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…

CAP. X.¹

1. 1Cap. 10.

That all those whose spirits God hath thus differenced, should improve this Mercy, by walking not as other men.

IF God hath been merciful to you, in giving you another spirit, improve this mercy; show in all your ways that you are acted by another spirit: let the renewed spirit guide you, let the beauty and excellency of it appear: If we live in the spirit, let us walk in the spirit, says the Apostle, Gal. 5. 25. The works of the flesh are manifest, Gal. 5. 19. Why should not the works of the spirit be so too? God hath beautified your spirits with his own Image, in this he hath honoured you, that you might honour him, in holding forth the beauty and excellency of his Image; he hath made you a peculiar people, to that end that you might show forth the virtues of him, who ⟨p. 180⟩hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light, 1 Pet. 2. 9. It is a dishonour to a parent, or any special friend, to hang his picture in some dark hole, in some obscure contemptible place; it is expected we should make it conspicuous, that we should hang it in some eminent place, so as to manifest that we rejoice in it, as an ornament to us. It is a great evil to obscure the Graces of Gods Spirit, to keep in the work of God upon our spirits, in which he hath set out the glory of his own Image, to that end, that he might be glorified in us before men & Angels. Every man delights in the expression of that, wherein he esteems his excellency to consist, be it Eloquence, Wisdom, or any Art, wherein he hath attained any eminency; yea, if he accounts his excellency to consist in his riches, in his honour, in his beauty, he loves to make them appear before others; as the Prophet in another case,