3tl)c ~eru }JOirtp. S7 -------------------- a/1 d -Indeed (blcffedbe God) fome are, but not many, few ( that have fo much of ~he:nf~lves) are brought to renounce themfelves; and no wonder; for a rich man to bee me po Jr and a noble man to be abafed, and a w1fc man to be nothmg mh1mfelf, this 0 will coil: hot water; and yet this muft be in all that belong to the Lord: not that God will take away all thefc outward things and partS, but that they mull: loofen thelf · affection fwm theft·, if they will bve ChritL 2 • That an humble heart makes all a mans life quiet, and marvelloufly fweetneth whatfoever dbtc he is in ; indeed fometimes he may be toffed and troubled, yet he IS not diihaded, bccaufe he is contented ; as it is with a Ship on the Sea, when t~c billows begin 0 roar, and the wavesare vwknt, 1fthe Anchor be fafl:ened deep, 1t fbyes the Ship : ·ro this w?rk of Hmm!ttlttO" IS the Anchor of the foul, and the deeper it is fafl:encd, the more qUiet ts the heart: wh~n Jobm_ tune of h1s exrremtty gave way to his proud heart, he guarrclled With the Ahmghty, h1s fnends, and all; but when the Lord had humbled him, then, Behold, I am vtle, and ba[<; once have I fpoksn,yea nwce, but now no more. And this Humiliation quiets a man both in ..$ Fierceft Temptations, ' ? Heaviefl: oppofitions. . 1 • In (iercrft Temptations ; when Satan begins to befiege the he~rt of a poor firincr, ~nd lays battery againft him, fee how the humbled heart rul\5 him out of breath at his own weapons: Docft thou think (fays Satan) to get mercy from the Lord, when thy own confciencc dogs thee ? go to the place \~her~ thou \lvclt, and to the chamber where thou lieO:, and confider thy fearful abommattons, furc Gocl wtll not refpctl: the prayers of any fuch vile finners. True (faith the poor foul) I have often denied tl;c L o,-d when he called upotl me, and therefore he may jttftly deny me all the prayers I mt<k$ ;yu tbm he hath commanded that f ecit___ to him for mercy lnmft, and ifthe Lo>·d will cart me rlll't<y, and rejefl my praye:s, I am contented tbet·ewith; What th_en Satan!' _\'.'hat then, faith the Devil? I thought this would have made thee to defpatr; but th1s IS not all,for God wtll give thee over,and leave thee to thy felf,to thy lufl:s and corruptions, and thy latter end fhall be worfe than thy beginning; thou mayeft call and cry,and when thou hall: done he f)Verthrown;God will leave thee to thy felfe,and fuffcr thy corruptions to pre>~ail againft thce,and thou {halt fall fearfully, to the wounding of thy confcjence, to the grieving of Gods people, to the fcandal of the Gofpel,-to the reproach of thy own pcrfon. To this ;mfwers the humbled foui,IftheL•rd willgi"Je me up tomy bafclujts,whichf havegivm my [<Iffomuchliberty in,and if theLordwi/1/eave me to myfinnes,becaufel have left hisgr4cio1ts commands; and if I jha//fa/1 one day, and be difgraced anddijhollo~tred, yet lttthe Lord behonoured, and let not God lofe the praife ofhis Power, and Jt<ftice, and I am contented therewith; tvhat then Satan? \Vhatthen, faith the Devil? I fure thought now thou wouldft have defpaired; but this is not all, for when God hath left thee to thy fins, then will he break out in vengeance againfl: thee, and make thee an exalllple of his heavy vengeance to all ages to come; and therefore it is ball: for thee to pr~vent this untimely Judgement by fome untimely death. To this replies the foul, Wb.atfotv~r God can do or !Vtll do, I k__now not, yetfo greAt are my fins, that he cannot, or ( atleaft J will not do fo nmch agamft me as I f,ave Juftly de[<rved : Come what will come, I am contented ftill to beat the Lords dif}ofal: what then Satan? and thus he runs Satan uut ofbreath. The want of this Humiliation many times brings a man to defperate Jlands, and ~ometimes to untimely deaths: Alas, why will you not bear the wrath of the Lord? 1t ts true mdeed your fins are great, and th,e wrath of God is heavy, yet God'will do you good by it, and th~refore ~e quiet. In t~me of war, when the great Canons.fly off,the only way to avmd them, 1s to lte down m a furrow, and { o the-bullets;flie over: So tn all Temptations of Satan, lye low, ap.d be corJtmted to be at Gods diffojipg, aQci ajl thefe fiery Temptations !hall not be abl~ to~rt you. ' · ·: . 2. Inhe.avteft oppofi;wns ; . when Satan .1s gone, then come Trouble~ an? .Oppafitions ofthe world, mall wh1ch Hun~tlumoll wtll quiet the foul. A mM is fo1nctim!lS ,S.ca-lid( not becaufc of :he Tcmpefl:, but becaufe of his fullll:omack, nnd therefore w!i~.l \;e hath cmptted hts fl:omack he is well again: So it is with hi' H umiliation of heart if the heart were emptied truly, though a man were in a fea of oppootions, ifl)t ,hav; no more_ trouble mhts ll:oma~k,and in his proud heart,than in the oppootionsof the world, he ~ntght be very well q_uteted. Call: difgrace upon the humble heart caufelcny, an•! he cures 1t thus, He thmks worfe of hnnfelf than any man d fc eau do, and if they l would 1 Cor• t • 2S. Jcb. 40•••
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