Spiritual Pease and Comfort. i i 2. The fecond part of this Dire6tion, was, That you takenotice howmuch of your difquietnefs may proceed fromoutwardCrows : for it is ordinary for thefe to lie at the root and bring the heart into a dif- quiet and difcontent, and then trouble for fin Both follow after. Alas, how oft have I I feen that veri- riuied of the Apoftle, 2 Cor.7. i o. The forrowof theworld worketh death. How many, even godly people have I known, that through croffes in children or friends, or loffes in their eifates, or wrongs from men, or perplexities that through force unadvifednefs they were call into, or the like have fallen its mortal difeafes, or into fucha fixed Melancholy, that force of them have gone betides themfelves and othershave lived in fears anddoubting ever after, by the removal of the difquietnefs to their confciences How fad a thing is it that we fhould thus add to our own affíiftions ? and the heavier we judge thebur- den, the more we lay on ! As if God had not done enough, or would not fufficiently afift us ? We may more comfortably bear that which God layeth on us,- then that which we immediately lay upon our felves ! Croffes are not great or fmall according to the bulk of the matter , but according chiefly to the mind of the fuferer. Or elfe how could holy men rejoyce in Tribulation , and be exceeding glad that they are accounted worthy to freer for Chrift ? Reproaches wrongs loífes are all without you ; unlefs you open them the door wilfully your felf, they cannot come in to the heart. God hath not put the Joy or Grief of your Heart in any other mans power, but in your own. It is you therefore that doyour felves the greateíi mifchief, God affli&s your
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