Burgess - BT715 B85 1654

..- ----"'• - -AA.. . - of HypscrJfie in R.el~gion~ temporal mercies, Hag.t.6. Te.hivefow,unHch and /Jring ;,, little, Je eat kHt have 110t enoMgh , ye drink_;but are not filkd, ye , . clottthe, hut there u no w.-n~~th. Thus it is with thee, thou praieO: but haft not the fpiriiual benefi c of prayer, thou na,– me.O: God and calleft on him ofcen, but thy foul is not filled with good things from him ; certainly this fllould much pre– vail uponall, Goddelighteth in truth in the inward parts, and tofuch as are fo, all duties and religion it fclf is full of mar~ row and f~tneffe, but to the hypocrite every thing i1 a fha– dow and empty, his heart is like a veffel full ofholes, no true joy or folid peace poured into him can be retaiaed. Fear therefore this hypocrifie that doth thus change and alter alf · thy reHgion, that ma-kes a. ftarre a dunghill, a pearl into dirt,and thy religion to be nQthing but meer impie~yand wic: kedneffe. '·· Fourthly, Hypecrifte u/even, !Jecau{e though little in quan– tit], Jet it will quick.JJ infect .mdaffimilate agreat lump into its ()Wn tflfte : For this eqd, the word ofGod is called Ieven, be.: caafe by its power it doth transform and cb~nge Towns and Cities, as at firft prop1gation ,of the Gofpcl ; and thus hy– pocrifie alfo isleven, becaufe though but little, and creeping in at ficft 1 yet it will prefently infetl: the whole man. This le– profie on the fqrehead will quickly fpread over the whole ,body : This cloud as big as an hand, will quickly darken tbe whole skie; You fee itinJehu, inJudM, by giving way to bypocrifie, How quickly did it diffufe it felf through all they had? And when hypocrifie bath feifed upon the whole maft, then whatfoever it pretends for God, yet ic can do ·nothing but referre all tO it feff; fo that whereas the firft fouAdation in Chrifts Difciple is feJf.deniaJ, the firft ftone in hypocrifies building is feJf.feeking. _Oh take heed then of fwallowing ·down but a little of this poifon 1Infincerity and hypocrifie will quickly make thee all ~)VerJo; as a man thal: giYeth way to lying, will quickly have truth q~ite eUranged. from his lips. · · . Fifthly, HJpocrijie may well ~e comp11red to /even, hecau[e 111 · th.st doth{ecret!y .endinfenftbl] difufe its vertue to ever) pare So of all firmes hypocrifie is mofi fubtil and latent ; we are fo' when

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=