638 Wlaae fh,uld Ckrifians do, tha the influence Serme tells us ) is goy: LJ71e9, 77, fomething that will flay by you. The hearts of the people belog raifed by Hez,ekiahs zealous fpeech, z Chron. 29. they were kept' up in that pofture till the work deigned by him was firifii_d ( till Religion was refl;ored and reformed ) and how carne this to pafs ? Why, the thing was done [redden'', verf. 36. he purfued the peopls good inclinations , and brought them into ac4 fuddenly, he fiï t,ck while the iron was hot. When your hearts are heated by the O dinances, fet immedi itcly upon your work ; the primus irn_ petus aff.)rds a great advanug, if it be improv..d poffibly in the vi_ pour of it, you may overcome thofe gre tt 6E.ulcies and oppofiti- Gns, which have been too hard for you forme; ly , and may other - wife give you impediment hereafter, and rt i,, b_irg mattered, your progrefs y ill be eaficr, you may go on rowatds heaven under the power of the Ordinances, with lefs interruption and fewer inter - cificns of;hefe divine influences, yam. i. 22, Z3. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers onely, deco iving your own 'elves, for if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, i, e. if h, dò it n it prefently (as ap- 'pears by what follows) he is like to a man beholding bas natural/ face in a glair ; for he beholdeth himfelf , and goeth his way, and f#reightway forgettetb what manner of man he was. The gams difcovers what fpots and fiulages are in his face, that he may wfh them off, or what is difordered about him, that he may corre& and compofe it; but if he do not this pref.ntly,if he put it off till fo'me occurence, divert him from the thoughts and remembrance of it, his look. ing in the mirror , will prove but a lofs of time, a vain curiofï- ty. Your ufe of the Ordinances is like to prove no better, if you preetife not what they lead you to without delay, Its like to be no other, than fuch a viewing of your felves in a glass, a meer fruitlefs fpeculation. s. You mua take much pains with your hearts if you would have them retain the verrue and efficacy of the Ordinances. The cffe& of them fhould be as a nail fattned in a fure place, but the heart is fo hard and knotty a piece that you cannot drive it in without many blows; it wilt require all your flrength ro force it in far enough , and all your care and watchfuluefs to keep it in when it is there. They grofly miflake Chriftianiry, who take it to be confi- Rent with our carnal cafe and flothfulnefs, who place it in notions or opinions, in fair thews, and a fpecious. profefíion, in forms, ge- ftures, or external obfervances, in conforming to this or that mode of L
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