A26892:2340
A Christian Directory
A Christian directory, or, A sum of practical theology and cases of conscience directing Christians how to use their knowledge and faith, how to improve all helps and means, and to perform all duties, how to overcome temptations, and to escape or mortify every sin : in four parts ... / by Richard Baxter.A Christian directory, or, A summ of practical theologie and cases of conscience directing Christians how to use their knowledge and faith, how to improve all helps and means, and to perform all duties, how to overcome temptations, and to escape or mortifie every sin : in four parts ... / by Richard Baxter.
London: printed by Robert White for Nevill Simmons, 1673
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
§. 20. Direct. 6. Next labour to perceive the weight of every thing you think on, be it Good or 1Evil: And to that end be sure, that God and Eternity be taken in, in every Meditation, and all things judged of as they stand related to God, and to your Eternal state; which only can give you the true estimate and sense of Good and Evil: There will still the Life and Soul, and power be wanting in your most excellent Meditations, further than God is in them, and they are Divine. When you meditate on any Scripture-truth, think of it as a beam from the Eternal Light; indited by the Holy Ghost, to lead men by obedience to felicity: Behold it with reverence as a Letter or Message sent from Heaven: and as a thing of grand importance to your souls. When you meditate of any Grace, think on it as a part of the Image of God, implanted and actuated by the Holy Ghost, to advance the soul into communion with God, and prepare it for him. When you meditate on any Duty, remember who commandeth it, and whom you are chiefly to respect in your obedience; and what will be the end of obeying or disobeying. When you meditate on any sin, remember that it is the defacing or privation of Gods image, and the rebel that riseth up against him in all his attributes, to depose him from the Government of the soul and of the world; and foresee the End to which it tendeth. Take in God, if you would feel Life and Power in all that you meditate on.
§. 20. Direct. 6. Next labour to perceive the weight of every thing you think on, be it Good or 1Evil: And to that end be sure, that God and Eternity be taken in, in every Meditation, and all things judged of as they stand related to God, and to your Eternal state; which only can give you the true estimate and sense of Good and Evil: There will still the Life and Soul, and power be wanting in your most excellent Meditations, further than God is in them, and they are Divine. When you meditate on any Scripture-truth, think of it as a beam from the Eternal Light; indited by the Holy Ghost, to lead men by obedience to felicity: Behold it with reverence as a Letter or Message sent from Heaven: and as a thing of grand importance to your souls. When you meditate of any Grace, think on it as a part of the Image of God, implanted and actuated by the Holy Ghost, to advance the soul into communion with God, and prepare it for him. When you meditate on any Duty, remember who commandeth it, and whom you are chiefly to respect in your obedience; and what will be the end of obeying or disobeying. When you meditate on any sin, remember that it is the defacing or privation of Gods image, and the rebell that riseth up against him in all his attributes, to depose him from the Government of the soul and of the world; and foresee the End to which it tendeth. Take in God, if you would feel Life and Power in all that you meditate on.