Object. But my heart says, all these are but fair words? Ans. Away with that blasphemy, They are the truths of God: essay then, O! essay Seriously this way of Believing, and ye shall find power meeting you, The Pen is, as it were, lying by you, and albeit ye cannot write well and be distinct, take the Pen, and Christ shall (as it were) lead your hand and guide it, to write so, as it shall Pass in Heaven for a Subscribed consent: set your selves to give him a welcome, and he shall account it to ⟨p. 73⟩be a welcome. Say now, what more ye have to say; lay out your scruples; this word, all things are ready, will answer them all: the garment is ready to be put on, yea Jesus Christ is your Wedding Garment, take and put him on: He is the cure for all your diseases, apply him for the cure of them all; ye cannot certainly be clothed, before you put on the garment: neither can ye be Healed, before the apply the cure: ye cannot by any means be rich, till ye marry him. But beside all these, there are several other needlessly disquieting scruples, there are many other shifts (and alas! that there should be such trifling, if I may call it so, such whining, as it were, and standing on Ceremonies (to speak so) with our Lord,) among which this is one, I wot not If I be in the Covenant and Contract of Redemption, I know not if I be one of Gods elect: Ans. What is this? ye know not well what ye say: have ye any thing to do with that secret by a leap and at First hand? are ye not called to Marry Christ? Is not that his revealed will to you? I protest in his name, this is the thing that ye are called to: and will ye make an exception, where he has made none? Or will ye shift obedience to a clear command, upon a supposed decree, which you cannot know but by the effects? Will ye reason so in the matter of your eating and drinking? upon a supposition that God hath decreed, that ye shall die to Morrow or within a few days, will ye this day not take your dinner, nor make use of any refreshment, till that supposed day come? Or because ye know not, if God hath appointed you to live so and so long? Will ye forbear therefore your callings? Or will any of you, in seeking after a match in the World, reason so? Will ye not seek after nor Marry such a Woman, till ye be clear that God hath decreed her to be your Wife? When ⟨p. 74⟩or whom would ye Marry at this rate of reasoning? But 2.
Object. But my heart says, all these are but fair words? Ans. Away with that blasphemy, They are the truths of God: essay then, O! essay Seriously this way of Believing, and ye shall find power meeting you, The Pen is, as it were, lying by you, and albeit ye cannot write well and be distinct, take the Pen, and Christ shall (as it were) lead your hand and guide it, to write so, as it shall Pass in Heaven for a Subscribed consent: set your selves to give him a welcome, and he shall account it to ⟨p. 73⟩be a welcome. Say now, what more ye have to say; lay out your scruples; this word, all things are ready, will answer them all: the garment is ready to be put on, yea Jesus Christ is your Wedding Garment, take and put him on: He is the cure for all your diseases, apply him for the cure of them all; ye cannot certainly be clothed, before you put on the garment: neither can ye be Healed, before ye apply the cure: ye cannot by any means be rich, till ye marry him. But beside all these, there are several other needlesly disquieting scruples, there are many other shifts (and alace! that there should be such triffling, if I may call it so, such whining, as it were, and standing on Ceremonies (to speak so) with our Lord,) among which this is one, I wot not If I be in the Covenant and Contract of Redemption, I know not if I be one of Gods elect: Ans. What is this? ye know not well what ye say: have ye any thing to do with that secret by a leap and at First hand? are ye not called to Marry Christ? Is not that his revealed will to you? I protest in his name, this is the thing that ye are called to: and will ye make an exception, where he has made none? Or will ye shift obedience to a clear command, upon a supposed decree, which you cannot know but by the effects? Will ye reason so in the matter of your eating and drinking? upon a supposition that God hath decreed, that ye shall die to Morrow or within a few dayes, will ye this day not take your dinner, nor make use of any refreshment, till that supposed day come? Or because ye know not, if God hath appointed you to live so and so long? Will ye forbear therefore your callings? Or will any of you, in seeking after a match in the World, reason so? Will ye not seek after nor Marry such a Woman, till ye be clear that God hath decreed her to be your Wife? When ⟨p. 74⟩or whom would ye Marry at this rate of reasoning? But 2.
