------------ The `Ufe of the Law. 3 9; and preferment for himfelfe: but when a Child is full o f indigence ,impotencie,crookedneffe,and d eformity, if he were not then fùpported with this hope,I have a father, and Parents doe not calf out their Lhildren for their de- formities,he could not live with comfort and affurance: fo the fenfe ofour owne pollutions and uncleanneffÿ, ta- king offall conceits of any lovelinefle in our felves,or of any goodneíl in us to attraa the affec`lions ofGod, make us rely onely on his fatherly companion. When our Saviour call'd the poore woman of Syrophenicia Dogge, a beat }ly and uncleane Creature, yet fhee takes not this for a denyall,but turnes it into argument. The leff'e I have by right, the more I hope for by mercy, even men afford their Dogges enough to keepe them alive, and I aske nomore. When the Angell put the hollow of Jacobs thigh out of joynt, yet he would not let him goe ; the more lame he was, the more reafon he had to hold. The Prodigal! was not kept away or driven off from his refolution,by the feare,fhame,or mifery of his prefent eflate ; for he had one word which was able to make way for him through all this, the name of Father. He con(idered,I can but be rejeaed at the lafl,and I am already as low as a rejec`iion can cat} me ; fo I thall lofe nothing by returning, for I therefore returne because I have nothing ; and though I have done enough to be for ever Phut out of dores, yet it may be, the word Fa- ther may have rhetoricke enough in it to beg a recon- cilement, and to procure an admittance atnongf} my fa- thers fervants. Thirdly,It will make us give God the Glory of bic mer- cy the more, when we have the deeper acquaintance with our owne mifery. And God molt of all delighteth in that worke of Faith, which when the Soule walketh in darkneffe and hath no light, yet tru(}eth in his Name, and fiayeth upon him. Fourthly, It will make * our comforts and refrejh. menu G:n 3:. s King.7:4. Efay fo:Io * Multum fcripturafa- aura fecurutu. dug.Spi(êc i.
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