to Irwfie SAINTS. 1135 his damped eflate, by reafon of them, the Law comes and that kris him , his very heart dyeth in him ; now when God propounds to him a Saviour, and caufes him to beleeve in him, this revives his heart aggaine; this yeelds him force joy and comfort, fo that true Joy is a life too ; we may fee this in the Children of God, let their joyes and comforts be all gone, this makes them all amort, this makes them very heavic and lid, as if they had no life at all in them ; as the Church layes ; Wilt then not revive se again ?That thy peo- ple espy rojoyee inches, Pla1.8 5.6. Now my brethren, all this is onely by way of Preface ; to corns then to the queftion, what is a quickened Cltritnan ? a Chriftian that bath onely a name to live, but is dead ? Dead towards God ?Dead to all good duties ? no : But that is quic- kened up to them. As death is taken in a metaphorical) feels, when we fay fuck a one is dead to God, dead to the holy or- dinances of God, we doe not meane properly dead, as if he were naturally dead, and had no foule in his body ; but we take it in metaphoricall feulé ; fo is life here to be taken too ; namely for the a&ivenefte of a thing; when a thing is not a &ire, we ufe to fay, it is dead ; as Saneks wombe is laid to be dead ; he confidered net the deadnef s of Sarabr womb, Rom.4.r 9. That is, her womb had no a &ivrty to conceive ; now when a wombe is a &ire this way, then we fay it is quick ; foa coale that bath fire in it, is Lard robe a live coale : 7hers flew one of the Serepbins, having a live coals in his band, Iíá.6.6. Wee call it alive coale, becaufe it ii allive; it is able to bane ; whereas if that fire were out, it were not able to burne , and therefore then wee call it a dead coale ; fó when a man is a6tive towards God, Take him in Prayer, there he can a& now ; take him in felfe - deniall, in reconciling of himfelfe, in humbling of the heart, in mourning for finne, in hungering after righteoulhetfe, even as a man does after his appointed food, take him in any of the things of God,though he were like a dead coale afore, yet here he can aÉt now ; now he can move this way ; when one is like a H h: block
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