PART III. ofgracious AfeE!ious. 281 ffrains it : 'Tis like the Stream of a River, it may be ffopp'd a whil with a Dam, but if nothing be done to`dry the Fountain, it won'e be ftop'd always ; It will have a Courfe, either in itsold Channel, or a new one. Nature is a Thing more conffant and permanent, than any of thofe Things that are the Foundation of carnal Men's Refor- mation and Righteoufnefs. When a naturalMan denies his LLuff, and lives a flric`t, religious Life, and Teems humble, painful and earneft in Religion, 'tis not natural, 'tis all a Force againft Nature ; as when a Stone is violently thrown upwards ; but that Force will be gradually fpent ; yet Nature will remain in its full Strength, and fo prevails again, and the Stone returns downwards. As long as corrupt Na- ture is not mortified, but the Principle left whole in a Man, 'tis a vain Thing to expeef that it fhould not govern. But if the old Nature be indeed mortified, and a new and heavenly Nature infufed ; then may it well be expeded, that Men will walk in Newnefs of Life, and continue to do fo to the End oftheir Days. The Reafon of this practical Exercife and Effe ft of holy Affec- tions, may alto be partly feen,from what has been faid of that Spirit of Humility, which attends them. Humility is that wherein a Spirit of Obedience does much confitt. A proud Spirit is a rebellious Spirit, but a humble Spirit is a yieldable,fubjea, obediential Spirit. - We fee among Men, that the Servant who is of a haughty Spirit, is not apt in every Thing to be fubmiflive and obedient to the Will of his Mat- ter ; but it is otherwife with that Servant who is of a lowly Spirit. And that Lamblike, Dovelike';Spirit, that has been fpoken of, which accompanies all gracious Affections, fulfills (as the Apoffle obferves, Rom: 13, 8, g, ao. and Gal. 5. id.. ) all the Duties of the fe- cond Table of the Law ; wherein chriflian Pradice does very much confiff, and wherein the external Practice of Chriffianity chiefly con-: tiffs. And theReafon why graciousAffec`tions are attendedwithth tffria, univerfal and conflant Obedience which has been fpoken of, further appears, from what has been obferved of thatTendernefs f Spirit,which accompanies the Affections of true Saints, caufing in them fo quick and lively a Senteof Pain, thro' the Pretence of ,moral Evil, and fuch a Dread of the Appearance of Evil. And one great Reafon why the chriflian Practice which flows from gracious Affections, is univerfal, and conflant, and perfevering, ap- pears from what has been obferved of thofe Affections them£eives, from whence this Practice flows, being univerfal and conffant, in all Kinds of holy Exercifes, and towards all Objects, and in all Circum- ffances, and at all Seafons, in a beautiful Symmetry and Proportion. And much of the Reafon why holy Affections are exprefs'd and manifefled in fuch an Earneffnefs, Activity, and En&agednefs and Per-- feverance in holy Practice, as has been fpoken of, appears fromwhat has
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