little think of, or meditate upon them, may be assured both their pretence and religion are vain. Where our affections are sincere, and duly placed on heavenly things, so as to denominate us spiritually minded, they will be a constant spring of spiritual thoughts and meditations.

4. When our affections are thus applied to spiritual things, they will be prevalent and victorious against all solicitations and allurements to draw them off to any other objects. The great work of all our spiritual foes, is to tempt and divert our affections from their proper object. Such are Satan's injection of blasphemous thoughts concerning God, his being, nature, and will; and the distresses to which he reduces the Christian, through darkness and misrepresentations of God, and his goodness. But the high road and constant practice of our enemies, is, the soliciting of our affections unto objects that are in themselves, or in the degree of our love towards them, evil and sinful. Of the first, are all sensual pleasures, as drunkenness, uncleanness, gluttony, chambering, and wantonness; of the latter, is all our inordinate love unto self, families,

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the world, or the things of it. Herein consists the nature and efficacy of most of those temptations with which we have to conflict. Hereby do our enemies endeavour to beguile us, with fair and false representations of other beloveds, that our hearts should not be preserved as a chaste virgin in all their affections for Christ.

It is almost incredible how apt we are to be beguiled by the specious pretences wherewith we are solicited; and too many are deluded and ruined by giving place unto them. It is no ordinary, no easy thing to preserve our affections pure, entire, and steady in their vigorous adherence to spiritual things. Watchfulness, daily examination of ourselves, prayer, and the exercise of faith, are requisite hereunto; and for want of a proper attention to these things, and with a respect to this end," the preservation of our spiritual affections in their integrity," many, even before they are aware, die away as to all power and vigour of spiritual life.

5. Affections fixed upon things spiritual and heavenly, will give a great relief against the remainders of that vanity of mind with which the Christian is often

perplexed. The instability of the mind, its readiness to receive impressions from things vain and useless, and the irregularity of the thoughts, are a continual burden to the real disciple of Christ. And nothing can give the soul any relief herein, nothing can give bounds to the endless vanity of foolish imaginations, nothing can dry up the springs from whence they arise, or render the soil barren as to their maintenance and production, but only the growth of spiritual affections, with their continual vigorous exercise on heavenly things. This will insensibly take off that relish which the mind hath found in things present, earthly, and sensual, and make them insipid-sapless to the whole soul. This will so place the cross of Christ in particular on the heart, as that the world shall be crucified unto it, losing all that brightness, beauty, and savour, which it before made use of to solicit and tempt our minds unto it.

Moreover, this frame of spirit, and this alone, will keep us on our watch against all those ways and means, by which the vanity of the mind is cherished and excited. Such are the roving of the out

ward senses, especially that of the eye; hence the Psalmist prayed, "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity." If the eyes rove after vain objects, the mind will ruminate upon them; and another holy man affirms, that he had made a covenant with his eyes, to keep them from fixing on such objects as might solicit lust or excite corrupt affections. Of the same nature with the outward senses is the incessant working of the fancy and imagination, which of itself is evil continually. This is the food of a vain mind, and the vehicle or means of conveyance for all temptations from Satan and the world. Add to these, the sundry occasions of life and common conversation are usually turned or abused to the same end, to the exciting and exercising the vanity of the mind. But our affections are fixed on spiritual things, if our minds will constantly be under a warning or charge to keep diligent watch against all these things, that the vanity they so abhor may have no place. And let it be remembered, that without this prevalency in the mind, a work of mortification will never be carried on in the soul.

CHAP. XII.

Displaying the happy fruits of grace and duty of spiritual mindedness.

HAVING largely, and I hope clearly, and agreeable to the divine records, stated and explained both the grace and duty of spiritual mindedness, I would now attempt some description of the blessings flowing from, and connected therewith; they are LIFE and PEACE. Two things are here to be considered.

I. What is meant by life and peace.

II. In what sense spiritual mindedness is life and peace, and what it contributes to them.

1. To be spiritually minded is LIFE. The spiritual life of which we are made partakers in this world, is threefold.

(1.) There is the life of justification. Therein the just by faith do live, as freed from the condemnatory sentence of the -law. Rom. v. 18: "The righteousness of