place there followeth a readiness of heart to address man's self to
the performance of whatsoever duty God requireth at his hands; I say
this is the last step, when, without consulting with flesh and blood,
without hammering upon it, as it were, without awkwardness of heart,
there followeth a readiness to obey God; the soul is at hand. When
Abraham was called, "Behold (saith he) here I am." And so Samuel,
"Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth," and so Ananias. "Behold, I am
here, Lord." The faithful soul is not to seek, as an evil servant that
is gone a roving after his companions, that is out of the way when his
master would use him, but is like a trusty servant that waiteth upon
his master, and is ever at hand to do His pleasure. So you shall see
it was with Abraham, when the Lord commanded him to go out of his
country, "he obeyed, and went out, not knowing whither he went"; he
went cheerfully and readily, tho he knew not whither; as who would
say, if the Lord calls, I will not question, if He command I will
perform, whatever it be. So it must be with every faithful soul--we
must blind the eye of carnal reason, resolve to obey, tho heaven and
earth seem to meet together in a contradiction, care not what man or
what devil saith in this case, but what God will have done, do it;
this is the courage and obedience of faith. See how Saint Paul, in the
place before named, flung his ancient friends from him, when they came
to cross him in the work of his ministry. They all came about him, and
because they thought they should see his face no more, they besought
him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, "What, mean ye to
weep, and to break my heart?" as who should say, It is a grief and a
vexation to my soul, that ye would burden me, that I can not go with
readiness to perform the service that God requireth at my hands. The
like Christian courage was in Luther when his friends dissuaded him to
go to Worms: "If all the tiles in 'Worms' were so many devils (said he)
yet would I go thither in the name of my Lord Jesus." This is the last