inContaing gra arellactoription. f 3 ders that fo much as Pride: Partly, as it ftops all cu- Ch. VII. rious enquiries into thofe things which are unfearchLyo able : and principally as it entitles to thePromife, God will infi:ru' and give Grace to the humble. The knowledge ofHeaven, as well as the Kingdom ofHea- ven, is the inheritanceof the poor in fpirit. Agreat- er progrefs is made in the knowledge and belief of thefe Myfieries by humble Prayer, than by the molt anxious Rudy. As at Court, an hour of Favour is worth a years attendance. Man cannot acquire fo much as God can give. And as Humility, fo Holinefs prepares the Soul for the receiving of Supernatural Truths. The Under- fian.ding is clarified by the purification of the Heart. 'Tis not the difficulty and obfcurity of things re- veal'd, that is the real caufe of Infidelity, fince men believe other things upon far lefs Evidence; but 'tis the prejudice ofthe lower Faculties that hinders them. When all Affe&ions to fin are mortified, the Soul is in the bell: difpofition to receive Divine Revelation. He that doth the will of God, (ball know whether the 7.17. Doelrine of the Goffiel came fromHeaven. The Spirit of God is the alone Inftru&er of the Spirit of Man in thefe Myfleries, fo as to produce a Saving Beliefofthem. That Knowledg is more clear and fatisfying, that wehave by hisTeaching, than by our own Learning. The Rational Mind may difceru the Literal Senfe of the Propofitions in the Gofpel, and may yield a naked affent to the truth of them but withoutfupernatural irradiation by the Spirit of Life, there can be no transforming and Paving Know- ledg and Belief ofthem. And as the vaft expanfion of Air that is about us, doth not preferve Life, but that part which we breath in; fo 'tis not the compafs ofour Knowledg and Belief (though it were equal to S 2 the
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=