A77983:390
Four books on the eleventh of Matthew
Four books on the eleventh of Matthew: viz: I. Christ inviting sinners to come to him for rest. II. Christ the great teacher of souls that come to him. To which is added a treatise of meekness and of anger. III. Christ the humble teacher of those that come to him. IIII. The only easy way to heaven. By Jeremiah Burroughs, preacher of the Gospel at Stepney and Cripple-Gate, London.Four books on the eleventh of Matthew: viz: I. Christ inviting sinners to come to him for rest. II. Christ the great teacher of souls that come to him. To which is added a treatise of meekness and of anger. III. Christ the humble teacher of those that come to him. IIII. The only easie way to heaven. By Jeremiah Burroughs, preacher of the Gospel at Stepny and Cripple-Gate, London.
London: printed by Peter Cole, 1659
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.
I but though the Holy Ghost worketh in secret, yet certainly, this may some way or other appear, we cannot know it certainly, for there may be many Hypocrites (no question) in ⟨p. 690⟩the Church of God, and it is a very vain cavil for men to say, can the Church of God be without Hypocrites? that is taken indeed for granted, and no body in the world denies it, I but there must be that in the judgment of Charity, so as by the judgment of Charity we may see so far as we are able to see, that the Holy Ghost hath been working upon the Soul of this Man and Woman, and hath called them out of the world, this is the first thing in coming under the yoke of Christ in his Church. Now how hard is this to carnal hearts? the very mentioning of it, is enough to make a mutiny in many places, What! have we lived all this while, and must we now come to give account of our faith? But now it is an easy thing to a gracious heart, what is more easy to a Gracious Heart, then to speak of the work of God upon his Heart, & to give Glory to Jesus Christ in manifesting the work of God in calling him out of the world, and bringing him out of the Kingdom of darkness, and translating him into the Kingdom of his dear Son? the manifestation of this is exceeding delightful to a gracious Heart. And whereas many think, that some will lay a greater yoke upon them by coming in, and submitting to the government of Christ in his Church, they say, they will make them to enter into a solemn Covenant before they will admit them. I confess, were it so, that this were urged as a thing necessary, that they should not come in and join in the ordinances of Christ, without an explicit solemn Covenant, then I cannot but acknowledge it were a yoke that I think Christ never laid upon his Church, not an explicit solemn Covenant, to urge it as necessary, that they cannot come and join in the ordinances without it, and as for my part, I know not any that urge it as necessary, though it is used it is true, because it is the way of manifesting ⟨p. 691⟩themselves one way or another, and some way they would have for the manifestation of the grace of God, and of their willingness to join with them in all the Ordinances of Christ, so far as is revealed to them, and I know no other way that is urged than this, but to manifest the Grace of God upon the•r hearts, the work of God upon them.