Riches of mercy to men in misery, or, Certain excellent treatises concerning the dignity…

And again, it doth not suffer you to do holy duties in ⟨p. 259⟩a customary manner; but you do them in another manner, you do not only pray, but your prayers will be frequent, and fervent. And so for hearing, your hearing will be in another manner, it will be hard and difficult, though the form be easy. And because it is easy, therefore it is that men content themselves only with a form of Religion, but deny the power of it.

And again, it doth not suffer you to do holy duties in ⟨p. 259⟩a customary manner; but you do them in another manner, you do not onely pray, but your prayers will be frequent, and fervent. And so for hearing, your hearing will be in another manner, it will be hard and difficult, though the form be easie. And because it is easie, therefore it is that men content themselves onely with a form of Religion, but deny the power of it.

Again, Thirdly, another cause of it is this. Satan resists ¹you not when there is but a form, nor the world opposeth against thee, when there is but a form. For Satan knows that the form of Godliness alone will never hurt him, and therefore he doth not trouble men, nor is he busy to withdraw men out of that form by any temptation; but now when he comes to a man that sets upon godliness indeed, there he will not be idle, but be ready to betray him every way, and will leave no temptation unattempted; because he knoweth that the power of godliness plucketh a man out of the power of Satan. And as Satan resists not, so the world doth not much resist it, because it doth not much cross the world; for the world will surely resist that which crosseth it. By the world I mean the multitude of men, the common sort of men, I say such as these resist not the form of godliness, because it crosseth them not. Indeed the power and life of godliness is very cross to the World: those that are strict to practise indeed according to their knowledge, that have Religion not only in show, but in truth, that walk exactly and precisely according to the Rule, these men go a contrary course to the world, they go against the crowd, and against the stream of the world, and therefore the crowd of the world goes against them; for the world loves her own: now a form of godliness may be notwithstanding, a man may be the worlds own; but when a man hath the power of godliness he is not the worlds own, but he is another's; and therefore is it that men hate and oppose, and cry down the power of godliness. Hence it is too that men are so discouraged in labouring