Grosse - Houston-Packer Collection BT268 .G91 1632

Holinefre preflratesall under Chrift. cherous friends, that have no truth : I handle thefe as trai- tors, that confpire againft the welfare of my foule :I tram- ple and tread theft under foot, as enemies to my peace: I filence thefe, and will not heare them fpeake, I fuppreffe thefe, and will not fufFer them to raigne, I mortise thef:, and will not fuf er them to live ; and thus I live and livenot, hencewe learne, That be Who lives the life ofgrace and true holinefe, dotb wholly, deny himfelfe, his owne ends, counfels, andaffe5lions,and aleoçether proftrates himfelfe and all that it ka under Chrifl Iefu : He puts himfelfe and all that he bath under Chrift, he implyes himfelfe and all that he bath for Chrift, in all that he doth he chiefly minds and intends Chrift : In lofphs vifion e h Sun Uldoone, and eleven Stores, thefe cele{liall creatures did obeyfance unto him, and all thesheaves in the field nailed unto his fheafe ; in the foule, life, way, and workeof a regenerate man ; all the füpernaturalI gifts and graces, all the morali abilities, and endowments, and all the naturali powers 'and faculties of the foule, with all the members cf the body, all the labours of the life, and what- ièever elfe doe obeyfance unto Chrift, are made íùb- jea and ferviceable unto Chrift : True Chriflians are ter- med by the Apoftle, a i living facrifice. The facrificeunder 1 the Law was no more his that offered it , but the Lords, and wholly to be (pent in the fervice of the Lord ; the Chriftianwho offers himf lfe unto God under the Gofpell , is no more his owne, but the Lords, tobe imployedwhol- lÿ in the fervice of the Lord ; this our Saviour impofeth as a neceffary duty, and fetteth it forth as a cieare and lively charaeter of a true Difciple, and sincereChriftian : If anymve (faith he)Tvill come after me, let himdeny himfelfe, and take up his crorre and follow me : If any man will come after me, as aSchaller after his teacher, receiving my inftruetion; as a Jeep after his íhepheard, feeding in my paftures, as a tod- dler after his Centurion, fighting my battels as a Sublet?, after his Soveraigne, obeying my commandements ; as a bride after her bridegroome, making me the compleateob- jecft of his .love, and embracing me as the husband ofhis foule, ]2; b Gén.37 .7 ,9 i Rom,i z r. k Luk.9.4.

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