thou rather, Lord GOD, the infpirer and inlightener of all the Prophets: Because thou alone without them art able perfectly to inftruct me; but they without thee will profit me nothing.

II. They can indeed repeat the found of thy words, but they give them not their life and their spirit. They fpeak admirably, but if thou art filent, they warm not the heart. They adminifter the letter, but thou openest the fenfe. They utter the mysteties, but thou givest understanding to unlock their meaning. They publish thy commandments, but thou affifteft to fulfil them. They fhew the way, but thou giveft the ftrength to walk in it. They act only from without, but thou inftructeft, and enlighteneft the heart. They water outwardly, but thou giveft the encrease. They pierce the ear with the voice of their cry, but thou givest understanding to the hearing.

III. Let not therefore Mofes fpeak unto me, but thou, my Lord GOD, thou Truth eternal; left I die, and prove fruitlefs, if I be admonished only from without, and not inwardly inflamed: Left the Word heard, but not done; known, but not loved; believed, but not kept, turn to my condem

N 4

nation.

nation. Speak, therefore, for thy fervant heareth: For thou haft the words of eternal life. Speak unto me, to the comfort (in fome fort) of my foul, and to the reformation of my whole life; and to thy own praise, and glory, and everlasting re

nown.

CHAP. III.

That the Words of GOD ought to be heard with Humility; and that many ponder them not.

JESUS-CHRIST.

ON, hear my words, words full of fweetness, and furpaffing all the knowledge and doctrine of the Philofophers, and wife men of this world. My words are fpirit and life, and not to be weigh'd in the balance of a human understanding, nor to be taken in a grofs and natural fenfe: They are not to be wrefted to the pleafing of a vain curiofity; but to be heard in filence, and to be received with all humility, and with an ardent affection. And I faid:

THE SOUL.

Bleed is the man whom thou inftructeft, OLord, and teacheft him in thy law; that thou mayst give him ftrength in time of adverfity, left he be left defolate upon the earth.

JESUS-CHRIST.

II. I, faith the Lord, taught the Prophets from the beginning, and even to this day ceafe not to fpeak unto all: But many are deaf, and infenfible to my voice. Most men hearken more greedily to the world than to GOD: They more readily follow their own fenfual and carnal defires, than the good pleasure of GOD. The world promises temporal and trifling advantages; and with great eagerness they engage in its fervice? I promife immense and eternal joys; and the hearts of men remain ftupid and unmoved. Where's the man that ferves and obeys me in all things, with that care and exactnefs with which the world, and those that command it, are served and obey'd? Be thou afhamed, O Sidon, faith the Sea. And if thou askeft the

c Pfal. xciv. 12.

Ifai. xxiv. 4.

reafon,

reafon, hear why. For a finall Prebend a long and painful journey is undertaken: But for eternal life, many will fcarce once lift a foot from the ground. A little fordid gain engages all men's induftry: A trifling fum embroils them fometimes in tedious and expenfive fuits: For a vain expectation, and an inconfiderable promife, they are content to fatigue themfelves day and night.

III. But alas! for an unchangeable good, for an ineftimable reward, for the brightest crown, and an everlafting glory, they think much to take but a little pains. Be afhamed therefore, O flothful and querulous fervant, that they fhould be found readier to deftruction, than thou to life. They rejoice more in vanity, than thou in the truth. Nay, they are fometimes difappointed of their hopes; but my promife deceiveth no man, nor doth it fend him away empty that trufteth in me. What I have promifed, I will give; what I have faid, I will fulfil; provided only a man continue faithful in my love, even unto the end. I am the rewarder of all the good, and the prover of all the devout, by caufing them to pafs through fharp trials.

IV. Write my words in thy heart, and ponder

ponder them diligently: For they will be found exceeding neceffary in the hour of trial and adverfity. What thou understandeft not when thou readeft, thou wilt comprehend in the day of vifitation. I am wont to vifit my Elect two feveral ways; namely, by temptation and confolation. And I read unto them daily two Lessons, one reprehending and chaffifing their vices, the other exciting and exhorting them to an advancement in all virtue. He that hath my words, and rejecteth them, bath one that judgeth him in the last daya.

A Prayer to implore the Grace of Devo

V.M

tion.

Y Lord and my GoD, thou art my whole and only good. And who am I, that I fhould prefume to speak unto thee? I am the pooreft of all thy vaflals, even a most vile and abject worm; infinitely more poor and contemptible than I am able to conceive, or dare to exprefs. Yet remember, O Lord, that I am nothing, have nothing, and can do nothing. Thou alone

a John xii. 47, 48.

art