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A34757 The country-parson's advice to his parishioners in two parts ... 1680 (1680) Wing C6566; ESTC R15994 99,699 230

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not requiring the help of any Member of the Body may be intermixed with all thy ordinary Employments and if there be any of such a nature as will not admit them without some little stop as requiring a full application of thy mind yet that stop will be no hinderance but rather a mighty furtherance to them for whil'st thou do'st thus look up to God upon whom the success of every thing depends thou wilt be able to proceed more cheerfully in thy Employments and with greater Vigour through the confidence of his Blessing upon all that thou art a doing But there is one Advice more which shall conclude this part and may supply all that is wanting in it viz. CHAP. VI. Containing the last general Advice To commit our Souls to the Care and Conduct of Spiritual Guides with proper Directions relating to it 6. THat thou must commit thy Soul to the Care and Conduct of a spiritual Guide for the enforcing of this Advice much might be said and indeed the little account that most men make of their spiritual Guides in this Age requires much to be said but because I have set my self but short bounds and because I hope that thou art well disposed by the foregoing discourses to receive good Counsel I shall be as brief as possibly I can with respect to thy Good There are Three or Four things which are well known to Christians and I hope they will be readily acknowledged by thee for great truths which being well considered by thee will let thee know both how necessary and how beneficial this Advice will be to thee 1. Thou wilt acknowledge that Christ hath settled an Order of men as his Substitutes upon earth to take Care of Souls to the end of the World This we find him doing immediately before his ascension into Heaven Thus we read in St. Matthew's Gospel chap. 21.18 19 20. All power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth go therefore and teach or disciple all nations baptizeing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost teaching them te observe whatsoever I have commanded you and lo I am with you alwaies even to the End of the World And thus we read in the 16. c. of St. Marc. v. 15 16. Go ye into all the World and preach the Gospel to every Creature He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned And thus in the 21. c. of St. John's Gospel v. 21.22 23. As my Father hath sent me so send I you and when he had said this he breathed on them and saith receive ye the Holy Ghost whosevers Sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whosoevers sins ye retain they are retained That our blessed Saviour said all this to his Disciples no Christian can doubt and that by these words he did commit that Power and Authority to them which he had received from his Father for the Good of mens Souls is not to be denied and if any Question be made whether this concerned the Apostles only and was confined by him to their own persons it may clearly be resolved by considering 1. The importance of those words I am with you alwayes even to the End of the World for how could he be with them to the End of the World if we suppose those words to concern their persons only they might be with him indeed but he could not be with them to the End of the World who were not to be or to exercise the Authority given them to the End thereof 2. By considering the necessities of the World for what an unhappy condition would they be in who were to live in succeeding Ages if no provision were made for their Instruction in the Christian Faith c. 3. By considering that the Apostles after they had received the Holy Ghost in an eminent and remarkable manner according to Christ's promise did understand the Commission otherwise and therefore we find that they did by Prayer and Imposition of hands the ordinary way of conferring offices among the Jews confer the like Power upon others as they saw good for the edification of the Church and those persons upon whom they conferred this Power are charged by them to take heed to the flock and to feed the Church of Christ and are said to be called and appointed thereunto by the Holy Ghost Act. 20.28 And further those persons that were thus ordained by the Apostles are charged by them to ordain others in the same way and directions are given them what manner of persons they were to ordain to so great an office Thus the Apostle St. Paul having put Timothy in mind of that Sacred office to which he had been ordained by imposition of hands 2 Epist chap. 1. v. 6. and of that form of sound words which he had heard from him in Faith and Love v. 13. chargeshim to commit the same to faithful men who might be able to teach others also chap. 2. v. 2. And the same Apostle tells Titus to whose Care he had committed the whole Church of the Island of Creete that he had left him there and appointed him to ordain Elders i.e. Bishops and Presbyters in every City chap. 1. v. 5. To these St. Paul gives directions how they should behave themselves in the Church of God as his expressions are 1 Tim. 3. c. 15. v. Not only as to the ordaining of others but likewise in many other things relating to the edification of the Church viz. 1. as to preaching that they should hold fast that form of Doctrine which they had received and teach that and none other 1 Tim. 6.14 and 2 Tim. 3.14.2 As to the publick Worship and Service of God 1 Tim. 2.1 2 3.3 As to Government and Discipline the holding of Ecclesiastical Courts the receiving of Accusations the conventing of the accused publikely the correcting of heretical and other disorderly persons the stopping of their Mouths and the Excommunicating them or casting them out of the Church charging them to prejudge no man's Cause and to do nothing for Favour or partiality 1 Tim. 5.19 20 21. v. and Tit. 1. c. 11. v. and chap. 3. v. 10. And so likewise as to the reconciling of Penitents and restoring them into the Communion of the Church and the hopes of Pardon 1 Tim. 5.22 v. By all which it appears plainly that Christ did not commit the Care of those Souls which He had redeemed with his most precious blood to those only who were in a particular manner called his Apostles in the words before set down but that he did there settle an Order of men and give Authority to that Order in a perpetual succession to watch over them and to see that none of them perish or fall short of that Happiness which he designed for them But 2. Thou must acknowledge likewise that this Order of men thus settled by Christ to take Care of Souls are authorized
Math. 12.36 v. Nay farther he hath told us That the very thoughts and purposes of our hearts shall be brought into Judgment the offending eye the lustful adulterous eye may cause the whole body to be cast into hell and that a causeless anger entertained against our brethren though it shew it self neither by words nor deeds will bring us into danger of Condemnation Math. 5.22 23. Thou wilt think these hard Sayings it may be and yet there is somewhat more to be considered which may make thee think them much harder Might our Judgment be in private and our accounts be made between God and our selves only we might perhaps notwithstanding all that which hath been said look upon it as tolerable But alas we are told that it must be publick without any regard to our modesty and before all the world that the very Secrets of our hearts shall be disclosed before men and Angels that the hidden things of darkness shall be brought to light as one tels us who well knew the mind of Christ 1. Cor. 4.5 and all our counsels be made manifest And further that this shall be at a time when perhaps we did not look for it at midnight or at Cocks-crowing that we may be hurried away to Christs Judgment-Seat before we can trim our lamps or make ready our accounts or think what couse to take to approve our selves to our Judg and Lord. We may be Eating and Drinking or Buying and Selling or Planting and Building as the people were in the Old World when the Flood came and Swept them all away and the Son of man shall be revealed from Heaven and we shall be taken as in a Snare we shall not be able to flee away from him nor to stand before him because we are not prepared and ready for him See Luke 17. v. 26 27 28. Nay yet further his Coming we are told will be with so much Majesty and Glory there shall so many dreadful things go before it and so much terror accompany it that we shall be utterly confounded and not able to lift up our Heads if clear and good consciences and just and right accounts prepared and made ready before hand do not give us some confidence and assurance before him The Heaven shall pass away with a great noyse and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat and the Earth and all the works that are therein shall be burnt up 2. Pet. 3.10 and then shall the Lord Jesus descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and the Trump of God 1. Thess 4.16 and all the Nations and kindreds of the Earth and those that are in their Graves shall hear his voice John 5.28 and behold his Glory the Glory of the King of Kings and of the Lord of Lords who treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God Rev. 19.15 and 16. O dear Christian Brother what wilt thou do in that day and what shall I do who now ask thee the Question how shall we be able to bear the sight of so great Majesty and Glory how shall we have the courage to appear before it what dread what horror will possess our souls what confusion will cover our faces how shall we tremble when we think of our trial before that impartial and dreadfull bar and how will our hearts sink within us when we are called to answer for ourselves O Brother what will a good conscience thinkest thou be worth at that day what wouldest thou then give for a pure and unspotted life to present before the just Judg of Heaven and Earth for as great a number of good works as thou hast of fins and rebellions and provocations whatever thou thinkest of a good life now believe it thou wilt then think well of it and happy thrice happy shalt thou be if thy own heart condemn thee not of wickedness and impiety Whether it will do so or not I am not able to tell thee but this I can assure thee that no tongue is able to express the Amazement the Consternation the Horror and Anguish the Perplexity that shall possess and overwhelm thee if it do condemne thee Thou wilt not know what course to take which way to look nor whether to betake thy self to avoid the Judgment will be impossible and to bear it thou wilt not be able if thou callest for mercy thou shalt find none if thou desirest death thy desire will not be granted if thou callest to the Hills to cover thee they shall be deaf unto thee all hope all confort shall utterly forsake thee and thou must stand at the dreadful tribunal as a desperate and helpless wretch till thou hearest that dreadful and irrevocable sentence Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels And now Brother tell me I beseech thee what thoughts thou hast of a Holy Life is there any reason why thou shouldest be carefull to lead such a life or not dost thou think that thou can'st avoid this dreadful account we have spoken of or dost thou hope that an account made according to that careless and carnal way of living which we see most men live will pass at that just tribunal and be accepted of as good can'st thou have the face to make before God and all the world such a declaration as this God gave me an excellent Being I acknowledg and appointed me an excellent end but I neither considered the one nor thought upon the other God made me capable to know him to love him and worship and serve him and I was frequently told that the main business of my life was to do thus but this I never intended nor designed or if I did it was but by the by and when I had nothing else to do I cannot deny but I was capable of bringing my Maker a great Increase of Glory by the Use and improvement of those excellent faculties he bestowed upon me but the lusts and and appetites of the flesh and the pleasures of providing for and satisfying them made me forget my self and the honor of him that made me I must needs acknowledg likewise that it was not ordinary Grace which called me to the knowledg of Christ and that I thought my self partaker of no little honor and advantage by it but whether my Christianity laid any other obligations vpon me than the bearing the Name of a Christian I could never find time to consider nor think it worth while to enquire I thought better of my self indeed than of other men for my being a Christian but that I have lived better than they that I have been more mindful of God and more profitable to men I am not able to say I have talked much of Heaven but I ever loved the World before it and though I professed great love to Christ yet my main business has always been to please my self I know thou wilt cry out upon this as most absurd and unreasonable
did to his Being which he knows himself indebted only to God for and can that steal away his heart from the Author of all Good which never did nor can bestow the least Godd upon thee How vile doth this Earth seem unto us when we list up our Eyes and look upon the Heavens Surely much morevilewill all things be esteemed by him whose Soul is possessed with a true Knowledge of the maker of them It was therefore a true Saying of a Holy man of old St. Austin That no man loses God but he that is deceived And another person many years after him is said to speak no worse when being in an extasy he cryed out O my God! O my Lord O the God of my Heart O that all men did know thee they would never offend thee they would ever love thee For surely as the Author of the Book of Wisdome tells us To know God is perfect Righteousness and to know his Power is the root of Immortality Wisd 15.4 This my suffice to shew thee the Reason of my Advice Let me now as riesly direct thee how to practise it § 2. To this Purpose let me tell thee 1. That thou art not concerned to know as much as may be known of God or as learned men do know but only so much as is necessary or as may be helpful to keep thee entirely resigned and obedient to his Will and therefore thou must not trouble thy self with those nice and curious Speculations in Religion which are of no Use or tendency to this End That Knowledge whateyer the Object of it is which will not conduce to make thee better or prevent thy becoming worse than thou art is impertinent useless and unprositable the Hunting after it hath ruined thousands but never saved one Soul Those that pursue after it are thus deseribed by St. Paul 1 Tim. 6.3 4. They consent not to wholsome words and to the Doctrine which is according to Godlyness they are proud knowing nothing but doting about Questions and strifes of Words 2. Though thou art not concerned to know as much as may be known of God yet thou must endeavour to know these great and useful things I have spoken of as well as possibly thou can'st and therefore thou must not content thy self with that sleight superficial Knowledge which the generality of Men have of them who rather dream of divine things than know them but thou must labour for a clear distinct apprehension of them and for a firm and well-grounded persuasion both of the Truth and Goodness of them And to this Purpose thou must 3. Apply thy self to the Use of all good Means and that with great Care and Diligence remembring That if it be Folly to do meaner things slerghtly as certainly it is because many things many times depend upon our least actions to be careless and sleight in such a manner as this can be no less than Madness Now the means that you are to use are these that follow 1. Rcading the Holy Scriptures and Hearing them read this thou art to do dayly thou must borrow some part of every day to say nothing here of what thou art to do upon Holy dayes from thy Worldly Employments to read or hear them read Our Blessed Saviour bids us Search the Scriptures because in them we think we have eternal Life John 5.39 And St. Paul tells us that they are able to make us wise unto Salvation 2. Tim. 3.15 And if any mans words are of greater weight with us than theirs we do ill deserve the Name of Christians 2. Reading Good Books I call those good which treat of the great things of God modestly discreetly plainly convincingly and affectionately of which sort I know not many in the World and therefore thou art to take the best Advice thou can'st have in the choice of them 3. Hearing of Sermons and good Discourses made by Christ's Ministers whether in the Pulpit upon particular Texts of Scripture or in the desk as expositions of some larger Portions of it or of some of the chiefest Points of Religion contained in the Catechism These Discourses Christ's Ministers are commanded to make for the Edification of Christ's Church See 2 Tim. 4.1 2. and therefore Christian people must needs think themselves bound to attend unto them and they are over wise or over good that conceit they have no need of them I mean that they are neither wise nor good 4. Frequent conferring with serious Christians about divine things which is a means of Improving Knowledge that hath several Advantages above any other for besides this we shall instruct others as well as our selves imparting our own Knowledge to them whil'st we receive of theirs that which we thus learn we apprehend more clearly and are more deeply affected with than we are with that which we receive any other way and therefore it is much to be lamented that it is no more used by those that call themselves Christians than we see it is and if we may not infer from the neglect of it that men are not so knowing in the things of God as they take upon them to be I am sure we may conclude from it that they are not so good as they ought to be they seldom forbear to talk of that which they love when there is occasion offered for it so they would never be silent in these things if they had that hearty affection for them which they ought to have And as for the common Excuse among the more serious sort of people that they would not be taken for Hypocrites as too many in this last Age among whom this hath been in Fashion have discovered themselves to be it is so far from justifying their Neglect that it manifests the naughtiness of their hearts whil'st they shew their selves more careful for their own Esteem among men than for the Honour of God and the great Concerns of their Souls There would be little or no Religion seen in the World if the Abuse of it by Hy pocrites would warrant men to cast off the Profession of it and to give any good Reason why so useful a part of it should for that cause be laid aside whil'st they think themselves concerned to appear Religious in other things I believe will puzzle the most subtle among them There were too many Hypocrites in Holy David's time and yet his tongue did not cease to speak of God's Righteousness and of his praise all the day long Psal 35 28. And the Apostles times were not so happy as to be without them and yet They called upon Christians to exhort one another dayly Heb. 4.13 And to teach and admonish each other and that by Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs as well as other wayes Colos 3.16 Those good men did never think that the danger of bemg accounted Hypocrites would discharge them from Seasoning their Discourses with Salt or from speaking such things in their Conversation with each other as might be