3.7.2014 AM I COEXISTING COMFORTABLY WITH KNOWN SIN?

excepts from THE LIFE OF GOD IN THE SOUL OF MAN by henry scougal 1650-1678

63 THE AIDS TO TRUE RELIGION

1. THE DESPONDENT THOUGHTS OF SOME NEWLY A-W-A-K-E-N-E-D TO A RIGHT
SENSE OF THINGS
i have hitherto considered wherein true religion doth consist
and who desirable a thing it is.
but when one sees how infinitely distant the common temper and frame of men are from it,
he may perhaps be ready to despond and give over and think it utterly impossible to be attained.
he may sit down in sadness and bemoan himself
and say, in the anguish and bitterness of his spirit,
'they are happy indeed whose souls are awakened unto the divine life,
who are thus renewed in the spirit of their minds.
but alas! i am quite of another constitution and am not able to effect so mighty change.
if outward observances could have done the business,
i might have hoped to acquit myself by diligence and care,
but since nothing but a new nature can serve the turn, what am i able to do?
i could bestow all my goods in oblations to God or alms to the poor,
but cannot command that love and charity without which this expense would profit me nothing.
this gift of God cannot be purchased with money.
if a man should give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.
i could pine and macerate (soften or separate into parts by steeping in liquid) my body
and undergo many hardships and troubles,
but i cannot get all my corruptions starved nor my affections wholly weaned from earthly things.
there are still some worldly desires lurking in my heart
and those vanities that i have shut out of the doors are always getting in by the windows.
i am many times convinced of my own meanness, of the weakness of my body
and the far greater weakness of my soul,
but this doth rather beget indignation and discontent than true humility in my spirit;
and though i should come to think meanly of myself,
yet i cannot endure that others should think so too.
in a word, when i reflect on my highest and most specious attainments,
i have reason to suspect that they are all but the effects of nature,
the issues of self-love acting under several disguises;
and this principle is so powerful and so deeply rooted in me
that i can never hope to be delivered from the dominion of it.
i may toss and turn as a door on the hinges, but can never get clear off
or be quite unhinged of self, which is still the centre of all my motions.
so that all the advantage i can draw from the discovery of religion is but to see at a huge distance
that felicity which i am not able to reach;
like a man in a shipwreck, who discerns the land and envies the happiness of those who are there,
but thinks it impossible for himself to get ashore'.

THE UNREASONABLENESS OF THESE FEARS

these, i say, or such like desponding thoughts, may arise in the minds of those persons
who begin to conceive somewhat more of the nature and excellency of religion than before.
they have spied the land and seen that it is exceeding good,
that it floweth with milk and honey;
but they find they have the children of anak to grapple with,
many powerful lusts and corruptions to overcome
and they fear they shall never prevail against them.
but why should we give way to such discouraging suggestions?
why should we entertain such unreasonable fears, which damp our spirits and weaken our hands
and augment the difficulties of our way?
let us encourage ourselves, my dear friend;
let us encourage ourselves with those mighty aids we are to expect in this spiritual warfare,
for greater is He that is for us than all that can rise up against us:
the eternal God is our refuge
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
let us be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might;
for He it is that shall tread down our enemies.
God hath a tender regard unto the souls of men
and is infinitely willing to promote their welfare.
He hath condescended to our weakness and declared with an oath that He hath no pleasure
in our destruction...

2. WE MUST DO WHAT WE CAN AND D-E-P-E-N-D ON THE DIVINE ASSISTANCE

away, then, with all  perplexing fears and desponding thoughts.
to undertake vigorously and rely confidently on the divine assistance
is more than half the conquest.
let us ARISE AND BE DOING , and the lord will be with us.
it is true, religion in the souls of men is the immediate work of God,
and all our natural endeavors can neither produce it alone nor merit those supernatural aids
by which it must be wrought:
the Holy Ghost must come upon us and the power of the Highest must overshadow us,
before that holy thing can be begotten and Christ be formed in us.
but yet we must not expect that this whole work should be done without any concurring endeavors
of our own.
we MUST NOT LIE LOITERING IN THE DITCH
AND WAIT TILL OMNIPOTENCE PULL US FROM THENCE.
no, no!
we must bestir ourselves and actuate those powers which we have already received.
we MUST PUT FORTH OURSELVES TO OUR UTMOST CAPACITIES,
and then we may hope that OUR LABOR SHALL NOT BE IN VAIN IN THE LORD.
all the art and industry of man
cannot form the smallest herb or make a stalk of corn to grow in the field;
it is the energy ..and the influences of heaven which produce this effect.
it is God who cause the grass to grow and herb for the services of man
and yet nobody will say that the labors of the husbandman are useless or unnecessary.
...for we must break up our fallow ground and root out the weeds and pull up the thorns,
that so we may be more ready to receive the seeds of grace and the dew of heaven.
it is true, God hath been found of some who sought Him not;
He hath laid hold upon them and stopped their course of a sudden:
for so was st. paul converted in his journey to damascus.
but certainly this is not god's ordinary method of dealing with men.
though He hath not tied Himself to means,
yet He hath tied us to the use of them
and we have never more reason to expect the divine assistance
than when we are doing our utmost endeavors.

WE MUST S-H-U-N ALL MANNER OF SIN

...if we desire to have our souls moulded to this holy frame,
to become partakers of the divine nature and have Christ formed in our hears,
we must seriously resolve and carefully endeavor to AVOID and ABANDON
all vicious and sinful practices.
there can be no treaty of peace
till once we lay down these weapons of rebellion wherewith we fight against heaven;
nor can we expect to have our distempers cured if we be daily feeding on poison.
EVERY WILFUL SIN gives a mortal wound to the soul
and puts it at a greater distance from God and goodness;
and we can never hope to have our hearts purified from corrupt affections
unless we cleanse our hands from vicious actions.
now in this case, we cannot excuse ourselves by the pretence of impossibility,
for sure our outward man is some way in our power;
we have some command of our feet and hands and tongue, nay,
and of our thoughts and fancies too,
at least so far as to divert them from impure and sinful objects
and to turn our mind another way
and we should find this power and authority much strengthened and advanced,
if we were careful to manage and exercise it.
in the meanwhile, i acknowledge our corruptions are so strong and our temptations so man
that it will require a great deal of steadfastness and resolution,
of wrathfulness and care,
to preserve ourselves even in this degree of innocence and purity.

WE MUST KNOW WHAT THINGS ARE SINFUL

and, first, let us inform ourselves will what those sins are from which we ought to abstain.
and here we must not take our measures from the maxims of the world
or the practices of those whom in charity we account good men.
...if ever we would cleanse our way,
it must be by taking heed thereto according to the word of God.
and that word which is quick and powerful and sharper than any twoedged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit
and of the joints and marrow
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart,
will certainly discover many things to be sinful and heinous
which pass for very innocent in the eyes of the world.

...let us acquaint ourselves with the strict and holy laws of our religion;
let us consider the discourses of our blessed Saviour (especially that divine sermon on the mount)
and the writings of His holy apostles...
those limits and bounds by which our actions ought to be confined.
and then let us never look upon any sin as light and inconsiderable,
but be fully persuaded that the smallest is infinitely heinous in the sight of God
...that, if we had a right sense of things, we should be as deeply affected
with the least irregularities as now we are with the highest crimes.

WE MUST RESIST THE TEMPTATIONS OF SIN,
CONSIDERING THE EVILS THEY WILL DRAW ON US

but now, amongst those things which we discover to be sinful,
there will be some unto which,
through the disposition of our nature or long custom or the endearments of pleasure,
we are so much wedded that it will be like cutting off the right hand
or pulling out the right eye to abandon them.
but must we therefore sit down and wait till all difficulties are over and every temptation be gone?
this were to imitate the fool in the poet, who stood the whole day at the fiver side
till all the waters should run by.
we must not indulge our inclinations as we do little children
till they grow weary of the thing they are unwilling to let go;
we must not continue our sinful practices in hopes that the divine grace
will one day overpower our spirits
and make us hat them for their own deformity.

let us suppose the worst, that we are utterly destitute of any supernatural principle
and want that taste by which we should discern and abhor perverse things;
yet sure we are capable of some considerations which may be of force
to persuade us to this reformation of our lives.
if the inward deformity and heinous nature of sin cannot affect us,
at least we may be affrighted by those dreadful consequences that attend it;
that same selfish principle which pusheth us forward unto the pursuit of sinful pleasures will make us loath to buy them at the rate of everlasting misery.
thus we may encounter self love with it own weapons
and employ one natural inclination for repressing the exorbitances
(exceeding the bounds of custom, propriety or reason) of another.
let us therefore accustom ourselves to consider seriously,
what a fearful thing it must needs be to irritate and offend that infinite being,
on whom we hand and depend every moment,
who needs by to withdraw His mercies to make us miserable
or His assistance to make us nothing.
let us frequently remember the shortness and uncertainty of our lives and how that,
after we have taken a few turns more in the world
and conversed a little longer amongst men,
we must all go down into the dark and silent grave and carry nothing along with us
but anguish and regret for all our sinful enjoyments
and then think what horror must needs size the guilty soul
to find itself naked and all alone before the severe and impartial judge of the world,
to render an exact account, not only of its more imp0ortant and considerable transactions,
but of every word that the tongue hath uttered
and the swiftest and most secret thought that ever passed through the mind.
let us sometimes represent unto ourselves the terrors of that dreadful day
when the foundations of the earth shall be shaken
and the heavens shall pass away with a great noise
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat
and the present frame of nature be dissolved
and our eyes shall see the blessed Jesus
(who came once into the world in all humility to visit us, to purchase pardon for us and beseech us to
accept of it)
now appearing in the majesty of his glory and descending from heaven in flaming fire
to take vengeance on those that have despised his mercy
and PERSISTED in rebellion against Him;
when all the hidden things of darkness shall be brought to light
and the counsels of the heart shall be made manifest;
when those secret impurities and subtle frauds whereof the world did never suspect us
shall be exposed and laid open to public view
and many thousand actions which we never dreamed to be sinful
or else had altogether forgotten,
shall be charged home to our consciences
with such evident convictions of guilt
that we shall neither be able to deny nor excuse them....

WE MUST KEEP A CONSTANT WATCH OVER OURSELVES

but it will not suffice to consider these things once and again,
nor to form some resolutions of abandoning our sins,
unless we maintain a constant guard and be continually watching against them.
sometimes the mind is awakened to see the dismal consequences of a vicious life
and straight we are resolved to reform;
but alas! it presently falleth asleep and we lose that prospect which we had of things
and then temptations take the advantage;
they solicit and importune us continually
and so do frequently engage our consent before we are aware.
it is the folly and ruin of most people to live at adventure
and take part in every thing that comes in their way,
seldom considering what they are about to say or do.
IF WE WOULD HAVE OUR RESOLUTIONS TAKE EFFECT,
WE MUST TAKE HEED UNTO OUR WAYS,
AND SET A WATCH BEFORE THE DOOR OF OUR LIPS
AND EXAMINE THE MOTIONS THAT ARISE IN OUR HEARTS
AND CAUSE THEM TO TELL US WHENCE THEY COME AND WHITHER THEY GO
whether it be pride or passion or any corrupt and vicious humour
that prompteth us to any design
and whether God  will be offended or anybody harmed by it.
and if we have no time for long reasonings,
let us turn our eyes toward God and place ourselves in His presence
to ask His leave and approbation for what we do;
let us consider ourselves under the all seeing eye of that divine majesty,
as in the midst of an infinite globe of light
which compasseth us about both behind and before and pierceth to the innermost corners of our soul.
the sense and remembrance of the divine presence is the most ready and effectual means
both to discover what is unlawful and to restrain us from it.
there are some things a person could make shift to palliate or defend
and yet he dares not look Almighty God in the face and adventure upon them.
if we look unto Him, we shall be lightened; if we set him always before us,
He will guide us by His eye and instruct us in the way wherein we ought to walk.

WE MUST O-F-T-E-N EXAMINE OUR ACTIONS

This care and watchfulness over our actions must be seconded
by frequent and serious reflections upon them,
not only that we may obtain the divine mercy
and pardon for our sins by an humble and sorrowful acknowledgment of them, 
but also that we may re enforce and strengthen our resolutions
and learn to decline or resist the temptations by which we have been formerly foiled.
it is an advice worthy of a christian, though it did first drop from a heathen pen,
'that BEFORE WE BETAKE OURSELVES TO REST,
WE RENEW AND EXAMINE ALL THE PASSAGES OF THE DAY
THAT WE MAY HAVE THE COMFORT OF WHAT WE HAVE DONE ARIGHT
AND MAY REDRESS WHAT WE FIND TO HAVE BEEN AMISS
\AND MAKE THE SHIPWRECKS OF ONE DAY
BE AS MARKS TO DIRECT OUR COURSE IN ANOTHER'.
this may be called the very art of virtuous living
and would contribute wonderfully to advance our reformation and preserve our innocency.
but, withal, we must not forget to IMPLORE THE DIVINE ASSISTANCE,
especially against those sins that do most easily beset us;
and though it be supposed that our hearts are not yet moulded into that spiritual frame
which should render our devotions acceptable, yet, me thinks,
such considerations as have been proposed to deter us from sin
may also stir us up to some natural seriousness and make our prayers against it as earnest , at least,
as they are wont to be against other calamities;
and i doubt not but God, who heareth the cry of the ravens,
will have some regard even to such petitions as proceed from those natural passions
which Himself hath implanted in us.
besides that, those prayers against sin will be powerful engagements on ourselves
to excite us to watchfulness and care,
and common ingenuity will make us ashamed to relapse into those faults
which we have lately bewailed before God and against which we have begged His assistance.

IT IS FIT TO RESTRAIN OURSELVES IN MANY LAWFUL THINGS

thus are we to make the first essay for recovering the divine life by restraining the natural inclinations
that they break not out into sinful practices.
but now i must add, that Christian prudence will teach us
to abstain from gratifications that are not simply unlawful
and that not only that we may secure our innocence which would be in continual hazard
if we should strain our liberty to the utmost point,
but also that hereby we may weaken the forces of nature and teach our appetites to obey.
we must do with ourselves as prudent parents with their children,
who cross their wills in many little indifferent things
to make them manageable and submissive in more considerable instances.
he who would mortify the pride and vanity of his spirit
should stop his hears to the most deserved praises
and sometime forbear his just vindication from the censures and aspersions of others,
especially if they reflect only upon his prudence and conduct and not on his virtue and innocence.
he who would check a revengeful humor would do well
to deny himself the satisfaction of representing unto others the injuries which he hath sustained
and if we would so take heed to our ways that we sin not with our tongue,
we must accustom ourselves much to solitude and silence
and sometimes with the psalmist, hold our peace even from good,
till once we have gotten some command over that unruly member.
thus, i say, we may bind up our natural inclinations
and make our appetites more moderate in their cravings
by accustoming them to frequent refusals,
but it is not enough to have them under violence and restraint.

our next essay must be to wean our affections from created things
and all the delight and entertainments of the lower life which sink and depress the souls of men
and retard their motions towards God and heaven,
and this we must do by possessing our minds with
A DEEP PERSUASION OF THE VANITY AND EMPTINESS OF WORLDLY ENJOYMENTS.
this is an ordinary theme and everybody can make declamations upon it, but
alas! how few understand and believe what they say!
these notions float in our brains and come sliding off our tongues,
but we have no deep impression of them on our spirits;
we feel not the truth which we pretend to believe.
we can tell that all the glory and splendor,
all the pleasures and enjoyments of the world,
are vanity and nothing,
and yet these nothing take up all our thoughts
and engross all our affections (note: not to speak of our time and effort)
they stifle  the better inclinations of our soul and inveigle (entice, lure, snare)
us into many a sin.
it may be, in a sober mood, we give them the slight and resolve to be no longer deluded with them,
but these thoughts seldom outlive the next temptation.
the vanities which we have shut out at the door get in at a postern.(back door or gate)
there are still some pretensions, some hopes that flatter us,
and after we have been frustrated a thousand times,
we must be continually repeating the experiment.
the least difference of circumstances is enough to delude us
and make us expect that satisfaction in one thing which we have missed in another;
but COULD WE ONCE GET CLEARLY OFF
AND COME TO A REAL AND SERIOUS CONTEMPT OF WORLDLY THING,
THIS WERE A VERY CONSIDERABLE ADVANCEMENT IN OUR WAY.
the soul of man is of a vigorous and active nature
and hath in it a raging and inextinguishable thirst,
and immaterial kind of fire,
always catching at some object or other,
in conjunction wherewith it thinks to be happy
and were it once rent from the world and all the bewitching enjoyments under the sun,
it would quickly search after some higher and more excellent object to satisfy
its ardent and importunate cravings;
and, being no longer dazzled with glittering vanities,
would fix on that supreme and all sufficient Good,
where it would discover such beauty and sweetness as would charm and overpower all its affections.
the love of the world and the love of God are like the scales of a balance:
as the one falleth, the other doth rise.
when our natural inclinations prosper and the creature is exalted in our soul,
religion is faint and doth languish;
but when earthly objects wither away and lose their beauty and the soul begins to cool and flag
in its prosecution of them,
then the seeds of grace take root and the divine life begins to flourish and prevail.
it doth, therefore, nearly concern us
to convince ourselves of the emptiness and vanity of creature enjoyments
and reason our hearts out of love with them.
let us seriously consider all that our reason or our faith,
our own experience or the observation of others,
can suggest to this effect;
let us ponder the matter over and over
and fix our thoughts on this truth, till we become really persuaded of it.
amidst all our pursuits and designs, let us stop and ASK ourselves:
FOR WHAT END IS ALL THIS?
AT WHAT DO I AIM?
can the gross and muddy pleasures of sense ...
or the esteem and affection of silly creatures like myself,
satisfy a rational and immortal soul?
HAVE I NOT TRIED THESE THINGS ALREADY?
WILL THEY HAVE A HIGHER RELISH AND YIELD ME MORE CONTENTMENT
TOMORROW THAN YESTERDAY
OR THE NEXT YEAR THAN THEY DID THE LAST?
there may be some little difference between that which i am now pursuing and that which i enjoyed before,
but sure my former enjoyments did show as pleasant, and promised as fair, before i attained them:
like the rainbow, they looked very glorious at a distance,
but when i approached,
i found nothing but emptiness and vapor.
oh  what a poor thing would the life of man be, if it were capable of no higher enjoyments!

WE MUST DO THOSE OUTWARD ACTIONS THAT ARE COMMANDED

when we have got our corruptions restrained
and our natural appetites and inclinations towards worldly things in some measure subdued,
we must proceed to such exercises as have a more immediate tendency
to excite and awaken the diving life.
and, first, let us endeavor conscientiously to perform those duties which religion doth require
(note: ...'to DO what the bible says to do'?)
and where unto it would incline us, if it did prevail in our souls.
if we cannot get our inward disposition presently changed,
let us study at least to regulate our outward deportment.
if our hearts be not yet inflamed with divine love, let us, however,
own our allegiance to that infinite Majesty by ...
doing what we can,
for then God is wont to pity our weakness and assist our feeble endeavors...

WE MUST ENDEAVOR TO FORM INTERNAL ACTS OF DEVOTION, CHARITY, ETC

but as inward acts have a more immediate influence on the soul to mould it to a right temper and frame,
so ought we to be most frequent and sedulous (diligent in application or attention)
in the exercise of them.
let us be often lifting up our hearts towards God
and if we do not say that we love Him above all things,
let us at least acknowledge that it is our duty and would be our happiness so to do.
let us lament the dishonor done unto Him by foolish and sinful men
and applaud the praises and adorations that are given him by that blessed and glorious company above.
let us resign and yield ourselves up unto Him a thousand times,
to be governed by His laws and disposed of at His pleasure.
and though our stubborn hearts should start back and refuse,
yet let us tell Him we are convinced that His will is always just and good
and therefore desire Him to do with us whatsoever He pleaseth, whether we will or not.
and so, for begetting in us an universal charity towards men,
we must be frequently putting up wishes for their happiness and blessing every person that we see;
and when we have done any thing for the relief of the miserable, we may second it with earnest desires that God would take care of them and deliver them out of all their distresses.

thus should we exercise ourselves unto godliness.
and when we are employing the powers that we have,
the Spirit of God is wont to strike in and elevate these acts of our soul beyond the pitch of nature
and give them a divine impression
and after the frequent reiteration of these, we shall find ourselves more inclined unto them,
they flowing with greater freedom and ease....

CONSIDERATION A GREAT INSTRUMENT OF RELIGION

...let us often withdraw our thoughts from this earth, this scene of misery, folly and sin
and raise them towards that more vast and glorious world,
whose innocent and blessed inhabitants solace themselves eternally in the divine presence
and know no other passion but an unmixed joy and an unbounded love.
and then consider how the blessed Son of God came down to this lower world to live among us
and die for us that He might bring us to a portion of the same felicity.
and think how He hath overcome the sharpness of death
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers...

TO BEGET DIVINE LOVE, WE MUST CONSIDER
THE EXCELLENCY OF THE DIVINE NATURE

...the foundation of religion...(should) inflame our souls with the love of God
...let us consider the excellency of His nature and His love and kindness towards us.
...the character of any excellent person whom we have never seen will many times engage our hearts
and make us hugely concerned in all his interests.
and what is it, i pray you, that engages us so much to those with whom we converse?
(maintain familiar association with)...some vital perfection...
we either see or apprehend some greatness of mind or vigor of spirit or sweetness of disposition;
some sprightliness or wisdom or goodness, which charm our spirit and command our love.
now these perfections are not obvious to the sight...
if it be the understanding that directs the affection
and vital perfections prevail with it,
certainly the excellencies of the divine nature...would not fail to engage our hearts,
if we did seriously view and regard them.
shall we not be infinitely more transported with that almighty wisdom and goodness
which fills the universe and displays itself in all the parts of creation,
which establisheth the frame of nature and turneth the mighty wheels of providence
and keepeth the world from disorder and ruin...

...whatever we find lovely in a friend or in a saint ought not to engross but to elevate our affection.
we should conclude with ourselves that if there be so much sweetness in a drop,
there must be infinitely more in the fountain;
if there be so muchsplendor in a ray, what must the sun be in its glory?

...let us consider all that His works do declare or His word doth discover of Him unto us
and let us especially contemplate that visible representation of Him
which was made in our own nature by His Son,
who was the brightness of His glory and the express image of his person
and who appeared in the world to discover at once what God is and what we ought to be.
let us represent Him unto our minds as we find Him described in the gospel
and there we shall behold the perfections of the divine nature,
though covered with the veil of human infirmities;
and when we have framed unto ourselves the clearest notion that we can of a Being,
infinite in power, in wisdom and goodness, the author and fountain of all perfections,
let us fix the eyes of our soul upon it,
that our eyes may affect our heart
and while we are musing, the fire will burn.

WE SHOULD MEDITATE ON GOD'S GOODNESS AND LOVE

TO BEGET CHARITY WE MUST REMEMBER
THAT ALL MEN ARE NEARLY RELATED UNTO GOD.

the meanest and most contemptible person whom we behold is the offspring of heaven,
one of the children of the Most High
and however unworthy he might behave himself of that relation,
so long as god hath not abdicated and disowned him by a final sentence,
he will have us to acknowledge him as one of His
and as such to embrace him with a sincere and cordial affection.
*in Him we live and move and have our being...
*in as much as you have done it to one of the least of My brethren, you have done it unto Me...

and THAT THEY CARRY GOD'S IMAGE UPON THEM

all men are endued with rational and immortal souls,
with understandings and wills capable of the highest and most excellent things
\and if they be at present disordered and put out of tune by wickedness and folly,
this may indeed move our compassion but ought not in reason to extinguish our love.
when we see a person in a rugged humor and perverse disposition,
full of malice and dissimulation, very foolish and very proud,
it is hard to fall in love with an object that presents itself unto us under an idea so little grateful and lovely.
but when we shall consider these evil qualities as the diseases and distempers of a soul,
which in itself is capable of all that wisdom and goodness
wherewith the best of saints have ever been adorned
and which may one day come to be raised unto such heights of perfection
as shall render it a fit companion for the holy angels,
this well turn our aversion into pity...
(note: and through prayer we can be given God's love!)

.....HUMILITY ARISES FROM THE CONSIDERATION OF OUR FAILINGS
..that which makes any body esteem us is their knowledge or apprehension of some little good
and their ignorance of a great deal of evil that may be in us;
were they thoroughly acquainted with us, they would quickly change their opinion.
the thoughts  that pass in our heart, in the best and most serious day of our life,
being exposed unto public view would render us either hateful or ridiculous.
and now, however we conceal our failings from one another, yet sure we are conscious of them ourselves and some serious reflections upon them would much qualify and allay the vanity of our spirits.
thus holy men have come really to think worse of themselves than of any other person in the world:
not but that they knew that gross and scandalous vices are, in their nature,
more heinous than the surprisals of temptations and infirmity,
but because they were much more intent on their own miscarriages than on those of their neighbors
and did consider all the aggravations of the one and very thing
that might be supposed to diminish and alleviate the other.

...THOUGHTS OF GOD (should) GIVE US THE LOWEST THOUGHTS OF OURSELVES

...PRAYER, ANOTHER INSTRUMENT OF RELIGION
AND THE ADVANTAGES OF MENTAL PRAYER

...i shall only tell you that as there is one sort of prayer wherein we make use of the voice,
which is necessary in public
and may sometimes have its own advantages in private;
and another wherein, though we utter no sound,
yet we conceive the expressions and form the words, as it were, in our minds:
so there is a third and more sublime kind of prayer, wherein the soul takes a higher flight
and having collected all its forces by long and serious meditation,
it darteth itself (if i may so speak) towards God in sighs and groans and thoughts too bid for expression.
as when, after a deep contemplation of the divine perfections appearing in all his works of wonder,
it addresseth itself unto Him in the profoundest adoration of His majesty and glory;
or when, after sad reflections on its vileness and miscarriages, it prostrates itself before Him
with the greatest confusion and sorrow,
not daring to lift up its eyes or utter one word in His presence;
or when, having well considered the beauty of holiness and the unspeakable felicity of those
that are truly good,
it panteth after God and sendeth up such vigorous and ardent desires as no words can sufficiently express,
continuing and repeating each of these acts as long as it finds itself upheld by the force and impulse of the previous meditation.

this mental prayer is of all others the most effectual to purify the soul
and dispose it unto a holy and religious temper,
and may be termed the great secret of devotion
and one of the most powerful instruments of the divine life;
and it may be the apostle hath a peculiar respect unto it,
when he saith that the Spirit helpeth our infirmities:
making intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered,
or (the original may bear) that cannot be worded.
yet i do not so recommend this sort of prayer as to supersede the use of the other;
for we have so many several thins to pray for
and every petition of this nature requireth so much time and so great an intention of spirit,
that it were not easy therein to overtake them all;
to say nothing that the deep sighs and heavings of the heart which are wont to accompany it
are heavings of the heart which are wont to accompany it are something oppressive to nature and make it hard to continue long in them.
but certainly a few of these inward aspirations
will do more than a great many fluent and melting expressions.

(final prayer concluding the book)...let us neither presume on our own strength
nor distrust Thy divine assistance;
but while we are doing our utmost endeavors, teach us still to depend on Thee for success.
open our eyes, O God, and teach us out of Thy law.
bless us with an exact and tender sense of our duty and a knowledge to discern perverse things.
oh, that our ways were directed to keep Thy statutes,
then shall we not be ashamed when we have respect unto all Thy commandments. 
possess our hearts with a generous and holy disdain of all those poor enjoyments which this world holdeth out to allure us
 that they may never e able to inveigle our affections or betray us to any sin.
turn away our eyes from beholding vanity and quicken Thou us in Thy law.
fill our souls with such a deep sense
and full persuasion of those great truths which Thou hast revealed in the gospel
as may influence and regulate our whole conversation
and that the life which we henceforth live in the flesh, we may live through faith in the Son of God.
oh, that the infinite perfections of Thy blessed nature
and the astonishing expressions of Thy goodness and love,
may conquer and overpower our hearts that they may be constantly rising towards thee
in flames of the devoutest affection
and enlarging themselves in sincere and cordial love towards all the world, for Thy sake
and that we may cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in Thy fear,
which which we can never hope to behold and enjoy Thee.
finally, O God, grant that the consideration of what Thou art and of what we ourselves are,
may both humble and lay us low before Thee
and also stir up in us the strongest and most ardent aspirations towards Thee!
we desire to resign and give up ourselves to the conduct of Thy Holy Spirit.
lead us in Thy truth and teach us, for Thou art the God of our salvation.
guide us with Thy counsel and afterwards receive us unto glory, for the merits and intercession of thy blessed Son our Saviour. Amen.