Precious Remedies Against Satans Devices, To the reader
A WORD TO THE READER.
Deare Friend!
SOLOMON bids us buy thePro. 23. 23 Truth, but doth not tell us what it muſt coſt, becauſe we muſt get it, though it be never ſo deare; wee muſt love it bothMulti amā … veritatem lucentem, o derunt redarguentem. ſhining and ſcorching; every parcell of Truth is precious, as the filings of gold; wee muſt either live with it, or dye for it; As Ruth ſaid to Naomi, Whither thou goeſt, I will goe, and Ruth 1. 16, 17.where thou lodgeſt, I will lodge, and nothing but death ſhall part thee and mee; So muſt gracious ſpirits ſay, where Truth goes, I will goe, and where Truth lodges, I willSi veritas eſt cauſa diſcordiae, mori poſſum tacere con poſſum. J…rome. lodge, and nothing but death ſhall part me and Truth. A man may lawfully ſell his Houſe, Lands, and Jewells, but Truth is a Jewell that exceeds all price, and muſt not be ſould. 'Tis our Heritage; Thy Teſtimonies have I taken Pſal. 119. 11….as an Heritage for ever; 'tis a Legacie that our fore-fathers have hought with their bloods, which ſhould make us willing to lay downe any thing, and to lay out any thing, that wee may with the wiſe Merchant in the Goſpel, purchaſe this precious Pearle,M…t. 5. 18. Verit…s vin…it. Truth at laſt triumphs. which is more worth then Heaven and Earth, and which will make a man live happily, die comfortably, and reign eternally.
And now if thou pleaſeſt, reade the Worke, and receive this councell from mee.
Firſt, Thou muſt know that every man cannot be excellent, that yet may be uſefull. An iron key may unlocke the doore of a golden treaſure, yea (ferrum poteſt quod aurum non poteſt) Iron can doe ſome things that gold cannot, &c.
Secondly, Remember, 'tis not haſty reading, but ſerious meditating upon'Tis a Law among the Perſees in India, to uſe premeditation in what they are to doe, that if it be bad, to reject it, if good, to act it. holy, and heavenly truths, that makes them prove ſweet and profitable to the ſoule. 'Tis not the Bees touching of the Flower that gathers Honey, but her abiding for a time upon the Flower, that drawes out the ſweet. 'Tis not he that reads moſt, but he that meditates moſt, that will prove the choiceſt, ſweeteſt, wiſeſt, and ſtrongeſt Chriſtian, &c.
Thirdly, Know, that 'tis not the knowing, nor the talking, nor the reading man, but the doing man, that at last will be found the happieſt man; If you know theſe things, bleſſed John 15. 14. Mat. 7. 21.and happie are you, if you doe them. Not every one that ſaith Lord, Lord, ſhall enter into the 'Twas a good ſaying of Juſtin Martyr, Non in verbis ſed in factis res noſtrae religioni… conſiſtunt.Kingdome of Heaven, but he that doth the will of my Father that is in Heaven. Judas called Chriſt Lord, Lord, and yet betrayed him, and is gone to his place; ah! How many Judaſſes have we in theſe dayes, that kiſſe Chriſt, and yet betray Chriſt; That in their words profeſſe him, but in their workes deny him; that bowThe Heathen Philoſopher (Seneca) liked not ſuch that are (ſemper victuri) alwayes about to live better, but never begin. God loves (ſaith Luther) curriſt…, not qu…riſtas, the …unner not the queſtioner Pacunius hath an elegant ſaying, I hate (ſaith he) the men that are idle in deed and philoſophicall in word, &c. their knee to him, and yet in their hearts deſpiſe him; that call him Jeſus, and yet will not obey him for their Lord.
Reader, If it be not strong upon thy heart, to practiſe what thou readeſt, to what end doeſt thou read, to encreaſe thy owne condemnation? If thy light and knowledge be not turn'd into practiſe, the more knowing man thou art, the more miſerable man thou wilt be in the day of recompence; thy light and knowledge will more torment thee, then all the Devills in hell. Thy knowledge will be that rod that will eternally laſh thee, and that Scorpion that will for ever bite thee, and that worme that will everlaſtingly gnaw thee; therefore reade, and labour to know, that thou mayeſt doe, or elſe thou art undone for ever. When Demoſthenes was asked what was the firſt part of an Orator, what the ſecond, what the third; he anſwered, action; the ſame may I ſay, if any ſhould aske me, what is the firſt, the ſecond, the third part of a Chriſtian? I muſt anſwer, action; as that man that reades that he may know; and that labours to know, that he may doe, will have two Heavens; a Heaven of Joy, Peace, and Comfort on earth, and a Heaven of glory, and happineſſe after death.
Fourthly, and laſtly, if in thy reading thou wilt caſt a ſerious eye upon the Margent, thou wilt finde many ſweet and precious Notes, that will oftentimes give light to the things thou readeſt, and pay thee for thy paines, with much comfort, and profit; So deſiring that thou mayeſt finde as much ſweetneſſe, and advantage in reading this Treatiſe, as I have found (by the overſhadowings of Heaven) in the ſtudying and writing of it, I commend thee to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to Acts 20. 32.build thee up, and to give thee an inheritance among them which are ſanctified. And reſt
Reader, Thy ſoules Servant in every office of the Goſpel, THOMAS BROOKS.