A77983:381
Four books on the eleventh of Matthew
Four books on the eleventh of Matthew: viz: I. Christ inviting sinners to come to him for rest. II. Christ the great teacher of souls that come to him. To which is added a treatise of meekness and of anger. III. Christ the humble teacher of those that come to him. IIII. The only easy way to heaven. By Jeremiah Burroughs, preacher of the Gospel at Stepney and Cripple-Gate, London.Four books on the eleventh of Matthew: viz: I. Christ inviting sinners to come to him for rest. II. Christ the great teacher of souls that come to him. To which is added a treatise of meekness and of anger. III. Christ the humble teacher of those that come to him. IIII. The only easie way to heaven. By Jeremiah Burroughs, preacher of the Gospel at Stepny and Cripple-Gate, London.
London: printed by Peter Cole, 1659
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Seventhly, Another answer is this, that difficulty that you find, it is not the Yoke of Christ, if you consider, That now Corruption is more Stirred then ever it was before, the difficulty is in the discovery of corruption, & in the Stirring of your corruption more then before, so that your Corruption through this, by means of the yoke of Christ comes to be more stirred then formerly it was: As thus now (sometimes I think, I have given you this Similitude) if there be a few embers of fire that is covered under the ashes, while no body meddles with those embers, the ashes lye Still, but if you ⟨p. 684⟩come to blow up these ashes, the ashes fly up and down: So it is with the Soul that hath Grace, while corruption lies still all is at quiet, but when Grace comes and stirs corruption, that makes a trouble, you come now to see your sins more, and to oppose them more. As when a Physician comes to give Physic, the stirring of the humour makes the Party more sick, should the Patient complain of the Physician and say, this Physic makes me more sick, & I will take no more of his Physic? if the Physic did not make thee more sick, it would do thee no good. And so when thou comest to the practice of Religion, if Grace do not stir thy corruptions, it will not cure thy corruptions, thou comest to be sensible of thy sin more than ever, & thou art ready to think that it is the yoke of Christ that troubles thee, but it is the sight and the further sense of thy sin that makes thee thus, and thou hast cause to bless God for this trouble, there is nothing more ordinary than for Christians that are not well experienced in the ways of God to think thus, that they are worse than ever, they never had such thoughts, they never were troubled with such blasphemous thoughts in Prayer, they never found such stirrings of corruption in their hearts as now they have, and they think they are declined, and they are further off from God and eternal life than before, because they see more evil in themselves, & find more stirring of corruption than before, be not discouraged by this, it is the stirring of thy corruption though the thing in it self is evil, yet it is a good sign, it is a sign the word of God is working in thee, and God stirreth in thee, therefore do not complain of the word of Christ, that it makes thee worse, but it is a mere accidental cause of the stirring of thy corruption, and it
Seventhly, Another answer is this, that difficulty that you find, it is not the Yoke of Christ, if you consider, That now Corruption is more Stirred then ever it was before, the difficulty is in the discovery of corruption, & in the Stirring of your corruption more then before, so that your Corruption through this, by means of the yoke of Christ comes to be more stirred then formerly it was: As thus now (sometimes I think, I have given you this Similitude) if there be a few embers of fire that is covered under the ashes, while no body medles with those embers, the ashes lye Still, but if you