were not God a more fast friend to the Saint, than he is to himself, there were no salvation for a sorry sinner: for every Man is a Sathan to himself, and the sincere Saint wil pray most (with Divine Austin) to be delivered from that evil man himself; and is more afraid of the folly that is bound up in his own heart, than of assaults from without: and indeed the reason of a souls self-confidence, is self-ignorance, or not laying up experiences of the hearts deceitfulness; the truth is, a poor self-deceiving sinner dares not look into his heart, lest he finde not things there as he fancieth, or would perswade himself, but puts all to the venture, like a desperate bankrupt; but a childe of God cannot but see this trea∣chery that others hide or counterfeit, and willingly sees it, and as sadly laments it, and as watchfully avoids those deceits: observe it, though deceivings by the heart be bad, yet ob∣serving and laying up such sad experiments is certainly good, and of singular use to the sincere and serious soul: the Lord help us all so to note, and be afraid of our naughty spi∣rits, that we may trust them less, and God more, while we live.
3. Lay up experiences of sin's bitterness: consider what were the insinuating waies of sin and Satan to intangle you, and the sad effects of sin, what tears, and groans, and bitter bickerings it cost your captivated souls, to extricate your selves, and regulate your state: Oh the intricate windings of that croo∣ked Serpent? what strange and subtile me∣thods