...,weil 136 I A Treatife of the Afe ions. t -hou in, when fin and corruption is predominant in thee : If thou be more zealous after the things of this life, then aftergrace and holinefs, withou t which no man thall fee the : Thou cant} never enter into Gods kingdom, becaufe fin is predominant in thee. 4 j Fourthly, Zeal is the fel f- cruelty of the foul ; Jf thou beeft Zeal lithe Í moil zealous to God, thy zeal is a holy cruelty to thy Pelf. ty of the Mafter,fpare thy felf, (ayes Peter to Chrift, Get thee be- foul, binde me Satan, (ayes Chrift.; he was zealous for the re -' demption of the world, and he would not fpare his own life. Zeal is a holy cruelty of the foul, it will fpare nothing, nor life, nor credit, nor living, nor any thing. M. Fox that was zealous in his love to the poor, he was in a holy man- ner cruel! to himfeif, to give the very clothes off his back, rather then the naked thould not be covered. Love is as prong as death, and as cruel! as the grave, Cant.8.6. Duna ficut inferi xelua, as ilm6rofe expounds it : zeal is as hard as the grave. A man that is zealous is a hard man to himfelf, that he may be free unto God; not as though true zeal were hard and- cruel! indeed unto his own foul, but I mean, to his own flethly delires and refpells, he is the mercifulleft man to his own foul under heaven. Now then fee what a woful eftate thou art in, ifthou beefy not zealous for God : for if the zeal of thine affedions gad any where elfe, - thou art the cruelieft man to thine own foul in very deed, and in ttruth, as poffibly can be: Thou fquandrefl away Gods mer- cies, thou treafuref up Gods wrath, thou liven in thofe fins which thine own confcience can tell thee are fins, thou bettoweft thine affeftions upon the things of this life, which fhould he given to God, thou damneft thine own foul. That time which God vouchfafes thee to get grace in, thou watteft it away upon vanity ; thou art more ear. nett for the good of thy carkatfe then for the everlafting weal of thy foul ; thou parte[t with Chritt, rather then with thy lulls; O thou art durus at inferi, thou are as cruell as hell to thine own foul. Thou knoweft that whofoever comes
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=