Dear Friend ! — Solomon bids us buy the truth (Prov. xxiii. 23), but doth not tell us what it must cost, because we must get it though it be never so dear. We must love it both shining and scorching.1 Every parcel of truth is precious, as the filings of gold ; we must either live with it, or die for it. As Ruth said to Naomi, ' Whither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge, and nothing but death shall part thee and me/ Ruth i. 16, 17; so must gracious spirits say, Where truth goes I will go, and where truth lodges I will lodge, and nothing but death shall part me and truth.2 A man may lawfully sell his house, land, and jewels, but truth is a jewel that exceeds all price, and must not be sold ; it is our heritage : ' Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever,' Ps. cxix. 111. It is a legacy that our forefathers have bought with their bloods, which should make us willing to lay down anything, and to lay out anything, that we may, with the wise merchant in the Gospel (Mat. xiii. 45), purchase this precious pearl, which is more worth than heaven and earth, and which will make a man live happily, die comfortably, and reign eternally.3
And now, if thou pleasest, read the work, and receive this counsel from me.
First, Thou must know that every man cannot be excellent, that yet may be useful. An iron key may unlock the door of a golden treasure, yea (ferrum potest quod aurwm -non potest), iron can do some things that gold cannot, &c.
Secondly, Remember, it is not hasty reading, but serious meditating upon holy and heavenly truths, that makes them prove sweet and profitable to the soul.4 It is not the bee's touching of the flower that gathers honey, but her abiding for a time upon the flower that draws out the sweet. It is not he that reads most, but he that medi- tates most, that will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest ( !hristian, &c.
Thirdly, Know that it is not the knowing, nor the talking, nor the
1 Multi amant veritatem hicentem, oderunt redarguentem.
a Si Veritas est causa discordio\ mori possum, lacere non possum. — St Jerome,
3 Veritas vincit. Truth at last triumphs.
4 It is a law among the Persees [Parsees] in India, to use premeditation in what they are to do, that if it he bad, to reject it, if good, to act it.
A WORD TO THE READER. ^
reading man, but the doing man, that at last will be found the happiest man.1 " If you know these things, blessed and happy are you if you do them." " Not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will of my Father that is in heaven/' John xvi. 14, Mat. vii. 21. Judas called Christ Lord, Lord, and yet betrayed him, and is gone to his place. Ah ! how many Judases have we in these days, that kiss Christ, and yet betray Christ ; that in their words profess him, but in their works deny him ; that bow their knee to him, and yet in their hearts despise him ; that call him Jesus, and yet will not obey him for their Lord.
Reader, If it be not strong upon thy heart to practise what thou readest, to what end dost thou read ? To increase thy own condem- nation?2 If thy light and knowledge be not turned into practice, the more knowing man thou art, the more miserable man thou wilt be in the day of recompense ; thy light and knowledge will more torment thee than all the devils in hell. Thy knowledge will be that rod that will eternally lash thee, and that scorpion that will for ever bite thee, and that worm that will everlastingly gnaw thee ; therefore read, and labour to know, that thou mayest do, or else thou art undone for ever.3 When Demosthenes was asked, what was the first part of an orator, what the second, what the third ? he answered, Action ; the same may I say. If any should ask me, what is the first, the second, the third part of a Christian ? I must answer, Action ; as that man that reads that he may know, and that labours to know that he may do, will have two heavens — a heaven of joy, peace, and comfort on earth, and a heaven of glory and happiness after death.
Fourthly and lastly, If in thy reading thou wilt cast a serious eye upon the margent,4 thou wilt find many sweet and precious notes, that will oftentimes give light to the things thou readest, and pay thee for thy pains with much comfort and profit. So desiring that thou mayest find as much sweetness and advantage in reading this Treatise as I have found, by the over-shadowings of heaven, in the studying and writing of it, I recommend thee 'to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build thee up, and to give thee an inheritance among them which are sanctified,' Acts xx. 32. And rest, reader,
Thy soul's servant in every office of the gospel,
1 It was a good saying of Justin Martyr, Non in verbis, sed in factis res nostrce reli- gionis consistent. — [Apolog. 22. — G.]
2 The heathen philosopher, Seneca, liked not such as are semper victuri, always about to live, but never begin. — [De vita beata, et alibi. — G.]
3 God loves, saith Luther, curistas, not qito?ristas, the runner, not the questioner. . . . Pacunius hath an elegant saying : I hate, saith he, the men that are idle in deed, and philosophical in word, &c.
* Margin ; transferred here and throughout in our edition to the foot of page. — G.
PRECIOUS REMEDIES AGAINST SATAN'S DEVICES.
Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. — 2 Cor. II. 11,
In this fifth verse, the apostle shews, that the incestuous person had by his incest sadded those precious souls that God would not have sadded.1 Souls that walk sinfully are Hazaels to the godly, 2 Kings viii. 12, et seq., and draw many sighs and tears from them. Jeremiah weeps in secret for Judah's sins, Jer. ix. 1 ; and Paul cannot speak of the belly-gods with dry eyes, Philip, iii. 18, 19. And Lot's righteous soul was burdened, vexed, and racked by the filthy Sodomites, 2 Peter ii. 7, S.2 Every sinful Sodomite was a Hazael to his eyes, a Hadad- rimmon to his heart, Zech. xii. 11. Gracious souls use to mourn for other men's sins as well as their own, and for their souls and sins who make a mock of sin, and a jest of damning their own souls. Guilt or grief is all that gracious souls get by communion with vain souls, Ps. cxix. 136, 158.
In the 6th verse, he shews that the punishment that was inflicted upon the incestuous person was sufficient, and therefore they should not refuse to receive him who had repented and sorrowed for his former faults and follies. It is not for the honour of Christ, the credit of the gospel, nor the good of souls, for professors to be like those bloody wretches, that burnt some that recanted at the stake, saying, ' That they would send them into another world whiles they were in a good mind/3