ten Virgins Opened and Applied. . 2IJ lf nor outwardly, at lealt inwardly; ·and hence HyFocrices though they have - ,--- marvellous a!feCl:ions unto Chri!l-,Jnd fc:> have fpoke of hi En and commended him, and feemed to be carried above all crearures and durie; r01vard him, ycc himfelf and his mercy,and his blood, becomes a comm?1Hhing ro them? and his !mowledge and promifc:s common : an~ hence rhey fhghr a~cl .lonh ht!ll; and mourn not for ir,and fo are fo far from bcmg kept clo(e umo ~hnH, as char they arc nc.arer the unpardon;~blc f:n then him. But all t>hey have ts !tke Ja-nahs gourd, whtch fuddenly rifech, but rhere is a ·worm at the root, chat pulls it down again: And fo their love dies to Minitlers chatChriH fem; ;md to his Truth and Ordinances. BHt •f the• Spirit doth thm, who then fhalt be fav_ed? f•r who 'is there , that Je- f2!!!ft• parts nQt ? When I fay cHe Spirit doeh fo aaift rhe faithful, as chat they never depm : The· meaning is not, as though the foul ih9uld now never fall intO. any more iin or un- .Anfiv. I belief, for what do the Saints more complain of cr.en their backilidings, 1 (a. 63. 1 17. Heb. r 2 • .1 . S.unrs hearts are no fooner raifed up, but their weights grow he;wy and prefs themdown; no fooner do they walk in the way, but they begin to fall off: Bur when I fay fo, I fay three things. 1. Their whole hearc never dep;:rrs. z. They do nor depart for ever. 3· Though they do depart from the Lord, yec chcSpirir dorh not depart from them; as it is in ·common reafon, the fame thing may go either in a !lraight or crooked line eo the fame point. As a River may run in a ltraight or crooked line to rhe S<!a. So the Saints, their I fprin_gs(their hems)being fee a running after the Lord,tbough rhey de> nor follow him m a Hraightline,fo as never to depart to the right hand or left ; yet they are fo kept by the Spirit that they are cominua!ly making after him, cleavmg to him; rhoug\1 wirh many crooked windings of their hems, rhis way and that way from the Lord. And therefore as ic is in a wheel, it !lands bent for fuch an end, yet runs at one fide, bur is tu:rned by the skill of him that guides it imo the way again,and fo Ieo it run rhe man is with ic : So 'tis here. And becaufe fomrhing is like this in Hypocrites, I {hall endeavour to cut che thread. I. Their whole hearts never do nor can depm from the Lord, all rhdr fins and depanings are again!l their new nature, which the Lord hach given rhem: Irs againll' the grain,which as it a$gravates their iin, fo it fhews the ditfercmce berween their fins and the fins oforner men ; they may be drawn aiide, but its againH their wills, or !f fo, yet again!l the bent o~ their ~earts ? whic~ is _fe,c toward the Lord, and Ston-ward; they may be earned capnve agauill: thetr wtlls, as Paul compbined he was, and ma<)e his moan to heavc;n of it; or if with their wills, yet ic is ag,1inft rhe aCl:ive bent of their wilts, which inclines them another way, I JJhn 3. 9· They cAnnot jin, hecaufe thl feed remnins in thtm ; fo that they cannot fin with their whole hems, nor depart from.Chrill with their whole f bearrs: As it is with a Woman,~rhough her Husband harh her whole heart, yet ! there is muchwe.1knefs and fin mixr with this love; So chat w harever unkinclnefs II1e il1cws, it is not with her whole hem, bur ;gai.nfl: ir; and hence fhe is mt caft off: So much more here!. Or as it is with the unregenerate man polf~:lfed by Sarm, though he may forfake many finful courfes,take up many duties, defpife rhe World, yet ic is nor wirh his whole hem : And h~nce he is pulled back like a Bird by rhe leg, S,atan having an end of his hearr, and he chat is unholy and un~ cfem will be !o Gill. So e contrll: As 'tis with a !lone, cafi it up its agaimH the bent of ir, becaufc the nature of ir is t() refl: in the Cenrer, and hence it comes down again.' It is not by inrern1l bene, but by external vu or force : So fin and S~t~n being cafl: out, rhough,.thcry work in the foul, yet they are external Agents, ( ttts noti,bur fin)andhenceitis a~ainlhhe bene. The whole foul therefore never depart> from the Lbrd Jefus, but the Spirit keeps it there. As 'tis in the I body of a ma·•, he grows fickand inclines to1vard a dilfolution or confumprion, and operations are hindred, and little delight in any thing, yet the foul arid bo- ~ E e z dy
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