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…

7 Make conscience of the manner ¹of performing holy duties, as well as of the doing of them, and look after them, what becomes of them when they are done; this is not according to the common spirits of the world, who think to put off God with flat, poor, and dead services; A gracious spirit hath much of the excellency of his spirit acting in holy duties, and therefore he doth much mind them, and looks much after them; but others have little of their spirits acting in them, and therefore they are little regarded, little looked after by them.

7 Make conscience of the manner ¹of performing holy duties, as well as of the doing of them, and looke after them, what becomes of them when they are done; this is not according to the common spirits of the world, who thinke to put off God with flat, poore, and dead services; A gracious spirit hath much of the excellency of his spirit acting in holy duties, and therefore hee doth much mind them, and lookes much after them; but others have little of their spirits acting in them, and therfore they are little regarded, little looked after by them.

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8 Rejoice in the good of others, ¹though it eclipses thy light, though it makes thy parts, thy abilities, thy excellencies dimmer in the eyes of ⟨p. 194⟩others; were it not for the eminency of some above thee, thy parts perhaps would shine bright, and be of high esteem; yet to rejoice in this from the heart, from the soul to bless God, for his gifts and graces in others, that his Name may be glorified more by others, than I can glorify it my self, to be able truly to say, Though I can do little, yet blessed be God, there are some who can do more for God than I, and in this I do, and will rejoice; this is indeed to be able to do much more than others, this shows a great eminency of spirit: All the parts, gifts, abilities, that any man in the world hath, where this is not, come far short of this excellency; to be able to do this, is more than to be able to excel others in any excellency whatsoever, if this be wanting: If God hath given thee this, he hath given thee that which is a thousand times more worth than strong parts, and abilities, in which thou mightest have been far more eminent, than