}lead l. lV~t it ii to be/iJeciallj r.otied. 10 1 'l ' he corrup ti on of nature bei ng that which ddiTes.aJI> itfe! f Dlll fl needs be the moH abominable thing. 3· It is virt ua lly ali fin: for it is the fee d of all £ius, wh ich want but the occaGon to fet up their heads: being in thecorruption of nature, r as the effect in the vi tt ue ·of its -caofe. Hence it is called a body ofdectth , ( Rom. vii _~4·) ;:iS confiil:ing of t!\e feveral member s, belonging t<.' fuch a hody of fin;, ( Col. ii. 1I.) \yhofe li fe lies in fpir itua l death! It is the curfed ground, fit to bring forth all manner of noxious weeds. As the whole l'lefi of venomous creatures mu fr ~eeds· be more dreadful than any few of them th nt come creeping forth : fo the fin of thy nature, that mo– the r of abominations, mu!l: b_e worfe th~n . any particul ar lu lls th at appear fl:irring in thy heart and life. Ne\'& did eve.ry fi n appear in the converfatioo of tJ;le vildl:' w.retch ·th?.t ever lived ; but look thou into thy cot rupt nature, <> nd there thou mayef!: fee alrand every fin ,in· the feed and root thereof. There is a fulne fs of all tmri,ghteoujnefs th e~·e , Rom. i. 29. There is atbeifm; idol-atry, blafphemy, m.:~r - / cler, adultery, ~nd- whatfoever is vile. PoRibly, none of thefe appeal to thee iltl thy heart; but there -is more in that unfathomable depth of wickednefs, tha:l thou kno;weft. T hy cor rupt heart is-like an ant's nell~ on which, whi'le .the fi one lieth, none of 'them appear: but take ort the Hone, fiir them up but with the point of a flraw, you will fe-e w'h at a f.t>arm ·is there, and how lively th ey be, juft fuch a fight would thy heart affotd t-hee, did the Lord btlt withdraw the re!lraiot he has upon it, and fuff.:r Sa-tan to flir it up ,by temptation; . 4 · The fin of' our na-ture is, of a11 fin s, the mofLfixed a.nd abiding. Sj.nful actions, tho' the guilt- a,n d Haio of ~th em may remain., yet in thernfelves t.hey are paffi r!g. T he ' d :unkard is n-ot alwawl at his ·cup, nor t~e unclean perfon always atl:ing lewdnefs. But the . corrupti on of na t.ure is an a!:>idin·g fjn: it remains· with me'n in it s full power, by · night and by day, at :dl times, fi xed as with bands ofi ron aAd brafs; till their nature-be c~-ang e d byconv.erting grace ; ~nd the remains of it continue wit h the godly, unt il the death of the body. Pride, envy, co,'et oufoefs, and the like are not always fiirring· in t hee. But the proud, envt– ou~, . Ca lnatnatu.re is Hill with thee·: even as the clock that
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