r to more love, and
reverence, and adoration of God, that so he may be brought more easily and
steadily to a sweet compliance, and harmonious agreement to the will of
God, in all his ways. Nay, to say a little more, there are sundry physical
or natural contemplations of the works of God in scripture, but all these
are divinely considered, in reference to the ravishment of the heart of
man, with the wisdom, and power, and goodness of God. And this shows us
the notable art of religion, to extract affection and obedience to God,
out of all natural contemplations, and thus true divinity engraven on the
soul, is a kind of mistress science, _architectonica scientia_,(255) that
serves itself of all other disciplines(256) of all other points of
knowledge. Be they never so remote from practice, in their proper sphere,
and never so dry and barren, yet a religious and holy heart can apply them
to those divine uses of engaging itself further to God and his obedience:
as the Lord himself teacheth us--"Who would not fear thee, O King of
nations," Jer. x.; and, "fear ye not me who have placed the sand," &c.
Jer. v. 22. So praise is extracted, Psal. civ.; and admiration, verses 1,
83. So submission and patience under God's hand is often pressed in Job.
Therefore, if we only seek to know these things that we may know them,
that we may discourse on them, we disappoint the great end and scope of
the whole scriptures; and we debase and degrade spiritual things as far as
religion exalts natural things in the spiritual use. We transform it into
a carnal, empty, and dead letter, as religion, where it is truly,
spiritualizeth earthly and carnal things into a holy use. &c.

HEART-HUMILIATION

Or, Miscellany Sermons, Preached Upon Some Choice Texts, At Several Solemn
Occasions.

To The Reader.

_Christian Reader_,

This holy preacher of the gospel had so many convictions upon his spirit
of the necessity of the duties of humiliation and mourning, and of
people's securing the eternal interest of their souls for the life to
come, by flying into Jesus Christ for remission of sins in his blood, that
he made these the very scope of his sermons in many public humiliations,
as if it had been the one thing which he conceived the Lord was calling
for in his days; a clear evidence whereof thou shall find manifested in
these following sermons upon choice texts, wherein the author
endeavoureth, not only to lay before thee the necessity