'Ibe :Duties of tiJt 1f'oor. P,o,,,s. •l· verty cure your Pride, and help you to be truly bxmblt, it will be no fmall meroy to Duty d. 6. ! ou arc fpecially obliged to ~ortifie the fte(h, aod keep your fenfc• and appetites in fubj~~~~ : becaufc you have greater helps for 11 than the Ru;h : Ycuhave llOt fo many baits of lull and wa t nefs, and gluttony, and voluptuoulhe!S •• they. ' n On· Duty 7· 7• Your corporal wants mull make you more fcnfibly remember your fpiritual wants; and te eh you to value fpiritual blefti11gs: Think with your felvc•, If ahungry, o:old and naked body 'be ·fo great a calamity, ho~ much greate_r is a guilty, gracclefs foul! a dead or a difeafcd heart'? If bodily food and nec<llinu are fo dehrable, 0 how dcfirablc is Chrill, and his Spirit and the Lo of God and life eternal ? ' ve DutyS. . S.Youmullahovc allmenbecareful Redeemers of your Time: EfpeciallyofthcLordsD . Your labours take up fo much of your tinle, that you mull be the more careful to catch every 'Y : portunity for your fouls! Rife earlier to get half an hour for holy duty; and meditate on h 0 f things in your labourS; and fpend the Lords Day in fpecial diligence 1 and be glad offuch fcarO:SY and let fcarcity prefnve your appetites. ' Duty 9 , 9· Bt wiCiug to dye : Seeing the world giveth you fo cold entertainment, be the more content tq let it go, when God fhal! call you: For what is here to detain your hearts I Duty 10, ro. Above all men, you fhould be moll fearl<fs of fuffcrings from m<n, and therefore true to God ar:d Confcience: For you have no great matter of honour, or riches, or plei.fure to lofc; As you fen not a Thic:f, when you have nothing for hi{ll to rob you of. Duty 11, r r. Be fpecially careful to fit your children alfo for Heaven : Provide them a portion which is bet. ter than a Kingdom: For you can provide hut little for them in rhe world. Duty 12· 12. Be <xemFlary in Patimc< and Contentednefs with your llate : For that grace fhould be the llrongd! in us which is moll exercifed : And Poverty calltth you to the frequent <xercife of rhis. Dire{/. ro. 9· 22· Direct. ro. Be JPeciaUy fur•ifhed with rhofe Rufon• ,.bich jhould k,etp you in • cbt•rful COlt· tenudmfl rvitb _Jour Jf"tt ; and may [upprtfi tvery thought of.anxiety a~d difconttnt. Phi!•• pr,u, As, I· Confider as aforefaid, that that is the bdl condition for you, whi<:h helpeth you bell to Hea· . 13· ven : and God befi knoweth what will do you good or hurt. 2· That it·is rebellion to grudge at the ~~'~: ;:;: Will of God; which mufi difpofe ofos, and fhou!d be our Rell. 3· Look ·over the life ofChrifi, who Mmb. 6, ,,, chofc a life ofpoverty.for your f•kes ' and h~d nota place to lay Ius head! He was not one of the &c. Rich and voluptuous in the world, and are you grieved to be· conformed to him? Phi/. 3. 7 , 8, 9 • Pf•l. ,s. ' 0 • I 4· Look to all hi• ~pollles and mon h?IY Servants and MartyrS ? W<re not they as great ~~~~~- :::~: {uffcrers as you? 5• Confider tha~ the Rtch wtll lh?rtly ~ all as poor as you.: Naked they came ]oh Ij. If. into the world, and naked they mull go out: And a httlc ttme makes ltttle difference, 6. It is no Ecd<f. r. r a. more comfort to dye Rich than poor ; but ufually much lefs: becaufe the pleafanttrtheworld is to l Cor. 7· 1 9, them, the more itgrievcth them to leave it. 7• All men cry out, that the world is vanity at lafi. How Pii 1 s jo, li'little is it valued by a dying man? and how fadly will it call him off> 8. The lime is veryfort and Ff:l~ i~-111;. 11Hcert4in inwhich you mufi e11joy ~t ; VY_e?:lvc but a few. dayes ~ore to walk ab_out, ao we are Pf:d. •o. 14. gone. Alas, ofhow fmallconcernment rs tt, whether a man be r1ch or poor that 1s ready to fiepin– Jlf;~l. ff· u . to another world. 9· The Love of rhisworld drawing the heart fromGod, is the cornawncaufe of Rtm. 9·/0·~ mens damnation : And is not the world Iiker to be over-loved, when it enrerrainerh you with pro· ~:~,:t~~-o. fperity, than when it ufeth you like an enemy> Arc you difpleafed that God thus helpcth to live yo~ Heb. '3· f· from the moll damning fin ? and that he rnakerh nor your way to Heaven more dangerous? 1 o, You little know the troubles of the Rich: He that hath much, bath much to do with it, and much to care for; and many perfons to deal with, and more vexatio~s t~an you imagine. 11. le is but the jlejh that fufferdh; and it furthereth your mortification oflt, 12. You pray but for your daif:y bread, a.nd rherefore (hould be content<d with it. 13.Is not God, and Chrill, •nd fl<aven enough for you> Should that man be difcontcnt that muft live in Heaven? I4·1s it not your lttft, rather than your well-in· formed Reafon that repineth? I do but name all thefe Reafons for brevity: Ywmay enlarge the111 in your Meditations• . CHAP.
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