Prayer commands him to take his Rod and in the Assembly of the People to speak to the Rock and the Water should issue out Moses assembles the People expostulates the matter with them strikes the Rock twice and the Waters came Where is the great Sin of Moses all this while Yet he often repeats it that God was angry with him for something done at that time God himself saith Moses and Aaron rebelled against him and that they did not sanctifie him before the People the Psalmist saith they provoked his Spirit so that he spake unadvised with his Lips After all the Sin of Moses was a Mixture of Anger and some kind of Infidelity For the Psalmist saith he was highly provoked and God himself saith they believed him not to sanctifie him in the Eye of the Children of Israel The Fault then seems to lie in this that they were more concerned for their own Honour than God's and did not so clearly attribute the Power of the Miracle to God but that the People might think they assumed it to themselves as appears by their Words to the People Hear now ye Rebels must we fetch you Water out of the Rock Which Expression doth not give God the Glory he expected from them and he is so tender in matters of his own Honour that he would suffer none to encroach upon it no not his faithfull Servants but he made them smart for attempting it The other case is that of David's Numbering the People and he was a Man after God's own Heart of great Sincerity and Courage and Constancy in his Service Yet of a sudden he took up a Resolution that he would have all the People number'd without any apparent Reason for it And although he was discouraged from the Attempt by those about him yet he would be obey'd And what came of it Truly before the thing was completed he grew very uneasie at what he had done for it is said His heart smote him after that he had numbred the People and David said to the Lord I have sinned greatly in what I have done And yet in the Book of Chronicles it is said that he finished it not because Wrath fell for it against Israel What was the Cause of all this Severity against David Was it such an unpardonable Sin for a King to understand the Number of his People Suppose it a Failing yet why should God be so angry for one such failing in him that had served God so sincerely as David had done There must be something extraordinary in this Case for God sometimes supposes the People to be Number'd and in some Cases he requires or allows it why then is he so dâ—spleased now at the doing it The best Account I know of it is this It was not a meer Piece of Vanity and Ostentation in David although that be displeasing to God but it was a thing as designed by him which was generally look'd on as inconsistent with the Fundamental Promise made to Abraham and so it is mention'd in the Chronicles why the Numbering was not exactly taken because the Lord had said He would increase Israel like the Stars of the Heavens Which seems to imply that there was a general Notion received among the People that since God promised to increase them beyond Number no one ought to go about to take the exact Number of them For this must seem to savour of Infidelity and a Contempt or Mistrust of God's fundamental Promise But however upon such Occasions God might use two of his most faithfull Servants thus yet we have no Reason to question his Readiness to pardon these and other their Failings upon a sincere Repentance and to accept of their general Care and Endeavour to please him instead of a perfect Obedience But I have something farther to offer for the clearing these two difficult Cases viz. that there is a Difference to be observed between the Rule of God's Proceedings with particular Persons as to the general Sincerity of their Actings and the Measure of God's political Justice as to Persons in publick Capacities The Reason is because in the latter Cases God may justly have a Regard not meerly to the Actions themselves but to the Circumstances of the People they are related to Thus Moses mentions it three several times The Lord was angry with me for your sakes and again the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes and would not hear me and the Lord said unto me Let it suffice thee speak no more to me of this matter It seems he was so much concerned as to pray to God and that earnestly that he would give him leave to conduct the People into Canaan but God would not grant his Request But he tells the People that it was for their sakes that he was denied Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes and sware that I should not go over Jordan c. So that the Blow which was given to the Head was for the sake of the whole Body And it is remarkable in the Case of David that before he fell into the Sin of Numbering the People The Anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and he moved David against them to say Go Number Israel and Judah From whence it is evident that the Sins of a People may provoke God to let Princes fall into such Sins which may give just occasion to God to punish both together But this is a very different Case from the Method of God's dealings with particular Persons with regard to their Integrity according to the Terms of the Covenant of Grace Which is established on such Foundations that we need not give way to Despondencies for the sake of such particular Acts of Severity II. I am now to consider the different Consequences of these two To be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace which in short is that the Advantage is far greater which comes to Mankind by one than by the other And that will appear by comparing them together 1. As under equal Circumstances 2. As under unequal Circumstances 1. As under equal Circumstances And here we have two sorts of Persons to consider 1. Those who have Convictions of Conscience going along with a carnal Mind Such who look on the Conditions of Men in this World at a Distance and judge only by Appearance would be apt to think that those who do allow themselves all the Liberties which a carnal Mind doth incline them to have very much the Advantage of those who are under the Restraints of a spiritual Mind for they are bound to severe Rules of Vertue and Mortification to deny all Ungodliness and Worldly lusts and to live soberly and righteously and godly in this present World and these are thought to be very hard things whereas such who are not under these Difficulties seem to lead the most pleasant and easie Lives
not seem to confine the Consequences here mention'd to another World altho' the full Accomplishment of them be only there to be expected but if we attend to his Scope and Design in the End of the foregoing Chapter and the Beginning of this we shall find that even in this Life the result of a carnal Mind is a sort of a Spiritual Death and of a Spiritual Mind is Life and Peace For when St. Paul in the 7â—h Chapter had represented himself as carnal and sold under Sin although there were great strugglings between the Convictions of his Conscience and the strength of carnal Inclinations yet as long as the latter prevailed so that he could not do the things that his Mind and Reason told him he ought to do but did those things which he was convinced be ought not to have done The more he reflected upon himself the more sad and miserable he found his Condition to be as appears by that Emphatical expression which follow'd upon it O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death But he no sooner finds hopes of Delivery and Escape out of that Estate but he breaks forth into Transport of Joy and inward Satisfaction Thanks be to God who hath given us the Victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Not meerly a Victory over Death but over Sin too And so he begins this Chapter after a triumphant manner There is therefore no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit For the Lord of the Spirit of Life which was in Christ Jesus hath made me â—â—ee from the Law of Sin and Death He that groaned under his Captivity before to the Law of Sin doth now rejoyce in his Deliverance from it by the Grace of the Gospel For what could not be done by natural Freedom by the Power of the Law and the Force of Reason is brought to pass by the Assistance of Divine Grace given to the Souls of Men by Jesus Christ. For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh What was that which the Law could not do It could awaken convince terrifie and confound the Consciences of Sinners under the Sense and Apprehension of their Sins but it could neither satisfie the Justice of God nor the Minds of Men it could not remove the Guilt nor take away the Force and Power of Sin But God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinfull Flesh and for sin condemned sin in the Flesh i. e. Jesus Christ becoming an expiatory Sacrifice for Sin took off the damning Power of Sin and by the prevailing Efficacy of his Grace subdued the strength and force of it to such a degree That the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit How could this be if St. Paul still considered himself in the same Condition he did in the foregoing Chapter For if he were still in Captivity to the Law of Sin in his Members how was it possible that the Righteousness of the Law should be fulfilled in him How could he walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit if the Good which he would he did not and the Evil which he would not that he did For these things are so repugnant to each other that when they are spoken of the same Person it must be under different Considerations the one of him as meerly under the Power of the Law the other as under the Grace and Influence of the Gospel The one was like rough and a churlish sort of Physick which searches into every Part and puts all the ill Humours of the Body into Motion and makes a general Disturbance and Uneasiness within but yet lets them remain where they were the other is like a gentle but more effecutal Remedy which carries off the Strength and Power of inward Corruptions and alters the Habit and Temper and puts quite another Disposition into us which produces very different Effects upon us For instead of Horrour and Despair and inward Anguish and Confusion there will follow a new Life of Joy and Peace here and Eternal Happiness hereafter And this is what the Apostle means in the Words of the Text To be carnally minded c. Wherein are two things which very much deserve our Consideration I. The different Tempers of Men's Minds some are carnally and others spiritually minded II. The different Consequences which follow them To be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace I. The different Tempers of Men's Minds The different Denominations are taken from the Flesh and the Spirit which are here represented as two Principles so different from each other that the same Person cannot be supposed to be acted by both of them For as the Apostle saith in the foregoing Words They that are after the Flesh do mind the things of the Flesh but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit Where the Flesh in a Moral sense takes in all our sensual Inclinations which are sinfull either in their Nature or Degree The Spirit is that Divine Principle which possesses the Mind with the Love and Esteem of Spiritual things and keeps our natural Inclinations within the Compass of God's Law To be carnally minded is to be under the Influence of carnal things so as to make the Pursuit of them our chief Design To be spiritually minded is to have so deep and just a Sense of God and his Law upon our Minds as to make it our business to please him and therefore to subdue all such Inclinations which are repugnant to his Will But here lies the main Difficulty how to judge concerning this matter so as to be able to determine whether we our selves be carnally or spiritually minded Which is a thing of so great Consequence for us to know that the Peace of our Minds the true Comfort of our Lives our due Preparation for Death and a happy Eternity do all depend upon And yet that this is a real Difficulty will appear from these Considerations 1. It requires a greater Knowledge of our selves as to our spiritual Condition than most Persons in the World can pretend to For it is not a slight and superficial View of our selves not a transient sudden Reflection nor a partial Inquiry into our inward Passions and the Course of our Actions which can make us capable of passing a true Judgment upon the Temper of our Minds but there must be a true Light a serious and diligent Search frequent Recollection free and deliberate Thoughts long Observation and due Comparison of our selves with our selves and with the Law of God before we can form a just Opinion as to the prevailing Temper and Disposition of our Minds It 's true this is not necessary in all Persons for some and I am afraid too many are so carnally minded that
Yet taking altogether our Saviour tells them They ought to watch and pray that they enter not into Temptation and he gives the Reason for it in the following words The Spirit indeed is willing but the Flesh is weak 2. In which words he gives an account of the reason of the Inconstancy and Insufficiency of good Resolutions viz. that although the Spirit be willing yet there is something we carry about us which weakens our best Resolutions and betrays us into Temptations our Flesh is weak which being so near us as to be a part of our selves makes our Case more dangerous and enforces the necessity of Watchfulness and Prayer But here arises one of the most useful necessary and important Cases that relates to practical Christianity which I shall first set down in its full Force and then endeavour to clear it The Case is this how far and in what Circumstances the weakness of the Flesh doth lessen the guilt of Sin which is committed by it If it be not an Extenuation of the Sin why doth our Saviour mention it in such a manner And if it be then these Inconveniencies follow 1. It seems to abate the necessity of our Care and Watchfulness if the Sin be lessened through the weakness of the Flesh which is unavoidable in this imperfect State 2. It seems to be a fair Plea and Excuse for the greatest part of the Sins of Mankind For 1. The Original inclination to Sin in Mankind comes from the weakness of the Flesh the very frame of humane Nature being such as exposes them to continual Temptations There is a natural Combat between the Flesh and the Spirit for the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these are contrary the one to the other as the Apostle speaks and all Mankind find it too true Now wherever the Flesh is there are Inclinations agreeable to it and these being contrary to the Dictates of the Mind all the Sins of the Flesh will appear to come from the weakness of the Flesh. 2. The frequent Commission of the same Sins will be laid upon the weakness of the Flesh. For the generality of Mankind do not sin out of defiance to God or his Laws or with an obstinate Resolution to sin for they know their Duty and wish they could perform it but alas The Flesh is too hard for the Spirit in them They have many Convictions in their Minds many good Purposes and serious Resolutions at some times and if they do sin it is not with their whole Wills for they have great strugglings and checks of Conscience within even while they commit those Sins And therefore what can their continuing in sin be so properly attributed to as to the weakness of the Flesh. 3. Relapses into the same sin after Repentance seems to proceed from the weakness of the Flesh. For he that hath once smarted severely for his Sins and suffered under the Agonies of Conscience for them he that hath gone so far as not meerly to lament his Folly and to abhor his Wickedness but to make solemn Vows and Promises and Resolutions never more to return to the Practice of them it is hard to conceive that such a one should fall into his Sins again with his whole Mind and Soul for the Light of Conscience when it is once throughly kindled is not easily put out it is a secret Fire which burns inward and can hardly be extinguished and all those who sin against Conscience the Dictates of their Minds are right while they commit their Sins and therefore even these Sins seem to be excused by the weakness of the Flesh. But on the other side the Scripture is plain and express that Sins which do come from the Flesh do exclude from the Kingdom of Heaven The works of the Flesh are manifest saith St. Paul Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Lasciviousness c. Drunkenness Revelling and such like which are properly Sins of the Flesh. Of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And in another place For this ye know that no Whoremonger nor unclean Person nor Covetous Man who is an Idolater hath any Inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God Let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these things cometâ— the wrath of God on the Children of Disobedience Would God be so severe under the Dispensation of his Mercy to punish Mankind with utter exclusion from Heaven and eternal Misery for Sins which came meerly from the weakness of the Flesh Then indeed there were just cause to bewail the sad Condition of Humanity born under one Law to another bound created Sick commanded to be Sound But God will vindicate his Justice at the great Day and Mankind shall be fully satisfied that none shall be damned for the meer weakness of the Flesh but for the Sins of their Will and Choice That as they had evil Inclinations from the Flesh so they had good Inclinations from the Grace of God and the Law of their Minds ought to have governed and kept under the Law of their Members that others by the same Assistance which was offered to them have crucified the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts thereof That the Grace of God doth enable them to deny ungodliness and worldly Lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World That if Men do fail of the Grace of God it is through their own fault that those who relapse into sin after Repentance and escaping the pollutions of the World Their latter end is worse than the beginning and in short If Men do live after the Flesh they shall die but if through the Spirit they do mortifie the Deeds of the Body they shall live All which shews That there is so great a Possibility of fubduing the Inclinations of the Flesh that if Men neglect it and give way to the fulfilling of them this very thing will be imputed to them as a wilfull and damning Sin But here the Difficulty still rises for Christ supposes that his own Disciples even the most forward and the best resolved might fall through the infirmity of the Flesh and they did so upon no great Temptation as appears by St. Peter's denying his Master in so dreadful a manner upon so slight a Provocation as the Damsels saying to him Thou also wast wâ—â—h Jesus of Galilee What a mean low and timorous Spirit had possessed St. Peter at that time Was this he who but a few hours before said That though he should die with him he would not deny him Lord what is Man Verily in his best Estate he is altogether Vanity What St. Peter deny his Lord who made that Confession of him which Christ owned was not revealed to him by Flesh and Blood but by his Father in Heaven viz. That he was
any one Precept of the Law especially such as respected God and his Worship that would make amends for all the rest and this was the true Reason why the Pharisees made long Prayers and yet devoured Widows Houses for they thought the Duties of the first Table would excuse the neglect of the other But S. James saith If a Man keep all the rest of the Law and yet allows himself in the wilful breach of any one Point that implies such a Contempt of the Lawgiver as renders him as obnoxious to Divine Justice as if he had broken the whole But here a great difference is to be made between a single Act committed through the Power of Temptation against a contrary habit of Vertue and the habitual Practice of known Sins It is possible for a sober Man to be surprized into an Act of Intemperance and to be overcome by the strength of Wine but see the difference between such a one and one that hath a habit of Intemperance The one goes on in his Course and hath lost the very Sense of his Sin and the Power of resisting it and by degrees thinks he cannot live without it the other looks with Indignation upon himself for his Folly he repents presently and resolves to avoid all occasions of being guilty of the like Folly And the same holds as to other Sins if Persons do love God and their Souls and be overcome with Temptations they presently repent with great Sincerity and return no more to the Practice of it 3. All Acts of known Sins presumptuously committed are inconsistent with a constant and sincere Endeavour to please God Where there is true Friendship among Men it is not presently broke by every Neglect or sudden Heat and Passion but if a Man sets himself with Study and Deliberation to affront another that is a reasonable Cause to break off any Pretence of Friendship because such an Action was not consistent with the love of a Friend so it is with notorious Sins committed wilfully and deliberately notwithstanding all the Motions to the contrary from God's Honour and Justice and Soveraignty and from the Commands and Threatnings of the Gospel these are inconsistent with being in a State of Friendship with God which is all one with a State of Salvation Not that all who commit them must immediately or necessarily be damned for them but tho' hereby they renounce any Title to Friendship with God and all their hopes as long as they continue in such a State without true and hearty Repentance are vain and groundless And to entertain such hopes notwithstanding such sins is properly the Sin of Presumption which is Confidence of anothers Favour without any Reason for it 2. By these we may now easily understand what those Failings are which the Gospel allows for Infirmities viz. such which are unavoidable by us in this imperfect State notwithstanding a constant and sincere Endeavour to please God by doing his Will God knoweth our frame and remembreth that we are but dust Not meer Dust for then it were to no purpose to take Care to save our Souls but a Mixture and Composition of dull heavy lumpish Matter and a sprightly vigorous active Soul which grows uneasie by being fettred and clogged and distracted in its best and freest Motions by it The Soul can hardly raise it self above this Region of Darkness and Temptation and attempt a Flight towards the State of Serenity and Happiness above but it is pulled down by that weight which hangs upon it and diverted by the various and restless Impertinency of wandring Imaginations The most watchful Mind cannot prevent all the disorders of a roving Fancy in the midst of our more serious Devotions If we set our selves to fix our Minds upon the best Objects and to prevent any wandring thoughts the Success seldom answers our Design and our thoughts are gone before we are aware of it Our Minds are like a Ship tossed upon the rowling Waves but although we cannot hinder their unequal Motion we may steer their Course to the Port we aim at But beside the Extravagancies of Imagination our Desires are hard to be kept within their due Bounds there are many Failings in our best Duties great Coldness and Lukewarmness at least in our Devotions and yet too great Proneness to think well of our selves for them though God knows our Omissions and Neglects are so many and those we do perform are so mean and slight that we have more cause to pray to God to forgive than to hope he will accept our mean Performances But yet I do not say our best Actions are Sins for there is a real difference between Actions imperfectly good and morally evil in these the Substance is bad but in the other the Acts themselves are good but only lessen'd by the manner of doing them And to these Failings in our best Actions we must add the great unevenness in our Tempers the Inconstancy of our Resolutions the uneasiness of our Minds under the Troubles of Life arising from want of due Resignation and Submission to the Will of God the many secret lurking Passions within us which are called the Motions to sin and S. James styles The lust which conceives and brings forth sin and St. Paul The Law in our Members warring against the Law in our Minds which may give a great deal of disturbance where it cannot prevail It is a sad thing to read the Complaints of such Persons as St. Gregory Nazianzen and St. Jerom about the inward Motions to sin after an Age spent in Mortifications and when their Bodies were wither'd with Age and broken with Diseases and hard Usage But there is a greater Instance than these of St. Paul himself who after all his Perils by Land and by Sea after all his Watchfulness and Fastings and Prayers yet he was forced to keep under his Body and to bring it in Subjection lest that by any means saith he ' when I have preached to others I my self become a cast-away But still there is a great difference between pursuing the things of the Spirit with the Reluctancy of the Flesh and pursuing the things of the Flesh with the reluctancy of the Spirit the former shews only the Motions of the Flesh which being subdued are but Infirmities but the latter do not cease to be wilful Sins tho' there be inward struggling in the Commission of them and the prevailing Party ought to give the Denomination to the Person whether carnal or spiritual For They that are after the Flesh do mind the things of the Flesh but they that are after the Spirit do mind the things of the Spirit And according to the great Design and Tenour of our Lives and Actions will be our Character in this World and recompence in another Nothing now remains but to conclude with recommending to you the Duties of Watchâ—ulness and Prayer 1. Watchfulness which is a constant Care of our selves and Actions We walk as