Burgess - BT715 B85 1654

The great Exalttrs I{G_r4tt...J~ 169 then ever entred into the heart ofaman to conceive, fo are the t-errors and troublesfor jinneJ more then ever a·man could imagin: Oh how often do fuch wifh they had never been born? how: often do they fay, Qh if it ,were any outward mifery, ifit were any bodily trouble, I could beadt; but the frowns ofGod are upon me,an hell is within me, the arrowcs of the Almighty flick into ,my heart; .and this makes him cry '- out,he·cannot bear it,he cannot hold out any longcr.Though wicked men feel nothing but the pleafurcs and delights or tinne, yet when the Spirit ofGod by tfie Word flull convince thee ofit, fet thy finnes in order before tkee; when this ho– ney in the mouth lhall be turned into gall in thy belly, then thou wilt go bowed down, then thou wilt be a burden unto _ · thy felf : Then all thy defires and comforts in tb~ ~orld, will wither away~ and all thy p1ntings !'nd breathings will be af~ ter Gods favours, and his grace in pardoning: Oh tha~ you who commit finne with delight, would hearken to this; Ei– ther here or hereafter linne will be an heavy burden, it will prtffe thee down: Oh therefore now, while the acceptable time ofgrace is,come in ..nd fue fo~ thy pudon. . 4· The heart fenjiflle --of its vaft 4ndun[tarch~Jble ftnfulnef{e, 4· , muft needs cry O!ft for GDdsgra&e, bec~ufe of th~ t.racioJ.U and BeCJufe of the merciful! 'Workjngs sfthe Spirit ofGod in them. As in that dark wor 'in?~ o~ , · abylfe at firfi, the Spirit moved on eh~ wa.teri,and by degrees ~e dSpm~ of · eaufed light and a beautifull form to appear .; fo the Spirit O.f 0 m' em.~ God, which firfi wrought all that confufion and grief in the foul, wil l direct it to mercy and comfort: for this you mull know, Aman cometb not to be fenfible of, er wounded for tlnne, byhii own reafon and mcurall firength, but' it is themighty powtr of God, which ~urnech this barren heath into runhing fi relmes, that makes water eo gufh our of this rock. Experience confi rms this; Leea man hear never fo many Ser- ·mons; Let him confider and hearken never fo, much, yet he -never is atfeCl:ed at the heart, till the Spirit ofGod workloA him and in him; then he is another m1n, he is of another minde,ofocher·defires and atfd l:ions : Its God only that fiops this Jord.tn in her courfe and fl:ream, th.at fiayeth the wicked man from going on in his obfli,mcy. So then, as the Spirit of Z · God ' '

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