1Jire[l:ions for a Jvell gromzded Fait/,. 9· 6. Dire&. 5· Fix your eye "P"' himfelf M yottr pattern, and jhuiy with carnef! dejire to f•lluw Dire£1. 5• bis buly cx.lmplc, and to be made~onformable. to ~Jim. _Not to ~mitate him in the works w~ich.w_ere pro- The ~~iu.ticn per to him as God, or as Mediator; but tn h1s Holmefl wh,ch he hath propofed to h1s d1fcJples for of Chrdl. " theh imit:ltion. He knew how etfeCl:uall a perfea example would be, where a perfe{] Jo[frine alone would be lefs regarded. Example b1ingeth dofJrine 11Carcr to our eye and heart: le makech it r;nore ob!i:rvable, and tdleth us with more powerful application, [fncb you muft be, and tlmr you mtt{t do J The ~ye makcth .an ea{icr and deeper impreltion on the imagination and mind, than the tar doth: Therefore Chrij!s ex.•mple 01ould be much preached and tludied: It will be a very great help to us, to have fiil! upon our minds the Image of the Holy Life of Cbrij!; .that we be alfe~cd as if we al– ways fow him doing the holy aCtions whjch once he did, Paul calls the Gal.:thians foolifb and be– l!"itcbcd, that vhc)'ed 1rot the truth, when Chrift had been [et forth M crucified among tbem evidently before their t)'t!· Gal. 3· 1. Papifls think that Imagu ferve well for this turn: But the Records of Scripture, and the liviwrImagu of Chrifi whom they perfecute and kill, arc farr more ufeful. How much ex:~mple is more ~perativc than doCtrine alon~, you may perceive by the_ enemie.r of C~rifi, who can bear his holy dollri11e when they cannot bear h1s holy Servanu that praCJife that doChme before tbeir eyes. And that which mofi fiirs up their enmity, hath the advantage tor exciting the belittJErl piety. Let the Image of Clnift in all his holy exan;tples, be allwars lively written upon your minds l· Let the great ones of the world remember that their Lord was not born of fi1ch as bore rule, 'Or were in worldly pomp and dignity, but of perfons that lived buc meanly in the world, (however they were of the royal line): How he was not born in a p:~Uact, but a jtable, and laid in a manger, without the attendance or accommodations of the rich. · . 2· Remember how he[ubjeUcd himfelf unto his reputed Father and his Mother, to te<ch all Chi!- Luke. •·I'· aren fubjtd:ion and obedience. ' 3· And how he condefanded to labo~tr at a '1rade and mean imployment in the world; to teach us that our BQdies as well as our Minth mull exprefs their obedience, and have their ordinary imploy. ment; and to teach men to labour and live in a calling; and to comfort poor labourers with affurancc that God acceptcth them in the meand\ work, and that Chrifi himfclf lived fo before them, and chofe their, kind of life, and not the life of Princes and Nobles that live in Pomp, and Eafe, and Plcafure• . 4· Remember how he refufed not to fubmit to all the ordinances of God, aud to fi•llfil all rightcoufi1efs, and to be initiated into the folemn adminill:ration of his office by ~he Baptifin of John, Mn. ~-tS,t6; whicb God appovcd by fending down upon him the Holy Ghofi; To teach us all to expect his Spirit ,,. in the ufe of his ordinances. · 5· Remember how he voluntarily begun his work with an encounter with the Tempter in the Wildernefs, upon his fafting: and fuffcreci the Tempter to proceed till he moved him to the moft odi– ous fin, even to wodhip the Devil himfclf: To teach us that God loveth tr)'tdServants, and exped-eth that we be not turned from him by temptations; efpecially thofe that enter upon a publick minifiry, mull be uycd men that have overcome the Tempter : and to comfort tempted Chriltians, who may remember, that their Saviour himfclf was mofi·blafphcrnouOy tempted to as odious fins as ever they were ; and that to be greatly tempted without confenting or yielding to the fin, is fo farr from be– ing a fin in it felf, that it is the greatefi honour ofour obedience; and that the Devil who molefierh and haunteth us with his temptations, is a conquered enemy, whom our Lord in perfon bath over– come. 6. Remember how earneCHy and conftantly he preached, not ftories, or jingles, or fubtite controverfies, but Repentance, and faith, and feU:denial and obedience : So great was his Love to fouls that when he had auditors he preached not only in the Temple and Synagogues, but in mountains, a,nd in a lliip, and any other convenient place, and no fury of the Rulers or Pharifc:s could filence him till his hour was come, having his Fathers Commillion: And even to particular perfons he vouchfafed·by conference to open the Myfieriesof Salvation. To teach us, to love and attend to 1 hn l & 4 the plain and powerful preaching of the Gofpel, and not to forbear any neceffary means for the ho0 • • nour of God and the faving of routs, becanfe of the enmity, or oppo.fition of malitious men, but to JVOrk_ wbile it is day, feting tbe night it (Oming when none can worl{_. John 9 . 4 ; 7· Remerober how compaffionate he was to mens bodys as well as to their fouls! going up ahd down with unwearied diligence doing good; healing the blind, and lame, and deaf, and lick, and poffeffed ! and how all his miracles were done in charity to do g(J(}d ; and none of th(m to do hurt: So that he was but living, wall(jng L 0 V E and MERCY. To \eacll us to know God in his ~ove and Mercy, and to abound in Lwe and Mercy to om brethren, and to hate the fpirit of hurtful– m[r, perfecHtion, and U1tcharitablenefs, and to lay Out our felves in doing good, and tO exercife our tompaffion to the bodys of men as well as to their fouls, according to our power. s. Remember how his Zeal and Lgve endured the reproach, and refified the oppofidon of his friend!, wbo went to lay hold on him as if he had been befides bimfelf: And how he bid Feter [ Get.Mar.J- >o, u 1 hebind me Sata1z; thou art an offmce ttnto me: for thou{avollrtft not the t!Jings of God but thojt of Mat. r6. l-'•. men J when in carnal Love, -and wifdom he rebuked him for refolving to lay down his life, faying :J~ [Be it farr from tbl!e, this foaU 1lot be 11nto thee. J To teach us to exped: that canul Love · and Wifdom In our nearcjl friends, will rife np again(\ us in the work of God, to difco~rage us both,from duty and from [ujfering1: and !hat all are to be lhaken off; and counted as the infiruments of Satan, that would tt:mpr us to be unfaithful to our trufi and duty, and to favour our felves by a finful avoiding of the fufferings which God doth call us to undergo. 9• Remember
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