884 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS ing life is so far in your hands under God, that you cannot be undone till you undo yourselves, how few of you will forbear your undoing ! Ah, what a silly thing is man ! and what a bewitching and befooling thing is sin ! Lastly, You may hence learn, that the greatest ene- my to man, is himself; and the greatest judgment in this life that can befal him, is to be left to himself; and that the great work which Christ has to do, is to save us from ourselves, and the greatest complaints of men should be against themselves ; and that the greatest work that we have to do ourselves, is to resist ourselves ; and the greatest enemy which, we should daily pray, and watch, and strive against, is our own hearts and wills ; and the greatest part of your work, if you would do good to others, and help them to heaven, is to save them from themselves, even from their own blind un- derstanding, and corrupt wills, and perverse affections and violent passions, and unruly senses : I only name all these for brevity's sake, and leave them to your further consideration. Well, now we have found out the great murderer of souls, (even men's selves, their own wills,) what re- mains but that you confess this great iniquity before the Lord, and be humbled for it, and do so no more? To these three ends distinctly, I shall add a few words more. 1. Further to convince you. 2 To humble you. And, 3. To reform you. 1. We know so much of the exceeding gracious na- ture of God, who is willing to do good, and delights to show mercy, that we have no reason to suspect him of being the cause of our death, or to call him cruel He made all good, and he preserves and maintains all; the eyes of all things wait upon him, and he gives them their meat in good season ; he opens his hand, and satisfies the desires of all the living. He is not only righteous in all his ways (and therefore will deal just- ly,) and holy in all his works (and therefore not the author of sin,) but he is also good to all ; and his ten- der mercies are over all his works.
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