226 The feve;ath Sin PART. II.I. could not flow, nor diffufe it's Odour : So gracious Affeaions flow out of a broken Heart. Gracious Alffeaions are alto Iike thofe of Mary Magdalene ( Luke 7. at the latter End ) who alto pours pre- cious Ointment on Chriff, out of an Alabafter broken Box, anoint- ing therewith theFeet ofjefus,when thehad wafh'd 'em with herTears, and wiped them with theHair of herHead. All gracious Affe&ions, that are a fweet Odour to Chriff, and that fill the Soul of a Chriftian with an heavenly Sweetnefs andFragrancy, are broken-hearted Affec- tions. A truly Chriftian Love, either to God or Men, is a humble broken -hearted Love. The Defires of the Saints, however earneft, are humble Defires : Their Hope is an humble Hope ; and theirJoy, even when it is unfpeakable, and full of Glory, is a humble, broken- hearted Joy, and leaves the Chriftian more poor in Spirit, and more like a little Child, and more difpofed to an univerfal Lowlinefs of Behaviour. VII. Another Thing, wherein gracious Affec`fions are diffinguifh ed from others, is, that they are attended with a Change of Nature. All gracious Affec`fions do arife from a fpiritual Underftanding, in which the Soul has the Excellency and Glory of divine Things dif- covered to it, as was (hewn before. But all fpiritual Difcoveries are transforming ; and not only make an Alteration of the prefent Exer- e, Senfation and Frame of the Soul ; but fuch Power and Efficacy ::_ve they, that they make an Alteration in the very Nature of the Soul ; 2 Cor. 3. 18. But we all, with open Face, beholding as in a GIa(s, the Glory of the Lord, are changed into the fame Image, from Tory to Glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Such Power as this is properly divine Power, and is peculiar to the Spirit of the Lord.: Other Power may make a great Alteration in Men's prefent Frames and Feelings ; but"'tis the Power of a Creator only that can, change the Nature, or give a newNature. And no Difcoveries or illumi- nations, but thofe that are divine and fupernatural, will have this -fupernatural Effea. But this Effea all thofe Difcoveries have, that are truly divine. The Soul is deeply affeaed by thefe Difcoveries, and fo affeaed as to be transformed. Thus it is with thofe Affections that the Soul is the Subjea of in s Converfion. The Scripture Reprefentations of Conversion do rfrongly imply and fignify a Change of Nature : fuch as being born 4 gain becoming new Creatures ; riling from the Dead ; being renewed in the Spirit of the Mind ; dying to Sin, and living to .Righteoufnef putting off the old Man, and putting on the new .Man ; a being ingrafted into a new Stock ; a having a divine Seed implanted in the Heart; a being made Partakers of the divine Nature, &c. Therefore
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