Dircli· 13• Direl/. 14· 1JireElioiiS for doi1~ good. Good Booi(f bdore a tra~ifient fpic<h, that they may be a mare durable help and benefit. Look be– fore you wid1 a judicious fore:tight; and as you mult not do that prcfent Good to a particul:zr per~ fm, whid1 bringethgreater hurt ro many, fo you mull not do that p,.-rfent good to one or many which JS like ro product a greater and more bfiing hurt. Such blind reformers have ufed the Church, as ignorant Ph)·firions ufe their patients, who give them a little preftnt ea[e, and cafi them inrO greater mifery, and feem to cure them with a dofe of opium or the Jefuits powder, when they arc bringing them ·imo a worfe difeafe than that which they pretend to cure ; 0 when fhaU the poor Cl1urch l1a ve wifer and forefeeing helpers? §. 16. Direct. r3. Le1 aU tbat yuu do for the Chur<hetgood before totend to HOLINES and PEACE; aud do nolhing 1mdcr tlu name ofo good wor~which hatb an enmity to either oftiJtfo. For thefe are to rhe Church as Life and Htaltl! are to the body ; and the incrcafe of its weVJare is nothing elfe but the increafe of thefe. What ever they pretend, believe none that fay, they feek tbe good and wellfare of the Church, if they feek not the promoting of H,/inc:fi and Peact: If they hinder the powerful preaching of the Gofp<:J, and the means that tendeth to the faving of fouls, and the ferious fpiri· tual walihiping of God, and the unity and peace of all the faithful, and if they eith<r divide the fa~thful inro ftds and parties~ or worry all that differ from them, and humor them not in their con~ ~elts, rake all rhefe for fuch benefactors to the Church, as the wolf is to the flock, and as the plague · JS to the City, or the feavor to the body, or the fire in the thatch is to the houfe. Ihe wifd 0171 from abwt if fir/1PVRE, tbm PEACEABLE, gentlr, &c. But if ye have bitter mvying, and jlrife m y1mr buru, glor)' not, and lie not agaiujl the truth : this wifrkm dt{cendeth not from above, bm H tat·thiy) flnfital, d£vilijh: For n:bere envying and jlrife is, there U confiifion, a11d every evil wgr~. Jam. 3 14, 15, 16, 17, r8. • §· 17~ Direct. I 4· If you will do the good JPhicb God accepteth, dothat rvbich he requirelh; and p:tt not the 1t.mu ofgood worltf 11pon your fins 1 nor upon tmneceffary things of your (IWJJ invention ; nar tbink.. not that "'!Y Good muft be accumplifoed by forbidden meanJ. None know what pleaferh Gad fo well as himfelf. Our wai~s may be right in our own eyes, and carnal wifdorri may rh ink tt ha~h dt.vift:d the ficrdl means to honour God, when he may abominate it, and fay, who required th1s at your hand ? And if we will do good by jinni11g, we mull do it in defpite of God, who is en· gagrd againll our fins and us. Rom. 3· 8. Gad necdeth not our lie to his glory: If Papifls think ,ro hnd at the Jaft day, their foppijiJ cercmonier, and {uperjl:ition, and will·worjhi~, their, touch not, tajfe ,tot, haudJe not, w be reckoned to them as Good rvorkJ ; or if Jefuitcs or Enthufi:a{\s think to rind their Perjuric, 1'rea[ons, RebeUion1, or confPiracieJ nurnbred with gootl work.!; or the perfecuting of the PreachtrJ and f•ithfrel profcffor~ of Godlim:fi to be good wori(f, haw lamentably will they find their expectations difilppointed ? Dirc[l. I 5· 9· z8. DireCt. I 5• Keep in the w.:ay of your Pl.Jce and c.11ling, and t.zk.! not 01htr mens nvrkJ tpJn J 1 0U, without a call, under a;ry prttenfe uf doing gead. M::gijlratel mull do good in the place and work of MJgifiratcs; and follinijl:ers in the place and work of Mi1tijferJ: and privatl men in their p,-iv~tt plac:: and work : and not one m1n fiep into ariothers place, and take his work our of his hand, and fay, I can do it berter: f'or if you fhou/d do ir buur, the diforder will do more harm than you did good by bettering his ~or.k. One Judgt mufi not Hcp into anorhers Court and Seat, and fay, I wiN. pafs more righteous Judgement. You mull not go mto another mans School, and fay, I can teach your Scholars better: nor into anothers charge or Pulpit, and fay, I c1n prea'h better; The fer– vant may not mle the MJ!ler, becaufe he can do it befi: no more than you may take another mans Wife, or Haufe, or L1nds, or Goads, becaufe you can ufe them better than he.. Do the Gaod that Diri?fr· 16. Diretl. '7· you are caUed tb. §. I$>· Diner. 16. Where God h•th prtfcribed yatt fome particular Gaad work,. or way af[ervice, yo• mujt p,.efcr th.:zt before aJtorher which il greater in it I [elf. This is explkatory or limiting of Dir. 8. The rearon is becaufe God knowtth beft what is pleafing to him, and Obedimce i1 better tban Sacra~ fice. You mufl not negleCt the ncceffary maintenance of Wife and Children, under prt:tenrc of do– ing a work of piety or greater good: becaufe God hath pref•ihed you this order of your duty, that you begin at home ( though not to flop there ) Another Minifler may have a greater or more needy flock; but yet you mull tirfl do good in your own, and not llep without a call into his charge. If God have called you to ferve him in a low and mean imployment, he wi\1 better :.1ccepr you in that work, than if you undertook the work of another mans place, to do him greater ft:)rvice. 1· :20. Dired. J7• Loft 11ot your rrfolutiont or opportu;ritier of daing good by tmnece.ffJry dtlflyn. Prov. ;. 27, 28. With·hold not good from tbrm to whom it i1 due, wbm it it in tin.' power of thine hand to do it: Say not to thy neigbbBtff, Goe, and come again, a11d to morrow I wiU give, whm ·thaH hajl it by thee. Prav. 27· ,, Boa(! nanhy felf of to marrow ; far thou kuowefl not what a da~ may bring forth. It,s two to one, but delay will take away thine opportunicy, :md r<~ife fuch uneX· peCl:ed divcrfions or difficulcies as will frufirate thine intent, and defiroy the work: Take rhy 1ims, if thou wilt do thy (ervice. It is beautiful in its fcafon. ~· 2 1. Direct. 18. Tet prr{tnt 11ecef!ity may mak._e (I le.Jfor worJt to be thy dmy , when tbe greater may bcttrr bear delay. As w fave a mans life in fick._nejJ or danger, ·when yotJ may after have time to feek the faving of his foul. Not only works of mmy may be thus preferred, before fa– crifici, but the ordinary convenic:nces of our lives; as fo rife, and drefs us, and do other bufinefs, may go before prayrr, when Pray~r may afterwards be done as well or better, and would be hiQd"cd , if thefe did not go before. .
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=