9. Discourse Viii
DISCOURSE VIII
QUESTION. WHEN MAY ANY ONE SIN,
LUST, OR CORRUPTION, BE ESTEEMED
HABITUALLY PREVALENT?
A NSWER. I shall premise some few things before I come to answer the question:— First. All lusts and corruptions whatsoever have their root and residence in our nature—the worst of them. For, says the apostle James, chap. 1:14,
"Every man is tempted by his own lust." Every man has his own lust, and every man has all lust in him; for this lust, or corruption, is the depravation of our nature, and it is in all men. And in the root and principle of it, it is in all men even after their conversion. So says the apostle concerning believers, Gal. 5:17, "The flesh lusts against the Spirit; so that you"
(believers) "cannot do the things that you would." What does the flesh lust unto? Why, it lusts unto the works of it. What are they? "Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders,
drunkenness, revelings, and such like." The flesh lusts unto all these things in believers—the worst things that can be mentioned; whence is that [saying] of our Savior, which yields to me a doctrine which is a sad truth, but so plain that nothing can be more. He foretells marvelous troubles, great desolations and destructions, that shall come upon the world, and befall all sorts of men, and says, "It is a day that 'as a snare shall come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.'" Nothing makes me more believe that day, that terrible day of the Lord, is coming upon the face of the whole earth than this, that it comes "as a snare." "Men do not take notice of it; do you, therefore, take heed to yourselves, you that are my disciples: believers,
'take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.'" The doctrine I observe from thence is this—that the best of men have need to be warned to take care of the worst of sins in the approach of the worst of times. Who would think, when such troubles, distresses, desolations were coming upon a nation, in that place the disciples of Christ should be in danger of being overtaken with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and the cares of this life? Yet he who is the wisdom of God knew how it would be with us. Nay, what if a man should say, from observation, that professors are never more in danger of sensual, provoking sins than when destruction is lying nearest at the door? "In that day," says he, "take care."
Secondly. Another thing I would premise is this—that this root of sin abiding in us, as I have shown, will, upon its advantage, work unto all sorts of evils;—which should give us a godly jealousy over our souls and over one another. Says the apostle, Rom. 7:8, "Sin wrought in me all manner of concupiscence."
Thirdly. If it be so that sin does thus always abide in us and will upon occasions work to all its fruit, to all manner of concupiscence, then the mortification of sin is a continual duty that we ought to be exercised in all our days. Col. 3:3, "You are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." A blessed state and condition! I desire no better attainment in this world than this holds out. But what duty does the apostle infer from thence?
"Therefore," says he, "mortify your members which are upon the earth."
What, I pray? "Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." The mortification of sin is a duty incumbent upon the best of saints.
Fourthly. The fourth thing I would premise is this—that a particular sin does not obtain a signal prevalence without it having some signal advantage; for our corrupt nature is universally and equally corrupt; but a particular sin obtains prevalence by particular advantages.
It would be too long to speak of all those advantages. I shall name two, whereunto others may be reduced:— 1. The inclination of constitution gives particular advantages to particular sins. Some may be very much inclined to envy; some to wrath and passion; and others to sensual sins—gluttony, drunkenness, uncleanness—to name the things which our Savior names and warns us of. It is with respect hereunto that David said he "would keep himself from his iniquity," as some think. I have only this to say—that it has been much from the fallacy of the devil that men have been apt to plead constitution and the inclination of their constitution to the extenuation of their sin; when, indeed, it is an aggravation. "I am apt to be passionate in my nature," says one; "I am sanguine," says another, "and love company." They make their natural inclinations to be a cover and excuse for their sin. But this I must say, as my
judgment—that if grace does not cure constitution-sins, it has cured none; and that we can have no trial of the efficacy of grace if we have it not in curing constitution-sins. The great promise is that it shall change the nature of the wolf and the lion, of the bear, the asp, the cockatrice, and that they shall become as lambs; which it can never do if it does not change it by an habitual counterworking of inclinations arising from constitution. If grace, being habitual, does not change the very inclination of constitution, I know not what it does. That is the first advantage whereby particular sins come to have signal advantage and prevalence.
2. Outward occasions; and I refer them to two heads:— (1.) To education. Particular sins get advantage by education. If we do even in education instruct our children to pride, by their fineries and deportment to themselves—if we teach them to be proud, we heap dry fuel upon them, till such time as lust will flame. Let us take heed of this. It is an easy thing to bring forth a proud generation by such means.
(2.) Society in the world, according to occasion of life, is that which inflames particular corruptions. According as men delight in their converse, so corruption will be provoked and heightened by it.
I have spoken all these things previously, to show you where lies the nature and principle of the danger we are going to inquire into, and how it comes to that condition.
Now, I shall inquire a little into the question itself—how we may know whether a particular corruption be habitually predominant or not?
Brethren, I take it for granted the vilest of those lusts which our Savior and his apostles warn us against, to mortify and crucify, may be working in the hearts and minds of the best of us; and that a particular lust may be habitually prevalent, where, for particular reasons, it never brings forth
outward effects: therefore, look to yourselves. I say, then, when the mind and soul is frequently and greatly, as there are occasions, urged upon and pressed with a particular lust and corruption, this does not prove that particular lust and corruption to be habitually prevalent; for it may be a temptation. This may all proceed from the conjunction of temptation with indwelling sin; which will make it fight and war, and use force, and lead captive.
But suppose a person be in that condition, how shall he know whether it be a temptation in conjunction with indwelling sin in general, or whether it be an habitual prevalence of a particular corruption?
I answer,—I. It is not from the prevalence of corruption these three ways:
— 1. If the soul is more grieved by it than defiled by it, it is a temptation, and not a lust habitually prevalent. In this case, when a heart is so solicited with any sin, sin and grace are both at work, and have their contrary aims. The aim of grace is to humble the soul; and the aim of sin, to defile it. And the soul is so far defiled as, by the deceitfulness and solicitations of sin, consent is obtained. Defilement arises not from temptation as active upon the mind, but from temptation as admitted with consent: so far as it consents, whether by surprise or long solicitations, so far it is defiled. It is otherwise if the soul is more grieved by it than defiled by it.
2. It is so when the soul can truly, and does, look upon that particular corruption as its greatest and most mortal enemy. "It is not soldiers who have ruined my estate, nor a disease that has taken away my health, nor enemies who have ruined my name or opposed me; but this corruption, which is my great and mortal enemy." When the soul is truly under this
apprehension, then it is to be hoped it is the power of temptation, and not the prevalence of lust or corruption.
3. It is so also when a man maintains his warfare and his conflict with it constantly, especially in those two great duties of private prayer and meditation; which if once the soul is beaten off from, it is driven out of the field, and sin is conqueror. But as long as a man maintains the conflict in the exercise of grace in those duties, I look upon it as a temptation, and not a habitual, prevalent lust.
II. I shall now proceed to show when a corruption is habitually prevalent.
And here is a large field before me, but I shall only speak of a few things:— 1. When a man does choose, or willingly embrace, known occasions of his sin, that sin is habitually prevalent. There is no man who has the common understanding of a Christian and has any corruption or lust working in him, but he knows what are the occasions that provoke it. No man, unless he is profligately wicked, can choose sin for sin's sake; but he who knows what are the occasions that stir up, excite, and draw forth any particular corruption, and does choose them or willingly embrace them, there is the habitual prevalence of sin to a high degree in the mind of that man, whoever he may be: for sin is to be rejected in the occasion of it, or it will never be refused in the power of it.
2. Let a man fear it is so when he finds arguments against it lose their force. No man is under the power of particular corruption but will have arguments suggested to his mind from fear, danger, shame, ruin, against continuing under that corruption. When a man begins to find these arguments abate in their force and have not that prevalence upon his mind they have had, let him fear there is a habitual prevalence of his corruption.
3. When a man, upon conviction, is turned out of his course, but is not turned aside from his design,—when he traverses his way like the wild ass,
"In her occasion who shall turn her aside?"—if you meet her, or pursue her, you may turn her out of her way; but still she pursues her design. Men meet with strong convictions of sin, strong rebukes and reproofs; this a little puts them out of their way, but not from their design or inclination; the bent of their spirit lies that way still; and the secret language of their heart is, "that it were free with me to be as in former days!" Certainly a corruption is habitually prevalent if it seldom or never fails to act itself under opportunities and temptations. If a man who trades cheats every time he is able to do so, he has covetousness in his heart; or if a man whenever opportunity and occasion meet together to drink, does it to excess,—this is a sign of a habitual corruption if he is not able to hold out scarce at any time against a concurrence of temptation and opportunity.
4. When the soul, if it will examine itself, will find it is gone from under the conduct of renewing grace, and is, at the best, but under the influence of restraining grace. Believers are under the conduct of renewing grace; and I grant that sometimes, when under the power of corruption and temptation, even they have broken the rule of renewing grace, God will keep them in order by restraining grace,—by fear of danger, shame, and infamy,—by outward considerations set home upon the mind by the Spirit of God, which keeps them off from sin: but this is but sometimes. But if a man finds his heart wholly got from under the rule of renewing grace, and that he has no leading or conduct but restraining grace, his sin has got the perfect victory over him; that is, he would sin on to the end of his life, were it not for fear of shame, danger, death, and hell; he is no longer acted by renewing grace,
which is faith and love,—faith working by love. A man who has a spiritual understanding may examine himself and find under what conduct he is.
4. Lastly, when there is a predominant will in sinning, then lust is habitually prevalent. Sin may entangle the mind and disorder the affections, and yet not be prevalent; but when it has laid hold upon the will, it has the mastery.