strangers. And the state of our affections, under a due exercise on heavenly things, and in their assimilation to them, may be stated in these three things:

1st, An habitual suitableness to spiritual things, upon the proposal of them. The ways whereby spiritual things are proposed to our minds are various. They are so directly in all ordinances of divine worship; they are so indirectly and in just consequence, by all the especial providences wherein we are concerned, by our own thoughts and stated meditations; they are so by the motions of the Holy Spirit, when he causeth us to hear a word behind us, saying, “This is the way, walk in it;" by holy converse with others; by all sorts of occurrences. And, as the ways of their proposal are various, so the times and seasons wherein a representation of them is made to us are comprehensive of all, at least are not exclusive of any times and seasons of our lives. Be the way of their proposal, and the season of it, what it will, if our affections are duly improved by spiritual exercises, they are suited to them, and will be ready to give them entertainment. For want of this, on the other hand, are evasions and shiftings in duties, proneness to comply with diversion, all to keep off the mind from closing with and receiving those spiritual things to which it is not suited. Wherefore, as to the solemn way of proposing spiritual things to our minds, which is by the ordinances of divine worship, when men have a prevalent reluctance to engage in them, or when they are satisfied with an outward attendance on them, but not enabled to a vigorous stirring up of the inward man to a holy affectionate converse with spiritual and heavenly things, it is because they are carnal. When men can receive the fiery darts of Satan in his temptations into their bosoms, and suffer them to abide there, yea, foster and cherish them in thoughts of the Justs that they kindle, but quickly quench the motions of the Spirit, stirring them up to the embracing of heavenly things,-they are carnal, and carnally minded. When providences in afflictions, trials, deliverances, do not engage the mind to thoughts of spiritual things,

and excite the affections to entertain them, men are carnal and earthly. When every lust, corruption, or passion, as anger, envy, displeasure at this or that person or thing, can divert the mind from compliance with the proposal of spiritual things that is made to it, we are carnal.

It is otherwise when our affections are conformed to things spiritual and heavenly. Upon every proposal of this, the mind finds a suitableness to itself, like that which a well-disposed appetite finds to saAs the full soul loathes the honey-comb, voury meat. so a mind, under the power of carnal affections, hath an aversion to all spiritual sweetness. But spiritualized affections desire them, have an appetite to them, readily receive them on all occasions, as those which are natural to them, as milk is to new-born babes.

2dly, Affections so disposed, constantly find a gust, a pleasant taste, a relish in spiritual things. They do in them "taste that the Lord is gracious.' To taste of God's goodness, is to have an experience of a savoury relish and sweetness in converse and communion with him; and persons, whose affections are thus renewed, and thus improved, taste a sweet savour in all spiritual things. Some of them, as a sense of the love of Christ, are sometimes, as it were, too hard for them, and overpower them, until they are sick of love, and do rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. Neither is there any of them, however mingled with afflictions or mortifications, but it is sweet to them. Every thing that is wholesome food, that is good nourishment, though it be but bitter herbs, is sweet to him that is hungry. And when by our af fections we have acquired a spiritual appetite for hea venly things, however any of them in their own nature, or in their dispensation may be bitter to flesh and blood, as are all the doctrines of the cross, they are all sweet to us, and we can taste how gracious the Lord is in them. When the soul is filled with earthly things, the love of this world, or when the appetite is lost by spiritual sickness, or vitiated and corrupted by any prevalent sin, heavenly things are unsavoury

and sapless, or, as Job speaks, like the white of an egg, wherein there is no taste. There may be in the dispensation of the word a taste or pleasing relish given to the fancy; there may be so to the notional understanding, when the affections find no complacency in the things themselves: but to those who are spiritually minded to the degree intended, they are all sweet, savoury, pleasant; the affections taste them immediately, as the palate doth meat.

3dly, They are a just repository of all graces, and therein the treasury of the soul. There are graces of the Spirit whose formal direct residence is in the understanding and the will as faith itself. And there

in are all other graces radically comprised; they grow from that root. Howbeit the most of them have their

principal residence in the affections. In them are they preserved secure and ready for exercise on all occasions. And when they are duly spiritual, there is nothing that tends to their growth or improvement, to their cherishing or quickening, which they stand in need of continually, and which God hath made provision for in his word, but they readily receive it, lay it up, keep, and preserve it. Hereby they come to be filled with grace, with all graces; for there is room in them for all the graces of the Spirit to inhabit; and readily comply with the light and direction of faith to their exercise. When faith discerns and determines that there is any thing to be done or suffered, in a way of duty, to the glory of God, the affections thus disposed do not shut up or stifle the graces that are in them, but cheerfully offer them to their proper exercise.

There are some of those things to which our affections, conformed to heavenly things, will attain. And thus it is with affections spiritually renewed; by being fixed on things spiritual and heavenly, they are more and more conformed to them, made like them, and become more spiritual and heavenly themselves.

it is not thus with those whose affections have only an occasional change wrought upon them by the means before described, but are not spiritually renewed. Yea,

on the contrary, such persons design to debase spiritual things, to bring down heavenly things into a conformity with their affections, which, however changed, are not spiritual, but carnal. To evince this, we may

observe,

1. Those affections are under the light and conduct of such notions in the mind and understanding, as do not give a clear distinct representation of them in their own nature.

For where they are not themselves spiritually renewed, there the mind itself is carnal and unrenewed. And such a mind discerneth not the things of God, nor can do so, because they are spiritually discerned. They cannot be discerned aright in their own beauty and glory, but in and by a spiritual saving light, of which the mind is devoid. And where they are not thus represented, the affections cannot receive or cleave to them as they ought, nor will ever be conformed to them.

2. Those notions, in such persons, are ofttimes variously influenced and corrupted by fancy and imagination. They are merely puffed up in their fleshly minds; that is, they are filled with vain, foolish, proud imaginations about spiritual things, as the apostle declares. And the work of fancy, in a fleshly mind, is to raise up such images of spiritual things, as may render them suitable to natural unrenewed affections.

3. This, in the progress of it, produces superstition, false worship, and idolatry: for they are all of them an attempt to represent spiritual things in a way suited to carnal unrenewed affections. Hence men suppose themselves to be excited by them to love, joy, fear, delight, in the things themselves, when they all respect that false representation of them whereby they are suited to them as carnal. These have been the spring of all false worship and idolatry in the Christian world.

1st, The mind and affections have been changed and tinctured with devotion by some of the means we have before insisted on. Thus they will one way or other be exercised about spiritual things, and are ready to

receive impressions from any thing that superstition can impose upon them.

2dly, They are, by error and false information, set at liberty from the only rule of their actings and exercise, that is, the word of God. Men satisfied themselves, that so their affections were engaged about things spiritual and heavenly, it was no matter at all whether the way of their exercise was directed by the Scripture or not. Having thus lost their guide and their way, every ignis fatuus, every wandering meteor, allures them to follow its conduct into foolish superstitions. Nothing almost is so ridiculous, nothing so horrid and difficult, that they will not embrace under the notion of things spiritual and heavenly.

3dly, The carnal minds of men, having no proper distinct apprehensions and notions of spiritual things in their own nature, endeavour to represent them under such notions and images as may suit them to their carnal unrenewed affections. For it is impressed almost indelibly upon them, that the end of all knowledge of spiritual things is to propose them to the embraces of the affections. It were easy to manifest that, from these three corrupt springs, arose that flood of idolatry and false worship which spread itself over the church of Rome, and with whose machinations the minds of men are yet too much replenished.

4thly, Where it is not thus, yet carnal affections do variously debase spiritual things, to bring them into a conformity with themselves. And this may proceed so far, until men think wickedly, that God is altogether like to them. But I shall not insist on these things any farther.

Lastly, Where affections are spiritually renewed, the person of Christ is the centre of them; but where they are changed only, they tend to an end in self. Where the new man is put on, Christ is all in all. He is the spring, by his Spirit, that gives them life, light, and being; and he is the ocean that receives all their streams. God, even the Father, presents not himself in his beauty and amiableness as the object of our affections, but as he is in Christ, exerting his love in