rectitude in the discharge of their Office Judges should so impartially and with that noble Resolution perform their Duty as to disourage all Attempts to pervert them Zeuxes having painted a Boy carrying some Grapes so coloured according to Nature that the Birds peck'd at them An Observer said The Birds discredited the Picture for if the Boy had been drawn with equal Life they had not been so bold to fly at the Grapes a sign they fancied the Grapes true and the Boy painted Thus whoever tempts those who sit in Judicature to unworthy Things disgraces their Dignity and constructively declares that he esteems them to have an appearance of Vertue without sincere Zeal for it And how many who are pleaders by fallacious Colours commend a bad Cause and discredit a Good and thereby expose themselves to that terrible denunciation Wo be them that call Good Evil and Evil Good. A degenerous Mind and mercenary Tongue will plead any Cause to obtain the Ends of Avarice and Ambition as if according to what an Italian Lawyer said of himself They were the Advocates of their Clients and not of Justice In short every Calling has its Temptations In the various ways of Commerce there are deceitful Arts which an upright Man observes and abhors Some Callings expose to more Temptations than others so that without Circumspection and Care Men are undone in the way of their Callings Some ingage Persons in such a throng of Business that from one rising of the Sun to another they never seriously remember God or their Souls 'T is therefore a Point of great Wisdom in the choice of a Calling with a free Judgment to consider what is least liable to Temptations and affords more freedom of serving God and regarding our Spiritual State for the Body is not the intire Man and the present Life is not his only Duration The Apostle directs Christians to chuse such a State of Life that they may have an advantage of attending upon the Lord without distraction I shall add That the several Relations wherein we stand as Husbands Parents Masters and Wives Children Servants have peculiar Temptations and many whose general Conversation seems fair and blameless are not observant of their Relative Duties A Husband may be harsh and unkind a Parent fond and viciously indulgent 't was Ely's Sin that brought Ruin upon his Family a Master may be severe and rigorous Superiors who are to instruct and govern Families by Holy Counsels and Examples often neglect their Duty and by their evil Carriage set a Copy which their Children and Servants transcribe and derive a woful Guilt upon themselves from their multiplied Sins And how often are those in lower Relations careless of their proper Duties Wives disrespectful and not observant of their Husbands Children disobedient Servants unfaithful If Conscience be inlightned and tender it will regard the whole compafs of our Duty it will see and feel our sinful neglects in any kind and make us careful according to the extent of its Obligation 2. The opposite States of Prosperity and Adversity have suitable Temptations adherent to them Prosperity is beset with the thickest and most dangerous Temptations In a Garden the Tempter lay in ambush and made use of the Fruit that was pleasant to the Taste and pleasant to the Eye and desireable for Knowledg and by those Allurements corrupted and ruin'd our first Parents to the loss of their Innocence and Felicity Although Prosperity be a Blessing in it self yet 't is often more destructive than Adversity by the inseparable and ingaging Snares that surround the Persons that enjoy it Pride Luxury Security Impiety grow and flourish in Prosperity Affliction calls home the wandring Spirit makes us reflect with solemnity upon our selves excites us to arm our Minds with Religious Resolutions against the World whereas Prosperity relaxes and dissolves the Spirit and foments the Lusts of the Flesh. Those who live in the Courts of Princes where the Height of Honour and the Centre of Pleasure are where Ambition Hypocrisy Avarice and Sensuality reign are encircled with dangerous Inchantments and usually are charm'd and corrupted by them The Court Life is splendid to the Eye but very perilous like a Ship that is finely carv'd painted but so leaky that without continual pumping it cannot be kept above Water so without the strictest guard over their Hearts and Senses the prosperous cannot escape the Shipwrack of a good Conscience and fall into many foolish Lusts that drown Men in Perdition Yet this state of Life many aspire to as the most happy When Lot separated from Abraham he chose the pleasant fruitful Country that was like the Garden of the Lord. Sad choice the Land was the best but the Inhabitants the worst Within a short time the cry of their Sins reach'd as high as the Throne of God and brought down showrs of Fire and Brimstone that turned that natural Paradise into an Hell. Riches has a Train of Temptations and Poverty is not exempt from them 'T was the wise Prayer of Agur Give me neither Poverty nor Riches lest I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord or lest I be poor and steal and take the Name of my God in vain A full Estate intirely possesses the Heart and excludes the eternal World from the Thoughts and Affections 't is therefore wise Advice If Riches increase set not your Heart upon them intimating they are a Snare to the most in the corrupt State. They often induce in Mens Minds an ungrateful Oblivion of their Divine Benefactor as 't is charg'd upon Israel Their Hearts were exalted therefore they have forgotten me They incline Men to presume upon Self-sufficiency and to rob God of the Homage that is due from his Creatures an humble thankful dependance upon his Providence every day The Psalmist saith They trust in their Wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their Riches They are engaging Snares to renounce Religion when-ever the Sincere and open profession of it exposes our Estates to hazard Briefly as the Israelites made an Egyptian Idol of their Egyptian Jewels so worldly Things are abus'd for worldly Lusts. The most who enjoy Prosperity perish by the abuse of it 'T is a rare effect of Divine Grace to preserve the Heart and Conversation pure in such a contagious Air when a thousand fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right Hand And the contrary state of Poverty and Affliction in any kind if sharp has its peculiar Temptations Discontent and the use of unlawful Means to obtain what they want and desire is the Sin of the Poor The Afflicted are ready to faint under the weight of Sorrow The loss of one Comfort blasts all the Content of their Lives There is a perpetual consumption of their Thoughts and Time in revolving the afflicting Circumstances of their Condition and they are apt to think as if God were regardless or very severe to them Fearful depth they
away sorrowful Covetousness was his bosom-Sin and blasted the sincerity of his Obedience Uprightness is opposite to Guile Our Saviour gives this Testimony of Nathanael Behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile a genuine Son of Israel whose Character was Sincerity Guile implies a reserved Affection for a particular Sin under a pretence of religious observing the Divine Law. The Scripture sets forth by Conjugal Love the dearest resemblance of the Mutual Love between Christ and his Church If a Wife should take another besides her Husband into her Embraces she is an Adulteress false to her Husband and all her amiable attractive society with him is but the fine Hypocrisy and pretence of Love. Thus when one bosom-Sin is retain'd the Heart is false to God notwithstanding the most specious Devotion the indulgent practice of one Sin impeaches our Integrity To this I shall add select Examples of Uprightness recorded in Scripture 'T is said of Noah he was a just Man and perfect in his Generations for when the whole World lay in wickedness he preserv'd himself unspotted from their Pollutions this was a noble Testimony of his Uprightness in the esteem of God. Joseph repell'd the impure Sollicitations of his Mistress with indignation How shall I do this great Wickedness and sin against God David when old and his Blood and Spirits so frozen that no Cloaths could warm him that a fair young Virgin lying in his Bosom was not blemish'd by him was not from Divine Grace but wasted Nature But that Joseph in the vigour of his Age the sinning Season kept himself undefiled was the sure symptom of Sincerity Job has this Testimony from God that he was a perfect upright Man and in the depth of his Affliction he tells his suspicious Friends Till I die I will not remove my Integrity from me my Heart shall not reproach me so long as I live that is of reigning Hypocrisy of which they had accused him His Uprightness he proves by an Induction He preserv'd himself from the Sin of his Age In his Youth when sensual Lusts are impetuous he made a Covenant with his Eyes not to look upon a Maid and for this Reason because he was under the inspection and observance of God. He kept himself from the Sins of his Calling he was a Magistrate and in the exercise of his Office his Foot never hasted to deceit and no Blot cleav'd to his Hand Upon this he appeals to the inlightned Tribunal Above Let me be weighed in the Ballance that God may know my Integrity He kept himself from the Sins of his Condition for tho high in Dignity yet so humble that he despised not the Cause of his Man-Servant or Maid-Servant that contended with him tho in full Prosperity yet so compassionate that as a Father he fed the Poor and clothed the Naked He was so sensible of his dependent mutable State here that Gold was not his Hope nor the fine Gold his Confidence and so Heavenly and Spiritual in his Mind and Affections that he did not rejoice because his Wealth was great and because his Hand had gotten much This Reflection upon the Temper of his Heart and his Deportment in his prosperous State was the main assurance of his Integrity The APPLICATION 1. Let us be excited to make a Judgment of our selves by this Rule The true Decision of our Spiritual State results from the Testimony of Conscience concerning our Uprightness or Insincerity If our Hearts condemn us not of predominant Hypocrisy some indulged habitual Sin then have we Confidence towards God that we are accepted of him If Conscience be inlightned and faithful in the Trial a Man cannot deliberately deceive himself he must know whether his Resolutions and Endeavours be to obey all the Will of God or whether like an intermitting Pulse that sometimes beats regularly and then faulters he is zealous in some Duties and cold or careless in others Saul would offer Sacrifice but not obey the Divine Command to destroy all the Amalekites for his Partiality and Hypocrisy he was rejected of God. But 't is the Character of David he was a Man after God's own Heart in that he did all his Will. 'T is not the Authority of the Lawgiver but other Motives that sway those who observe some Commands and are respectless of others A Servant that readily goes to a Fair or a Feast when sent by his Master and neglects other Duties does not his Master's Command from Obedience but his own Choice Sincere Obedience is to the Royalty of the Divine Law and is commensurate to its Purity and Extent There are two Requisites to make a certain Sign of a thing 1. If the Sign be never without the Thing signified 2. If the Thing be never without the Sign The Redness of the Sky is but a Contingent Sign of fair Weather because the appearance of it in the Morning is often followed with Storms and Rain and sometimes a fair day is without that visible Sign But Day-light is an infallible sign of the Sun 's being risen for its ascending in the Horizon always causes day and without the presence of the Sun all inferiour Lights can never cause Day Thus the abstaining from the beloved Lust is a sure sign of Uprightness For 't is inconsistent with Hypocrisy and the inseparable Effect of Sincerity 'T is inconsistent with Hypocrisy till Divine Grace cleanses the Heart alters the Taste of our Appetites and purifies our Affections we shall never detest and forsake our own Sins that are flesh'd in our Natures 'T is true there may be an abstaining from some Sins when the Heart is not sincere towards God for some particular Sins are opposite to the respective Tempers of Men and the Averseness from them is not the Effect of Supernatural Grace but of natural Constitution As that Meat that is delicious to one Palate to another is distasteful so the Sins that have a Temperamental Relish to some are disagreeing to others 'T is observ'd of those who are stung with a Tarantula the sweetest Musick does not move them till those Notes are struck that are harmonious with their Distemper and then delightfully transported they fall a dancing till their Strength is spent Thus Temptations are prevalent according to the Complexional Lusts of Human Nature But when there is no Harmony and Agreement between the Objects without and the Affections within the Tempter loses his design Avoluptuous Brute whose Heart is always smothering or flaming with impure Desires may have no Inclination to Covetousness a covetous Wretch whose Soul cleaves to the Earth may feel no Temptation at the sight of an exquisite Beauty Some are made Captives by one Passion and some by another In the mysterious Fable Perseus who encounter'd the Terrors of Medusa was easily overcome by the Beauty of Andromeda Vertue victorious over Fear is often corrupted by Pleasure Besides some Lusts are of a repugnant Nature This difference is observable between Errors and
orders Things that Temptations approach us upon our earnest and constant Prayer we shall be furnish'd with the Armour of God the Shield of Faith the Sword of the Spirit the Helmet of Salvation But if we run into Temptations we provoke him to desert us and if we are not overcome by them yet for our transgressing his Holy Command we are liable to his Displeasure Confirming Grace is a continual emanation from the Holy Spirit without which we shall fall every Hour 'T is therefore extreamly hazardous to venture into Temptations for the corrupt Nature that with weight and violence inclines us to sin is within and supernatural Strength to controul the combin'd Efficacy of the Inclination and the Occasion is from Above which is justly withdrawn when we grieve the Holy Spirit by conversing with the Temptations of Sin. The Fear of the Lord is clean effectively as it induces an Holy Caution and Circumspection to preserve our selves from the defiling captivating Snares of Sin. 'T is a Petition more necessary than that for our daily Bread Lead us not into Temptation Considering our inseparable Frailty and the Arts of our Spiritual Enemies to take every advantage over us we should with all possible ardency of Affection pray that we be not expos'd to Temptations or not vanquish'd by them but if we rashly expose our selves our Prayers will be an Indictment against us and we shall fall under Condemnation 3. Serious Resolutions and solemn Ingagements are of excellent efficacy to bind our deceitful Hearts from yielding to Sin. In the Christian Life a general Resolution is absolutely necessary of being faithful to God never to have correspondence with his Enemies but always to cleave to our Duty notwithstanding all the Allurements or Terrors of the World to supplant our Integrity and surprise our Constancy David tells us I have sworn and will perform it that I will keep thy righteous Judgments The Divine Law binds us antecedently to our consent but having taken the Oath of Fidelity to God there is superinduced a new Obligation to fasten us to his Service After this to revolt from our Duty is Rebellion heightned with the Guilt of Perfidiousness Besides solemn Engagements against particular Sins are necessary Ephraim shall say What have I to do any more with Idols He had been inchanted with the love of Idols which he renounces with Indignation A practical Decree a stedfast resolution to forsake our Sin will produce a diligent use of Means in order to that End. In resolving against Sin we must depend upon the present and perpetual Assistance of the Divine Grace without which our Resolutions will neither be sincere nor effectual Carnal Men under Judgments do often relent and resolve against their Sins from the convinced Mind transient Wishes and floating Purposes of Reformation arise but till the Heart be renewed by Divine Grace the will is incompleat There are secret and sometimes undiscern'd Affections to Sin that by new Temptations are drawn forth and betray them to Satan 'T is a charge against the Hypocrites in the Prophecy of Hosea They were like a deceitful Bow that being ill made or ill bent never sent the Arrow directly to the Mark sometimes after the Carnal Faculties have been sated with the gross fruition Men renounce their Sins and promise they will never return more to folly but those Resolutions are as insufficient to fortify them against the new incursion of tempting Objects as a Wall of Glass to resist the Battery of Cannon for there is no permanent over-ruling Principle in the Heart that makes the Resolution stedfast against Sin. But suppose the Resolutions be sincere and proceed from a full bent of the Heart against Sin yet if Divine Grace do not ratify them a strong Temptation will break them as a gust of Wind breaks the Strings of a Cobweb St. Peter consulting his Affection not his Strength presumptuously ingag'd to his Master Though all Men forsake thee I will not forsake thee but in the time of Trial surpriz'd with so strong a fear that precluded serious recollection and distracted his Mind from the deliberare comparing of the evil of Sin with the instant Danger he most unworthily deny'd his Master and is a sad Instance how weak and wavering the best Men are without the continual Influences of the Holy Spirit to determine their Wills and make them with unfainting Courage persevere in their Duty There is a vast difference between the sight of a Storm at Sea and a Ship in violent agitation by the Winds and Waves and the miserable Passengers with pale affrighted Countenances expecting present Death in a lively Picture and being in a real Ship in the midst of a real Tempest and in real danger of being swallowed up by the Ocean The sight of such a Spectacle without fear is but painted Courage as the Object is upon which 't is exercis'd if one should presume that his Heart were impenetrable to Fear because he sees the representation of extream Danger without Fear it were egregious Folly and would be soon confuted if he were actually in extream danger of perishing in the raging Sea. Thus there is a great difference between Temptations represented in our Thoughts and when immediately and really before us and between religious Resolutions when Temptations are at a distance and when actually incumbent on us There may be such Resolutions conceiv'd in the Mind in the absence of Temptations that we may think our selves guarded safely against our Sins and yet at the first encounter of a strong Temptation our Resolutions may cool and faint and our Vows of Obedience may vanish as the morning Dew before the heart of the Sun There is such a Ievity and featheriness in our Minds such a mutability and inconstancy in our Hearts Therefore the Scripture doth so frequently inculcate the Duty of continual Trust in God to assist us by his Strength to overcome our Spiritual Enemies Divine Grace raises our Thoughts into stedfast Resolutions against Sin turns our Resolutions into holy Actions our Actions into permanent Habits God works in us to will and to do of his good Pleasure 4. If upon intermitting our Watch we fall into the Sin that we are prone to speedy and deep Repentance is necessary to recover the Favour of God and to preserve us for the future against it Sins of Relapse more easily prevail then in the first Temptation because the tenderness and reluctancy of Conscience is lessened by the commission of Sin they are more pernicious to the Soul for besides the inhancing of Guilt the unclean Spirit returns with more imperiousness from indignation that he was expell'd If we have been effectually tempted to Sin let us presently retract it by Repentance There will be a suspension of God's Favour whilst we continue without a due sense of our Sin Let not the Sun go down upon God's Wrath but with Prayers and Tears sue out his pardoning Mercy The neglect of present Repentance is a