i o+ The Saints Spirituadl frength, Gen.49.4,. PCa.I .3> the inward man, artd know a1íó, that you (hall not onelybee free fromthe inward flavery of fin, but alfo you íhäll keepe your excellency , and there- fore it may bee Paid of every one that is wecke in the inward man , as Jacob Paid of Ruben, Gen.49. I 2. thou art become as weake as water , as if hee fheuld fay, thou Waft that which thou art not now : thou waft excellent, but now thou haft loft it. So I fay unto you, if you lofe the ftrength of the inward r an,you wil lofe your excellency: now no man would willingly lofe his excellency; if you would not then, you mull keepe ftrength in the inward man. In the i. Pfaltne,the Pfalmift fets forth the excellency of 'that man that is ftrongin the inward man , He f hall be like a tree the is planted by the rivers ofwater. Firft, he fets forth the pro- perty of the fpirituali man, he flail be greene. Se- condly, his ftabilirie, he (hall be as a tree planted, that is,which (hall not eafily be pluckt up. Third- ly his perpetuitie, his branches fhalln.evet wither', he (hall never row unfeemely to God. Fourthly, his fruitfulnefle,he (hall bring forth fruit in feafoti, that is, bee (hall, be fruitfull in grace ; but on the contrary, when a man growes weáke in the-in- ward man, it will be farre other wales with him, he will bee like a tree that bath loft both fap and roote, leafe and fruite, fet in a barren foyle with withered branches, and fruitlefïe, fit for nothing but the fire : but if a man can keepe his ftrength in the inward man, neither reproch, nor difgrace, nor fhame, nor the Divell (hall be able to make that
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