l4 7'h~ Rare Jtwe} of Chriftian eol.l_tentment. know the diflempers of our olYn hearts; Carnal men and wo: m~n they kr:ow not tbeir o"n fpirits , and therefore they £ling ~nd vex upon every affl~iqn that cloth bef.tl them , th~y know. nonvhat diffempers are io their hearts that may b~ he~led bf, their arllicrions, jf 'it pleaf~ God to give them a fan~ifie~ ufe oli ·them. 3· By knowing their own hearts, they ~now wh8t they flU •ble· · to rtMI'J~ge , and by this means ~hey come to be content ; the Lord (perhaps ) takes _away many -comfons from ~hem that they had before , or .denies them fome things . that they hoped to have got ; nor¥ they by knmving their hem~, kn:ow this, That they were not able to manage fuch an ellate, and they -were not able to manage fuch profperity, God faw it, and (faith a _poor foJl) I .am in fome me~fure <;onvin;c~d, by, looking. into mine own hean,tha~ I tvas not abI; to mallage·fu<;h a condition. A man deftres greedily to gripe more perha·p.s-{han he.is able to manage , and fo undoes himfelf: As Coumrey men do obferve, that if they do ov~r-llosk their Land , it wiH quickly f.poyl them ; and fo a wife Husband-man that know~ fiow much his ground will bear, h~ is n9t troubled that he_ha-th not fo mucb ilock as others , why) betaufe he knows he bath not ground enough for fo great a Ho<;k , and that quiets him.: So many men and women that know not their own h,earcs, they would fain hJVe a profperous ell at~ as others have, but if they kne~v thyir own hearts; they would know ~hat they were not able to ma· nage it : .If on~ of yt>ur little Children of three or four y~ars old fhould be crying for the coat of her that is twelve o.r fourteenyearsold,.andfay, Whymaynoti have aCoat aslongas my-Sillers .? If ~e bad, it would foon trip up her heels, andbreak her Face ; but when the Child comes to underHanding lhe is not difcontented becaufe her co:n is not fo long as her Siflers, but faith, my Coat is fit for me , and therein takes content : So if we come to unde rflanding in the School of Chrifl we will not cry, Why have not I fuch an ethte as others have! the Lord fees thatl am not able toma.nage it, and I fee it my feifby the knowing of mine own heart. You·{hall have Children, if they fee btn a Knife, they V'vill cry for it, becaufe1hey .kno\V not tbeir frr.eog\h , and thll.t they ·are not able to manage it, but you · - - ·- know
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