-'_A SAtfit or A Brt~U~ · Pan II. ing that our God is a confuming fire, Heb. I z: 28, :19. It is God that h~ prayetl1 t?, tbat he meditateth on, and he p~aifcth, and hath ihlJ H> doWtth. And therefore no wonder if he walkhum– bly with fo holy and great a God. 2 . The !in andmifery that once th ~y were in, while they knew no t ~od, will do much to k_eep humble a gracious foul , as long as they ltvc-. Though God fo forget our !ins as to forgive them, yet we can fcarce forgive ~Har felves, or at leafi can never forget them. Though he fee no fin in hi! fervants, as he-feerh it in the world, nor fo as eo hate and c0ndemn them for it ; yet tbey fee that once they were as bad as the world , and were children of wrath as well as others ; They condemn thernfel ves when God doth juftifie them ; and fet their fins before their faces , which God dorh c~fi behind his back. 0 thole dark, thofe ungrateful, and thofe perilous dayes, will never be forgotten by the renewed fouL The thoughts of them fhall ever keep us hl:lrnble. Whenwe look E>n the wicked miferahle world, to think that fuch were ma– ny of us, though mercy have wafhed, and fand:ified , and jufii-: fied us. 3. Moreover , God bath fo contrived rhe way of their faiva– tion, that they fhall h:1ve ,.t! bya Redeemer, and byfruft Grace, and none lball be juL . •.J by the works of the Law, nor by any merit of his own; bu t JgMfling id excluded by the Law of faith, RrJ1n. 3. I 9, 27, 28. and we fl.ull hP-venothing bHt what we rueivt be!i des :~n d contrary to our deferr. 4· And alas too muchcorruption ihllremaineth in us: We have jlljhthatfigbteth ag~inj} the fpirit '.Rvm.7.24. Gal. 5·.17. ~e ~(_now but in part, ~tnd Love God hut m part, and ferve htrn Wtth fuch confl:ant weaknefs, that thcfe things are ufually fuch hum. bling matters to agracious foul , that were ic not for the Corn- . forrer' they would be unable to lookup. 0 to feel how dark we are ! how far from God ! how fl:range to heaven ! how little we believe, and know, and love ! thefe are h11rnbling thougl1cs indec'd to a foul that is acquainted with it felf. No poverty, 6eg– gery) or rhe ~eprMch in the wo~ld, would be fo hum~ling tO them. To fi nd fech remnants of that odious fin, that cofi them dear, and had cofl: them dearer, ifit had not cofl: their Lord fo dear,this is confl:a nt matter of humil iation. ~. And too often do their wrruptions get advantage of them, and produce fome aElual fin, of thought, word or deed: andthis alfo mull be grievous to them. 6. The
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