Spiritual PerfeClion. fore our !elves. The Apoll le Paul though he fo excellently rrprr[miCd the /(mg ofSaints tn hu Lifr, acknowledged hrmfelf to be the clue[ of Smners 'Trs obfervable that Sr. Pttrr m the account of hiS Fall and Repenrance, Recorded by St. M.rk, who wrote the Gofpel by hi s Direaion •. aggravates his Sin more than is cxprelt in the Gofpel of St. Lt~kr and Sr .. J ohn, where !lJS Demalts rel.ated, but noc Ius C~rfing and Swearing, faying, ] know not t hu man: and Ius Repen~ance rs nor fo funy declar d: forth;. other Evangel ilts tell us, '" ovept buiCrly m the rcHea10n upon hiS denral of Chnlt, but ns onely laid in Mark, when he thMght on tt he rvtpt. ou~s~~fo!~c~:~~ t"~~~~~~e~i~f~ i~te:r"'~~:: ~~~~~;·in~~:;;, ~r~~~c~:Jt;dr~;~~;d t~f. Sptrit oft he humble: He tvtfl gi'l.Je Grace to the lmmhte, and JJtar their Prayers. We are alfur'd though tl :c Lord be high, yet he has a refpea to the lowly : He fers his Elleem and Love. on them, regards and rclie~,;es them: Humility attraEl:s the Eye and Heart f~f.God lumfelf. Jcb was never more accepted of God than when he abhorr'd him. I !ban add thi s Confideration, that lbould be of Infinite weight with us: The Son cf ~od came do_wn from H_eave~, to fet before us a pattern of Humility. He does in a fpec1al manner tnfi:r~Cl: us In t~Is I:-effon: Learn of me, I am meek and lowly. Never could Glory afcend lugher than rn Ius Perfon, nor Humility dcfcend lower than in his A a ions. There arc the deepett. imprinting palfages of Humility in the whole Courfe of Ius defp1fed Lrfc and IgnominiOus Sulfenng,. What can be more Honourable than to imitate the Humble King of Glory? CHAP. IV. Infidelity. Hypocrifte, Envy, are in a fpecia! Srnfe polllltiom of the Spirit. Thr unreafona· blme{s of l nfdelity. Hypocrifie Confider'd: it fomrtimrJ proceeds from Ignorance and Error. Sins are hid tender th~ appearA'!ce of Virtuts. The jled(aft htli~f of ~~d.'s p"re Eye, an ejfe{l"al meamto C11rett. Env7 at the good of otiJen, tvtth Malue wi{bmg them Evil. The nttt/fity of Regmeration evident from the confideration of imvard defilements. Motives to deanfe the Spirit. God iJ highly dijbono11r'd by thrm. Thq are more rajif; contraBed, and more {rtqrJentfJ Committed, than thofe that are aBed hy tiJe Senfitive Famlties. 1 !Jq are more imt1rahle. The InjeBiom uf S•tan dij/ingtli/bt from thofe Sin· fi•l Thoughts that arifefrom the Hrarts of' Mm. They oreo11r lnfelicitirs. 1 Shall .now proceed to Confider fome other Sins, that in a fpecial Senfe, are the pollutions of the Spirit. It has been Obferved already, that in Carnal Sins, the Spirit is the principal Agent, but of other Sins 'tis the Subjca. Such are Infidelity, Hypo· crifie, En•y and Malice, by which the Mind becomes d~rk and impure. Infidelity, whether proceeding from fecret Atheifm, or open Deifm, rejcas reveal'd Religion, as unnecelfa ry and ground lefs. But the Arguments that are drawn from the clear and living Springs of Nature to prove the Being of God, are of fuch Convincing Evidence, that none but thole whole Interelt it is, that there were no Supreme Lawgiver and Judge to Call th:m to an Ac~ounr for their Aaions, can doubt of his Eternal Exillence. Now thattherers a God, bemg proved, the neceffary Confcquencc from that Principle is, that he mutt be honour'd and ferv'd according to his own Will , and that it becomes his Wifdom and Goodnefs to reveal his Will to Men, the Rule of their Duty, and that this be done in the moll inllruB:ive and permanent way, in Writing, that is lefs liable to Corruption than Oral Tradition, and that the Holy Scripture has in it fuch Confpicuous Charaaers of its defce!lt from Heaven, befidcs. the malt undoubted Tc.llimony that it was witten by Men DIVInely InlpiCed, and Infalhble, that without viO!aung the Rules of found Difcourfe we mutt yield our Alfent to its Divine Authority, and fupernatural. Doarines revc~l'd in it. I !ball not her~ amplifie andillullrare thefe par· ticulars, havmg m fome Drfcourfe•, for~erl~ pubhlbd, of .the Exrlloncy of God and the Immortality of the Soul, and the Drvimty of the Chnltran ReligiOn, mamfelted how defperate the Caufe of the Atheifis and Deills is to unpreJudic'd Minds.
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