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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34877	A supplement to Knowledge and practice wherein the main things necessary to be known and believed in order to salvation are more fully explained, and several new directions given for the promoting of real holiness both of heart and life : to which is added a serious disswasive from some of the reigning and customary sins of the times, viz. swearing, lying, pride, gluttony, drunkenness, uncleanness, discontent, covetousness and earthly-mindedness, anger and malice, idleness / by Samuel Cradock ... useful for the instruction of private families.	Cradock, Samuel, 1621?-1706.	1679 (1679)	Wing C6756; ESTC R15332	329,893	408

made man after his own Image I come now Secondly to shew what Laws he gave him The Law given to Adam in innocency was t●●fold 1. Naturall which was written or imprinted upon his Soul in his first Creation 2. Positive given as is probable by some external discovery or revelation and imposed on man to try whether he would be obedient to his Creator or no. The Law of Nature as subjected in mans mind consists in certain practical Notions or Rules about good and evil right and wrong true and false just and unjust honest and dishonest And mans will was dispos'd and inclin'd to conform to the Dictates of this Law So that these Natural Laws by which Man was to be governed and which were at first stamped on his Soul were such as were exceeding agreeable to his Reason and sutable to the inclinations of his will and not at all contradicted or opposed by any principle within him which might make him doubtful about his duty or disincline him to the performance of it So that Adam in innocency was indued with sufficient ability to conform to the whole Law of God both Natural and Positive He was furnished with particular Principles inclining him to comply with whatsoever the Law of Nature prescribed and with a general Principle disposing him to yield obedience to whatsoever any positive Law as the declared will of God should injoin Thus much of the Law of Nature I come now to shew what positive Law God gave Adam in innocency Of the Covenant of Works God having placed our first Parents in Paradise besides the Law of Nature which he wrote on their hearts he gave them also a positive command to assert his right and dominion over them as their Creator that they might be obliged to do something because it was their Creators will as well as other things because they appeared in their own Nature reasonable and fit to be done Something 's God commands because they are in themselves and in their own Nature just and fit to be done and other things are therefore fit to be done because God commands them God therefore gave Adam a positive Law as a test or proof of his obedience and to try him how he would behave himself towards his Maker Gen. 2.16 17. And the Lord God commanded the man saying of every Tree of the Garden thou mayest freely eat but of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof of thou shalt surely die In these words is contained the Covenant that God made with man at first and which is commonly called the Covenant of Works or Covenant of Nature being made with man in the time of his innocent Nature And this is contradistinguished to the Covenant of Grace which was made with man after the Fall of which we shall speak more afterwards Now a Covenant between God and man is not to be considered as between man and man where consent is mutually requisite For man was bound to accept the terms God offered him being in themselves exceeding reasonable God is an absolute Lord and hath full power in his hands to give and impose what Laws he pleases on his Creatures and to require what duties and impose what conditions he sees good and man is bound to accept and submit unto the Law or Covenant so propounded and imposed And in a dutiful performance of the conditions on his part required he may expect the benefits promised Here therefore it will be requisite 1. To shew that this was a Covenant 2. To shew the Nature of it Now that the command included in a Covenant may appear 1. Because God promises Adam life if he obey As if he should have said Till the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely live So much must needs be included 2. He threatens him with death if he disobeyed In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye 3. We find our first Parents did so understand it by Eve's words to the Serpent Gen. 3.2 3. The woman said unto the Serpent We may eat of the fruit of the Trees in the Garden But of the fruit of the Tree which is in the midst of the Garden God hath said Ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it lest ye die 4. He appointed the Tree of life as a Sacrament * Erat homini in lignis aliis alimentum in hoc v●ro Sacramentum Aug. de Gen. or Symbol of this Covenant Gen. 2.9 Which Tree did signifie to them that they should always enjoy that happy estate in which they were made upon condition of their obedience viz. A most blessed life free from all misery and flowing with all manner of good things that were agreeable to the Soul and Body of man in that perfect state Having thus shewed that those words Gen. 2.16 17. contained a Covenant we come now to consider 1. The Nature and Tenour of this Covenant And for the clearing of that let us observe these particulars 1. The great honour that God put upon man by entring into Covenant with him 'T is a great honour to a mean man to have a King enter into Covenant with him How much greater honour is it unto Man to have the great God of Heaven and Earth to enter into Covenant with him 2. Observe the great goodness of God in laying upon man no harder a command then the forbearing of one Tree which he must needs judge easie and reasonable 3. Ob●erve Mans great advantage by this Covenant Before this God had not engaged himself to man to continue him in that happy estate in which he had made him Nothing hindred but he might have annihilated him But by this Covenant God freely bound himself and gave man a right to expect the things promised in this Covenant God now promises to continue mans life and happiness if man continued his obedience 4. Under this Covenant man was furnished with sufficient ability to stand but was left in the hand of his own counsel He was left in a mutable state he might stand or he might fall 5. Observe Gods great care of man in arming his mutable will against falling both by promises and threatnings He encourages him to obedience by the reward promised he deters him from disobedience by the danger threatned What greater good could man expect than what was here promised What greater evil could he fear than what was here threatned 6. This Covenant required on mans part perfect personal and perpetual obedience as the condition of it It required perfect obedience to the moral Law stamped on mans heart and to this p●sitive precept which God had given him A curse and death was to be the w●ges of the least transgression thereof But if he were obedient he might expect a reward answerable to his works and thereupon it was called a Covenant of works 7. Under the Coven●●t man had no need of a Mediator Till man

for which justly to correct them 2. God may love his Children with a great love even then when he does sorely afflict them 3. Though godliness have the promises of this life and that which is to come 1 Tim. 4.8 Yet this is to be understood with this limitation so far for thas to the infinite Wisdom of God seems fit and good and convenient for his People and no further 4. The prosperity of the wicked is but a seeming prosperity 'T is many times really hurtfull to them Eccles 5.13 I have seen Riches says Solomon reserved for the hurt of the owners thereof Yea not only for their own hurt but for the hurt of many others round about them 5. The outward calamities of the People of God through his sanctifying of them tend to the prosperity of their Souls to the increase of their graces and furtherance of their glory 'T is good for me says David Psal 119 71. that I have been afflicted 6. Eternity is long enough to punish the wicked who most prospered in their wickedness and to reward the righteous who suffered most deeply for their righteousness Having thus spoken of the Nature of Divine Providence and the extent of it and answered the Objections usually made against it let us now consid●r what improvement we ought to make of this Doctrine 1. Let us all own and acknowledge and take notice of the Providence of God actually working in the World Let us not impute events to chance or fortune or fate but labour to see and take notice of an all-wise and Soveraign Providence over-ruling ordering and disposing of all things here below God is King and Lord of the World and does and will govern the Creatures he hath made 2. Let us earnestly beg Gods Providential care over us and humbly trust our selves and our concernments to his disposal Let us stir up and excite our selves to depend on his Providence from such considerations as these 1. There is no better way to obtain any good thing we desire than by an humble depending on God for it and referring our selves to his holy will no surer way to miss any good thing we desire than to be peremptory and inordinate in our desire of it 2. Why should we not depend on God now who took care of us in the Womb and when we hung on our Mothers Breasts and hath all our life hitherto taken care of us 3. How easily can God help us in our greatest difficulties 4. Why should we not depend on God for accessaries on whom we must depend for the main 3. It the Providence of God governs the World let us not disquiet our selves upon any of these accounts 1. Because we are at present under many and various afflictions For let us consider First all afflictions have their commission from him Job 5.6 Affliction comes not out of the dust 'T is God that brings us and our afflictions together Secondly He suits and proportions our afflictions He knows the strength of the Disease and what Physick is necessary to remove it Successive afflictions are his c●urse of Physick to remove a stubborn malady Thirdly He sanctifies afflictions to his Children and betters them by them and so they tend to their great advantage 2. Let us not disquiet our selves in reference to our Posterity We are apt to be very thoughtfull what will become of our Children which we shall leave behind us But let us consider though we must go hence yet the Providence of God never dyes Gen. 48.21 Behold I die says Jacob to Joseph but God shall be with you and bring you again to the Land of your Fathers Let us commit our Children to the care of that gracious Providence which hath watched over us for our good all our days 3. Let us not disquiet our selves in reference to the Church of God Let us remember what our Saviour hath promised viz. That the gates of Hell shall not prevail against his Church Matth. 16.18 4. Let us labour to get an interest in the Essential love and favour of this God who governs the World by his Providence if he be our reconciled Father in Christ we need not fear what Men or Devils can do unto us 5. Let us study the promises especially those that are made to assure us of Gods caring for us Such as Rom. 8.28 We know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose See also Psal 84.11 And Heb. 13.5 6. And lastly let us reflect upon our former experiences of Gods merciful care over us and his gracious ordering our affairs and concerns for us when we humbly trusted in him and thereby let us encourage our selves to trust in him with a Holy confidence for time to come CHAP. II. Of Man SECT I. Of the happy state wherein Man was created Maker of Heaven and Earth COncerning Man we are to consider Three things 1. The happy estate in which he was created 2. His fall 3. The way and means of his recovery 1. The happy estate in which he was created This I shall labour to clear in several Propositions 1. God made man at first after his own Image The Image of God in man consisted principally in these Three things 1. In the Nature of mans Soul which being a Spirit represents God who is a Spirit And this I may call his Natural Image 2. In the gracious qualities wherewith it was at first indued viz. Knowledge Holiness Righteousness which I may call his moral Image So that mans Original moral rectitude may be understood to consist in these particulars 1. In the perfect illumination of his mind whereby he understood the Will and Law of God and whatever concerned his duty 2. In the ready compliance of his heart and will therewith 3. In the obedient subordination of his sensitive Appetite and his inferiour faculties to the guidance of his inlightned mind and holy will And every part of this Original righteousness was con-natural and con-created with the Nature of man and a qualification which fitted and prepar'd him for communion with his Creator 3. In the Dominion God gave him over the Creatures here below Gen. 1.26 Psal 8.6 7 8. Thou mad●st him to have Do●inion over the works of thy hands thou h●●t put all things under his feet all Sheep and Oxen ye●●●d t●e B●●ts of the Fi●ld the Fowl ●f the Air and the fish of the Sea c. Further his b●dy was so exactly framed at first as to be a habitation for so excellent a S●ul a fit instrument for its Op●●ions and in it there were some traces of the Divine Majesty 〈◊〉 ●orth as a body is capable of representing the Sove●aign of the 〈◊〉 viz. In the Majesty and comeliness of mans face and 〈◊〉 ●●●nance Therefore God says He that sheds mans blood by man 〈…〉 blood be shed For in the Image of God created be him Ge● 9. ● Having thus shewed how God

transitu rather by giving them such a bad example of disobedience than by deriving on them any natural sinfulness doth thereupon infer that if this were true it would prove evacuatio baptismatis parvulorum a very nulling the Baptism of Infants Ambros lib. 10. Epist 84. Et lib. 2. cap. 11. Nec senex proselitus nec infans Vernaculus excipitur quia omnis aetas peccato obnoxia ideo omnis aetas sacramento idonea About the same time or something before flourished Gregory Nazianzen Greg. Nazianzenus 3●0 who in his fortieth Orat. de bapismo sayes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. quid autem de iis dicis qui adhuc tenera aetate sunt an eos quoque baptizabimus ita prorsus si quod periculum urgeat Praestat enim absque sensu sanctificari quam sine sigillo initione abscedere Atque hujus rei ratio nobis est circumcisio die octavo peragi solita quae baptismi figuram quodammodo gerebat atque iis qui rationis adhuc expertes erant offerebatur Cyprianus 250. Ascend we now to Cyprian Bishop of Carthage who lived in the third century about the year 250 who was as great a stickler for Infant Baptism in his time as any who succeeded him In Epist ad Fidum lib. 3. Epist 8. Porro si etiam gravissimis delictoribus c. If saith he remission of sins be given to the greatest offenders none of which if they afterwards believe are excluded from the grace of Baptism quanto magis prohiberi non debet infans qui recens natus nihil peccavit c. How much rather should Infants be admitted to it who being new born have not sinned at all save that they have contracted from Adam that original guilt which followeth every man by nature c. Nor was this Cyprians opinion only but the unanimous consent of sixty six African Bishops convened in Council by whom it was declared as he there relates that Baptism was to be administred as well to infants as men of riper years Origen 120. Before him lived Origen about the year 220. who plainly tells us in Rom. cap. 6. Ecclesiam ab Apostolis traditionem accepisse etiam parvulis baptismum dare And further shews that it was administred to them in reference to original sin which if it were not in Infants gratia baptismi superflua videretur the grace of baptism might be thought superfluous Idem in Levit. Hom. 8. Irenaeus 1●4 Before his time in the second Century flourished Irenaeus he seems c ear for Infant baptism Christus venit omnes per seipsum salvare I omnes inquam qui per seipsum renascuntur in Deum Infantes parvulos pueros Irenaeus advers haereses Lib. 2. 39. Upon which words the Glosser makes this observation Nomine renascentiae Dominica Apostolica phrasi baptismus intelligitur And thus far we can go to shew the antient practice of the Church concerning Infant-Baptism 5. We come now to the fifth thing we propounded to inquire into and that is whether baptism be of absolute necessity to Salvation Baptism is not of such absolute necessity that they that partake not of it must certainly and unavoidably perish The penitent Thief on the Cross who was then converted surely never was baptized And Baptism of it self does not confer grace For Acts 8.13 23. Simon Magus was baptized yet remained in the gall of bitterness God can confer grace as he pleases and when he pleases He ties us but not himself to the use of means Baptism is generally and ordinarily necessary to salvation both necessitate praecepti and medii surely Christ would not command a needless thing to all nations in the name of the blessed Trinity We cannot ordinarily expect grace but in the use of the means of grace which he hath appointed 'T is not therefore the simple privation but the neglect or contempt of baptism that is dangerous And so I come now to the sixth thing I propounded to inquire into viz. 6. What improvement should they make of their baptism who were baptized in their Infancy 1. They should reflect upon their Original corruption and how defiled they were from the Womb so that as soon as they were born they stood in need of a Saviour 2. It should mind them that long ago they were solemnly dedicated to Christ entred into his family listed under his banner engaged as far as could be done by their Parents to the sincere service and worship of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost and to forsake the Devil the World and the Flesh But now they are come to years of understanding they must renew their Covenant with Christ by their own actual consent And surely if things were regularly carried in the Church as they ought to be the passing out of the Infant state of Church-member-ship into the state of adult members should be very Solemn and by a serious understanding personal owning of their Baptismal Covenant and then they should be confirmed in the state of adult members and then and not before be admitted to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper The infant baptismal Covenant will save none that live to years of discretion that do not heartily own it in their own persons 3. It should stir up Godly sorrow in them that being so long ago ingaged unto Christ and dedicated to him by their Parents they have walked no more answerably thereunto 4. It should stir up in them a vigorous exercise of Faith in Christs blood Did they need Christs merits and intercession when young and when they were under the guilt only of original sin how much more now do they need it when they have committed so many actual sins 5. The remembrance of his baptism should be a mighty argument to turn a sinner from the error of his way Say to thy Soul O Sinner I was dedicated to Christ in my Infancy and now shall I go on in sin serving the Devil I was listed under the banner of Christ and shall I now fight against him Ah wretch how can I do these things 6. It should be a great antidote against temptation whenever thou art tempted to sin say to thy self I am baptized I am solemnly ingaged unto Christ how can I do this great wickedness and sin against him 7. I come now to the seventh and last thing I propounded to consider namely What are the duties of Christian Parents in reference to their Children Their duties are these 1. To be sensible of their own sinful condition by nature and how they have been instruments of propagating a corrupt nature to their poor Children 2. To bless God for Christ who is the the only Physician who can cure them and their children 3. Seasonably to present their Children to this ordinance of baptism and professing their Faith in Christ and their consent to take him for their Lord and Saviour solemnly to dedicate them unto him And when they dedicate their children

men may acknowledge and own him for the only true God and may glorify him accordingly 2. Thy Kingdom come that is that his Kingly Power may be more and more manifested in the curbing and subduing of Satan and all his enemies that his Kingdom of Grace may be advanced and promoted by his word and Spirit that his Kingdom of Glory may be hastned Rev. 22.20 that the happiness of his people may be full and that Christ may resign up the Kingdom which he administers as Mediator to his Father and God may be all in all 3. Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven that is that we and all his people on Earth may sincerely chearfully and constantly do and submit to his holy will as Angels and glorified Saints do in Heaven 4. Give us this day our daily-bread wherein we acknowledge God the Author and Giver of all our Mercies and that we receive all from his free bounty That we ought dayly to depend on his Fatherly care and Providence and not to be over anxious and solicitous for to morrow neither inordinately to desire superfluities but to crave and pray for such necessary and convenient things as are daily needful and requisite for the sustentation and comfort of our bodily life and that what the Lord is pleased to give us may be by him blessed to us 5. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors wherein we acknowledg that our sins are debts binding us over to punishment and that our selves cannot satisfie for them We pray that in Christ these debts may be freely and fully forgiven and pardoned We profess we ought and do through his grace assisting us forgive our debtors that is such as have done wrong to us and thereby not only made themselves debtors to God but unto us that we do fully and freely forgive their wrongs and injuries done unto us though we are not alwayes bound to forgive the damage See Exod. 22.1 14. and from thence we gather an argument to confirm our hope and perswade our selves that God will forgive us 6. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil wherein we acknowledge our proneness to evil and weakness to withstand temptation that God hath power over all corruptions tempters and temptations We pray to be preserved from temptations to sin or from being overcome by them and at last to be wholly delivered from them all 3. The Conclusion For thine is the Kingdom the Power and Glory for ever Amen Wherein we have 1. The Doxology acknowledging and ascribing to God the perpetuity of his Kingdom Power and Glory and encouraging our selves from thence to expect from him what we have prayed for 2. The sealing up the Prayer with Amen Wherein we summarily testify our fervent desire of obtaining these our Petitions and our Faith in God for the granting of them THE Second Part Containing a serious Disswasive from the reigning and customary Sins of these Times viz. Swearing Lying Pride Gluttony Drunkenness Vncleanness Discontent Covetousness Malice Idleness CHAP. I. Of Swearing THat I may proceed methodically and clearly in treating of this argument I shall confine my discourse to these seven heads 1. I shall shew what an Oath is 2. Shall shew the lawfulness of taking an Oath when duly called thereunto 3. Shall answer the objections usually framed from Matth. 5. 33. c. and Jam. 5.12 against the lawfulness of any swearing at all 4. Shall shew in what manner an Oath is to be taken 5. Shew the great sinfulness of rash customary and unnecessary swearing 6. Shall answer the vain pretences and excuses that customary Swearers use to make for themselves 7. Shall give some directions and means for the avoiding of this Sin 1. I shall shew what an Oath is Perkins in his Cases of Conscience Lib. 2. Chap. 13. sayes an Oath is a Religious and necessary confirmation of a thing doubtful by calling God to be a witness of the truth and a revenger of falshood Doctor Saunderson in his first Lecture of the obligation of a Oath § 2. sayes an Oath is a Religious act in which to confirm a thing doubtful God is called upon as a witness Others from Numb 30.2 define it to be a sacred bond by which a man binds his Soul to the speaking of that which is in it self true or to the doing of that which is in it self lawful unto which the living and true God is (a) Juramentum est contestatio Dei in re gravi tanquam veritatis testis mendacij vindicis called upon as a witness or arbitrator Judge and Avenger in case of falshood 2. Having shewed what an Oath is I come in the next place to prove the lawfulness of taking an Oath when duly called thereunto And this I shall indeavor to do by these four Arguments 1. That which is morall and injoyned in one of the precepts of the Decalogue or ten commandments binds all persons whatsoever and is a duty to be continued and practised as there is occasion as long as the world endures for the glory of God and the good of our Neighbour But to Swear by God when duly called thereunto is a moral duy and injoyned in the third Commandment therefore it is lawful to take an oath when duly called thereunto The minor will easily be proved by that commonly received Rule of interpreting the Commandments viz. that where in any Commandment vice is forbidden there the contrary vertue is enjoyned and commanded So that the taking Gods name in vain being forbidden in the third Commandment the holy and reverent use thereof is plainly enjoyned and such is an appeal to God as the Searcher of hearts and calling upon him to be a witness of our truth and sincerity and an avenger upon us in case of falshood 2. What God injoyns and connects with other duties that will ever be in force ought to be practised by all Christians but swearing by his name is such Ergò For the proof of the minor See Deut. 6.13 Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him and swear by his name See also Deut. 10.20 where the same thing is injoyned That which hath been the practice of the Godly without reproof before the Law under the Law and under the Gospel is lawful But swearing by the name of God upon serious and weighty occasions hath been the practice of all the Godly in all those times Ergò 1. Before the Law See instances hereof in Abraham Gen. 14.22 23. And Abraham said to the King of Sodom I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord the most high God the possessor of heaven and earth that I will not take any thing that is thine even from a thred to a shoo-latchet In Isaac Gen. 26.31 And they rose up betimes in the morning and sware one to another and Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace In Jacob Gen. 31.53 The God of Abraham and the God of

2. When Magistrates Parents or Masters do maintain the honour and decorum of their place and degree and do keep that distance from their inferiours which is needful for their good and that the inferiours may pay them that reverence and respect which is required of them This is not to be accounted Pride but the behaving a mans self worthily in his place 3. When a man does prefer the commands of God before the commands of men and is more fearful of offending God than incurring the displeasure of men this is not to be accounted Pride but a duty The Papists and possibly some others will call those persons proud and despisers of Government who will not obey them in all their usurpations And thus proud men call others proud who cannot crouch and yield to them in the exercise of their Pride 4. When a man hath a due and honest care to maintain and uphold his credit good name and reputation not meerly for it self but as it may make him more useful and serviceable to God in his generation This is not to be accounted Pride but a duty that Christian prudence requires of him 5. When a Minister or private Christian does plainly and seriously reprove an offending brother out of a true desire of his amendment and reformation This is not to be accounted Pride or Pragmaticalness but the discharge of an excellent Christian duty which is by so much the more excellent because it is so much neglected and is so hard to perform in a right manner And so much for the first particular 2. I come now to shew what Pride is and wherein the nature of it con●●sts and what are the signs and evidences of it In the general Pride is an inordinate self-exalting and overvaluing of our selves * Su●erbia est appetitus inordinatus propriae excellentiae Superbus dictu● est quia super vult videri quam est and esteeming our selves to be wiser and better than indeed we are and an eager desire that others should so think of us so speak of us so treat us And this vanity of mind this inordinate self-esteem manifests it self in sundry Particulars 1. When men assume that glory and honour to themselves which ought to be reflected and ascribed entirely to God As Herod did when the people applauded him and cried The voice of a God and not of a man The Texts sayes Acts 12.20 c. The Angel of the Lord immediately smote him because he gave not God the glory and he was eaten up of worms 2. When they are too highly conceited of their own wit wisdom care and contrivance and ascribe their successes unto that and so Sacrifice to their own net not owning or acknowledging the special favour and providence of God therein as they ought to do Deut. 8.13 14 17 18. When thy herds and thy flocks multiply and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied and all that thou hast is multiplied then beware lest thy heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Aegypt from the house of bondage And thou say in thine heart my power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth c. 3. When they brag and boast and are conceited of their own knowledge worth parts and excellencies and their acceptance with others Thraso-like * Illud profecto mihi datum est ut sint grata quae facio omnia Thraso in Eunuch Pride often times puffs people up with a conceit of their great knowledge whereas alas how little do we know of what is knowable and of what we may and ought to know 4. When they contemn slight scorn and undervalue others and their performances crying up what they do themselves but despising and vilifying what is done by others 5. When they are apt to be very angry and cholerick at any thing that agrees not with their own humor and are impatient to be contradicted be their speech right or wrong Proud and haughty scorner is his name who dealeth in proud wrath Prov. 21.24 6. When they are apt to be contentious and quarrelsom and that upon small matters Only by Pride cometh contention but with the well advised is wisdom Prov. 13.10 He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife Prov. 28.25 7. When men are headdy self-willed head-strong and unperswadable though never so great reasons be offered them thinking themselves wiser than other men 8. When they affect singularity without reason and go in by-paths by themselves not ordinarily trodden by others that they may be the more taken notice of A sober traveller that rides in the ordinary road is not so much observed as he that jumps over hedge and ditch and rides in wayes untrodden by others Indeed good men in evil dayes are sometimes compelled to be singular as Lot was in Sodom but they do not affect it could they avoid it without sin 9. When they are censorious and uncharitable and love to carp and find fault with others They are not so quick-sighted to see their own failings as the failings of others 10. When they will not confess a fault nor retract an error though convinced of it but out of pride and height of Spirit justifie and defend it 11. When they think diminutively and slightly of great mercies and undervalue them because they see others injoy greater 12. When they are apt to be discontented to murmur and repine if they have not all they desire and if all things go not according to their wills 13. When they are apt to fret and be impatient under the afflictions God layes upon them not considering what greater punishments their sins deserve 14. When they envy the parts and gifts or the imployments and places or the credit and reputation of others thinking themselves diminished or lessened thereby 15. When they are more careful about the outside than the inside of their duties and are more solicitous how they are liked and approved by men after a duty than how they have approved their hearts and consciences to God in the duty 16. When they are impatient of reproof and of that discipline Christ hath appointed in his Church Our Saviour Mat. 18.15 hath appointed that an offending brother should be first dealt with by private admonition If that will not reform him then he is to be admonished by two or three If he do not amend upon that then he is to be admonished more publickly by the Church If he still continue obstinate and unreformed then the Church is to excommunicate him and the members of it are to shun him as a Heathen man or a Publican that seeing himself looked upon for the present as an incorrigible person he may be ashamed of his sin and folly Now proud persons of all others are most impatient of living under this discipline and are apt to think it a

Servant 4. The humble Soul is filled with an high admiring and affectionate gratitude to God as the free giver of all the mercies it enjoys 'T is very thankful for temporals but much more for spirituals and owns all to the free bounty and goodness of God The humble Soul is a great admirer of free grace and highly prizes our Lord Jesus Christ and his great undertaking for the redemption of Mankind 5. The humble Soul is patient under afflictions and clears God of any hard dealing in his proceedings against him He charges not Good foolishly how sharp soever his afflictions be 6. The humble person is patient under the neglects and disrespects he meets with from men 'T is not for me saith the humble Soul to expect or look for respect and esteem in the World 'T is enough for me if among those few good men I am acquainted with I find a tolerable kind acceptance 7. An humble person doth carefully watch over his thoughts words and actions lest Pride or vain-glory should steal in upon him and especially he fears lest he should be puffed up on the account of those actions that meet with some applause and acceptance in the world A man should alwayes endeavour to do things that deserve honour and esteem but then he should not assume the glory of them to himself If he do any thing tending to the honour of God and the good of the world he is very glad of it and heartily thankful to God for inabling him to do it But he gives God intirely the glory of it 8. The humble Soul hath a charitable opinion of others which he is the more induced to upon consideration of his own weaknesses and manifold failings Where there is the greatest humility commonly there is the greatest charity but where there is the highest Pride there usually is the greatest censoriousness and uncharitableness 9. An humble person strictly animadverts upon and observes his failings and defects in the good duties he performs He takes notice of the deadness coldness formality and the degrees of vain-glory that are apt to creep in upon him in the performance of them and all these are matter of humiliation to him And thus much of the nature of humility and the particulars wherein it evidenceth it self 3. I come now in the next place to shew the fruits benefits and advantages of this eminent grace 1. The humble man obtains grace favour and a blessing from God He gives grace that is he manifests his grace and favour to the humble The humble man doth not usurp the glory due to his Creator nor intercept the Tribute which ought to be paid to God but payes it willingly to the right owner And God hath declared that those that honour him he will honour The favour of God is alwayes accompanied with bounty and beneficence But his Favour is not to be measured by his heaping temp●ral things on us but by his blessing us with Soul-mercies and spiritual blessings which have a reference to the life that is to come 2. The humble soul shall be sure of Gods direction Psal 25.9 He shall be guided first in the right way to Heaven which those that are wise in their own eyes many times miserably err from What did many of those that were knowing and learned among the Jews and Gentiles being full of their own wisdom and learning account of the Gospel That which was in it self the wisest and most profound contrivance that ever was in the world and most efficacious instrument of mans conversion and salvation seemed to these men of wisdom meer foolishness 2. But it was the power of God unto Salvation Rom. 1.16 to all those that were brought thereby to believe in our Lord Jesus 2. The humble person God will guide in his worldly affairs and business whereas proud men who usually lean on their own understanding and disdain all counsel but what suiteth with their own wisdom very frequently miscarry Let us call our own experience to witness whether when in a deep sense of our own weakness and distrusting our own ability and wisdom to grapple with the difficulties we were to meet with we have humbly implored the divine directions and guidance and have committed our selves thereto I say let us consider whether we have not found God helping of us and casting our affairs better for us than we could have imagined or contrived our selves 3. An humble person is usually well thought of and spoken of by all that know him whereas a proud man is the mark of common obloquy If a man be proud almost every body is ready to pull him down Nay they that are proud themselves are ready enough to pull down others that are proud But the humble almost every body is willing to lift up 4. Not one dispensation of God will pass without doing us some good if we be humble Prosperity will better us and adversity will better us All winds will drive us on towards the haven of eternal happiness if we be truly humble 5. Humility keeps the soul in great tranquillity The passion of pride and haughtiness how it vexes and disquiets the minds of men but humility makes the Soul very submissive to the will of God shall not I submit sayes the humble soul to the will of my heavenly father whose will I pray daily may be fulfilled The cup that my heavenly Father giveth me to drink shall not I drink it What am I that I should not be crossed or reproached It is but what I deserve nay much less than I deserve by reason of my sins My present condition is not so troublesome or painful or uneasie but I deserve much more And shall not I be patient and content and submit to my Soveraign Lord to his wisdom as well as to his will who orders all things for the good of them that love and fear him And so much of the third particular the benefits and advantages of humility 4. I come now in the last place to prescribe some means for the attaining of it 1. Consider how highly God values and prizes this temper He dwells in the highest heavens and in the lowest hearts Isa 66.2 Isa 57.15 The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is in his sight of great price 1 Pet. 3.4 And Mic. 6.18 sayes the Prophet He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what the Lord requires of thee namely to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God God takes no pleasure in us till he hath brought us to this frame and temper * Descendendo coelum ascenditur Cassiodor Nothing makes us so precious in Gods sight as Humility We are most precious in Gods eyes when we are most vile in our own An humble and a contrite spirit is more valued by him than all burnt-offerings and sacrifices 2. Consider the various means that God uses to work this so necessary a grace in the hearts of his own people