Book II. of J E S U S C H R I S T. 9 I

Matter of undifturbed Joy to him. Whereas even Pio- fperity it {'c]t cannot procure Eafe and Content to a guilty and felf-condemning Breaft. Would'ft thcu then enjoy a fvveet and uninterrupted Tranquility ? Keep all at Peace within, and give thy own Thoughts no caufe to reproach thee. All the Satisfaction we take Oi promifc our felves, is vain and dangerous, ex- cept that only, which proceeds from a Senfe of having done our Duty. The xVIen thoufeeft fo Gay, fo feem- ingly full of Delight, are galled and itung within ; they have no inward, no true Contentment, and not- withftanding their mod induftrious Purfuits of Plea- fure, that Sentence of God is irreverhble, and the (ad Effeds of it hang over their Hearts, that ^ , ^ rhere is no Peac^ to the JVicked. They may ^^'^ ^'''^^- " '- perhaps make. mighty Boafts of their Enjoyments, put on an Air of Happinefs, give out, that their Pomp and Greatnefs fecures them from the Aill^ults of Mik- ry j but thefe are all Delufions, and ought not to in- cline our Affent; or provoke our Envy. We fee not their inward Tortures^ nor are VVitneffes of thofe Checks and Terrors, which make Retirement bitter and infupportable, and haunt their Cloiets and thtir Beds: VVe fee not yet, but there is a time coming when we (hall fee, an angry God breaking out upon them in Fury ^ their mighty Projeds quaflied and baffled, and all the Happinefs they vainly boaited of, vanifh like a Dream.
While therefore thefe Men take a Pride in their SucceiTes and outward Enjoyments, do Thou with equal Satisfaction entertain thy Afiiidions. This is not indeed to Fle(h and Blood an eafy Undertaking ; but to a Soul filled with Grace and Love, which knows and propofes to it felf no other Happinefs but God, nothing is impracl:icable, nothing difficult. For what is this, but to rejoice in the Fatherly Care and AiFe- dion of Him whofe Providence ordereth thefe Suf-
G 4 ferings
,92. flPf tl^e limitation Book il.
ferings for chy Good ? The Glory which we give or receive from one another^ is very fickle and periftiing ,• it cannot lafl: long, and while it does, feme Alloy of Sorrows, will ever attend and damp it. The Good Man's Glory ftands upon ftronger Foundations ; it rifes from within, and muft endure fo long as that In- nocence which creates it : Nay, it muft laft as long as God himfelf ^ for his Will carefully performed, his Fa- vour and Approbation which follows thatPerformance, are the folid Bafes on which it ftands : And thefe can never fail, fo long as Truth and Juftice continue im- pregnable. To him who afpires after Eternal Glory and Honour, that of this World is of very little Con- fideration. And thefe are fo very different, fo in- confiftent, that the Love and Sincere Defires of the One are beft proved by a Negled and Difefteem of the Other. Nay, not only the future, but the prefent Happinefs is beft fecured by feeking the Approbati- on of God alone : For nothing contributes more to an eafy and quiet Mind , than the difregard of the Praife , and defpifing the Cenfures and Reproaches of Men.
A pure and quiet Confcience does above all things difpofe a Man to reft contented with his Condition : And particularly, with regard to the Opinion of the W'orld, it is highly reafonable he fhould do fo. For what is any one really the better or the worfe for what other People fay of him ? Their Commendati- ons add rft)thing to his Virtue, nor does their Difpraife and Scandal take one whit from it. The Man is ftill the fdmo • what his ovyn Anions and the Judgment of God make him ; this is the Standard of our Worth and Happinefs ; neither more nor lefs belongs to us, than will be found to do fo at the laft great Account ; and that will depend, not upon what we were faid or fuppofed to be, but upon what in very deed we were in this World. The more Refpe(5t therefore we bear to
the