Obedience to Superiors; enforced by Chrift's Christ. Now, my Son, that the Man who refu- fes Obedience, rejects the Grace, and excludes himself from the Favour of God; And, by feeking his own private Advantage inordinately, breaks the Order, and obftructs the good of the Publick, Disrespect 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 fuccessfully oppofed, when thy Domeftick one is first vanquished, and All quiet within. And Man himself is his own worst Enemy. Nor are his Circumftances ever more full of Danger, then when the Senfitive raises 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 Vileness, 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 lowest, moft fervile, and despicable Form, for thy fake, who art Nothing? And why, but that fo 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 · just 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 canst thou think, that no Return is due for fuch Mercy? Yes; know, that I require thou fhouldft be sensible of the astonishing Greatnefs of my Love, and shew that Sense by Gratitude and Humility; by a modeft and respectful 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, whilst converfing in human Flesh upon Earth. CHAP. CHA P. XV. God's Judgments are to be confider'd, for our Humiliation. Difciple. Judgments, my Joints are loofed, my W Hen thou, Lord, uttereft thy Voice in Limbs quake for Fear, my very Soul is confounded, and trembles at thy Thunder. In the midst of these Horrors I begin to reflect, that the Heavens Job 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 stand before thee, and kept not their first Estate, 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 escape? They, who did eat Angel's Food, degenerated from their Primitive Excellence, and fed on Hufks with Swine; how then should a Creature preferve its Innocence, whofe very Original is impure? This, Lord, convinces me, that there is no Holinefs but what is derived from thee alone; no Wisdom 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 cease 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 unstable 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 hang down, down, abd 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 seem to be in me, yet even this deferves my meanest Opinion, and will in no degree juftify my thinking otherwife 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 submit to thy correcting Hand. For, though I cannot discover all the Reasons of thy Mysterious Judgments; yet this I find no Difficulty to difcern, that I my felfam nothing, and that I proceeded out of nothing. O the dark Abyss? 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 unsearchable Depths. These fhew me to my felf, and juftify the Prophet's Rebuke, Shall the Clay exalt itself against the Potter that fashioned it? Behold, as the Clay is in the Hands of the Potter, fo is every Mortal Man in thy Hand, O Lord. Ifa. xiv. Jer. xviii. 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 unanimously in his Praise, 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 so many Copies of himself; frail and feeble, deceivable and perifhing, Emptiness and Nothing. That Ifa. xi. 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. Ceafe therefore from Man, for wherein is be 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 1 Pet. iv. themselves under his mighty Hand. CHAP. XVI. With what Referves we ought to Pray. Chrit. Style of all thy Prayers: Lord, if it be L ET this, my Son, be the Language and thy Pleasure, grant me this Request; If what I ask conduce to thy Glory, do thou 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 bestow it, but, with it, Grace to use it to thy Glory: But if thou feeft it may prove burtful 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 easy 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 Impulse of Divine Grace, and perfuaded himfelf, that he hath been directed and acted by it all a long, |