N02451:208
Agricola. Or, The religious husbandman: the main intentions of religion, served in the business…
Agricola. Or, The religious husbandman: the main intentions of religion, served in the business and language of husbandry. A work adapted unto the grand purposes of piety; and commended therefore by a number of ministers, to be entertained in the families of the country. : [One line from I Corinthians]Agricola. Or, The religious husbandman: the main intentions of religion, served in the business and language of husbandry. A work adapted unto the grand purposes of piety; and commended therefore by a number of ministers, to be entertained in the families of the countrey. : [One line from I Corinthians]
Boston: printed by T. Fleet for D. Henchman, 1727
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.
First. A Good Heart hearing the Word of GOD, hears it with Understanding. So our SAVIOUR explains it; Mat. XIII. 23. He that received Seed into the good Ground, is he that heareth the Word, and understandeth it. When the Disciples of our Lord, heard his Word with a Good Heart, He said unto them, Have ye understood all those things? They say unto Him, Yea, Lord. We are truly told; Prov. XIX. 2. That the Soul be without Knowledge, it is not good. Be sure, It is not a good Heart, that is without the Knowledge of those Things, which to know, is Life Eternal. When you hear, who your SAVIOUR is; What are your Wants of Him; What He has done for us; What He will do for us; And, what ⟨p. 77⟩He will have to be done by us; Then, as Philip asked the Ethiopian Treasurer, Understandest thou what thou Readest? Thus we are to ask ourselves, Do I understand what I hear? If we don't understand something of those points, our Ignorance will prove the Mother of Destruction unto us. Yea, Being a People of no understanding, He that made us will not have Mercy on us.
But then, Secondly; A Good Heart hearing the Word of GOD, hears it with Affection. So our SAVIOUR explains it; Mat. IV. 20. They Hear the Word and Receive it. We then hear the Word of GOD with a Good Heart, when we give a good Reception to it. A good Reception to it, implies a good Affection to it. It is the mark of a Good Heart, when the Word of GOD is a Good Word unto it. Such a Good Heart will say; Isa. XXXIX. 8. Good is the Word of the Lord. Yea, the Desire of such an Heart (which is only good) runs out in such Terms as those, Lord, Thou art Good, and thou dost Good; O Teach me thy Statutes. A Good Heart, hearing the Commandments of the Word, says, This Word is very pure, and therefore, O Lord, thy Servant loveth it. Hearing the Promises of the Word, it says, I rejoice in these Testimonies more than in all Riches. Hearing the Threatenings of the Word, it says, Lord, I am afraid of these Judgments.