Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n
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A42294
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The guide of a Christian directing him to such things, as are by him, to be believed, practised, feared, and hoped for. There are added at the end prayers to be used upon several occasions.
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1697
(1697)
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Wing G2184B
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36,258
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124
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THE GUIDE OF A Christian Directing him to Such Things as are BY HIM To be Believed Practised Feared and Hoped for There are added at the End PRAYERS to be used upon Several Occasions The Second Edition Corrected London Printed for John Everingham at the Star in Ludgate-street 1697 TO THE READER THis little Book was written especially for the use of such as have meaner Capacities and weaker Memories less time and less money than others The designed smallness of the Volume would not admit of the printing at large all the places of Scripture which are quoted in it But it is to be hoped that the Reader will some time or other look them out That will employ him well and fix those places upon his mind Let him not be Inquisitive about the Author who would not be known but consider rather what is written than by whom May our good God give such success to it as may redound to his Glory and the Benefit of those who shall read it with attention of mind and Honesty of Heart Amen THE Guide of a Christian CHAP. I. Of the Faith of a Christian and the things to be believed by him SECT I. A Christian when he gives either to himself or others an Account of his Faith resolves these two Questions 1. How he comes to have that Faith or Belief of the Doctrine of the Gospel 2. What are the particular points of Doctrine which he thinks most necessary to be believed In Answer to these Questions 1. He shews that he comes to be a Believer in some degree by thinking on this manner Every one does naturally desire the continuance of his Being and the greatest happiness of it that may be whilst it continues But he cannot have the End without the means The means to Happiness is Religion which consists in the true knowledge and service of God For if there be a Creator a Reasonable Creature depending wholly upon him cannot be happy without doing his Will so far as he can know it The means to know it are Reason and Revelation The Light of Natural Reason is but an imperfect Guide and could never of it self have discovered the Mysteries of God's Love in Christ for the Redemption of Mankind 1 Cor. 2.6 7 8. Colos 1.26 27. However It shews us That there is a God from the consideration of his works Rom. 1.20 It concludes with the Apostle Heb. 3.4 That as every House is built by some Man so he who made all things is God or the first Cause who is Infinite in Power Wisdom Goodness and Justice And that such a Builder can't but take care of so Glorious a Structure Neh. 9.6 Right Reason doth also in some measure teach Men what Worship and Service is agreeable to such a God He engraved a Law upon their Hearts Rom. 2.14 15. before he wrote his Will upon Tables of Stone and in Holy Books But the Posterity of Fallen Adam forsook the Paths shewed to them by the true Light of Nature and reasoned not aright and were led away by the corrupt Imaginations of their hearts Gen. 6.5 12. Insomuch that they would have wandered for ever in darkness if God had not in great mercy revealed his Will to them in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament which are to be our Rule of Faith and Manners to the end of the World Gal. 1.8 9. Jude 3. The Old Testament was all the Scripture of the Jewish Church written by Moses and the Prophets who therein foretold of the coming of Christ And Christ did recommend it as a Book of Divine Authority Joh. 5.39 Luke 24.27 He proved his Doctrine by his miraculous Works Joh. 5.36 and 10.25 38. Him God owned as his only Son by raising him from the dead and shewing him to many 1 Cor. 15.3 to v. 9. Witnesses divers of which sealed that Truth with their Blood and their Testimony is handed down to us by the joint Consent of the Christian Church in the several Ages of it Much of the New Testament was written by the Apostles of Christ viz. S. Matthew S. John S. James S. Peter S. Jude who were Eye and Ear-witnesses of what he did and said 1 John 1.1 2 3. and knew that he arose from the dead and they wrought Miracles in his Name and foretold many things which have been plainly accomplished Also they well knew that if Christ was not risen and that if they had hopes only in this Life they of all men were most miserable 1 Cor. 15.19 Yet they ran the hazard of all things dear to flesh and blood in testifying the Truth of what they had heard and seen for which also many of them laid down their lives As for St. Mark he has written in short what St. Matthew delivered more at large and the Ancients say that he was the Disciple of St. Peter S. Luke wrote such things as were delivered Luk. 1.2 to him by those who from the beginning were Eye-witnesses and Ministers of the Word and he was conversant in a particular manner with St. Paul with whom he travelled Act. 28.16 2 Tim. 4.11 To St. Paul being a Jew and a Persecutor Christ appeared in his way to Damascus and converted him by Miracles Acts 9.3 c. 1 Cor. 15.8 and enabled him to do Miracles 2 Cor. 12.12 and to speak and write with wonderful power And indeed the Scriptures are to be distinguisht from all other Books by an extraordinary Spirit discernible in them by Pious and Attentive Readers and Hearers Rom. 10.17 And the more a Man studies the Scriptures and considers what is in them and how worthy of a Governour and Saviour of the VVorld all the Doctrines Commands and Promises are which they contain and prays to God to enlighten his Understanding and to help his weak Belief and has a will to do God's will John 7.17 and uses the means which God hath put in his power the greater will be his Knowledge and the firmer his Faith After some such manner as this a Man comes to believe that the Scriptures are of divine Authority But though a man is never so firm in this Faith and stedfastly believes every thing that is said in the Bible to be true and to come from God yet he thinks some things more necessary to be believed than others in order to God's Glory and his own Obedience and Salvation and the Good of Mankind He therefore either frames to himself out of the Scriptures a Form of sound Words 2 Tim. 1.13 or takes that Summ of Faith for his use which has long been and is still confessed by those who call themselves Christians Such a Form is that which is commonly called the Apostles Creed containing the Apostles Doctrine and composed for the main in or nigh their Days and continued in Christ's Church to this time and this he explains or gets explained out of the Scriptures This brings on the Second Question namely 2. What are the particular Points of Doctrine which
That which the Apostle stiles Repentance towards God Acts 20.21 is a turning from sin unto God It 's that which begins in the Knowledge of our selves and ends in the actual forsaking of all sin that we come thus to the Knowledge of And therefore as the Scripture has made this necessary by way of Command and without which we are told we shall All certainly perish Luke 13.3 5. so whoever undertakes it must strictly enquire into the state of his own Soul carefully Re-view his past Life and compare his Actions with the Law of God the only Rule and Measure of Obedience And such as he finds his Sins are such must his Repentance be There must be Recollection Self-Condemnation Confession Deprecation Resolution Prayer for Grace to perform it and in a word a new Nature Here also the better to understand his Condition he must consider the heinousness of his Sins in respect of the great and manifold Aggravations of them Against what Convictions with what Deliberation against what Vows and Resolutions how often how long he has offended And because at the last we can never come to a perfect Knowledg of our selves so as to remember whatever of that kind is past or to observe the Daily Infirmities we are incident unto we must say with David Who can understand his Errors And with him pray Cleanse thou me O Lord from secret or unknown Faults Ps 19.12 To our Convictions must be aded a present and stedfast Resolution of forsaking all those Sins that we are thus convinced of Unless it be present and both taken up and followed without delay we shall soon forget those Resolutions And unless it be stedfast our Convictions will soon lose their Force and we shall return to the same State again Having Once Resolv'd we must lose no Time lest by Delays our Case grows to be dangerous and we finally perish in the midst of such ineffectual Resolutions When we walk abroad we are not sure to come back alive When we lie down to sleep we know not whether e're we shall awake till we hear the sound of the last Trump Or when we come upon our Death Bed who can tell but that the violence of bodily Pains and Distempers may distract us and render us altogether unfit for such a great Work as that of Repentance which requires the utmost Force of all the Powers and Faculties of our Souls to accomplish it And then having all our Life-time thus put off our Repentance and Rejected the Offers of Divine Grace God may justly reject us Prov. 1.27 c. So necessary is it for us to remember our Creator before the evil days come Eccles 12.1 and to redeem the time and to awake out of sleep this drowsie and stupid condition and arise from the dead if we expect Christ should give us Light Eph. 5.14 16. To this Duty of Repentance is that of Fasting to be joyned A Duty I call it for how little soever it be regarded we find it enjoyned by Almighty God Joel 2.12 Re-inforced by our Saviour Mat. 6.16 17. 9.15 and practised by the holy People of God in all Ages As by Esther 4.16 by Anna Luk. 2.37 by the Apostles Acts 13.2 3. 2 Cor. 6.5 And because of the Excellent Use and Advantage it is of as well as because of the Divine Institution 't is frequently in holy Writings joyned to Prayer Mat. 17.21 Luke 2.37 Acts 14.23 1 Cor. 7.5 And of singular use it is as being a fit means to keep under the Body and bring it into subjection and to render it the more helpful to the Soul in Humiliation and Devotion But how far it can be used by the Aged and Infirm must in great measure be left to their Prudence And here we are to observe That the afflicting of the Soul for Sin and the Abstaining from Sin is the principal thing which God Regards in our Fasts He requires us to Rent our Hearts rather than our Garments Joel 2.13 to bewail our Personal and National Sins to loose the Bands of Wickedness to undo the heavy burthens and to let the Oppressed go free to deal our Bread to the Hungry and bring the Poor that are cast out to our Houses and to give a covering to the naked Isa 58.6 7. And this we must do without Ostentation and desire of Vain-Glory Mat. 6.16 And then we may call and the Lord will answer Isa 58.9 and forgive all our Personal and National Iniquities and Backslidings and give us what we stand in need of 4. To Honour and Glorifie God The Glory of God is the highest End of Man Rom. 11.33 36. 1 Cor. 10.31 Phil. 1.11 1 Pet. 4.11 The glorifying of him consisteth in a most Reverend Esteem of him as a God Infinite in Power Wisdom and Goodness and in expressing and setting forth that Esteem by all the fit ways we are capable of This is done 1. By Divine Meditation And this is undoubtedly a Duty very becoming a Christian when he is in his House or Closet or in a Journey or walking alone in the Fields or in his Garden or working at his Calling or waking on his Bed as Occasions shall be presented to him to contemplate his own Unworthiness and God's Greatness and Goodness and the admirable Effects of them The World abounds with Objects which afford him Matter enough for the employing his busie and active Soul in Contemplation This was the Exercise of Isaac and David and other Devout Souls Gen. 24.63 Psal 63.6 We need look no farther for Precedents than the Book of Psalms a great part of which seems to be the Product of the Pious and Heavenly Meditations of David and of Others in their Solitudes and Private Retirements Sometimes the Psalmist contemplates the Works of the Creation saying Lord how wonderful are thy Works In Wisdom hast thou made them all Psal 104.24 Sometimes he meditates on the Works of God's Providence saying O Lord thou preservest Man and Beast Ps 36.6 Sometimes he meditates upon God's Laws crying out O! how I love thy Law it is my meditation all the day Ps 119.97 But the Noblest of all the Subjects of Meditation is God's inestimable Love in the Redemption of the World by the Ever-blessed Jesus John 3.16 1 Joh. 4.9 Of Pious and Heavenly Meditation there are these following Benefits First By Meditation our Good Thoughts are better digested and we encrease in Knowledge and Grace Secondly By Contemplating the Works of the Creation and Providence and finding how small a part we are of it it moves us to humble our selves and to cry out with the Psalmist Lord what is Man that thou art mindful of him c. Ps 8.4 Thirdly By Meditating upon Heaven and Hell Death and Judgment our Fears are raised in order to the preventing of Evil and our Hopes in order to the doing of Good Fourthly The Devil who watches all Opportunities is by this means prevented from casting into our Souls evil Thoughts and sinful