presumptuous easily deceived and refractory to Reason the superior Faculties the Understanding and Will are basely servile to the Carnal Appetites The wise Preacher intimates this in his bitter Irony Rejoice O young Man in thy Youth and let thy Heart chear thee in the days of thy Youth and walk in the ways of thy Heart and in the sight of thine Eyes but know for all these things God will bring thee to judgment Vain Mirth and loose Desires are usually indulged in the spring of our Age therefore the Apostle emphatically warns Timothy though a mortified young Man Flee youthful Lusts. In the maturer Age the â—â—â—sual Passions are cooler less vigorous and active and youthful Lusts are changed for other Lusts that are not so scandalous and leave not such a visible stain but are as destructive to the Soul. 'T is very observable in humane Nature that as the Affections in their sensible Operations decay the Understanding improves and recovers its ruling Power 't is visible in many Instances that Men in their staid Age despise those things that had a ravishing force upon them in their unsetled Youth But when the Mind is tainted with a false esteem of present things as 't is in all those who are in a state of polluted Nature it leads the Will and Affections to pursue Riches and Dignities Carnal Wisdom is distinguish'd by St. James into three kinds 't is earthly sensual devilish with respect to the tempting Objects in the World Riches Pleasures Honours The Sensual Wisdom is in contriving and appointing the Means that may accomplish the Desires of the Flesh. After the Flesh is satiated the earthly Wisdom designs earthly Things and uses such Means as are fit to obtain them to ascend in Power and Command or to raise Estates with wretched neglect of the Kingdom of Heaven and its Righteousness that should be sought in the first place and with the most ardent Affections and Endeavours In conjunction with this the devilish Wisdom is practised for Pride and Ambition are Satan's Original Sin as Envy and Slander are his Actual Sins He is continually vex'd at the recovery of fallen Man and is his constant Accuser And whilst Men are eagerly contending for the World they are excited from Interest and Envy to blast and defeat their Concurrents that would be superior or equal to them This worldly Wisdom though a more solemn Folly yet is as woful and pernicious as the sensual Wisdom for God is injuriously robb'd of his Right our highest Esteem and Affections and Men deceiv'd with the poor Pageant of the World neglect their last and blessed End and justly perish for ever Old Age has its peculiar Vices 'T is true it mortifies the Affections to some Vanities Vespasian the Roman Emperor was so tir'd with the Pomp of his Triumph that in the triumphant way he often reproach'd himself that being an Old Man he was engaged in such an empty and tedious Show And Charles the Fifth in his declining Age prefer'd the Shade of a Cloyster before the Splendor of the Empire But 't is attended with other vicious Inclinations Old Men are usually querulous impatient discontented suspicious vainly fearful of Contempt or Want and from thence or some other secret Cause are covetous and sordid in sparing aginst all the Rules of Reason and Religion Covetousness is stiled by the Apostle The Root of all Evil and as the Root in Winter retains the Sap when the Branches have lost their Leaves and Verdure so in Old Age the Winter of Life Covetousness preserves its vigour when other Vices are fallen off Usually the nearer Men approach to the Earth they are more earthly-minded and which is strange to amazement at the Sun-set of Life are providing for a long Day Briefly every Age has its special Vices suitable to the Constitution of Mens Bodies in them and we must accordingly make our enquiry to discover our own Sin. 2. The Connexion of the Passions duly observ'd will discover the predominant Lust. The Passions are the Motions of the sensitive Appetite whereby the Soul approaches to an Object that is represented under the pleasant Colours of Good or flies from an apprehended Evil. They are call'd Passions because in those Motions there is a flowing or ebbing of the Spirits and Humours from whence a sensible change is caus'd in the Body and the Soul is in unquiet Agitations 'T is very difficult to know their Original though the sensible Operations are very evident Consider the Soul as a Spirit 't is exempt from them the Spirit as a Soul is liable to them Whether they are derived from the Soul to the Body or from the Body to the Soul is hard to determine They are of excellent use when subordinate to the direction of the renewed Mind and the Empire of the sanctified Will When in their Rise Degrees and Continuance they are ordered by the Rule of true Judgment What the Winds are in Nature they are in Man If the Air be always calm without agitation it becomes unhealthful and unuseful for maintaining Commerce between the distant Parts of the World moderate Winds purify the Air and serve for Navigation And thus our voluble Passions are of excellent use and when sanctified transport the Soul to the Divine World to obtain Felicity above But when they are exorbitant and tempestuous they cause fearful Disorders in Men and are the Causes of all the Sins and Miseries in the World. From hence it is that Sin in the Scripture is usually exprest by Lust The Lusts of the Flesh are manifest those who are Christ's have crucified the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts thereof Every Man that is tempted is tempted of his own Lust. The Reason is because the corrupt Desires of the Soul when inflam'd are the Springs of its Actings and strongly engage the Mind and Will and all the active Powers to procure their Satisfaction Now Sin being the Obliquity of the desiring Faculty we may discover what is the predominant Sin by considering what Affection is most ardent and violent and consequently most depraved and disorder'd and this we may by observing the connexion between them for they generate one another As the Diseases of the Body tho the Disorder of Nature yet have certain Causes and a regular course in their Accession Inflammation and Revolution as in the Changes of an Ague a shivering Cold is attended with a fiery Heat and that with an overflowing Sweat in like manner the irregular Passions are productive of one another Love is the radical Affection and when it leads to a desir'd Object has always hatred in the Rear if disappointed and and crost in its Desires So Joy in the fruition of a dear Object is attended with Grief that lies in Ambush and immediately seizes upon the Soul when the Object is withdrawn And as in the Vibrations of a Pendulum the Motion is always as strong in proportion one way as it was
the People by degrees to them yet were crafty to hide their Design Caesar sometimes appeared publickly with a Wreath of Lawrel on his Head but lest the People from his wearing that appearance of a Crown should be jealous of his Intention pretended it was only to supply his want of Hair and cover his baldness Pompey wore a white Fillet curiously wrought about his Leg in pretence that his Leg was hurt but in truth because it was a Diadem a Royal Ornament for which he was reproach'd by some strict Observer There are innumerable Arts us'd to cover Mens respective Sins I shall only instance in one that is usually practis'd How do many like the crafty Lapwing that flutters at a distance from its Nest appear zealous against the visible Sins of others that under that shadowy Deceit they may hide their own Their Words feather'd with severe censure fly abroad wounding the Reputation of others for lesser Faults that they may not be suspected to be guilty of worse Sins secretly cherish'd by them But if the beloved Sin be evident Satan assists the corrupt Mind to frame such colourable Pretences either to defend or excuse it that it may not appear in a ghastly manner attended with strict Judgment and an everlasting Hell. When a Lust has enticed and drawn away the Will the Mind is ingag'd to give colour to the Consent and either directly or in an oblique way to represent the Sin that it may appear less odious and more amiable Sometimes the Understanding is so perverted by the impression of Pleasure that Conscience allows Concupiscence 'T is a repeated Observation of a wise Philosopher that Vices were disguis'd under the resemblance of Vertues and Vertues disparag'd under the names of Vices from whence the Understanding and Will the Mind and Manners were depraved and shame was cast upon the Vertuous and boldness given to the Vicious Profuseness is stil'd Magnificence Violence Valour Dissoluteness Gentility Fraud and Craft Prudence On the contrary Sincerity is blasted with the name of Folly Patience reputed Stupidity and Conscience Superstition The Proud will set off the the lofty Humour and Carriage as a decent greatness of Spirit and vilify the Humble as low and sordid The Cholerick will ingage Reason to justify his Passion he will alledge the Provocation would anger an Angel. The Luke-warm in Religion will represent lukewarmness as a discreet Temperament between the vicious Extreams of a Wild-fire Zeal and a prophane coldness and neglect The Earthly-minded will put flattering Colours on Covetousness to make it appear a praise-worthy Vertue a prudent provision for time to come If Men are quite destitute of defence they will by a mild construction extenuate the guilt of their darling Sin. The incontinent Person will make a Canopy for his Lust as only a humane Frailty The Intemperate will excuse his Excess as free Mirth and harmless Society Many Apologies are made for the Sins Men indulgently commit some will plead in excuse a prone necessity of Nature some the Custom of the Places they live in some their unsettled Youth any thing that may lessen the turpitude in the view of Conscience or in the Opinion of others Now pleading argues Love and Love denominates the Sin to be their own From hence it is that so many contract a desperate hardness and are irrecoverably depraved But if Men cannot hide or excuse their beloved Sin they are impatient of reproof for it and with secret Discontent or stormy Passions reject Admonition Some of fair Tempers and Conversation if a Minister or Friend be faithful to their Souls and with holy Zeal urges the divorcing Command of God between them and their pleasant Sins and represents sincerely the Guilt of their sinful course of Life they become fierce and vehement and recoil upon their Reprovers as arrogating imperious Authority or for Rigour and Severity or importinence in admonishing them and sometimes recriminate that the Reprover is as bad or worse himselfl ike a River that passes without noise till it meets with the Arches of a Bridg that stops its free Current then it swells and roars In short the indulgent Sinner will endeavour to defend his bosom-Sin or to subdue his Conscience that it may not torment him for it 5. The Sin that the enlightned Conscience reflects upon with anguish and bitter remorse is usually that which has been indulg'd and whereby God has been most dishonour'd There is so deep an impression of the Deity in the Soul and our duty and accountableness that it cannot be utterly defac'd and though the rebellious Will and Affections controul it for a time yet it remains for the Conviction and Punishment of Delinquents Conscience is a Spy in our Bosoms and observes in order to a discovery and what is written in its Register cannot be razed out 'T is true a Spirit of Slumber sometimes seizes upon the Wicked and Conscience is so stupified that they sin without reflection and remorse but there are times wherein Conscience is rous'd up like a Lion and tears them in pieces according to the fearful Threatning This is sometimes done by the powerful preaching of the Word The Apostle describes the Word of God by its admirable efficacy 'T is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder the Soul and Spirit and of the Joints and Marrow and is a discerner of the Thoughts and Intents of the Heart When the Word by a piercing Application discovers the bosom-Sin and the fearful Judgment that attends it so that the Guilty cannot obscure the Evidence of the one nor avoid the terror of the other then Conscience bleeds afresh that was seared before There is recorded a wonderful Instance of this in the Acts of the Apostles when Paul the Prisoner reason'd of Righteousness Temperance Judgment to come Felix trembled The discoursing of those Vertues that were directly contrary to his habitual Enormities ript up his Conscience to the quick and struck into consternation that lofty Sinner From hence it is that many decline a sharp and searching Ministry which is always the Token of a guilty Heart The Word shining upon the Conscience like the reflection of the Sun upon the Waters that made them appear like Blood makes Sins to appear in their crimson Guilt their bloody Aggravations Our Saviour tells us that the evil Doer neither loves or comes to the Light lest his Deeds should be reproved When a powerful Preacher as a second Conscience as if he knew the Hearts and Ways of Men sets their Sins in order before their Eyes and closely applies the Threatnings of Divine Vengeance to them Conscience often joins with him and as a faithful Eccho repeats the terrible Truths to their conviction and anxiety In times of Affliction when our Sins find us out we usually find out our Sins In full Prosperity Men are strangers at Home and rarely look inward they will not endure
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
recorded of Craesus when pursued by the Army of the Persians he fill'd a straight Passage between the Mountains with Boughs of Trees and set fire to them and thereby secur'd his Retreat If Men were so wise as to set the Fire of Hell between the Temptations of Sin and their Affections it would be a sure defence from their Spiritual Enemies But the Scene of Torments prepared for unreform'd Sinners is little understood and less believed by Men whilst they are in Prosperity tho the Saviour of the World has in great Mercy revealed them in such Expressions as may terrify even secure Carnalists that only live to Sense Infidelity lies at the bottom and renders the most terrible Truths ineffectual There is such a Riddle in the Tempers of Men they are not sensible of Divine Mercies till deprived of them nor of Divine Judgments till they feel them But if right Reason were attended to they must be convinced of unseen Rewards and Punishment to be dispensed in the next State. For the Light of Nature discovers an essential Difference between Moral Good and Evil From hence proceeds the Reflections of Conscience either approving or condemning our own Actions and making a Judgment upon the Actions of others by that common Rule according to which all acknowledg that Men ought to live This Truth is so engraven in the Humane Nature that even the most wicked Sinners who endeavour if it were possible to make Conscience so blind as not to see and stupid as not to feel yet cannot totally exclude the Application of it to themselves and will acknowledg the Obligation of it in the general and with respect to others Now the Law of God written in Mans Heart necessarily infers a Judgment upon the Transgressors of it and the Judgment includes a Punishment becoming the Majesty of the Lawgiver that ordains it and the extent of his Power that executes it Divine Revelation makes this Truth much more clear and certain The Apostle tells us If we live after the Flesh we shall die and will God cease to be holy and just and true that impenitent Sinners may escape Punishment But there are some poisonous Principles infus'd into the Hearts of Men that encourage them in their Sins notwithstanding their Assent to the Doctrine of a future Judgment Some cannot perswade themselves that God will be so strict and severe that for a single forbidden Pleasure when they respect other Commands of his Law he will condemn them for ever The secret Presumption that one Transgression will not provoke their Judg to extream Wrath hardens them in a sinful course But St. James declares He that offends in one Point is guilty of all One known allowed Sin that a Man habitually commits involves him in the Guilt of Rebellion against the Divine Authority that made the Law. It was observ'd before Herod did somethings according to John's Divine Instructions but he would not part with Herodias and that one Sin denominated him wicked Many are like him they observe some Rules of Religion perform some Duties are zealous against some Sins but there is an Herodias a Sin pleasant to the Taste of their Temper that they will not relinquish and without any Promise nay against the Threatnings of God they believe he will be merciful to them notwithstanding their Wickedness This Presumption is an unnatural abuse of God's Mercy This exasperates that high and tender Attribute For what can be more provoking than to imagine that the Divine Mercy should encourage Sin and protect unceform'd Sinners from the Arrests of Vindictive Justice The Blood that Ahab spar'd in Benhadad induc'd a deadly Guilt as that he spilt of Naboth as God spake by the Prophet to him Because thou hast spared that Man whom I appointed to Destruction thy Life shall go for his Life The Application is easy to spare the Life of Sin will cost the Life of the Sinner One Lust that adhering Custom or the closer Nature or any carnal Interest so endears to Men that they do not sincerely desire and endeavour to mortify and forsake will be fatal to them for ever Some habitual Sinners when terrified with the Apprehension of future Judgment for God sometimes thunders in the Conscience as well as in the Air endeavour to quiet their Fears by presuming that the Death of Christ will reconcile offended Justice and his Blood cleanse them from all Sin. They will lean upon the Cross to save them from falling into the bottomless Pit but not crucify one Lust on it The Vanity of this has been shewed before I shall only add that 't is most opprobrious to the Son of God and most destructive to Sinners for 't is to make him the Minister of Sin as if he came into the World to compose a Church of rotten and corrupt Members and unite it to himself Such a Mystieal Body would be more monstrous than Nebuthadnezzar's Image of which the Head was Gold and Feet were Miry Clay And this will be most destructive to their Souls for by turning the remedy of Sin into an occasion of sinning they derive a woful Guilt from the Death of Christ instead of the precious Benefits purchased by it for true Believers For an unreformed Sinner to oppose the Blood of Christ to the Fears of Damnation renders his Condition desperate The most who continue in a sinful course strive to elude the Warnings of Conscience by resolving that after the Season of sinning is past they will reform and apply themselves to seek the Favour and Grace of God. But how hazardous how incongruous is the delay of serious Repentance How hazardous The Lives of Sinners are forfeited in Law their time is a Reprieve depending meerly upon the Favour of the Judg how can they have a Warrant for a day But they are young and strong and think the day of Death and their last Account to be at a great distance Vain Security as if Death were not in every place and every hour as near Rebellious Sinners as their Sins that deserve it If thou doest Evil says God to Cain Sin is at the Door Damnation is ready to tread upon the Heels of Sinners and if Divine Clemency and Patience did not interpose would immediately seize upon them God sometimes shoots from the Clouds and breaks the strongest Buildings into Ruins it is not the Error of his Hand but his Pity that impenitent Sinners escape his visible Vengeance But who can assure them of future time Besides suppose that Sinners who hate to be reform'd whilst present Temptations are so inviting had a Lease of Time can they command the Grace of God They now suppress the Motions of the Spirit and in effect say to him as Felix to St. Paul awakening his Conscience with a Sermon of Righteousness and Temperance and Judgment to come Go away for the present when it is a convenient season I will call for thee But will the holy Spirit assist them at Death who have always resisted him