The Soul's Conflict with Itself

CAP. XIX.

Faith to be prized, and other things undervalued, at least not to be trusted to as the chief.

Faith to be prized, and other things undervalued, at least not to bee trusted to as the chiefe.

That faith may take the better place ¹in the soul, and the soul in God, the heart must continually be taught of what little worth all things else are, as reputation, riches, and pleasures, &c. and to see their nothingness in the word of God, and in experience of our selves and others, that so our heart being •ed from these things, may open it self to God, and embrace things of a higher nature; otherwise baser things will be nearer the soul then faith, and keep possession against it, so that faith will not be suffered to set up a throne in the heart; There must be an unloosing of the heart, as well as a fastening of it, and God helps us in both: for (besides the word discovering the vanity of all things else out of God) the main scope of Gods dealing with his children in any danger or affliction whatsoever ⟨p. 318⟩is to embitter all other things but himself unto them; Indeed it is the power of God properly which makes the heart to trust, but yet the Spirit of God useth this way to bring all things else out of request with us in comparison of those inestimable good things, which the soul is created, redeemed, and sanctified for; God is very jealous of our trust, and can endure no Idol of jealousy to be set up in our hearts. Therefore it behooves us to take notice, not only of the deceitfulness of things, but of the deceitfulness of our hearts in the use of them; Our hearts naturally hang loose from God, and are soon ready to join with the creature; Now the more we observe our hearts in this, the more we take them off, and labour to set them where they should be placed; for the more we know these things, the less we shall trust them.