The young man's guide through the wilderness of this world to the heavenly Canaan…

Go therefore thou poor sinful soul, who never yet to this day hadst one drop of grace within thee, go thou to the Throne of Grace, go to the Fountain of Grace, lament thy sinful barren heart before God, and plead his promise of pouring the spiritual water of grace upon the barren thirsty soul: say unto him, Lord make good this good promise unto me, behold the dry and barren heart, upon which no dew or rain from above hath ever fallen, pity this hard and parched soul; a drop Lord, a drop from the fountain of living water. God of grace, give grace unto me, and effectually work it in me. And know for thy comfort, that if God hath given thee a sense of the want of grace, and an heart to pray for it, it is an hopeful sign that he intends to bestow it on thee.

5. Stir up in thy soul an earnest longing desire after grace. To that end consider the excellency thereof. Consider, I say the excellency of grace; it is the beam of the Divine Nature, a spark and ray of glory, which puts such an excellency upon a person, that all others are vile persons in comparison of him. A gracious soul is the rarest piece of all Gods workmanship, of more worth than all the wealth and riches in the world. Nothing so graceth a man as grace doth, being the image of God in man, whereby he becomes like unto his Creator, which is the greatest excellency that can be conferred on a Creature.

It was this that made all Gods servants so famous in their generation. It was not their wealth, their parts or the like, but their graces, their faith, their patience their zeal for God, and the like. These kept their names fresh, when the names of wicked, graceless wretches do rots and are perished. Grace is aromatical, it embalms the living names of dead Saints: whereupon ⟨p. 52⟩a gracious person, when he dies, is said to carry a good conscience with him, and to leave a good name behind him.