Chap. 33. An Expofition upon the Book of J k:t B. Verf. 9. zo 3 value our felves, 'tis bell to doe it at an under rate, and to fay leffe of our felves ( if it may be ) we are, as Paul did4who called himfelfe lefte then the leafof all Saints ; Pride aiwayes o- ver-reckons andcabs us up more then we are worth. Some rec- kon their temporali and many more their fpirituall elates at many thoufands (as Imay fay ) when upon a true account they are worfe thennothing. So did the Churchof Laodicea ( Rev: 3. 17.) Thoufayeft I am rich, and encreafed with goods,andhave need ofnothing, and knowefl not that thouart wretched, and miftrable, andpeore, and blind, andnaked. They who are foule-blind, can- not fee either how bad they are, or what good they want ; No- thing' hinders the fight of our wants fo much as a conceit that we are full. Secondly , It is the greatefl deceit, even Idle-deceit, to fay or fuppofe that we are (in this fence) citane without tranfgref. fion ; fo faith that text ofthe Apofile (v: 8. ) He that faith he bath nofin, deceiveth himfelfe. It is bad enough to deceive o- thers, and woe to them that doe fo ; but how bad is their condi- tionwho deceive themfelves I He is in an ill condition who is deceivedby others ; But if a man deceive himfelfe, where (hall he have his amends ? Selfe-admirers, and felfe-flatterers, are the Greatefi felfe-deceivers. And who or what (hail be true to that man, who is falfe to himfelfe ? Thirdly , It is a lye and the greate(l lye, ( that's more thena bare deceit) for it is fuch a lye as leaveth no truth at all in us. He that faith he bath no fin in him , bath no truth in him ; what bath he in him then,but a lye ? Every fin is a lye, and he that faith he bath no fin in him, hath nothing of truth in him ; what bath he then in him, or what is he,but a lye ? (v: io. ) The word of God is not inhim, which is the treafury of all truth ; and there- fore he bath no truth in him, nor can have till he hat h repented of that lye. Fourthly, ( that ye may fee there is exceeding much in this charge) To fay fo, is blafphemy, and the highefl blafphemy; Why ? Becaufe it makes God a lyar, He that faith he bath no fin, doth not only deceive himfelfe, but as much as in him lyeth, he makes God a lyar (v: io.) To deceive with a lye, is the worfl fort of deceivings ; and what lye is worfe then,or fobad as that ivhich.makes the God of truth a lyar, and turns the truth of I? d a God
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