The life of faith in three parts, the first is a sermon on Heb.…

6. Another cloak of Pride is, The presence of a real partial humility, together with an outward humble garb. A man may be really humble in some, yea in many respects, and yet be exceeding proud in others: He may be vile in his own eyes, because he is conscious of many great and odious sins, and because he knoweth that sin is a thing odious to God, and all that will be saved, must be humbled for it; and because he knoweth that his body is earth, and must return by death to filth and dust: And he may go in sordid poor apparel; and such may have a humble tone and manner of speech; and perhaps speak so self-abasingly, as if there were none so lowly as they: And yet they may be exceeding proud of their supposed wisdom, or spiritual understanding, and of a supposed extraordinary measure of holiness, or revelations, or interest in God, or of this humility it self: Yea their common natural pride may not be taken down, though there be frequent expressions of great humiliation.

And if the proudest Gallants can, with their hat at your foot, profess themselves your humble servants, why may not Religious Bride go as far?

And note here, that this Religious Pride, is of a higher and more aggravated strain than the other: 1. Because it is committed against more humbling means. 2. Because it is a sin against more knowledge. 3. Because it is accompanied with the profession of Humility, and so is aggravated by more hypocrisy. 4. Because it is an abuse of more excellent things: It is more odious to turn the pretence of wisdom, revelations, humility, godliness, good works, &c. into pride, than to be proud as children are of their fine clothes; or as addle-brained women are of their precedencies. 5. Because it most odiously fathereth it self on God, as if it were but the grateful magnifying of his graces: To put Gods Name into the boasts of Pride, and say, I thank thee, Lord, that I am not as other men, nor as this Publican (