Part 6
a principle of grace within him, that never leaves jogging, disturbing, andcallinguponhim,till he rife and return to his God, the true rest of his soul.
3. Thirdly, A false pretender to religion, anhypocriticalprofeffor, meeting with profperityand success, grows altogether unconcerned about the interest of religion, and senseless of the *calamities of God's people. Thus the prophet convinces the Jews of their hypocrisy, Amos vi. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. "They " were at ease in Zion, and trusted in the mountain of Sam a- " ria:" And fo, having a shadowofreligion, andafulness of all earthly things, they fell to feasting and sporting : " They drank " wine in bowls, andanointedthemselves with the chief oint- " ments, but were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph." Theycondolednot, Gnaltheber, over the breakings or tearing to pieces of Joseph : If they are out of danger once,letthechurch
for itself, they are secure in a warm nest: Let the birds of prey catch and devour that flock with which they sometimes associated, they are not touched with it. Mosescould not do fo, though in the greatest security and confluence of the honours and pleasures of Egypt, Acts vii. 23. Nehemiah could not do so, though the servant and favourite of a mighty monarch, and wanted nothing to make him outwardly happy ; yet the pleasures of a king's court could not cheer his heart, or scatter the clouds of sorrow from his countenance, whilst his brethren were in affliction, and the city of his God lay waste, Nehemiah ii. 1, 2, 3. Nor indeed can any gracious heart be unconcerned and senseless ; for that union that all the saints have with Christ their head, and with one another, as fellow members in Christ, will be get sympathy among them in their sufferings, 1 Cor. xii. 26. SECT . V. BUUT as the fire of profperitydiscovers this and much more dross in a graceless heart, so it discovers the sincerity and grace of God's people : I say not that it discovers nothing but grace in them : O that it did not ! alas! many of them have had agreatdeal of dross and corruption discovered by it, as was noted before : But yet in this trial, the graciousness and uprightness of their hearts will appear in these, and such like workings of it.
1. First, Under prosperity, success, andhonour, the upright
Prosperity a great Trial. 147 heart will labour to suppress pride, and keep itself lowly and humble; and still the more grace there is, the more humility there will be If God lift him up, he will lay himself low, and exalt his God high. So did Jacob when God had raised. and enlarged him ; Gen. xxxii. 10. " I am not worthy of the " least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast " snewedunto thy servant, for with my staff I passed over this " Jordan, and now I am become two bands."
Great was the difference in Jacob's outward condition at his return, from what it was at his first passage over Jordan ; then poor, now rich ; then single and comfortless, now the head of a great family : Yea, but though his outward estate was altered, the frame of his heart was not altered. Jacob was an holy and humble man when he went out, and so he was when he returned : He saw a multitude of mercies about him, and among them all not one but was greater than himself. I dare not say every Christian under prosperity can at all times manifest like humility; but I am sure what pride and vanity soever may rise in a gracious heart tried by prosperity, thereisthatwithinhim will give check to it : He dare not suffer such proud thoughts to lodge quietly in his heart ; for, alas ! he fees that in himself, and that in his God, that will abase him: Grace will make him look back to his original condition, and say, with David, " What am I, O Lord God ? and what " is my father's house, that thou hast brought me hitherto ?"
2 Sam. vii. 18. It will make him look in, and see the baseness of his own heart, and the corruptions that are there, and admire at the dealings of God with so vile a creature. O, thinks he, if others - did but know what I know of myself, they would abhorme more than now they esteem and value me.
2. Secondly, Prosperity usually draws forth the faints love to the. God of their mercies : that which heats a wicked man's lusts, warms a gracious man's heart with love and delight in God.
were the words of that lovely song which David sang in the day that the Lord delivered him out of the hands of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul; and he said, " I will " love thee, O Lord, my strength," Psalm xviii.title andver. 1. compared. These outward things are not the main grounds andmotivesoftheir love to God; no, no,they love him when he takes away, as well aswhenhegives : but they are sanctified in Aruments to inflame their love to God: they boil up a wicked man's lusts, but they melt a gracious man's soul. O in what a
148 Prosperity a greet Trial. Pang of love did David go into the prefenceof God under the sense of his mercies ! his melting mercies ! when he thus poured out his whole foul in a stream of love to his God, 2 Sam. vii. 19, 20, " Is this the manner of men, O Lord God ? And " what can David say more unto thee?" An expression that turns up the very bottom of his heart.
3.Thirdly, Prosperity and comfortable providencesdousually become cautions against sin, when they meet with a sanctified foul. This is the natural inference of a gracious foul from them: hath God pleased me, then hath he obliged me to take more care to please him : O let me not grieve him, that hath comforted me ! So Ezra ix. 13. " After such a deliverance as " this, should we again break thy commandments !" What ! break his commandments who hath broken our bonds ! God forbid!
It was an excellent resolution of a Christian once, who receiving an eminent mercy at the same time he felthimselfunder the power of a special corruption ; " Well, (faith he) now will " Igoforth in the strength of this mercy, to mortifyandfub- " due that corruption. " I will not measure every Christian by the eminent workings of grace in some one; but surely fo far I may safely go, that sincerity knows not how to fin, because grace hathabounded, any more than it dare fin, thatgracemay abound.
4. Fourthly, A truly gracious foul will not be satisfied with all the prosperity and comforts in the world for his portion : Not thine, Lord, but thee, is the voice of grace. When providencehed been more than ordinarily bountiful in outward things to Luther, he began to be afraid of its meaning, and earnestly protested, God should not put him off so, " The Lord is my " portion, faith my soul," Lam. iii. 24. and the soul can best tell what it hath made its choice, and whereon ithathbestowed its chief delights and expectations.
An unsound heart will accept these for its portion : if the world be sure to him, and his designs fail not there, he can be content to leave God, and foul, and heaven, and hell at hazard; but focannot the upright. These things in fubordination ; but peither these, nor any thing under the fun, in comparison with, or opposition to God.
Adversity a Furnace to try our Graces. 149
4CHAP. V
Shewingwhat probation adversity makes of the sincerity or unfoundness of our hearts.
SECT. I. HAT adversity is a furnace to try of what metal our hearts are, none can doubt, that hath either studied the scuptures, or observed his own heart under afflictions.
When the dross and rust of hypocrisy and corruption hadalmosteaten out the heart of religion among the Jews, then faith God, " I will melt them, and try them; for what shall Ido " for the daughter of my people ?" Jer ix. 7. Here affliction is the furnace, and the people are the metal cast into it, and the end of it is trial. I will melt them, and try them , what other course shall I take with them ? If I let them alone, their lusts, like the rust and canker in metals, will eat them out. Prosperity multiplies professors, andadversitybring them to the test; thenhirelings quickly become changlings. The guilded potsherdglisters till it come to scouring. The devil thought Job had been fuchaone, and moves that he may be tried this way; being confident he would be found but dross in the trial, Job i. 11. But though the furnace of affliction discovered some dross in him (as it will in the best of men) yet he came forth as gold.
In this furnace also grace is manifested: it is said, Rev. xiii. 10. " Here is the faith and patience of the saints ;" i e. here is the trial and discovery of it in these days of adversity. It was a weighty saying of * Tertullian to the perfecutors of the church in his days, Probatio innocentiae noftrae, eft iniquitas veftra; Your wickedness is the trial of our innocency. Constant i us, the father of Constantine, made an exploratory decree, that all who would not renounce the Christian faith, should lose their places of honour and profit. This presently separated the dross from the gold, which was his design; for many renounced Christianity, and thereupon were renounced by him ; and those that held their integrity, were received into favour.
In time of prosperity, hypocrisy lies covered in the heart like nests in the green bushes ; butwhenthewinter of adver-
* Tertul. in Apol.
150 Adversity a Furnace to try our Graces. fity hath made them bare, every body may see them without searching.
But to fall into closer particulars ; it will be necessary to enquire what effects of adversity are commontoboth the found and the unsound; and then what are proper to either in this close trial by adversity.
SECT. II. IT will be expedient to the design I manage in this discourse, to shew in the first place what are the common effects of adversity to both the godly and ungodly; for in some things they differ not, but as it is with the one, so also with the other : As,
1. First, Both the godlyand ungodlymayfear adversity before it comes : to be sure a wicked man cannot, and it is evident many godly men do not, come up to the height of that rule, James i. 2. " To account italljoywhen they fall into di- " verse temptations," or trialsbyadversity.
It is said, Ifa. xxxiii. 14. " The sinners in Zion are afraid; " trembling furprizeth the hypocrite ;" namely, under the apprehension of approaching calamities; and it is true also, the saints in Zion may be afraid : "My flesh trembleth for fear of " thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments," said holy David, Psal. cxix. 120. and Job iii . 23. " The thing which I greatly " feared(faith that upright foul) is come upon me." There isa vast difference betwixt a saint's first meeting with afflictions, and hispartingwiththem; he entertains them sometimes with trembling; he parts with them rejoicing, smiling on them, andbleffingthem in the name of the Lord. So that by this the upright, and the false heart, are not discriminated; even sanctified nature declines suffering and troubles.
2. Secondly, Both the godly and ungodly may entertain af Aictions with regret and unwillingness when they come. Affictions and troubles are wormwood and gall, Lam. iii. 19. And that goes notdownpleasantly with fleshandblood, Heb. xii. 11 . No affliction for the present seemeth joyous, but " grievous ;" he means to God's own people ; they are in heaviness through manifold temptations or trials by the rod, 1 Pet. i. 6. WhenGodgives the cup of affliction into the hands of the wicked, how do they reluctate and loath it ? How do their stomachs rise at it ? And thought he portion of the saints cup be much sweeter than theirs,(for that bitter ingredient of God's vindictive wrath is not in it), yet even they shrink from it, and loth they are to taste it.
a Furnace to try our Graces. 157 3. Thirdly, Both the one and other may be impatient and fretful in adversity; it is the very nature of flesh and blood to be fo. " The wicked are like the troubled sea, which cannot
65 reft, whose waters cast forth mire and dirt," Ifa. lvii. 20. It is an allusion to the unstable and stormy ocean : you know there is naturally an estuation and working in the sea, whether it be incensed by the wind or no; but if a violent wind blow upon the unquiet ocean, O what a raging and foaming is there ! what abundance of trash and filth doth it at such times cast out!
Now, though grace make a great difference betwixt one and another, yet I dare not say, but even a gracious heart may be very unquiet and tumultuous in the day of affliction. Sanctified fouls have their passions and lusts which are too little mortified; even as sweat-briar and holy-thistles have their prickles, as well as the worthless bramble. Jonah was a good man, yet his foul was sadlydistempered by adverse providences ; Jonah iv. 9. " Yea, (faith he, and that to his God) Ido well to be angry, "evenuntodeath."
4. Fourthly, Both the one and the other maybe weary of the rod, and think the day of adversity a tedious day, wishing it were once at an end. Babylon shall be weary of the evil that God will bring upon it, Jer. li. ult. An dO that none of Zion's children were weary of adversity too! How sad a moan doth Job make of his long continued affliction, Job xvi. 6, 7. " Though I speak, my grief is not assuaged ; and though I " forbear, what am I eased ? But now he hath made me " weary."
And if you look into Psalm vi. 3, 6. you may fee another - strong Christian even tired in the way of affliction : "My soul (faith David in that place) is sore vexed, but thou, O Lord, " how long ? I am weary with my groaning."
66 5. Fifthly, Both the one and the other may be driven to their knees by adversity. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee; they have poured out a prayer when thy chasteningwas upon them," Ifa. xxvi. 16. Not that agodly per ton will pray no longer than the rod is at his back ; Ono, he cannot live without prayer long, how few calls soever he hath to that duty by the rod ; but when the rod is on his back, he will be more frequently and more fervently upon his knees; indeed many graceless hearts are like childrens tops, which will go no longer than they are whipt; they cannot find their knees and their tongues, till God find a rod to excite them. A dangerous symptom. The fame affliction may put a gracious, and a grace-
132 Adversity a Furnace to try our Graces. less soul to their knees ; but though in the external matter of duty, and in the external call or occasion of duty, they seem to agree, yet is there a vast difference in the principles, manner, and ends of these their duties; as will evidently appear in its proper place in our following discourse.
But by what hath been said in this section, you may see how in some things the holy upright foul acts too like the unsanctified, and in other things how much the hypocrite may act like a faint; he may be externally humbled, so was Ahab ; he may pray under the rod, Mal. ii. 3. yea, and request others to pray for him, so did Simon, Acts viii. 24.
SECT. III. BUT though the found and unsound heart differ not in some external carriages under the rod, yet there are effects of adversity which are proper to either, and will discriminate them. To which end let us first see what effects adversity is usually followed withal in unsound and carnal hearts ; and we shall find among others, these five symptoms of a naughty heart appearingundercrosses and afflictions.
1. First, Agraceless heart is not quickly and easily brought to see the hand of God in those troubles that befal it, and be duly affected with it; Ifa. xxvi. 11. " Lord, when thy hand is " lifted up, they will not fee:" when it has smitten, or is lifted up to smite, they shut their eyes ; it is the malice of this man, or the negligence of that, or the unfaithfulness of another, that hath brought all this troubleuponmc. Thus the creature is the horizon thatterminates their fight, and beyond that they usually fee nothing. Sometimes indeed the hand of God isfo immediately manifested, and convincingly discovered in afflic tions, that they cannot avoid the fight of it, and then they may, in their way, pour out a prayer before him; but ordinarily they impute all to second causes, and overlook the first cause of their troubles.
2. Secondly, Nor is it usual with these men under the rod to retire into their closets, and search their hearts there, to find out the particular cause and provocation of their affliction : " Noman repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have " I done ?" Jer. viii. 6. What cursed thing is there with me, that hath thus incensed the anger of God against me ! God vi fits their iniquities with afflictions, but they visit not their own hearts by self-examinations. God judges them, but they judge not themselves: He shews their iniquities in a clear glass, but none faith, What have I done ? This phrase, What have I
Adversity & Furnace to try our Graces. 153 done? is the voice of one that recollects himself after a rath action; or the voice of a man astonished at the discovery afflictionsmake of his fins , but no such voice as this is ordinarily heard among carnal men.
3.Thirdly, An unfoundprofeffor, if left to his choice, would rather chuse sin than affliction ; and fees more evil in that, than in this.
And it cannot be doubted, if we confider the principle by whichallunregenerate men are acted, is sense,not faith. Hence
Job's friends would have argued his hypocrisy, Job xxxvi. 21. And had their application been as right as their rule, it would have concluded it; This (viz. fin) hast thou chosen, rather than affliction.
I do not say that an upright man cannot commit a moral evil, to escape a penal evil. O that daily observation did not tooplentifully furnith us with fadinstances of that kind ! But uprightonesdo not, dare not, uponaserious deliberate difcuffionanddebate, chuse sin rather than affliction ; what they may do upon surprisals, and in the violence of temptation, is of another nature.
But a false andunfound heart discovers itself in the choice it makes upon deliberation, and that frequently when fin and trouble come in competition. Put the case, faith Augustine, a ruffian should with one hand fetthe cup of drunkenness to thy mouth, and with the otheradagger to thy breast, and fay, drink or die; thou shouldest rather chuse to die sober, than to liveadrunkard: And many Christians have resisteduntoblood, Ariving against fin, and, with renownedMoses, chosenafflic. tion, the worst of afflictions, yea, death itself in the most for midableappearance, rather than fin; and it is the habitual temper and resolution of every gracious heart so to do, though those holy resolutions are sometimes over-borne by violence of temptation.
But the hypocrite dreads less the defilement of his soul, than the loss of his estate, liberty, or life. If you ask upon what groundthendoth the apostle suppose, 1 Cor. xiii. 3. a man may give his body to be burnt, and not have charity; that the salamander of hypocrisy may live in the flame of martyrdom? The answer is at hand; They that chusedeath in the fenfeof this text, donotchuse it to escape fin, but to feed and indulge it. Those strange adventures (ifanyfuch be) are rather to maititain their own honour, and enrol their names among worthyandfamous persons to posterity; or out of ablindzeal VOL. VII. U
454 Adversity a Furnace to try our Graces. to their espoused errors and mistakes, than in a due regard to the glory of God, and the preservation of integrity. ' I fear to • speak it, but it must be spoken, (faith * Hierom), That even • martyrdom itself, when suffered for admiration and applause, *profits nothing, but that blood is thed in vain.' 4. Fourthly, It is the property of an unregenerate soul, under, adversity, to turn from creature to creature for support and comfort, and not from every creature to God alone. So long as their feet cantouchground, I mean, feel any creature relief or comfort under them, they can subsist and live in afflictions ; butwhenthey lose ground, when all creature refuge fails, then their hearts fail too.
Thus Zedekiah, and the self-deceiving Jews, when they saw their own strength failed them, and there was little hope left that they should deliver themselves from the Chaldeans, what. do they in that strait ? Do they, with upright Jehoshaphat say, " Our eyes are unto thee ?" No, no, their eyes were upon Egypt for fuccour, not upon Heaven; well, Pharaoh and his aids are left still, all hope is not gone, Jer. xxxvii. 9. See the like in Ahaz, in a fore plunge and distress he courts the king of Affyria for help, 2 Chron. xxviii. 22, 23. That project failing, why then he will try what the gods of Damafcus can do for. him; any way rather than the right way, Flecterefinequeam fuperos, Acheronta movebo.
So it is with many others : if one child die, what do they do, run to God, and comfort themselves in this, the Lord liveth, though my child die. If an estate be lost, and a family sinking, do they with David comfort themselves in the everlasting covenant, ordered and sure ? No, no ; but if one relation die, there is another alive ; if an estate be lost, yet not all; something is left still, and the case will mend.
As long as ever tuch men have any visible encouragement, they will hang upon it; and not make up all in Christ, and encourage themselves in the Lord. To tell them of rejoicing in the Lord, when the fig-tree blossoms not, is what they cannot understand.
5. Fifthly, To conclude; an unfoundheart never comes out of the furnace of affliction purged, mortified, and more spiritual and holy than when he was cast into it; his scum and dross is not there separated from him ; nay, the more they are afflic-
Times dicere, feddicendum eft; martyrium ipfumfiideo fiat ut admiration i et laudi habeatur a fratribus : fruftrafanguis effufus eft. Hier.
a Furnace to try our Graces. 155 " ted, the worse they are. Why should ye be smitten any " more ? ye will revolt more and more," Ifa. i. 5. And, to keep to our metaphor, consult Jer. vi. 29. Godhadput that incorrigible people into the furnace of affliction, and kept them long in that fire; and what was the issue ? Why, faith the prophet, " The bellows are burnt, the lead isconfumedof the " fire, the founder melteth in vain, &c. reprobate silver shall " men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them."
If the fire of affliction be continually blown till the very bellows be burnt, that is, the tongue, or rather the lungs of the prophet, which have some resemblance to bellows; though these beevenspent in reproving, and threatening, and denouncing woeuponwoe,and judgment upon judgment, and God fulfils his word upon them; yet still they are as before; the dross remains : though Jerusalem be made a furnace, and the inhabitants the flesh boiling in it, as is noted (pertinently to my discourse) in Ezek. xxiv. 6, 13. the scum remains with them, and cannot be separated by the fire; and the reason is plain, because no affliction in itself purges sin, but as it is sanctified, and works in the virtue of God's blessing, and in pursuance of the promises.
O think on this you thathavehadthousands of afflictions in one kind and another, and none of them all have done you good; they have not mortified, humbled, or benefited you at all: And thus you fee what the effects of adversity are, when it meets with agracelessheart.
SECT. IV. Y this time, reader, I suppose thou art desirous to know meet with an honest and sincere heart : Only, before I come to particulars, I think it needful to acquaint thee, that the fruits of afflictions are mostly after-fruits, and not sodifcernableby the Christian himself under the rod, as after he hath been exercised by ir, Heb. xii. 11. and calmly relects upon what is past; nor doth every Christian attain the fame measure and degree ; some rejoice, others commonly submit; but I think these seven effects are ordinarily found in all upright hearts that pass under the rod.
1. First, The sincere and upright foul betakes itself to God -in affliction ; Job i. 20. When God was smiting, Job was praying; when God afflicted, Job worshipped: So David, Plalm cxvi. 3, 4. " I found sorrow and trouble, then called I
156 Adversity a Furnace to try our Graces. "upon the name of the Lord." And when the messenger of Satanbuffered Paul, " For this cause(faith he) I be fought the " Lord thrice," 2 Cor. xii. 8. Alas ! whither should a child go in distress, but to its father ?
2. Secondly, He fees and owns the hand of God in his afflic tions, how much or little soever of the instruments of trouble appear. The Lord hath taken away, taith Job, Job i. 21. God hath bidden him, faith David, 2 Sam. xvi. 10. If the blow come from the hand of a wicked man, yet he fees that wicked hand in God's righteous hand, Pialm xvii. 14. And this apprehension is fundamental to all that communion men have with God in their affl étions, and to all that peaceableness and gracious submission of their spirits under the rod : He that lees nothing of God in his troubles, hath nothing of God in his soul.
3. Thirdly, He can justity God in all the afflictions and troubles that come upon him, be they never so levere. " Thou " art ju in all that is brought upon us," saith Nehemiah, Neh. ix. 33. " Thou hast punished us less than our iniqui- " tiesdeferve," saith Ezra, Ezra ix. 13. " It is of the Lord's " mercy we arenotconfumed," faith the church, Lam. iii. 22. Are we in Babylon ? It is a mercy we are not in hell. If God condemn him, yet he will justify God; if God cast him into a sea of trouble, yet he will acknowledge, in all that feaoftrouble, there is notonedrop of injustice. If I have notdeferved such usage from the hands of men, yet I have deserved worse than this at the hands of God.
4. Fourthly, Afflictions use to melt and humble gracious hearts; there is an habitual tenderness planted in their spirits, and a just occasion quickly draws it forth : And so usual a thing it is for gracious hearts to be humbled under the afflictings of God, that affliction is upon that score called humiliation : effect put for the cause, to shew where one is, the other will The be, 2Cor. xii. 21. My God will humble me, i. e. he will afflict me with the fight of your fins and disorders ; and if a gracious foul be so apttobe humbled for other mens sins, much more for his own.
5. Fifthly, The upright foul is inquisitive under the rod, to find out that evil for which the Lord contendswith him by affliction ; Job x. 2. " Shew me wherefore thoucontendestwith " me:" And Job xxxiv. 32. " That which I see not, teach thou me : If I have done iniquity I will do no more." So Lam. iii. 39, 40. " Let us search and try our ways, and turn a- "gain to the Lord." In afflicting,God searches them, andupder affiction they search themselves : Willingtheyare to hear
Adversity a Furnace to try our Graces. 157 the voice of the rod, and glad of any discovery it makes of their hearts.
Sixthly, The upright heart chuseth to ly under affliction, rather than to be delivered from it by fin. I say, this is the choiceandresolution of every upright heart, however it maybe
over-borne by the violence of temptation, Heb. xi. 35. Notacceptingdeliverance, viz. upon sinful terms and conditions.
They are sensible how the flesh smarts under the rod, but had rather it should finart, thanconfcience should smart under guilt. Affliction, faith an upright foul, grieves me, but fin will grieve God; affliction wounds my flesh, but fin will wound my foul. Deliverance I long for, but I will not pay so dear for it, how much soever Idefire it : Nolo tanti emere poenitentiam : Outward ease is sweet, but inward peace is sweeter.
7. Seventhly, He prizeth the spiritual goodgottenby afflietion, above deliverance from it, and can bless God from his heart for those mercies, how dear soever his flemhath paid for them; Psalm cxix. 67, and71. " It is good for me that I have " been afflicted." Such is the value the people of God have for spiritual graces, that they cannot think them dear, whatever their flesh hath paid for them. The mortification of one lust, one discovery of sincerity, one manifestation of God to their souls, doth much more than make amends for all that they haveenduredunder the rud.
Is patience improved, self-acquaintance increased, the vanity ofthecreaturemore effectuallytaught, longings after heaven enflamed ? O blessed afflictions, that are attended with such blessed fruits ! It was the saying of a holyman, under a fore trouble for the death of anonlyfon,when inthatdarkday God hadgraciouslymanifestedhimself to his soul ; 'O, (faith he) I 'wouldbecontented, if it were possible, to layanonly son in the grave everyday I have to live in the world, for one such *discovery of the love of God as I now enjoy.'
158 Abstinence from Sin a Discovery of the Heart.
CHAP. VL.
Shewing indwellingfin to be to grace, what firezis to gold; and howthefoundness and unfoundness ofourheartsare discovered by our carriage towards it.
SECT . Ι .
Rofperity and adversity put sincerity to the trial ; but no thing makes a deeper search into our bosoms, nothing fists our spirits more narrowly, or tells us what our state is more plainly, than our behaviour towards that corruption that dwells in us ; the thorn is next neighbour to the rose : Sin and grace dwell not only in the same soul, but in the fame faculties. The collier and fuller dwell in one room; what one cleanfeth the other blacks . Of all the evils God permits in this world, none is more grievous to his people than this : They fometimeswonderwhy the Lord will suffer it to be so; why, surely, among other wife and holy ends of this permission, these are some.
They are left to try you, and to humble you : There is no intrinfical goodness in fin; but, however, in this it occasions good to us, that by our carriage towards it, we discern our sincerity. The touchstone is a worthless stone in itself, but it serves to try the gold; I John iii. 9, 10. " Whosoever is born " of God. doth not commit fin; for his feed remaineth in him, " and he cannot fin, because he is born of God: In this the " children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil :" q.d. In respect of their carriage towards fin, the one and other is plainly manifested: This is that which separates the dross from the gold, and shewsyou what the true state of men's persons, and tempers of their hearts is. By not sinning, we are not to understand a total freedom from it in this world, as if it implied any such perfection of the people of God in this world; that is the Popich and Pelagian sense : Nor yet must we take it in the Arminian sense, who, to avoid the argument of the orthodox, will understand it of the fin against the HolyGhoft. What a strangethingwouldit be, to make that a characteristical note of distinction betwixt the godly and ungodly, which fo very few, even of the most ungodly, are ever guilty of?
But the manner of our behaviour towards fin, and our carriage towards it before, or under, or after the commission of it, in that the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil.
Abstinence from Sin a Discovery of the Heart. 159 Now, there are five things relating to fin, that discriminate and mark the state of the persons : The difference is discernible.
1. Abstinence from fin. 2. Hatred of fin. 3. Trouble about fin. 4. Subjection to fin. 15. Opposition of fin. SECT. II.
In our (1.) THE grounds and motives of our abstinence do very clearly manifest the state of our souls ; what they are in the regenerate and unregenerate, is our next work : And let it be considered,
1. First, That an unsound andunrenewedheart may abstain from one fin, because it is contrary to, and inconsistent with another fin : For, it is with the sins of our natures, as it is with the diseases of our bodies : Though all diseases be contrary to health, yet some diseases, as the fever and palsy, are contrary to each other. So are prodigality and covetousness, hypocrisyandprofaneness. These oppose each other, not for mutual destruction, as finandgrace do, but for superiority, each contending for the throne, and sometimes taking it by turns. It is with such persons as with that possessed man, Matth. xvii. 15. whom the spirit casts sometimes into the fire, sometimes into the water : Or if one subdue the other, yet the heart is also subdued to the vassalage of that lust that is uppermost in the soul.
2. Secondly, An unrenewed foul maybe kept from the commission of some sin, not because there is a principle of grace within him, but because of some providential restraint without him, or upon him : For, it often falls out, that when men have conceived sin, and are ready to execute it, providence claps on the fetters of restraint, and hinders them from fo doing.
Abimelech, Gen. xx. 6, and 17. compared, I with-held thee : And though persons so restrained, have not the good of such providences, yet others have ; for by it a world of mischief is prevented in the world, which otherwise would break out; and to this act of providence we owe our lives, liberties, estates, and comforts in this world.
3. Thirdly, An unsound heartmaynotcommit some fins, not because he truly hates them, but because his constitution in-
160 Abstinence from Sin a Discovery of the Heart. clineshimnot to them : These men are rather beholden to a goodtemperofbody, than to a gracious temper of foul. Some mencannotbe drunkards if they would, others cannot be covetous and base; they are made emeliori luto, of a more refined metal than others ; but chaste and liberal,just and sober nature, is but nature till : The best nature, in all its endowments, is but nature at the best.
4. Fourthly, A graceless heart maybe restrained from sia by the force of education and principles of morality that way in- stilled into it. Thus Jehoash was restrained from fin, 2Kings xii. 2. "AndJehoashdid that which was right in the fight of " the Lord, all thedayswherein Jehoiadah the priest instructed " him." The fear of a parent or master will do a great deal more with some in this case than the fear of God. The influence of a strict educationnips off the excrefcencies of budding vice. The way we are taught when young, we keep when old : This is the influence of manuponman, not the influence of the regenerating Spirit upon men.
5. Fifthly, A grace lets heartmaybekeptfrom some sins by the fear of the events, both in this world, and that to come. Sin that is followed with infamy and reproach amongmen, may on this ground be for born; not becauseGodhath forbidden it, but because human laws will punish it, and the sober world will brand us for it : And some look farther, to the punishment of fininhell; they are not afraid to fin, but they are afraid to burn.
Here sin is like a sweet rose ina brake of thorns; fain we would have it, but we are loth to tear our flesh to come by it.
It is good that fin is prevented anyway; but to be kept on this ground from fin, doth not argue the estate of the person to be good: And thus you fee some of the grounds on which carnal men are restrained; and in this "the children of the devil are " manifest."
ECT. III. BUT there are grounds of abstinence from fin, by which " the children of God are alfomanifested;" and such are these that follow :
1. First, A fincereheartdares not finbecause of the eye and fear of God, which is upon him: So you find it in Jobxxxi.
1, and 4. he durst not allow his thoughts to fid, because he lived under the awe of God's eye. Nehemiah durit not do as former governors,had done, though an opportunitypresentedtoenrichhimself, because of the fear of his God, Nehem.Ve
Hatred of Sin a Trial of Grace. 161
15.The soul that lives under the awe of this eye will be as confcientiouswherenodifcovery can be made by éréatures, as ifalltheworld looked on, Levit. xix. 14. " Thơu shalt not "cursethedeaf, nor putastumbling-block before the blind; "but shalt fear thy God, I am the Lord."
What ifamando curse the deaf, the deaf cannot hear him, and what if he do put a stumbling-block before the blind, the blind cannot see him : True,but God fees him, God hears him; that is enough to ámán that hath the fear of the Lord oponhisheart.
2. Secondly, As the fear of God,fothe love of God, isa principle of restraint from fin to the soul that is upright. This kept back Joseph from fin, Gen. xxxix. 9. "How can I do *thisgreatwickedness, and fin against God?" How can I? He speaks as am an that feels himselfboundupfrom fimbythe goodness and love of God, that had been manifested to him, 4.d. Hath he delivered me from the pit into which my enviousbrethrencastme ? Hath he, in so miraculous away, advanced me to all this honour and power in Egypt? and now, after all his kindness and love tome, shall I fin against him ? Ohow can Ido this against so good, so gracious a God? So Plak xevii. ro. " Ye that love the Lord,hate evil." Love will cry out in the hour of temptation, Isthisthykindnesstothy friend? Dost thou thus requite the Lord for all hiskindnefses?
3. Thirdly, As the love of God, so the intrinfical evil and filthiness that is in fin keeps back the gracious foul from it, Rom. xii. 9. Abhor that which is evil," αποτυγέτες τοπονηρον, hate it as hell itself: Or, as the French tranflationhath it, be in horror. As the apprehenfions of hell, so the apprehenfions off in impress horroruponthe mind that is sanctified: Nothing more loathsome to an holy foul. Its aversations from it are with the highest indigration and loathing.
4. Fourthly, The renewed nature ofa faint restrains him from fin; Gal. v. r7. " The spirit lusteth against the flesh, fo " thatye cannot do the thing ye would." Ye cannot, why cannot ye ? because it is against your new nature.
Beloved, This is a very remarkable thing in the experience of all renewedmen, That, upon the renovationofmen'sprinciples, their delights, and their aversations and loathings are laid quite cross and opposite to what they were before. In their carnal state, vain company and sinful exercises were their delight. To be separated from these, and tied to prayer, mediVOL.VI. X
162 Hatred of Sin a Trial of Grace. tation, heavenly discourse and company ; O what a bondage would that have been ! Now to be tied to such carnal society, and restrained from such duties ofgodliness, and the society of the godly, becomes a much forer bondage to the soul.
5. Fifthly, Experience of the bitterness off in, is a restraint to a gracious heart. They that have had so many sick days and sorrowful nights for fin as they have had, are loath to taste thatwormwood and gall again, which their foul hath
in remembrance ; 2 Cor. vii. 11. " In that ye forrowed " after agodly fort, what carefulness it wrought !" He would not grapple with those inward troubles again, he would not have the chearful light of God's countenance eclipsed again for all, and much more than all, the pleasures that are in fin.
C. Sixthly, Theconfiderationofthe sufferings of Christ for fin, powerfully withholds a gracious foul from the commission of it; Rom. vi. 6. " Our old man is crucified with him,that "thebodyoffin mightbedestroyed,that henceforth we should " not serve sin." Were there a knife or sword in the house that had been thrust through the heart of your father, would you ever endure the fight of it? Sin was the sword that pierced Christ, and so the death of Christ becomes the death off in in his people. Thus the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest, in the principles and reasons of their abstinence from fin.
SECT. IV.
Econdly, They are also manifested by their hatred of fin. This puts a clear distinction betwixt them ; for no false or unregenerate heart can hate fin as fin ; he may indeed,
1. First, Hate sin in another, butnotinhimself: Thus one proud man hates another ; Calco fuperbiam Platonis, said Diogenes, when he trampled Plato's fine clothes under foot; Ispurn the pride of Plato. Sedmajori fuperbia, as Plato smartly replied, Thou tramplest upon my pride, but it is with greater pride. "Why (faith Christ to the hypocrite) "beholdest thou the mote in thy brother's eye, but confider- " est not the beam that is in thine own eye ?" Matth. vii. 3 . How quick in espying, and rash incensuringthe smallest fault in another, is the hypocrite! it was but one fault, and that but a small one, but a mote that he could find in another ; yet this he quickly difcerns : It maybe there were many excellent graces in him, these he overlooks, but the mote he plainlydifcerns. 2.
Hatred of Sin a Trial of Grace. 163 It may be that mote in his brother's eye, haddrawnmany tears from it, but these he takes no notice of; and meanwhile there is abeam, i. e. a great horrid flagitious evil, in himself; but it is too near him to be discerned or bewailed : This is a sad symptom of a naughty heart.
2. Secondly, He may hate it in its effects andconfequents ; not in its own nature ; as the thief hates the gallows, not the wickedness that he hath done. It is not fin in itself, but sin in its connexion with hell, that is frightful to him. The unsound professor could wish that there were no such threatening in the Bible against sin. When fin tempts him, I would, faith he, but I fear the consequence. O fin, could I
thee from hell, nothing should separate thee and me.
3. Thirdly, He may hate it in a mood or pang, but not with a rooted habitual hatred. It is plain from 2 Pet. ii. 22.
That fin may sometimes lie upon the confcienceofan unregenerate man, as a load lies upon a sick stomach ; and so he may discharge himself of it by reformation, restitution, &c. but a little time reconciles the quarrel betwixt him and his lust again : If they fall out, they will fall in again : " The dog re- " turned to his vomit, and the sow that was washed, to her " wallowing in the mire."
But an upright foul hates fin in another manner; and in this hatred of fin the children of God are manifest.
1. First, The opposition of fin to God, is the very ground and formal reason upon which a gracious foul opposes and hates it. I fit be opposite to the holy nature and law of God, it cannot but be odious in his eyes : This cut David's heart, Psal. li. 4. " Against thee, thee only have I finned," q. d. I have wronged Uriah greatly, I have wronged myself and family greatly, but the wrong I have done to others is not worth naming, in comparison of the wrong I have done to thee.
2. Secondly, The upright foul hates fin in himself, more than he hates it in any other ; as am an hates aferpent in the hedge, but much more in his own bosom : Rom. vii. 23. " But I fee another law in my members ;" and ver. 21. " I " find then a law, that when I would do good, evil is present " with me:" q. d. Ido not knowhow others find it, but I am fureI findfin inmyverybosom, in my very bowels, it is prefentwithme. Owretched man that I am ! A gracious foul can mourn to fee it in others, buttofindit inhimselfpierceth him to the very heart. X2
164 Hatred of Sin a Trial of Grace,
3. Thirdly, The gracious foul hates not only this or that particular fin, but the whole kind, every thing that is sinful. True hatred is προς ταγενη, *of the whole nature or kind; Psal. cxix. 104. " I hate every false way." His reasonings proceed a quatenusad omne, from sin as fin, concluding against every fin; fins that are profitable and pleasant, as well as fins that have neither profit nor pleasure; fins that are secret, as well as fins that are open, and will defame him. And, before this trial, a false heart cannot stand; for he always indulges some lust: There is an iniquity which he cannot be separated from.
4. Fourthly,The sincere soul hates sin with an irreconcileable hatred. There was atimewhen sin and his soul fell out, but there never will be a time of reconciliation betwixt them again.
That breach, which effectual conviction once made, can neverbemadeupany more : " They will return no more to sol. " ly," Psal. lxxxv. 8. And indeed it seems to them that have suffered so much for fin, that have endured so many fears and sorrows for it, the greatest folly in the world to return to fin a gain: No, no, they admire the mercy of their escape from fin, to their dying day, and never look back upon their former state but with shame and grief.
a convert, Would you be back again where once you were ? Would you be among your old companions again ? Would you be fulfilling the lusts of the flesh again ? And he will tell you, he would not run the hazard, to abide one day or one night in that condition again, to gain all the kingdoms of the world the next morning.
5. Fifthly, The sincere soul hates sin with a superlative hatred;he hates it more than any other evil in the world besides it. Penal evils are not pleasant in themselves, but yet if hemuft endure them, or fin, then sufferings to chuse ; Heb, xi . 25. " Chusing rather to suffer affliction than enjoy the "pleasures of fin;" the worst of sufferings ratherthanthebest of fin.
6. Sixthly,To conclude ; so deep is the hatred that upright ones bear to fin, that nothing pleases them more than the thoughts of a full deliverance from it doth; Rom. vii, 34. " I " thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." What doth he
thank God for ? Of or a prospect of his final deliver ance from fin, never to be entangled, defiled, or troubled with Arift. Rhet. lib. 2. cap. 4.
Troubles for Sin are Trials of Grace. 165 it anymore: And this is one thing that sweetens death to the saints as much as any thing intheworldcando, except Christ's victory over it, and lying in the grave for us. To think ofa grave is not pleasant in itself; but to think of a parting-time with fin, that is sweet and pleasant indeed, SECT. V. the devil; pure gold and viledross,are manifest, as (3)T (3.) Hirdly, The children of God and the children of in hatred of fin, so in their troubles and sorrows about fin.
All trouble for fin argues not sincerity; some have reason to be troubled even for their troubles for fin: So have they,
1. First, That are only troubled for the commission offome more gross sins, that startle the natural conscience, but not for inward fins, that defile the soul. Judas was troubled forbetrayinginnocentblood,but not for that base luftofcovetousness that was the root of it, or the want of sincere love to Jesus Christ; Matth. xxvii. 4, 5. Outward fins are fins major is infamia, of greater scandal ; but heart-fins are oftentimes major is reatus, fins of greater guilt. To be troubled for grosser fins, and have no trouble for ordinary fins daily incurred, is an ill fignofabad heart.
2. Secondly,A graceless heart maybe much troubled at the discovery of fin, when it is not troubled for the guilt of fin ; Jer. ii. 26. "As the thief is ashamed when he is found,so is "the house of Israel ashamed." Hence it is that they stick not to commit ten fins against God, to hide one fin from the eyes of men. It is a mercy that sin is the matter of men's shame, and that all are not arrived to that height of impudence to declare their fin as Sodom, and glory in their shame : But to be ashamedonlybecausemen fee it, and not with Ezra, to fay,"O my God, I am ashamed, and blush to look up unto " thee," Ezra ix. 6. ashamed that thou seest it, is buthypocrify.
3. Thirdly,A graceless heart maybe troubled for the rod that findraws after it,but not for fin itself, as it provokes God to inflict such rods .
But the troubles of upright ones for fin are of another kind and nature.
1. First, They are troubled that God is wronged, and his Spirit troubled by their fins : So the penitent prodigal, " I " have finned against heaven, and in thy fight," Luke xv. 21 . Against heaven, that is, against him whose throne is in heaven, a great, glorious, and infinite Majesty ! a poor worm of the earth hath lifted up his hand against the Godofheaven.
166 Troubles for Sin are Trials of Grace. 2. Secondly, They are troubled forthedealement of their ownfoulsby fin: Hence they are compared in Proverbs xxv. 26. to a troubled fountain. You know it is the property ofa living spring, when any filth falls into it,or that which lies in the bottom of its channel,is raised anddefiles its streams, never to leave working until it hath purged itself of it, and recovered its purity again.
Soitiswith a righteous man,he loves purity in the precept, Psalm cxix. 140. and he loves it no less in the principle and practice: he thinks it is hell enough to lie under the pollution of fin, if he should never comeunderdamnation for it.
3. Thirdly, They are troubled for the estrangements of God, and the hidings of his face from them because of their fin. It wouldgo close to an ingenuous spirit to see a dear and faithful friend whom he hath grieved, to look strange and thy upon him at the next meeting, as if he did not know him : much more doth itgo to the heart of a gracious man to fee the face of God turned from him, and not to be towards him as in times past. This went to David's heart after his fall, as you may fee, Psalm li. 11. " Cast me not away from thy presence, " and take not thy holy Spirit from me ;" q. d. Lord, if thou turn thy back upon me, and estrange thyself from me, I am a loftman ; that is the greatest mischiefthatcan befalme.
4. Fourthly, Their troubles for fin run deep, to what other mens do. They are strong to bear other troubles, but fink and faint under this : Psalm xxxviii. 4. Other sorrows may for the present be violent, and make more noise, but this sorrow soaks deeper into the soul.
5. Fifthly, Their troubles for fin are more private and silent troubles than others are," their fore runs in the night," as it is Psalm lxxvii. 2. Not but that they may, and do open their troubles to men (and it is a mercy when they meet with a judicious, tender and experienced Christian to unbosom themselves unto) but when all is done, it is God and thy soul alone thatmustwhisper out the matter. Ille vere do let, qui fine tefte do let: That is sincere for row for fin indeed,which is expressed secretly to God in the closet.
6. Sixthly, Their troubles are incurable by creature-comforts. Itisnotthe removing some outward pressures and inconveniencies, that can remove their burden ; nothing but pardon, peace, and witnessed reconciliation, can quiet the gracious heart.
7. Seventhly, Their troubles for fin are ordinate and kept in their own place; they dare not stamp the dignity of Christ's
Signs of Sin in Dominion. 167 bloodupontheir worthless tears and groans for fin : * Lava lachrymas, Do mine : Lord, wash my sinful tears in the blood of Christ, was once the desire of a true penitent. And thus our trouble for sin shews us what our hearts are.
SECT. VI.
Ourthly, The behaviour and carriage of the soul,with Fourthly, respect tosubjection to the commands of fin, shews whatourestateandcondition is. This will feparatedross from gold. All unregenerate men are the servants off in,they subject themselves to its commands. This the scripture sometimes calls a " conversation in the lusts of the flesh," Eph. ii. 3. Sometimes the " felling of themselves to fin," 1 Kings xxi. 20. Now, as † a judicious divine observes, thought he children of God complain with Paul, Rom. vii. 14, 15. that they are " fold under fin," yet there is a vast difference betwixt these two: The saints are fold to it by Adam, but others by their own continued consent. But to shew you the difference in this matter, I conceive it necessary to shew wherein the reigning power of findoth not consist, and then wherein it doth ; thatyoumayplainlydifcern who are in subjection to the reigning power oftheircorruptions, and who are not. Now there be divers things common both to the regenerate andunregenerate; and we cannot say the dominion of fin lies in any or in all of them, viz. abstractlyand simply considered.
1. First, Both one and other having originalcorruptiondwelling in them, may also find this fountain breaking forth into gross and scandalous fins: But we cannot say that because original corruption thus breaks forth into gross and scandalous sins in both, therefore it must needs reign in the one as well as in the other ; a righteous man may " fall before the wicked," as it is, Prov. xxv. 26. He may fall into the dirt of grosser iniquities, and furnish them with matter of reproach. So did David, Peter, Abraham, and many more of the Lord'supright-hearted ones, whose souls nevertheless sindidnot reign over by a voluntary subjection to its commands, nor must this embolden any to fin with more liberty.
2. Secondly, Though an upright foul fall once and again into fin, though he reiterate the fame act off in which he hath repented of before ; yet it cannot merely from thence be concluded, that therefore fin reigns over him as it doth over a wickedmanthat makes it his daily trade. I confess every re-
Reynolds,
168 Signs of Sin in Dominion. iterationof fin puts a further aggravation upon it: And it is fad we should repent and fin, and fin and repent ; but yet you read, Prov. xxiv. 16. "A just man falleth feventimes, and " riseth up again:" Job's friends were goodmen,yet he tells them, "These ten times haveye reproachedme," Job xix. 3. This indeed fhews a heart that greatly needs purging ; for it is with relapses into spiritual as it is withrelapses into natural diseases: A recidivation or return of the disease shews that the morbific matter was not dulypurged; but though it shew the foulness, it doth not always prove the falseness of the heart.
3. Thirdly, Thought he one maybe impatient of the reproof of his fin, as well as the other ; yetthatalone will not conclude fin to be in full dominion over the one, as it is over the other.
It is pity any good man should storm at a just rebuke off in ; that such a precious oil as is proper to heal,should be conceited to break his head: but yet flesh will be tender and touchy, even in good men. Afawas a good man,and yet he was wroth withtheprophetwho reproved him, as you find, 2 Chron. xvi.
10. yet I doubt not but their consciences smite them for it, when pride suffers not another to do it ; areprocfmaybe welltimedand ill managed by another, and so may provoke, but they will hear the voice of conscience in another manner.
4. Fourthly, Though in both some one particular finmay have more power than another, yet neither doth this alone conclude,that therefore that fin must reign in one, as it doth in another. Indeed the beloved lust of every wickedman is king over his foul ; but yet agodly man's constitution, calling, Gr. may incline him more to one fin than another ; and yet neither that,nor any other maybe said to be in dominion; for though Davidspeaks of his iniquity, i. e. his special fin, Psalm xviii.
23. which fomesuppose to bethe finof lying, from that intimation, Psalm exix. 19. yet you fee in one place he begs God to keep him from it, and in the other he tells us he kept himself from it, and both thew he was not the servant of it.
5. Fifthly, Though both may fin against knowledge, yet it will not follow from thence,that therefore fins againftknowledgemust needs be sins in dominion in the one, as they are in the other: there was too much light abused, and violence offered in David's deliberated fin, as he confesses, Psal. li. 6. and the fad story itself too plainly shews; and yet, in the main, David was an upright man still, though this confiderationofthe fact shrewdlywoundedhis integrity, and stands upon record for a caution to all others.
Signs of Sin in Dominion. 169 W
SECT . VII. Ehave seen what doth not infer the dominion of fin in the former particulars, being simply considered; I shall next shew you what doth, and how the sincere and false hearts are distinguished in this trial. And,
1. First, Affent and consent upon deliberation notes the soul to be under the dominion of fin; when the mind approves fin, and the will gives its plenary consent to it, this sets up fin in its throne, and puts the soul into fubjection to it; for the dominion of fin consists in its authority over us, and our voluntary subjection to it. This you find to be the character of a wicked graceless person, Psal. xxxvi. 4. " He deviseth " mischief upon his bed ; he fetteth himselfinaway that is " not good; he abhorreth not evil."
men may fall into finthrough mistake, or be precipitated into fin through the violence of temptation; but to devise mischief, and set himself in an evil way, this notes full affent of the mind; and then, not to abhor evil, notes full consent of the will; and these two being given to fin, not onlyantecedently to the acting of it, but also consequently to it, to like it afterward, as well as before ; this puts the soul fully under the power of fin": What can it give more ?
This (as * one faith) in direct opposition to the apostle, Rom. xii. 1. is to present their bodies a dead sacrifice, unholy, and abominable to God ; acceptable to the devil,which is their unreasonable service: all men by nature are given to fin,but these men give themselves to it.
2. Secondly, The customary practice of fin, subjects the soul to the dominion of fin ; and so " he that is born of God "dothnotcommit sin," I John iii. 9. Fall into fin, yea, the fame finhemay,and that often; but then its not without reluctance, repentance, and a protest entred by the soul in heaven against it; so that sin hath not a quiet possession of his soul; he is not the servant of fin, nor doth he willingly walk after its commandments ; but so do its own servants ; it is their daily practice, Jer. ix. 3. " They proceed from evil to evil." 3. Thirdly, Delight in sin proves the dominion off in. So the servants of fin are described, Ifa. Ixvi. 3. " They have cho- " sentheirown ways, and theirfouldelighteth in their abominations."
VOL. VII. *Mr. Caryl. Y1
170 Signs of Sin in Dominion. Look, as our delight in God is the measure of our holiness, fo our delight in sin is the measureofourfinfulness. Delight in sin is the uppermost round of the ladder, and much higher the soul of a finnercannot go, till it be turned off into hell; " It is a sport to a fool to do mischief," Prov. x. 23. Never merrier thanwhenhehath the devil for his play-fellow, faith * one upon that place.
4. Fourthly, Impatience of Christ's yoke and government, argues the soul to be the subject off in. This is clear from the apostle's reasoning in Rom. vi. 17, 18. " But God be " thanked that ye were the servants off in, butye have obey- " ed from the heart the form of doctrine which was delivered " you. Being then made free from fin,ye became the fer- " vants of righteousness." Where you fee plainly, that no man can have his manumission or freedom from fin, that comes not into Christ's service, and yields himself up to his obedience.
So then, to fret at Christ's laws, that tie us up from our lusts, to be weary of all spiritual employments as a burden intolerable, never to be in our element and centre till we are off from God, and plunging in the world and our lusts ; this is a fad note of a foul in subjection to fin.
Object. But may not an upright foulfindsome weariness in Spiritual things ?
Sol. Doubtless he may,for he hath flesh as well as spirit; and though the spirit be willing, the flesh is weak : he is sanctified but in part, and his delight in the law of God is but according to, or after the inner-man, Rom vii. 22. But he sees another law in his members, i. e. contrary inclinations. However, if he be weary sometimes in the duties of godliness, to be sure he is more weary out of them, and is not cent red and at rest till he be with his God again : but the carnal heart is where it would be, when it is in the service of fin ; and as a fish upon dry land, when engaged in spiritual duties ; especially such as are secret, and have no externalallurements of reputation to engage him to them . But what surprisals or captivities to sin soever may befal an upright foul, yet it appears by these eight following particulars, that he is not the servant of fim, nor in full subjectionto it. For, 1. First, Though he maybe drawn to fin,yet he cannot reflect upon his finwithout shame and sorrow; which plainly
*Mr. Trap.
Evidences of the Non-dominion of Sin. 171 thews it to be an involuntary fur prize. So Peter wept bitterly, Matth. xxvi. 75. And David mourned for his fin heartily. Others can fetch new pleasures out of their old fins, by reflecting on them; and some can glory in their shame, Phil. iii. 19. some are stupid and senseless after fin; and the sorrow of a carnal heart for it, is but a morning dew: but it is far otherwise with God's people .
2. Secondly, Though a faint maybe drawn to fin, yet it is not with a deliberate and full consent of his will ; their delight is in the law of God, Rom. vii. 22. " They do that which they " would not," ver. 16. i. e. there are inward dislikes from the new nature : and as for that case of David, which seems to have fo much of counsel and deliberation in it, yet it was but in a single act ; it was not in the general course of his life ; he was upright in all things, i. e. in the general course and ten our of his life, 1 Kings xv. 5.
3 Thirdly, Though an upright foulmayfall into fin, yet he is restless and unquietin that condition, like a bone out of joint; and that speaks him to be none of fin's servants ; as, on the contrary, if am an be engaged in the external duties of religion, and be restless, and unquiet there, his heart is not in it,he is not at rest till he be again in his earthly business ; thisman cannot be reckoned Christ's servant : a gracious heart is much after that rate employed in the work of fin, that acarnalheart is employed in the work of religion. That is a good rule, Ea tantum dicuntur ineffe, quae infunt per modum quiet is : That is a man's true temper, wherein he is at reft. PoorDavid fell into fin,but he had noreft in his bones because of it, Psalm li. 10, 11, 12. If his heart be off from God and duty for a little while, yet he recollects himself, and faith, as Psal. cxvi. 7. "Return to thy reft, my soul." 4. Fourthly, Though a sincere Christian fall into fin, and commit evil; yet he proceeds not from evil to evil, as the ungodly do, Jer. ix. 3. but makes his fall into one fin a caution to prevent another fin. Peterby his fall got establishment for the time to come. If God will speak peace to them, they are careful to return no more to folly; Psalm lxxxv. 8. " In that " yeforrowed after a godlyfort, whatcarefulness it wrought ? " Yea, what fear?" 2 Cor.vii. 11. It is not fo with the servants off in, one fin leaves them much more disposed to another fin.
5. Fifthly, Afincere Christian maybe drawn to fin, but yet be wouldbeglad with all his heart to be rid of fin: it would Y 2
172 Evidences of the Non-dominion of Sin. be more tohimthan thousands of gold and silver, that he might grieve and offend God no more ; and that shews fin is not in dominion over him : he that is under the dominion off in, is loath to leave his lusts. Sin's servants are not willing to part with it, they hold it fast, and refuse to let it go, as that text expresseth it, Jer. viii. 5. Butthegreatcomplaintoftheupright is expressed by the apostle according to the true sense of their hearts, in Rom. vii. 24. "Who shalldelivermefrom the body " of this death ?"
6. Sixthly, It appears they yield not themselves willingly to obey fin, in as much as it is the matter of their joy when God orders any providence to prevent fin in them : " Blessed " bethe Lord,(said DavidtoAbigail)and blessedbethyadvice, " and blessed be thou, that haftkeptme this day from shed- " ding blood," 1 Sam. xv. 32, 33 .
Here isbleffing upon blessing for a fin-preventing providence. The author is blessed, the inftrumentblessed, the means blessed. O it is a blessedthing in the eyes of a sincere înan to be kept from fin ! he reckons it a great deliverance, a very happy escape, if he be kept from fin.
7. Seventhly, This shews that some who maybe drawn to commit fin, yet are none of the servants of fin, that they do heartily beg the assistance of grace to keep them from fin: " Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins," (faith the Pfalmist, Psalm xix. 13.) " let them not have dominion over " me;" q. d. Lord, I find pro pensions to fin in my nature, yea, and strong ones too ; if thou leave me to myself, I am carried into fin as easily as a feather down the torrent. " Lord, keep back thy servant." And there is no petition that upright ones pour out their hearts to God in, either more frequently or more ardentlythan in this, to be kept back from fin .
8. Eighthly, and Lastly, This shews the foul not to be under the dominion of fin,that it doth not only cry to God to be kept back from fin,but uses the means ofprévent i on himself; he resists it, as well as prays against it ; Psalm xviii. 23. " I " was also upright before him, and kept myselffrommine ini- " quity :" So Job xxxi. 1. " I have made a covenant with "mine eyes;" and yet more fully in Ifa. xxxiii. 15. "He " shaketh his hands from holding bribes, and stoppeth his ears " from hearing blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil." See with what care the portals are shut at which fin useth to enter. All these things are very relieving considerations to
Opposition to Sin, a Trial to Sincerity. 173 poorfouls questioning their integrity under the frequent furprisals of fin. And the next trial no less.
SECT. VIII.
(5.) Fifthly, our opposition to,and conflicts with find if cover what gold, or There are conflicts with fin both in the regenerate, and in theunregenerate; but there is a vast difference betwixt them, as will appear in the following account.
1. First, There is an universal, and there is a particular oppofitionto fin: the former is found in regenerate, the latter inunregenerate fouls : a gracious heart hates every false way, Psal. cxix. 104. and must needs do so, because he hates and opposes sin as fin; so that he can have no peccatum in deliciis, no excepted or reserved lust,but fights against the wholebody, and every limb and member of the body off in.
But it is not so with the hypocrite or carnal professor ; he hath overcome some reserved fin,that he cannot part with.
2. Secondly, There is an opposition betwixt the new nature and fin, and there is an opposition betwixt anaturalconfcience and fin ; the former is thecafeofan upright soul, the latter may be a self-deceiver. Aregenerateperson opposeth sin because there is an irreconcileable antipathy betwixt it and the new nature in him, as is clear from Gal. v. 17. " The flesh lufsteth against the spi- " rit, and the spirit against the flesh ; and these are contrary " the one to the other." By flesh, understand corrupt nature; by spirit, not only the spirit of man,but the Spirit of God, or principal of regeneration in man. By the lusting of these two against each other, understand the desire and endeavours of each others destruction and ruin; and the ground of all this is the contrariety of these two natures.
are contrary one to the other ; there is a twofold opposition betwixt them, one formal, their very natures are opposite ; the other effective, their workings and designs are opposite,as it is betwixt fire and water.
But theoppofitionfound in unrenewed fouls against sin, is not from their natures, for fin is suitable enough to that ; but from the light that is in their minds and consciences, which scares and terrifies them. Such was that in Darius, Dan. vi. 14. "He was fore displeased with himself, andfethis heart on " Daniel to deliver him ; and laboured till the going down of " the fun to deliver him." Here the contest was betwixt sense
174 Opposition to Sin, a Trial to Sincerity. of honour upon one side, and conviction of confcienceupon the other side.
Sometimes a generous and nobledifpofition opposes sordid. and base actions : Major sum, et ad major a natus ; quam ut corporis meifim mancipium. I am greater, and born to greater things, than that I should be a slave to my body, said a brave heathen .
3. Thirdly, There is a permanent, and there is a transient opposition to fin ; the former is the case of God's people, the latteroftemporary and unsound professors.
The faint when he draws the sword in this warfare against fin, throws away the scabbard ; no end of this combat with fin till life end ; their life and their troubles are finished together ; 2Tim. iv. 7. " I have fought the good fight, and have " finished my course."
But in other men it is but a transient quarrel ; out with fin one day, and in another ; and the reason is plain by what was noted before; it is not the opposition of two natures ; it is like the opposition of the wind and tide, these may be contrary and make a stormy sea to-day, but the wind may come about, andgo as the tide goes to-morrow ; but in aChriftian it is the opposition of the river and the dam, one must give way to the other, there is no reconciling them: but the other, " like the dog, returns to his vomit," 2 Pet. ii . ult.
4. Fourthly, There is an opposition to the root of fin, and an opposition to the fruits of fin. A gracious foulopposeth root and fruit, but others the latter only. The great design of an upright foul is not only to lopoff, this or that branch, but to kill the root of fin, which is in his nature ; Rom. vii. 24.
" Who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?" But the great care and endeavours of others is to suppress outward acts off in, and escape the mischievous consequences of it: Yea, their study is, as Lactantius phraseth it, Pot i us abfcondere, quam abfcindere vitia : To hide, rather than to kill their lusts.
5. Fifthly, There is an opposition to fin, in the strength of God, and an opposition to fin, in our own strength ; the former is proper to real Christians, the latter is found frequently with unsanctified persons ; when a Christian goes forth against any fin, it is in the strength of God; foyou read their rule directs them, Eph. vi. 10. " Be strong in the Lord, and " in the power of his might : take unto you the whole armour " of God:" And suitably,you shall find them frequently upon theirkneesbegging strength from heaven against their lusts;
Religious Duties are Heart-discoveries. 175 2 Cor. xii . 8. " For this cause I be fought the Lord thrice," faith Paul, i. e. often and earnestly, that the temptation might depart from him .
But others go forth against fin only in the strength of their own resolutions ; so did Pendleton in our story; these resolutions, or vows, which they have put themselves under, are as frequently frustrated as made.
6. Sixthly, There is a successful opposition to fin, and an oppofitionthat comes to nothing: The former is that of true Christians, the latter is found among unregenerate men.
The work ofmortification in the saints is progressive, and increasing: Hence Rom. vi. 6. " Our old man is crucified " with him, that the body off in might be destroyed." Sin dies in believers much as crucified persons use to die, viz. a flow, lingering, gradual, but sure death'; its vigour and life expires by degrees, or as a confumptive person dies ; for to that also he alludes here : There is a disease, which is called confumptio totius, a consumption of the whole ; and those that dieofthatdisease, languish more and more, till at last, they dropfenfumfinefenfu, by imperceptible degrees and steps into the grave.