THE POWERS AND CONTESTS OF FLESH AND SPIRIT. 341 from vexing disquietudes, from sudden surprises of sin, from the feeble flutterings ofanimal nature, from languor and heaviness, . and every other infirmity ; and may join chearfully and regularly with thy willing soul, to glorify God, thy Maker and thy Saviour. But after all, neyer imagine that these, or any other methods of mortification, will be effectual to suppress and cure one sin, without converting and renewing grace, without the knowledge and faith of Jesus Christ, who is the only redeemer of mankind, appointed to save us from our sins ; the only physician able to cure our spiri- tual maladies. It is a deep sense of the universal cor- ruption of nature, together with a betrusting our whole selves into the hands of Christ, to be sanctified and saved, it is the only effectual and sure way to holiness. It is faith must "purify the heart ;" Acts xv. 9. It is by the influences of the great and precious promises of the gos- pel, that we must be made partakers of a divine nature, and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust; 2 Pet. i. 4. All our labours, short of regeneration, and an entire change of the whole soul, by the mighty work of the Spirit of Christ, are but like nipping the blossoms of a poisonous tree, like cutting off the twigs, or lopping the branches; while the fatal stock stands firm still, and the root maintains its life and full vigour. Thus it will be ever springingwith new shoots, and bring . forth fruits of guilty and mortal savour. But converting grace is-a-blow at the root; it kills the sinful principle, or, least gives it a deadly wound. Seek earnestly therefore the Spirit of Christ, to renew your whole natures : " Walk under the influences of this blessed Spirit, and you shall not ` fulfil the lusts of the flesh ;" Gal. v. 16, 24. For it is only they that are Christ's, who have crucified the flesh, with its affections and lusts ; and if, by the assisr tances of this Spirit, you mortify the deed of the body, you shall have a life hereon earth, made up of the peace and beauty of holiness, and you shall die out of this world, into a diviner life of glory. Amen. z3
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