Ambrose - Houston-Packer Collection BX5200 .A49 1674

------------~--------- Chap.6.S~Cl: . '. E~pertem:e.s'. Jet Chrill: rcigne o\·er all within us, in our undcrlbndings as a Prophet inlightcning us; in our wills as a King commanding us ; mour affectiOns as a ~nett mortttyt?g ~s ;_m our loves as a husband marrying us; let the whole man be fubJcct _unto who,e Chnll:. This is the character of. a ~rue fclf-denycr ; Chrifl: rules wtthm him? he every way fubjects himfdf tv Chrilt, m hts underfl:andmg to know Chnn, tn hts w;ll to ch~ofe and embrace Chrif<, in hts thoughts to medttatc upon Chrtfl, _mhts feat '?[crve ~nd honour Chrift in his fa ith to trult and depend qpon Chrtll:, tn hts love to a.ll'c.t Chnfl:, in his joy to d'e!ight in Chrift, in his defire to long after Chrifl:, tn htscndeavolJrs t9 exalt Chrifl, in all his d~<tics, gracos, g•fu, abtltttcs, to make them fervtceable unto Chrifl: \Vhy this is to attnb:tte the glory ofall.,,. dutm tJndgrat·es to Jef" Chrzft ., and nothing to our{elves. Now tS Chn[J: all m a/1; now we truely deny our[elves, out Jinfnl-fetvcs, 011 r natltralj<lvcs, our reltgtousfclves Thus much of Self-dcnpd. CHAP. VI. SECT. 1, Of the Nature of Experiences. " ~--~~~ Xperience ( fay tome) is a kz!owledge and difcovcry of fomethi~g by fenfe ~tut .ll evident in it[elf, but ma'!ifejled byfome cvem or effect. Thts ddcnptton containes both N1tural and (piritual Experientes; but m}' purpofc is to fpeak only of the latter, and in that refpect I look llricl:ly at Experiences, as Realproofes of *ScripturMrmhs. \Vhen I marke how true every part ofGods Word is, how all the Doctrines,Threathings and Promifes contained therein; arc daily verified in others, and in my own felf, and fo improve or make ufe of them to my own Spi– ritual advantage, this I call Experiem·e. SECT. 2. Of rh; gt!thering of Experiences. T Hat our Experiences may further us in thF way~ to Heaven;-we mull: learne, J, To gather them: 2 . To improve them. • r. F9r the gathering of them, the only way is, -- ~Exp~riellc" is a[!njibt~ erui– dence r{Gorb truth c,Jl/m,g.~ r. To mark things which fall o~t ; To obferve the beginnings and events af mat– ters, to eye them every way, on every fide, that they may fl:and us in !lead for the future : This obfervation and pondering of events, with the caufes that went before, is the ripenerof wit; Whoamong you willgiveeareto this? who will h<ari(snfor the time /(a. 42. >:· to come? whofoe is wife, and will obferve thofe things, C71en theyJhall underftand the loving Pf.d 107 H· k/;ndneffe ofthd L ord. 2. To treafure up, and lay in thefe obfervations, to 1\ave ready i"n remembran.ce fuch works of God as we have known and obferved. The Philofophcr faith ·, that Experience is multiplex memoria, A m~tltiplied memory, bccaufe of the memory of the fame thmg often done, arifetlt Experience: I remember the daycsof old, fatth David; Pfo/. 143 i/ I remember how thou did(! r~buke Abimelech, and overthrow Nimrod, and Pharaoh, and Ahuophel: .and thus would we treafure up Experiments, the former part of our ltfe would come tn to help the latter, and the longer we live, the richer In Faith we .fh?uld be ; cv_en as in Victories every former overthrow of an Enemy, helps to obtam a fuccecdmgVictory. This is the ufe of a f~nctilied memory, it will h?fe nothing that_ may helpm time of need,or m the evtl day; tt records all the breathmgs,moving_s, ftirrmgs,workmgs of a foul towards Chrill:, or of Chnll towards a foul. . X z 3· To

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