Preston - Houston-Packer Collection BX5133.P74 S2 1637

So The Saints Spiritual) ftrength. vant to the inward man. But that you bee not de- ceived, there is a- naturali ftrength whereby force men will goe very farce, and there is a morali ftrength, and yet take heed you refi not in that : not that I fpeake againft naturali ftrength, becaufe it comes from G o D and is good. For I fay, we doe not,take. away :chore affections, but wee alter and change them , and therefore I befeech you looke that you doe not content your felves =with them,. but labour to ftrengthen the Inward man. And here a :queftion arifeth, feting that there is a natural) and.; fpirituall ftrength how (hall a man come to know whether the ftrength which hee hath, bee a nawrall, niorall, or fpirituall ftrength: yet as I faid, wee doe not deftroy naturali ftrength, but wee ufe it as men doe wild Horfes and beafts, they tame them, to make them fit for fervice ; fo wee íhould ufe thefe as meanes to carry us unto their right ends. Wee will therefore come to fliew the differences betwixt' the naturali and fpirituall ftrength. The firft difference is this, The fpirituall ftrength goes further then the naturall ftrength. Looke what the naturali man with the naturali ftrength can doe, the fpirituall man can doe more, hee can goe further both in degree and meafure: and the reafon is, becaufe grace elevates nature, it brings it unto a. higher pitch; grace is unto the foule as a profpeEtive glaffe is unto the body, it brings that which is afarre off, to bee as it were nigh at hand, it turnes a man to fee things in a more excellent manner : Die- rence.

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