A guide to the godly, or, The dayly meditations of Returne Hebdon Gentleman who for his conscience (through the tyrany of the Bishops) suffered many years imprisonment in the Kings-Bench and their remained till death : being very useful for instruction of all those that desire to walke in the paths of Jesus Christ.

The 2. day of the week. (Book 2)

THere is come into my mind, a sight of darknesse and light, and how the Children thereof are profitable or unprofitable to themselves, how they treasure to themselves hatred and wrath, or love and good pleasure from the only true God: Thus the darknesse is this world, and the au••hority of darknes is the tyrannizing authority over the truth: The light is the Law of the world to come, the authority thereof is Christ, in the authority of suffering for well doing. The Children of darknes are they which live after the course of this pre∣sent evill world, and the glory & authority there∣of; these go into darknesse continually till they come thither, they spend every day without any other then mortall profit: so they passe away the year, and it goes into darknesse without comfort, at length they have consumed the length of their Age, and then they go into darknesse without so much as worldly good: These are shut up in dark∣nesse, kept unto the Judgement of the Lord, who shall render to them according to their unprofi∣table and evill workes.

The Children of light are they which exercise themselves in the Law and light that shineth to mortality, eschewing evill and doing good: as if they were alwayes with the Father of lights, and

enlightened to treasure to themselves for the time to come.

Those go into light continually, every day ad∣deth unto their strength, and they profit in the true riches which preserve the man of God to an immortall life: the day and the year they spend in the light, going to immortality, and the time fill∣eth up to their comfort, and consumeth their evill sorrow and sufferings for the light sake in this world; when they have spent their time, all their labours go with them, they go out of this world, as a good Servant to be refreshed, and rewarded for his good service, their immortall soule is ga∣thered into Paradice and joy; way ting yet for the day of Judgement and Redemption of the body, when according to their good workes, they shall be crowned with unutterable and immortall glo∣ry.

Thus the Children of light do so number their dayes, and spend their time: as that they may ap∣ply their hearts unto wisdom, and to receive the honour and glory thereof; whereas the Children of this world, as a bird that rejoyceth in the bait before the snare turne over and take it: so these rejoyce in their temporary pleasures and mortall joyes, untill the Judgement of the Lord overtake them in their rioting as a snare, out of which they shall not nor cannot escape. Luke 21.28.35.

2. It is appointed from the beginning as the onely way to immortality, from mortality, that righ∣teousnesse

here should suffer in inseculer conflicts, which conflicts whosoever refuse thereby to save their mortall life, do loose the immortall life, and that justly because they feare man more then the maker of man, Mat. 10.28. to 39.

3. As treasure is distributed to the poore by the hands of men: so the treasure of the spirit of Christ is communicated to the poore, which live in the world by the distribution of the poore to whom it is committed.