CHA P. XIV.

Obedience to Superiors; enforced by Christ's Example.

Christ.]K Now, my Son, that the Man who refu

fes Obedience, rejects the Grace, and ex

cludes himself from the Favour of God; And, by feeking his own private Advantage inordinately, breaks the Order, and obftructs the Good of the Publick. Difrefpect and Contumacy to Superiors, is an infallible Mark of Rebellious Appetites, and of Paffions not reduced to the Governance of Reafon and Religion. Submiffion therefore is of great Ufe, for fubduing the Flesh and its Lufts; and a good Prefervative against Temptations. For the foreign Enemy will be more fuccefsfully oppofed, when thy Domeftick one is first vanquished, and All quiet within. And Man himself is his own worft Enemy. Nor are his Circumftances ever more full of Danger, than when the Senfitive raifes Infurrections, and would dethrone the Rational Soul. And, in order to this bringing the Inferior Faculties to Reason, an humble Opinion of your felf is neceffary; For Partiality and Pride are at the bottom of all the Disorders in thy own Breaft, and all the Disturbance given by unruly Men to Society, and good Government, of all Kinds.

And what fuch mighty Merit is there in this Submiffion? What Difparagement can it be thought to Thee, who art Duft and Vilenefs, when thou remembreft, That I my felf, the Almighty Majefty of Heaven, and the Lord of all the Univerfe; I, who created Thee, and the whole World, out of Nothing, did yet condefcend to a State of Subjection, and appeared in the very loweft, moft fervile, and defpicable Form, for thy fake, who art Nothing? And why, but that fo

thy

thy Pride might have no Pretence to fupport it, after fo eminent a Pattern of Humility? Learn then, thou Wretch, to humble thy felf; and like that Earth, of which thou art, be even content to be trampled upon, and trodden under Foot: Lay thy felf, like the Streets, to the Feet of infulting Men who walk over thee, and never reft till thou haft broken thy own Perverseness, and art in a conftant Readiness to comply with every juft Command of all who have Authority over thee.

Till this be done, pursue thy Paffions with remorfelefs Indignation, and fpare them not, till the very laft Remains of Pride be abfolutely fuppreffed and killed in thy Heart. And if thou fometimes find ill Ufage and Tyrannical Barbarity, yet ftill confider, thou art but a Man, and ought'ft not to complain; nay, rather confider, that thou art a Sinner, in Juftice configned over to Hell and Eternal Fire; and let the Anger of an offended God, which strictly is thy Portion and Defert, check thy Refentments of the Infolence and Injuries, the Reproachful Treatment, and unjuftifiable Hardships, which Men may fometimes offer to thee. This Wrath of God thou haft provoked, but I in Mercy fpared thee, I had Compaffion on thy Soul, and ranfomed it from Death by my own Blood. And canft thou think, that no Return is due for fuch Mercy? Yes; know, that I require thou fhouldft be fenfible of the astonishing Greatnefs of my Love, and fhew that Senfe by Gratitude and Humility; by a modeft and refpectful Obfervance of my Reprefentatives here below; and by not difdaining to fuffer any Shame and Contempt, any Injuftice and Barbarity, when Providence and Duty call thee to it, which I, thy Mafter, thy God, did not grudge to undergo for thy Sake, whilft converfing in human Flesh upon Earth.

CHAP.

CHA P. XV,

God's Judgments are to be confider'd, for our

Humiliation.

Disciple. Hen thou, Lord, uttereft thy Voice in

W Judgments, my Joints are loofed, my

Limbs quake for Fear, my very Soul is confounded, and trembles at thy Thunder. In the midft of thefe Horrors I begin to reflect, that the Heavens

Fob XXV. themfelves are not pure in thy fight, and that

even the Angels thou haft charged with Folly. If then thofe exalted Intellectual Spirits were not able to ftand before thee, and kept not their firft Eftate, What must become of fuch a Wretch as I am? If even the Stars fell from the Firmament, how can Duft and Ashes hope to efcape? They, who did eat Angels Food, dege nerated from their Primitive Excellence, and fed on Husks with Swine; how then should a Creature pre ferve its Innocence, whofe very Original is impure?

This, Lord, convinces me, that there is no Holi nefs but what is derived from thee alone; no Wifdom without thy Governance; no Strength a fufficient Defence, if thou withdraw thy Gracious Protection; no Continence or Abftemioufnefs effectual, except thou guard it; no Watchfulness against the Enemy, unless thy wakeful Eyes keep all our Approaches, and repulfe the Affaults of the Tempter. If thou ceafe to fupport us with thy mighty Hand, the Waves fwallow us up; we fink and perifh without thee, and with thee walk upon the Sea in Safety: Weak and unftable are our Refolutions, but thy Grace gives Strength and Perfeverance. Cold and timorous are our Hearts, but thou warmeft them with Zeal, and infpireft them with Courage. Lift up then, Lord, our Hands that bang

down,

down, and our feeble Knees, that we faint not in this Spiritual Warfare; and enable those who can do nothing without thee, to conquer all Difficulties through thy Strength.

I know, O Lord, that if any good thing feem to be in me, yet even this deferves my meaneft Opinion, and will in no degree juftify my thinking otherwise of my felf, than as a moft vile and worthlefs Wretch. And therefore, when thy angry Juftice afflicts me, it is my Duty, with the profoundeft Humility, to lay my Mouth in the Duft, and meekly fubmit to thy correcting Hand. For, though I cannot discover all the Reasons of thy Myfterious Judgments; yet this I find no Difficulty to difcern, that I my felf am nothing, and that I proceeded out of nothing. O the dark Aby's! in which I can find nothing relating to my felf, but Vanity and Nothing. Where then is the Prefumption, where the Pride, the lofty Conceit of my Worth and Virtue? Whither are all my vain Confidences, and towring Imaginations fled? Thy Judgments, Lord, have swept them away like a Torrent; and all are funk in those unfearchable Depths. These fhew me to my felf, and juftify the Prophet's Rebuke, Shall the Clay exalt it felf against the Pot-fa. xiv. Fer. xviii. ter that fashioned it? Behold, as the Clay is in the Hands of the Potter, fo is every Mortal Man in thy Hand, O Lord.

And is it poffible for that Soul to fwell with Infolence and vain Conceit, which is duly fenfible of thy Majefty, and fubmits to it, with that Lowlinefs and refigned Submiffion which thy Truth directs? No, no, Not all the Voices of Mankind, confpiring unanimoufly in his Praife, can blow him up to fond Conceits of his own Excellence, when once his Hopes and Heart are fixed on God. For he confiders, that all these are but fo many Copies of himfelf; frail and feeble, deceivable and perishing, Emptiness and Nothing,

That

That they, as well as their Words, are only Air and Sound, and both will quickly vanish together; but God and his Truth remain for evermore. Cease Ifa. xi. therefore from Man, for wherein is he to be accounted of? and endeavour to have Praise of Him, who refifteth the Proud, but in his own due time exalteth them, who bumble themselves under his mighty Hand.

Pet. iv.

CHA P. XVI.

With what Referves we ought to Pray.

Chrift Style of all thy Prayers; Lord, if it be

ET this, my Son, be the Language and

thy Pleafure, grant me this Request; If what I ask conduce to thy Glory, do thon be pleafed to give and profper it; Lord, if Thou, to whom all Things and their Confequences are perfectly known, feeft that this will be for my true Advantage, not only beftow it, but, with it, Grace to use it to thy Glory: But if thou feeft it may prove hurtful to me, do not only deny my Petitions, which proceed from Ignorance and Miftake; but remove far from me the very Defire of that, which cannot be obtained without my Prejudice.

This laft is a very reasonable and expedient Requeft; because many Defires, which feem, not innocent only, but even virtuous and wife, profitable and praife-worthy, in a Man's own Eyes, are yet neither infpired by God, nor agreeable to his Will: Nor is it eafy to difcern, whether one be acted by a good or evil Spirit; or whether, in the Matter of his Prayers, his own Inclination and private Refpects do not determine him. And many a one, who hath fancied the Impulfe of Divine Grace, and perfuaded himfelf, that he hath been directed and acted by it all as

long,