STRUGGLES WITH OUR SIN NATURE
" I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection." —I Corinthians 9:27 [KJV] The neglect of this brings on leanness of soul. If this enemy gains ground, it is alarming; if he prevails, it causes mourning; but when he is kept low, and supplies are cut off, his power is weakened, and victory over him is easily gained. Such are the sensitive powers, carnal affections, and sinful inclinations which compose part of our present frame, the body; a body of sin and death. To gratify and fulfil them is very pleasing and delightful to nature and sense. But how awfully subversive of the comforts of faith, the peace of the mind, and the joy of the soul, thy own sad experience, O disciple, hath proved. Nor can it be otherwise; let us not deceive ourselves; we cannot indulge and pamper the life of the flesh but to the hurt and injury of the life of the soul. There is an irreconcilable enmity between the flesh and the spirit, the old man and the new. The variance and strife