Part 20
PROSPXBITY A GREAT TBIAL.
How humble was Israel in the wilderness, tame and tractabii
& lean pasture ; but bring them once unto Canaan, and the worl strangely altered; then "we are lords, (say they) we will come
more unto thee," Jer. ii. 2, 7, 31. Prosperity is a crisis both grace and corruption. Thence is that caution to Israel, Deut. x.
12. "When thou hast eaten, and art full, then beware lest tl
forget the Lord thy God." Then beware, that is the crit time ; surely that man must be acknowledged rich, very ricl grace, whose grace suffers no diminution or eclipse by his ricl and that man deserves double honour, whose pride the honour this world cannot provoke and inflame.
It was a sad truth from the lips of a pious divine in Germany u his death-bed ; being somewhat disconsolate by reflecting upon barrenness of his life, some friends took thence an occasion to C( mend him, and mind him of his painful ministry and fruitful among them ; but he cried out, Aiifcrtc Ignem, adhuc enim pai habeo ; Withdraw the Are, for I have chaff in me ; meaning, t he felt his ambition like chaff catching fire from the sparks of tl praises. Like unto which was the saying of another, He that pra, VIC, wounds me.
But to descend into the particular discoveries that prosperity j honour made of the want of grace in some, and of the weaknes; grace in others ; I will shew you what symptoms of hypocrisy app upon some men under the trial of prosperity, and what signs of gr ap|)ear in others under the same trial.
SECT. IV.
JlROSPERITY discovers many sad symptoms of a naughtyhej and, among others, these are ordinarily most conspicuous.
1. First, It casts the hearts of some men into a deep oblivion
God, and makes them lay aside all care of dutv ; RaroJ'umantJ'c cibiis aroc ; the altars of rich men seldom smoke, Deut. xxxii. 14, 15. Jeshurun sucked honey out of the rock, eat the fat of lam and kidneys of wheat : But what was the effect of this ; he kid and forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the rock his salvation. Instead of lifting up their hearts in an humble thai ful acknowledgment of God's bounty, they lifted up the heel it wanton abuse of his mercy : In the fattest earth we find the m: slippery footing. ii PIc that is truly cracious may. in Drosi:)erity. remit some deorrpi
540 PROSPERITY A GREAT TRIAL.
him ; but alas ! it will not suffer him to pray, to medi time and thoughts about his eternal concernments; he in the lap of prosperity, and forgets that there is a God or a soul to be saved. O this is a dangerous symptc graceless heart !
2. Secondly^ Prosperity meeting with a graceless he
sensual, and entirely swallows up its thoughts ai Earthly things transform and mould their hearts ini similitude and nature ; the whole strength of their sou those enjoyments. So those graceless, yet prosperous pe scribed, Job xxi. 11, 12, 13. " They take the timbrel a
rejoice at the sound of the organ : they spend their da^ They take the t'imb?-el, not the Bible. " They rejoice at " the organ ;" not a word of their rejoicing in God. " forth their little ones in the dance :*" That is all the ca are taught : " They spend their days in wealth :"" their that precious stock and talent is wholly laid out upon tl things: Either the pleasure of it powerfully charms them of it wholly engross their minds, that there is no time
God. They live in pleasure t/pon earthy as it is, Jam. the fish lives in the water, its proper element : Take these things, and put him upon spiritual, serious, heav< ments, and he is Piscis in ariclo ; like a fish upon the
Now, though prosperity may too much influence anc minds of good men, and estrange them toomuchfrom heai yet thus to engross their hearts, and convert them int simihtude and nature, so that these things should be 1 their hearts, the very proper elenient in which they liv impossible.
An hypocrite indeed may be brought to this, beca Janus like, he have two faces, yet he really hath but o ^ and that is wholly carnal and earthly : So that it is easj the water to run into one channel, to gather all into one e in which his heart shall pour out all its strength to the
But a Christian indeed hath a double principle th; though he have a law of sin that moves him one wa}', yt him also the law of grace, which thwarts and crosses tha corruption : So that as grace cannot do what it would, be so neither can sin do what it would, because of grace, i
The heart of a Christian, in the midst of ensnaring, ser ments, finds indeed a corrupt principle in it, which woui
PROSPERITY A GUEAT TRIAL. O td about th.it interest of religion, and senseless of the calamities
God's people. Thus the prophet convinces the Jews of their hvf crisy, Amos vi. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. " They were at ease in Zion, a " trusted in the mountain of Samaria :^ And so, having a shad( of religion, and a fulness of all earthly things, they fell to feasti and sporting : " They drank wine in bowls, and anointed themsch *' with the chief ointments, but were not grieved for the afflicti
of Joseph." They condoled not, Gnal skeber, over the breakin or tearing to pieces of Joseph : If they were out of danger once, the church shift for itself, they are secure in a warm nest : Let t birds of prey catch and devour that flock with which thev sometin associated, they are not touched with it. Moses could not do though in the greatest security and confluence of the honours a pleasures of Egypt, Acts vii. 23. Nehemiah could not do so, thou the servant and favourite of a mighty monarch, and wanted nothi to make him outwardly happy ; yet the pleasures of a king's cot could not cheer his heart, or scatter the clouds of sorrow from 1 countenance, whilst his brethren were in affliction, and the city his God lay waste, Nehemiah ii. 1, 2, 3. Nor indeed can a gracious heart be unconcerned and senseless ; for that union tl all the saints have with Christ their head, and with one another, fellow-members in Christ, will beget sympathy among them in th sufierings, 1 Cor, xii. 26.
SECT. T.
JCjUT as the fire of prosperity discovers this and much more dr HBin a graceless heart, so it di.<covers the sincerity and grace of Go Hppeople : I say not that it discovers nothing but grace in them ; " that it did not ! alas ! many of them have had a great deal of dr and corruption discovered by it, as was noted before : But yet in t trial, the graciousness and uprightness of their hearts will'appear ^, these, and such like workings of it. Hp 1. First., Under prosperity, success, and honour, the upright he ~ -will labour to suppress pride, and keep itself lowly and humbl and still the more grace there is, the more humility there will be. God lift him up, he will lay himself low, and exalt his God high, did Jacob when God had raised and enlarged him ; Gen. xxxii. " " I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the tri ■V*' which thou hast shewed unto thy servant, for with my staiF I p
542 pnoSPERITY A GREAT TRIAL.
tude of mercies about him, and among them all, not greater than himself.
I dare not say every Christian under prosperity can manifest hke humility ; but I am sure what pride and ^ may rise in a gracious heart tried by prosperity, there i him which will givecheckto it: Hedare not suffersuchpr( to lodge quietly in his heart : for, alas ! he sees that in that in his God, that will abase him : Grace will ma back to his original condition, and say, with David, "
" 0 Lord God ? and what is my father's house, thj « brought me hitherto?" 2 Sam. vii. 18.
It will make him look in, and see the baseness of hi and the corruptions that are there, and admire at the God with so vile a creature. O, thinks he, if others d what I know of myself, they would abhor me more th esteem and value me.
2. Secondly^ Prosperity usually draws forth the sain God of their mercies : that which heats a wicked man's a gracious man's heart with love and delight in God.
These were the words of that lovely song which Davii day that the Lord delivered him out of the hands of all and from the hand of Saul ; and he said, " I will love t
my strength,"" Psal. xviii. title and ver. 1. compared.- ward things are not the main grounds and motives of God ; no ; they love him when he takes away, as well gives: but they are sanctified instruments to inflame
God : they boil up a wicked man's lusts, but they mel man's soul. O in what a pang of love did David go i sence of God under the sense of his mercies ! his melti J' when he thus poured out his whole soul in a stream of
God, 2 Sam. vii. 19, 20. " Is this the manner of m
God .? And what can David say more unto thee .?" A that turns up the very bottom of his heart.
3. Thirdly^ Prosperity and comfortable Providences d come cautions against sin, when they meet with a sai
This is the natural inference of a gracious soul from ther pleased me, then hath he obliged me to take more care t(
O let me not grieve him, that hath comforted me ! So
After such a deliverance as this, should we again bre *' raandraents ! What ! break his commandments who
ADVERSITY A FUKNACE TO TRT OUR GRACES. Owot how to sin, because grace hath abounded, any more than it da sin, that grace may abound.
4, Fourthly^ A truly gracious soul will not be satisfied with all t prosperity and comforts in the world ibr his portion : Not thine, Lo
is the voice of grace. When providence had been nic than ordinarily bountiful in outward tilings to Luther, he began be afraid of its meaning, and earnestly protested, God should not f him off so. " The Lord is my portion, saith my soul,"' Lara. iii. 1 and the soul can best tell what it hath made its choice, and where it hath bestowed its chief delights and expectations.
An unsound heart will accept these for its portion : if the world sure to him, and his designs fail not there, he can be content to lea God, and soul, and heaven, and hell at hazard ; but so cannot t upright. These things in subordination ; but neither these, nor a thing undef the sun, in comparison with, or opposition to God.
Shewing what probation adversity maJces of the sincerity or t soundness of our hearts.
SECT. I. T i
HAT adversity is a furnace to try of what metal our hearts a none can doubt, that hath either studied the scriptures, or observ his own heart under afflictions.
When the dross and rust of hypocrisy and corruption had aim aten out" the heart of religion among the Jews, then saith God, * '' will melt them, and try them ; for what shall I do for the daugh
" of my people f''' Jer. ix. 7. Here affliction is the furnace, and t people are the metal cast into it, and the end of it is trial. / r. melt them^ and try them; what other course shall I take with thei
If I let them alone, their lusts, hke the rust and canker in meti will eat them out. Prosperity multiplies professors, and advers brings them to the test ; then hirelings quickly become changlin The gilded jx)tsherd glisters till it come to scouring. The de thought Job had been such a one, and moves that he may be tri this way ; being confident he would be found but dross in the tri Job i. 11. But though the furnace of affliction discovered so dross in him (as it will in the best of men) yet he came forth
1 I «
Si i ADVERSITY A FUHXACT: to try OUa GEACI batio innocentice nostrce, est iniquitas vestra ; Your wic trial of our innocency. Constantius, the father of Cons an exploratory decree, that all who would not renounce faith, should lose their places of honour and profit. 1 separated the dross from the gold, which was his desig renounced Christianity, and thereupon were renounced those that held their integrity, were received into favc
In time of prosperity, hypocris}- lies covered in the Ik in the green bushes ; but when the winter of adversil them bare, every body may see ihem without scarchir
But to fall into close particulars; it will be necessa what effects of adversit}^ are common to both the so unsound ; and then what are proper to either in this ( adversity.
SECT. II.
JLT will be expedient to the design I manage in this shew in the Urst place what are the conmion effects of both the godly and ungodly ; for In some things they c as it is with the one, so also with the other : As,
1. First, Both the godly and ungodly may fear advei comes : to be sure a wicked man cannot, and it is eviden men do not come up to the height of that rule, James
count it all joy when they fall into diverse temptatic by adversity.
It is said, Isa. xxxiil, 14. ^" The sinners in Zior
trembling surprizeth the hypocrite;'" namely under t sion of approaching calamities : andit is true also, the i may be afraid : " My flesh trembleth for fear of thee ; ai of thy judgments," said holy David, Psal. cxix. 120. ar
The thing which I greatly feared (saith that upright " upon me.'" There is a»vast difference betwixt a saint's with afflictions, and his parting with them ; he entertain times with trembling; he parts with them rejoicing, smi and blessing them in the name of the Lord. So that bj right, and the false heart, are not discriminated ; even ; ture declines suffering and troubles.
2. Secondly, Both the godly and ungodly may entert with regret and unwillingness when they come. A troubles are wormwood and gall. Lam. iii. 19. And rbiwn nlpnsnntlu vvitli flt^^lA nnrl Kln^irl TTf>1-> vii 11 *'
ADVERSITY A FDRNACE TO TRY OUR GRACES. 5
GotVs vindictive wrath is not in it,) yet even they shrink from it, t loth they are to taste it.
S. Thirdly, Both the one and the other may be impatient and fi ful in adversity ; it is the very nature of flesh and blood to be
" The wicked are like the troubled sea, which cannot rest, wh
" waters cast forth mire and dirt,"" Isa. Ini. 20. It is an allusior the unstable and stormv ocean: you know there is naturally an es ation and working in the sea, whether it be incensed by the wind no ; but if a violent wind blow upon the unquiet ocean, O wlia ragina: and foamins is there ! what abundance of trash and filth di it at such times cast out !
Now, though grace make a great difference betwixt one and anotli yet, I dare not say, but even a gracious heart may be very unqi and tumultuous in the day of affliction Sanctified souls have tl: passions and lusts which are too little mortified ; even as sweet-br and holy-thistles have their prickles, as well as the worthless braml Jonah was a good man, yet his soul was sadly distempered by adve providences ; Jonah iv. 9- " Yea, (saith he, and that to his God
do well to be angrv, even unto death." 4. Fourilihj, But the one and the other may be weary of the r and think the day of adversity a tedious day, wishing it were once an end. Babylon shall be weary of the evil that God will bring iij it, Jer. li. iilt. And O that none of Zion's children were wearv advei-sity too! How sad a moan doth Job make of his iong-contlnv affliction. Job xvi. 6, 7. " Though I speak, my grief is not assuagi
and though I forbear, what am I eased.? But nov.- he hath mj " me weary."
And if you look into Psalm vi. 3, 6. you may see another strc
Christian even tired in the way of affliction : " IVIy soul (saith Da " in that place) is sore vexed, but thou, O Lord, how long ? I
" weary with my groaning."
5. Fifthly, Both the one and the other may be driven to their kn by adversity. " Lord, in trouble have they visited thee ; they hi
" poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon tliem," 1 I. xxvi. 16. Not that a godly person will pray no longer than the i llis at his back; O no; he cannot live long without prayer, how [e\y c soever he hath to that duty by the rod : but when the rod is llis back, he will be more frequently and more fervently upon knees ; indeed many gracious hearts are like children's tops, wh will go no longer than they are whipt; they cannot find their kn nnri tKoiv t/-knrpiio^ till flr^A -fin/J ' ■ * ' ■■ t I I
ADVERSITY A lUEXACE TO TRY OUR GRACES, some things the holy upriglit soul acts too like the unsar in other things how much the hypocrite may act like a sa be externally humbled, so was Ahab ; he may pray un Mai. ii. 13. yea, and request others to pray for him, so Acts viii. 24.
SECT. III.
XlUT though the sound and unsound heart differ i external carriages under the rod, yet there are effects (
are proper to either, and will discriminate them, end let us first see what effects adversity is usually follow unsound and carnal hearts: and we shall find among c five symptoms of a naughty heart appearing under en flictions.
1. First, A graceless heart is not quickly and easily bt the hand of God in those troubles that befal it, and to be ( with it; Isa. xxvi. 11. "Lord, when thy hand is lifted i
" not see :*" when it has smitten, or is lifted up to smit their eyes ; it is the malice of this man, or the negligenc the unfaithfulness of another, that hath brought all this i me. Thus the creature is the horizon that terminates and beyond that they usually see nothing. Sometimes hand of God is so immediately manifested, and convincin; ed in afflictions, that they cannot avoid the sight of it ; a may, in their way, pour out a prayer before him; but or impute all to second causes, and overlook the first ca troubles.
2. Secondly, Nor is it usual with these men under tl tire into their closets, and search their hearts there, to particular cause and provocation of their afHiction : "Noi
him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done ?'' What cursed thing is there with me, that hath thus anger of God against me ! God visits their iniquities wii but they visit not their own hearts by self-examinations, them, but they judge not themselves: He shews their 1 clear glass, but none saith, What have I done ? This \ have I done? is the voice of one that recollects himseli action ; or the voice of a man astonished at the discovc make of his sins ; but no such voice as this is ordinarily ] carnal men.
ADVERSITY A FURNACE TO TRY ODE GRACES. t
I do not say that an upright man cannot commit a moral evil, escape a penal evil. O that daily obserwition did not too plentifu furnish us with sad instances of that kind ! But upright ones do n dare not, upon a serious deliberate discussion and debate, choose rather than affliction ; what they may do upon surprisals and in i violence of temptation, is of another nature.
But a false and utisound heart discovers itself In the choice it mal upon deliberation, and that frequently when sin and trouble co in competition. Put the case, saith Augustine, a ruffian should w one hand set the cup of drunkenness to thy mouth, and with the ot! a dagger to thy breast, and say, drink or die ; thou shouldest rati choose to die sober, than to live a drunkard: And many Christi; have resisted unto blood, striving against sio,and, with renowned IS ses, chosen affliction, the worstof afflictions, yea, death itself in them formidable appearance, rather than sin ; and it is the habitual tern] and resolution of every gracious heart so to do, though those h resolutions are sometimes over-borne by violence of temptation.
But the hvpocrite dreads less the defilement of his soul, than loss of his estate, liberty, or life. If you ask upon what ground t\ doth the apostle suppose, 1 Cor. xiii. 3. a man may give his Ixxly be burnt, and not have charity ; that the salamander of hypocr may live in the flame of martyrdom .? The answer is at hand ; TI that choose death in the sense of this text, do not choose it to escj sin, but to feed and indulge it. Those strange adventures (if £ such be) are rather to maintain their own honour, and enrol th names among worthy and famous persons to posterity ; or out o blind zeal to their espoused errors and mistakes, than in a due regj to the glory of God, and the preservation of integrity. ' I fear * speak it, but it must be spoken, (saith * Hieroni), That even m * tyrdom itself, when suffered for admiration and applause, pro
nothing, but that blood is shed in vain.' 4. Fourthly^ It is the pi'operty of an unregenerate soul, un< adversity, to turn from creature to creature for support and comfc and not from every creature to God alone. So long as their feet ( touch ground, I mean, feel any creature-rehef or comfort under the they can subsist and live in afflictions; but when they lose groui when all creature-refuge fails, then their hearts fail too.
Thus Zedekiah. and the self-deceiving Jews, when they saw th own strength failed them, and there was little hope left that tl should deUver themselves from the Chaldeans, what do they in tl strait .'' Do they, with upright Jehoshaphat say, " Our eyes are ui
548 ADVERSITY A FtraNACfi TO TRV OUR ^RACES gone, Jer. xxxvii. 9. See the like in Ahaz, in a sore distress, he courts the king of Assyria for help, 2 Chrc 23. That project failing, why then he will try what Damascus can do for him ; any way rather than th Fleeter e si nequeavi superos^ Acheronta niovebo.
So it is with many others : if one child die, what do to God, and comfort themselves in this, the Lord livetl child die. If an estate be lost, and a family sinking, David comfoi't themselves in the everlasting covenant, sure ? No ; but if one relation die, there is another alive be lost, yet not all ; something is left still, and the case
As long as ever such men have any visible encoura] will hang upon it ; and not make up all in Christ, an themselves in the Lord. To tell them of rejoicing i when the fig-tree blossoms not, is what they cannot un
5. Fifthlt/, To conclude ; an unsound heart never con furnace of affliction purged, mortified, and more spirit than when he was cast into it; his scum and dross is nc rated from him ; nay, the more they are afflicted, thi are. ** Why should ye be smitten any more ? ye wil
and more," Isa. i. 5. And, to keep to our metaphor vi. 29. God had put that incorrigible people into tl affliction, and kept them long in that fire ; and what v Why, saith the prophet, " The bellows are burnt, th f sunied of the fire, the founder melteth in vain, &c. re[
" shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected
Ifthe fire of affliction be continually blown till the vc burnt, that is, the tongue, or rather the lungs of the pi have some resemblance ; though these be even spent and threatening, and denouncing woe upon woe, and ju judgment; and God fulfils his word upon them ; yet as before ; the dross remains : though Jerusalem be and the inhabitants the flesh boiling in it, as is noted ( my discourse) in Ezek. xxiv. 6, 13. the ncum remains a cannot be separated by the fire; and the reason is plai affliction in itself purges sin, but as it is sanctified, anc virtue of God's blessing, and in pursuance of the pron O think on this you that have had thousands of affl kind and another, and none of them all have done voi have not mortified, humbled, or benefited you at all : u see what the effefcts of adversity are, when it meets wi
ADVERSITY A^FURNACE TO TRY OlTll GRACES.
think it needful to acquaint thee, that the fruits of afflictions mostly after-fruits, and not so discernible by the Christian him under the rod, as after he hath been exercised by it, Heb. xii. and calmly reflects upon what is past ; nor doth every Chris attain the same measure and degree ; some rejoice, others commc submit ; but I think these seven effects are ordinarily found ir upright hearts that pass under the rod.
1. First, The sincere and upright soul betakes itself to God ir fliction ; Job i. 20. When God was smiting, Job was praying ; w God afflicted, Job worshipped : So David, Psalm cxvi. 3, 4.
found sorrow and trouble, then called I upon the name of " Lord." And when the messenger of Satan buffeted Paul. "
" this cause (saith he) I besought the Lord thrice,"" 2 Cor xi Alas ! whither should a child go in distress, but to its father ?
2. Secondly, He sees and owns the hand of God in his afflicti how much or little soever of the instruments of trouble appear. Lord hath taken azvay, saith Job, Job i. 21. God had bidden ) saith David, 2 Sam. xvi. 10. If the blow come from the hand wicked man, yet he sees that wicked hand in God's righteous hi Psalm xvii. 14. And this apprehension is fundamental to all communion men have with God in their afflictions, and to all peaceableness and gracious submission of their spirits under the r He that sees nothing of God in his troubles, hath nothing of ( in his soul.
3. Thirdly, He can justify God in all the afflictions and trou that come upon him, be they never so severe. " Thou art just ii
that is brought upon us,"" saith Nehemiah, Neh. ix. 33. " T " hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve,"" saith Ezra, I ix. 13. " It is of the Lord"'s mercies we are not consumed," s the church, Lam. iii. 22. Are we in Babylon ? It is a mercy we not in hell. If God condemn him, yet he will justify God ; If ( cast him into a sea of trouble, yet he will acknowledge, in all 1
of trouble, there is not one drop of injustice. If I have not served such usage from the hands of men, yet I have deserved W( than this at the hands of God,
4. Fourthly, Afflictions use to melt and humble gracious heai there is an habitual tenderness planted in their spirits, and a just casion quickly draws it forth : And so usual a thing it is for graci hearts to be humbled under the afflictings of God, that afflictio upon that score called humiliation : The effect put for the cause shew where one is, the other will be, 2 Cor. xii. 21. My God \
S50 AfiVEESITY A FURNACE TO TR.% OVK GRACE!
Job xxxiv. 32. " That which I see not, teach thou m
" done iniquity, I will do no more." So Lam. iii. 89, '■ " search and try our ways, and turn again to the y afflicting, God searches them, and under affliction they
selves : Willing they are to hear the voice of the rod any discovery it makes in their hearts.
6. SixtJdy^ The upright heart chooseth to lie under ther than to be delivered from it by sin. I say, this is t resolution of every upright heart, however it may be so> borne by the violence of temptation, Heb. xi. 35. iV deliverance, viz. upon sinful terms and conditions.
They are sensible how the flesh smarts under the rather it should smart, than conscience should smart
Affliction, saith an upright soul, grieves me, but sin will affliction wounds my flesh, but sin will wound my so ance I long for, but I will not pay so dear for it, how I desire it: Nolo tanti emere pcenitentiam : Outward but inward peace is sweeter.
7. iSeventhli/, He prizeth the spiritual good gotten above deliverance from it, and can bless God from his h mercies, how dear soever his flesh hath paid for them, 67, and 71. " It is good for me that I have been affl is the value the people of God have for spiritual grac cannot think them dear, whatever their flesh hath pi The m.ortification of one lust, one discovery of sinceril festation of God to their souls, doth much more than for all that they have endured under the rod.
Is patience improved, self-acquaintance increased, the creature more effectually taught, longings after heaven blessed afflictions, that are attended with such blessed fi the saying of a holy man, under a sore trouble for the de son, when in that dark day God had graciously manif to his soul ; ' O, (saith he) I would be contented, if it ^ * to lay an only son in the grave every day I have t( ' world, for one such discovery of the love of God as
CHAP. VI.
Shewing' indwelling' sin to be to grace, what /ire is i how the soundness and unsoundness of our hearts a
ABSTINEKCE FBOM SIN A DISCOVERY OF THE HEART.
than our behaviour towards that corruption which dwells in us thorn is next neighbour to the rose: Sin and grace dwell not in the same soul, but in the same faculties. The collier and dwell in one room ; what one cleanses the other blacks. Of a evils God permits in this world, none is more grievous to his p than this : They sometimes wonder why the Lord will suffer be so; why, surely, among other wise and holy ends of this pc sion, these are some.
They are left to try you, and to humble you : There is no ii sic goodness in sin ; but, however, in this it occasions good i that by our carriage towards it, we discern our sincerity, touch-stone is a worthless stone in itself, but it serves to try the, 1 John iii. 9, 10. " Whosoever is born of God, doth not co " sin ; for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, becau
" is born of God : In this the children of God are manifest, ar
children of^ the devil i"" q. d. In respect of their carriage to\ sin, the one and the other is plainly manifested : This is that ^ separates the dross from the gold, and shews you what the true of men's persons, and tempers of their hearts are. By not sin we are not to understand a total freedom from it in this world it implied any such perfection of the people of God in this w that is the Popish and Pelagian sense : Nor yet must we take the Arminian sense, who, to avoid the argument of the orth will understand it of the sin against the Holv Ghost. W strange thing would it be, to make that a charactcnstical note c tinction betwixt the godly and luigodly, which so very few, ev the most ungodly, are ever guilty of.'' But the manner of our behaviour towards sin, and our cai towards it before, or under, or after the commission of it, in th children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil.
Now, there are five things relating to sin, that discriminat mark the state of the persons : The difference is discernabie.
1. Abstinence from sin. 2. Hatred of sin.
In our «;^ 3, Trouble about sin.
4. Subjection to sin. 5. Opposition to sin.
SECT. II.
(1.) JL HE grounds and motives of our abstinence do very cJ manifest the state of our souls ; what they are in the regenerat
S52 ABSTINENCE FROM SIN A DISCOVERY OE THE HE^ as the fever and palsy, are contrary to each other. So i lity and covetousness, hypocrisy and profaneness. Tl each other, not for mutual destruction, as sin and grace superiority, each contending for the throne, and sometin by turns. It is with such persons as with that possesse( xvii. 1.5. whom the spirit cast sometimes into the fire, soi the water : Or if one subdue the other, yet the heart is i to the vassalage of that lust that is uppermost in the so
2. Secondly, An unrenewed soul may be kept from 1 sion of some sin, not because there is a principle of grace but because of some providential restraint without him, ( For it often falls out, that when men have conceived ready to execute it, providence claps on the fetters of r( hinders them from so doing.
This was the case with Abimelech, Gen. xx. 6. and 1* / witJi-held thee : And though persons so restrained, 1 good of such providences, yet others have ; for by it a v chief is prevented in the world, which otherwise woulc and to this act of pi'ovidence we owe our lives, liberties, comforts in this world.
3. Thirdly, An unsound heart may not commit some cause he truly hates them, but because his constitution not to them : These men are rather beholden to a goc body, than to a gracious temper of soul. Some m( drunkards if they would, others cannot be covetous and are made e meliori luto, of a more refined metal than chaste and liberal, just and sober nature, is but natur best nature, in all its endowments, is but nature at the
4. Fourthly, A graceless heart may be restrained froi force of education and principles of morality that were ins
Thus Jehoash was restrained from sin, 2 Kings xii. 2.
*' hoash did that which was right in the sight of the I
" days wherein Jehoiadah the priest instructed him.'' a parent or master will do a great deal more with some than the fear of God. The influences of strict educal the excrescencies of budding vice. The way we are 1 young, we keep when old : This is the influence of mai not the influence of the regenerating Spirit upon men.
5. Fifthly, A graceless heart may be kept from somi fear of the events, lK)th in this world and that to come, followed with infamy and reproach among men, may on
Hatred of six a tkial ov gkace.
that sin is prevented any way ; but to be kept on this ground sin, doth not argue the estate of the person to be good : And you see some ot the grounds on which carnal men are restra and in this " the children of the devil are manifest."
SECT. III.
there are grounds of abstinence from sin, by which "children of God are also manifested;" and such are these that fc
1. Firsts A sincere heart dares not sin because of the eye an( of God, which is upon him: So you find it in Job xxxi. 1, a he durst not allow his thoughts to sin, because he lived undt awe of God's eve. Nehemiah durst not do as former governoi done, though an opportunity presented to enrich himself, b€<:ai the fear of his God, Neh. v. 15. The soul that hves under th of this eye, will be conscientious where no discovery can be ma creatures, as if all the world were looking on, Levit. xis
•' Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block I
the blind ; but shalt fear thy God, I am the Lord." What if a man do curse the deaf, the deaf cannot hear him what if he do put a stumbling-block before the blind, the blinc not see him : True, but God sees him, God hears him ; t enough to a man that hath the fear of the Lord upon his heai
2. Secondly, As the fear of God, so the love of God, is a prii of restraint from sin to the soul that is upright. This kept
Joseph from sin. Gen. xxxix, 9. " How can I do this great wi " ness, and sin against Godi*" How can I? He speaks as a that feels himself bound up from sin by the goodness and love of that had been manifested to him, q. d. Hath he delivered me the pit into which my envious brethren east me ? Hath he, miraculous a way, advanced me to all this honour and pow Egypt ? And now, after all his kindness and love to me, shall against him ? O how can I do this against so good, so gracious a i So Psal. xcvii. 10. " Ye that love the Lord, hate evil." Lovi cry out in the hour of temptation. Is this thy kindness to thy fri Dost thou thus requite the Lord for all his kindnesses .'*
3. Thirdly, As the love of God, so the intrinsical evil and \ ness that is in sin keeps back the gracious soul from it, Rom. 3
Abhor that which is evil," arroi-jyu'.ri; ro rrovTiPov, hate it as hell i Or, as the French translation hath it, be in horror. As the a hensions of hell, so the apprehensions of sin impress horror upo mind that is sanctified : Nothing more loathsome to an holy ;
554 HATRED OF SIN A TRIAL OF GRACE.
Beloved, This is a very remarkable thing in the cxpt renewed men, That, upon the renovation of men's prir delights, and their aversations and loathings are laid qui opposite to what they were before. In their carnal stat pany and sinful exercises were their delight. To be se] these, and tied to prayer, meditation, heavenly discour pany ; O v/hat a bondage would that have been ! Now such carnal society, and restrained from such duties of g< the society of the godly, become a much sorer bondage
5. Fif'thli/^ Expe7''ience of' the hitterncss of sin is a restr cious heart. They that have had so many sick days ar nights for sin as they have had, are loth to taste that wc gall again, which their soul hath still in remembrance ; S
" In that ye sorrowed after a godl}' sort, what carefulness He would not grapple with those inward troubles agaii not have the cheerful light of God's countenance eclipsi all, and much more than all, the pleasures that are in s
6. Sixthly, The consideration of the sufferings of C }X)werfully with-holds a gracious soul from the comni Rom. vi. 6. " Our old man is crucified with him, that
siu might be destroyed, that henceforth we should ni Were there a knife or sword in the house that had been th the heart of your father, would you ever endure the
Sin was the sword that pierced Christ, and so the dea becomes the death of sin in his people. Thus the chil and the children of the devil are manifest, in the p] reasons of their abstinence from sin.
SECT. IV.
(2.) Secondly, They are also manifested by th sin. This puts a clear distinction betwixt them ; for n( y regenerate heart can hate sin as sin ; he may indeed,
1. First, Hate sin in another, but not in himself: Thi man hates another ; Calco superbiam Platonis, said Di( he trampled Plato's fine clothes under foot ; I spurn Plato. Scd mqjori superhia, as Plato smartly replied, Th upon my pride, but it is with greater pride. " Why (sa
the hypocrite) beholdest thou the mote that is in thy \ *' but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye r How quick in espying, and rash in censuring the smj;
HATRED OF SIN A TRIAL OP GKACE.
beam, i. e. great horrid flagitious evil, in himself; but too near him to be discerned or bewailed : This is a sad symptt a naughty heart.
2. Secondly^ He may hate it in its effects and consequents ; i its own nature; as the thief hates the gallows, not the wicke that he hath done. It is not sin itself, but sin in its connexion hell, that is frightful to him.
The unsound professor could msli that there werenosuch thre ing in the Bible against sin. When sin tempts him, I would, he, but I fear the consequence. O sin, could I separate thee hell, nothing should separate thee and me.
3. Thirdly, He may hate it in a mood or pang, but not w rooted habitual hatred. It is plain from 2 Pet. ii. 22. That sir sometimes lie upon the conscience of an unregenerate man, as { lies upon a sick stomach ; and so he may dischargehimself of it 1 formation, restitution, Src. but a little time reconciles the quarr twixt him and his lust again : If they fall out, they will fall in a
*' The dog returned to his vomit, and the sow that was wash
" her wallowing in the mire." But an upright soul hates sin in another manner ; and ii hatred of sin the children of God are manifest.
1. First. The opposition of sin to God, is the very groun( formal reason upon which a gracious soul opposes and hates it.
be opposite to the holy nature and law of God, it cannot b odious in his eyes : This cut David's heart, Psal. Ii. 4. " A " thee, thee only have I sinned,'" q. d. I have wronged greatly, I have wronged myself and family greatly ; but the wi have done to others is not worth naming, in comparison of the ' I have done to thee.
2. Secondly, The upright soul hates sin in himself more th hates it in any other; as a man hates a serpent in the hedge, but more in his own bosom : Rom. vii. 23. " But I see another
" my members ;" and ver. 21. "I find then a law, that w " would do good, evil is present with me:" q. d. I do not how others find it, but I am sure I find sin my very bosom, very bowels, it is present with me. O wretched man that I ai gracious soul can mourn to see it in others, but to find it in h pierceth him to the very heart.
3. Thirdly, The gracious soul hates not only this or that par sin, but the whole kind, every thing that is sinful. True ha
TO. VJV7I. * of the whole nature or kind :"* Psal. cxix. 10^
SS6 TROUBLES FOR SIN A TKIAL OF GRACE.
And, before this trial, a false heart cannot stand ; fo indulges some lust : There is an iniquity which he cam rated from.
4. Fourthly, The sincere soul hates sin with an irr* hatred. There was a time when sin and his soul fell ou never will be a time of reconciliation betwixt them agaii
That breach, which effectual conviction once made, c. • made up any more : " They will return no more to fol Ixxxv. 8. And indeed it seems to them that have suffer for sin, that have endured so many fears and sorrows ^ greatest folly in the word to return to sin again : No, t the mercy of their escape from sin to their dying day, look back upon their former state but with shame and ^
Ask a convert, Would you be back again where once Would you be among your old companions again ? W( fulfilling the lusts of the flesh again ? And he will tell yo not run the hazard to abide one da}/ or one night in th; again, to gain all the kingdoms of the world the next m<
5. Fifthly^ The sincere soul hates sin with a superlat he hates it more than any other evil in the world beside 4 evils are not pleasant in themselves, but yet he must er or sin, then sufferings he chuses ; Heb. xi. 25. " Chusii
" suffer affliction than enjoy the pleasures of sin ;" tl sufferings rather than the best of sin.
6. Sixthly, To conclude ; so deep is the hatred that u bear to sin, that nothing pleases them more than the th y full deliverance from it doth : Rom. vii. 34. " I thank G( f " Jesus Christ our Lord." What doth he so heartily than
O for a prospect of his final deliverance from sin, never to led, defiled, or troubled with it any more : And this is on sweetens death to the saints as any thing in the world car
Christ's victory over it, and lying in the grave for us. T grave, is not pleasant in itself; but to think of a parting sin, that is sweet and pleasant indeed.
SECT. V.
(S.) Thirdly, The children of God and the chile devil ; pure gold and vile dross are manifest as in hatrec in their troubles and sorrows about sin.
All trouble for sin argues not sincerity ; some have n
TEOtBLES FOR SIN ARE TRIALS OF ftRACE.
sins are sins majoris ijifcmice, of greater scandal ; but hear1 are oftentimes majoris reatus^ sins of greater guilt. To be troi for grosser sins, and have no trouble for ordinary sins daily incu is an ill sign of a bad lieart.
2. Secondly^ A graceless heart may be much troubled at the discc of sin, when it is not troubled for the guilt of sin ; Jer. iL 26. " the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of I
ashamed." Hence it is that they stick not to commit ten sins ag God, to hide one sin from the eyes of men. It is a mercy ths is the matter of men's shame, and that all are not arrived to height of impudence to declare their sin as Sodom, and glory in shame : But to be ashamed only because men see it, and not
Ezra, to say, "O my Gtxl, I am ashamed, and blush to look up
thee,"" Ezra ix. 6. ashamed that thou seest it, is but hypocri: 3. Thirdly, A graceless heart may be troubled for the rod thj draws after it, but not for sin itselt!, as it provokes God to i rods.
But the troubles of upright ones for sin are of another kind nature.
1. First, They are troubled that God is wronged, and his E troubled by their sins : So the penitent prodigal, " I have si
against heaven, and in thy sight," Luke xv. 21. Against hej that is, against him whose throne is in heaven, a great, glorious infinite ^lajesty ! a poor worm of the earth hath Hfted up his against the God of heaven.
2. Secondly, They are troubled for the defilement of their 8ouls by sin : Hence they are compared in Proverbs xxv. 26. troubled fountain. You know it is the property of a living sp when any filth falls into it, or that which lies in the bottom o channel, is raised and defiles its streams, never to leave working it hath purged itself of it, and recovered its purity again.
So it is with a righteous man, he loves puritv in the pre Psal. cxix. 140. and he loves it no less in the principle and prac he thinks it is hell enough to lie under the pollution of sin, i should never come under damnation for it.
3. Thirdly, They are troubled for the estrangements of God, the hidings of his face from them because of their sin. It wou; close to an ingenuous spirit to see a dear and faithful friend w he hath grieved, to look strange and shv upon him at the meeting, as if he did not know him : much more doth it go to the 1 of a gracious man to see the face of God turned from him, aac
558 TROtTBLES FOR SIN ARE TRIALS OF «RACE.
do. They are strong to bear other troubles, but sii under this : Psalm xxxviii. 4. Other sorrows mav for be violent, and make more noise, but this sorrow soaks the soul.
5. Fifthly, Their troubles for sin are more privati troubles than others are, " their sore runs in the nig Psal. Ixxvii. 2. Not but that they may, and do open tl to men (and it is a mercy when they meet with a judici and experienced Christian to unbosom themselves unto) is done, it is God and thy soul alone that must whisper < ter. lUa vera dolet, qui sine teste dolet : This is a sincen ^ sin indeed, which is expressed secretly to God in the el
6. Sixthly, Their troubles are incurable by creature-c is not the removing some outward pressures and inconve can remove their burden ; nothing but pardon, peace, ar reconciliation, can quiet the gracious heart.
7. Seventhly, Their troubles for sin are ordinate and 1 own place ; they dare not stamp the dignity of Christ's their worthless tears and groans for sin : * Lava lachrymc Lord, wash my sinful tears in the blood of Christ, was ( sire of a true penitent. And thus our trouble for sin shi our hearts are.
SECT. VI.
(4.) -T OURTHLY, The behaviour and carriage of tJ respect to subjection to the commands of sin, shews wha and condition is. This will separate dross from gold, generate men are the servants of sin, they subject them commands. This the scripture sometimes calls a " con^
" the lusts of the flesh," Eph. ii. 3. Sometimes the *' themselves to sin," 1 Kings xxi. 20. Now, as a f judi( observes, though the children of God complain with Pau
14, 15. that they are " sold under sin," yet there is a vas betwixt these two : The saints are sold to it by Adam, bi their own continued consent. But to shew you the diffei matter, I conceive it necessary to shew wherein the reig of sin doth not consist, and then wherein it doth ; tha plainly discern who are in subjection to the reigning po\ corruptions, and who are not. Now there be divers thin both to the regenerate and unregencrate ; and we cannot minion of sin lies in any or in all of them, viz. abstractly
SIGNS OF SIN IN DOMINION.
tion thus breaks forth into gross and scandalous sins in both, fore it must needs reiirn in the one as well as in the other ; a rigl man mav " fall before the wicked,'' as it is, Prov. xxv. 26. H fall into the dirt of grosser iniquities, and furnish them with i of reproach. So did David, Peter, Abraham, and many more
Lord's upright-hearted ones, whose souls nevertheless sin di reign over by a voluntary subjection to its commands, nor irm embolden any to sin with more liberty.
2. Stxondlij, Though an upright soul fall once and again im though he reiterate the same act of sin which he hath repen before; yet it cannot merely from thence be concluded, that the sin reigns over him as it doth over a wicked man that makes daily trade. I confess every reiteration of sin puts a further ag^ tion upon it : And it is sad we should repent and sin, and sin a pent; but yet you read, Prov. xxiv. 16. "A just man falleth
" times, and riseth up again :" Job's friends were good men, ; tells them, " These ten times have ye reproached me," Job i This indeed shews a heart that greatly needs purging ; for it i relapses into spiritual as it is with relapses into natural disease recidivation or return of the disease shews that the morbi.'ic r
Avas not duly purged ; but though it shews the foulness, it doi always prove the falseness of the heart.
3. Thirdly, Though the one may be impatient of the repr his sin, as well as the other ; yet that alone will not conclude 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 of sin such a precious oil as is proper to heal, should be conceited to his head ; but yet flesh will be tender and touchy, even in good Asa was a good man, and yet he was wroth with the prophe reproved him, as you find, 2 Chron. xvi. 10. yet I doubt no their consciences smite them for it, when pride suffers not anotl do it ; a reproof may be well-timed and ill managed by an* and so may provoke, but they will hear the voice of conscier another manner.
4. Foicrthli/, Though in both some one particular sin may more power than another, yet neither doth this alone conclude therefore that sin must reign in one, as it doth in another. Ii the beloved lust of every wicked man is king over his soul ;.but godly man's constitution, calling, Sfc. may incline him more t sin than another ; and yet neither that nor any other may be si np in finmimnn • for thrwirr]-i T^o\nr\ cr«pf>l'c nf liic ininnitv i
560 SIGNS OF SIN IN DOMINION.
needs be sins in dominion in the one, as they are in the o1 was too much light abused, and violence offered in David's ( sin, as he confesses, Psal. li. 6. and the sad story itself 1 shews ; and yet, in the main, David was an upright man st this consideration of the fact shrewdly wounded his intf stands upon record for a caution to all others.
SECT. VII.
E have seen what doth not infer the dominion of former particulars, being simply considered ; I shall nex what doth, and how the sincere and false hearts are disti) this trial. And,
1. Firsty Assent and consent upon deliberation notes th under the dominion of sin : when the mind approves sin, s gives its plenary consent to it, this sets up sin in its throni the soul into subjection to it; for the dominion of sin co authority over us, and our voluntary subjection to it. Tl to be the character of a wicked graceless person, Psa
He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himse
that is not good ; he abhorreth not evil." The best men may fall into sin through mistake, or j into sin through the violence of temptation; but to devise m and set himself in an evil way, this notes full assent of the then, 7iot to abhor evil, notes full consent of the will ; an( being given to sin, not only antecedently to the acting of consequently to it, to like it afterwards as well as before the soul fully under the power of sin ? What can it give
This (as * one saith) in direct opposition to the apostle 1is to present their bodies a dead sacrifice, unholy, and ; to God ; acceptable to the devil, which is their unreasonal all men by nature are given to sin, but these men give to it.
2. Secondly, The customary practice of sin subjects the dominion of sin ; and so " he that is born of God doth i
" sin," 1 John iii. 9Fall into sin, yea, the same sin hi that often ; but then it is not without reluctance, repent? protest entered by the soul in heaven against it; so that s a quiet possession of his soul ; he is not the servant of sii he willingly walk after its commandments; but so < servants : it is their daily practice, Jer. ix. 3. " They pr
SI6KS or SIN in DOMINION.
Look, as our delight in God is the measure of our holiness, so delight in sin is the measure of our sinfulness. Delight in sin h uppermost round of the ladder, and much higher the soul of a si cannot go, till it be turned off into hell ; " It is a sport to a fool t " mischief," Prov. x. 23. Never merrier than when he hat? devil for his playfellow, saith * one upon that place.
4. Fourthly^ Impatience of Christ's yoke and government, ar the soul to be the subject of sin. This is clear from the apostle's soning in Rom. vi. IT, 18. " But God be thanked that ye " the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart the " of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free
" sin, ye became the servants of righteousness."" Where yo plainly, that no man can have his manumission or freedom fronthat comes not into Christ's service, and yields himself up t obedience.
So then, to fret at Chrises laws, that tie us up from our lus be weary of all spiritual employments as a burden intolerable, i to be in our element and centre till we are off from God, and pi ing in the world and our lusts ; this is a sad note of a soul in jection to sin.
Object. But may not an uprigJU soul find some •weariness i/i ritual things f
Sol. Doubtless he may, for he hath flesh as well as spirit ; though the spirit be willing, the flesh is weak : he is sanctified I part, and his delight in the law of God is but according to, or tJie inner man, Rom. vii. 22. But he sees another law in his i bers, i. e. contrary inclinations. However, if he be weary s times in the duties of godliness, to be sure he is more weary c them, and is not .centered and at rest till he be with his God a. but the carnal heart is where it would be, when it is in the serv sin ; and as a fish upon dry land, when engaged in spiritual di especially such as are secret, and have no external allurements putation to engage him to them.
But what surprisals or captivities to sin soever may befal ai right soul, yet it appears by these eight following particulars, he is not the servant of sin, nor in full subjection to it. For,
1. First, Though he mav be drawn to sin, vet he cannot r upon his sin without shame and sorrow ; which plainly shews be an involuntary surprize. So Peter wept bitterly. Mat. xxv And David mourned for his sin heartily. Others can fetch Dleasures out of thpir nld sin*, bi' rpflpftincr nn thpm • nnd <^m
402 EVIWEKCE OF THE NON-DOMINION OF SIN.
a deliberate and full consent of his v/ill ; their delight i of God, Rom. vii. 22. " They do that which they woui 16. i. e. there are inward dislikes fr(;m the new nature that case of David, which seems to have so much of cou liberation in it, yet it was but in a single act; it was not in course of his life; hewas upright in all things, i.e. in thegc and tenor of his life, 1 Kings xv. 5.
S. Thirdly^ Though an upright soul may fall into si restless and unquiet in that condition, like a bone out o that speaks him to be none of sin's servants; as on the c man be engaged in the external duties of religion, anc and unquiet there, his heart is not in it, he is not a1 be again in his earthly business; this man cannot 1
Christ's servant : a gracious heart is much after that ra in the work of sin, that a carnal heart is employed in religion. That is a good rule, Ea tanttim dicunter inei iunt per moduvi quiefis : That is a man's true temper, v ^ at rest. Poor David fell into sin, but he had no rest in 1 cause of it, Psal. li. 10, 11, 12. If his heart be off fro duty for a little while, yet he recollects himself, and sai cxvi. 7. *' Return to thy rest, O my soul."
4. Fourthly, Though a sincere Christian fall into sin evil : yet he proceeds not from evil to evil as the ungo( ix. 3. but makes his fall into one sin a caution to prev sin. Peter by his fall got establishment for the time to God will speak peace to them, they are careful to return folly ; Psal. Ixxxv. 8. " In that ye sorrowed after a godl
carefulness it wrought .'' Yea, what fear .''" 2 Cor. vii not so with the servants of sin, one sin leaves them muc posed to another sin.
5. Fifthly, A sincere Christian may be drawn to sin, would be glad with all his heart to be rid of sin : it woulc him than thousands of gold and silver, that he might gr fend God no more ; and that shews sin is not in dominioi he that is under the dominion of sin, is loth to leave his 1 servants are not willing to pai't with it, they hold it fast to let it go, as that text expresseth it, Jer. viii. 5. Bu complaint of the upright is expressed by the apostle accoi true sense of their hearts, in Rom. vii. 24. " Who shall
" from the body of this death ?
6. Sixthly, It appears they yield not themselves willin
EVIDENCES or THE XON'-DOMIXION' OF SIN.
a blessed tiling in the eyes of a sincere man to be kept from sin reckons it a great deliverance, a very happy escape, if he be from sin.
7. Seventhly, This shews that some who may be drawn to cor sin, yet are none of the servants of sin, that they do heartily beo assistance of grace to keep them from sin : " Keep back thy ser *' from presumptuous sins, (saith the Psalmist, Psalm xix. 1^ " them not have dominion over me ;" q. d. Lord, I find propen; to sin in my nature, yea, and strong ones too; if thou leave n myself, I am carried into sin as easily as a feather down the tor
O Lord, keep back thy servant.'' And there is no petition upright ones pour out their hearts to God in, either more frequt or more ardently than in this, to be kept back from sin.
8. Eighthly, and Lastly, This shews the soul not to be undei dominion of sin, that it doth not only cry to God to be kept i from sin, but uses the means of prevention himself; he resists i well as pravs against it ; Psal. xviii. 23. " I was also upright b( " him, and kept myself from mine iniquity:" So Job xxxi. 1. " have made a covenant with mine eyes ;" and yet more ful Isa. xxxiii. 15. " He shaketh his hands from holding bribes, " stoppeth his hears from hearing blood, and shutteth his eyes
" seeing evil.'" See with what care the portals are shut at whic useth to enter. All these things are very relieving consideratio poor souls questioning their integrity under the frequent surprise sin. And the next trial no less.
SECT. VIII.
(.5.) -T IFTHLY, Our opposition to. and conflicts with sin disc Avhat we are, gold or dross.
There are conflicts with sin in both the regenerate, and in th( regenerate ; but there is a vast diflerence betwixt them, as wil pear in the following account.
1. First, There is an universal, and there is a particular oppos to sin : the former is found in regenerate, the latter in unregem souls : a gracious heart hates every false way, Psal. cxix. 104. must needs do so, because he hates and opposes sin as sin; so he can have no peccatwn in ddicHs, no excepted or reserved but fights against the whole body, and every limb and membi the body of sin.
But it is not so with the hypocrite or carnal professor; he overcome some reserved sin, that he cannot part with.
564 OPPOSITION TO SIN A TRIAL TO SINCERlXr.
antipathy betwixt it and the new nature in him, as is clea
V. 17. " The flesh lusteth against the spirit^ and the sp
" the flesh ; and these are contrary the one to the other." understand corrupt nature; by spirit, not only the spirit the Spirit of God, or principle of regeneration in ma lusting of these two against each other, understand the endeavours of each other's destruction and ruin ; and th all this is the contrariety of all these two natures.
These are contrary one to the other ; there is a twofoh betwixt them, one formal, their very natures are opposite effective, their workings and designs are opposite, as it is and water.
But the opposition found in unrenewed souls against from their natures, for sin is suitable enough to that ; b y light that is in their minds and consciences, which scan fles them. Such was that in Darius, Dan, vi. 14. " ]
" displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel " him ; and laboured till the going down of the sun to c Here the contest was betwixt sense of honour upon on conviction of conscience on the other side.
Sometimes a generous and noble disposition opposes sori actions : Major sum, ct ad majora natus ; quam id corpt jnanclpium. I am greater, and born to greater things, should be a slave to my body, said a brave heathen.
y. Thirdly, There is a permanent, and there is a trai sition to sin ; the former is the case of God's people, i temporary and unsound professors.
The gaint when he draws the sword in this warfare throws away the scabbard ; no end of this combat witi end; their life and their troubles are finished together;
7. " I have fought the good fight, and have finished m But in other men it is but a transient quarrel ; out day, and in another ; and the reason is plain by what w fore : it is not the opposition of t^o natures ; it is like tl of the wind and tide, these may be contrary and make ■ to-day, but the wind may come about, and go as the morrow ; but in a Christian it is the opposition of the r dam, one must give way to the other, there is no recon but the other " like the dog, returns to his vomit," 2 I
4. Fourthlt/, There is an opposition to the root of sin position to the fruits of sin. A gracious soul opposeth r(
OPPOSITION" TO SIK, A TRIAL TO SIXCERITY.
abscoiidere, quam abscindere vitia : To hide, rather than to kill lusts.
5. Fifthly, There is an opposition to sin in tlie strength of and an opposition to sin in our own strength ; the former is p to real Christians, the latter is found frequently with unsanc persons ; when a Christian goes forth against any sin, it is i strength of God : so you read their rule directs them, Eph. v
*' Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might: take
" you the whole armour of God :" And suitably, you shall find frequentiv upon their knees begging strength from heaven a^ their lusts; 2 Cor. xii. 8. " For this cause I besought the
" thrice,"" saith Paul, i. e. often and earnestly, that the tempi might depart from him.
But others go forth against sin only in the strength of theli resolutions; so did Pendleton in our story ; these resolutior vows, which they have put themselves under, are as frequ frustrated as made.
6. Sixthly, There is a successful opposition to sin, and an o| tion that comes to nothing : The former is that of true Chris the latter is found amons' unre^enerate men.
The work of mortification in the saints is progressive and in( ing: Hence Rom. vi. 6. " Our old man is crucified with him
" the body of sin might be destroyed."" Sin dies in believers i as crucified persons use to die, viz. a slow, lingering, gi-adiial sure death ; its vigour and life expires by degrees, or as a cons tive person dies ; for to that also he alludes here : There is a di: which is called consumptio tot'ius, a consumption of the whole ; those that die of that disease, languish more and more, till at lasl drop sensim s'ln^ sensu^ by imperceptible degrees and steps ini grave. . . ' . But in the unregenerate, whatever conflicts they have wit] no corruption falls before it : It may be said of them, as the cl in another case complains of herself, Isa. xxvi. 18. " We have *• in pain, we have, as it were, bibught forth wind. We hav " wrought anv deliverance in the earth, neither have the inhabi
of the world fallen." So it fares with these professors ; they they hear, they vow, they resolve, but when all is done, their are as strong and vigorous as ever: No degree of mortification ap after all.