The Rule of Leading Men

The Rule of Leading Men

for

The New Hampshire Company

- a work in progress -

Summer, 2017

Prologue

Know this:

Turn from sin.

Trust in God who raises the dead.

Live in simplicity and sincerity.

Present yourselves to God

And make disciples

As you look for the coming of the Son of Man

Who died for us

And leads us by the hand and keeps us.

He is the King of glory.

Our hearts find our rest in Him.

Now may the God of peace be with you and give you everything you need to love Him well.

Amen.

Section 1: Historic Christian Communion with God and the Church According to The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

O Great I-AM, “Our Father” You've become.

Adopted us through Jesus Christ Your Son.

Your holy people sanctify Your Name,

And pray that all the earth will do the same.

May Satan's head be crushed beneath our feet.

Come soon King Jesus; make Your reign complete!

Teach us to know Your Word and to obey,

Content that You will rule the world today.

Feed us with heaven's bread that all may live,

And add Your blessings with each gift You give.

For Jesus' sake, forgive our many sins,

As we forgive both enemies and friends.

Leave us not in temptation's hopeless night,
Provide a way, through trials, to Your light.

To You alone, our Father, God, and Friend,

Be kingdom, power, glory, without end!

Section 2: Historic Christian Ethics According to the Ten Commandments

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.

Section 3: Historic Christian Doctrine According to The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried; and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father; and he shall come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets; and we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Epilogue: The Means of Grace

Prayer and Worship

The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments

Baptism and the Lord's Supper

Meditation Scriptures for Prologue

Know this:

Corinthians 1:8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers...

Turn from sin.
Romans 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.

Trust in God who raises the dead.

2 Corinthians 1:9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

Live in simplicity and sincerity.
2 Corinthians 1:12 For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.

Present yourselves to God

Romans 6:13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

And make disciples

Matthew 28:19-20 [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

As you look for the coming of the Son of Man

Matthew 24:27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Who died for us

Isaiah 53:5 [5] But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

And leads us by the hand and keeps us.

Isaiah 42:6 I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations.

He is the King of glory.
Psalm 24:10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!

Our hearts find our rest in Him.

Psalm 131 [1] O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. [2] But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. [3] O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.

Now may the God of peace be with you and give you everything you need to love Him well.

Hebrews 13:20-21 [20] Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, [21] equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Amen.