.. • Signs of Pride againft God. 23) ---------------------------------------------- ~ppcared againll !t, to avoid t_he difhonour o_f bein_g accounted Mutable, or one th1t forrnerJy was dLctived : His pnde kcepech h1m from Repcmmg of any fault or error thac he can but find a cloak for: If he have done wrong to _God and mifchiefto the Chun;:h, he will do as much more to make ir go;d, and jufiitie· it by any cruelty or. violence. If he have once done y~u wrong, he will do ~ore for fear of [eeming to have wronged you: If he haveJlandered you, he will fiab or hang you 1f he can, ro j11fiitic his Oander, racher than feern fo m_u~abl~ as to retract it. . . . sL 28. Sig1z 1~. A proud man affeCl:erh a parttc1patton of Gods Omnifczencr, and IS eager to know s· g rnorr tb.mGo.d revealet~; ( if he be an enquiring man whofe pride runneth this way ) : Thus our fid[ zgn 1 • J>an:ncs finned, by defiring to be as God in kJtor.Jiedg,c: This hach filled the world with proud concencions, and the Church with divifions, while proud Wit~ heretically make thingrunrevtalcdrhe matter of their oHentation, impofition, cenfures or furious dHputes: while humble fouls are taken up in Hudying and pratl:iting things revealed, and keep themfdves within Gods bounds, as knowing that God bel\ knoweth the meafure titteft for them; and that knowledge is to be defired and fought, but {0 jar as it is ufcful to our il:rving or enjoying God, and the Good which Truth revealech• to us ; and chat knowledge may elfe become our forrow, Ecclef. 1• I, 8. and Truth the inHrument to torment us, as it doth the miferablefouls in Hell. 9· 29· Sign '9· A proud man is difcowwted with hi< Degree,_ efpecially if it be low: He would be Sign l9· higher in power, and honour,and wealth: yea, he IS _never {o lugh but h~ ~ould fam be onejlcp higher. If he had a Kingdom, he would have another: and 1f he had the Domm1ons of the 'iurk.!fb or 'fartari.m Empcrour, he would ddire to enlarge them, and to have more; and would not be fatistied till he had aO the world : Men feel not this in their low condition : They think, If I had but fo much or fo much, I would be content : But this is their ignorance of the infatiable Pride that dwellcth in them. Do you not fee the greateft Emperours on Earth fiill feeking ro begreater : Every man naturally would be a Pope, the Univerfal Monarch of the world : And every fuch Pope would have botiJ Sword!, and have Princes and people wholly at their will: And when they have no mind to hurt, they would have power to hurt ; that all the world might hold their Efiates, and Liberties, and Lives 1 as by their clemency and gift, and they might be as God to other men : And if they had attained this, Pride would not flop, till it had caufed them to afpire to all the p1e· rogatives of God, and to depofe him and dethrone him of his Godhead and MiijeHy that they might have his place; 9· 30• Sign 20. A proud man·would fain have Godr Independency: Though need make him fioop, Sign >o, yet he would willingly be beholden to none. N ot only becaufe in prudence he would keep his liber- . · "1. ty, and notbe unncceiTarily the ferva?t of men, nor under obligations to ferve them in any evil way ( !'or fo the humbleft would fam be lndcpendant ) : But becaufe he would be fo great, and! high, as tofcorn to lean on any other. Thus you fee how Pride is that great Idolatry that fets ~p man as in the place of God. Sig111 of tbt next Degree! of PrMe tJJ t~gainft God. > 9· 3,. Sign I• A Proud heart is very hardly brought to fee the greatnds of ill fim, orto know its Sign r. emptindS ot Grace, or to be cor.vinced of its unpardoncd miferable fiate, or of the Ju£\ice of God M~n fick i:' if he 010uld damn it to everlafting to,ments•. Concerning others it may confefs all this; but hardly ~tt 3 i wit- J of it felf. hs onm u~belief, and averfnefs fro?l God and holin~fs, feemcth to it a fmall and tolle- l~fc~::ro~~~' rable tau\t: lrs own pnde, and luft, and worldlmcfs, and fenfuahty, fec:m not to b~ fo bad as to de~ :anJ un;ufl:,,md fervc damnation : Much lefs the fma\lefi fin which it committeth. Though cufiomarily th:y may injurious, {ily that God were juft, if he did condemn them, yet they believe it not at the heart. The moft t~lnk hnotdhlt convincing Preacher fhall have much ado to bring a proud man heartily to confefs rhat he i;s an ene- :~~fst ; 1 ;J fin, my tO God, a child of wrath, and under the guilt of all his fins, and furet to b-e condemned unlefs &c. Pl•jt.mh. he be converted. He will conftfs that he is a !inner, or any thing el[e which the mo.J\ godly mufi T"'{! that_ confefs, or which doth not conclude him to be in a damnable unrencwed ftate: But to make an un- Malld~cs or godly man ~~ow that he is ungodly, a~d an impe?itent pcrfon know that he is impenicenr, and ~~rl1;1 ~nhd:t:re and unfanCbhed perfon know that he 1S unfaud:ihed , is wonderful hard , becaufe that Pride rhofc of the hath dominion in them. Are we blind alfo ? Say the proud incorrigible Pharifees to Chritl, boJy. J oh.9· 4c. 9· 32· Si~n 2· A proud heart cloth fo much overvalue all that is in it f•lf, that every common Sig11 2• gract or duty doth feem to it to be a jlatt of godlint[r: Their common knowledge feemeth to them w be faving illumination: Every liale farrow for their fin, or wi!h that they had done beuer, wheu they have had all the fweetnefs of it, doth go with them for true Repentance: Their hearrlefs liplabour goes for acceptable prayer: Their Image of Religion fecmeth to them to be the life of godli~ ncfs : They take their own prefumption for true faith ; and their falfe exptct"ation for ChrifiianHope~ and their carnal fecurity and blockiill fiupidity, for fphitull peace of confcience, and their defperace v~nturing their fouls upon dcceir, they take for a TruHing them with God: If they forbear but fuch tins as their tld'h cln (p~re, as unnccdTary to its caiC, provition or content, yea, or fuch fins as the flefh C('tntnl ndt:th them to torbcar, as tending to their difhonour in the world, they take this for true obedience to God. Bee<ufe they had wher have Heaven than Hell, when they mu!\ leave the Earth whether they will or no, they think that they arc htavenly minded, and lay up their trtafure rhe.Je, and ~al\e it for their portion: Becaufe co~kience fornetlme troublerh them for their (in, they think Phey renew a fincere repentance ; and thmk all is pardoned, becaufe they daily ••lt for pardm : Their · forced
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