Remains of that reverend and learned divine, John Preston, Dr. in Divinity, chaplain in…Remaines of that reverend and learned divine, Iohn Preston, Dr. in Divinity, chaplaine in…

therefore labour to get strength in ⟨p. 104⟩the inward man, and know also, that you shall not only be free from the inward slavery of sin, but also you shall keep your excellency, and therefore it may be said of every one that is weak in the inward man, as Jacob said of Reuben, Gen. 49. 12. thou art become as weak as water, as if he ¹should say, thou wast that which thou art not now: thou wast excellent, but now thou hast lost it. So I say unto you, if you lose the strength of the inward man, you will lose your excellency: now no man would willingly lose his excellency; if you would not then, you must keep strength in the inward man. In the 1. Psalm, the Psalmist sets forth the excellency of that man that is strong in the inward man, He shall be like a tree that is planted ²by the rivers of water. First, he sets forth the property of the spiritual man, he shall be green. Secondly, his stability, he shall be as a tree planted, that is, which shall not easily be plucked up. Thirdly, his perpetuity, his branches shall never wither, he shall never grow unseemly to God. Fourthly, his fruitfulness, he shall bring forth fruit in season, that is, he shall be fruitful in grace; but on the contrary, when a man grows weak in the inward man, it will be far otherwaies with him, he will be like a tree that hath lost both sap and root, leaf and fruit, set in a barren soil with withered branches, and fruitless, fit for nothing but the fire: but if a man can keep his strength in the inward man, neither reproach, nor disgrace, nor shame, nor the devil shall be able to make ⟨p. 105⟩that man miserable. Therefore keep the Image of the inward man safe, whatsoever becomes of the outward man. And there is good reason why you should keep the inward man safe, because it keeps the soul, and directs it unto its right end. In Eccles. 12. the Wise man saith, All things are vanity and vexation of spirit: when a man loses his happiness in the inward man, though he keep the outward man secure, yet it were but vanity and vexation of the spirit. For he goes besides the rule he should go: there is a rule unto every creature that it is to go by, and the nearer the creature comes unto the rule, the more excellent is the creature; but if it goes besides the rule, it loseth its excellency: