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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A87095	The first general epistle of St. John the Apostle, unfolded & applied. The second part, in thirty and seven lectures on the second chapter, from the third to the last verse. Delivered in St. Dionys. Back-Church, by Nath: Hardy minister of the gospel, and preacher to that parish.; First general epistle of St. John the Apostle. Part 2.	Hardy, Nathaniel, 1618-1670.	1659 (1659)	Wing H723; Thomason E981_1; ESTC R207731	535,986	795

exhortation Begin betimes to acquaint yourselves with Gods word and ingage in the war with this wicked one To this end ponder a while on these ensuing considerations 1. Possibly nay probably you may not live to be old old age is that which none can assure himself of and comparatively few do partake of it if the first death overcome us before we overcome the Devil we must needs be hurt of the second death and if we overcome not whilest we are young death may prevent our being old and so cut us off while we are in the Devils jawes Oh who would run so desperate an hazard considering to how many diseases casualties the young are subject 2. If you do live to be old yet consider 1. The conquest over this wicked one will be the more difficult by how much the longer it is delayed the Proverb saith a young Saint an old Devil but I am sure it is hard for a young Devil to become an old Saint Dost thou think it will be so easie to cast out this strong man when he hath had so much time to fortifie himself Wilt not thou every day become weaker and the enemy stronger and must not then the victory be harder It was much saith St Chrysostome that Jonah after three dayes imprisonment escaped out of the Whales belly but it is much more to see an habituated sinner extricate himself out of the Devils snare Sin and Satan are not like Tenants at will to be gone at a Quarters warning the best wisdome is to crush the ●ockatrice in the egge Oh take heed of accustoming thy self to the Devils yoak since then it will not be a facile work to throw it off Nay further 2. God may hereafter deny that grace to thee which now thou● denyest to thy self and then it will not be only difficult but impossible to overcome him It is a sad doom which God uttereth concerning Ephraim He is joyned to Idols let him alone what if God say so of thee He is addicted to the Devils service let him alone it is but just when men give themselves over voluntarily God should give them over judicially to Satans power and then there is no possibility of escaping out of his hands Me thinks it is very observable that only he who first stepped into the po●l after the moving of the waters by the Angel was cured Post est occasio calva time must be taken by the fore-lock Oh then make hast to list thy self a souldier under Christs command least if now thou maiest thou wilt not when perhaps thou wouldst thou shalt not 3. If through divine grace thou shalt hereafter prevaile against this wicked one yet oh what grief and anguish of heart will it be then to thee that thou wast so long bewitched with the Devils temptations How bitterly doth David deprecate Allmighty God Remember not against me the sins of my youth No doubt out of the deep sense he had of and sorrow for them Quae fuerunt inania Juventutis gaudia haec sunt acerba senectutis gravamina the vanities of youth will be the vexation of old age and if the one be a comedy all upon pleasure the other will prove a tragedy of sorrow 4. Finally The only ●●t and most acceptable time for this spirituall conflict and conquest is the time of youth It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth saith the Church Indeed then he is most able to bear it This yoke as St Hilary excellently Non expectat frigescentis senectatis annos nec emortuam jam aetatem pro vitiorum cousuetudin● is not for the weake shoulders of old men who are so much the weaker because sin through custome is become stronger yea as St Ambrose truly Quid potest habere laudis what thanks is it if when our body is enervated through pleasures and the cold frost of old age hath seased on it we should then offer it to God as a Sacrifice It is St Basils note that whereas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an inscription prefixed before many Psalms it is omitted before the fifteenth which is a breviary of morall Precepts the practise whereof must not be defer'd till the end of our lives Indeed Mane as one wittily observeth is the Devils Verb who tempts us to continue still in his service but Gods Verb who expects the morning of our youth to be devoted to him What the fat was in the sacrifice that is the strength of youth in Gods service very acceptable to him oh let it be offered by us The truth is a young Christian Souldier is both most terrible in the Devils and amiable in Gods eyes The figtree putteth forth her green figs and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell they are Christs words to his Church Indeed no smell so sweet in his nostrils as that which comes from the tender grapes and withall as St Bernard observeth Hic odor serpentes fugat venimous Creatures cannot endure the sent but so soon as the vines put forth they remove Quod volo attendant novitij nostri a comfort to young Saints who pertake of that spirit whose first fruits the Devils abhorre In one word as it is Gods honour and the Devils terror so it will be our comfort Assure thy self oh young man it will be no grief of heart to thee in thy old age that thou didst begin in youth to engage thy self in this sacred war against the wicked one Temporis preteriti bene impensi suavis est memoria Oh how sweet is the remembrance of youth well spent What a joyfull Harvest doth the old man reap from the seedtime of a Religious youth and with what abundant contentment doth he gather those ripe fruits of virtue which budded forth in his youthfull daies Oh then be wise you young m●n and instructed you that are of tender years for Gods sake nay for your own sake for his glory and for your own comfort and sa●ety give no place to the Devill resist him speedily resolutely so shall you overcome him gloriously And now if you be such young Men as my Text describeth the instructions here given cannot but be welcome to you no wonder that our Apostle by these qu●lifications as by so many arguments inciteth to the practice both of the precedent precept and the subsequent prohibition 1. Love not the world because you are strong and the word of God abideth in you and you have overcome the wicked one He that is given up to the world is wicked and he that is entangled with it is weake a strong Saint is so far from loving that he contemneth it having his conversation in Heaven they that by waiting on the Lord renew their strength Mount up with wings as Eagles and so are free from deaths snares Worldly love will not suffer the word of God to abide in us This diverts us from hearing and reading the

THE First general EPISTLE OF St. JOHN THE APOSTLE Unfolded Applied The Second PART In Thirty and seven Lectures on the Second Chapter from the third to the last Verse Delivered in St. Dionys BACK-CHURCH By NATH HARDY Minister of the Gospel and Preacher to that Parish LONDON Printed for Joseph Cranford and are to bee sold at his shop at the Castle and Lion in St. Pauls Church-yard 1659. To the Right Honourable Lady Christian Countesse Dowager of Devonshire Madam I Finde this Holy Apostle directing his Second Epistle to an Elect Lady whereby hee conferr'd no small Honour upon her I am bold to dedicate this Second Part of my weak Labours on his first Epistle to your Ladyship as esteeming it and that justly a great Honour to mee St. John dignifieth the Person to whom hee wrote with the Title of a Lady it seemeth hee was of another spirit than our Levelling Quakers who denying a Civil difference of Superiour and Inferiour refuse to give those Respects both in Gestures and Titles which are due to some above others And as he calleth her a Lady in reference to her external Quality so an Elect Lady in regard of her choice internal qualifications as being to use St. Hieromes Language concerning a prime Lady in Rome Non minus sanctitate quam genere Nobilis no lesse good than great An Amiable sight it is when these two entwine each other Piety in a mean one is like a Mine of Gold in the earth Nobility in a bad one is like a blazing Comet in the Aire But Piety in a Noble person is like a bright star in the Heavens Honour without Vertue is as a Cloud without water Vertue without Honour is as a Room without Hangings But Vertue and Honour is as a Golden Apple in a Silver Picture or rather as a Pretious Diamond in a Golden Ring Both these were conspicuous in St. Johns Elect Lady and I may no less truely say are met together in you Should I give the World a true account of those Intellectual Moral and Spiritual endowments which God hath conferred upon your Honour I easily beleeve what St. Hierome saith in reference to a Noble Lady Si quacunque virtutibus ejus congrua dixero adulari putabor I shall bee censured as a Flatterer Besides to speak St. Ambrose his phrase in an Epistle to the same Lady I am justly fearful N● verecundiae tuae onerosa foret etiam vera laudatio lest I should offend your Ladyships Modesty by expressing a Character of your worth though never so consonant to truth I foresee also how needlesse any Enconium will bee of your Merit The Lives of great persons being as Cities built upon an Hill generally obvious I am withall sufficiently sensible what an arrogance it is ut tuis praedicationibus ingenium meum par esse praesumam as the same Father in the same Epistle elegantly that I should think my rude pensil fit to draw the Lineaments of your better part upon all which considerations I have resolved against that common custome of a Panaegyrick Onely after St. Johns pattern I beseech you Madam that you would abound yet more in all vertue so as the light of your good works may shine more and more to the perfect day To this end Let those excellent counsels which are given by him in this Chapter and though I cannot say fully yet I dare say faithfully expounded by mee in this Book bee firmly engraven upon your Noble Breast Account it your Highest Honour with Mary to sit as it wete at Christs feet not onely that you may hear but keep his Commandements and to make good your Christian profession by treading in his footsteps and walking as he walked By imploying as you do this Worlds goods for Pious Hospitable and charitable uses let it appear that you have learned to Love your Brother and not to love this world Go not forth to those Antichristian Lying Teachers who by Heresy and Schisme are gone out of the Church of England that according to the Motto of your Honours Armes Cavendo tutus your pretious soul may bee still safe from errour by bewaring them and their poysonous doctrins Finally As you know so abide in him whom you have beleeved and let those truths which you have heard from the beginning and hitherto embraced abide in you to the end of your life I must not Right Honourable conclude this Epistle without fulfilling the chief End of its Dedication namely to confesse my Obligation and professe my gratitude to your Ladyship for those kinde aspects and benigne influences which in these black and cloudy daies the bright beams of your goodness have vouchsafed as to many of my Reverend Brethren so in particular to my self the unworthiest of them all I have nothing more to adde but my Devotions That the great God would accumulate upon your own person with all that are descended from and related to you the blessings of Life Health and Wealth of Love Grace and Peace of Joy blisse and Glory is and shall bee the uncessant Prayer of Madam Your Honours greatly Obliged and Humbly devoted Servant NATHANAEL HARDY To the Reader THis Epistle which I have undertaken by divine assistance to unfold is as it were a goodly Fabrick consisting of five Rooms being divided into so many Chapters Among those this Second is the most spatious and specious by reason of which this Volume is swelled far bigger than the former I need not tell thee how well worthy this Room is of thy most serious view Thus much I dare assure thee the more often thou lookest into it the better thou wilt like it At the entrance into it is as it were the Effigies of Christ as an Advocate for thy Consolation and a pattern for thy Imitation Towards the further end is the portraiture of Antichrist with all his cursed crew spitting fire out of their mouths against the Holy Jesus denying him to bee the Christ against whom the Apostle giveth a seasonable Caveat On the right hand hang the lovely Pictures of those Virgin graces Knowledge Obedience Love of God and of our Neighbour and perseverance in the faith On the left hand are represented those mis-shapen Monsters of Malice and Envy in hating our brother of worldly love with all her Brats the lust of the flesh the lust of the eies and the Pride of Life Finally there are in it several partitions one for Fathers another for young men and a third for Children for Men for Christians of all ages and sorts These following discourses are as so many windows to let in light to this Room whereby thou mayest the better view it and whatever is contained in it I have not made use of painted glass which though it may adorn obscureth but rather that which is plain and clear as affecting not the ostentation of my own wit in high language but thy edification by significant expressions I have

is in the world lust of the flesh lust of the eyes c. The third and last of these lusts is that which now cometh to be handled For the unfolding whereof I shall discuss the Quid nominis and the Quid rei the Reason of the phrase and the Nature of the thing 1. In reference to the phrase here used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the pride or ●stentation of life there are three Queries to be resolved 1. Why doth not the Apostle continue the same phrase of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it being a sinfull lust which is reproved in this as well as in the former To which I conceive may rationally be answered that it would have been too narrow an expression since the seat of pride extends it selfe further then the desire whereas the lust of the flesh lodgeth in the sensitive Pride is in the rationall part and whereas the lust of the eyes resideth in the affective Pride as will appear in handling is as well in the intellectuall as in the affective faculty 2. Why doth not the Apostle rather make choice of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word that signifieth the inward as well as the outward pride then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which as we shall afterwards finde most properly points at the outward To which may be returned that it is not as if the inward pride were excluded which is indeed chiefly intended but probably because this ●in is of such a nature as it usually loveth to shew it selfe nor is it satisfied unless others take notice of it men are for the most part ashamed of the lust of the flesh and therefore either they restrain or as much as they can conceale the actings of it and the lust of the eyes loveth to lurke in corners but pride knoweth not how to forbeare the discovery of it self to others She delights not to stay at home but walketh abroad to be seen of others even then when she counterfeits humility it is usually so gross that it appeareth to be counterfeit 3. Once more it may be inquired Why it is called not barely pride but the pride of life In answer to which Interpreters do somewhat vary The note of Salmeron is too much strained who would have it called the pride of life because pride commands even life it self and maketh men willing rather to lose their life then their greatness Sure vvhat S● Paul saith of his religious glorying the proud man saith of his vaine glorying It were better for me to dye then that my glorying should be void Alexander Hales his fancy is That since per sevivere to live of ones self is proper to an intellectuall creature and only an intellectuall Creature is capable of pride therefore it is called the pride of life but this is too far fetched Possibly there might be the same reason of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therefore the pride of life because this sin though it have its rise from the heart yet it appeareth in the life Some conceive it is called the pride of life because Semper vivit vigetque it is a sin that is alwaies lively and vigorous from first to last from the Cradle to the Crutch there are some sins that are peculiar to severall ages but this first saluteth and last leaveth us Our Saviour set a little Childe in the midst of his Disoiples to teach them humility sure it was a very little one for even Children are apt to be proud and as we grow in years pride gets head nay it then flourisheth when the body withereth But lastly and chiefly Therefore the pride of life Quia quaesunt in presenti vitâ bona de quibus homo superhit they are commonly the things of this life which are the fewell of pride to this agreeth the Syriack Version the pride of this life and that Animadversion of Vorstius who observes that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying both life and wealth which is of greatest concernment to this life it may be rendred either way since as they are the things of this life so wealth is that especially in which men are most apt to pride themselves Indeed there is a spirituall as well as a carnall pride and this is a secret venome subtle evill as the Father calls it being as a moath in our graces and the rust of our virtues in this respect it is truly said that as repentance is the best fruit of the worst root sin so pride is the worst fruit of the best root grace but usually Birth Beauty Strength Wit Learning Lands Honours and such like become the incentives of our pride thus Herod was proude of his eloquence Achitophell of his policy Goliah of his might Nebuchadnezzar of his palace Senacherib of his victories and Haman of his honour That the things of the other life the graces of the spirit occasion pride it is altogether accidentall since in their own nature they prompt to humility and therefore as boughs which are most laden with fruit hang down their heads and vessels that are fullest make the least noise so they that are richest in grace are poorest in spirit indeed it is rather the shew then the truth the appearance then the reallity of grace which lifts men up They are the things of this present life which as in their own nature they are apt so through the compliance of our nature they frequently do ingender pride and thus not one or few but many all the things of this life are such as men pride themselves in the lust of the flesh is limited by its end which is to content the flesh the lust of the eyes by its instrument which is the eye but pride of life is of an universall and illimited influence This whole life with all the things in it is but spheare enough for pride to move in the other lusts have their particular Objects the lust of the flesh sensuall pleasures the lust of the eyes wordly riches but pride of life though it principally look at honours yet it runs through the Objects of the other lusts men being apt to glory in their furnisht tables in their replenisht Coffers yea in every good thing they enjoy so great need is there of the Prophet Jeremiah's caution Let not the wise man glory in his wisdome nor the strong man glory in his strength nor the rich man glory in his wealth And thus I have given a dispatch of the Quid nominis the reason of the phrase which was the first thing proposed 2. Proceed we now to that which is the principall the Quid rei the consideration to the thing and inquire what this sin of pride is in its utmost latitude for so we are here to look upon it being set down as one of the three capitall lusts which infect the race of mankinde For the resolution of which I must make use of that distinction which Peraldus hath framed to my