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…

4 There are so many strong alluring temptations, where in the wiles, subtleties, depths of Satan, are very powerful to draw the heart away from God, that except there be some special work of Gods grace ⟨p. 417⟩to give wisdom to discern the deceits of sin, to make the soul spiritually subtle, to find out the cunning devices of Satan, and to discern the danger of them, the soul most certainly could never hold on in the way of its following after the Lord.

4 There are so many strong alluring temptations, where in the wiles, subtilties, depths of Satan, are very powerfull to draw the heart away from God, that except there bee some speciall worke of Gods grace ⟨p. 417⟩to give wisdome to discerne the deceits of sin, to make the soule spiritually subtill, to find out the cunning devices of Satan, and to discerne the danger of them, the soule most certainly could never hold on in the way of its following after the Lord.

5 There are so many troubles, oppositions, that it meets withal in this way, that most certainly would drive it out, were it not for some choice Work of Gods grace in it; but this choiceness of spirit, will carry a man through all them: It is Gods promise, Isaiah 59. 19. That when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. We made use of this Scripture before, for opposition of strong corruptions; but it is true here now, for the resisting of strong spiritual enemies, of strong oppositions; when they come in like a flood against the soul, to carry it out of Gods ways, the Spirit of God in it doth lift up a standard against ⟨p. 418⟩them, & were it not for this, it could not hold: It is this good and sound constitution of the soul that makes it endure those oppositions that it meets withal. An aguish heat may be greater, than that which ariseth from a good constitution, but it is not able to resist cold: so there may be a natural violence in a mans spirit for a while, in the profession of Religion, which may seem to be zeal, but not arising from the good constitution of the soul, when troubles come, it vanishes, giving no strength at all.