Precious faith considered in its nature, working, and growth

Again, the spirit is in thy heart, and the spirit ⟨p. 60⟩is in the Scripture, but where is the greatest measure of it? say in good earnest, is there a greater measure of the spirit in thy heart then in the Scripture? then thou canst unriddle all the [Greek or Hebrew], the difficult knots in Scripture; thou canst dive down into that divine abyss, and fetch up all the holy mysteries there; thy holiness can hold measure with the length and breadth of the pure spiritual Law; thy faith runs parallel with all the promises, and can tell over all that infinite Mass of free-grace which is couched therein: the hellish root of bitterness once in thy nature, is quite eradicated, and not a string of concupiscence left behind; thou canst say, I have no sin, and which is the wonder, thy heart doth not deceive thee in saying so; there are no shades or dark spots in thy mind, no cracks or flaws at all in thy obedience, no [Greek or Hebrew], nothing lacking in thy faith or other graces: All in thy heart and life is as right as the rule, and as pure as the Crystal streams in the Gospel. If there be a greater measure of the spirit in thy heart then in the Scripture, thus it is with thee: but I hope thou art not so utterly void of the spirit and conscience, as to fall into so proud a dream of thy estate. If thou sayest thou art clean, that very word pollutes thee, quisquis see inculpatum dixerit, aut superbus aut stultus est, whosoever saith so, is either a fool or a proud man. Say then, as the truth is, there is a greater, incomparably greater measure of the spirit in the Scripture, then in thy heart; and then tell me, what is fittest to be the rule, that which is perfect, or that which is imperfect, ⟨p. 61⟩that greater measure of the spirit in the Scripture, or that lesser, far lesser measure of the spirit in thy heart; common sense will tell thee it belongs to the Scripture.

Again, the spirit is in thy heart, and the spirit ⟨p. 60⟩is in the Scripture, but where is the greatest measure of it? say in good earnest, is there a greater measure of the spirit in thy heart then in the Scripture? then thou canst unriddle all the 〈non-Latin alphabet〉, the difficult knots in Scripture; thou canst dive down into that divine abyss, and fetch up all the holy mysteries there; thy holiness can hold measure with the length and breadth of the pure spiritual Law; thy faith runs parallel with all the promises, and can tell over all that infinite Mass of free-grace which is couched therein: the hellish root of bitterness once in thy nature, is quite eradicated, and not a string of concupiscence left behind; thou canst say, I have no sin, and which is the wonder, thy heart doth not deceive thee in saying so; there are no shades or dark spots in thy mind, no cracks or flaws at all in thy obedience, no , nothing lacking in thy faith or other graces: All in thy heart and life is as right as the rule, and as pure as the Christal streams in the Gospel. If there be a greater measure of the spirit in thy heart then in the Scripture, thus it is with thee: but I hope thou art not so utterly void of the spirit and conscience, as to fall into so proud a dream of thy estate. If thou saiest thou art clean, that very word pollutes thee, quisquis se inculpatum dixerit, aut superbus aut stultus est, whosoever saith so, is either a fool or a proud man. Say then, as the truth is, there is a greater, incomparably greater measure of the spirit in the Scripture, then in thy heart; and then tell me, what is fittest to be the rule, that which is perfect, or that which is imperfect,