The excellency of a gracious spirit Delivered in a treatise upon the 14. of…The excellency of a gracious spirit Deliuered in a treatise upon the 14. of…

Fifthly, If it were humorous singularity, it would not bring them so ¹much sweet peace, and heavenly joy when they are upon their sick beds, ⟨p. 165⟩and death-beds, and when they have to deal with God in a special manner; when they are to appear before the great God, to receive the sentence of their eternal doom, when they are to enter upon eternity; how many then bless God that ever he put it into their hearts to go another way, not according to the common course of the world? Though humour and conceitedness may please, and give content for a while, yet it can never bring such peace, and joy in sickness, and death, and when the soul sees it hath to deal with such an infinite, holy God, such a dreadful Majesty; none apprehend the glory and Majesty of God, so as the godly do; none understand what eternity means so as they do; the sight of these things would shake men out of an humour: it is not humour that can stand before God, and the eternal misery, or happiness of the creature rightly apprehended; it is time now to lay aside humours, and conceits; and yet then when these ⟨p. 166⟩things are most clearly, most powerfully apprehended by Gods servants, even then they are most for the ways of God, in which they differed from the world, than ever they were before; it is now their greatest grief, that they have no more differed from them than they have, and if they were to begin again, they would differ far more than ever they did.

Fiftly, If it were humourous singularity, it would not bring them so ¹much sweet peace, and heavenly joy when they are upon their sick beds, ⟨p. 165⟩and death-beds, and when they have to deale with God in a speciall manner; when they are to appeare before the great God, to receive the sentence of their eternall doome, when they are to enter upon eternity; how many then blesse God that ever he put it into their hearts to go another way, not according to the common course of the world? Though humour and conceitednesse may please, and give content for a while, yet it can never bring such peace, and joy in sicknesse, and death, and when the soule sees it hath to deale with such an infinite, holy God, such a dreadfull Majesty; none apprehend the glory and Majesty of God, so as the godly doe; none understand what eternity means so as they doe; the sight of these things would shake men out of an humour: it is not humour that can stand before God, and the eternall misery, or happinesse of the creature rightly apprehended; it is time now to lay aside humours, and conceits; and yet then when these