A Help to Holy Walking OR A GUIDE TO GLORY CONTAINING Directions how to Worship God and to Walk with him in the whole Course of our LIVES Gen. 5.24 And Enoch Walked with God and he was not for God took him Gen. 6.9 Noah was a Just Man and Perfect in his Generation Noah Walked with God John 4.23,24 The Hour cometh and now is when the True Worshippers shall Worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth for the Father seeketh such to Worship him God is a Spirit and those that Worship him must Worship him in Spirit and Truth By EDWARD BVRY Late Minister of Great Bolas in Shropshire LONDON Printed by F. L. for Nevil Simmons at the Princes Arms in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1675. TO The Right Worshipful truly Noble and really Religious Lady the Lady Wilbraham of Woodhey in the County of Chester the Pattern of Piety the Honour of her Family Sex and Countrey E. B. wisheth all Happiness External Internal and Eternal Madam SEeing Custom seems to plead prescription and most Writers Religious or Prophane make bold to prefix some Great Name before their Writings the better to Commend them to the World I having these Papers by me designed for the Press and not being willing to break Custom and having as much need of Protection as any was not long in determining but quickly made choice of your Ladyship partly emboldned thereto by your thankful Acceptance of a former Tract My Ends in this Dedication is not to Interest you in any of my Errors or Mistakes if any such be found let them be charged upon me and I assure you when they are Discovered I shall be ready to throw the first stone at them and were I Conscious of any such I should be loath to prefix yours or my own Name before it Neither is it that I think you need it for I know not of any thing herein contained that you are Ignorant of however it may not be un-useful to mind you of the things you know Phil. 3.1 2 Pet. 1.12 Neither is it to tell the World how much I am ingaged to you and to the Worthy branches of your Family for though I own your Courtesies thankfully yet I know they were not bestowed to this End that others should take Notice of them But it is to let the World know how High an Esteem I have of you and that I think you are fitter to Judge of Writings of this Nature than many others it being but a real History of your own daily Practice And also that I may point out unto the World who are better led by Example than by Rule a Pattern for their Imitation for in you they may see these Directions reduced into Practice which otherwise they may think inpracticable And also that the World may be convinc'd who in this looser Age is apt to think the contrary that Gentility and true Piety may Lodge together in the same Breast and that our Age as well as the Apostles 2 John 1.13 doth afford some Elect Ladies and that they may not think that Gentility and Debauchery are termius convertabiles and he that owns one must own the other also but that there are some and alas too few Noble and Generous Spirits that the Temptations of the Devil nor the Allurements of the World neither Riches Honours nor Pleasures can draw or drive away from Christ And Madam though those that know you take Notice of many Excellent Qualifications in you as Humility Self-denial Prudence Temperance Charity c. Yet real Holiness true Piety and the power of Godliness is the most fragrant Flower in your Garland and the most Orient Jem that doth Adorn you without which the rest would not be so resplendant for by Sincerity Virtues are Adopted Graces The World I know is as always it hath been not only out of their way but also out of their Wits in matters of Salvation and stark blind in Spirituals and only dote upon gilded Vanitie and Worship a Golden Calf yet the time is coming their minds will change when they shall see all their Glory how high soever it flye vanish like Smoak before their Eyes into nothing Now they take them all to be Fools or Mad men that run Counter to the Courses of the World and the Corruptions of the Times and most men had rather be Honourable than Religious Great than Good But when they have cast up their Accounts at Death they will find there was a mistake in the Reckoning They will then see Holiness was the best Fashion though lest worn and that all the Pomp in the World was but gilded Rottenness a dead Carkass stuff'd with Flower and that at Death all the Gold in the Indies signifies no more than a handful of Dirt or Dung The Time is at Hand and long it cannot be that one Dram of Grace will be worth a World and one glymps of God's Favour worth a Thousand Crowns and Kingdoms Humility and Self-denial are two Soul-adorning Graces though seldom seen worn in the Breast of great Persons they are the first Lesson Taught in the School of Christ though few ever take them out they are Beautiful in Great men as well as Poor And submissive Devotion in Religious Duties doth not wrong Majesty it self Virtue is better than a Thousand Escutchions and 't is true Nobility where God is the top of the Kin and Religion lyes at the bottom 'T is a greater Honour to be a Child of God than to be Born of Princes and to be Espoused to Christ speaks more of Honour and Happiness than the World can conferr Riches of themselves make not the Souls better or worse neither doth God think ever the better of men for Wealths sake except they take Christs Counsel and make Friends with this Unrighteous Mammon and by this means have their Riches made up into a Crown for their Head in the World to come If these things seem Questionable to any a little time may resolve the doubt when it will plainly appear that a bare profession of Religion will serve no mans turn for Salvation Mat. 7.22 25.1,2 c. The Lamp of Profession may Light a man to Death never to Heaven Madam I Write not these things for your Instruction but I had need to speak them out that others may hear My Prayers to God are that you may go on in Honouring him who hath Honoured you And improve all for his Glory from whom you have received all knowing you cannot do too much or suffer too much for him who hath done so much and suffered so much for you you cannot buy this Gold too dear the World you may buy too dear and most men do with the loss of their Souls Madam as to this unpolished Piece though I am conscious to my self of many wants yet I hope a Will to do good is not wanting He that did receive a Turtle for a Sacrifice when a Lamb was wanting and a little Goats Hair when no
requires not or do it in a manner he regards not They are like the Son that said to his Father I go Sir but went not Mat. 21.30 But shall we take it for granted that thou wilt worship him but wilt thou do it in truth and sincerity otherwise God will not regard it I fear we may say of many as Joshua of Israel Josh 24.19 You cannot serve the Lord for he is an holy God but is it your Resolution as theirs was in the verses following Nay but we will serve the Lord and that you will choose the Lord to serve him consider what you do you must take him to be your God and be willing to have your Souls cleansed from all your sins and must be willing to take the Lord Jesus Christ as he is offered in the Gospel to be your Lord and Husband and be as willing to be ruled by him as saved by him and must resolve to obey his Laws and do his will and live in the performance of those spiritual duties he requires at at thy hand Yea thou must have a setled Resolution to cleave to Christ and obey him even in the most despised disgraceful dangerous difficult and costly part of duty Though it be to the loss of thy worldly enjoyments yea and life it self I know many would pick of choose their duties this they would do but that they would not they scum of the Fat and sweet of duty but leave that which is difficult or dangerous but God will have no such Servants obey him thou must though thy Father Mother and all thy Friends become thine Enemies upon the account yea in some cases thou must not only leave but hate Father and Mother c. yea thy own life for his sake yea though thou loose thy credit and esteem in the World and be made a scorn and a reproach for his sake though thou loose thy pleasure and never see merry day whilst thou livest though it endanger thy Estate and bring thee to Poverty though thou loose thy Liberty and be cast into a Prison yea though thou loose thy life and be brought to a Stake to suffer yea though thou seest few or none walk that same way with thee Noah must obey God though the whole World disobey him yea thou must obey him though his commands be never so contrary to thy carnal interest or never so opposite to flesh and blood and though they are never so hard or difficult or dangerous or costly before ever thou take upon thee the profession of Religion sit down first and reckon the charges lest like many thou begin to build and be unable to finish it and not like many put their hands to the Plow and then look back or like the stony ground when persecution ariseth presently are offended resolve to give him thy heart with thy hand or he will have none of thee he knows the heart and trie the reins and thou canst not deceive him with a dissembling shew when Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire he slew them When Ananias and Saphira played the Hypocrite he struck them dead Cleanse thy heart therefore if thou wilt serve him and serve him thou must or do worse Thou canst never err on that hand in serving him too well he deserves more and better than thou canst give him his wages will be beyond thy work now that I may prevail with thee to serve God take these following Motives 1. Motive We should worship and serve the Lord our God because he hath commanded us so to do and his command makes it our duty we are his Creatures and we owe our selves and all that we have to him for our Creation He made us and therefore hath most right to us He made us for his service and therefore 't is all the reason in the World that we should serve him for who is the Pot but the Potters and this is the service he requires of us to worship him according to his will and praise him for his benefits this is all he requires at our hands even this Tribute of praise and shall we be so ingrateful to our great Benefactour to deny him this Nay we are his also by right of Redemption for we had sold our selves unto slavery even to Sathan and were become Bond-slaves to this hellish Pharaoh who exercised more cruelty to our Souls than ever Pharaoh did to the Bodies of the Israelites and in the slavery had remained for ever had not God sent his own Son to ransome us with the loss of his life and the shedding of his pretious blood Satan was the strong man armed that kept his house in peace till Christ a stronger than he disarmed him and took away his weapons wherein he boasted And now being bought with a price we should glorifie God with our Bodies and with our Souls which are Gods The end he aimed at in our Redemption was his own glory as well as our liberty and this he expects from our hands is we being delivered from the fear of our Enemies might serve him without fear in Holiness and Righteousness before him all the days of our Lives Luk. 2.74,75 Nay we are also his by Covenant under our Hand and Seal in our Baptisme we were dedicated to his service which Covenant since we have often ratified at the Sacrament of the Supper and how can we deny our own act and deed He is our Lord and we should worship him Psal 45 1â— Now that worship and service is required of us is evident Scripture and Reason speaks as much 2 Kings 17.36 You shall not fear other Gods nor bow your selves to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them but the Lord who brought you out of the Land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm him shall ye fear ond him shall ye worship and to him you shall do sacrifice and his statutes and his ordinances ye shall observe Exod. 34.4 You shall worship no other God but him the like we have Exod. 20.50 1 Chron. 16.29 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his Name bring an Offering and an Oblation before him worship him in the beauty of holiness Yea Christ himself preacheth this doctrine when the Divil tempted him to fall down and worship him he answered It is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Mat. 4.8 Yea he directs us with what worship to worship him John 4.23,24 The true worshippers worship him in Spirit and in Truth God is a Spirit and those that worship him must worship him in Spirit and of this spiritual worship we may also read Phil. 3.3 Or will you hear the counsel of an Angel from Heaven you have it Rev. 19.10 Worship God yea this is the practice of the Angels the work they do and the work that the Angels and gloryfied Saints shall do through all Eternity Heb. 1.6 But what are Testimonies in so plain a case few deny it though few
will be satisfied with this that those to whom he hath given most should do least is a Question should be thought of A bare Profession makes many a man have a high Conceit of himself but the Law allows not a man to be Judge in his own Cause My Design in the following Tract is not to make the way to Heaven narrower nor the Gate straiter than it is but to put you up some Way-marks that you mistake not the Road 'T is not to make the Burden heavier than needs must but to shew you what Burden 't is that Christ would have you take up 'T is not to quench the smoaking Flax or to break the bruised Reed but to awaken the dull and drowsie Formalist and to set him on fire that was quite out and to shew the mistakes of those that think the way to Heaven to be so broad that a whole Parish may go abreast and a reeling Drunkard can hardly step aside and the Gate so wide that a Man may enter not only with the World but with a load of Sins also on his back and that they may use their Prayers as others do their Charms with good Success though they understand them not but God is not much taken with a little Lip labour when the Heart is absent Prov. 19.26 Ezek. 33.32 The Time is coming Men will be convinc'd to purpose that their Soul was their chiefest Jewel that Heaven was no Fable and Hell no Scare-Crow nor Eternity no Melancholy Fancy and that God spake in Earnest what they took in Jest That Sin is no matter of Sport and the Service of God no Formal Complement That those were the Wisest that made Provision for Eternity and those the veriest Fools that fooled away their Salvation and Sold their Souls as Esau his Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage or for that which was worse for a base Lust and laid out their money for that which is not Bread and their Labour for that which profits not Isa 55.2 But the Time will come they will Repent the bargain But to return it may be Objected this plain Discourse is not suitable for this Learned Age but the Sick Man desires to have Medicum non Eloquentem sed Saventem and rather desires to be Cured than Courted Those that Sin in English why should they be reproved in Latine but in plain words Had I had better at Hand thou hadst had it and how it came to pass I had no better I can give thee this brief Account When by Providence I was laid aside as a broken Vessel and the Time was come that the Levites were sent every one to his Field Nehem. 13.10 and I not having that Provision made as many others had and but little if any thing left to maintain a numerous Family I was forced to Fight against Poverty almost to the neglect of my Study so that I can say with the Apostle Acts 20.34 and many that knows me may say as much for me These Hands ministred to my Necessity and those that were with me My Head being filled with other distracting Studies and my Hands with other Imployments that I had few spare hours except by Night to mind those Studies so that I hrought forth this as a Bear doth her Whelps a confused Lump and had no time to lick it into Form 'T is a Basket of unripe Fruits blown down by the Wind of Worldly Distractions yet mistake not had my time been more and my Abilities greater it should have spoken plain English I would not have hid any Fruit with Leaves nor been a Barbarian to the meanest Reader nor have wrapt up my meaning in a Cloud Reader my Advice is if thou findest Christ here though not in soft Rayment but as in his Infancy but meanly clad yet reject him not good Counsel in plain English is not to be rejected and a good Stomack will not reject good Meat though not Modishly drest If there be any thing here Offered contrary to God's Word reject it and so shall I when I know it if not rejecting of it will be a dissowning God himself If thou meet with as I fear thou maist some Tautoligies or Repetitions look upon it as the Fruit of broken Studies and interrupted Meditations I have said enough and perhaps too much and shall add no more but wish that God who hath inclined my Heart to Write it may incline thine to Read and Practice it and if thou hast any benefit by it I shall think my pains well bestowed This is the unfeigned desire of him who is Christ's and the Churches Servant and a well-willer to thy Souls Health EDWARD BVRY Eaton Nov. 2. 1674. A Help to holy Walking OR A GUIDE to GLORY CHAP. I. Motives to holy Dutyes HAving in a former Treatise handled the Doctrine of holy walking and shewed the excellency and necessity of it and given you Marks and Motives to perswade you to it and Directions in it and answered the Objections that are made against it I shall come now to treat of it in particular and shew you how to demean your selves towards God in the several parts of his Worship wherein consists the main though not the whole of holy walking And in every part of Gods worship I shall give you Directions for the right performance But Reader wilt thou resolve to follow those Directions For otherwise 't is in vain for me to write or thee to read it will but make thee sin with a Candle in thy hand What good will Meat do if not eaten and digested Or Physick do if not taken Or a Plaister if not applyed So what good will Directions do if not followed It is not enough to read thy duty but thou must do it nay 't is not enough to do it but thou must do it well Those that worship God must worship him in Spirit and in Truth 't is not a little lip labour or knee service will serve his turn without the Heart and the Heart rightly qualified he regards it not he will have none of it for there is none holy as the Lord 1 Sam 22. And the Lord admits of none into his service that are not holy Lev. 10.3 I will be sanctifyed by those that draw near to me Lev. 20.7 Be ye holy for I am holy He is a living God and requires living Sacrifice and will not take up with a dead heart There must be a principle of life in thee or thou art nor fit to come into his presence for he is a consuming fire unto his Enemies there must be Regeneration or there can be no Salvation John 3.5 And without faith 't is impossible to please him Heb. 11.6 't is not enough to worship him but it must be in sincerity and truth Josh 24.14 What is thy Resolution wilt thou worship him or wilt thou not there are few in plain words will deny it but in actions they do either they worship him not at all or give him that he