36 Ar ThCittfe Of the .ffeHtans. its vain haunts, and unite it together ; then he could fer his afffections, his fear, and his love, andhis delight, and the reft upon Gods Name, Jejunro paJones corporis, orations peffesfananda font mentù, (ayes Hieronse as the af. Hierom. iu feCtions of thebody are to be. healedbyfaff:ing,fo the Aff'Wons of'the foulare ,Marcum, to behealed by prayer : as longas theyarecarnal!, they are the plague and pc- ftilenceofthe foul and prayer muff .heal them. As Father Latimer Paid to goodRidley:pray, pray, O pray, pray ; fomay I lay. Pray, pray, I befeech you, pray ,untoGodevermore, againI faypray. I have not time enough to pray faaften. Idopray in themorning andevening, but my bufiuetfes are fomany,,.&c. -Thismaybe thouobjeCteff. Not time enough, fayeft thou Findeout force ódde timesbetides morning and evening ; flea! into Tome corneror other, belabour thy heart beforeGod. O, fayeft thou, I finde ita hard thing to ftir upmine.affections, Iam a very Stoick mr" céaa94, I have noaffection, I cannot compell mineaffections to God. Cana thou not ? but thoucanft compellthy heart for to pray; thou canft tugandpull at thy heart in thy prayers, and this will fetch up thine affections. Prayer is not onelya mouth tobeg Phyfick, but alto it isphyfick it felfe, wherebyChrift cures the affe&lions of theheart. The poorbegger, the morehe is driven tobeg, the more affectionate he is in d.efcribing hismiferies : you (hall fee force beggers w fet forth their rnifery, and cry fo lamentably, as it would buríl a mans heart withpity and compafon, onesbowels wouldevenyearne but to hear them:, I doe not mean yourlazie canting beggars, but diftreffedLazars in- deed. So beloved,pray ; ;fever thoube Wed to ir, it willfcrueup thy heart,and raife up thine affeaions exceedingly. I donot mean that lazie hearted and canting 'kindofpraying of Moil wretches, that hath no more affe&ion in ir, . than there is favour in the white ofan Egge. But fet thy felfe to prayer in- deed,andby it Clint} will quicken thineaffections. Alas, thy heart is divi- ded and fcattcred upand downamong the things ofthe world, and there- fbre ftri.ve with God that he wouldgather upall the pieces into one ; thou muft have all thine affectionsandall thepieces of thy heart gathered up in- to one, ifthou wouldft fet them uponGod,Iwillgive them one heart, that they mayfearmefor ever,faies God,3er.32.39.your heart and theaffe&ionsofyour heart arc divided and fcatcred upand down intoa thoufand pieces,one upon one thii?gg,another upon another;and God hashpronged that he will gather upyour hearts into one, and giveyou this fame one heart, that ye may fear him and fet all your affections upon him: will ye coifs fuch a gracious promife. as this for want of asking it, and begging it, and praying for it? this is the reafon why men have fuch earthly affections as they have, becaufe they are not frequent in prayer to God tobe helped . Prayer is. an excellent hélp to wroteupyour affections to God. This is the ficft ; oftcia prayer LO God. Light uJ a :can The fccoiul is this,Light upa candle in thy heart,that it may fee what to fet ter:r earr,thine.afjectioiison in God. Get knowledge of God, ignot-i nulla cupido, Un- known,tinaffe .led5 thineaffections are unruly, and thou canft not rule them to God-ward, yeabut thou canft get knowledge. Knowledge will help thee° exceedingly. The affections we fee plainly that come neareff to reafon, are fooneft of all ruled. And the affections that are remotefffrom reafen,are more hard tobe ruled .Aman commonlywill fooner rule his affecionsaright,then a woman. or a child,becaufe a man hath more reafon. The Philofophers thew this by theexample ofa horfeor a Bull.AHone is fooner tamed than a fifh,becaufea Honte ismore capableofknowledge and ofreafon; as flaw- rail reafonandknowledge can naturally rule theaffe&ions,fo fpirituall rea- fon and,knowledge, canfpiritually rule the affectionsAnd therefore if thou wouldett rule thine affections aright to fet themon God, ..hour toknow God;every one that lovethgjod,knoweth god.' John 4.7. Hemutt needs know God 1
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