A Treatife of the Affeitions: , 39 ~Fourthly, It may appear how infinitely it Rands you in Thff hand to let your affections aright, beceufe the offellions are sons ae- re the hands ofyour fouls. Ye cannot take hold of any thing in the hands the world to doe you any good, but by your affeetions.For oEche as hands are to the body, fo the affections are to the foul. foul. Will a man be fo mad as to put his hand and his fingers out of joynt? alas ! he cannot take hold of fo much as his meat for to eat it. So the affections are the hands of the foul. He that bath clean hands t a pure heart,Pf.24.4 that is,he whofe affeftions are clean, and heart pure. IWill Walk my hands in innoceney, and fo Will I compaffe thine Altar, Pfal. 26.6. that is, I will purge mine affeftions, and fo I will pray. I will that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands Without Wrath, i Tim.z.8. that is, lifting up holy affeftions, with- out the diftempered affeftions of wrath or anger or the like : the affeftions are the hands of the heart, whereby it takes the word or the Commandment, or any thing to it Now what a horrible thing is it that thefe hands of thine Should be put out of joynt ? as long as thine affeftions are to the things here on earth, they are all out of joynt ; thou canft never take grace. Ye cannot take hold of a promife, nor of the word, unleffe your affections be right. I know that Faith is the right hand of the foul, whereby it takes hold of that which is good. But alas l the h.nd of Faith is elumble without the affections. Such a one had a croffe, how did he take it ? fay we : that is, how is he affe/ted un- der it ? ye take it ill to be reproved of your fins : ye take it ill to be warned and admonifhed either in publike or pri- vate. Ye take it ill to be told of the judgements of God a- gainft your lulls. Alas 1 how can ye do otherwife ? ye can- not take it well, when your affeftions that fhould take it well are let upon vanity ? wilt thou binde up and hamper thine affeftions in the things of the Earth ? alas I thy hands are quite bound, thou canft not take hold of Chrift or of Heaven. Thou dolt even pinion thine own foul and (hackle I it for Hell. What does the Devil when he (hackles a man like
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