Hall - HP BX5133 .H34 1647

The great lmpoflor. ( •ffection; whiles it fecretly doats upon the world; like fome falfe!lrumpet, that enter- A caines her husband with her eyes, and m the meane ume treads upon the coe ofan Adulterer underthe board : That ic loves jufiice, when ic is but revenge; That it I grieves forthe milling of C~ri.fi, when in_deed it is but for the loaves and fi!Jles; That it feares God, when indeed 1t IS but afratd of our o\•ne torment; That tt hates the , Jin, when it is the perfon; That it hates the world, when it thrul\s God out of doores to lodge it. Meafure: That we love God enough, and the world but enough, when as indeed the oAeloveis but as the cold fit ohn ague, the otheran hot; we chill in the one, no le!fethanweglowinthe other; when we make God onely al\ale,to draw on the world. That we doe enough hate our corruptions, when (at our fl1arpeft) wedoe B but ge~tly fn~ape them, as El! did his fonnes; or as fome indulgent _parent doth an unthrifcy darlmg; whom he_chtdes, and yec feeds w1th the fewell ofhJSexce!fe; That we have grieved enough for our finnes, when they have not coft us fo much as one teare, nothing but a lictlefa!hionable wind, that never came further than the roots ofourcongue; That we doe enough compallionate the affiiClions of l•Jtph, whenwe drinke wine in bowles; That we feare God more than men, when we arealhamed to doe that in prefence ofachild, which we care not to doe in the face ofGod. Manner: That our heart loves, and hares, and feares, and joyes, and grieves truly, when it isan hypocrite in all; That it delights conllamly in God, and holy things, when it is but an Ephraims morning dew; That our anger is zealous, when it is bur: a C lla!h ofperfonallmalice, ora fuperllitions furie; That we feare as fons, when it is as cowards, or flaves; That we grieve as Gods pa.riems, when we free, and repine,and lhuggle like franticks again!\ the handofour Maker.Thus (to !umme up all)the heart ofman is wholly fet uponcozenagc1 the underllanding over-knowing,mif-knowing dilfembling; The will pretending, and inclining contrarily 1 the affectionsmocking us in the obje&, meafure, manner,and in all ofthem the heart otman is deceitfull. Ye have fe~nethe face ofthis Cheator; looke nowat his hand,and now ye fee who this Deceiver is, fee alfothe lleights of his deceit, and therein the fa!hion, the fubjcCl, the fequell of it, from whence we will defcend to our Demeanour, towards fo dangerousan lmpollor. 1 he fafhion ofhis deceit isthe fame with our ordinary Juglers; eirhercunning D conveyance, or fal[e re(emblance. Cunning conveyance, whether intO us, in us, from us. The heart admits fin, as Paradife did the Serpent; There it is, but by what chinks or crani<s it entered, we know not; fo as we may fay offin as the Mafter ofthe feall in the Gofpel [aid to his flovenly guel\, f2.!!'""d• intrajli? H•w c.mefl th•• in hithtr~ Corruption doth not eat into the heart as our firll Parents did into the apple, fo asche print of their teeth might be feen,bnc as the worme eats into the core,inlenfibly;Nei. thcr is there leCfe clo[eneffe when it is entred;l would it were as untrue aword,as it is an har!h one, that many a profelfedly-Chrillian heart, lodges a devill in the blinde E roomes ofit, and eicher knowes ic not, or will not be acknowne of it; every one that harbcurs a willing fin in his brei\, doth fo: The malicious man bath a furious devill, the wanton an uncleane devill, a Bee/phtgor,or a Tammuz,theproud man a Lucifir the covetous a Mammon: Cercainely thefe foule fpirirs are not more truly in hell, than in a wicked heart; therechey are, but foclofdy,that I know not ifthe heart it felfe know it; it bein verified of this citaddl oftbe heart,which was (aid of that vall Ninivt,that the enemie had taken fome parts of it, long ere the other kne\v it : What !hould I fpeake ofthe mol\ common, and yet moll dangerousgueit, thatlodges in this Inne of the hem, lnfidtlity~ Call atthe doore, and aske iffucha one hol\ notthere; They within make !\range of it, deny it, forfweare it; Call the officers, make privie fearch, you !hall hardly find him : Like fome Jefuitein a Popilh dames chamber, he is fo clofely contrived into falfe lloores, and double walls, that his prelence is not mllre eafily knowne, than hardly convinced, confe!fed. How eafie is it to fay, thoc ifinfiddity did not lurke in the hearts of men, they durll not doe aschey doe; they coulJ not doe but what they doe not~ Durft they finne if they were rfwaded

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