rit of the humble," Isa. lvii. 15. "He that humbleth himself shall be
exalted," Matt. xviii. 4, and xxiii. 12; Luke xiv. 11, and xviii. 14.

3. There must be a despairing of getting help or relief out of this
condition, by ourselves, or any thing we can do; a conviction of the
unprofitableness of all things under the sun for our relief. No
expectation of help from our supposed good heart, good purposes, good
deeds, works of charity, many prayers, commendations of others, sober
and harmless walking, or anything else within us or without us that is
not Christ. For, so long as we have the least hope or expectation of
doing our own business without Christ, we will not come to him. Our
heart hangeth so after the old way of salvation through works, that we
cannot endure to hear of any other, nor can we yield to any other. Could
we but have heaven by the way of works, we would spare no pains, no
cost, no labour, no expenses; nay, we would put ourselves to much pain
and torment by whippings, cuttings, fastings, watchings, and the like;
we would spare our first-born; nay, we would dig our graves in a rock
with our nails, and cut our own days, could we but get heaven by this
means; such is our antipathy at the way of salvation through a crucified
Christ, that we would choose any way but that, cost what it would;
therefore, before we can heartily close with Christ and accept of him,
we must be put from those refuges of lies, and see that there is nothing
but a disappointment written on them all, that all our prayers,
fastings, cries, duties, reformations, sufferings, good wishes, good
deeds, &c. are nothing in his eyes, but so many provocations to the eyes
of his jealousy, and so, further causes of our misery.

4. There must be a rational, deliberate, and resolute relinquishing of
all those things in ourselves, on which our heart is ready to dote. The
man being convinced of the vanity of all things by which he hath been
hoping for salvation, must now purpose to lose his grips of them, to
turn his back upon them, to quit them with purpose of heart, and to say
to them, get you hence, as Isa. xxx. 22. This is to deny ourselves,
which we must do ere we become his disciples, Matt. xvi. 24. This is to
forsake our father's house, Psalm xlv. 10, and to pluck out our right
eye, and to cut off our right arm, Matth. v. 29, 30. This abandoning of
all our false propes and subterfuges must be resolute, over the belly of
much opposition within,