The excellency of a gracious spirit Delivered in a treatise upon the 14. of…The excellency of a gracious spirit Deliuered in a treatise upon the 14. of…

3 Where true spiritual excellency is, there is a connection of all spiritual ¹excellencies, of all graces, Ephes. 5. 9. The fruit of the spirit is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth, and the reason is, because all are united in one root, namely in love to God, and holiness: The beauty and comeliness, that God puts upon the spirit in the work of grace, is a perfect beauty and comeliness, Ezech. 16. 14. There is no grace wanting, there is all true spiritual ⟨p. 230⟩blessings, Ephes. 1. 3. Blessed be God, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings; so the words are in your books, but in the Original, blessings is in the singular number, with all spiritual blessing; there is all, and yet but one blessing; to note, that spiritual blessings are so knit together, that they all make up but one blessing: and therefore where there is one truly, there none can be wanting; there is such grace as in the growth of it, it springs up to eternal life: There is such a perfection as wants only the ripening, and it would be the same with the life in heaven; but where there wants any essential part, though it be ripened never so much, let it grow up never so fast, it will never come to be perfect. Thus if there be any work of grace wanting, if there be any defect in the principle, though that, that be there, grow up never so fast, yet it would never attain unto eternal life; Therefore in the work of sanctification, where it is true, though it be ⟨p. 231⟩never so weak, yet there is this perfection, that there are all graces in it; but where there is only a sweet nature, where there is only some moral work upon the spirit, there are only some particular excellencies; The most Moral man that ever lived, hath had some way of evil, that his spirit hath run out unto.

3 Where true spirituall excellency is, there is a connexion of all spirituall