!er.I3, the 8th Chapter to the ROMAN S. figured the endeavours that Gods people ( hould ufe to cleanfè themfelves from all filthi- nefs of flelh and, fpirit 4. It being our duty, we mull ufe the means which tend to mart ation ÿ for to dream of a Mórtification which (hall be wrought in us without our confenr or endeavours , as well whilltwe are fireplug, as whilflweare waking, is to delude our faIveswith a vain fancy; no, we mutt fee a careful watch over our Thoughts; Affe &ions, and Works; the Spirits Operation cloth licenfe no man to be idle ; we mutt join with him, and obey him in his ftrivings againft the flefh ; for the Spirit worketh not on a man as a dead thing, which hath no principle of activity in himfelf 5 therefore thofe that upon the Spirits - doingall, will lie idle, abule the fpirit, who both urgeth us to the duty, and quickneth us to the ufe of means, or (tirreth us up to ufe our endeavours, that the end may be ob- tained ; otherwife we neither obey the Spirit, nor defire the benefit 5 We do not obey the Spirit, for he doth fir(1 fan lifie us, then quicken us to ufe the means, and bleffeth the means fo ufed; and we do not defire the benefit ; 't is but a with, not a defire, a ve leity, not a volition, as Prov. 13.4. The foul of the fluggarddefireth, and bath nothing, be- caufe his hands refute to labour. Many a man hath wi(hes that he could leave his fins, eG pecially when he thinketh of the (hameand puni(hment 5 as many an incontinent Perfon, Adulterer, Glutton, or Drunkard, bath a with to part with his tin, but not a will 5 for he doth not ferioufly ftrive againft it, his love to it remaineth unconquered and unbro- ken. Well then, let us fee bow far we have gained the point in hand : Firft, Every Chrittian mutt determine that the Beth mutt be mortified ; fecondly, mortified it muff be by us, every man mutt mortifie his own fleth ; thirdly, that mortified it cannot be by us without the Spirit; the Spirit will not without us, and we cannot without the Spirit, neither when we are firer to begin this work, nor can we carry it on without his ahi- fiance. 5. The Spirit mortifieth fin in us, as a fpirit of Light, Life, and Love. a. As a Spirie of Light, affefling the foul with a fight and fenfe of fin, fo as we groan under theburderrof it nothing cometh to the heart .ut by the underttanding; con- vi&ion maketh way for compun&ion, and compun&ion for a detettation and hatred of fin ;and detettation and hatred, for the dettru &ion and expulfion of it. Sin is alwayes loathfom, but we have not alwayes eyes to fee it. When we look upon it through Satans fpe&acles, or the cloud of our own paffions, and corrupt affe&ions, we make nothing of it it feemeth lovely, rather than loathfom to us. But when the fpirit anointeth our eyes with his eye - Calve, it is themutt hateful thing to the foul, that can be imagined, 3er. 3 t. 18. After 1 was infirueled, I(mote upon the thigh,yea, 1was aJlsam- ed, and confounded. We fee fin to be another manner of thing, than ever we thought it before: Peal. 1 19. rob. Through thy precepts I get underfianding, therefore I hate every falfe way.When theheart is thoroughly potirfied of the evil of fin,and we dare not dandle and indulge, or pats it over as a thing of nought : fear of puni(hment may fufpend the a& of fin, but the fight of the evil of it, doth help to mortify the root. 2. As a fpirit of life; for Jefus Chritt to all his feed is a quickening fpirir, t Cor -15. 45. We have life Natural from Adam, but life fpiritual and eternal from Chrift, and that by the fpirit 5 for we are faid to be born again of the fpirit, john 3. 5, The fpirit reneweth us, and maketh us partakers of the life, and likenefs of God, Titus 3, 5. Now when this life is infufed,there is an oppofite principle let up in us to fubdue the lulls of the AA, and alfo to prevent the power of the objefls of fence, which ferve and feed them 5 for the fleh1 doth obftru& the operations of this new life, and crots the tendency of it : The operations of this new life are obttruded by the Rath 5 for Gal. 5. 17. For the flefh lufieth againfi the fpirit. And life is fenfible of what annoyeth it, the operations of it are the (crying and pleating of God, Gal. 5., 25. If we live in the fpirit, let us alfo welkin the fpirit. And we fee a weight hanging upon us, and fin doth eafily befet us, that we cannot ferve God with that liberty, purity, and de- light, that we delire. And therefore this is an heavy grievance and burden to the new nature, that we defire to get rid of it by all means, and labour, and ftrive in it, and that with good effe& 5a new life alfo bath a new tendency; as loon as 'cis infufed it difcovereth its felf by its tendency to its end, and rei, which is God and Heaven : fo the obje ks of fence have the lefs force and power upon us. Well then, the flelh is an enemy to this new life, and this new life an enemy to it, as having contrary operations and tendencies. Now how Both this new life difcover its enmity ? Partly by complaining of ir, as a (ore burden and annoyance, Rom. 7. 24. Oh wretched man that 1 am ! who (ball deliver me from this body of death ? Paul was whipped, fcourged, imprifoned,
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