Old Mr. Dod's sayings

Old Mr. Dod's sayings

Table of contents

Old Mr DOD's Sayings.

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Old Mr DOD's Sayings.

I. NOthing can hurt us but Sin; and that shall not hurt us, if we can repent of it. And nothing can do us good but the Love and Favour of God in Christ; and that we shall have if we seek it.

II. No man is in a sad condition, but he that hath a hard heart, and cannot pray.

III. So much Sin, so much Sorrow; so much Holiness, so much Happiness.

IV. Make thy Sin thy greatest Sorrow; so shall thy Sorrow never hurt thee. Make Jesus Christ thy greatest Joy, so shalt thou never want Joy.

V. A man that hath the Spirit of Prayer, hath more than if he had all the World.

VI. Two things he commended to a Married Couple, Cares and Strifes: For the first, Let your Cares be, Which shall please God most: For your Strifes, let them be, which shall love one another best: So will your Cares and Strifes be to purpose; so will all needless Cares and Strifes vanish.

VI. If you be in a Married Estate know and believe it, Though you might have had a better or richer Wife or Husband, yet sure enough you could never have had a fitter, Because it was so appointed by God in Heaven, before it could be accomplished here on Earth; and therefore, though mutual Love be not performed to thee, yet do thou thy part in obedience to God, and thou shalt be sure to have comfort in the end, though God exercise thee with Chastisements for a time.

VIII. There can no Afflictions and Miseries befall us, but by Gods appointment; and cannot hurt us, but must needs do us good, if we be Gods Children. But first, Be sure you mix not sin with them, for that only makes them bitter. Secondly, Look not at the Rod, but at him that smiteth; for that causeth fretting and fainting both.

IX. If thot desirest to be assured thy Sins be forgiven thee, Labour to forgive Injuries and Offences done unto thee, according to that in Mat. 6. 14, 15. Four things consider to this end; 1. Christs Example, who forgave and pray [...]d for his Enemies. 2. Christs Command, When ye pray, forgive, if ye have ought against any man. 3. Christs Promise, If ye forgive, ye shall be forgiven. 4. Christs Threatning, If ye forgive not, ye shall not be forgiven.

X. In all Miseries and Distresses, 'tis best wisdom to go to that Friend that is most near, most willing, and most able to help; such a Friend is God.

XI. He would often say, He had no reason to complain of his Crosses, being they were but the bitter fruit of his Sins.

XII. Where Sins lye heavy, Crosses lye light: and contrary, Where Crosses lye heavy, Sins lye light.

XIII. Either Prayer will make a man give over sinning, or Sin will make a man give over praying.

XIV. Four things we may learn from Children. 1. They take no unnecessary care. 2. They sleep without malice. 3. They are content with their condition. 4. They are humble; the child of a King will play with the child of a Beggar.

XV. There is no Affliction so small, but we should sink under it, if God upheld not; and there is no Sin so great, but we should commit it, if God restrained not.

XVI. If we be railed on, or reviled, or injuriously dealt withall by friend or foe, we should be more troubled for the sin against God, than for the offence done to our selves.

XVII. A Godly man is like a Sheep, every place is the better for him where he comes. A wicked Man is like a Goat, every place is the worse for him; He leaves a stinking savour behind him.

XVIII. Sanctified Afflictions are spiritual Promotions, and are far better for a Christian, than all the Silver and Gold in the world; being that the tryal of our Faith is much more precious than of Gold that perisheth, 1 Pet. 1. 6.

XIX. Directions for the Lords day. Make the Sabbath the Market-day for thy Soul. Lose not one hour, but be either Praying, Conferring, or Meditating; think not thy own thoughts; let every day have its duties; turn the Sermon heard, into matter of Prayer: Instruction into Petition, Reproof into Confession, Consolation into Thanksgiving: Think much of the Sermon heard, and make something of it all the week long.

XX. Directions for every day. First, For morning. Every morning presuppose, 1. I must dye. 2. I may dye ere night. 3. Whither will my Soul go, to Heaven or to Hell? Secondly, For Night. Every Night ask thy Soul these Questions. 1. Have I twice this day humbled my self before God in private? 2. How did I pray? in Faith and Love? 3. What have my thoughts been this day? 4. What have I been in my place and calling? 5. What have I been in company? Did I speak of good things? or did I hear, and with Mary lay up? 6. If God with the morning renewed Mercies, was I thankful? 7. If the day afforded me matter of sorrow, did I fret? or did I lye in the dust before God? 8. When you have done, where you have been failing, confess it with sorrow; the less work you will have to do when death comes. Thus every night reckon right with thy God. This hath been my daily course, and shall be my practice till I dye.

XXI. What we win by Prayer, we shall wear with comfort.

XXII. There is a twofold Assurance: 1. A Sun-shine. 2. A Moon-shine Assurance. The first is that full Assurance in Heb. 10. 22. The Moon-shine is that of the Word, to the which we do well that we take heed, 1 Thess. 1. 5. 2 Pet. 1. 18. The first is given but to few, and that but seldom; and that either upon some great duty to be performed, or some new condition of life to be entred into, or upon some great Sufferings to be undergone, of which one saith, The hours it comes is but seldom, and the stay of it is short. The second is that we must trust to, A relying upon the sure Word of God, by the Faith of Adherence, when we want the other, the Spirit of full Assurance.

XXIII. For the comfort of Gods people, he observed out of the 129 Psalm, That though the wicked were the Plowers of the righteous, and would plow deep, make long furrows, and even plow their hearts out, if they could; yet the righteous Lord that sits in Heaven, laughs at them, and cuts their Cords, and they then can plow no more.

XXIV. In case of Persecutions, and other Sufferings, Gods people should seriously consider these four things: 1. God wills them and sends them: Now God's will is a perfect Rule of Righteousness, and what God doth, is so well done, that it could not be better done. 2. There is need of them, or else we should not have them. 3. Their number, measure and continuance, is determined by God, they are but for a moment, and last but for a few days, Rev. 2. 10. not too heavy, too many, or too long, as the Devil would have them; nor too few, too short, or too light, as our corrupt Natures would have them. 4. Their end is a weight of Glory, and the Crown that attends them, everlasting, 2 Cor. 4. 17.

XXV. Three things make a man count himself happy here below: 1. To have a good Estate. 2. To have it in a good Place. 3. By good Neighbours. Now these Three, they that die in the Lord, eminently enjoy. 1. Their heavenly Inheritance is Great; Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard the like, 1 Cor. 2. 9. 2. 'Tis in a good Place, 2 Cor. 5. 1. Heaven, which is a House made for them, and made by God, and therefore must needs be good. 3. By good Neighbours; God, Christ, the Spirit, Angels, and Saints. Adam had a good Inheritance, and in a good Place; but he had an evil Neighbour of the Devil, that troubled him, and marred all: But there's no ill Neighbours in Heaven.

XXVI. The Passions of God's People do not hinder the success of their Prayers; Elias was a man subject to like Passions as we are, and he prayed, and was heard, James 5. 17.

XXVII. Three things do concurr to the making up of the Sin against the Holy Ghost. 1. Light in the Mind. 2. Malice in the Heart. 3. The Insensibleness of the sin. He that fears he hath committed it, hath not committed it.

XXVIII. The reason why many are not wrought upon, that live under powerful Means of Grace, when many that live at a great distance, and come seldom under a powerful Preacher, are wrought upon by it; He used to give by this similitude: As in a Market-Town, the Towns-people matter not so much for Market-wares, as they that live in the Country, they come to buy, and must and will have what they want, what ever they pay for it; whereas they that live in the Town, think they may buy at any time, and so neglect buying at present; and at the last, oftentimes they are disappointed.

XXIX. To perswade us not to return railing for railing, he would say, That if a Dog barked at a Sheep, a Sheep will not bark at a Dog.

XXX. Four Arguments against immoderate Cares for earthly things, that we might not dishonour or deny God, he observed out of Mat. 6. 1. 'Tis needless. 2. 'Tis Brutish. 3. 'Tis Bootless. 4. 'Tis Heathenish. 1. Needless, What need we care, and God too? Vers. 30, 31, 32. Our heavenly Father knows we have need of these things, and he bids us be careful for nothing, but cast our cares on him who careth for us. 2. 'Tis Brutish, nay more than Brutish, v. 26. Consisider the fowls of the air, and ravens that he feeds, they toyl not. 3. It is Bootless, and to no purpose: v. 27. Which of you by taking thought, can add one cubit to his stature, or peny to his estate? 4. It is Heathenish; After all these things the Gentiles seek, v. 32.

XXXI. Many in the world take their Saintship upon trust, and trade in the duties of Religion, with the credit they have gained from others Opinions: They believe themselves to be Christians, because others hope them to be such; and so zealously trade in duties that lie outmost, to keep their Credit; but never look for a stock of solid Grace within; and this undoes many.

XXXII. As we read of daily bread, so of a daily cross, Luk. 9. 23. which we are bid to take, not to make: We need not make Crosses for our selves, as we are too prone to do; but let God make them for us: Crosses being made in Heaven best fit the Saints backs; and we must not lay them down, till they and we lie down together.

XXXIII. It was a notable saying of a holy man, Quench Hell, and burn Heaven, yet I will love and fear my God.

XXXIV. It is not crying out upon the Devil, nor declaiming against Sin in Prayer or Discourse, but fighting with the Devil, and mortifyings our Lusts, that God chiefly looks upon.

XXXV. The empty Professor disappoints Two at once. 1. The World, who seeing his Leaves, expects Fruit, but finds none. 2. Himself, who thinks to reach Heaven, but falls short of it.

XXXVI. The only way for a distressed Soul that cannot fasten on former Comforts, by reason of future Backshdings, and so questions all his former evidences, is, To renew his Repentance, as if he had never believed.

XXXVII. Some are apt to think, if they are in such a Family, under such a Minister, out of such Temptations, the Devil would not meddle with them as he doth: But such should know, That so long as his old Friend is alive within, He will be knocking at the door without.

XXXVIII. The seeds were sown so deep in the Nature of the Devil, and the Saint, that they will never be rooted out, till the Devil cease to be Devil, and Sin to be Sin, and the Saint to be a Saint.

XXXIX. The Sinner is the Devil's Miller, always grinding; and the Devil is always filling the Hopper, that the Mill may not stand still.

XL. There be some sins that an ignorant person cannot commit; but there are far more that an ignorant person cannot but commit.

XLI. There be five tyes by which the God of Heaven hath bound himself to be the Saints Life-Guard against the Powers of Darkness. 1. His relation to them as a Father. 2. His Love to them, in respect as they being the Birth of his Everlasting Council, as partakers of his own Likeness. 3. The price of his Sons Blood, and his Covenant with them. 4. Their Dependance upon him, and Expectation from him, in all their straits. Now the Expectation of the poor shall not perish, Psal. 9. 18. 5. Christ's present Employment in Heaven, is to see all things carried fairly between God and them.

XLII. Brown-bread with the Gospel is good Fare.

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LONDON, Printed by A. Maxwell, in the Year M. DC. LXXI.

Information about this book

Title statement

Old Mr. Dod's sayings

Dod, John, 1549?-1645.

Edition statement

1671

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A36221

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Wing D1784

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ESTC R13671

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12278700

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ocm 12278700

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58584

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(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A36221)

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— Old Mr. Dod's sayings, Dod, John, 1549?-1645..

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1 sheet ([1] p.)

Printed by A. Maxwell,. London :: 1671.. (Reproduction of original in Bodleian Library.)

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