A20762:1201
A guide to godliness or a Treatise of a Christian life showing the dutiesA guide to godlynesse or a Treatise of a Christian life shewing the duties
A guide to godliness or a Treatise of a Christian life showing the duties wherein it consisteth, the helps enabling & the reasons persuading unto it the impediments hindering the practise of it, and the best means to remove them whereunto are added divers prayers and a treatise of carnal security by John Douname Bachelor in Divinity and minister of Gods Word.A guide to godlynesse or a Treatise of a Christian life shewing the duties wherein it consisteth, the helpes inabling & the reasons parswading vnto it ye impediments hindering ye practise of it, and the best meanes to remoue them whereunto are added diuers prayers and a treatise of carnall securitie by Iohn Douname Batcheler in Diuinitie and minister of Gods Word.
London: printed by Felix Kingstone and William Stansby for Ed, 1622
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
§. Sect. 4 That in our prosperity we must beware of pride, security, and hardness of heart, licentiousness, and contempt of spiritual and heavenly things.
§. Sect. 4 That in our prosperity we must beware of pride, security, and hardnesse of heart, licentiousnes, and contempt of spirituall and heauenly things.
Fourthly, let us in our prosperity watch over our selves, that we be not puffed up with pride, unto which this estate through our corruption maketh 1us prone, as we may see, not only in the examples of former times, as Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon, and of those wicked men, of whom the Psalmist speaketh, who being enclosed in their own fat, spake proudly with their mouth, and flourishing in all earthly abundance, put on pride as a chain about their necks; yea holy David and good Hezekiah were thus overtaken, and though in the time of their trouble they were meek and humble, yet were their hearts lifted up in their prosperity. The which, the experience of these times doth make too manifest, wherein not only mere worldlings, but even many of the faithful are tainted with this odious vice, by reason of their earthly abundance, and long prospering in their worldly desires. Which that we may prevent, let us consider, that we have nothing but what we have received, not as absolute gifts, but as our Masters goods, lent only unto us for our use, for which we stand indebted, and must give an account at the day of Judgement; and what reason have we to be proud of our debts? that God so hateth this vice of pride, that he will rather withdraw from us his spiritual graces, and his gracious assistance in the time of tentation, that by falling into other sins we may be cured of this, and have our souls adorned with true humility; and therefore how much rather will he deprive us of temporal benefits, and things of far less value, then we should continue infected with this vice, which above all others he most abhorreth? And when the greatness of our gifts and possessions begin to puff us up, let us think, how we have employed them, and whether we have so increased and improved them for the glory of our Master, and good of our fellow servants, as that we may with cheerfulness present our selves before God, when he calleth us to a reckoning. Finally, in our greatest plenty of earthly things, let us call to mind our spiritual wants, and how defective we are in sanctifying and saving graces, especially in our thankfulness unto God for these temporal benefits; and so our plenty in the one will not so much exalt us, as our defects in the other, which are much more excellent and necessary, will humble and abase us.