Oriened a~d Applied. I 71 1 -------~I--------------~~ ~~ I Yet many will profefs this true Poverty 'of fpirit, and this is tn;e Sanetification indeed. I Firlt, It is true, where there was' never any of the Grace of Chrill:, but men have r~n upon Reformation without Chrift; and aff<::etion, &c. there \ men are bound to fee their black feer, and happy is the bean that can pull : off every feacher from ~uch crefi~; but where it is, and the_Lord ~~th given I evidence thereby accordtng to h1s vVord; no,v to deny It IS devlltfh, for ir. was he that faid Job did not fervc G.:t fur nonght, and is a lye, of which he was the Fath~r ; and is great unthJnkfulnefs to the Spirit for what he bath , done. Secondly, If there b~ no Grace in a Chrltian nor Spirit, but all in Chrilt, then fay"it upon the houfe cops, ~nd b~ not ~tbamed ?fir; men mull fee nothin.. , becanfe they have nothmg ; otherwife let this delufion roe , and never fi 0nd acceptance i11 holy hearts; and yet how many fiill defcribean Hypocrite by all die Graces of the Spirit, Faith, receiving_ Chrifi as King, PrieH, and Prophet, &c. and fo are clean creatures and upnght men, by feeing nothing in themfelves, contrary to Chrilt,, Joh. I 3· You ~tre '"Je~t,, bHt not all. , TI1irdly, Itistrue, a:graciousheart isapt to deny all the Lordhath done for him; yet the Lord likes not ~his; as Calvin thinks Peter did, Lord, bands, and feet, and all; no, faith rhe Lord , thou arc dean in head, and 'all bLtt rhy feet; and hence needs no wafhing bur in that: And what more frequent than this fin ? but to make what is finful a duty, this is to turn day into night, and night into day, to call evil good, and bitter fweer. SECT. IV. Q!efi. l.BVt dr, th trot the Lord hring every man to fee nothi11g in himfelf? · - ' · An[lv. Yes, that the Lord cloth in preparing him for Chri!l, or in drawing him toward Chrifi, but ic is where there is nothing, neirber poverty or any other grace. , Q!!eH.z. B1tt is not this p~verlyof ffririt, or do !JOt thofahat ~tre poor t'n fjjirit fee nothing ? , ,finfw. I. In regard of their unregenerate parr, which rhe longer rhey live, the more they feel of the evil of ir, and fo the more poor they grow; they fee no good there, and fo account themfelves the moll miferable men, mourning more under it than ever ; yet to fee no good ar all in themfelves, this, if their eyes be open, rliey are nor to f.1y, I delight in the Law in the inner man ; and hence a regenerate Chri!lian is vile in his own eyes afrer all duties and enlargements, he fees how all is defiled with a filthy hearr, and hence Prov. 30·"1· I am brurifh ; and he fpeaks of his natural efiare, and in rh at parr, f~relfe it is crofsto I Cor;z.Io. . z. They fee nothing in themfelves to commend them to God in point of Ju!lificarion; here all Paul's pafi and prefenr righteoufne(<; is accounted dung. . Q!!_eH.3.l{ an Hypocrite fees and feels nothing, and thoJcthat are poor in jpir•t do {o ? >vhllt is the difference ? An f. The differences are many. I. Herhat is rruly poor, fees fo much vilepefs, as tint he !oaths himfelf, c ~ek.,IS. Bur rhe Hypocrite if he harn any ex• cellency, remains full of ir, proud with it ~ if it b~ gone, he feeks himlelf again, and !oathsnot himfelf. z. True poverty of fpirit drives a man out of himfelf, and all carnal contents.
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