434 The Nature, 1Janger, and Cure him. No, but, Si1ma, let' me tell thee, Thou miftakeft the M:m. Did you ever hear him pray, IO as to charm Heaven, and which is more, fo ~s ro melt even your Hearts imo Aff~ttions? Did you ever hear him difcourfe ofSpiritual things, as if he h:1d been intimate with Angel!, and one of Heaven·s Secrcrarie~? Hav~e yo~formerly obf~rv'd in hin~ a. blamel:!S and exemplary Converfatton? 1hen wdced you m1ghr fay, th1s 1s one ot tb!;: God!J. 1-Iblinefs owns him, Religion glories in him, while he thus adorns his Profeffion; bur when he ~n~, fay not, Behold, one of the Godly; .r~isis Blafpbemyagainfi Raligion. No,. 1t 15 noc the Godly Man that fins; no, us the corrupt and unholy Pan in him •! it is (hat Part in him that ismo!l:like to thee. In Rom. 7· 17. fays rhe ApoftJC:. there, It is no more I, but fin that dwells in me ; and if it be indwelli11g Sin that is the Caufe of aC!uaJ Sin in the Beft, why then do you bely their Graces? Why dQ you accufe them whom the Apofile vindicates, and tdls you plainly rhac it is not they, but Sin in them ? Learn therefore to put a Difference be'rwixt a Saint and a Sinner in every ~ild of God; and if it be the Sinner in them that expoferh them royour Scotns and Flours, what elfe do you in upbraiding of, them_, but more upbraid your felves, that are nothing but Sinners throughout? J uJge therefore how fenOefs and unreafonable it is for you to reproach them who,were they not fo much like you, you would have nothing to reproach then~ with ; therefore let wicked Men never m.ore flout and jcar at the Falls and Sins of thofe that are holy, imputing them to them as holy, for it is rhe Sinner in them chat fins, and not the Saint; and by upbraiding them for Sin, they do more upbraid and reproach themfelves. · .A Prrme: Secondly, !J there {ttch a firong Propenfion in the htjl to the worft Sim? See then ~tJs.to ,Sin what Caufe even 1he Beft· h:~veto be c®tinuaUy bJtmble. Oh~ this is that which breaks ';h~;;e:, the v~q' Hearr,_ an~ rends the very ~owels of a t~ue ~hrifiian, that he fhou ld fhouldmake be fo vwlently mclmed CO rhar, whtch of all thmgs 111 the World his God is tbembum· moft averfe to; and which, of all things in the \Vorld, as it isrheonly thing he b!e. never made, fo it is thar which he always hates: This is chat which makes him ffnicehis Breaft wirhAnguifl1, and co cry outwirh rheApoftle, 0 1vretcheJ Man that I am! And well truly may the beft Saint call himfelf a wretched Man, lince he carries that in his Bofom,that will be a perpetual Torment and Vexation to him as long as he lives: There are Factions and Rebellions, inreftine Difcords, and Civil \Vars within, the Flej!J lrtjling againfl the Spirit, and the Spirit lttfting agains1 the FltjiJ; there's a Sea ofWickednefs, and yet in rhe midft of it true Grace, like Fire, {hiving: to burn it up: Nay, no wonder this great Combufiion makes fuch a Smoke and Smother, as wring5 Tears from his Eyes; for when he meditates, this choaks his Meditation ; he begins with God, but through thisfinfid Pronent.fl, he falls, he knows not how, into fome irnpercinenrThought or ocher,and in aMoment he fiides from Heaven to Earth: His Thoughts are like ravell'd Thread, he knows not their Method and Order, nor End of them: When he prays, this Corruption firs very heavy upon his Heart; and as at the Evening the Shadow of the Body moves much fa iter, fo truly many times the Lips move apace in Prayer, when yet rhe Heart is dull and drow!ie; where ever he is, whatever he is about, Lufl is intruding into hii Company, Corruption will be thrufting itfelf into all his Al.l:ions : This is that which makes him weary of his very Life, fo that he could very well be conrenc, nay, he really and heartily willies from his Heart, that this Houfe of Clay were pulled down about him. Truly, when we look abroad imo rhe World, and take notice in what filthy Sins it wallows, what Oaths and Curling, what B!afphcmies and DrunkennefS,what Murrhers,Uncleanneffes,and Riots,have cverywh.cre overfpread the Face ofrhe whole Earrh: What do we fee_, but theEffeds of that finful Nature that is common to us, as well as unto them t There we fee our own Hearts unbowell'd, and there we can difcern whattour felves are, :u the coil of orherMen's Sins. What fays the /Fife Man in Prov. 27· 19 ? A1 ;, 'vater face anfweretb unto face, fo doth the heart ofa Man to a Man. It ~as the pr?ud Pharifee's boaft, .Urd, I thank thee that I am not as other Men are, Extm·r1oners~ Unp1{1, Adult~rers, or afthis Publican; as it is in Luke 18. Yes, beli eve it, you, :md I, and all, yea, the beft of us all, we arc even as others are; the vi! eft ~inne.rs are the :-rueft Glaj[e1 ro reprefem to our view what our Hearcs are: Th(.Ir Wiekf;dnefs gives in a crue Inventory of what lieslock 'd up in our Breafts ; there we ha..,·erhe · . fame
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