N00802:1268
The truly blessed man
The truly blessed man: or, The way to be happy here, and for ever: being the substance of divers sermons preached on, Psalm XXXII. / By Samuel Willard, teacher of a church in Boston. N.E. ; [Five lines from Isaiah]
printed by B. Green for Michael Perry, 1700
Sermon › Doctrine 1: Experienced Christians fittest to teach others. DOCTRINE I.
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.
1. It gives them a more clear understanding of the truths which they teach. Theoretical and practical knowledge vastly differ; a mere discursive knowledge of any Art, makes a man but a bungler, compared with one that hath been practised in it experience exemplifieth the Rules of Religion to […] man; he had heard of these things before, and •ad some rational notions about them, but now ⟨p. 418⟩he sees and tastes, Psal. 34 8. And this is a great help to teaching.
1. It gives them a more clear understanding of the truths which they teach. Theoretical and practical knowledge vastly differ; a meer discursive knowledge of any Art, makes a man but a bungler, compared with one that hath been practised in it •xperience exemplifieth the Rules of Religion to 〈…〉 man; he had heard of these things before, and •ad some rational notions about them, but now ⟨p. 418⟩he sees and tasts, Psal. 34 8. And this is a great help to teaching.
2. It greatly establisheth their faith and confidence in these truths; and hereby they are enabled to commend them with the more authority: A man may by study▪ be able to speak largely and distinctly upon Scripture truths; but they can say nothing of their own knowledge, and possibly themselves fluctuate about their credit of them: they take them only upon Tradition; whereas he that hath the record of these truths on his heart, and had them exemplified on him, can with greatest boldness assert them,