_....,_-.ár7 - Cöm, to ; Of renewiva the ,í&ciit, ,rc. Chap. 4.; 5 implyed in the Negative , we (hall fay fomerhing of the Affirmative part. The Affirmative part. Or the thing required,is fet down by the Apoftle,when 7h° afbrm.,- he exhorts us, Tobe renewed in thefpirit of your minds, and to put on the new man tivzp.rt. which is renewed ánknowledge after the image ofhim that created him, and to become new 7f thnweimg t creatures. We maff labour, as the A ofle prayed, that ourfpirit, f oul, and6odq andmind. may be fanlfified,and prefervedblamcle(s unto the comingof Chei[l We malt mortifie Ephef.4.23. our earthly members, our carnal lutts and affeflions, and cruci6ie theoldman, that fo C,ol. 3. io. fin may notreign in our mortal bodies. Nor only mull the mind be renewed, Gal.6.i5. burthewill too, it mutt be brought into fubjeétion to the will of God, that we Thefí 5s3; C . may beable to fay with David, Here am Islet God do with me, whatfoever he ',cafes; Horn. m 6. and with Chrift, Not my will, but thy will be done. Our inwardman is corrupt in 2 Sam. all the faculties, the underftanding is darkned, and the will is perverted. For as Manh,26.39. in old men there is caliga oculorum, dimnefs of fight, and infirmitas men brorum, J Cv'á 5 8. weaknefs in the members; fo in this old man which we are to put off, there is Ephet.2.3. éaligo mentis, and inftrmitas [piritue, blindnefs of mind, and weaknefs of fpirit, which mutt be renewed. Though fin be in it fell, aáia tranfiens,a tranfient ail ; yet after the acct there is fomethirig remains, which requires a neceffity of Renovation : as s. Rearm, the guilt, which makes us unworthy of favour, and worthy of puni(hment. 2. Macula, theRain, which renders us filthy and deformed : and 3. Yulnue feu morbtti, the wound or difeafe, which needs healing andbinding up, and confifts in a pronenefs and inclination to the like ads. Now though the guilt of fin pall be taken away uponour repentance, yet the gain and the fear remain íäíl in part,andneed daily renewing. And becaufe a new guilt may be contra fed by new fins, therefore we have daily needof par- donand remiffion. Theneceflity of this inward renewingappears, i. Becanfe of the corruption yhebecefm, °p which naturally lodges in the heart, and topollutes the whole man, here is that this rimming. gall whichìmbitters all our aâions; that leaven, which fowres the whole lump ; Ezek. 6. the leprofie which defilesbody and foul , fo that from the underftanding which lathe head,to theaffedtions which are the feet,all is full of fores. If the tongue be a worldof wickednefs, what is the heart ? If there be a beam intheeye, what is James3.6. there in the heart ? Si trabes inoculo, [trues in corde. 2. If it be not renewed, it is the molt dangerous enemy we have. It is deceitful Jent7.9' aboveall, faith the Prophet; itcan deceive us without Sathan, buthe can do no- thing without it; hemuttplow with our Heifer, it is more near to us then Sa- than, a part of our (elves : Refill the Devil and hewill fleefromus; but ifwe re- Lukeq.13s fait never fomucb,this deceiver will flick clofe to us. Sathan tempts and leaves us for a feafon,but this tempter never leaves us. This islike a treacherous per- fon in the City, which opens the gates and lets in the enemy, who otherwife by force could not have entred. 3.It is the fountain of all our adions,noneare accepted which come not from match. 5.; a pure heart ; if this be polluted, all our a&ions are abominable.Whatfoever anDeut.6.6. unclean perfon touched under the Law, was unclean. So whatfoever aâions Joel 2. í2,t3, though good in themfelves areperformed,if the heart benot renewed andclean' Jer' 4Rs4 fed, they are polluted by it. Pfal273, r: 4 3i 4i That we may be renewed in the fpirit of our minds, we mufkufe the means. rho mean: of t.We mutt wash our hearts with tears of repentance, as David after his great Ren°vat,en. fall : and S.Peterafter he haddenied his Matter. This potion 9f`repentance will Pfalm 5" purge out the peccant humours, It is true, the blood ofChriff cleanfes from allfin, it , John 1;7i takes away the guilt, and the Spirit of God renews the heart, in refped of the fain Te arewalbed(faith the Apoftle) ye are fanáifiedin the name of the Lord ?efa iCor.6.1y and by the Spirit ofour God; but neither Chrift nor his Spirit will come and dwell in an impureheart; if the heart be not prepared by repentance, we,cannot ap- ply the blood of Chrift to take away the guilt. There are preparatory works wrought by the of ullance of the Spirit, as forrow and remorfe for fin, before the Spirit comes todwell in us, and Chriftflank at the doer and knocks byprepara- tory ails of grace, before he will come in and fup with us. , 2.We mull avoid all occafions of fin ; If our right eyeoffend us we mepluck it Muth. 5 29. X x out;
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