in a morning or if you do pray you do it sleightly now do not you find your hearts off the hooks al the day long after have not you more trouble all the day long when your conscience tells you that you should go and seek God and pray I but other things are more easy and that is a hard thing and therefore you neglect it now do not you find it more dificult to be with out prayer in a morning then is in all the labour of prayer compare one day with another and see which is the easyest The yoke of Christ that was upon David might be somwhat hard to the flesh but the casting off the yoke broke his bones therefore in Psal 51. He cries to God to restore to him the joy of his Salvation and to heale those Bones of his that were broken That the Bones that thou hast broken may rejoyce that expression the Prophet hath Psalm 51. vers 8. Make me to hear joy and Gladness that the Bones that thou hast broken may rejoyce so that it broke the very Bones of David the casting off the yoke of Christ the trouble that David felt in his heart it was such a burden to him as broke his bones now when did ever any duty that David performed break his bones though it might a little paine his flesh and be a little burdensom to his flesh yet it was not that which broke his bones the casting off the yoke of Christ is a greater burden and more troublesom to a gracious heart then to keep it on Sixthly Thou complainest of difficulty in duty in Christs yoke may be it is not the yoke of Christ that is upon thee that is so heavy upon thee if thou examinest it again perhaps thou shalt find it is not Christs yoke that is upon thee 1. May be it is a yoke that thou hast taken upon thy self perhaps somthing that thou hast put upon thy self that Christ never required of thee then it may be grievous to thee if we will put that upon our selves that Christ never required as Papists do that put that upon themselves that Christ never required who required these things at your hands It may be some men have put somthing upon you that Christ never required of thee it may be thou puttest upon thy self a duty at this time that is not the duty of this time but is the duty of some other time when thou wilt enjoyne thy self to do such a duty that is not the duty of this time but the duty of another time then it may be troublesom as many poor Christians are pestered this way when God would have them do such a duty conscience puts them upon another duty God calls them to a duty of their calling but conscience puts them upon prayer now that is not the duty it may be of this time and this is the way of Satan of the Devil to weary them and tire them by putting them upon duty unseasonably when he cannot by temptation hinder them from duty then he labors to weary and tire them by putting them unseasonably upon duty As I have known some they could not be at their work a quarter of an hour but suddenly they must leave all and go to prayer and they thought it was the motion of Gods Spirit and the dictates of conscience and they thought they must not neglect it and so made their lives uncomfortable upon that ground whereas the Spirit of God puts people upon duty seasonably every thing in its right order and right way and in its due time it will put you upon prayer in a fit time and put you upon duties of your calling in a fit time and when it comes unseasonably to disquiet you it is rather a suggestion of Satan to disquiet you then to make you to obey Christs yoke 2. May be it is not the yoke of Christ but meerly the yoke of the Law as thus though it may be the same thing that Christ would have you do yet you may have it laid upon you in a legal way to do it meerly out of fear of the wrath of God and damnation and so it may be as a scourge to force you to it and so to look upon every duty as if your eternal estate depended upon it as if you were to be cast or saved by the meer performance of your duty this is rather the yoke of the Law then the yoke of Jesus Christ to be put and hurryed upon duty as if your eternal estate did depend upon your duty and you were to be cast in your eternal estate by that rather then any thing here is the yoke of Moses not the yoke of Christ Christ puts you upon duty for the honor of God yet so as the hazard of your eternal estate is over and thou art not to be cast upon the performance of the duty this way or that way that if thou failest thou wert to be cast for ever to everlasting destruction upon thy failing he doth not bring you before God as before a severe and revenging judg but puts you upon service as a Child is put upon doing service by a Father now it is a great deale easyer for a child to do service to a father then for a slave to do service to one that hath him in bondage that will be continually lashing him and beating him black and blue so indeed the yoke of the Law which we are to speak of afterwards when we come to speak of the easiness of Christs yoke that is greivous and many Christians they do their duties meerly in a legal way and so it is rather Moses yoke then the yoke of Jesus Christ and so it comes to be hard whereas when thou comest to understand what the yoke of Christ is and what the duties are that are required by Jesus Christ and so to take them from him by a covenant of Grace for so they are required there is no duty in the Morral Law but is required of you in the Gospel and in a stronger bond then ever it was required upon the first Covenant but in another way coming unto it in another way in Christ and through the hand of the mediatour Jesus Christ so it comes to be a great deal more easy and when duties are taken up in an evangelical way then they are easy but so long as you take them up in a legal way then they come to be very grievous that is the Sixth Answer Seventhly Another answer is this that difficulty that you find it is not the Yoke of Christ if you consider That now Corruption is more Stirred then ever it was before the difficulty is in the discovery of corruption in the Stirring of your corruption more then before so that your Corruption through this by means of the yoke of Christ comes to be more stirred then formerly it was As thus now sometimes I think I have given you this Similitude if there be a few embers
thy soul and other sins the sin of thy passion and the sin of thy giving liberty to thy thoughts may be as a thorn to thy foot to make thy way very hard unto thee No marvel though thou complainest the way is hard it is not the hardness of thy path but the tenderness of thy foote that makes thee to think the way hard therefore let every Christian if he would go on with ease in the waies of religion as soon as ever a thorn is got into the conscience Oh! get it out presently do not let it lye and fret in the flesh Oh! if we would as soon as we had committed sin get it out of the conscience presently then repentance would not be so difficult and you would find your heart at a mighty deal of ease When a man goes with pain and hee lookes upon his foote and pulls the thorn out he goes with ease then As the beast when you go in the way and your beast halts and shufflles you will have him searched if you cannot see it your selfe then when you come to the next Smith you have him searched so do you find the waies of God difficult that you cannot go the pace you were wont to go search your hearts see whether there be not a stone in your hearts or some gravel see if there be any particular sin that you know to be a sin and particularly repent of that and that will make the way of God easy to you the often renewing of repentance will make the way of God easy 6. Labor by wisdom to order the duties of your condition that is thus Labor for wisdom to know what is suitable to your condition and order the duties about that condition many think Oh! if I were in such a place as such a one is I would doe thus and thus but you should look upon the duties of your present condition what is the condition that I am now in I am a servant what is my duty in that condition not what is the duty of a governour And so in a single estate what is the duty of this condition not what is the duty of a marryed Condition and so in a Married Condition what is the duty of that And so when you are in affliction what is your duty at that time or if so be that God cal you to humiliation you should mind the duty of humiliation And when God calls you to rejoycing you should know the duty of that time Some when God calls them to rejoycing they think they must be humbled and when they are called to be humbled they think they should rejoyce and when they are called to beleeving then they wil be poring upon their corruptions and when God calls them to searching of their hearts they have thoughts of matter of joy Now wisedom to suite our duty to our condition and to apply our duty to that condition is a great ease to the soul Now many times we are thinking of a duty at one time that is not the duty of that time may be when one is sick Oh! they are many times troubled that they cannot go to heare the word and meere with Gods people and spend so much time in prayer and meditation and reading as they were wont to do and upon this they trouble themselves now this is not the duty of your condition the duty of your condition at that time is to fanctify Gods name in your affliction and to quiet your heart under the hand of God and the duty of your condition is not to go to heare sermons now but to think of what you have heard heretofore the duty of your condition now is not to spend so much time in your closet in prayer as when you were in health and you are troubled for the want of this we often trouble our selves about those duties that are not the duties of our present condition and that makes them difficult now wisdom in ordering our duties wil much help to facilitate them 7. Another Rule is this In the performance of duties you should ease your selves of the care of the success of what you do about success or discouragement for want of success nothing makes our lives more troublesom and our work more difficult than our carking care about success I wil do this and this but I am afraid I shal not have success or if I have success not such as I desire but now if you would perform duties in a gracious manner look to the duty perform that and cast the care wholly upon God it is enough for me to do what is required of me as a creature to do and let God himself take care of that that belongs to him and that is the success I told you in the opening of the ease that there is certain success and yet we might trouble our selves in carking about success now if we can go on in performance of duty and never be troubled about success it wil be exceeding easie but Christians find somtimes that though they have been diligent in performance of duty yet they do not find success they find nothing comes of it and this troubles them this makes them go heavily to the duty at another time I but observe that whatever duty you perform if you do not find present success you must not conclude that there wil be no success the carking about the success in things makes the work extraordinary difficult now if we could bring our hearts to this Lord I am where thou wouldst have me and doing what thou wouldst have me and as for the success that belongs not to my work but to thy self I walk according to that that is thy wil and as for success I will leave that to thy self 8. Another rule is this do not tye your selves to what Christ doth not tie you unto there are many Christians bring upon themselves many snares that way by tying themselves to that which Christ doth not tie them to tying themselves to such a time of prayer to spend so much time in such a duty we must take heed of laying a yoke upon our selves do not put a yoke upon Christs yoke It is a great question to many and it s to me a question whether in the Gospel there is required any Vows at all to vow any thing that is not a duty before we have vowed it indeed to strengthen our selves to do what God requires as David I have sworn to keep thy righteous Laws we may engage our selves that way but properly in the Law it was a free will Offering but for a Vow now I do not find that the Gospel hath any such thing for men to bind themselves to that that they were not bound to before by the word Indeed whatever we are bound to by the word that we are to engage our selves to the utmost but now to bind our selves to any thing else as that we will as long as we live keep such a day this
will prove to be a snare to you God requires it not it may be that day that you would observe for one duty God may require it for another duty may be you will keep a day of fast for such a great deliverance for such a great mercy certainly it may prove a snare unto you God may call you to another duty on that day to the duty of thanksgiving Many will vow to keep such a day and when they have vowed it they know not how to go back And so many will vow they will do so much every morning and so much that day this may bring a snare upon you labor to do all what you can for Christ all the day long consider your duties and lay the word upon you but to put upon your selves that which Christ puts you not upon it is that that makes the duties of Religion very tedious and many have done it that way not foreseeing the inconveniences that may come upon it and yet they dare not go back Therefore I would rather advise Christians to take heed of such things as those are but to walk in the way of Christ according to that the Lord requires for the present and not to bring themselves into a snare and so they shal make the way of God more easie 9. Another Rule is this Take all advantages take all opportunities and advantages all the gales of Gods Spirit do not neglect the opportunities you have the neglect of opportunities may bring us to woful difficulties As in voyages if a â—arriner neglect the opportunity of the gale of wind it is a difficult voyage and then he cries out I may thank my self for all this had I taken such an opportunity such a wind then I had been freed from this hardship that now I meet withall So it is with a Christian many times the spirit of God comes with a gracious gale and gives them opportunity to go on with cheerfulness in the waies of God hadst thou taken the opportunity the gale of the spirit Oh what a deal of trouble mightest thou have avoided Those that are watchful for al opportunities find the waies of God easie It was the speech of Alexander because he carried things so easie as he did in a little time conquered al the world when it was asked him how he could do so great things and carry on things with so great ease his answer was by neglecting nothing he meant by neglecting no advantage There are many men that when God helps them a little they carry the work on with ease but then they do not follow on their work and so they bring themselves into streights As now we cry out of these wars what a great deal of trouble they put the Nation to and one main thing is for want of taking advantages and following advantages We say somtimes Oh if such a victory had been followed such a victory that we had at Brainford and York and other places we might have delivered our selves from abundance of trouble and tediousness of war but when God gives advantages and we do not follow them no marvel that we find trouble So it is with many Christians you find many troubles in Religion Oh it is because you do not follow your advantages if you had ever since you were young and ever since God revealed himself to you followed the gale of Gods spirit your old age might have been spent in nothing but gales of joy comfort and the like but now no marvel you act with so much difficulty in the waies of God 10. Another Rule is this Preserve all your experiences that you have had of the goodness of Gods waies when your hearts have been most enlarged and you have walked most close with God and God hath come in to your soul Preserve those experiences keep them by that they may help you against an il day it may there be may be a time a coming that you may be in spirituall desertion and that may be grievous to you but if you had kept the experiences you had of God when your heart kept close to God it would much help you sweeten your hearts to think of the daies of old As David when he was in desertion he would many times be thinking of the daies of old So if Christians would be very careful to observe and lay up all the experiences that they have of God and his waies the sweet and good of them it would mightily facilitate them in holy duties and be a continuall Cordial to them and put spirits into them to make them go on with ease in any duty God requires of them 11. Another Rule is this Take heed in any duty of disturbing passion the disturbance of passion puts people ouâ— of frame that they are fit for nothing when they are passionate passionate with God passionate with men because they cannot have what they would have fling up all As Children that when they cannot have their desires fling a way all this makes every thing hard but if you could but keep your selves in a constant quietness you should have every condition and every duty delightful but I have spoken of that you know of the evil effects of it and of meekness the gracious effects of that but I bring it only now as a rule that you may present all these rules together As now suppose a company that are in a Boat and there cometh a strong wind and tosseth the Boat you shall have some silly people that wil be shriking out and mightily troubled and through their passion will be rising up in the Boat and be ready to tumble down all through their passionate carriage in the Boat whereas those that have skil wil sit stil and be quiet and give up themselves to the stream and that is the best way to come with the greatest ease you make the Boatmans labor so much the more dâ—fficult by your unquietness in the Boat So certainly you make the work of God more difficult when your hearts are unquiet Let the thing be what it wil you wil say Oh no bodies condition is so as mine Certainly your unquietness will not help you you wil not come the sooner to your landing place if people toss from one side of the Boat to the other and be unruly in their carriage they wil not come the sooner to their landing place the quieter they sit in the Boat the sooner they will come to land So it is in a Christians course he must not think to come to have his desires satisfied by his froward carriage to be angry with God or man or the means that they do not work as they would have them but the quieter they sit and give up themselves to God the sooner they come to their desires 12. Another Rule is this Communion with the Saints spirituall Communion Heavenly Communion not frothy Communion but a spiritual holy gracious communion with the Saints wil facilitate the waies
doth order the heart according to this knovvledg therefore the Scripture speaks of humbleness of mind in Collos 3. 12. To be low in our mind First the mind must be lovv before the Heart be lovv in the judging of our selves vve must judg of our selves right before the heart can lie lovv vve must judg of our selves by the right rule by no false rule but by examining of our selves according unto the vvord according to vvhat the vvord of God doth reveal concerning us after Serious Faithfull and strict examination of our selves then follovvs the vvork of Humiliation a right judging of our selves first A Heathen Phylosopher being ask'd What is the hardest thing in the World He ansvvers Noscere teipsum to knovv thy self the bravest thing in the World for a man to knovv himself and indeed vve that profess our selves to be Christians vve may find it by experience to be so the hardest thing in the World to know our selves The heart of man is deceitfull above all things and who can know it The heart of man is Grande profundum a very great depth there 's not one of ten thousand that knovvs himself there is a great Art and Skil in being able to know ones self and that is the reason that there is so little Humility in the World because we do not knovv our selves every proud man is a Fool a Fool in this Because he knovvs not himself he doth not give a right judgment of himself Now for the way of knowing our selves and what the word of God doth help us to know our selves in that we shal not speak of in this place but only to shew the ground of Humility it is the knowledg of our own vileness and the judging of our selves according to what we know of our selves not according to what others think of us A humble man doth not much go according to what any body else knows of him or esteems of him but according to what he knows and esteems of himself It was a Speech of another Heathen Do not beleeve others of thy self more than thy self of thy self It is a Foolish thing for any man to go by the esteem that others have of him and not by the esteem that he hath of himself upon right examination it may be other men may in Charity judg that thou hast this and this such and such Graces and such excellencies while in the mean time thou mai'st know thy self to be a vile mean wretched base Creature Novv a proud heart will rather go according to what others think of him than indeed according to what he knovvs of himself it may be other men that live vvith thee that see but the outside they give a good report of thee But vvhat report doth thy ovvn Conscience give of thee What dost thou knovv of thy self That thou should'st look most after While our friends do rejoyce in those excellencies they esteem us to have in the mean time thou mai'st see the cause to be confounded in thine ovvn thoughts and to be ashamed before the Lord and to have such thoughts of thy self that if the Lord should discover unto thy friends that now esteem highly of thee what thou knowest of thy self thou would'st think that they would kick and spurn thee out of their Company and be ready to spit in thy face I make no question but those that look into their own hearts and observe the workings of their own spirit those that know what is within and are acquainted with themselves many times when others have high esteems of them they see cause to look upon themselves with such shame as to beleeve that if others should but see the inside if God should turn their insides outward all their friends that have such esteems of them now would be ready to abhor them and be ready to loath them if they did but know what they are of themselves And indeed it is a great Argument for to make those that have any acquaintance with their own hearts to be humble to suffer any outward meanness to be willing to suffer any thing that might make them low outwardly Why Because of the great mercy of God to conceal from men what evill is in them Thou art loth to suffer some outward affliction but if God should discover to all the world all that evill that is in thee and that thou art conscious to thy self of Yea take the best Man and Woman that is if all the evill that they themselves are conscious to themselves of were discovered it would make them more vile than any mean condition that ever God put them into Yea than any outward affliction can possibly put them into God rather doth esteem of us wil rather judg us according to what we esteem of our selves than according to what others think of us And therefore in 1 John 3. 20. that place that is well known If our Consciences condemn us God is greater than our Consciences and knoweth all things It is no matter what others say others may justifie us others may think we have excellent Gifts and exccellent Graces and we perform duties in an excellent manner but in the mean time our own Consciences may condemn us Now the behavior of a proud heart is rather according at what others think of him then what he thinks of himself though he knows never such vileness in his own heart as now in Duty he joyns with us in Prayer perhaps he hath excellent expressions in Duty in Prayer that the hearts of those that are with him are taken with him and bless God for the Gift of God in him and what Graces he exerciseth in Prayer and so others are blessing God for him and highly esteeming of him and themselves happy that they joyn with him now upon that he hath a proud heart and blesseth himself in that and rejoyceth in that while in the mean time his Conscience tels him that he hath a base heart a proud spirit an empty heart and a dead heart and that all this while there hath been a mighty unsutableness between his heart and the expressions Now if his heart be humble he will not look what others speak of him in this kind but be ashamed and confounded in his ovvn spirit because of vvhat he knovvs of himself Certainly vve may see some ground vvhy others should think vvell of us and yeâ— vve may be most vvretched and abominable and loathsome in the eyes of God at that present vvhen other Godly people have high thoughts of us Do not rest in that not only others but vvise men and Godly men have high thoughts of us and yet in the mean time we may be wretched abominable in the sight of God and our ovvn Consciences may condemn us We read of the spirit of Man in Prov. 20. 27. it is said of the spirit of Man That it is the Candle of the Lord searching all the the inward parts of the Belly Now you know that
perform holy Duties and keep their sins both together and this now they find very easie There is nothing in holy Duties that is against their sin yea there is somthing in holy Duties that makes for their sins I do not say holy Duties in their own natures makes for their sins but their performing of them makes for their sins makes them the more quiet in their sins As thus It makes more for their sins and they have more quiet in them upon two Peasons As first by this means sometimes their corruption and sin is hidden as you that have many Servants that are naught and vile they will be very forward in good things and go to Sermons and Prayer and the like that they might hide much of their sin that they might not be uspected to be such and such therefore they perform Duties of Religion and now these Duties must needs be very easie to them And so it is with many Hypocrites that go beyond civill men and the Duties of Religion that that they perform are more than civill men do they will not only come to Church but seem to be affected not only be exâ—ercised in the ordinary Duties but in extraordinary Fasting and Prayer not only come to hear the word but repeat it in their Families afterwards not only pray here but pray in their Families and Closets yet so as to cover their corruption to cover their very filthiness now these Duties are very easie Or Secondly which is a amore close way Because it satisfies their Consciences their Consciences would not be at quiet except they did somthing a Man and Woman that walks in a carnall way that hath a vile Spirit a sensuall spirit in his constant way and course if such a one should not do some good thing having some enlightening of mind his Conscience being somwhat awakened and stirred he could not be at quiet if he did not now and then pray and now and then come to hear the word and desire Sacraments his Conscience would fly in his face and would not be at quiet now having many secret corruptions that he is loth to part with he is content to do somthing to take a Book and read a Chapter and go into his Closet and pray in his Family and will not neglect the word but come to hear the word all the Lords day come twice and thrice to hear the word now all these things are very good and they are to be encouraged in them but now examin I beseech you whether all the good and comfort that you find is not only this that by these things your Consciences are quieted and so you go on more easie in some sinfull way because of this you can with the more ease let out your heart unto the world you can with more ease take liberty to some haunt of evil that you are conscious of some secret sin you can take the more liberty because you have been exercised in holy Duties at another time I beseech you examin your heart in this there is a great deal of secret corruption in this it is not very rare not an extraordinary thing that I am speaking of but I fear it is an ordinary thing that I am speaking of that many people take the more liberty in some secret haunt of evil because they have been exercised in holy Duties at other times they have been at fasting and prayer and perhaps their hearts have been stirred in Fasting Prayer but now what use make they of this it is that they may be more sluggish at other times this is a cursed ease an ease that may stand not only with your corruptions but an ease to your corruptions make you to go on in the way of sin more quietly What a horrid sin is this for a Man Woman to make no other use of the Ordinances of Jesus Christ than this to this end that he may go on more quietly in the waies of sin now this is an abhorring thing to a gracious heart a gracious heart finds ease in the way of Duty but it is more easie because it strikes at their corruptions and mortifies their corruptions Oh! blessed be God for his Ordinances for before I came to be exercised in them and had power and life in the use of them I had ease in my sin but since the time I set my self to follow God indeed in his Ordinances and have had communion with God in his Ordinances I thank God I can have no ease in my sin that though my corruptions sometimes overcome me yet by the performance of holy Duties I find it makes my corruptions more burdensome to me and God that knows my heart knows this it is my desire that I may never find ease in any sinfull way and I love all the waies of God better because they will not let me be at quiet in the waies of sin And this is the reason that you that come to the word of God many times you hear many things that you like well and you love them wel but because they disquiet your corruptions and you cannot have quiet in your sinfull way therefore you sit at home and you wil not come to hear the word Oh many men they would love Sermons and love to hear such a man but only for this one thing that they wil not let them be at quiet they cannot go on fo quietly in some sinfull way which their hearts hanker after and therefore those Sermons that do not disquiet them in this kind Oh they love them exceedingly it is that I have observed you shall have many Women ignorant People and others when they come to hear a Sermon that hath a great deal of Latin and quaint expressions in it Oh how they commend this and what an excellent Sermon was this and what an excellent Man was this It may be said of those Sermons as Bradford said of the Mass The Mass doth not bite therefore you love it and so men used to love the common Prayer alas it did not bite they would come and stand and hear a man read out of a Book a while this did not bite whereas a Prayer that comes from the heart and fearcheth into mens hearts that stirs their corruptions and therefore they do not love it And so it is in regard of the word let the word come to search the heart and come neer to divide between the marrow and the bones to come into the secret of the hearts of men and women then for the soul to love the word so much the more and to say Oh! this is the word of God that gives ease to my soul I find more ease by such a ministry then I find by any ministry this is the ease of a Gracious heart but a corrupt heart wil have ease only in that way that is most subservant to his own lusts That is the third difference Fourthly Another difference is this The ease that a corrupt heart hath
in my Conscience well but now here is the case of Conscience whether is this quiet that I have in my Conscience from the hope I have of Gods mercy from presumption in me or from true Faith It concerns every one to get this case of Conscience answered Now I know no greater help for the answering this case of Conscience than this one thing that I have spoken of Hast thou quiet and ease and hast thou hope of Gods mercy and doth that bring thee quiet if it be but presumption it makes thee secure it makes thee barren and sluggish but on the other side if thou hast ease and quiet in thy Spirit and thou findest that the more that ease and quiet encreaseth the more fruitfull thou art in all good works it makes thee the more active and stirring in all good works this is a sign that it comes from Faith as you heard before a gracious heart hath the more activeness in it the more ease it hath now as his activeness in goodness causeth easiness in his heart so the easiness in his heart causeth activeness in goodness there is a mutuallness in these two and indeed this latter is the more facile for people to exam in themselves by perhaps every one cannot group to that activeness of heart but now hath it this power upon your hearts that you are more fruitfull than before This is the ease of a gracious heart if it doth so Ninthly And then the ease that a carnall heart hath in the waies of God is from hence because he hath but only one principle in his heart when he is in the waies of God and when he is in the waies of the world he is acted but by the same principle in both there is not a contrary principle in his heart one that carries him one way and another that carries him another way but the ease of a gracious heart is this that he finds a stronger principle that overcomes a contrary principle of corruption in him there lies his ease a carnall heart goes on and performes Duties and hath not divers principles in his heart to cary him this way or that way but hath only one principle a carnal principle that carries him on to serve his own ends and somtimes he can serve his ends in one thing somtimes in another thing but one that is Godly finds ease from hence from the power of Gods Grace that doth overcome his corruption I find a stirring in my heart but I thank God I can get the victory the ease of a Godly heart comes from the victory that it gets but it is not so with a carnall heart your civill men do not find ease from their victory because what they do is not suitable to them but a Godly man finds that there is a principle of Grace that opposeth the principle of lust and corruption and therefore can say since I set my heart towards God and his waies I have found more corruption than before stirring but I thank God I have got victory over them I find a conquest gotten over the corruption that is stirring in my Soul and that is my ease another man he finds no corruption stirring in his heart and therefore no marvell if he find ease but now a Godly man finds a contrary principle to that which is good stirring in his heart and then finds Gods Grace coming in upon his heart to help him against that corruption and this brings ease and quiet to him Tenthly And then the last is this That the ease the one hath comes from this that all that he doth he preformes in his own strength and he doth not see any need of any further strength than that which he hath in himselelf to enable him to perform Duties and so he finds ease As a man finds his Trade to be easie if he trades with his own stock and hath nothing but his own stock to trade with and trades in no higher things then what himself can reach unto whereas another man that must have the stocks of other men to trade with finds a great deal more trouble that sees his trade requires more stock than his own It is so with a Gracious heart he sets upon duty so as needs he finds he more stock than his own his trade is beyond his own strength but now a Godly heart when he comes to want strength he fetcheth strength from Christ he fetcheth strength from the Covenant of Grace he fetcheth strength from the Promise and when he hath got strength from Christ from the Covenant of Grace from the Promise Oh now he finds rest and ease in his Duty and you shall see the reason of it in the next Point why the Sants finds difficulties many times they will think to be trading with their own strength and their own stocks whenas the things they trade about is beyond their own strength but now when they can look higher and see a fulness in Jesus Christ in the Mediator of the new Covenant and of his fulness we must receive Grace for Grace and fetcheth strength from this Oh! then here is quiet and ease when the Soul comes to trade with another stock Observe this you will find it as certain as can be all those that are meer civill People that find it so easie to go on in the waies of God they were never sensible of any need they have of any more strength than their own whereas the Yoke of Christ is heavier than any naturall strength is able to bear and therefore if you find ease in that you have strength of your own to perform it Certainly it is not the Yoke of Christ But now when you find your own strength too short when you go to perform any Duty and find a great deal of difficulty you can go to Christ and to the Covenant of Grace and to the Promise and there fetch in strength you have ease and quiet Oh that you were acquainted with this Mystery of Godliness that when you go out to perform Duties and you find them difficult and hard that then you can go out to Christ and the Covenannt of Grace and the Promise and fetch strength from them to perform Duties this is the ease of a Godly heart when it finds ease in Gods waies after this manner and all you that are acquainted with this Mystery of Godliness know that whatsoever ease you have found hitherto it is not the ease of a Gracious heart but rather of a carnal heart CHAP. CXXXIX Divers Objections answered The easiness of the waies of Christ which is the third particular mentioned in Chap. 139. QUEST BUT do we not find that Christ hath said in his word that the way to Heaven is difficult and the Gate to Heaven is strait and narrow and do we not find Preachers ordinarily speaking so that the way to Heaven is difficult and strait according to what is in Scripture yea do we not find that the People of
yoke of Christ but were they come in they would not find it so difficult Somtimes indeed the work of God in converting of a Soul comes to it so as the Soul finds a great deal of difficulty The Ministry of John by way of preparation comes in a terrible way to make smooth the rough paths and level the lofty hils comes in a fiery way to prepare them many times it is very terrible and they find a great deale of difficulty much trouble of conscience and terrour at first I but this is but to get â—hy neck into the yoke this is not the difficulty of Christs yoke but it is the bringing thee under the yoke of Christ therfore let not those that God is beginning to stir them in awaknâ—ng their Consciences be offended because they find difficulty because they find the waies of God terrible to them and conscience terrible to them and they find the flashes of Hell upon their spirits be not offended because thou hast more trouble now then before it is but in getting that unruly spirit of thine under the yoke of Christ if once thy spirit be subdued to Jesus Christ and brought under his yoke thou wilt not find it so terrible and it may be the more terrour thou hast now the more sweetness and comfort thou wilt find afterwards Thirdly Thou complainest of difficulty that thou findest in Gods waies do not therefore complaine of the yoke of Christ it may be it is from the distemper of thine own heart not from Christs yoke we know that a light yoke to one that hath a sore neck seemes to be very grievous but the fault is not in the yoke but in the soreness of the neck if the neck were sound and made whol the yoke would seem light so it is with many that profess religion and it may be have true grace they find the yoke very haâ—d to them and they complain of the yoke and think that which Christ requires of them is greivous to them but truly it is the distemper of thy heart and the unsoundness of thy spirit that makes it so if so be thy heart were but healed if thy hearâ— were but sound thou wouldest not find any such difficulty in any way of Christ In 2 Tim. 1. 7. There the spirit of power of love and of a sound mind are joyned together where there is a sound mind a sound spirit theâ—e will be power there will be strength there will be love and sweetness but where the mind and the heart is unsound and disteâ—pered there you will find a great deal of difficulty in the yoke of Christ so that I say where you find the yoke of Christ difficult do not complain of that so much as of your own heart and labor to heal your own soul and then it it will not be so difficult and that is the third answer I would give to the Godly that yet find difficulty in the waies of religion it is not because of the yoke but it is because you are not enough under the yoke that is the difficulty if your hearts were under it more then it is it would not be so difficult and this expression may serve to enlighten us into the fourth answer which is this Fourthly the yoke of Christ may seem to be hard but it is because of the disordered carriage of thy spirit when thou art under it not only from a distempered heart that thy heart hath distempers and habitual corruptions but now when thou art doing a duty thou dost behave thy self in a disorderly way in the performance of the duty the disorderly behavior of thy heart in the performance of duty As now we know it is with some Bullocke some creatures that are unruly when they are in the yoke they keep such a stir and riggle this way and that way and they are so unquiet when they are under the yoke that they toil and trouble themselves abundantly more then another that can carry the yoke quietly that goes on quietly with his yoke so it is with many Christians when they are in the performance of duty if they cannot do it as they would they do so vex and frett and are so disquieted in their spirits and so tumultuous in their spirits and are ready to cast it off Conscience will keep it on and they are ready to cast it off there is such a disorderliness of spirit and such tumultuousness of spirit this makes duties difficult whereas now when thou art in performance of duties if thou couldest be under the yoke of Christ with a calme quiet Spirit and carry it in a meek way Oh! the sweetness that thou wouldest find there how many times shall you have many people that when they go to prayer if they cannot pray as they would do then they vex and fret and are ready to think to pray no more and why should they pray any more they are so disturbed in the duty they think it is better to cast it off and they begin to have hard thoughts of the duty and so their spirits are all in a dâ—stemper and disorderly working presently and there is the difficulty Whereas another though he cannot do what he would yet he hath an humble dispose to God and thinkes I will try another time may be God may come in another time still I love the duty the law is good the duty is just and good and though through the untowardness of my spirit I cannot do it now yet I hope God will come at another time I will do my duty and leave it to God to come in when he pleaseth as you heard before when the Bullock or the Heifer that beares the yoke if he goes on quierly his yoke is not so grievous but if he flings this way and that way and turnes to this side and that side every way he makes his yoke grievous to him and so it is with many Christians it is the disorderly carriage of people under this yoke that makes it so difficult Fiftly Thou complainest and sayest this yoke is hard consider that the casting of the yoke off would be a great deal harder and therefore there is no cause to complain can a man in a rational way complain of a yoke to be hard whenas the casting of the yoke off would be a harder thing then the bearing of it therefore the Hebrew word that signifies sin signifies also labor and trouble there is more trouble if thou shouldest cast off the yoke thou wouldest find more distress of spirit and more difficulty in casting off the yoke then to be under the yoke It is true those that be carnal and wicked do not find it so but if thou hast Grace if thou shouldest cast off the duty because of the difficulty thou wouldest find it more difficult to be without the duty then to perform it As I will instance to your own experiences you fiend sometimes that your hearts are loth to come off to prayer
they never knew the difference between the comforts of the world and the comforts of God so much as then when they suffered Saith Ignatius when the wild beasts crusht his bones between their teeth Now I begin to be a Christian And another profest he had rather be a Martyr than work miracles and therefore there is no such difficulty or heavy burden in suffering for Christ as ye are afraid of Many poor Christians when they hear what things others have suffered they think Oh if I should be called to suffer such things I should never go through them Be not discouraged the more sensible thou art of thy weakness the better Poor women and children that have been afraid to suffer as well as you when they have come to suffer it hath been given to them to suffer a mighty presence hath come from Jesus Christ upon them and it hath been easie to them indeed the thing that is difficult to one that is weak is easie to one that is strong Now when you come to suffer for Christ there comes in a great deal of strength from Christ and therein you will find ease for certainly Christ never calls us to do hard things but he will give us strength proportionable and then that which appeared more difficult will appear more easie than before CHAP. CXLII What the things are that makes the waies of Christ easie which is the fourth point in Chap. 139. opened in five particulars 1. They are such as a gracious Soul wil impose upon himself 2. He comes freely off to them 3. The waies of Christ are even and not contrary one to another 4. They bring Strength with them 5. In them all there is good Success 6. In them a gracious heart is alwaies receiving his wages 7. He hath all the passages of Gods providence to help him 8. They bring ease to the Conscience 9. They free the Soul from cares 10. They make all other things easie BUt now we are to proceed to a further thing to shew you what there is in the way of Christ that makes it easie which wil be a further manifestation of the ease that there is in the waies of Christ that it is so that hath been shewed you before but now that it must needs be so and how it comes to be so how it comes to pass that the waies of Christ should have such ease to a gracious heart Certainly there is a great many Grounds for it First They are such waies as have much in them that if a gracious heart were put to it freely that he may either impose them upon himself or not he would rather impose them upon himself than otherwise supposing him to be himself that is his mind enlightened and his heart in a good frame he would take them upon himself and certainly this is no hard thing that if a man were left to his liberty he will take it upon himself rather than not Let any Christian lay this to his heart and consider what way of Jesus Christ he would be without every gracious heart is a Law to himself that Law is not a very hard Law that a man would make to himself so the Scripture saith of the Godly that they are a Law to themselves a Godly heart chooseth the waies of Christ not as one chooseth the less evil of the two so you may say he may chuse them as the less evil for he may be put to chuse â— but I say if he were left free not put to it of necessity if there were neither Hel nor Heaven I do not know any thing in the waies of Jesus Christ and dare challenge any one to tel me that if there were no Hel oâ— Heaven that any thing is in the waies of Christ but he would choose them What is there that Christ requires of any Soul but without any such consideration such a heart would chuse Would not he go rather according to the rules of equity and righteousness than iniquity and injustice Is it not better to walk according to the rules of right reason than to walk in irrational waies But then a Beleever one that hath Faith acts from a Principle above Reason a Principle that is supernatural and look as one that is a rational creature would chuse those things that have the most agreement with the rules of right reason so one that hath a higher principle a divine Principle he would chuse that that is according to the Principles of Divinity according to the Divinity as I may so say that he hath in his heart Yea Afflictions when we bring our hearts to Gods will have no great burden in them but are easie but they are not so easie as Gods waies are for Afflictions though they come to be easie yet they are such as if a Godly heart were put to it he would and he ought rather to choose to be without them Here is the difference between Afflictions and Duties that if God would set a gracious heart free he should choose rather to be without afflictions though it is true in regard of the good that God brings about in them so they are good but in themselves they are evil and so a Godly man should rather desire to be without them but now for the duties of religion Godliness there we are not to desire wish to be without them or that they were otherwise then they are A gracious heart is not to wish any command of Jesus Christ to be otherwise then it is and when at any time you find such a rising in your hearts as to wish that such a thing were not a duty know that now temptation comes and corruption stirrs You may not do it perhaps but you may have a corruption stir so farr as to wish it were otherwise certainly this is a great temptation when the heart is in a right frame it would not wish any thing in the waies of Christ otherwise then they are if he were left to himself he would himself choose them That is the first Secondly When he hath chose them this makes them easy because they are such waies as himself comes freely on unto what a man comes freely on unto that is easy and all the people of God are a willing people in Psal 110. Now when he comes freely on perhaps you will say a man may come freely on to a thing yet when he is come on he may find more difficulty then he thought of Therefore in the second place they are easy in this respect because they are suitable unto the temper and disposition of a gracious heart such a one finds the waies of Christ very suitable and agreeable to him Now Similis Simili gaudet every like thing doth rejoyce in that which is like a Godly heart finds the counterpane as I may so speak of the Lord Jesus Christ written in his own heart that as it was in the first creation there the Law of God the Morral Law
one duty lets in another and this is the difference between one that is truly acquainted with the waies of religion and an Hypocrite the one when he sets upon one duty that one duty so tires him that he hath no mind to another but now a godly heart one duty doth but let him in another by performing one duty he is fitted to another duty and this is a sign you performe duty in a right way when it is thus with you it is true the outward man may be tired but yet the heart is in a better frame to performe duty the next time one duty is an in let into another and helps on the other that is a Third Fourthly The waies of Christ they are easy because they bring strength with them and encreaseth strength certainly that work must needs be an easy work that a man gets strength by his work and the more he works the more strength he gets It is true great works come to be difficult because you do not only not get strength but you spend strength but now the waies of religion the more you work the more strength you have and the more work you do the more strength comes in It is true the natural strength may be spent I but there is inward strength comes in encreaseth and is supplied by Jesus Christ the Body that carries the Soul I but the Soul is no burden to the Body the Soul supports the Body and enables the body to move and makes it lighter if the Soul were gone the body would be a heavy lump heavier than when the soul lives in it so such a kind of burden is the waies of Religion to a gracious soul no other burden than the soul is to the body when the soul is there it is no burden but it rather helps the Body it makes the Body lighter and so when any work of Grace is added more than before the burden comes to be lighter and easier In Prov. 10. 29. The way of the Lord is strength to the upright their very way is strength surely then their way is easie that which is strength cannot be a hard way now the way of the Lord is strength to the upright an Hypocrite indeed if he wil meddle with the way of God he is tired as those in Malachi What a weariness is the waies of God to them I but it is to an Hypocrite but the way of the Lord is strength to the upright A man that hath a carnal heart he is tired presently you that complain for want of strength and you have no heart to set about Duties of Religion because you say you are weak the more ye set about these Duties the more strength you shall have There is many a Man and Woman that praies away their strength in prayer and strengthens their sin in prayer and I shewed you how to carnal hearts their very duties may be easie to their sins but now a gracious heart doth not pray away his strength but he shal have more strength in his Soul for the present and he shall see it afterwards You wil say How shall I know that for my body is weary and tired if you get but a litle time to refresh your body with sleep or the like when you come to prayer again you wil have more strength to the Duty there was more strength in your Spirit then when you were in the Duty only your natural strength did fail and therefore do as much as you can in holy Duties do not fear tiresomness in them you will do more than you did before That is the fourth thing that makes them to be easie because they beget strength Fifthly They must needs be easie because that in all the waies of Religion there is ever more good fuccess a gracious heart evermore finds success in the waies of Godliness now that way that a man alwaies hath success in is very easie to him you count that work very easie work that alwaies thrives in your hand and that you may certainly know that it wil succeed before you go about it If a man go about a work and he is uncertain in the success and he thinks I may take a great deal of pains but I know not how I shall speed Oh that is tedious I but now when he goes out to the work of the Lord where he knows he shal never fail of success this work is very easie to him In the first Psalm it is said that a Godly man prospers in every thing that be doth whatever he doth shall prosper it is true we may set upon outward things and not have success but there was never any gracious action since the beginning of the world but had success here is the difference between your outward imployment and your gracious imployment your earthly and your spiritual imployment in one though we work never so well according to the Rules of our Art yet there wil not be success in what we do alwaies but now let us perform any holy Duty we shal never lose any action though we may not see it yet we shal certainly prosper in it and therefore there is a great deal of ease Sixthly A great deal of ease must needs be in Gods waies because that a gracious heart is continually receiving his wages in all his work Now that is a very easie work ye shal not need be working all the day and receive no wages at night but a Godly man is receiving his wages continually while he is working In 1 Pet. 9. Receiving the end of your Faith the Salvation of your Souls Receiving the end of your Faith he doth not say that ye shal hereafter receive the end of your Faith but ye are now receiving every moment in every Duty ye perform you are receiving the end of your Faith there is no holy action but there is somwhat of the Glory of Heaven in it and the Soul doth receive somwhat of the Glory of Heaven in every holy action so that he shall not need to stay for Heaven hereafter that indeed were enough one would think to make any of the waies of God easie the beleeving the Glory we shal hereafter have in Heaven it were enough to make any journey easie that we shal have a Crown at the end of it but it is not so with the Saints they have not ease because they know that they shal have Glory hereafter but they have a Heaven while they are doing their holy Duties therefore are easie in regard of their end as many things may be easie in regard of that that comes afterwards and so may be good in regard of the good which is to come but the actions of Religion are part of the happiness and of the Glory of the Soul and if we were well principled in this it would be a great means to help us to go on with a great deal of ease in the duties of Religion That it is the happiness and Glory of
humbled for our sins in an evangelical way as wel as performe duty in an evangelical way Now evangelical humiliation it is a sorrow for sin not that we might purchase pâ—â—don for that sorrow as we must not perform a duty to think to purchase Heaven neither must we sorrow for sin to think to satisfie for sin and to purchase pardon for our sin but our very sorrow for sin must have a sweetness from Christ in it it must be out of love our very mourning must be a fruit of love and not come from the fear of being destroyed eternally for such sins that is legal sorrow I have sinned against God and therefore am afraid that God will destroy me eternally and therefore I am sorry No but I have sinned against the Lord a gracious and a merciful Father and the Lord yet hath made a Covenant with me that he will not take advantage of my sin that he will not destroy me and therefore my soul mourns and laments the rather for my sin that I have sinned so much against the grace of the Gospel as I have done Sorrow evangelically and then your sorrow wil have more sweetness in it then all the joy that the men of the world have when all their Corn and Wine and Oyl is encreased not only when God lifts up the light of his countenance but even the very sorrow of your heart for sin may have more sweetness in it then all the men of the world have when their Corn and Wine and Oyl encreaseth Many Christians have much bitterness in their sorrow but certainly Evangelical sorow the tears of it is Rose water that hath a great deal of sweetness it is sweet both unto God and sweet unto the soul even while the soul is sorrowing there is sweetness in the heart and this is the difference between legal terror and Evangelical sorrow the one hath nothing but bitterness and gal in it and the other nothing but sweetness That is the first thing Secondly Another way to facilitate and make easie that we do is this Labor to keep our hearts in a constant readiness and preparation to every duty Duties are very hard because we fall upon them unprepared we are not in a readiness continually unto every good work you know when you are set about any work and if you have many things to prepare and to look for when you should go about your work it will go off but heavily and it will be more troublesom but now when every thing is prepared in a readiness then how soon and how easie doth the work go on when you are going to Sea there is making a great deal of preparation aforehand now when the Ship is rigged and trimmed every thing ready then you are at an instant able to put off and set saii and go away when al things are ready you go off with ease If you would entertain Guests if they come upon you suddenly and you have nothing ready what a deal of stir is in the house what running up and down this way and that way but now if things be ready when they come they are entertained with a great deal of delight and all things in the house are in order and things go off very easily and there is no trouble in it Truly thus it should be with a Christian he should not only perform duties now and then but his life should be a constant walking with God so that he should be alwaies in readiness for every duty that God requires of him so it comes to be easie As now for the duty of Prayer you should keep your hearts in a praying frame continually and then prayer would be easie it would be an easie thing for you to pour forth your souls to God when you keep your hearts in a praying frame all the day long It may be when you go to prayer you find a great deal of trouble within you your thoughts wander and your affections are dead and dul and you rise up discouraged But what is the reason you do not keep your heart all the day long in a praying frame in a heavenly temper and frame in the day time and therefore when you come to pray at night there is no readiness in your hearts to the duty but you are altogether indisposed to it And so to come unto the Sacrament you find it a great labor and toyl to prepare for the Sacrament as you should I speak of those that make conscience of preparation many times they find it a mighty toyl a hard work I but Christians should keep themselves alwaies in a Sacramental disposition a Sacramental frame alwaies having their spirits savoring of the meditation of the death of Jesus Christ that nothing should be more familiar to a Christians Soul than the meditation of the death of Christ and of discerning the Lords Body and the Covenant of grace and giving it self likewise to God in a Covenant of grace this should be continually and then if you should receive the Sacrament every day you might be fit for it or every week you would be fit for it Now People think it a great matter and make a great deal of do about receiving of it often whereas the truth is the Saints of God they should be in as great a readiness to receive the Sacrament as to hear the word or to pray and that would be a mighty ease unto them therefore if things were as they should certainly it would be more convenient to have it more ordinary and constant every Lords day the Sacrament The Christians in the primitive times would receive it every day in the year and they kept their heart in readiness to such kind of duties let it be what work it wil be You should be patient in affliction if affliction come upon you and your heart is not in a readiness to alter your condition Oh! it wil be a grievous burden to exercise patience it wil be a hard thing for you now you should keep your hearts ready for every condition that is the true work of grace in the Soul to keep the soul in a constant bent Godward and that Soul wil do things very easily Somtimes you have much ado with your children when strangers come to keep them in good order the reason is you neglect them at other times and that is the reason that they trouble you when strangers come but keep them in a good order at all times and then you wil have them right at those times So it is with the heart keep the heart prepared and ready to every good work and then every work wil be easie Object But you wil say That is a great deal of toyl and labor to keep our hearts alwaies bent and ready to good works To that I answer at first it may be some labor and toyl but those that have once got their hearts into a readiness find it not so hard but have a great deal
of God very much the experience of this is very much I do not know how it comes to pass but certainly now there is a great deal less communion between Gods people than formerly the times have been when some that have been alone have bin striving and tugging and could not get their hearts into any good frame they have come buâ— into the company of Gods people laid their experiences together and warmed themselves together and then they have gone away and they have thought nothing too hard that God should require of them to do or to suffer they would go into their closets and pour out their hearts if there were trouble in the Family between Wife and Husband in regard of passion when they have been amongst Gods people they could carry themselves in a gracious manner Oh! communion much communion with the Saints of God it is that that facilitates the waies of Religion We know in travelling if a man be travelling a journey all alone especially if he have wind and weather against him his way is tedious to him very hard and grievous and he is tired in his journey but now if he travel and have good company and good discourse and is joyfull and cheerful when he is going his journey is nothing when he comes to the Inn he saith I thank God I am not weary at al Why is it so the journey is long I but the company is good the dâ—scourse is good and that makes it easie So it is in our journey to Heaven we complain of tediousness in our journy Why is it because we love to be alone As many that are of a dumpish disposition loving alwaies to be alone there is a time indeed that people should be alone they have sweet refreshings from God that way but there is a time to have Society with the Saints and it is an ordinance appointed by God for the facilitating of Gods waies while we are passing in the wilderness in our way to Heaven and therefore make Conscience of that to have Communion with the people of God to spiritualize your Communion and make what use you can of them to help you in your Christian course 13. Another Rule is this Exercise much Faith Faith doth facilitate every action as Unbelief makes every thing difficult let a man be put upon any duty if he have an unbelieving heart it is difficult Why because before he comes to it he saith I shal never go through with it and therefore comes heavily to it all the while his unbelief prevails his work goes heavily on but let a man come to a work and come to purpose A man of confidence and of spirit he saith let me take such a thing another man he is toyling laboring and he saith I shal never bring it to any thing but now another man that is of a lively constitution faith he let me come to it and he carries it on with ease and the truth is when Christians see Gods call to any work they should not pore upon the difficulty but exercise Faith and come with courage to the duty and God will carry you through God that cals me to a work he will give me strength in the work and therefore let me go to the work as if I were carried through it already go on with confidence and resolution and take heed of Unbelief up and be doing and the Lord wil be with you so do you say to your souls when you are discouraged in the work Oh such and such have miscarried and how shall so weak a soul as I do Wel up and be doing and the Lord will be with you 14. Lastly Do not satisfie your selves that you have grace but labor to have strength of grace that is easie to a strong man that is hard to a weak now Christians should not satisfie themselves with Gods grace God hath begun grace in thee you will say he that hath the least dram of grace it will carry him to Heaven I but it is a great deal of grace that must make the waies of Religion easie and delightful to thee Therefore look into the word and when thou dost exercise Faith or make use of any Ordinance Do it for the encrease of grace for strengthening thy self strengthen those weak things that are in thee that thou maist go on steadily in the waies of Religion and know to that end that though thou beest never so weak yet there is strength enough to be had Look into the word of God and you shall find there that there is a most glorious strength that is possibly to be attained unto by Christians in Ephes 1. 18 19. that place that we have often made use of What is the exceeding greatness of his power to us ward which beleeve according to the working of his mighty power Mark this Text it is not only meant of the greatness of Gods power in working Faith in us but the greatness of his power toward us who do now beleeve God doth put forth power greatness of power and exceeding greatness of mighty power and the same that he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at the right hand of God Thou mai'st come to have by the exercise of Faith the power of God put forth his almighty power to give thee Faith so now by the exercise of Faith thou mai'st have the power of God the greatness of his Power the mighty power of God and the exceeding greatness of the mighty power of God and the same that God put forth when he raised Christ from the dead set him at the right hand of the Father Thou sai'st thou hast a dead heart but wil not the power of God that raised Christ from the dead raise thy heart exercise Faith Lord I go about such a business it is difficult because of the hardness of my heart But Lord wil not the power that raised Christ from the Grave raise my dead heart And so Lord I have a heart sunk down to the things of the world I but Lord hast thou not promised to put forth the same power into the hearts of thy people that set Jesus Christ at thy right hand Wil not that power raise up my heart to Heaven and give me an heavenly heart Now here is strengthening of thy Faith from the word of God and that strength that the Scripture holds forth that God himself wil put forth into the heart of his people upon the exercise of Faith And so in Ephes 3. 16. That he will grant unto you according to the Riches of his Glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man what a heap of expressions are here therefore I put you upon this not to content your selves with weak grace for there is abundance of strength not only the strength in Christ but the strength that is conveyed into the heart by the Spirit of Jesus Christ it is one thing for