206 'l'be 11atural Stock . the mind, where divine knowledge !hone; the will, feme– time righteous or regular, is now turned rebel again{} its Lord: and 1 the whole man i~ in dreadful diforde r. Before l go further, !e.t me ftop and obferve, 'Iiere is a mirror bo~h for faints anti finners~ ::>inners , H·and here and confided what ,you are : and faints leara ye ~ what once ye ~ere. Ye finners, are bra,nches of a dege nerate fiQck. Fruit you may bear indeed ; but now that your vine is the vine of Sodom, your grapes mull of .courfe be grapes ·oj gall, Dept. xx~ii 32. The fcri,pture fpeak11 of two forts of fruit, which grow on the branches ~pon the natural Hock : and it is plain eoqugh, they are ·of the nature of their degenera:te .fiock, ( r. ) T'he,wi/dgrapesot wickednefs) lfa. v. ~. Thefe ,grow in a~undapce by influence from hell. See Gal .v. 19· ~o, 21. At their ,_gates are all manner of -thefe fruits both new and old. Storms come from heaven to put ·(.hem back; but they !HI! grow. They are Hruck at with the fword of the Spirit, the word of God; confcience gives them tmny ·a ,fecret blow, yet they t,hrive. ( 2:) Fruit to themfelves, · Hof. x. I. What elfe are all .the unrenewed 2crs ·of obedi· ence, his. reformation, fo~er tfeportment, his pra,yer~, and good works? They are all done, chiefly for himfelf, not for the glory of God ~ Tho{e fruits are like the apples of Eodom; fair to look at, but fall to afhes, . when handled . :and tried. Ye think ye have not only the leaves of a proJ . feffion, but the fruits of a holy practice too: ' but, if ye be pot brqken off from the ohi Hock, and ingrafte~ in Chrift Jefus; God accepts not, nor regards your fruits . Here I mpft take occafion ta tell you, there are five faults. will be fou.nd ,in heaven wi5h your befr fruits: ( 1.) . Their bitternefs; ,youralii}lers are bitter, Deut. !{xxii. 1 32. There is a Jpir~t .of .bitter,.tiefl, wherewith fome come before .the Lord, in religious duties, , living in malice and envy; <1.11d which fom~ profeffors entertain again!l: others, becaufe they outfhine them, by holinefs ,of life, or becau[e they -are ns>t oftheir opinie n o·r way~~ · ;rh is y;herefoever it reigns, is a fearful fymptom of a!l unr~gener,ate £late. But 1 I,d() pot fo much mean this, as that which is common to alJ the .branch– es of the old £lock; namely, the leave;z ofhypocrijj, Luke I . xii, r• whichJours and embitters every duty they perform• . Tbe wifdo.!n that is full of' good fruits, is rw.ithout ,bypotrifi, . , , , James '
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=