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…

The second Doctrine follows, which is this; It ¹is the high praise of servants that they follow God fully: This is their commendation, that they have ⟨p. 246⟩their hearts come fully off in the ways of obedience, to fulfil the good will of the Lord; this is that perfect heart which God so often calls for in Scripture, and for which so many of Gods servants are commended in the Word; as, Gen. 17. 1. Walk before me, saith God to Abraham, and be thou perfect. Deut. 18. 13. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. This Noah is commended for, Gen. 6. 9. He was a just man, and perfect in his generations: so Job, Chap. 1. 1. He was perfect and upright. The want of this was the stain and blot upon Solomon, 1 King. 11. 6. the Text there says, he went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father: This likewise was the stain of the Church of Sardis, Revel. 3. 2. I have not found thy ways perfect; the wo•ds are, I have not found thy ways […] thou hast not filled up thy […] ²following me; something ind[…]ou hast done, but thou hast not followed me fully. To have a heart full of goodness, as S. Paul testifies of the Romans, ⟨p. 247⟩Chap. 15. vers. 14. and to have a life full of good works, as, Acts 9. 33. is witnessed of Tabitha. This is the excellency of a godly man, this is the true declaration of the excellency of that spirit, wherein this glory doth consist.

THe second Doctrine follows, which is this; It