ight be made free, no more servants of sin in
the lusts thereof: and the Spirit of the Lord, where he comes, there is
liberty; there the spirit and reasonable soul of a man is elevated into
its first native dignity; there the base flesh is dethroned, and made to
serve the spirit and soul in a man. Christ is indeed the greatest friend
of men, as they are men. Sin made us beasts, Christ makes us men.
Unbelievers are unreasonable men, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, brutish, yea, in a manner,
beasts;--this is an ordinary compellation in scripture. Faith makes a man
reasonable,--it gives the saving and sanctified use of reason. It is a
shame for any man to be a slave to his lusts and passions. It is the
character of a beast upon him. He that is led by senses and affections, is
degenerated from human nature; and yet such are all out of Christ. Sin
reigns in them, and flesh reigns, and the principles of light and reason
within are captivated, incarcerated within a corner of their minds. We see
the generally received truths among men, that God is, that he is holy, and
just, and good; that heaven and hell is,--these are altogether ineffectual,
and have no influence on men's conversations, no more than if they were
not known, even because the truth is detained in unrighteousness. The
corruptions of men's flesh are so rank, that they overgrow all this seed
of truth, and choke it, as the thorns did the seed, Matt. xiii. 7. Now,
for you, who are called of Jesus Christ, O know what ye are called unto!
It is a liberty indeed, a privilege indeed. Ye are no more debtors to the
flesh;--Christ hath loosed that obligation of servitude to it. O let it be
a shame unto you, who are Christians, to walk so any more, to be entangled
any more in that yoke of bondage! "He that ruleth his spirit" is greater
than the mighty, "than he that taketh a city." Thus we are called to be
more than conquerors. Others, when they conquer the world, are slaves to
their own lusts; but let it be far from you to be so. Ye ought to conquer
yourselves, which is more than to conquer the world. It is not only
unbeseeming a Christian, to be led with passions and lusts, but it is
below a man, if men were not now through sin below beasts. I beseech you,
aspire unto, and hold fast, the liberty Christ hath obtained for you. Be
not f