will not justify us before God. The Mercy-Seat sprinkled with his Blood affords Protection from the Avenger to all relenting returning Sinners but Justice will tear the presumptuous Sinner from the Horns of the Altar The most rigorous Penance will not avail without mortifying the Affection to Sin the most severe Discipline to the Body is but like a Mountebanck's applying the Salve to the Weapon without dressing the Wound that cannot work a found Cure. The dispensing of the Treasure of Merits to penitent Pay-Masters and giving mercenary Bills of Exchange to receive Righteousness from others is so wretched and transparent a Fallacy that were not the Minds of Men prodigiously stupified it is impossible they should believe it will avail them before the Judgment-Seat of God. Let our Prayers be never so frequent and earnest they are of no prevalency with God whilst the beloved Sin is retain'd The Condition of our favourable Audience is set down by Solomon in his Divine Prayer at the Dedication of the Temple What Prayer or Supplication soever be made by any Man or by all the People of Israel which shall know every Man the Plague of his own Heart and spread forth his hand to Heaven then hear thou in Heaven and hearing forgive If they shall be sensible of the Bosom-Sin of its pestilential Malignity and with repenting Sorrow acknowledg and forsake it they are prepared Objects of Mercy David saith If I regard Iniquity in my Heart the Lord will not hear my Prayer God sees through all the Disguises of Hypocrites and has a bright prospect into the Heart if any insinuating Infirmity be cherish'd there it will make him averse from our Persons and Requests 'T is not the performance of religious and charitable Duties that will purchase Indulgence for a beloved Sin. The most costly Sacrifices the most liberal Charities are neither pleasing to God nor profitable to us without an unfeigned renouncing of our Sins 'T is a carnal Shift that many use to excuse the Practice of a chosen Sin by the doing some good things many strict Observers of the Rituals of Religion are dissolute Epicures as if they might compensate for their voluntary Defects in one Duty by their care in another But if Conscience be not so far stupified that it can neither hear nor see nor speak 't is impossible but the guilty Deceiver must be terrified with the words of St. James That whosoever shall keep the whole Law yet offend in one point he is guilty of all The most strict Observance of one Precept will not excuse Disobedience to another the voluntary continued Transgression of any Command involves a Man under the Guilt of breaking the entire Law the Divine Authority being despised that makes it binding I will instance in one kind of Sins Many that have increas'd their Estates by Craft and Circumvention or by Violence and Rapine will bequeath part to pious uses presuming by a kind of Composition with God to be discharged of their guilty Gains St. Austin observes that some in his time thought it to be Obedience to the Command of our Saviour Make your selves Friends of the Mammon of Unrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting Habitations This is to defile and debase the Name of the Righteous and Holy God 't is to make him altogether like to corrupt Men as if he would be brib'd to patronize their Wickedness And in other cases thus monstrously Carnal Men bend the Rule of Rectitude to the Obliquity of their Desires They are willing to deceive themselves and imagine that only Ministers of a preciser strain will terrify them with eternal Judgment for one retained Sin they desire and are apt to believe such a Mercy as will bring them to Heaven with their Sins in their Bosoms But the Apostle warns us Be not deceived God is not mocked as a Man sows so shall he reap There are sure and tender Mercies for the Upright but strict and certain Justice for the Wicked Sincerity is so amiable and pleasing in God's Eyes that he graciously passes by many Infirmities upon that account It is said of Asa that his Heart was perfect all his days and notwithstanding some gross Faults God accepted him But when the Heart is corrupted by the love of some pleasant or profitable Sin it renders a Person with the most specious Services odious in God's sight In short indulged known Sins that Men habitually commit in hopes of an easie Absolution are not the Spots of God's Children 'T is so directly contrary to the Divine Nature to that holy ingenuous Fear of offending our heavenly Father resulting from it that only the Wicked are capable of such a disposition Presumptuous Sins are a contumelious abuse of Divine Mercy and exasperate that high and tender attribute to the confusion of Sinners at the last Do good O Lord unto those that be good and to them that are upright in Heart As for such as turn aside to their crooked Ways the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of Iniquity 2. We may by Divine Grace subdue the strongest Lusts that from our Nature and Temper or from Custom and the Interests of the Carnal State have rule over us The New Covenant assures Believers that Sin shall not have Dominion over them because they are not under the Law but under Grace The Law strictly forbids Sin but the Gospel furnishes with strength to subdue it 'T is true inherent Corruption has so devested Men of spiritual Strength that they cannot free themselves from the Power and Infection of Sin and when any Lust is fomented by Temptations and has been frequently gratified 't is more hard to be subdued The Apostle speaks of some whose Eyes were full of Adultery that could not cease from Sin they were in a state of Carnality and lov'd to be so When Lust is imperious and the Will servile Men cannot wean themselves from the poison'd Breasts This disability consists in the depraved obstinacy of the Will that aggravates their Sin and Judgment Yet so foolish are Sinners as to use this Plea to make them excusable for their habitual Lusts Conscience checks them and some faint Desires they have to avoid their Sins but they cannot change their Natures They colour Licentiousness with the pretence of Necessity they complain of their Chains to let loose the Reins of their exorbitant Desires in a course of Sin. But natural Corruption that involves us under Guilt cannot make us innocent 'T is true if in our original Condition the humane Will had been stamp'd by Fate with an unalterable inclination to Sin we could not have been guilty for if there be no Principles of Liberty all the Names of Good and Evil are cancell'd and all moral Means Instructions Persuasions Threatnings are but lost labour In Brutes there are some natural Resemblances of Vertue and Vice yet not worthy of Reward or Punishment only so far as by Imagination they
Truth Vices and Vertues Errors are inconsistent and irreconcileable and at War among themselves but Truth has an universal Consent and mutual Dependance in all its parts there is no Contrariety between natural and supernatural Verities Vices are sometimes so contrary in their Ends and Exercise that they fall foul upon one another that none can be so universally wicked as to commit all Sins but if he be addicted to one must forsake the other But there is a Connexion between the Graces of the Holy Spirit tho different in their Objects and Natures yet they have the same Tendency the Glory of God and our own Salvation and are united in the Subject There is but one way to Heaven as there can be but one straight way to a place but there are innumerable Deviations from it as many crooked ways to Hell as there are sinful Lusts that bring Men thither The Prophet tells us All we like Sheep have gone astray every one in his own way There are many By-paths that lead to Destruction We must also observe to prevent Mistakes there may be a forsaking of a particular Sin that has been delightful and predominant without Sincerity towards God for another Lust may have got possession of the Heart and take the Throne There is an alternate Succession of Appetites in the corrupt Nature according to the Change of Mens Tempers or Interests in the World. As Seeds sown in that order in a Garden that 't is always full of the Fruits in Season so original Sin that is sown in our Nature is productive of divers Lusts some in the Spring others in the Summer of our Age some in the Autumn others in the Winter Sensual Lusts flourish in Youth but when mature Age has cool'd these Desires Worldly Lusts succeed In old Age there is no relish of Sensuality but Covetousness reigns imperiously And as the Conditions and Interests of Men alter so their Affections change they are not constant to their Bosom-Sins Now he that expels one Sin and entertains another continues in a State of Sin 't is but exchanging of one Familiar for another or to borrow the Prophet's Expression 'T is as if one should fly from a Lion and meet with a Bear that will as certainly devour him 2. The forsaking our respective Sin is the inseparable Effect of Uprightness It has been proved before that if the Heart be divided between Obedience to the Divine Law and Inclination to any Sin 't is false to God. Repenting Ephraim said What have I to do any more with Idols an Expression of vehement detestation Idolatry had been the reigning Sin of that Tribe and therefore the renouncing of Idols was a clear convincing Sign of their sound Conversion It is impossible that sincere Love to God and the habitual allowance of a known Sin should be in the same Heart as for the Ark of God and the Idol of the Philistins to be plac'd on the same Altar Uprightness is consistent with Frailties but not with chosen Lusts. As Loyalty to the Prince is consistent with some Actions contravening his Laws that proceed from Ignorance or Surprize But Loyalty is inconsistent with Rebellion that is open Treason or with treasonable Designs that are secret Rebellion So any Sin that Men presumptuously live in or consent to in their Hearts is absolutely inconsistent with Uprightness 2. Let us be excited to keep our selves with all Diligence from our Iniquity This is the Master-piece of Mortification the noble effect of renewing Grace and very difficult to the corrupt Nature To enforce this Duty I will propound those Motives and Means as are very conducing for our performance of it The Motives are 1. Habitual indulged Lusts are irreconcileable with the state of Grace they render the Sinner till forsaken uncapable of God's pardoning Mercy here and the heavenly Glory hereafter The Gospel is a gracious Act of Oblivion for the restoring of Rebellious Sinners to the Favour of God but the Pardon is obtained upon Conditions that are indespensable Mercy is assured to penitent Believers for all their Sins of Ignorance and those Frailties that are the Causes of their daily Sorrow and Watchfulness and for all presumptuous Sins retracted by Repentance but the Saviour of the World excludes the impenitent and unreform'd from Mercy unless ye repent ye shall all likewise perish Now when Repentance is sound and solemn the Spirit is deeply wounded for that Sin whereby God has been most dishonoured and his Law violated The remembrance of it opens a full stream of Tears excits a holy Hatred and according to the degrees of Sorrow and Revenge there will be care to preserve our selves from that Sin. The Psalmist saith Blessed is the Man to whom the Lord imputes no Iniquity in whose Spirit there is no Guile implying that one reserved Lust which is a certain Argument of Deceit in the fairest Professors of Religion is a Bar against the Pardon of our Sins The Tenor of the unchangeable Covenant of Grace is I will write my Laws in their Hearts and I will be merciful to their Unrighteousness and their Sins and Iniquities I will remember no more God promises to reconcile their Affections to his Commands The Law may be written in the Mind and Memory of an unsanctified Person for the Ideas of the most repugnant things are consistent in those Faculties but the Heart is not capable of contrary Objects the Love of God's Law expels the predominant Love of Sin. Now since the Promise of Pardon is in Conjunction with inward Sanctification which implies an universal Aversion from Sin 't is evident that indulged habitual Lusts are not capable of Pardon whatever quality the Sin be of whether of Omission or Commission the allowance makes it destructive to Sinners As from what Corner soever a blasting Wind comes whether from the East or the North it destroys the Fruits If but one selected Sin remains in the Affections and Practice it contracts the Malignity of all the rest and will prove deadly to the Soul. 'T is not a presumptuous reliance on the Merits of Christ will save Men with their Sins The Atonement made to Divine Justice by the precious Sacrifice of the Lamb of God was never designed for the reconciling God to those who with depraved Obstinacy continue in their Sins 't is utterly inconsistent with the Divine Wisdom Holiness Justice and Truth to appoint a Sacrifice for the Expiation of final Impenitency Such out-sin the Death of Christ I will not say as to its infinite Merit but as to the Application and intended Benefit of it The Value of his Death to abolish the Guilt and the Vertue of it to mortify the Power of Sin are inseparable The precicious Balm has a fragrant Smell that revives the Spirits but without applying its Substance to the Wound the Scent will not heal it The Soul must feel the Power of Christ's Sufferings to kill our Sins otherwise the pleasing belief of his Righteousness
step to final Impenitence that is unpardonable Who can tell the degrees of Danger in continuing in Sin a day How many have been cut off in their early Sins and lost their Time and Hopes and Souls for ever But that which more specially belongs to the present Matter is this by the neglect of speedy Repentance Sin is more difficultly retracted By continuance in Sin the Heart is more unwilling and unable to mortify it The Habits of the Mind differ from the Habits of the Body these wear out by continuance the others are more firm and powerful they are second Inclinations and as violent as the first that are deeply set in corrupt Nature The healing a fresh Wound is much more easy than an inveterate Ulcer the healing the Soul and renewing it by Repentance is much more easy and safe presently after the wounding it by Sin then after continuance under the power and infection of Sin. A deep Heart-breaking Sorrow will prevent relapses into Sin. When Conscience represents our Sin in its killing Circumstances as committed against the knowledg of the Divine Law and our Vows of Obedience against the tender Mercies and dreadful Justice of God that for the low and despicable satisfaction of the sensual part we have made our selves unholy and unhappy from hence the Soul is struck with a Sorrow so pungent that the love of Pleasure is mortified and the sweetest Sin is imbitter'd The remembrance of that perplexing anguish will heighten the aversation and resolution against Sin The Soul will fly with horror the occasions of offending God and recoil at the first glance of that Sin that cost it so dear and which if entertain'd will renew its Agonies As one that narrowly escapes from being consum'd by Fire retains so strong an impression of the Terror that makes him always circumspect to avoid the like danger David's broken Bones made him understand what a fearful Sin Adultery was and cautious ever after But a slight Confession a superficial Sorrow a few sad Thoughts and Tears are soon forgot when the Sinner presumes by a slight Repentance to obtain Reconciliation with God he is ready to answer the next Temptation and return to Folly. 5. Fervent and constant Prayer for the renewing Grace of God is indispensably necessary to preserve us from our Sins 'T is by the Spirit of Holiness that we mortify the Deeds of the Body that we put off the old Man and put on the new Sanctifying Grace introduces a new Nature the Prolifick and Productive Principle of a new Life it turns the current of the Affections from Sin to Holiness This is as astonishing as the miraculous motion of the Shadow upon Ahaz Dial that went ten degrees backward Unregenerate Morality may lop the Branches restrain from the gross Acts but sanctifying Grace strikes at the root of Sin the inward Affection There are some Medicines that will stop the fits of the falling-Sickness for a time but not expelling the Cause the Disease invades Nature again So moral Counsels and Politick Respects may stop the breaking forth of the Lusts of the Flesh but the inward Affection of Sin remaining will make us apt to fall by the Commission of it Sanctifying Grace makes an inward universal Change in the Soul he that was unclean in his Thoughts and Desires by the transforming Power of the Spirit loves Pureness of Heart delights in it and has a fixed Hatred against any thing that defiles the Soul that cleaves to the Dust and pursues the acquisition of Earthly Things as his Treasure being refined and elevated by Grace seeks the things above with vigorous Enedavours In this the Diseases of the Body differ from those of the Mind the first notwithstanding the most earnest desire of Cures may be incurable the other when the Desires are sincere of spiritual Healing are in the happy way of Cure for vicious Affections are the Diseases of the Soul. This Change of the Affections the Effect of supernatural Grace is obtain'd by fervent Prayer Our Saviour assures us that our Heavenly Father will freely and abundantly give the holy Spirit to those who ask it with such ardent Affections as flow from their feeling sense of the want of his Influences In humble Prayer we acknowledg our Unworthiness our Weakness our absolute necessity of Divine Grace to mortify our Lusts in believing Prayer we glorify his Mercy and his Omniporence that he is both willing and powerful to make us victorious over our worst Enemies The Prayer of Jehosaphat when invaded by a vast Army conspiring the Destruction of his Kingdom is a Copy to be transcribed by us O our God we have no Might against this great Company that comes against us neither know we what to do but our Eyes are upon thee Thus Satan the World and the Flesh are combin'd in warring against the Soul and we are utterly unable to resist them we must therefore address our selves to the God of all Grace to strengthen our inward Man. And since some Lusts have such strong Possession that like that stubborn sort of Spirits mention'd in the Gospel they cannot be expell'd but by Fasting and Prayer we must with the most zealous Devotion Prayer joyn'd with Fasting implore Grace to subdue them Prayer must be continual if we intermit this recourse to Heaven we shall presently find our selves like Sampson when his Hair was shav'd weak like other Men. Grace in the Saints is not like Light in the Sun that springs from it self but like the Light of a Lamp that is constantly fed with Supplies of Oil otherwise the weak Light will faint and dye Inherent Grace is maintain'd by the continual Emanations from the holy Spirit Nay the Habits of Grace are drawn forth into Act and vigorous Exercise by supervenient exciting Grace without which they would be ineffective and useless As there cannot be actual Sight unless the Light in the Eye be irradiated by Light of the Air So without special assisting Grace we cannot do any Spiritual Good nor avoid Evil we shall be foil'd by every Temptation even the best will leave God and provoke God to leave them Our Saviour therefore enjoyns his Disciples the double Duty Watch and pray lest ye enter into Temptation David with his severe Resolutions to be circumspect joyn'd his fervent Requests to God I said I will take heed to my ways that I sin not with my Tongue I will keep my Mouth with a Bridle while the wicked is before me Set a Watch O Lord before my Mouth and keep the door of my Lips. His special Guidance is necessary to regulate our Tongues that we neither offend God nor justly provoke Men. Lastly Faith in the Redeemer is a Soveraign effectual Means for the mortifying Sin. The Son of God incarnate is the Fountain of inherent as well as imputed Righteousness Grace and Glory are conveyed to us by the Hands of the Mediator The Supernatual Power to do Good and vanquish Evil is