Signs ofJelf,idolizjng Pride. 55· 11 • Sign 2 • Pride caufcth men to fet up _th~ir fuppofed Wortb aud Goodmfs _above or againfi the Sign 2· Lord: So that they make themfelves their prmCJpal Eud, and pral.bfe that whtch fome of late prefume to teach that it is not God that can or ought to be man1 End, but himfllf alone : As 1f we were made only fo; our [elves, ·and nor for our Crt'ator; Pride makes men fo confider~ble in their own efieem that they live wholly to thcmfelves, as if the world were to fiand or fall wtth them: If thry be weU all is well with them: If they are to dye, they take it as if the world were at an end. They ll 1 .. value God, but as they do their food, or healt~, or.plea[ure, .even ~sa m:ans to their own ftliciry; lu~:c~~;~not as preferring him before themfelves, nor makmg h1m the ch1efeft m thetr End. They love them~ r~mia !olis felves much better than God : And fo far is man fallen from God to Him[elf, that he feekth himfelf non.•ppu-cr, difpofed ro.th~s as fl~ongly, as t~at he taketh it to be his primir.ivc _nature, and therefore ·warrantableJ ~~~~~~~~~m and that it ts 1mpolltble to go h1gher. in prxfemia . ~~.- mentum noflrum pr:tfC"mc merito Chrifti. Plful, ScaU;_er. Thtf. ?J, 74• tit Mtliulo Arthet;p. Epift. t. 14 §· 12 • God is to be mans End, though we can add nothing to him: The highefl Love fuppofeth no want in h!tn chat we love, bur an excellency ofGlory, Wafdom and Goodnels, to whtch all our . faculties oft r up chemf Ives m Admitation, Lovt and Praife: not only for the Delight! of thefe, nor How G~ ts only that our pcr{tm1 m .. y hertin be h:Jppy ; but chiefly that God may have his due; am;l his will may man~ En~· be pleafed and fulhllcd; and bee1~k his ~xc:llencies dderve all this from m~n and Ange~s : When Idem fvn 1 n.r, we love a man ofwonderful Leunmg, and Wtfdom, and M~:ckndS, and Chancy, and Holmefs, and fum'JU am.tr~, orher Goodnefs, iris not chit.fly for our fdves, that we)ovt: him, that we may receive fomething from & .effi fiMm him : for we feel his Excellency command our Love, though we were Cure that we fhould never ~ ~~'111W:b~t 1 ceive any thing from him: Nor is the Delight ofLoving him our ciJief end, but a confequent, or t~;~~fu~~~ leffer part of our End: For we feel that we Love him before we think of the Delight. The Admi- amandus en. ration, Love and Pnife of God our ulumate End, harh n'O End bcfide their proper objeCT : For it is it ll!Um ve_ro . felf rhe final aa: ; even mans Pe~feCl:ion. Ami1ble_n~fs .n:ugnetic~ll? artraClech Love: . If you ask, an ~;~:~1 t;;g~;Angel why he lovetb God, he Wtll fay becaufe he tS mtin,tely amtible: A.nd though m fuch motions vir eflr, tlfmn • nature fecretly airneth at its own perfection and fe1iciJy, and lawfully interefceth it felf in this fi. virrutis in vitJ. nal motion,yet the Union being of fuch as are infinitely unequal, 0 hoW linle do the glorified Spirits f~u~b & in· refpe& themfelves in compnifan of the bleffed glosious God. See what I [aid ofthis before, Chap. 3• ;;,~~- ;,.'1,'i.h. Direl'f. u.& I5· fl9t. • )5. 13· Sign 3· Pride maketh men more defirous to be over-loved themfelvcs, than that God be Sig" 3 . loved by thcmfelves or others. They would fam. have the eyes and hearts ofall men turned Upon them, as if they were as the Sun, to be admi!ed and loved by all that fee them. ·-§. I4· Sign 4· Pride caufec:h men todepenP upon themfelves, and contrive inordinately for them- Sign 4 • (elves, and trufi: in th(.mfelves; as if they l.ived by thetr own wit, and power, and induftry more than by the favour and providence of God. I fa. 9· 9· Obad. 3·· . §. I5· Sign 5· Pride ma~es men ret~rn the th:mk.f to themfelves which is due to God for the Sig11 5· merciu which t~cy have rece_1ved•. God tS thanked by them but ~~ comple~cnt : But they ferioufly Dan. 4· 30. afcribe it ~o thetr care, or sktll, or mdufiry, or power: They facn~ce to theu Net, and fay, cur band, ~:~~;_ri:~J!. our contnvance, our power, our good husbandry hathdone a!J th1s. fpelketh or theOra.le of D~lph01 :ulj~dging the ?WD~ to t:te WifeR: So it w1s fent to Th.1/u, and from him~ to another, till it came ~0S?/D;f, who fent it to the Oracle, faytng, Noncts wJfcrtlunGod: So fhouldweall fcndbackcoGodthcprane and glory of all1hat 1~ afcrib.d to us. §. 16. Sign 6. Pside fctteth up thewifd<Jm of a foolifh man againn the infinite wifilom of God : It Sign 6. makes men prefume to judge their Judge, aud judge his Laws, before they underHand them, and to . quarrell with all that they find unfuitable to their own conccits; and fay, How improbable is this or Lltcrt. f~itft that? and how can thefe things be ? He that cannot undo a pair of Tarrying Irons, or unridd!e a .rh.l~_I'~t'"11f.d Riddle till it be taught him, which afterwards appeareth plain, will quefiion the trurh ofthe Word of ~~:nf:u ~~1 c God about the mofi high unfearc:hahle myfieries. Proud men think they could "mend Gods Word, Phdofophcr, and ·they could better have ordered matters in the world, and for the Church, and for themfdvcs, and N~\Jum cnim for their friends, tha then providence of God hath done. ~·;1:~;~~;;,~~d :aflerit: Ante1 tro,itt. ditb, qu~ nurc Pbi!orophi.l: & 'lui banc proliteblntur rto~O, 2ppe!bti: QUicunque ad fum:mm e~•~"t'~:~-~j teru excreverwn, hos nunc honefitore vocabulo> authore Pyth:tgora Philofophos appdlamus. pag. 7. §· 17. Sign 7_· Pride_maketh men fet up t!Jeir own Love _and Mercy above the Love and Mercy of Sign 7 • God. Augujhne mcnuoneth a fort of Hcrettcks called Mi{ertcotdes; Merctful men : And Origen was led hereby into his etiOIS. When they think ofHell fire and the number of the miferable, and the fewnc:fs of the faved, they confult with their ignorant compaffion, and think that this is below the Love and Mercy which is in thcmfelves, and that they would not thus ufe an enemy of their own ; and therefore they cenfure the holy Scripture, and Pride inclineth them O:rongly to unbdief: while they fo~get the narrownejs and dar~nefs of (heir foul!, and how unfit they are to ctnfnrc God, and how many truths may be unfeen of them, which would fully fatisfie them if t!it y knew them ; and how quickly God will (hew them that which fhall juflifie his Wosd and all his Works, and convince them of the folly and anogancy of their unbeliefand ccnfurcs. Hhz 9· 18. Sign g,
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