The divine life in three treatises

Perhaps your costliest and most excellent obedience shall by your nearest friends be called the fruits of pride, or humour, or passion, or some corrupt affection, or at least of folly and inconsiderateness. When flesh and blood hath long been striving in you against your duty, and saying, [Do not cast away thy self: O serve not God at so dear a rate: God doth not require thee to undo thy self: why shouldest thou not avoid so great inconveniences?] When with much ado you have conquered all your carnal reasonings, and denied your selves and your carnal interest, you must expect even from some religious friends, to be accused for these very actions, and perhaps their accusations may fasten such a blot upon your names, as shall never be washed out till the day of judgement. By difference of interests, or apprehensions, and by unacquaintedness with your hearts, and actions, the righteousness of the righteous may be thus taken from him, and friends may do the work of enemies, yea of Satan himself the accuser of the brethren; and may prove as thorns in your bed, and gravel in your shoes, yea in your eyes, and wrong you much more then open adversaries could have done. How it is like to go with that mans reputation, you may easily judge, whose friends are like Jobs, and his ⟨p. 311⟩enemies like Davids that lay snares before him, and diligently watch for matter of reproach: yet this may befall the best of men.

Perhaps your costliest and most excellent obedience shall by your nearest friends be called the fruits of pride, or humour, or passion, or some corrupt affection, or at least of folly and inconsiderateness. When flesh and blood hath long been striving in you against your duty, and saying, [Do not cast away thy self: O serve not God at so dear a rate: God doth not require thee to undo thy self: why shouldest thou not avoid so great inconveniences?] When with much ado you have conquered all your carnal reasonings, and denyed your selves and your carnal interest, you must expect even from some religious friends, to be accused for these very actions, and perhaps their accusations may fasten such a blot upon your names, as shall never be washed out till the day of judgement. By difference of interests, or apprehensions, and by unacquaintedness with your hearts, and actions, the righteousness of the righteous may be thus taken from him, and friends may do the work of enemies, yea of Satan himself the accuser of the brethren; and may prove as thorns in your bed, and gravel in your shoes, yea in your eyes, and wrong you much more then open adversaries could have done. How it is like to go with that mans reputation, you may easily judge, whose friends are like Jobs, and his