S 3 6 fin- Theyromife oftheSpirit, of mains. S a c r.XI. ward thenthere : Oh then examine, how clofe and dearly heavenly to thy heart : Is there any thing more prized then God, then Grace, then Godlinefs? then know, Godhath not put his fpirit inthee, but the Devil,or the world, and finhave put theirhafts in thee : Now this is a luredifcovery of thewoful and finful elate of moftpeople, God is not indl their thoughts, Chrift is not in their affeótions, they chufeother things rather then him. Further- more, as God and Chri[t is the belovedof their heart ; fo that which is moll hatedand abhorred from the heart, is fin and all evil ; its more loathed then any other thing, more feared , more avoided ; Yo that they chufe. aflhiftion and all mifetyrather then fin,their heart is molt fenfible and apprehenfiveofthis: Ohwhat then can they think of themfelves, whoharbor and nourifh fin? they no longer live, but fin in them ; this is their meatand drink, todo the works ofthe Devil ; Oh then that at laß men fecure and bold in fin, would be awaken- ed : How cometh that to be imbraced in thy bofom,' and prac'lifed in thy life, which thou fhould (avoid as hell it fell? Secondly, This inward wor&efgrace u fern, When the Work of humiliation n laid low enough : We 'readof theParable of him that built anhoule, andwhen the tempefts and forms arofe, all fellto the ground immediately ; and why ? becaufe this was not diged deep enough: Now our repentanceand humiliation is then deepenough, when its for fin as fin,when itsfor fin becaufe its an offence to God, and difpleafes him ; when they loath themfelves, and count them- felves abominable in this refpea. To be humbled for fin, as Ahab and the lfraeliter were often times, becaufe of the temporal judgements following fin, was not to go deep enough : Oh I herein people come too fhort, they cry out of their fins, in the fear ofdeath, in the extremity ofpain: Alas, this is notto go to the bottom ; there is a work thing in fin, then allthe temporalcalamities it brings with it ; and that is, to offendGod, to feparate between his favor and thy foul: Its therefore very meet, that thy humiliation fhould be for that which is the worftevil infin. Again,in humiliationmen go deep enough, when they do not onely flay uponaelual fins, but go to the very original and fountain of all: 'Thus David, Pfal.gt. he went deep, when beyond his anual fins of Worthen and Adultery healfobewailedthenatívecorruptionof hisfoulrOh! the grace of God muff indeed have a dole and inward work in that man,who_ difcovers the root of fin, as well as thebranches ; the fountain, as well as the (ream. God in the univerfal defruftionof the world, did not onely look to the aftual impieties thencommitted, but to the imagination of-the thoughts of a mans heart, WhichWere onely evil , and that continually, Gen.6. and thus he thatwill make a lure and good iffue of his humiliation, mull fill dig deeper and deeper ; and fee more and more abominations, till he go to the foul and bitter root of all. 3, Thirdly, TheustheWordofGadhopueinturinwardpares ,WhenWedoeruly, m eerely andunfeignedly, perform all the dutiesGod regaireeb: This is todo it with thewhole heart; and if we had any thingbetter then our hearts, they fhould beoffered up to God : Thus David, Pfal.qt, Thou delighrefl in the truth in the inward parta: Oh this a man fhould havein all thefervice he cloth for God! Sothat all chofe, who by Religion accomplifh their felf- interefs; all thofç who leek themfelves, have carnal movtivesin theprofeffion of Religion ; theft are but piftures, not living creatures in the way of grace : Great is thenumber of hypocrites, even among chafe that profefs the name of Chrif : Its damna ble blafphemy to charge it upon all, as wicked mend6; this is to condemn the generation of the godly, toblafpheme Chrift and the Golpe! ; yet it cannotbe, but that through the hypocrifiesof many, grievous offences and fcandalswill fallout: None of theirwho follow Chrift becaufe of the loaves, or who tread out the cornmeetly becaufe theymay feed on it, let up infeeming manner the ways of Chrift., that they may get outward advantages;, can by experience witnefs
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