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C H R I S T I A N P I E T Y , By P H I L A L E T H E S .

D U B L I N : P r i n t e d i n t h e Y e a r , m d c c l v i i , v r a i s t a r i î .

* V- W j r .

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• .\ i ; • i : M. A L L the mifery and diftrefs o f human nature, whether o f body or mind, is wholly owing to this caufe, T h at Gon is not in man, nor man in G o d, as the ftate o f his nature requires : It is becaufe man has loft that firft life o f G od in his foul, in and for which he was created : H e loft this life, and light, and fpirit, by turning his ima­ gination, will and defire, into a tafting and fen- iibility o f the good and evil o f this earthly world.
T h e r e are two things raifed up in man in- ftead o f the life o f G od ; firji, Self, or feliiihnefs, brought forth by his chufing to have a will and wifdom o f his own, contrary to the will and inftruftion o f G od his Creator.
Secondly, A n earthly, beaftial, mortal life and body, brought forth by his eating that food which was poifon to his paradifiacal nature : Both thefe muft therefore be removed ; that is, a man muft firft die totally to felf, and to all earthly defires, views, and intentions, before he can be again in G o d , as his nature and firft creation require.
A 2 I f [ 4 ] I f this be a certain and immutable truth, T h a t man, fo long as he is a felfiih, earthly- minded creature, muft be deprived o f his true life, the life o f G o d , the Spirit o f heaven in his foul ; what mifery, nay, what a curie is there in every thing, that nourishes and gratifies our Self-love, Self-eiteem, and Self-feeking ; and w hat life is fo much to be dreaded as a life o f w orldly eafe and profperity?
On the other hand, w hat happinefs is there in all outward and in­ ward troubles and diftreifes, when they force us to feel and know the hell that is hidden w ith­ in us, and the vanity o f every thing without us ; w h en they turn all our Self-love into Self­ abhorrence, and force us to call upon G od to fave us from ourfelves, and to give us a new life, n e w light, and new Spirit in J esus C h r i s t .

“ O h happy famine !
might the poor Pro- <c digal have well faid, w hich, by reducing me ct to the neceffity o f aiking to eat huiks with “ fwine, brought me to myfelf, and caufed m y (C return to m y firft happinefs in m y Father’s In like manner may be faid to him, “ houfe.” w h o feels the deepeft diftrefles, inwardly, dark» nefs, heavinefs, and confufion o f thoughts and paffions; outwardly, ill ufage from friends, re­ lations, and the world, unable to ftrike up the leaft fpark o f light or comfort, by any thought pr reafoning o f his own ; O h happy famine !
w h ich leaves you not fo much as the huik o f one human comfort to feed upon, for this is the time and place for all that good and falva- tion to happen to you, w hich happened to the prodigal [ 5 ] prodigal foil ; your way is as ihort, and your luccefs as certain as his was ; you have no more to do than he had ; you need not call for Books or Methods o f Devotion ; for in fuch a ihte, much reading and borrowed prayers are not your belt method ; A ll that you are to oifer to G o d , all that is to help you 'to find him to be your Saviour and Redeemer, is beft taught and expreffed by the diftreifed ih te o f youi7 heart : Only let your diftrefs make you feel and ac­ knowledge this twofold great truth ; firjl, That o f yourfelf, you are nothing but darknefs, va­ nity and mifery ; fecondly, That o f yourfelf, you can no more help yourfelf to light and comfort, than you can create an Angel.
People at all times can feem to aiîênt to thefe two truths ; but then it is an aflent that has no depth or reality, and fo o f little ufe ; but your condition will open your heart for a deep and full convic­ tion o f thefe truths : now give way I befeech you to this conviction, and then you are the Prodigal come to yourfelf, and above h a l f t h e W o r k is d on e. B e i n g in full poifeifion o f thefe two truths, and feeling them in the fame degree o f certainty as you feel your own exigence, you are, under this legibility, to give up you rfelf abfolutelv and entirely to G o d in C h r i s t J e s u s , as into the hands o f infinite Love ; firm ly believing this great and infallible truth, that G o d has no will towards you, but that o f infinite love and infinite delire, to make you a partaker o f his <ii\ine nature j and that it is as ablolutely im - poifible noiTible for the Father o f o u r Lord J e s u s C h r i s t to refufe you all that good and falvation you want, as it is for you to take it by your own for the power.
O h drink deep o f this cup it.

T u rn precious water o f eternal life is in unto G o d with this faith ; caft y o u d e lf into this abyfs o f love ; and then you will be in that ftate the Prodigal was in, when he laid, I-w ill arife and go to my Father, and w ill jay unto him, Father, 1 have finned againjl heaven, and bejore thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy Jon ; and then all that w hich is related o f him, will b e fulfilled in you .
^ M a k e this therefore the tw o fo ld exercife of y o u r heart ; now, b o w in g y o u r fe lf d ow n before G o d , in the deepeft fenfe and a ck n o w le d g m e n t o f you r o w n nothingnefs and viiene.s ; then, lo o k in g up unto G o d in faith and lo ve , consi­ der h im as alw ays extending the arm s o f his Z Z , tow ards yo u , and fu ll o f an .nfinue de fire to dwell in you, as h e d w e ll, in the A n g e ls in h e a v e n : C on ten t y o u r fe lf w ith this inw ard and fim ple exercife o f you r heart for a w h ile, and feek or like n o th in g m any b o o k , b u t that w h ic h nouriihes and ftrengthens this ftate oi y ° C om m 'to me, fays the holy Jesus all ye that labour, and are heavy leaden, and I mII r.jrejh you ■ here is more for you to live upon, m oic lieh t for your mind, more o f u n f t i o n for your heart than in volumes o f human inftruftion -, n k k up all the words o f the h o l y J e s u s and & g o f h im to be the life and lig h t o f your foul .
m love the found o f his name, for Jesu s is the /oar, the [wcet?iefs, the compaflionate goodncfs o f G o d him felf, w h ic h became man, that fo man m igh t have the p o w er to become the Son o f G o d ; love, and pity, and w iili w ell to every foul in the world ; dw ell in love, and then you dw ell in G o d ; hate nothing, but the evil that itirs in your heart.
T e a c h your heart this prayer, till it conti­ nually faith, though not w ith outward w ords ; ** O holy J esus, m eek L a m b o f G o d, bread “ that came dow n from heaven, light and life “ o f all holy fouls, help m e to a true and liv- “ ing faith ; O do th o u open th y fe lf within “ ■ me, w ith all thy holy nature, fpirit, tem per, “ and inclinations, that I may be renew ed in “ thee, a new creature, quickned and revived, “ led and governed by th y holy Spirit.” P r a y e r fo praitifed becomes the life o f the Sou/, and the true food o f eternity : K eep in this ftate o f application to G o d , and then you w ill find it to be the true w a y o f riling out o f the vanity o f time into the riches o f eternity.
W e m u ll not always look for the fame de­ grees o f fervour ; the matter lies not there ; na­ ture w ill have its ihare ; but the ups-and-downs o f that are to be overlooked w h ilft the w ill and fpirit are good, and fet right ; for the changes o f animal fervour, lelfen not our union w ith It is the abyfs o f the heart, an unfa­ G o d .
thom able depth o f eternity within us, as m uch above fenfible fervour, as heaven is above earth, it is tkii that w orks our w ay to G o d , and unites w ith ■4 [ 8 ] w it h H im ; this is the divine nature and p o w er w ith in us, w h ich never calls upon G o d in vain, but w h e th e r helped or deferted b y bodiiy fer­ vour, penetrates through all ou tw ard natuie, as ealily and effectually as our thoughts can leave our bodies, and reach into th e regions o f eternity.
T h e poverty o f our fallen nature, the de­ praved w o r k in g s o f ilelli and blood, the co r­ rupt tem pers o f our polluted bir.th in this w o r ld , do us no hurt, fo long as the Spirit o f Prayer works contrary to them, and longs fot the farit birth o f the light and Spirit o f Heaven.
A ll o u r natural evil ceafes to be our o w n evil as foon as our will and fpirit turn from it ; ^ it then c h a n g e s its nature, loies all its poifon and death, and only becomes our holy crofs, on w hich we happily die from felf and this world into the kingdom o f heaven.
L e t us therefore continually connder G o d , as the greateft love ; his eternal unchangeable w ill, as&the greateft good and blefiing to every creature ; and that all the mifery, darknefs, and death o f fallen angels and fallen man, conhft in their having loft their likenefs to this divine nature : Let us alfo confider ourfelves, and all the fallen world, as having nothing to feek or w iili for, but by the Spirit o f Prayer to draw into our fouls rays and fparks o f the divine, m eek, loving, tender nature o f G o d : L a % , let us confider the holy Jesus, as t h J G o d to our fouls, to begin and fin.fh the birth Of G o o within us, in fpite o f every .
n w a r d j d e [ 9 ] Outward enemy.

Thefe three infallible truths, heartily embraced, and made the nourifhment o f our fouls, ihorten and fecure the way to heaven, and leave no room for error, icruple or delulion.
E x p e c t no light, life or comfort, but from the Spirit o f G od dwelling and manifefting his own goodnefs in your foul : T h e beft o f men and the beil o f books can do us good, only fo far as they turn us from themfelves, and every human comfort, to feek, and have, and receive every kind o f good from G od alone ; not a dif- tant, nor an abfent G o d, but from him w ho lives, and moves, and works in the Spirit o f our fouls : T h e y never find G od, w ho fearch for him by reat'oning and lpeculation ; for fince G od is the higheit Spirit and the higheft Life, nothing but a like Spirit, and a like Life, can unite with him, find, feel, or know any thine* o f Him : Hence it is, that Faith, and Hope^ and Love turned towards G o d, are the only poffible and alfo infallible means o f obtaining a true and living knowledge o f him : And the reafon is plain, becaufe by thefe holy tempers, which are the workings o f his L ife and Spirit within us, we feek the G od of Life, where He is ; we call upon H im with his own voice ; we draw near Him by his own Spirit ; for nothing can breathe forth faith, and love, and hope to G o d , but that Spirit and Liie which are o f G o d , and which through flefli and blood, thus prefs towards Him, and readily unite with Him.
; B T h e r e T h e r e is not a more clear truth than this, T h a t neither reafoning nor learning can ever in­ troduce a fpark o f heaven into our fouls ; and if this be true, w e have nothing to feek, nor any thing to fear from reafon : L ife and Death are the things in queilion, they are neither of them the growth o f reafon or learning, but each o f them is a State o f the Soul, and thus differ, Death is the want, and L ife is the enjoy­ ment o f its highefi good.
Reafon theiefore and Learning have no power here, but by their vain activity to keep the foul infenfible o f that L ife and Death, one o f w hich is always grow ­ ing up in it, according as the will and delire o f the heart worketh : A dd reafon to a vegetable, and yo u add nothing to its life or death ; it# life or fruitfulnefs lieth in the l'oundnefs o f its root, and the goodnefs of the foil, and the flrength it derives from air and light.
Heaven and H ell grow thus in the foul o f every man ; his heart is the root ; i f that be turned from evil, it is like the plant in a good foil ; when it hungers' and thirfts after the divine life, it then, by the Spirit o f Prayer, infallibly draws the light and Spirit o f G o d into it, w hich are infinitely more ready and willing to live and fruitify in the foul, than light and air to enter into the plant; for the foul hath its being and life for no other end but that the triune G o d m ay manifeft the riches and power o f his own life in it.
W h e n therefore it is the one ruling, never- ceafine defire o f our hearts, that G o d may be the ° [ 11 ] the reafon and mo­ the beginning and end, the rule and meafure o f our doing or tive, not doing, from morning to night ; then every where, whether fpeaking or filent, whether in­ wardly or outwardly employed, we are equally offered up to G o d , have our life in him, and from him ; and are united to him by that Spi­ rit o f Prayer which is the comfort, the fupport, the ftrength and fecurity o f the foul : For this Spirit o f Prayer, let us willingly give up all that we inherit from our fallen father ; to be all hun­ ger and third after G o d ; to have no care or thought, but how to be wholly his devoted in- ftruments, every where and in every thing, his adoring, thankful, joyful fervants.
L e t u s have eyes fliut, and ears ftopped to that is not a ftep in that ladder every thing, that reaches from earth to heaven : T o help us forward, reading is good, hearing is good, con- verjation and meditation are good ; but then, they are only good at times and occafions, in a certain degree ; and muft be ufed and governed with luch caution, as w e eat, drink, and re- freih ourfelves, or they will bring forth in us the fruits o f intemperance : But the Spirit o f Prayer is for all times and all occaiions ; it is a lamp to be always burning, a light to be ever ihining ; every thing calls for it, every thing is to be done in it, and governed by it, becaufe it is, and means, and wills the abfolute totality o f the Soul, not in doing this or that, but wholly and inceffantly given up to G o d , to be and do what, and where, and when he pleafes.
B 2 T his ‘ .

[ 12 J T h is ftate o f abfolute Refignation, naked Faith, and pure Love o f G o d , is the higheft perfection, and moft purified life o f thofe, w h o are Chriftians indeed ; and is neither more or lefs than w hat our blefled Redeemer has called and qualified us to afpire after in thefe words, Thy kingdom come, thy w ill be done in earth as it It is to be fought for in the fim- is in heaven.
plicity o f a little child, without being captiva­ ted with any myfterious depths or heights o f fpeculation ; without coveting any knowledge, or wanting to fee any ground o f nature, grace or creature, only fo far as they bring us nearer to G o d , force us to renounce and forget every thing for H im , to do every thing in H im , with H im , and for H im , and to give every breath­ ing, moving, ftirring, intention, and defire o f our Soul, Spirit, and Life to H im .
L e t every creature have your love : Love, w ith its fruits o f patience, meeknefs, humility, gentlenefs, joy, is all w e can w iih to ourfelves, and our fellow-creatures ; for this is to live to G o d , united to him, both for time and eter­ nity.
T o defire to communicate good to every crea­ ture, in the degree w e can, and it is capable o f for thus receiving from us, is a divine tem per; G o d itands unchangeably difpofed towards the w hole creation \ but as we value the peace w h ich G o d has brought forth by his holy Spi­ rit in us, as w e continually defire to be taught by an un&ion from above, let us not willingly entef .......................... them ; t 13 ] enter into dilputes with any about the truths o f falvation ; but give them every help, ex­ cept that o f debating with for no man has a fitnefs for the light o f the Gof- pel, for till he finds an hunger and thiril fomething better than that, w hich he is and has by nature : Y et we ought not to check inclinations to help others in every way our let us do what we do as a w e can, only work ot G o » ; and then, whatever may be the event, we ihall have reafon to be con­ tent with the fuccefs G o d gives to it.
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear -, may be enough for 11s, as it was for our bleiTed Lord.

T h e next thing that belongs to us, which is alio Godlike, is a true unfeigned patience ihewing every kind o f good­ and meeknefs, will to thoie, who turn a deaf ear towards it to be as contrary 11s ; and to G o d ’s method, and the good ih te o f our own fouls, to difpute with any man in con­ tentious words, as to fight with him in defence o f gol'pel truths.
looking upon Come unto ftie, all ye that labour and are heavy faith our bleffed laden, and I w ill refrejh you, Lord ; and again, he faith by Saint John, I w ill give unto kirn that is athirjl o f the fountain o f the water o f life freely ; he called none elfe, be- caufe no one elle hath ears to hear, or a heart to receive the truths o f Redemption.

E v e r y [ u ] .
E v e r y [ u ] .

_ Q E v e r y man is a vain difputer, till fom e- th in g has difturbed his ftate, and aw aken ed a fenfibility o f his o w n evil and m iferable nature ; w e are all o f us afraid both o f inw ard and o u t­ w ard diftrefs, and yet till diftrefs com es, our life is b u t a dream , and w e have no aw akened feelings o f our o w n true ftate.
W e are apt to confider Parts and Abilities, as the proper Qualifications for the reception that a o f divine T r u th s ; and to ‘ wonder, perfon o f a fine underftanding, ihould not im­ ju fl and folid doftrines mediately embrace But the matter is quite otherwife ; had man kept poffeffion o f his firft glorious ftate, there the gofpel R e ­ had been no foundation for demption, and the dodtrine o f the Croîs muft have appeared quite unreafonable to be preffed upon h im ; and therefore, fays our Lord, To the poor is the gofpel preached ; it is folely to them, and to none elfe, that is, to poor fallen man, w h o has loft all the true natural riches to him is the and greatnefs o f his divine life, gofpel preached ; but if man feels and knows nothing o f this poverty o f his nature, he is not the perfon to w hom the gofpel belongs ; it has no more fuitablenefs to his ftate, than it had to man unfallen ; and then, the greater his parts and abilities are, the better is he qua­ lified to fhew the folly o f every doitrine, o f w h ic h he has no w ant; and being ignorant of the [ r5 ] depth o f his heart, to glofs over the necelfities and infirmities of his nature.
fee S uch a man, though he knows it not, is as yet only at play and paftime in a matter o f eternal confequence, pleafing him felf with fup- pofed deep enquiries after ítriét truth, whilft he is only fporting him felf with lively wan- dring images o f this or that, as they happen to ftart up in his mind ; but till he fees him ­ felf in the ftate o f the prodigal Son, and feels himfelf that very perfon there recorded, he the fitnefs o f that Redemption, cannot which the infinite love o f G od offers to him : Such an one, alas !
is rich, he is found, light is in his own power, goodnefs is in his own poffeilion, and eternal Life within his own reach ; he feels no diftrels or darknefs, bût has a crucible o f Reafon and Judgment, that on from Drols ; every occafion feparates Gold therefore he muft be left to his own Elyfium, till the tender mercy o f G od awakens Him by than argument and difputa- other methods, tion.
L e t us beware alio o f the religious Pha- riiee, who raves againft fpiritual religion, be- caufe it touches the very heart-ftring o f all the very fvftematical Divinity, and ihakes foundation o f every Babel in every Chriilian country ; for not a fyftem o f Divinity, fince fyilems were in being, whether Popiih or Pro- teftant, deferves a better name.
A l l [ 1 6 ] ■ A l l preachers o f the true fpirifual myfle- ry, o f a birth, light and life from above, in and by J e s u s C h r i s t , ever were, and will be treated by the reigning faihionable Ortho­ doxy, as enemies to the letter and ordinan­ ces o f the Gofpel ; in like manner as the Pro­ phets in the JewiJh church (w ho were the myftic preachers o f that difpenfation) were de- fpiled and condemned, for calling people to a fpiritual meaning o f the dead Jetter, to a holi- nefs infinitely greater than that, w h ich they placed in outward facrifices, forms, and cere­ monies.
W h o e v e r he be that has any fituation o f his own to defend, be it that o f a celebrated Preacher, a Cham pion for received O rtho­ doxy, a Head, a Leader, a Follow er o f any S eit or Party, or particular M ethod ; or that feems, both in his ow n eyes, and in the eyes o f others, to have made him felf fignificant in any kind of religious Diftinition ; every fuch perfon fooner or later w ill find, that he has m uch o f that very fame to give up, w hich hindered the zealous and eminently religious Pharifee from converting to C h r i s t in the fpi- rit o f a little child.
N or doth it help the matter, that fuch an one abounds w ith piety and excellency, for St. P a u l was governed by a fpirit o f great pie­ ty, great excellency, and zeal for G o d , when he was perfecuting the difciples o f C h r i s t ; he fays o f him felf, T h a t he lived in all good co/ifcience, f î? ]
confcience, cí touching the law blamelefs, and ac­ cording to the JlraiteJl JeB o f the Jewifh religion ; for the Pharifees, though many o f them had all that Hypocrify and Rottennefs which C h r i s t laid to their charge, yet as a fedt they were an order o f moft confeffed and refplen- dent fandtity ; and yet the more earneft and upright they were in this kind o f zeal for goodnefs, the more earneftly they oppofed and condemned the heavenly myftery o f a new life from C h r i s t , as appears from St. Paul.
it only loft T h is fedt o f the Pharifees did not ceafe w ith the Jewi/h church, its old name, it is ftill in being, and fprings now in the fame manner from the Gofpel, as it did then from the L aw ; it has the fame place, lives the fame life, does the fame work, minds the fame things, has the fame goodnefs at heart, has the fame religious honour and claim to piety, in the Chriftian, as it had in the few iff) chu rch ; and as much miftakes the depths o f the myftery o f the Gofpel, as that fedt miftook the myftery fignified by the letter o f the L a w and the Prophets.
I t would be eafy to ihew in feveral inftan- ces, how the leaven o f that fedt works amongft us, juft as it did amongft them ; Have any o f the rulers, believed on him ?
was the orthodox queftion o f the antient Pharifees ; now we Chriftians readily and willingly condemn the weaknefs and folly o f that queftion, and yet w h o C , ,\ L Q t i 8 i w ho does not fee, that, for the moil part, both prieft and people in every Chriitian country, live and govern themfelves by the folly and weaknefs o f the very fame Spirit w hich put that queition ; for w hen G o d , as he has always done from the beginning o f the world, raifes up private and illiterate perfons full o f light and wifdom from above, fo as to be áble to difcover all the workings o f the myftery o f iniquity, and to open the ground, and truth, and abfolute neceifity o f fuch an inward Spirit and L ife o f C h r i s t revealed in us, as time, carnal wifdom, and worldly policy have de­ parted from ; when all this is done, by the weakeft inftruments o f G o d , in fuch a iim- plicity and fulnefs o f demonilration as may be iuftly deemed a M iracle; do not C lergy and 'Laity get rid o f it all, though ever fo unan- fwerable, merely by the ilrength o f the Pha- rifee’s good old queftion, faying w ith them, “ H ave any o f the Rulers believed and taught “ thefe things ?
Hath the C hurch in Council “ or Convocation ?

H ath Calvin, Luther, “ Zuinglius, or any o f our renowned Syflem- “ makers, ever taught or afferted thefe mat- “ ters ?” B u t hear w hat our bleffed Lord faith, o f the place, the power, and origin o f T r u t h ; he refers us not to the current doótrines o f the times, or to the fyftems o f men, but to his ow n N am e, his o w n Nature, his mvn Divinity [ ip ] Divinity hidden in us ; My Jbecp, faith he, hear my voice.
Here the whole matter is de- cifively determined, both where Truth is, and who they are that can have any knowledge o f it.

H e a v e n l y Truth is no where fpoke but by the voice o f C h r i s t , nor heard but by a living in the hearer.
As power o f C h r i s t H e is the eternal only W ord o f G o d, that fpeaks forth all the wifdom and wonders o f G od ; that fpeaks forth all the life, wifdom, and goodnefs, that is or can be in any creature ; it can have none but what it has in him and from him : T his is the one unchangeable boundary o f Truth, Goodnefs, and every Perfection o f Men ou earth, or Angels in Heaven.
fo He alone is the W ord, L i t e r a r y Learning from the beginning to the end of time, will have no more o f hea­ venly Wifdom, nor any lefs o f wordly Foo- liihnefs in it, at one time than at another ; its nature is one and the fame through all ages ; what it was in the Jew and the Heathen, that fame it is in the Chrifhan.

Its name as well as nature is unalterable, v iz .


Foolijhnefs with G o d. T h o u gh the mockings of fuch men, and the many other fpiritual conflicts with the World, the Fleih, and the Devil, may abound with trials difigreeable to fleih and blood, yet be o f good cheer, and fear not ; Hand fa ll in the C z [ 20 ] the Lord, and he w ill hear thee in the day o f trou ble ; the Name o f the G o d oj Jacob w ill defend thee ; he w ill fend thee help from the fantfuary, and Jlrengthen thee out o f Sion.
T h e L o r d o f H o s t s , w h o hath overcome the world, w ill ftrengthen thee, and give thee the vidtory m all things ; and this is the victory that overcometh fight therefore the the world, even our Faith ; good Fight o f Faith, for to him that over- cometh, our A lm igh ty Saviour by his holy Spi­ rit hath promifed to give the tree o f L ife — T h a t he (hall not be hurt o f the fécond Death— T h a t be jh a ll fit with him ; and that he Jhall inherit all things * .
Even fo grant, bleiTed Lord, to eveiy one that calleth upon thy name.

Amen.

F o r your afliftance in this ilate o f trial, I w ill tranfcribe a few R u l e s , w h ich have long lain by m e for m y own ufe, and may the G o d o f all comfort bring them home to your heart w ith a fulnefs o f bleffing, and m a^e them inftrumental to unite you more firmly to him.
I. R e c e i v e every outward and inward trouble, every difappointment, temptation, and defolation, with both thy hands, as tiue oppor­ tunity o f dying to Self, and o f entering into a fuller fellowiliip w ith thy felf-denying, luite- ring Saviour.

I I .

L o o k * T h e fe , and many like paflages, may be read m the dpocalypfe, aad in other parts o f the holy Scripture.

[ 21 ] II.
[ 21 ] II.

L o o k not at any inward or outward trouble in any other view ; rejedl every other thought about it ; and then every kind o f trial and diftrefs will become the bleffed day o f thy profperity.

III.

B e afraid o f feeking or finding com ­ “ Quid eft fort in any thing but G od alone.

“ cor purum ?

cui ex toto & purè fufficit D e u s, “ cui nihil fapit, quod nihil deleitat niii “ D e u s.” IV .

T h a t ftate is beft which exercifeth the higheft Faith in, and fulleft Refignation to G o d. V .
W h a t is it you want and feek, but that G o d may be all in a ll in you ?

But how can this be, unlefs all creaturely-good and evil become as nothing in you, or to you.

“ O h “ anima mea, abftrahe te ab omnibus.

Quid “ tibi cum mutabilibus creaturis ?

Solum fpon- “ fum tuum, qui omnium creaturarum eft au- “ thor expeftans, hoc age, ut cor tuum ille “ liberum & expeditum femper inveniat, quo- “ ties illi ad ipfum venire placuerit.” V I.
B e aiTured o f this, that fooner or later, we muft be brought to this convidtion, T h at every thing in ourfelves by nature is evil, and muft [ 22 } m u íl be entirely given up, and that nothing, that is creaturely can make us better than we are by nature.
Happy therefore and bleffed are all thofe inward or outward troubles, that haften this convidtion in us j that w ith the w hole Strength o f our Souls, w e may be driven to feek a l l from and in G o d , without the leaft thought, hope, or contrivance after any other relief: T h e n it is, that w e are made truly par­ takers o f the Crofs o f C h r i s t , and from the bottom o f our hearts ihall be ‘enabled to fay w ith Saint Paul, God forbid that I ’ jhould glory in any thing, fa ve the Crofs o f our Lord J e s u s C h r i s t , by which I am crucified to the world, and the world is crucified to /ne.
V II .

F i n a l l y , G ive up yourfelf to G od w ith ou t referve.
T h is implies fuch a ftate or habit o f heart, as does nothing o f itfelf, from its ow n reafon, will or choice, but ftands always in faith, hope, and abfolute dependence, upon being led by the Spirit o f G od into every thing and every occafion, that is, according to G o d ’s w ill and defign with u s; feeking nothing by defigning, reaioning, and reflection, but ho w you ihall beft promote the honour o f G od ; in iinglenefs o f heart meeting every thing, that every day brings forth, as fomething that comes from G o d , and is to be received and gone through in fuch an heavenly ufe o f it, as you w ould fuppofe the holy J e s u s w ould have [ 23 ] done, in fuch occurrences.— T h is is an attain-' able degree o f perfedtion, and by having C h r i s t and his Spirit always in your eye, and nothing elfe, you w ill never be left to yourfelf, nor w ith ou t the full guidance o f G o d.