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
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
pure then peaceable gentle and easie to be intreated full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisie We are also plainly and largely taught by our Lord and Master how grievous a sin the sin of hatred is and how great an impediment it lays in our way to salvation not only when it appears outwardly in evil deeds but even when but conceited inwardly in the heart Mat. 5. I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the Judgment and whosoever shall say to his brother Raca shall be in danger of the Council but whosoever shall say thou fool to wit moved with anger and with design to hurt him shall be in danger of hell fire Wherefore our Lord and Master in his divine wisdom that he might shew how expedient it is to be free from that vice and perturbation of mind plainly tells his Disciples that he who hath not first satisfied this command of Charity must not think to obtain the favour of God by any Sacrifice or other Religious performance Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee leave thy gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift In many other passages he confirms the same saying Luke 6. Be ye merciful as your Father also is merciful forgive and ye shall be forgiven give and it shall be given unto you Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy Now the charity which our Lord so much commendeth is not a cold and ordinary but a burning and fervent charity ready to do good whereby he bids us to become like unto God who makes his Sun to shine upon the good and the bad and causeth it to rain upon the just and the unjust And when our Saviour taught his Disciples to pray he enlarged more upon the Subject of Charity Mercy and Beneficence than upon any other as being of all others the chief and most convincing argument of Piety which by the Apostle also is called the bond oâ— perfection seeing all the commands and duties whatsoever of the Law are easily obeyed and performed by those who are so quickned by Charity as not so much to seek their own as the things of others according as it is written 1 Cor. 13. Charity suffereth long and is kind Charity envieth not Charity vaunteth not it self is not puffed up doth not behave it self unseemly seeketh not her own is not easily provoked thinketh no evil rejoyceth not in iniquity but rejoyceth in the truth beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things Whereas 1 John 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 The summ then of all The summ of the rule common to all Men. that a Scholar of Christ ought to know hold meditate upon and practise is briefly comprehended under these three Heads to wit the Fear of the Lord Repentance and Charity Now Charity is not here considered only as it relates to God whom we ought to love above all things but also as it is to be practised towards Men. 1 John 3. Hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren But whosa hath this Worlds good and seeth his brother have need and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him how dwelleth the love of God in him My little children let us not love in word neither in tongue but in deed and in truth And hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him 1 John 4. Let us love him because he first loved us If a Man say I love God and hateth his brother he is a liar for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen and this commandment have we from him that he who loveth God love his brother also Whoever therefore shall carefully observe these three heads will by experience find the mercy goodness and clemency of God towards him the excellency whereof the thought of Man is not able to conceive and far less his tongue to express For the gracious God is always ready to fulfill the promises of salvation which have been made and often confirmed to Believers as it is written Jer. 18. At what instant I shall speak concerning a Nation and concerning a Kingdom to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy it if that Nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil I will repent of the evil that I though to do unto them Ezek. 18. And if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed and keep all my statutes and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live he shall not die All his transgressions that he hath committed they shall not be mentioned unto him in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die saith the Lord and not that he should return from his ways and live So that the Oracles of God do often confirm the Promimises of life and salvation made even to wicked Men who turn from their ways to those I say who turning from the evil of their way and following a course of true Repentance make it their care and study to obey the commands of God and to do Judgment and Justice for whoever do so shall live not by an idle lasie and unactive Faith which is also called a dead Faith but through the righteousness which they have wrought they shall indeed obtain life and salvation from God the author and fountain of life which he hath promised to all who believe in him and obey his world according to that infinite mercy of his which the Scripture celebrates in many places Psal 145. The lord is gracious and full of compassion slow to anger and of great mercy The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works And therefore he bears with the sins of men that he may bring them to Repentance Wisdom 11. For he loveth all the things that are and abhorreth nothing that he hath made for never would he have made any thing if he had hated it And therefore it is that he freely offers and promises his mercy unto all who with a true heart and purpose of mind desire to be converted and to return to him as it is written Ezek. 33. As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live turn ye turn turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye die O House of Israel For the Lord is most gracious and desirous of our
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
of his Flock Luke 11. Wo unto you ye Lawyers for ye lade Men with burdens grievous to be born and ye your selves touch not the burden with one of your fingers Wo unto you Scribes Pharisees Hypocrites for ye are like unto whited Sepulchres which indeed appear beautiful outward but are within full of dead Mens bones and of all uncleanness Those Pastors and Ministers who dread such reproofs and threatnings of the Holy Ghost will forsake other affairs which concern not but rather obstruct their function and with all diligence and pains will set about the discharge of that duty which has been committed to them from above Nor will they think it enough to entrust others with the Government of their Churches who seriously mind their profit but slightly their duty or others by whom Children are only taught to say a few Prayers by heart whilst by age they are unable to do or understand any thing else Nay rather themselves being neither tired out by labour frightned by dangers nor discouraged by difficulties will never leave off to watch over visit and take account of the Flock of God and to take care of and instruct Christians of all ages ranks and conditions in the necessary duties of true and solid Piety This indeed is a heavy charge and not to be performed without much labour and pain but it is likewise most acceptable to the Lord and Master of the Flock who laid down his life for his sheep and will never withdraw the help and assistance which he hath promised to those who study to discharge aright the office of their Ministry And loe said he I am with you to the end of the World Now it behoves every one with a Religious awe and fear to take heed and look to himself that by Ambition Avarice Bribes Interest or other arts he aspire not to that noble Ministery nor be found so doing by that Just Judg from whom the secrets of the heart and actions of Men are not hidden and who allows no Man for his own ends by his own arts and industry and without a-lawful Call and Election to canvass for or step into that holy function nor to undertake the duties of the same unless he be endowed with those virtues and qualities which are set down and expresly described by the Holy Ghost for Tit. 1. A Bishop must be blameless as the Steward of God not self-will'd not soon angry not given to wine no striker nor given to filthy lucre but a lover of hospitality a lover of good Men sober just holy temperate holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers Happy is that Flock that has a Pastor so endowed and qualified then would there be fewer diseases less slothful idleness and fewer scabs and putrifying sores to be seen amongst the Sheep so much error ignorance delusion and superstition would not be found amongst them In a word Non insueta graves tentabunt pabula foetas Nec mala vicini pecoris contagia laedent No novell food their teeming Flocks would cloy Nor no contagious neighbouring ills annoy But on the contrary at what time the sovereign Lord should come to visit the Flock which he hath committed to the care of good Shepherds he would find it pure and clean free from all impious and false doctrines without errors nurtured and bred up in sound Discipline and solid Institution healthy and plump comely and beautiful as being fed with the sound food of pure and heavenly Doctrine which will not only be most acceptable to their Lord and Master but will also procure to the Pastors a most certain and excellent reward And what and how great that may be hoped to be the chief of the Apostles St. Peter declares to his fellow-labourers in the Gospel 1 Pet. 5. The Elders which are among you I exhort who am also an Elder and a witness of the Sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed feed the Flock of God which is among you taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but wilfully not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind neither as being Lords over Gods heritage but being ensamples to the Flock and when the chief Shepherd shall appear ye shall receive a crown of gloâ—y that fadeth not away And we make no The Duty of inferiour Ministers doubt but that if the three Heads which have been already proposed be carefully observed in the lives and manners of inferiour Ministers Priests and Deacons and all that serve at the Altar it will be a most profitable and sure way to procure the grace and favour of God not only to themselves but to all those also who war under their conduct in the Church of Christ for where the fear of the Lord the study of Repentance and the fervent virtue of brotherly love and Charity dwell abundantly there neither Pride nor Ambition neither Hatred nor Injustice neither Backbiting Vanity Pomp nor Ostentation nor any of those vices which are wont to war against the foul and the honesty and integrity of life have any place but rather Honesty Industry Justice Peace Concord Mildness Mercifulness Continence Civility Gravity and all the other Virtues which accompany these and spring from those three Heads as from pure Fountains of Christian Piety will be eminent and conspicuous Superiours will Rule Govern and Correct their Inferiours with paternal love and affection Inferiours will submit unto obey and love their superiours as the Vicegerents and Vicars of Jesus Christ our Redeemer the Lord Master and Head of his Church And both will retain in their minds and practise in their lives what is enjoyned by our Saviour Luke 22. The Kings of the Gentiles exercise Lordship over them and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors But ye shall not be so but he that is greatest among you let him be as the younger and he that is chief as he that doth serve Now in all that we have already said or shall hereafter say it is not our intention to observe what the practice of all and every one is but only to admonish and declare what they ought to do as we premised in the beginning of this Treatise For it hath always been our design and constant purpose not to give offence to any Man living but only to propose to all what Christ our Supreme Lord and heavenly Master requires of us and of all that would be his Disciples and Followers And therefore that we may prosecute the Offices of the several ranks and qualities of Christians ar we have proposed in the beginning how useful and advantageous the three chief Heads of our Christian Rule to wit the Fear of the Lord Repentance and Brotherly Love are to Kings Princes The Duties of Kings Princes and Magistrates and Magistrates for ordering and carrying on their affairs with Prudence Wisdom
be gone that we may sell corn and the Sabbath that we may set forth wheat making the Ephah small and the Shekel great and falsifying the ballances by deceit That we may buy the poor for Silver and the needy for a pair of Shooes yea and sell the refuse of the wheat The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob surely I will never forget any of their works Shall not the Land tremble for this and every one mourn that dwelleth therein whosoever are the true disciples and followers of Christ will fear and stand in awe to offend God and to be liable to such threatnings whatever art or profession they follow they 'l manage the same with all faithfulness and care and behave themselves modestly and justly in the business they set about neither wronging their brethren in their work nor exacting too much for their labour nor overvaluing the goods they sell them but proposing to themselves charity and the good of others rather than covetousness and abominating all filthy and forbid gain they will be content with the lawful gettings of their callings and shun and despise the pride of life as a thing altogether inconsistent with the simplicity of their vocation But that we may now descend from the publick society and duties of Mankind to the particular relations of private persons and enter into the houses and families of Christians we are to take notice what the mutual duties of private persons in a family are and how they are to be performed by Christians as in the presence of God who is a Judge and witness of all their actions Christian Women and Wives who desire to order their lives according The duty of Women and Wives to this short but universal rule of Christian Piety must studiously avoid all Pride Arrogance Vain-glorious Boasting Envy Haughtiness Back-biting and evil speaking shewing nothing in their conversation of Voluptuousness Wantonness Lustfulness Idleness or Curiosity and giving no example of Anger Hatred Discord Grudge nor Malice Put on the contrary they are in all things to approve themselves Modest Peaceable lovers of Truth Charity and Simplicity and Dutiful and Obedient to their Husbands and Yokefellows in all things that are lawful and honest For these ornaments and certain proofs of true virtue are always conspicuous in those Christian Women who fear the Lord practise Repentance and live holily in Brotherly-love and Charity with all Men To which they are also enjoyned by the holy Precepts of the spirit of God with assurances of his favour if they perform and of his anger and indignation if they omit and neglect their duty Eph. 5. Wives submit your selves unto your own Husbands as unto the Lord. For the Husband is the head of the Wife even as Christ is the head of the Church and he is the Saviour of the body Therefore as the Church is subject to Christ so let the Wives be to their own Husbands in every thing Wives who sincerely and heartily study Piety will not mind gorgeous attire rich costly and gaudy apparel which by decking and setting off the body Eclipses the beauty gravity and modesty of the mind but such as being prepared by virtue is an argument of probity and chiefly designed to render them acceptable to God and beloved of their own Husbands For that attire and dress is most commendable and graceful in a Wife which adorns the mind and makes her lovely in the sight of God and her own Husband and venerable to all others that being the ornament which the Holy Ghost prescribes and commends as becoming a Christian Wife 1 Pet. 3. While they the Husbands behold your chast conversation coupled with fear Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold or of putting on of apparel but let it be the hidden Man of the heart in that which is not corruptible even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price For after this manner in the old time the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves being in subjection unto their own Husbands And tho God would not have such to be ignorant or negligent of their own duty yet he does not approve that they should be tatlers or disputers or that they should arrogate to themselves wisdom and knowledge nor would he have them to be greedy of many teachers or desirous of much learning but being satisfied with the knowledge of true Piety and Christian Candor and Simplicity that they should busie themselves in the exercise and practice thereof 1 Cor. 14. Let your Women keep silence in the Churches for it is not permitted to them to speak but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the Law And if they will learn any thing let them ask their Husbands at home for it is a shame for Women to speak in the Church And again in another place 1 Tim. 2. Let the Women learn in silence with all subjection But I suffer not a Woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the Man but to be in silence For Adam was first formed then Eve And Adam was not deceived but the Woman being deceived was in the transgression Notwithstanding she shall be saved in Child-bearing if they continue in Faith and Charity and Holiness with Sobriety The same Doctrine The duty of Husbands and Discipline of Christian Piety comprehended under the three aforemention'd Heads the fear of the Lord Repentance and brotherly-Brotherly-love if it be rightly known and practised will also keep Men in their duty and to the performance of the chast Vows and Promises of Marriage for it enjoyns Husbands to love their Wives and to have the same care of them as of themselves but especially as the most important concern of Marriage to consult and provide for the eternal salvation of the Wife not only by frequent and reiterated admonitions but also by good and wholsom examples and if it be needful by undergoing all kinds of danger and running the risk of life and fortune for accomplishing that end The whole of this duty is by the Holy Ghost summ'd up in this Precept Eph. 5. Husbands love your Wives even as Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinckle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish So ought Men to love their Wives as their own bodies he that loveth his Wife loveth himself For no Man ever yet hated his own flesh but nourisheth and cherisheth it even as the Lord the Church for we are Members of his body of his flesh and of his bones For this cause shall a Man leave Father and Mother and shall be joyned unto his Wife and they two shall be one flesh This is a great mystery but