scudderpage178

affected, and resolved against hypocrisy, and for uprightness, he will take no pains to be free from the one, nor yet to obtain the other.

Secondly, You must be sensible of that hypocrisy which yet is in you, and of the want of uprightness, though not altogether, yet in great part. For no man will be at the pains to remove that disease whereof he thinks he is sufficiently cured though he judge it to be never so dangerous; nor yet to obtain that good of which he thinks he has enough already, though he esteem it never so excellent.

Hitherto both in the motives and means, I have endeavoured to gain the will: to will and resolve to be upright, and to be willing to use all good means to be upright. Now those means that will effect it follow.

Thirdly, Do your best to root out those vices that beget and nourish hypocrisy; and to plant in their room those graces which produce and strengthen uprightness.

The chief vices are ignorance and unbelief, self-love, pride, and an irresolved and unsettled heart, unstable and not firmly resolved what to choose, whereby it wavers and is divided between two objects, dividing the heart between God, and something else, Zeph. i. 5. either false gods, a man's self, or the world; whence it is, that the Scriptures call a hypocrite a man that has a heart and a heart, one that is double-minded, James iv. 8.

The graces are, a right knowledge of God and of his will, and faith in him; self-denial, humility, and lowly-mindedness; stability, and singleness of heart towards God.

For, the more clear light you can get into your mind, the more truth you will have in your will. And when you can so deny yourself, that you can quite renounce yourself, and first give yourself to Christ, and unto God, 2 Cor. viii. 5, 10, 11, then there will follow readiness of mind, and heartiness of will, to do whatsoever may please God. Also, the more humility you have in your mind, the more uprightness you will have in your heart. For while the soul is lifted up,