Dircti. I• Dircl1. 2· Dire[/. 3• Dire/1.4. Dire/1 5· Dirr/l.I• Dirt11· 2· Dire[/. 3• Dire[/. 5• Againft taking offence at aGodly life. may fct up your fiandard of defiance againfi Heaven, and fee what you will get by it in the end. F~r G?d will not Hmovc all occafion of your fca~dal. There ever ha~c been, ar.d will be Hypo– cntes m the Chur~h on e-arth. Noahs A~k had aLh.tm : Abrahams fam1ly had an Ijhmarl, and Ija 11 c; an Efau, a~d Dav1ds an Ab[alom, and Cl1rijls a Jud.a. The falls of good men are cited in Scriprure, to admomfu you to take heed. No~Jb, Lot, DavuJ, J oflplu Brethren, &c. have left a mark behind them where thr:y fell, that you may take a fafer way. If you will make all fuch the occafion of your ma– lignity, you turn your medicine into your poyfon, and choofe Hell becaufe forrie others choofc it or hccaufe fame fiurnblc:d in the w~y to Heaven. ' §. J3·AND ~or. thufc who are tmboJdned ~n fin bccaufe they fee their fupetiours or religious m~n . comm1t H, or rtad that Davzd, Noah, Peter, &c. fell, let them confider, DmCt:. 1. Tb:Jt ~~ HRule and not c:.:.ample that yeu mujl chiefly live bJ'• Do the Laws of God by wh1ch you muft be Judged, allow of hn? If they do, then fear it not. 9· 14· Direct. 2· lJ , ot the example o{Chrijt much better than afi~tnerJ? If you will follow ex· amplcs, follow the bejl, even that which was given you purpofcly to imicare. · The greatefi and moft learntd man is fallibk, and the moll religious is not wholly free from fin: Sincerity writ~th after a perfed: Copy, though it cannot reach ir. 1 §. 1 S· Din et. 3· Confider tb~sfin it not tb~ better but the worfe, for being committed by a Religiou;, a Gre.11 or a Le.;rmd ma;t. The1r place, thetr knowledge and profeffion aggravateth it. And !hall that embolden you which God moll hateth? . 9· t6. D:rect. 4· And confider tbat when he thas falleth by a Jurprize, d,11h rift again by Repentance tJnd it pur:Ju~ud 1 tbofe lb.H are lurtby emboldened to fin deliberately and impenitently jhJU he condemned. You may fm wich Davidor Peter when you will, but you cannot rift with them by true Repentance, without that Grace which you wilfully rdi(i and forfeit. ~· 17· Din et. S· Laf\ly, Confide,. that the beft men and the greateft are them jf d.mgerJut tempters, wbcn they mijle.Jd IM• ADavid was a llrong(t temptation to B,ubfluba, than another man could have been. APtter might fooner miflead Barnabar and others, into a finful dillimubtion and fe– paution, than ano1her could have done. Therefore do not think that where youi danger is great.. df, your ventmoufnc.Js fhould be moll. Prauical Direaions againjl Offence and hurt by othtrt. ' ~· J3. Dired. I· Lay J.'Vell your fozmdatiQn, and underftand tbr nature and rtafunJofRtligiou: and then you w!ll be tO far from ddl1king it for the errms and falls of others, that it will be wricren up– on your minds, as with a beam of the Sun, that There can be no reafrm agJinjl obe)'i;1g Got!, and againjl the careful [wtri11g of our fai:Jation. This will be the fir{\ and undoubted Principle, which nothing in the world can make you qud\ion. What ever fcandals, perfccutions or Cutferings, may at– tend a. holy life, you will l\ill be paH doubt, that there is no other way? No orher eligible, no other tolerable, no other rational, or that will lead to happincfs. what ever falls our in the world, if the moO great, or leuncd, or religious fall away, it will not make you quef\ion, Whethc.r a mm be a living creature, nor whether the Sun be light, nor whether two and two be four. No more fhould it make you queHion, Whether God be better than the Creature, Heaven than earth, or a life of Holi– nefs than a Jile ot tir. You will {ay as Peter, Lord whither j11ould we go? thou hJjt the wordJ of eter~ nal life. John 6. What cvrr fcandals are given, or what ever befall the Church, or ifall the Diftiples of Chri!l torfake him, this remaineth as fure as that the earth is under us, that there is no othet way than Holinefs, for a wife man once to take into his thoughts. sS· 19. Direct. z, Get OJZce "fincere Love to God and a holy life, pnd theN no foand.;lJ will make J OU jealous r,f it, nor thin~ of /{}okJng any other way. It is want of uue and hearty Love> that maketh yott fo ealily takenof£ §· 20· Direct. 3• 1, thi< end, ~nowReljgjon by rxptrimce: and this will put you paa all doubt of its goodneh. He that never taHcd Sugar, may be perfwaded by argument that it is not fweet, or may think it bitter when he fecth anmher fpit it out; And he that knoweth Godlinefs but by looking on, or hcarfay, may thus be drawn to think it bad: But fo will not he that hath truly tryed it : I mean not only to try what it is to btar, and rud, and pray; but what it is to be httmble, holy and. hea~ venly, both in heart and life. ~· 21. Dirc.6t. 4• Whtn you[et any man fin, befureyoudo that duty which it caVIy'1tt to. Every fall that you fee of others doth call you to fee the odioufnefs of fin (as you will do when you fee a drunkard fpewing, or a Thief at the Whipping-pofi. ) And it calleth you to fcarch for, and lament the root of fuch fin in your felves; and to ftt your warch more ihidly upon fuch a warning: And it calls you to compaffionare the finner, and if you have hope and oppottunity, to endeavour his re– covery. If you will confoionably do this duty which is your own, you will be the lefs in danger of hurt by fcandal. Its Duty that mufi help to prevent infection. 9· 22· Oirt:Cl. 5· Be WrJtchfal among aUmen, High and Low, Learntd or unlearned, Good and B1d. Venture 110t blindly upon the fingular opiniOn of any men whatfoever; nor into any new w_1provtd way. Remember that all men arc a temptation to othcrs:And therefore be armed and watch agaml1 fuch temptat!oa.
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