A Christians Walk and Work on Earth, To the reader – Wish
To the READER.
Candid and Chriſtian Reader.
HEre I preſent you with the Walk and Work of a Chriſtian upon Earth till he get to Heaven. Wherein, 1. Obſerve the matter. And, 2. The method hereof. 1. The matter is twofold: 1. Your Walk, and, 2. Your Work. 1. As to your Walk, there be three remarkable phraſes in the holy Scriptures, that (all) concern your Chriſtian Walk. 1. A walking [with] God. 2. A walking [before] God. And, 3. A walking [after] God. The firſt was that Walk of Enoch, who is ſaid to walk [with] God, Gen. 5. 22, 24. as a man walks with his friend (with whom he is well agreed, Amos 3. 3.) hand in hand, and heart in heart [aequis paſſibus] in equal pace and equipage. And this he did, not only for an hour, or a day, or a week, or a month, or a year, but for 300 years. Alas, we can neither watch with Chriſt, nor walk [with] God for the ſpace of one ſingle hour, Mat. 26. 40. The ſecond was the Walk of Abraham, who is bid to walk [before] God, Gen. 17. 1; that is, to ſet himſelf [evermore] ſolemnly in Gods Preſence, as having the great God always in his Rear (his Lieutenant-General) and for his rereward, Iſa. 52. 12. Thus the people of the God of Abraham had the cloudy pillar [behind] them in their paſſage through the red Sea, Exod. 14. 19, 20. where Jehovah (himſelf) brought up the Rear of 600000. Now to know that you are ever under Gods eye, and ever before him, this muſt needs make you walk [foreign] accurately, Eph. 5. 15. and not to take up one foot, until you know where to ſet down the other, walking exactly, by line and by rule, and (as it were) in a frame footing it rightly and uprightly, (as the word [foreign] ſignifies) Gal. 2. 14. ſtriving to get to the very top of Godlineſs. The third was the Walk of Iſrael, who were commanded to Walk [after] the Lord, Deut. 13. 4. as after the Captain-General of their ſalvation, Heb. 2. 10. Thus the pillar of glory went before them through the wilderneſs, and they followed after it in all their removes, Exod. 13. 21, 22. Thus Caleb (with a better Spirit than that of the World) walk'd [after] God fully, Numb. 14. 24. as the needle doth, after the Load-ſtone that draws it, Cant. 1. 4. & Joh. 6. 44. you walk after a good guide, while you walk after your good God, and in ſo doing you cannot eaſily wander in this wilderneſs of the World. This will be a bleſſed Antidote to you againſt curſed Apoſtacy. 2 Pet. 3. 17, 18. and thus God muſt be your [All] and [in All] Col. 3. 11. he muſt be [with] you, [before] you, and [behind] you alſo, that you may be as a Ship under Sail, carried end-ways, ſtrongly by a favourable Wind, and fearing neither Rocks nor Sands in the River of Gods Paradiſe. Pſal. 46. 4. & Gen. 2. 10. to 15. This ſame [foreign] as Revel. 10. 9, 10.) Or little Book is a rude draught or Plat-form or Land-Skip of the Goſpel-garden of Eden, the true Spiritual Paradiſe of pleaſure, the ſublimeſt Spring-garden of Scriptural-Holineſs, wherein you have not only pleaſant Rivers (as above) but alſo delightful walks far ſurpaſſing the beſt gardens and galleries that can be found in this (Chabul, 1 King. 9. 12, 13.) or dirty world. Herein you are directed, not to be Idle, nor to ſtand ſtill, but to go forward (as walkers do) and to walk Arm in Arm (as it were) not only with God, but with his holy Angels, Zech. 3. 4, 5, 7. Mat. 22. 30. Iſa. 57. 2. And that not in one walk only, but in many Delectable walks whereof this bleſſed Paradiſe of Piety conſiſteth; inſomuch that as the laborious Bee in a fruitful field of fragrant Flowers (when Tyred with one Flower) flyeth to another; even ſo you, when wearied with one walk or duty (for you may be weary in it, when you are not weary of it) then may you paſs to another without nauſeating upon any one only; you may walk Orderly out of one Ordinance to another. Secondly, as to your work, which is (as the walk) the beſt work in the World, though it be leaſt minded by the World; 'tis a work wherein you ſerve the moſt honourable Maſter, that employs his Servants in the moſt honourable work, and will reward them with the moſt honourable wages, to wit, with an hundred fold in this life, and in the world to come (again) with life everlaſting, Mark. 10. 30. yea 'tis a work that is wages to it ſelf (as you will find within) Pſal. 19. 11. In (as well as for) keeping Gods commands, there is great reward; 'Tis verily as the work of glorified Saints and of glorious Angels (it being of the ſame nature with theirs) whoſe work is their wages; O then, you may rationally conclude with your ſelf from hence, What a ſhame it is that I who am created to an Eternal being, and that do poſſeſs an Immortal Soul, ſhould ſpend 20. 30. 40. or 50. Years in Vanity (if not in Villany) all the time wearing the livery of a curſed Maſter (being a Slave to Sin and Satan) and never look up to God, the beſt Maſter and the Supreme good. Alas, you may hop from Mountain to Hill, Jer. 50. 6. And go Satans round, Jab 1. 7. yet find no reſt (with Noah's Dove) for the Soles of the Feet of your Soul, until you come to the Ark of this bleſſed work: your Soul is Created with ſuch vaſt Capacities, as nothing bears proportion [either to 'its being, or to 'its wants] below God no Created being hath Room enough in it, to entertain ſo ample and ſo endleſs a gueſt: 'tis of ſuch unlimited deſires, that nothing but the Immortal God can ſatisfy an Immortal Soul.
Secondly, Obſerve the method, which is firſt general, in the whole duty of Man to God, this is held out in thoſe three general Names. [1.] Of godlineſs. [2.] Of Religion. [3.] Of Chriſtianity. Together with the neceſſity of each: then Secondly, you have more particularly the many good duties of Man to God (both perſonal and relative) Treated upon, and that with as much perſpicuity and plainneſs as ſo little a Book would admit of: If you meet with any paſſage that ſeems obſcure, aſcribe it to the Curtnes of my ſtile [who indeavours to ſay much in a little] and after ſome acquaintance herewithal [with a little pondering] you will be able [through grace] to underſtand the darkeſt Sentence. If you deſire direction, in natural and civil Actions, &c. [As well as in Religious.] I refer you to my little piece [called the Crown and glory of a Chriſtian.] If either in that or in this, any thing may be bleſt to your Soul and bring you further of from Sin, and nearer God [which is the beſt thing in the World, Pſal. 73. 28, both for Living and Dying] let God have all the glory for the gift [how mean ſoever] beſtowed on me [how unworthy ſoever] 2 Cor. I. II. And let me have the Relief of your Prayers for further abilities, and your faithful Improvement of thoſe poor performances, which I commend to your Candour, and your Soul to God and to the Word of his grace: Subſcribing my Self to be
Yours in the beſt Bonds, Chriſtopher Neſſe. London, this 10th. of April, 1678.
Short Rules for your general Direction.
Let your
Thoughts be Divine, Awful and Godly.
Talk be Little, Honeſt and True.
Works be Profitable, Holy, and Charitable.
Manners be Grave, Courteous, and Cheerful.
Dyet be Temperate, Convenient, and Frugal.
Apparel be Sober, Neat, and Comly.
Will be Ready, Obedient, and Conſtant.
Sleep be Moderate, Quiet, Seaſonable.
Prayers be Short, Devout, and Frequent.
Recreations be Lawful, Brief, and Seldom.
Mind be Suitable to your Means.
Memory be Of Death, Judgment, and Glory.
Conſcience be Void of offence to God, and Man.
Task be Always doing, or receiving good.
Converſation be In Heaven while your commoration be on Earth.
Latter-End be That of the Righteous, Hopeful, in the Lord; not Hopeleſs, in Sin.
A well-wiſh to your weal in both Worlds.
Utinam
Saptres
Praeterita
Malum Commiſſum
Bonum Omiſſum
Tempus Amiſſum
Intelligeres
Praeſentia
Vitae Brevitatem.
Salvandi Difficultatem.
Salvandorum Paucitatem
Praevideres
Futura
Mortem quâ nihil inevitabilius.
Judicium quo nihil terribilius.
Infernum quo nihil intolerabilius.
I wiſh you would, Firſt, make a wiſe uſe of things paſt; to wit, evil committed, good omitted, and time loſt and gone. Secondly, conſider things preſent, to wit, the ſhortneſs of life, the difficulty of Salvation, and the fewneſs of thoſe that are to be ſaved: Thirdly Foreſee things to come, to wit, death, than which nothing is more unavoidable; the day of Judgment, than which nothing is more terrible; the pains of Hell, than which nothing is more Intolerable.