Gospel-revelation in three treatises, viz, 1 The nature of God. 2 The excellencies of…

Further, This principle of grace doth cause this in the heart, that it will never limit its self in any working after God, and therefore hath a kind of Infiniteness; and here is the difference between one that hath true grace, and the most glorious hypocrite in the world; An hypocrite he will ever be bounding his working after God, and think thus much is enough, what need any more? If I do thus and thus, why I may do well, and go to heaven at last, and so doth bound himself: But now where there is the least dram of true grace, though there be many ⟨p. 42⟩weaknesses in the soul, yet such a soul doth never bound its se•f in working after God. I indeed heretofore have •et out my heart to the creature, but now I would fain, if I could, let out my heart infinitely after God: Why? For I see an infinite distance between the good there is in the creature, and the good there is in God; certainly where this is, there is grace, and this one note were enough to discern the truth of grace in the heart: If the sight of God have wrought this, that whereas heretofore thy heart hath been let out after such and such creature-comforts, now thou dost desire, if it were possible, to let out thy heart infinitely after God; here is the work of grace, and in this thou goest beyond any hypocrite: Oh keep this constant in thy soul, this is the especial sanctifying of Gods Name in all our ways; when we see that God gives us leave to let out our hearts towards the creature in some measure, then there is a great deal of danger, that we should have our hearts stick in the creature, and that we should not have that disproportion in the letting out of our hearts to the creature, and to God, as ought to be: And this is the ground of all Idolatry in the world, when men have seen some excellency in the creature, they have been taken with it, and there have stuck, and have not been carried from the creature to God. And that is Heathens Idolatry, when they see an excellency in the Sun, they think that is God: So Christians Idolatry may be in this, If there be any creature-comfort that thy heart closes withal, and there thou dost stick, and thy heart is not carried to God, yea, is not carried to God in such a disproportion as there is between him and the creature; I say, so far as thou wantest that that thou art capable of in this kind, so far thou art guilty of Idolatry.

Further, This principle of grace doth cause this in the heart, that it will never limit its self in any working after God, and therefore hath a kinde of Infinitenesse; and here is the difference between one that hath true grace, and the most glorious hypocrite in the world; An hypocrite hee will ever bee bounding his working after God, and think thus much is enough, what need any more? If I do thus and thus, why I may do well, and go to heaven at last, and so doth bound himself: But now where there is the least dram of true grace, though there bee many