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…

The third Reason is, because holy affections, ¹they widen the soul, they make the soul large, for when holy affections are dead in you, the soul will begin to shrink in; even as cloth that is not throughly made, when water falls upon, it will run in, but if you stretch it, it will come to the same length again; so when the Spirit comes and works holy affections, they widen the soul and make it large and firm: therefore that you may have large hearts in prayer, in meditation, labour to get the Spirit, that you may have holy affections kindled in you.

The third Reason is, because holy affections, ¹they widen the soule, they make the soule large, for when holy affections are dead in you, the soule will begin to shrinke in; even as cloath that is not throughly made, when water falles upon, it will runne in, but if you stretch it, it will come to the same length againe; so when the Spirit comes and workes holy affections, they widen the soule and make it large and firme: therefore that you may have large hearts in praier, in meditation, labour to get the Spirit, that you may have holy affections kindled in you.

1. 13. Reason.

The fourth benefit, that a Christian hath by ¹the Spirit is this, it will make the heart good, because it is the proper work of the holy Ghost, to sanctify the heart, to cleanse and change, and so make it good; it is the work of the Spirit to work repentance in us, a thorough change in us: I call repentance a thorough change, because men for the most part mistake repentance, taking that for ⟨p. 167⟩repentance which is no repentance, men think that if they be turned this way and that way, from this sin and that sin, though it be not from every sin and evil way, that they have true repentance, but they are deceived; for repentance is a thorough change of the whole man, consisting both of soul and body, whereby the parts and faculties of both are turned a quite contrary way; the heart is turned out of the way of sin, into the way of holiness: now that a partial turning is not repentance, I will make clear by this comparison: take any natural thing, that is of an earthly substance, whose nature is to go downward, yet you may force it upwards by means that you may use; as for example, water you know is of an earthly substance, and the nature of it is to descend, yet you see by the force and strength of the Sun, it is drawn upward; first, into vapours, and then congealed into ice and snow, and rain, and then it will not rest till it descend again: but there is another ascent of the fire, and that is upward and not forced, but naturally doth ascend up: even so a carnal man may do the same things that a spiritual man doth, he may keep down some lust, and he may forsake some evil, he may forsake his drunkenness and uncleanness, and his old evil haunts, yea he may do some good, but yet he doth not forsake the evil, neither doth he do the good, by the power of the sanctifying Spirit, but by a natural strength; if he doth a good action, it is by constraint, he is forced by something