thou be a Tree in his Orchard he expects fruit for thou mayst bear leaves abundantly and yet be accursed Imitate therefore blessed Job be an eye to the blind a foot to the Lame let the naked be cloathed with the fleeces of thy flocks distribute thy bread unto the hungry thy drink unto the thirsty visit those that are sick and in prison and turn not thy face from the poore and remember that Divine saying of the Apostle 1 John 3. 17. Whosoever hath this worlds goods and seeth his