on the Nature of God. weakneffes in the foul , yet fuch a foul doth never bound its fe f in working after God. I indeed heretofore have let out my heart tó the creature,but nowI would fain,if I could, let out my heart infinitely after God : Why ? For I fee an infinite diftance between the good there is in the creature, and the good there is in God ; certainly where this is,there is grace , and this one note were enough to difcern the truth of grace in die heart : If the fight of God have wrought this , that whereas heretofore thy heart bath been let out after fuck and fuch creature- comforts , now thou doll defire, if it were poffible, to let out thy heart infinitely after God; here is the work of grace, and in this thou goeft beyond any hypocrite : Oh keep this conftant in thy foul, this is the efpecial fangtifying of Gods Name in all our wayes ; when wee fee that God gives us leave to let out our hearts towards the creature in fome meafure , then there is a great deal of danger, that wee fhould have our hearts flick in the creature,and that we fhould not have that difproporcion in the letting out of our hearts to the creature, and toGod,as ought to bee : And this is the ground of all Idolatry in the world , when men have feen fome excel- lency in the creature , they have been taken with it, and there have (luck , and have not been carried from the crea- ture to God. And that is Heathens Idolatry, when they fee an excellency in the Sun, they think that is God : So Chri- ftians Idolatry may bee in this, If there bee any creature - comfort that thy heart clofes withal' and there thou doll Rick, and thy heart is not carried to God, yea, is not carried to God in fuch a difproporcion as there is between him and the creature ; I fay, fo far as thou wantefl that that thou art capable of in this kinde , fo tar thou art guilty of Idolatry. Oh that this one note might flick upon us, t here is none tie xnto thee, O Lord : Cantl thou fay this out of the upright- refs of thy foul, as in the prefence of God, Lord thou that knowefl all things , knoweft that though I have a vile heart that is let out after the creatures more than it ought tobee, yet Lord thou knowetl that my heart is let out after nothing
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