Part 11.· . :A sai"t br .c Brute. j-1-) . while he was at S~a. Or as wifely may you blame a man for rijing, that cornplaineth how be hart himfelf by huft~ll. And as honeR– ly m.ay yom accufe the ch~tftity of yo~r wife, beca?fe ,ihe lament– ethher fermer adultery ; or the fideltty ot your fruna orfervan:, bccaufe he lamenteth hts former unfaithfulnefs. . But though the pangsof the New birthbe ~ornewhat grievous, and we come not into the world of Grace Wttho.ut fome lamen– tation, yet this is not the jtlfte of.the H~l] life, i.nto which we en– ter ; nor are thofe pangs to contmueall our dates. 2. Yon muft difl:inguiili between the weak.§r and the ftronger fort of Chrifiians : and confider, that children are apt eo er] ; but it is not therefore better to be unborn : Sick..nefs is querulous, and theweak._are froward ; but it i~ not therefore bet:er to be dead. The godly are not perfectly godly : They are fintJers while they are Saints : They have Holinefs; but they have corruption with it : Their fin is C9nquered, but yet not touzlly rGoted out. The relick.J do re•ain,thougb it donot raign. Ancl it is the remnant of their unholinefs that they lament, and not their holinefs: They grieve not that t.."''cy aregodly, but that they arena moregadl]'- It troublerh them not that they are come home to Chri.fi, but that they have brought fo much of their corruption with them. Hear– ken whether they complain of their Humility or their Pr-ide ! of their Faith, or their unbelief! their &onfidence or. their diflruft? their repentance ortheir h11rdne[s of heart ? It is not their heaven– ly-mindednefs that troubleth them, but their earthly-minJednefs. Nor is it their ff!iritua!ity, but their c~trnality: Nor is it t~e D#• ties, but the 'Weak..mfs and faultimfs of their fouls in duty: Not that they do it: bur that they da it no better. It is more holine[t thAt they beg for, and lament the want of. And will you fay that Holine(s is unpleafant, becaufe men would.fo fain have mare of it.? You would reafon with more w,ifdom in another cafe. If a man that hath taO:ed meat or drink, complain becaufe he hathnomore. you would not blamehu food for that; nor gather from thence, that it is unpleaf;mt, or that famine is more delightfuL 3· You muft difiinguifu between thofc ChriHians that have f~ln fince their conv,er(ion, into any great and . wounding fin' or nourifh fome vexatious diftempers; and thofe that 1'/alk:. more up– rightly with G9d, and maintain their integrity· and peace. No wonder if David after hid fin ~ complain . of the b.rtakjng of hu hones and heart: and if Pettr go out and weep bitterly. .The :X: t 3:, fervantsh
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