SERMON IV. 59 It ishard wrestling for a poorsanctified soul, with so violent and strong a yoke-fellow as our flesh. The powers of the flesh twine about our feeble spirit, andoften pull it to the ground, and get the mastery of it. The just man mayfall down seven times, and rise again ; but the. wickedfall into mischief, and attempt not to rise ; 1'rov. xxiv. 16. Weare tied to the flesh while we are here, andit is the biggest, and the hardest part ofour stateoftrial, to be constantly tied to such flesh as ours is. All theadversaries we have besides, are not equal to the adversary that dwells with us, nor is all their power equal to the power of our flesh and blood, with its restless urgencies, leading us away fromGod to sin. There is so close as union between flesh and spirit, in this state, that we carry our prison about us, even the flesh inwhich we inhabit ; we drag our chains about withus ; we are tied down to our senses ; we are too nearly allied to the passionsand appe- tites of this animal in which the soul dwells, and these the soul cannot master and subdue entirely ; however, let us wrestle with flesh and blood, as well as with the tempting world, and the ma- lice of Satan ; let us bestir ourselves, and fight the good fight of faith, for the crown is worth the labour of the conquest. Yet there is another difficulty attendsthispart of our spiritual warfare, viz. This is a combat to which the Captainof our Sal- vation did not lead us on in person, and in which Christ never went before us. It is a labour of piety in which our blessed Saviour was not our pattern ; nor could he be, for he had no principle ofsin in his soul, nor any sinful motion in all his sensi- tivepowers. His flesh itself, in a literal sense, was born of the spirit, and he was all spirit, all holy. The Holy Ghost over- shadowed the blessed virgin ; and that holy thing that was born ofMary, was sanctified in its original, and united to the eternal on of God ; Luke i. 35. Never had he one disorderly passion ; never one vicious appetite, no criminal wish, no guilty inclina- tion; he knew no excessive tendencies towards a lawful object, nor did he feel any inward propensity toward an unlawful one. He tookpart offlesh and blood, indeed because the children were partakers ofit : In all things was hemade like to his brethren, but without sin, and tempted in all points, as weare, exceptthis inward and native temptation ; Heb. H. 14, 17. and iv. 15. This part of our warfare, therefore, we have no perfect pattern for ; the leader of the holy army never went through these special and sore conflicts, in Which our spirits are daily engaged, even the war with corrupt nature andsinful flesh : yet he pities and sym- pathizes withus ; for, as God, he knows our whole frame per- fectly ; and heknows, as man, what our flesh is, and whatits sin- ful appetites are, so far as his holy naturewill admit ofthis sym- pathy. In such a case as this, which he never experienced, yet.
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