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A26714 Instructions about heart-work what is to be done on Gods part, and ours, for the cure and keeping of the heart, that we may live in the exercise and growth of grace here, and have a comfortable assurance of glory to eternity / by that eminent Gospel-Minister Mr. Richard Allein, author of VindiciƦ pietatis. R. A. (Richard Alleine), 1611-1681. 1681 (1681) Wing A994; ESTC R19556 262,157 306

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that gave it Man though he hath a mortal body yet he hath an immortal Soul The Spirit of a man is the Candle of the Lord and when this Candle is once lighted it shall never go out It s carried away hence but it s carried to God that gave it The Souls of all men good and bad when they die do all go to God even those that go to the Devil are first carried to God by him to receive their Sentence to their everlasting state Sinners when they die go not to God as their Reward or Blessedness but to God as their Judge Sinners will say as Christ did Luke 23.46 Father into thy hands I commend my spirit but God will say to them who are ye away from me ye workers of iniquity I know you not Mat. 7.23 I am none of your Father ye are of your Father the Devil get you down to him Commend your Spirits to me what have you given up your Souls to the Devil and all your life long have they been serving of him and he been corrupting and depraving of them blinding them hardning them made them such a filthy and unclean thing and now do ye think to come off so to commend these filthy and unclean Souls to me away with them I 'le none of them If those that are sanctified by my Spirit and serve me with their Spirit come to me when they die I 'le take them to me I will acknowledge my self their Father they shall dwell with me but those that have served sin and the Devil while they lived let not them think to commend their Spirits to me when they die I 'le none of them Well but whether we must dwell with God or the Devil into the other World all Souls good and bad must pass when they go hence 2. There is an eternal Judgement So the Apostle tells us Heb. 6.2 of the Doctrine of eternal Judgment It is call'd an Eternal Judgement not as if the day of Judgment should last for ever in how long or how short a time that judgment shall be dispatched no man certainly knows the glorious God can make short work and will do so in that great and dreadful day It s called Eternal Judgment because it sentenceth men to their everlasting state and its the last judgment there shall never be another to all Eternity but the sentence of this Judgment shall stand for ever 2 Cor. 5.10 We must all stand before the Judgment Rom. 2.6 Who will render to every man according to his works to them that by patient continuance in wel-doing do seek for glory honour and immortality eternal Life but to them that are contentious and obey not the truth indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish to every Soul of them that do evil 3. In the Judgment to come the secrets of the heart shall be opened and judged Men shall be judged for their words men shall be judged for their deeds but not for these only but for the secrets of their hearts Eccl. 12.14 God shall bring every work to Judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or evil The Judgments of men are only over our Bodies and outward Acts they know not our hearts and therefore cannot be our hearts Judges But 1. God sees the heart I the Lord search the heart and try the reins Jer. 17.10 He seeth in secret and he that seeth in secret will reward openly Mat. 6.4 1. He seeth the good that is in secret the love and fear of his Name our inward desires and thirstings and breathings after him every holy thought every holy purpose the inward mournings of the heart under sin and temptation the inward strivings wrestlings of the heart against temptation and corruption our self-loathings and self abasings the integrity and uprightness of our hearts whilst men are censuring or reproaching or punishing us as hypocrites God sees the integrity that is in our Souls O Friends get an honest upright heart in the sight of God you shall never loose the benefit and blessedness of it God sees the sincerity of the upright and will certainly reward it 2. He seeth the evil that is in secret the proud heart the false and guileful heart are open before him Beware of playing the Hypocrite of satisfying your selves with Hypocritical Duties hypocritical Praying hypocritical Hearing or Professing God sees what that heart of thine is a doing while thy tongue is a praying or thine ear hearing thou mayst deceive men and thine own self but God cannot be deceived 2. The secrets of the heart shall be opened and judged in that Judgment of God 1 Cor. 4.5 Judge nothing before the time until the Lord come who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the Counsels of the heart and then shall every man have praise of God 1. The things of the heart are hidden and dark things The thoughts of the heart dark thoughts the Counsels of the Lord dark Counsels even the good things that are in the heart are to all others but dark things 2. In the day of Judgment these things of darkness shall be all brought to light the secrets shall be all made manifest What a sight will there be in that day when the hearts of all the World shall be seen as it were at one view What a blessed sight will there be when all the Beauty and inward Glory of the Saints all their Graces shall be seen What a black sight also will there be when all the filth and garbage that is in sinners hearts all the venemous brood all the Cockatrices eggs that ever have been hatch'd in those unclean hearts when all the wicked Counsels and Devices of their hearts all the Curses and Blasphemies all the Couzenage and Fraud of the heart all the wicked Plots and Contrivances of the heart against God or his Saints all the Adulteries and Filthiness of the heart all the Madness and Follies of the heart all the Malice and Spite and Rage of the heart when all these shall be presented at one view O what an odious sight will there be Sinners do not cheat your selves in your sinful ways with hopes of Secrecy for all must be brought to light If all that wickedness and hypocrisie if those filthy lusts and unclean thoughts that are in your hearts should be now seen by all this Congregation how would you be ashamed and how would you blush to look any body in the Face but because thy naughty heart and its naughty thoughts and desires cannot be seen thou mayest be a proud fellow of a froward heart of a dissembling lying heart and no body the wiser therefore thou lettest thy self alone to be as thou art as long as thou hast a secret covering for all thy ugly Conditions 't is well enough but do not cheat thy self thus all these hidden things of darkness must be brought to light thou must be turned inside outward and all the shame of
's my grief that I am a Worldling or proud or froward but God be merciful to me I can't get rid of these evils if your sorrow whatever it be doth not bring forth Fruit unto Repentance it is not wrought up high enough there must be more load layd on there must be more of its Thorns and Spears and Stings thrust into that hard Heart of thine thou must feel more of its Gripes it must fetch out more Groans and Sighs and Tears out of thee thou must be brought to another manner of trouble for sin then yet thou art e're it reach the due degree of Godly sorrow 2. This sorrow must not be so great as to hinder the exercise of any other Grace or Duty 't is seldom there is an errour in the excess we don't use to sorrow over much no no we are apt to err in the defect we do not usually come up to sufficient sorrow our hearts have but a light hurt upon them our wounds ordinarily are not deep enough 't is this which mostly undoes us we find our sin to be too light a burthen 't were well if our hearts were more sick that we could find them bleeding inwardly and bleeding more abundantly as 't was said of false Teachers Jer. 6.14 They heal the hurt of the Daughters of my People slightly It is seldom that we can now a dayes hear of such a thing as a troubl'd Soul and a wounded Spirit We are even Professors of too whole and unbroken hearts The Sacrifice of God is a broken heart Psal 51.17 but how few such Sacrifices are there any where found for the Lord The work of the Ministry God helps us is seldome that more acceptable work an healing work to heal the wounded Soul to bind up the broken heart to comfort them that are cast down but the main of our work lyes in making wounds in pricking to the heart in casting down the high and hardned hearts Is not there much of this work lying upon our hands to be hammering and humbling and piercing your hearts through with Godly sorrow How few are there of you who can truly say I thank God this work is done upon me the breaking work the afflicting work the affrighting work is done upon me my heart through Grace is brought low and made soft and made sick of my sins so that I am prepared for the healing and comforting work That sharp two edged Sword of the word hath pierced so deep and made such work such wounds in my heart that now the Oyl is more needed and the Balm to heal my wounds O it is matter of trouble and sadness of heart to find no more such sad Souls and sorrow bitten hearts then we can either see or hear of in the World 'T is seldom therefore I say that there is too much of this sorrow that trouble for sin riseth too high but yet sometimes and in some cases it may be so there may be an excess of sorrow for sin Christians may be pressed down over measure they may be swallowed up of overmuch sorrow as the Apostle intimates and would have prevented 2 Cor. 2.7 Comfort such an one lest perhaps he should be swollowed up of overmuch sorrow Therefore in this case there must be Limits set to our sorrow and it must be held within these Limits It must be so much only as may not hinder the exercise of other Graces and Duties it must neither hinder our Hopes nor hinder our Faith nor our Love no nor our Joy in the Lord It should be with Christians in this case as with the Apostle in another case 2 Cor. 6.10 As sorrowing yet alwaies rejoycing Sorrowing yet believing sorrowing yet hopeing cast down yet comforted It must not hinder our Duties Some Christians have been so overwhelmed with trouble that they have not been able to hear nor pray nor think with any Comfort upon God or the things of God this is an excess of sorrow and must be restrained Sorrow for sin no more then will help you to believe and Hope and Love and praise and serve the Lord. 2. Affliction This is another object of sorrow The Degrees and Limits of this are 1. That we sorrow not so little but that we have a due and a deep sense of the hand of the Lord upon us Otherwise we despise the chastning of the Lord which the Apostle forbids Heb. 12.5 Despise not thou the chastning of the Lord. By afflictions I mean here the sufferings of this Life Crosses and Losses of Estates of Friends Husband Wife Children or near Relations Sufferings in our persons by Sicknesses Pains Languishing and the like these must be grieved for God complaines Jer. 3.5 I have smitten them but they have not grieved 'T was their sin that they did not sorrow 2. That we sorrow not so much as to sink under our sorrows That we be not swallowed up of overmuch sorrow As we may not slight or despise the chastnings of the Lord so we may not faint when we are chastned The Apostle tells us 2 Cor. 7.10 That worldly sorrow the sorrows of worldly-men for their worldly crosses worketh Death It sometimes kills their Bodies some men die of their griefs but it often kills their Hearts sinks them in their Spirits stupifies them and makes them fit for nothing We may not be so depressed with sorrows but that we still keep our Hearts alive and to be of good courage 3. Not as men without hope We must sorrow for all our afflictions but as the Apostle would have Christians sorrow for the dead 1 Thess 4.13 Sorrow not says he as others which have no hope The Righteous hath hope in his Heart and his hope must moderate his sorrow This sad state will not last alwaies there 's hope of an end of his afflictions and that should moderate his sorrow The Righteous hath hope in his Death Prov. 14.32 and hath this double hope 1. That Death will put an end to his sorrows 2. That the end of his Sorrows shall be the beginning of Everlasting Joyes and in this hope he must comfort himself under his sufferings and moderate his sorrows for them 4. Alwaies as men that have worse matters to sorrow for The least sin is a worse evil then the greatest affliction and calls for more of our sorrow Christians must take heed that they do not loose the sense of sin in their excessive sorrowing for affliction When affliction lyes too heavy sin usually lyes too light Jer. 30.15 Why cryest thou for thine affliction because thy sins were increased I have done these things unto thee Why art thou impatient under thy sufferings Whatsoever thou sufferest how hard soever it goes with thee in the World there 's a worse thing then all this that should set thee a crying thy sin thy sin which is the root of all that which thou sufferest 5. Let your sorrow for Affliction never be so great as to hinder your sorrow for sin Sorrow more
and so shift for thy self hope for the Victory hope in God for his help hope in Christ for his strength and in that hope stand against Temptations 3. The girdle of Truth ver 14. Having your loyns girt about with truth Look especially to this that you be armed with truth and uprightness of heart Whatever other Armour you seem to have what ever faith you have whatever hope you have whatever word you have to support you whatever Prayer you make to help you there 's no armour will hide an hypocritical heart from God or the Devil God strikes his dart into the false heart through the joints of thine armour And for the Devil he is gotten in already the Devil is already in thine heart if it be a false and hypocritical heart O get sincerity and uprightness before the Lord see that there be truth in your inward parts A sound heart will be the best shelter both against the Accusations and Temptations of all your adversaries whereas if there were no enemies from without a rotten heart will be its own ruine That rust and that moth which is bred within will eat thee out though there should be no Theif to assault thee from abroad 4. The breastplate of Righteousness Put them both together Truth and Uprightness of heart and righteousness of Life will be a mighty security against the Devil and all his whole Party The Psalmist would trust to no other Armour without that Psal 25.21 and that he will trust to Let integrity and uprightness preserve me for I wait on thee Faith without Truth Hope without Righteousness or Uprightness will never secure us Sincerity and Uprightness of heart is our best heart Armour the Hypocrites Faith will not save him the Hypocrites hope will perish with him 't is sincerity that will carry the day Be honest and plain hearted towards God Let there not be Guile and Unrighteousness found in you Prov. 10.4 He that walketh uprightly walketh surely Hic murus ahaeneus esto A good Conscience is a wall of brass against all the darts that are cast against us 5. The Sword of the Spirit Ver. 17. which is the word of God This was the weapon by which Christ conquered the Devil when he fought him hand to hand Mat. 4.3 It is written man shall not live by bread onely It is written thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God It is written thou shalt Worship the Lord thy God Be well versed in the Scripture and you have a sword by you to resist every Temptation Art thou tempted to Pride Remember it is written God resisteth the proud Art thou tempted to a Covetous worldly Life it is written take heed and beware of Covetousness Art thou tempted to Anger and the bitter expressions of it it is written if ye bite and devour one another ye shall be consumed one of another Art thou tempted to a carnal vain sensual Life it is written if ye live after the flesh ye shall die Art thou tempted to a cold Lukewarm indifferent temper or way it is written because thou art neither hot nor cold I will spue thee out of my mouth And so whatever the Temptation be have a particular word ready at hand which may be a sword to strike through it 6. The spirit of prayer Ver. 18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit Meet every Temptation with the Sword in your mouth and with a Prayer in your heart Believe and Pray Hope and Pray be True be Upright and pray the Lord rebuke thee The Lord strengthen and uphold me pray to him be true to him hope in him who was tempted himself and is able to succour them that are tempted Put on all this Armour and stand to your Armes be always up in Armes be alwayes ready to receive the Alarm Let that word be for an alarm to you and be ever in your ears Rise Sampson the Philistines are upon thee Rise Soul Sin is upon thee the World is upon thee thy Company are upon thee or that Word of Christ Mat. 26.46 Arise he is at hand that betrays me that ease that thou lovest those Pleasures that thou lovest that Money thou lovest that carnal Acquaintance that thou lovest whom thou never suspectest to be Enemies they have a design to betray thee of thy life to take away thine heart from God and they are ever at hand to betray thee however thou thinkest thou art armed take heed of being secure of what use is Armour to him that is asleep Remember Saul and his whole Army when they were asleep David came upon them and had them at his mercy for all their Arms and if he had hearkned to Abishai had smitten him dead in the place be never secure stand upon your Watch or you never stand to your Armes Never think you are out of danger you are in jeopardy every hour your Enemy the Devil is ever walking up and down and watcheth to devour you Therefore that Counsel is needful 1 Pet. 5.8 Be vigilant be sober for your adversary c. Be alwayes as the besieged in a Town that have their Enemy close at the Gates and the Walls they are upon their Guard night and day especially let the main fort the heart be still well watched and guarded Set fear for your Sentinel live in constant fear of a surprize fear will keep the Soul waking be conversant in the World in fear be amongst your carnal friends and acquaintance in fear eat and drink in fear pass the time of your whole warfare here in fear O this fearless secure heart how often hath it betray'd us into Mischief How often have our hearts been even choked up of the World and surfeited of carnal Pleasures and rob'd of its peace and spoil'd of its Treasuries and we have exchanged a sprightful lively chearful healthful Soul for a flat leaden earthly senseless frame before we were aware and all because we were secure and without fear Live in fear daily and in constant jealousie be jealous of your friends be jealous of your enemies be jealous of this world be jealous of every sin be jealous of your selves Let an holy jealousie dwell in your eye and let it keep you waking and watching After all your professing and praying and believing and hoping would you not loose your hearts at last and loose all you have hoped and laboured for then beware of Security if you would be in safety then be never secure but always stand with your loins girded and your lights burning Stand upon your watch Tower keep your doors shut but your windows open Let your eye observe the approaches and be ready and prepared for the assaults that your enemies are making daily upon you I never look you should be flourishing or conquering Christians till you will be perswaded to be jealous Christians fearing and watchful Christians and therefore what I said to you before I say to you again and again stand upon your guard