1>ireftions for PraEiiftng t1Je Word. {he 'flopped. r Ki11g- I7· 12, 14, r6. D0iog _good Is the bell w_ay fo: receivini; goo~ ; He that in pity to a poor man that is almoll lluved, Will but fall to rubbmg him, fhall get h>mfllf hw, and both be gaincrs. Tit. 4· 'DireElions to bring 1vhat we Hear into PraBice. 577 Without this the refi is vain or Counterft:ir, and therefore fomewhat mull be faid to " this. ~· 1 , Direct. 1• Be acqu4iJtted rritb the f.s~l~,Jgs of yourhe~rts and livu, and co'11t o? purpo[e to gtt Direll. i. Jircliions and belp agai11ft th:l[e p.zrticulur f.Jt~mgJ.. You wdl not know wh~r Med1cme_ you need, much Jefs ho .y ro u{f ir, if you know not wnar aJle_rh you. Know what duucs you orntt or care. Jdlf perform, and know whar fins you are moll: gullry of, and fay ~h.e11 you go out of doors, I go eo Chrifi for Phyfick for my own difeafe :. I hope to hear fomcthmg before l come back, which may htlp me more againfi thit iin, and ~t n:e beuer fo: my dury, or pro~oke. me more elfe~ually; Are thofe men like to practife Chril\s dueCbons, that etther know not theu dJfca[e, or love 1t and would not have it cured ? §. 2 , Direct. z, The tbm fortme>rtioned are JliD prr[uppofid. viz. that tbe word have fi'JI tkne ill Dirt/1. 2• part upo 11 yortr underjillndingi, memory and Heart I : For that word. canner be pratlifed, which is not tmderjbod 1 nor at all· remembrcd; nor hath not pmcured Rcfolutiom and AjfeC7ionf. le is the due work upon the Heart that mufl prevail for the n:formation of the Life. §· 3• DireCt. 3~ TYhm you underjf~ltd wb:Jt it i1 in point of Pr~{ii(t that the Preacher driveth at, Dire a. 3• obforve eJPccio~Uj the VjtJ and the Movmg reafrmJ, and plead them w~th your own heartI; and let CoH.- fcience be Pre 1ciJing wer all that the Mini}!er Preacheth toyou : Y_ou take them to b,e foul~urderc:rs that fi!encc able faithful Preachers, and aHo tho[e Preachers that blente thcmfdvcs and feed not the flock commined to their care; And do you think it a fmall matter to filence your own Confcienct, which mull be the Preacher that mull fer home a1J, before it can come to Re(olution or Pruaicc? Keep Confcience all the while at work, preaching over all that to your heaus, which you hear with' your cars; and urge your felveS" to a fpeedy Refolutiqn; Remember that the whole body of Divinity is pral1ic.;l in its end and tendency; and therefore be not a meer .notional hearer: but confider of every word you hear, what PuCl:ice it is that it tenderh to ; and place that deepefi in your memory; If you forget all the words of the Reafons and M~ves .VVhich you hear, be fure to re- / member what Pral1ice they were brought to urge you to-/'A" if you heard a Sermon againfi un– cb.»rirablencfi, cenforioufiu[i or. hurting other I, though you {bould forget all the Reafons and Morlves in parricul.~r, yer t\ill remember that you were convinced in the hearing, that cen["rion1and b:,rtful 11 ncharitablenrfl is a great fin, and that you heard Reafon enough to make you rcfolv.: againft it. And Jcr Confcience Preach out the Sermon to the end, and not Jet it dye in bare conviction; but Re[olve, and be pall wavering before you fiir : And above all the S..:rrnon remember the Diremonr and Helps for Ptanicr wirh which the truef\: method ufually fhuts up the Sermon. 9· 4• DneC\:. 4• When you come borne, let Confcience in fecrrt a![o ripeat the Sermo14 to you. Be~ Dircll· 4• tween God and your (elves confider what there was delivered to you in t•he Lords meff.~ge, that your fouls were mofr concerned in? what fin reproved which you are guilty of? what duty preffcd which you omit ? And there meditate ferioufly on the weight and Rcafons of rhe thing; and refill: not the light, bm yet bring aH to a fixe4 Refoiution, if rill then you were unrefi>lv::d : Not enfnaring your [elves with dJngerotu Vor:vJ about things doubtful, or peremptory Vows without dependance on Chrirl. for Hrengrh: But firml_y Refolvi~tg and cauteloujly engaging your felves to duty : not with carnal ev lfions and rcferves, but wtthhumble d-ependance uprm gr.:ce, without which of your felv·e-s you are able ro dn n01hing. 9· 5· Direct 5· Hear t~c mojl Prat:lical Preacherryou c.tn welJget. N ot thofe that h1ve the finefi Direll· 5• N 1m nn.:;, or the dcamfi fide, or 11Cattfl. words; but thofe that are fiill urging you to ·H,/i;u{s of Heart and life, and driving home every truth to Pra8~ce: not that fal[e J,(]rine will at all bear up a holy life, but true d•lJrine muH noc be left in the p)[ch or at the doors, but be brought home and ufed to its proper rwl, ~nd feared in the he<Jrt, and pbced as the poife upon the Clock, where it may fct all the wheels in mon0n. , §-6. D irect. 6. 7J~e lmd <fPtciaUy of two{o"~effalfe'l'e.chm: ANT IN 0 M I AN LIB ER- Dire{f. 6. T l N ES, and AUT 0 N 0 M I AN PHARISEES : The firI\ would build their fins on .Chrifi ; not p!t:a'ding for fin it C!1, but taking dot'l.'n .many of the chief helpes ag1infi it, and dif~ arming us o'f the weapons by which it fhould be ddhoyed, and reproJching the true Preachers of obedience as Le~Jiifls, lha( preach up workJ and c1ll men ro Doing, when they PtC:lch up Obedience to Chrifl thei r King, upon the terms and by the Motives which arc u[Cd by Chrilt him[elf and his Apofiks. Not undcrlhnding aright the true doctrine of Faitb in Chriji and J:~'lifica:ion and free grJcr, ( ~hich they think n~:>ne elfc unclcrft~~d ~ut they ), they pervert i~ and ma~ it an enemy to the Kmgly office of Chnll, and to f•ncbficauon, and the necelfuy duues of obedience. Ee e e 2 The
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