a:brk '6.s. Aa. •· CJhe Dcmger of Profperity. ling and controuling the pure Motio~s of the Spirit. We read rhat our Saviour could do 110 mighty Works in his oibn Country, becaufe of their unbelief: Not as if their Infidelity ·abated his Divine J?owet,)>Ut they were unprepared to receive benefit by them, his Miracles would have been call away upon fuch inconvincible Perfons. Who will fow the barren Sands, or :water de_ad Plants, or give a ~ich Cordia~ to ~ furious Parienr· rhar wilf fpill it on the Ground? And 'ris an Act of Ju!hce to depnve S!llners of rhofe Infpirarions which they have fo long refi!l:ed. Thole who are tender and tractable, and unfeign. edly refign up t hemfelves to Ius .Conduct m the Ways of L1fe, fl1all receive more powerful Influences to perfect the bleifed Work begun in them: He will :;.roe mor! Grac< to the humble : But thofe who are fo far from valuing his Graces and Comforts, that lhould be received wid1 the highe!l: refpect, that they ungratefully defpife them, and rebel again!l: Ills Motions and Counfels, he righteouily defects. Sr. Stephen in his Charge again!l: d1e Jews, to compleat the Aggravation of their Sins, reproaches them; Te f/ij[- ;;:::~~~!~,~b:I~"::;X~ ti:~~~~:~~:a~l~:~~;;:,:.~~:d~~:c:o&~:f'ie~~:~ro~~;; pis Charms is prefently entertain' cl, as the Devils cafily enter' cl into the Swiue; bur the Holy Spirir·wirh his gracious Offers is rejected. Wretched Indignity! rather to obey a Slave and an Enemy, than the lawful Sovereign. If the Saints grieve the Spirit of God, by a wilful neglect of his alli!ling Grace, and f.1ll into l'refumpruous Sins, although from .rhe Perfection of his Nature he is not capable ofpafitonate Grief, yet he in.fimrely diihkes thClt Sins. And as grief when 'ris op. preffmg, caufes the Spirits to renre to rhe Heart, and Nacure is as tt were flmt up mirs fjxings, and obfl:ructe_d from commu":icaring agility and vivacity in the ordinary Ope· rations of the Senfes : rhus the holy Spirit when grieved withdraws, and there follows a difcortfolare eclipfe and interruption of his reviving quickning Prefence. But the in~ dulgent habituate Sinners, provokc _him finally to leave them eo rhei~ own Lulls. 'Tis true, his deferring them is ufually gradual, as in a coniU.mptivc Perfon the Stomach, rhe Colour, the Strength, decline by degrees, rill Nature links irrecoverably under the Dil: eafe; fo the Motions of the Spirit in thole who have ofret1 repel!'d them, are not fo frequent ~d vigorous as before; his after-calls are weaker, wall:ing, and dying every Day, till his total Withdrawing from them. How fearful and hopelcfs is the Stare of fuch a Sinner? This fpiritual Judgment always proceeds from inexorable Severity, and ends in the eternal Ruin of Sirmers. For without the Spirit's fupernatural working, they can neverbe renerved to Rep_entance, never reconciled to God. They may for a rime live in a voluptuous courfe, or follow the Bufinefs of the World;. and a little breach may feparare between them and Hell, bur they lhall at la!l: die in thClt Sins, in an unpardonable !late for ever. 'Tis faid of the Jews, They rebel!d and vexed bis Holy Spirit, tberefore be tur· ned to he their Enemy, andfought ar,ainfl tbem. 2. The Convictions and E~citanons of Confcience are preve.nred, or mad~ jutffettual by the Profpetiry of Sinners. Confcience is the applicarive Mmd that refpetts PraCtice ; it directs in our Duty, both by inhibitions from what is Evil, and by infiigarions to ~~~l~,isa~d~;~r~~~s b:r ~~~J=~~:r Actions with the Rule, tc!Hfies our Innocence or This intellectual Ray was planted in us by the wife God in our Creation, and extended to the Divine Law, the ObjeCJ: and End of it, to keep us to our Duty. And fince our Revolt, 'tis being enlighrned and fanctified the viral Principle of Converfion td God, the powerful means of refcuing the lapfed Soul from. its proilirurion ro the Flelh, and recovering it to a temper of Purity becoming its Original Excellence, and Relation to the Father of Spirits. 'Tis true, the Law of God is the primary Rule of our Dmy, fsn~h~~m~~la;!~~l~~ ~~d :c::,~i~t':Jo~e~v~}i~~;r~~~~~ ~~lig~~n~~,;~n~i~dci~ !=onfcienee, which is the Eye of the Soul, be covered with a film of Ignorance, if ir be blear'd with the falfe Glitterings of the World, if it totally neglects its Office, or makes but a cold application of faving Terrors that may conrroul the licentious Appetites, if it be difrcgarded, when it fugge!l:s-and excites to our Duty, the Sinner is' hard· ned and ferlcd in his loft State. Now Profperiry foments the fenfilal Affections, rhat obfcure the Light of Confcience, that corrupt its Judgment, that fmorhcr and fupprcfs its DiCl:ates, or defpife and ilight them, that 'tis powerlefs, rho conilimred God's Deputy to order our Lives. t. Affected Ignorance inhe ufual Concomitant of fenfilal Luils : for the enlighrned Confciencc will convince, and condemn Men for rhe1r Pollurwns, and force them here to feel the beginning of Sorrows, and thereby make them apprehenfive what the Ilfues and Conful}lation will be hereafter, and ehis will call: an afperGon of Bmernefs upon rhw fweer
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