Conscience bear witness against thy Sin and tell thee that a holy Life is best regard not the Gain-sayings of a Bediam World which is drunk with the Delusions of the Flesh But give up thy Soul and Life to God by Jesus Christ in a faithful Covenant Delay no longer Man but resolve Resolve immediately resolve unchangeably And God will he thine and thou shalt be his for ever Amen Lord have Mercy on this Sinner and to let it be resolved by thee in him II. The Parts and Practice of a Holy Life for Personal and Family Instructions ALL is not not done when men have begun a Religious Life All Trees that blossom prove not fruitful and all Fruit comes not to perfection Many fall off who seemed to have good Beginnings And many dishonour the Name of Christ by their Scandals and Infirmities Many do grieve their Teachers Hearts and lamentably disturb the Church of Christ by their Ignorance Errors Self-conceitedness Unruliness Headiness Contentiousness Sidings and Divisions Insomuch that the Scandals and the Feuds of Christians are the great Impediments of the Conversion of the Infidel and Heathen World by the exposing Christianity to their contempt and scorn as if it were but the Error of men as unholy and worldly and proud as others that can never agree among themselves And many by their Passions and Selfishness are a Trouble to the Families and Neighbours where they live And more by their Weaknesses and great Distempers are Snares Vexations and Burdens to themselves Whereas Christianity in its true Constitution is a Life of such Holy Light and Love such Purity and Peace such Fruitfulness and Heavenliness as if it were accordingly shewed forth in the Lives of Christians would command Admiration and Reverence from the World and do more to their Conversion than Swords or Words alone can do and it would make Christians useful and amiable to each other And their Lives a Feast and pleasure to themselves I hope it may prove some help to these Excellent Ends and to the securing Mens Salvation if in a few sound Experienced Directions I open to you the Duties of a Christian Life I. Keep still the true Form of Christian Doctrine Desire and Duty orderly printed on your Minds That is Understand it clearly and distinctly and remember it I mean the Great Points of Religion contained in Catechisms You may still grow in the clearer understanding of your Catechisms if you live an hundred Years Let not the Words only but the Matter be as familiar in your Minds as the Rooms of your House are Such solid Knowledge will establish you against Seduction and Unbelief and will be still within you a ready Help for every Grace and every Duty as the Skill of an Artificer is for his Work And for want of this when you come among Infidels or Hereticks their Reasonings may seem unanswerable to you and shake if not overthrow your Faith And you will easily err in lesser Points and trouble the Church with your Dreams and Wranglings This is the Calamity of many Professors that while they will be most censorious Judges in every Controversie about Church-matters they know not well the Doctrine of the Catechism II. Live daily by Faith on Jesus Christ as the Mediator between God and you Being well-grounded in the Belief of the Gospel and understanding Christ's Office make use of him still in all your Wants Think on the Fatherly Love of God as coming to you through him alone and of the Spirit as given by him your Head and of the Covenant of Grace as enacted and sealed by him and of the Ministry as sent by him and of all Times and Helps and hopes as procured and given by him When you think of Sin and Infirmity and Temptations think also of his sufficient pardoninâ— justifying and victorious Grace When thou thinkest of the World the Flesh and the Devil think how he overcometh them Let his Doctrine and the Pattern of his most perfect Life be always before you as your Rule In all your Doubts and Fears and Wants go to him in the Spirit and to the Father by him and him alone Take him as the Root of your Life and Mercies and live as upon him and by his Life and when you die resign your Souls to him that they may be with him where he is and see his Glory To live on Christ and use him in every Want and address to God is more than a general confused Believing in him III. So believe in the Holy Ghost as to live and work by him as the Body doth by the Soul You are not baptized into his Name in vain but too few understand the sense and reason of it The Spirit is sent by Christ for Two great Works 1. To the Apostles and Prophets to inspire them infallibly to preach the Gospel and confirm it by Miracles and leave it on Record for following Ages in the Holy Scriptures 2. To all his Members to illuminate and sanctifie them to believe and obey this Sacred Doctrine beside his common Gift to many to understand and preach it The Spirit having first indicted the Gospel doth by it first regenerate and after govern all true Believers He is not now given â—s for the revealing of new Doctrines but to understand and obey the Doctrine revealed and sealed by him long ago As the Sun doth by its sweet and discreet Influence both give and cherish the natural life of things Sensitive and Vegetative so doth Christ by his Spirit our spiritual Life As you do no work but by your natural Life you should do none but by your spiritual Life You must not only Believe and Love and pray by it but manage all your Calling by it for Holiness to the lord must be written upon all All things are sanctified to you because you being sanctified to God devote all to him and use all for him and therefore must do all in the Strength and Conduct of the Spirit IV. Live wholly upon God as All in All As the first Efficient principal Dirigent and final Cause of all things Let Faith Hope and Love be daily feeding on him Let Our Father which art in Heaven be first inscribed on your Hearts that he may seem most amiable to you and you may boldly trust him and filial Love may be the spring of Duty Make use of the Son and Spirit to lead you to the Father and of Faith in Christ to kindle and keep alive the Love of God God's Love is our Primitive Holiness and especially called with its Fruits Our Sanctification which Faith in Christ is but a means to Let it be your principal End in studying Christ to see the Goodness Love and Amiableness of God in him A condemning God is not so easily loved as a gracious reconciled God You have so much of the Spirit as you have Love to God This is the proper Gift of the Spirit
to all the adopted Sons of God to cause them with filial Affection and Dependance to cry Abba Father Know not desire not love not any Creature but purely as subordinate to God! Without him let it be nothing to you but as the Glass without the Face or scattered Letters without the Sense or as the Corps without the Soul Call nothing Prosperity or Pleasure but his Love and nothing Adversity or Misery but his Displeasure and the Cause and the Fruits of it When any thing would seem lovely and desirable which is against him call it Dung And hear that Man as Satan or the Serpent that would entice you from him and count him but Vanity a Worm and Dust that would affright you from your Duty to him Fear him much but love him more Let Love be the Soul and End of every other Duty It is the End and Reason of all the rest but it hath no End or Reason but its Object Think of no other Heaven and End and Happiness of Man but Love the final Act and God the final Object Place not your Religion in any thing but the Love of God with its Means and Fruits Own no Grief Desire or Joy but a mourning a seeking and a rejoycing Love V. Live in the belief and hopes of Heaven and seek it as your Part and End and daily delight your Souls in the sore-thoughts of the endless Sight and Love of God As God is seen on Earth but as in a Glass so is he proportionably enjoyed But when mourning seeking Love hath done and Sin and Enemies are overcome and we behold the Glory of God in Heaven the Delights of Love will then be perfect You may desire more on Earth than you may hope for Look not for a Kingdom of this World nor for Mount Zion in the Wilderness Christ reigneth on Earth as Moses in the Camp to guide us to the 〈◊〉 and of the Promise Our perfect Blessedness will be where the Kingdom is delivered up to the Father and God is All in All. A Doubt or a strange heartless thought of Heaven is Water cast on the sacred Fire to quench your Holiness and your Joy Can you travel one whole day to such an End and never think of the Place that you are going to which must be intended in every righteous Act either notedly or by the ready unobserved Act of a potent Habit. When Earth is at the best it will not be Heaven You live no further by Faith like Christians than you either live for Heaven in seeking it or else upon Heaven in Hope and Joy VI. Labour to make Religion your Pleasure and Delight Look oft to God to Heaven to Christ to the Spirit to the Promises to all your Mercies Call over your Experiences and think what matter of high Delight is still before you and how unseemly it is and how injurious to your Profession for one that saith he hopeth for Heaven to live as sadly as those that have no higher hopes than Earth How should that Man be filled with Joy who must live in the Joys of Heaven for ever Especially rejoyce when the Messengers of Death do tell you that your endless Joy is near If God and Heaven with all our Mercies in the way be not reason enough for a joyful Life there can be none at all Abhor all Suggestions which would make Religion seem a tedious irksome Life And take heed that you represent it not so to others for you will never make them in love with that which you make theâ— not perceive to be delectable and lovely Not as the Hypocrite by forcing and framing his Religion to his carnal Mind and Pleasure but bringing up the Heart to a holy suitableness to the Pleasures of Religion VII Watch as for your Souls against this flattering tempting World especially when it is represented as more sweet and delectable than God and Holiness and Heaven This World with its Pleasures Wealth and Honours is it that is put in the Ballance by Satan against God and Holiness and Heaven And no Man shall have better than he chooseth and preferreth The Bait taketh advantage of the brutish part when Reason is asleep and if by the help of Sense it get the Throne the Beast will ride and rule the Man and Reason become a slave to Sensuality When you hear the Serpent see his Sting and see Death attending the forbidden Fruit When you are rising look down and see how far you have to fall His Reason as well as Faith is weak who for such Fools-gawds as the Pomp and Vanitles of this World can forget God and his Soul and Death and Judgment Heaven and Hell yea and deliberately command them to stand by What Knowledge or Experience can do good on that Man who will venture so much for such a World which all that have tried it call vanity at the last How deplorable then is a Worldâ—ings case Oh fear the World when it smileth or seems sweet and amiable Love it not if you love your God and your Salvation VIII Fly from Temptations and crucify the Flesh and keep a constant Government over your Appetite and Seâ—â—â—es Many who had no designed stated Vice or worldly Interest have shamefully fallen by the sudden surprize of Appetite or Lust When custom hath taught these to be greedy and violent like a hungry Dog or a lusting Bâ—ar it is not a sluggish Wish or Purpose that will mortify or rule them How dangerous a case is that Man in who hath so greedy a Beast continually to restrain that if he do but neglect his Watch one Hour is ready to run him headlong into Hell Who can be safe that standeth long on so terrible a precipice The Tears and Sorrows of many Years may perhaps not repair the loss which one Hour or Act may bring The â—ase of David and many others are dreadful Warnings Know what it is that you are most in Danger of whether Lust and Idleness or Excess in Meats or Drinks or Play and there set your strongest Watch for your Preservation Make it your daily Business to mortify that â—ust and scorn that your brutish Sense or Appetite should conquer Reason Yet trust not purposes alone but away from the Temptation Touch not yea look not on the tempting Bait keep far enough off if you â—esire to be safe What Miseries come from small beginnings Temptation leads to Sin and small Sins to greater and those to Hell And Sin and Hell are not to be played with Open your Sin or Temptation to some Friend that shame may save you from Danger IX Keep up a constant skilful Government over your Passions and your Tongues To this end keep a tender Conscience which will smart when in any of these you sin Let Holy Passions be well ordered and selfish carnal Passions be restrained Let your Tongues know their Duties to God and Man and labour to be skilful and
cannot be subject to his Law This Corruption is hereditary and is become as it were a Nature to us being the mortal Malady of all our Natures And it is easie to know that such an unholy wicked Nature must needs be loathsome to God and unfit for the happy enjoyment of his Love either here or in the Life to come For what Communion hath Light with Darkness VI. Hence then it is easie to see what Grace is needful to a Man's Salvation So odious a Creature such an unthankful Rebel that is turned away from God and set against him and defiled with all this filth of Sin must needs be both Renewed and Reconciled Sanctified and Pardoned if ever he will be saved To love God and be beloved by him and to be delighted herein in the sight of his Glory is the Heaven and Happiness of Souls and all this is contrary to an unholy State Till Men have new and holy Hearts they can neither see God nor love him nor delight in him nor take him for their chief Content for the Flesh and World have their delight and Love And till Sin be pardoned and God reconciled to the Soul what Joy or Peace can it expect from him whose Nature and Justice engageth him to loath and punish it VII And Experience will tell you how insufficient you are for either of these two Works your selves to renew your Souls or to reconcile them unto God Will a Nature that is Carnal resist and overcome the Flesh and abhor the Sin which it most dearly loveth Will a Worldly Mind overcome the World When Custom hath rooted your natural Corruptions are they easily rooted up O how great and hard a Work is it to cause a blind unbelieving Sinner to set his Heart on another World and lay up all his Hopes in Heaven and to cast off all the things he seeth for that God and Glory which he never saw And for a hardned worldly fleshly heart to become Wise and Tender and Holy and Heavenly and abhor the Sin which it most fondly loveth And what can we do to satisfie Justice and reconcile such a rebel Soul to God VIII Nature and Experience having thus acquainted you with your Sin and Misery and what you want will further tell you that God doth not yet deal with you according to your deserts He giveth you Life and Time and Mercies when your Sins had forfeited all these He obligeth you to repent and turn unto him And therefore Experience telling you that there is some Hope and that God hath found out some way of shewing Mercy to the Children of Wrath Reason will command you to enquire of all that are fit to teach you what way of Remedy God hath made known And as you may soon discover that the Religion of Heathens and Mahometans is so far from shewing the true Remedy that they are part of the Disease it self So you may learn that a wonderful Person the Lord Jesus Christ hath undertaken the Office of being the Redeemer and Saviour of the World and that he who is the Eternal Word and Wisdom of the Father hath wonderfully appeared in the Nature of Man which he took from the Virgin Mary being conceived by the Holy Ghost and that we might have a Teacher sent from †Heaven infallably and easily to acquaint the World with the Will of God and the unseen things of Life Eternal How God bare Witness of his Truth by abundant open and uncontrouled Miracles How he conquered Satan and the World and gave us an Example of perfect Righteousness and underwent the Scorn and Cruelty of Sinners and suffered the Death of the Cross as a Sacrifice for our Sins to reconcile us unto God How he rose again the third day and conquered Death and lived forty days longer on Earth instructing his Apostles and giving them Commission to preach the Gospel to all the World and then ascended bodily into Heaven while they gazed after him How he is now in Heaven both God and Man in one Person the Teacher and King and High-Priest of his Church Of Him must we learn the way of Life by Him must we be ruled as the Physician of Souls All Power is given Him in Heaven and in Earth By his Sacrifice and Merits and Intercession must we be pardoned and accepted with the Father and only by him must we come to God He hath procured and established a Covenant of Grace which Baptism is the Seal of Even That God will in him be our God and reconciled Father and Christ will be our Saviour and the Holy Ghost will be our Sanctifier if we will unfeignedly consent that is if penitently and believingly we give up our selves to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost in those Resolutions This Covenant in the Tenor of it is a Deed of Gift of Christ and Pardon and Salvation to all the World â—f by the true Faith and Repentance they will turn to God And this shall be the Law according to which he will judge all that hear it at the last for he is made the judge of All and will raise all the dead and will justify his Saints and judge them unto endless Joy and Glory and condemn the Unbelievers impenitent and ungodly unto endless Misery The Soul alone is judged at Death and Body and Soul at the Resurrection This Gospel the Apostles preached to the World and that it might be effectual to Mens Salvation the Holy Ghost was first given to inspire the Preachers of it and enable them to speak in various Languages and infallibly to agree in One and to work many great and open Miracles to prove their Word to those they preached to And by this means they planted the Church which ordinary Ministers must increase and teach and oversee to the end of the World till all the Elect be gathered in And the same Holy Spirit hath undertaken it as his Work to accompany this Gospel and by it to convert Mens Souls illuminating and sanctifying them and by a secret Regeneration to renew their Natures and bring them to that Knowledge and Obedience and Love of God which is the Primitive Holiness for which we were created and from which we fell And thus by a Saviour and a Sanctifier must all be reconciled and renewed that will be glorified with God in Heaven All this you may learn from the Sacred Scriptures which were written by the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit and sealed by multitudes of open Miracles and contain the very Image and Superscription of God and have been received and preserved by the Church as the certain Oracles of God and blessed by him through all Generations to the sanctifying of many Souls IX When you understand all this it is time for you to look home and understand now what State your Souls are in That you were made capable of Holiness and Happiness you know that you and
all Men are fallen from God and Holiness and Happiness unto Self and Sin and Misery you know that you are so far redeemed by Christ you know as to have a pardoning and saving Covenant tendered you and Christ and Mercy offered to your choice But whether you are truly penitent Believers and renewed by the Holy Ghost and so united unto Christ this is the Question yet unresolved this is the Work that is yet to do without which there is no Salvation and if thou die before it is done wo to thee that ever thou wast a Man Except a Man be Regenerate by the Spirit and Converted and made a New Creature and of Carâ—al be made Spiritual and of Earthly be made Heavenly and of Selfish and Sinful be made Holy and Obedient to God he can never be saved no more than the Devil himself can be saved And if this be so as nothing is more sure I require thee now who readest these words as thou regardest thy Salvation as thou wouldest escape Hell Fire and stand with Comfort before Christ and his Angels at the last that thou soberly consider whether Reason command thee not to try thy State whether thou art thus renewed by the Spirit of Christ or not And to call for help to those that can advise thee and follow on the search till thou know thy Case And if thy Soul be a stranger to this sanctifying Work whether Reason command thee not without any delay to make out to Christ and beg his Spirit and cast away thy Sins and give up thy self entirely to thy God thy Saviour and Sanctifier and enter into his Covenant with a full Resolution never to forsake him to deny thy self and the desires of the Flesh and this deceitful transitory World and lay out all thy hopes on Heaven and speedily whatever it cost thee to make sure of the Felicity which hath no end And darest thou refuse this when God and Conscience do command it And further I advise you X. Understand how it is that Satan hindreth Souls from being sanctified That you may know how much to resist his Wiles Some he deceiveth by malicious Suggestions that Holiness is nothing but Fancy or Hypocrisie And if God and Death and Heaven and Hell were Fancies this might be believed Some he debaucheth by the power of fleshly Appetite and Lust so that their Sins will not let their Reason speak Some he keepeth in utter Ignorance by the evil Education of ignorant Parents and the negligence of ungodly Soul-murdering Teachers some he deceiveth by worldly Hopes and keepeth their Minds so taken up with worldly Things that the Matters of Eternity can have but some loose and uneffectual Thoughts or as bad as none Some are entangled in ill Company who make a scorn of a holy Life and seed them with continual Diversions and vain Delights And some are so hardened in their Sin that they are even past feeling and neither fear God's Wrath nor care for their Salvation but hear these things as Men asleep and nothing will awake them Some are discouraged with a conceit that Godliness is a Life so grievous sad and melancholy that rather than endure it they will venture their Souls come on it what will as if it were a grievous Life to love God and hope for endless Joys and a pleasant Life to love the World and Sin and live within a step of Hell Some that are convinced do put off their Coversion with Delays and think it's time enough hereafter and are purposing and promising till it be too late and Life and Time and Hope be ended And some that see there is is a necessity of Holiness are cheated by some dead Opinion or Names or Shews and Images of Holiness either because they hold a strict Opinion or because they joyn with a Religious Party or because they are of that which they think is the true Church or because they are baptized with Water and observe the outward parts of Worship and perhaps because they offer God a great deal of Lip-Service and Lifeless Ceremony which never savoured of a Holy Soul Thus Deadness Sensuality Worldliness and Hypocrisie do hinder Millions from Sanctification and Salvation XI If ever thou wouldest be saved oppress not Reason by Sensuality or Diversions But sometimes retire for sober Consideration distracted and sleepy Reason is unuseful God and Conscience have a great deal to say to thee which in a crowd of Company and Business thou art not fit to hear It is a dolesul case that a Man who hath a God a Christ a Soul a Heaven a Hell to think of will allow them none but running Thoughts and not once in a Week bestow one Hour in Man-like serious Consideration of them sure thou hast no greater things to mind Resolve then sometimes to spend half an hour in the deepest thoughts of thy everlasting State XII Look upon this World and all its Pleasures as a Man of Reason who foreseeth the end and not as a Beast that liveth but by Sense or present Objects Do I need to to tell thee Man that thou must die Cannot Carcases and Dust instruct thee to see the end of Earthly Glory and all the Pleasures of the Flesh Is it a Controversie whether thy Flesh must shortly perish and wilt thou yet provide for it before thy Soul What a sad farewel must thou shortly take of all that Worldlings sell their Souls for And O how quickly will this be Alass Man the Day is even at hand a few days more and thou art gone and darest thou live unready and part with Heaven for such a World as this XIII And then think soberly of the Life to come What it is for a Soul to appear before the living God and be judged to endless Joy or Misery If the Devil tempt thee to doubt of such a Life remember that Nature and Scripture and the Worlds Consent and his own Temptations are Witnesses against him O Man canst thou pass one day in Company or alone in Business or in Idleness without some sober Thoughts of Everlastingness Nothing more sheweth that the Hearts of Men are asleep or dead than that the Thoughts of endless Joy or Pain so near at hand constrain them not to be Holy and overcome not all the Temptations of the Flesh as Toys and inconsiderable Things XIV Mark well what Mind most Men are of when they come to die Unless it be some desperate forsaken Wretch do they not all speak well of a Holy Life and wish that their Lives had been spent in the most fervent Love of God and strictest Obedience to his Laws Do they then speak well of Lust and Pleasures and magnifie the Wealth and Honours of the World Had they not rather die as the most mortified Saints then as careless fleshly worldly Sinners And dost thou see and know this and yet wilt thou not be instructed and be
resolute in performing them Know all the Sins of the Tongue that you may avoid them for your Innocency and Peace do much depend on the prudent Government of your Tongues X. Govern your Thoughts with constant skilful Diligence In this right Habits and Affections will do most by inclining them unto Good It 's easy to think on that which we love Be not unfurnished of matter for your Thoughts to work upon And often retire your selves for serious Meditation Be not so solitary and deep in Musings as to over-stretch your Thoughts and confound your Minds or take you off from necessary converse with others But be sure that you be Considerate and dwell much at Home and converse most with your Consciences and your God! with whom you have the greatest Business Leave not your thoughts unimployed or ungoverned Scatter them not abroad upon impertinent Vanities O that you knew what daily business you have for them Most men are wicked deceived and undone because they are inconsiderate and dare not or will not retiredly and soberly use their Reason or use it but as a slave in Chains in the service of their Passion Lust and Interest He was never Wise or Good or Happy who was not soberly and impartially Considerate How to be Good to do Good and finally enjoy Good must be the sum of all your Thoughts Keep them first holy then charitable clean and chaste And quickly check them when they look towards sin XI Let Time be exceeding Precious in your Eyes and carefully and diligently redeem it What haste doth it make and how quickly will it be gone and then how highly will it be valued when a Minute of it can never be recalled O what important Business have we for every Moment of our Time if we should live a thousand Years Take not that Man to be well in his Wits or to know his God his End his Work or his Danger who hath Time to spare Redeem it not only from needless Sports and Plays and Idleness and Curiosity and Complement and excess of Sleep and Chat and Worldliness but also from the Entanglements of lesser Good which would hinder you from greater Spend time as Men that are ready to pass into another World where every Minute must be accounted for and it must go with us for ever as we lived here let not Health deceive you into the expectation of living long and so into a sensless Negligence See your Glass running and keep a reckoning of the expence of Time and spend it just as you would review it when it is gone XII Let the Love of all in their several Capacities become as it were your very Nature and doing them all the Good you can be very much of the Business of your Lives God must be loved in all his Creatures his natural Image on all Men and his spiritual Image on his Saints Our Neighbour must be loved as our natural selves That is our natural Neighbour as our natural Self with a Love of benevolence and our spiritual Neighbour as our spiritual Self with a Love of Complacence In opposition to Complacence we may hate our sinful Neighbour as we must our selves much more But in opposition to Benevolence we must neither hate our Selves our Neighbour or our Enemy O that Men knew how much of Christianity doth consist in Love and doing Good With what Eyes do they read the Gospel who see not this in every Page Abhor all that Selfishness Pride and Passion which are the Enemies of Love and those Opinions and Factions and Censurings and Back-biting which would destroy it Take him that speaketh Evil of another to you without a just cause and call to be Satan's Messenger intreating you to hate your Brother or to abate your Love For to perswade you that a Man is bad is directly to perswade you so far to hate him Not that the good and bad must be confounded but Love will call none bad without constraining evidence Rebuke Back biters Hurt no Man and speak evil of no Man unless it be not only just but necessarily to some greater Good Love is lovely They that Love shall be Beloved Hating and hurting makes Men hateful Love thy Neighbour as thy self and Do as thou wouldst be done by are the Golden Rules of our Duty to Men which must be deeply written on your Hearts For want of this there is nothing so false so bad so cruel which you may not be drawn to think or say or do against your Brethren Selfishness and want of Love do as naturally tend to Ambition and Covetousness and thence to Cruelty against all that 〈◊〉 in the Way of their Desires as the nature of a 〈◊〉 to kill the Lambs All Factions and Contentions and Persecutions in the World proceed from Selfishness and want of Charity Devouring Malice is the Devilish Nature Be as zealous in doing gòod to all as Satan's Servants are in hurting Take it as the use of all your Talents and use them as you would hear of it at last Let it be your Business and not a matter on the by Especially for publick Good and Mens Salvation And what you cannot do your selves perswade other to Give them good Books and draw them to the means which are most like to profit them XIII Understand the right Terms of Church-Communion especially the Unity of the Universal Church and the Universal Communion which you must hold with all the parts and the difference between the Church as Visible and Invisible For want of these how woful are our divisions Read oft 1 Cor. 12. Eph. 4. 1. to 17. Job 17. 21 22 23. Act. 4. 32. 2. 42. 1 Cor. 1. 10 11 13. 3. 3. Rom. 16. 17. Phil. 2. 1 2 3 4. 1 Thes 5. 12 13. Act. 20. 30. 1 Cor. 11. 19. Titus 3. 10. James 3. Col. 1. 4. Heb. 10. 25. Acts 8. 12 13 37. 1 Cor. 1. 2 13. 3. 3 4. 11. 18 21. Study these well You must have Union and Communion in Faith and Love with all the Christians in the World And refuse not local Communion when you have a just call so far as they put you not on sinning Let your usual meeting be with the purest Church if you lawfully may and still respect the publick Good But sometimes occasionally communicate even with defective faulty Churches so be it they are true Christians and put you not on Sin that so you may shew that you own them as Christians though you disown their Corruptions Think not your presence maketh all the Faults of Ministry Worship or People to be yours for then I would join with no Church in the World Know that as the mystical Church consisteth of Heart-Covenanters so doth the Church as Visible consist of Verbal-Covenanters which make a credible profession of Consent And that Nature and Scripture teacheth us to take every Man's word as Credible till Perfidiousness forfeit his Credit which forfeiture must be proved before any
the Bellows of Sedition or Rebellion or of an envious hurtful Zeal or a snare for the Innocent or a Pistol to shoot at the Upright in Heart These are not they that have been the shame of their Profession the hardning of Ungodly Men and Infidels and that have caused the Enemies of the Lord to blaspheme If any Man will make a Religion of or for his Lusts of Papal Tyranny or Pharisaical Formality or of his private Opinions or of proud censoriousness and contempt of others and of Faction and 〈◊〉 warrâ—ntable Separations and Divisions and of standing at a more observable distance from common Professors of Christianity than God would have them or yet of pulling up the Hedg of Discipline and laying Christ's Vineyard common to the Wilderness the Storm is coming when this Religion founded on the Sand will fall and great will be the fall thereof When the Religion which consisteth in Faith and Love to God and Man in mortifying the Flesh and crucifying the World in Self-denyal Humility and Patience in sincere Obedience and faithfulness in all Relations in watchful Self-Government in doing Good and in a Divine and Heavenly Life tho' it will be hated by the ungodly World shall never be a dishonour to your Lord nor deceive or disappoint your Souls A Short Catechism Quest 1. WHat is the Christian Religion Answ The Christian Religion is the Baptismal Covenant made and kept wherein God the Father Son and Holy Ghost doth give himself to be ouâ— reconciled God and Father our Saviour and Sanctifier and we believingly give up our selves accordingly to him renouncing the Flesh the World and the Devil Which Covenant is to be oft renewed specially in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper Quest 2. Where is our Covenant-part and Duty fullier opened Answ 1. In the Creed as the Sum of our Belief 2. In the Lord's Prayer as the Sum of our Desires 3. And in the Ten Commandments as given us by Christ with the Gospel-Explications as the Sum of our Practice Which are as followeth The CREED I Believe in God the Father Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord which was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was Crucified dead and buried he descended into Hell The third day he arose again from the Dead he ascended into Heaven and sitteth on the right Hand of God the Father Almighty from thence he shall come to Judg the Quick and the Dead I believe in the Holy Ghost the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints the Forgiveness of Sins the Resurrection of the Body and the Life Everlasting Amen The LORD'S Prayer 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 for thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever Amen The Ten Commandments I. I Am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the Land of Egypt out of the House of Bondage Thou shalt have no other Gods before me II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven Image or any likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above or that is in the Earth beneath or that is in the Water under the Earth thou shalt not bow down thy self to them nor serve them For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth Generation of them that hate me and shewing Mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my Commandments III. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain IV. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy six days shalt thou labour and do all thy Work but the seventh Day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt not do any Work thou nor thy Son nor thy Daughter thy Man-servant nor thy Maid-servant nor thy Cattel nor the Stranger that is within thy Gates For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh Day wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-Day and hallowed it V. Honour thy Father and thy Mother that thy Days may be long upon the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee VI. Thou shalt not Kill VII Thou shalt not commit Adultery VIII Thou shalt not Steal IX Thou shalt not bear false Witness against thy Neighbour X. Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbour's House thou shalt not cover thy Neighbour's Wife nor his Man-servant nor his Maid-servant nor his Ox nor his Ass nor any thing that is thy Neighbour's Quest 3. Where is the Christian Religion most fully opened and entirely contained Answ In the Holy Scriptures especially of the New Testament Where by Christ and his Apostles and Evangelists inspired by his Spirit the History of Christ and his Apostles is â—ufficiently delivered the Promises and Doctrine of Faith are perfected the Covenant of Grace most clearly opened and Church-Offices Worship and Discipline established in the understanding whereof the strongest Christians may increase whilst they live on Earth The explained Profession of the Christian Religion I. I Believe that there is one GOD an infinite Spirit of Life Understanding and Will perfectly Powerful Wise and Good The Father the Word and the Spirit the Creator Governour and End of all things our absolute Owner our most just Ruler and our most gracious Benefactor and most amiable Good II. I believe that Man being made in the Image of God an imbodied Spirit of Life Understanding and Will with holy Viâ—acity wisdom and Love to know and love and serve his Creator here and for ever did by wilful finning fall from his God his Holiness and Innocency under the Wrath of God the Condemnation of his law and the Slavery of the Flesh the World and the Devil And that God so loved the World that he gave his only Son to be their Redeemer who being GOD and one â—ith the Father took our Nature and became MAN being conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary called Jesus Christ who was perfectly holy sinless fulfilling all Righteousness over came the Devil and the World and gave himself a Sacrifice for our Sins by suffering a cursed Death on the Cross to ransom us and reconcile us unto God â—nd was buried and went among the Dead the â—hird Day he rose again having conquered Death And he fully established the Covenant of Grace that â—ll that truly repent and believe shall-have the love of the Father the Grace of the Son and the Comâ—union of the Holy Spirit and if they love God and â—bey him sincerely to the
Loveâ— Loving God as God for himself above all and loving my self as his Servant especially my Soul and seeking 〈◊〉 Holiness and Salvation and Loving my Neighbour 〈◊〉 my self I must avoid all Idolatry of Mind or Body â—nd must Worship God according to his Word by â—earning and Meditating on his Word by Prayer Thanksgiving Praise and use of his Sacrament I must not profane but holily use his holy Name I must keep holy the Lord's Day especially in Communion with the Church Assemblies I must Honour and Obey my Parents Magistrates Pastors and other â—â—lers I must not wrong my Neighbour in thought word or deed in his Soul his Body his Chastity Estate Right oâ— Propriety but do him all the good I can And do as I would be done by which is summed up in the Ten Commandments God spake these words saying c. A Prayer for Families in the method of the Lords Prayer being â—ut an Exposition of it MOST Glorious GOD who art Power and Wisdom and Goodness it self the Creator 〈◊〉 all things the Owner the Ruler and the Benefactor of the World but especially of thy Church and Chosen Ones Though by sin original and actual we were thy Enemies the Slaves of Satan and our Flesh and under thy displeasure and the condemnation of thy Law yet thy Children Redeemed by Jesus Christ thy Son and Regenerated by thy Holy Spirit have leave to call thee their reconciled Father For by thy Covenant of Grace thou hast given them thy Son to be their Head their Teacher and their Saviour And in Him thou haâ—t pardoned adopted and sanctified them sealing and preparing them by thy Holy Spirit for thy Câ—â—lestial Kingdom and beginning in them that holy life and light and love which shall be perfected with thee in Everlasting Glory O with what wondrous love hast thou loved us that of Rebels we should be made the Sons of God! Thou hast advanced us to this dignity that we might be devoted wholly to Thee as Thine Own and might delightfully obey Thee and entirely love Thee with all our Heart and so might glorifie Thee here and for ever O cause both us and all thy Churches and all the World to hallow thy great and holy Name And to 〈◊〉 to Thee as our Ultimate End that thy shining 〈◊〉 on Holy Souls may Glorifie thy Divine Perfection And cause both us and all the Earth to cast off the Tyranny of Satan and the Flesh and to acknowledge thy Supream Authority and to become the Kingdomâ— of Thee and Thy Son Jesus by a willing and absolute subjection O perfect thy Kingdom of Grace in our selves and in the World and hasten the Kingdom of Glory And cause us and thy Churches and all people of the Earth no more to be ruled by the Luâ—â—s of the Flesh and their Erroneous Conceits and by Self-will which is the Idol of the Wicked but by thy perfect Wisdom and holy Will revealed in thy Laws Make known thy Word to all the World and send them the Messengers of Grace and Peace and cause Men to understand believe and obey the Gospel of Salvation and that with such Holiness Unity and Love that the Earth which is now too like to Hell may 〈◊〉 made liker unto Heaven and not only thy scattered imperfect Flock but those also who in their carnal and ungodly minds do now refuse a holy Life and think thy Word and Ways too strict may desire to imitate even the Heavenly Church where Thou art obeyed and loved and praised with high Delight in Harmony and Perfection And because our Being is the subject of our well-being maintain us in the Life which thou hast here given us until the work of Life be finished and give us such health of Mind and Body and such protection and supply of all our wants as shall best 〈…〉 our Duty and make us contented with our daily Bread and patient if we want it And save us from the love of the Riches and Honours and Pleasures of this World and the Pride and Idleness and Sensuality which they cherish And cause us to serve thy Providence by our diligent Labours and to serve thee faithfully with all that thou givest us And let us not make provision for the Flesh to satisfie its desires and lusts And we beseech thee of thy Mercy through the Sacrifice and Propitiation of thy Beloved Son forgive us all our sins original and actual from our Birth to this Hour our omissions of Duty and committing of what thou didst forbid Our sins of heart and word and deed our sinful thoughts and affections our sinful passions and discontents our secret and our open sins our sins of negligence and ignorance and rashness but especially our sins against Knowledge and Conscience which have made the deepest guilt and wounds Spare us O Lord and let not our sins so find us out as to be our ruin but let us so find them out as truely to repent and turn to thee Especially punish us not with the loss of thy Grace Take not thy Holy Spirit from us and deny us not his assistance and holy operations Seal to us by that Spirit the pardon of our Sins and lift up the light of thy Countenance upon us and give us the joy of thy Favour and Salvation And let thy Love and Mercy so fill us not only with Thankfulness to Thee but with Love and Mercy to our Brethren and our Enemies that we may heartily forgive them that do us wrong as through thy Grace we hope we do And for the time to come suffer us not to cast our selves wilfully into Temptations but carefully to avoid them and resolutely to resist and Conquer what we cannot avoid And O mortifie those inward Sins and Lusts which are our constant and most dangerous Temptations And let us not be tempted by Satan or the World or tryed by thy Judgments above the strength which thy Grace shall give us Save us from a fearless confidence in our own strength And let us not dally with the snare nor taste the bait nor play with the Fire of thy wrath But cause us to fear and depart from evil lest before we are aware we be entangled and overcome and wounded with our Guilt and with thy Wrath and our End should be worse than our Beginning Especially save us from those radical Sins of Error and Unbelief Pride Hypocrisie Hardheartedness Sensuality Slothfulness and the love of this present World and the loss of our love to Thee to thy Kingdom and thy Ways And save us from the malice of Satan and of wicked Men and from the Evils which our sins would bring upon us And as we crave all this from thee we humbly render our Praises with our future Service to thee Thou art the King of all the World and more than the Life of all the Living Thy Kingdom is Everlasting Wise and Just and Merciful is thy Government Blessed are they that are thy faithful Subjects