under your feet every sin that is in you God is able saith the Apostle to cause all grace to abound towards you so the Spirit of God is able to cause all sin to decay wither and dye in you Judg. 15.14 When Samson came to Lehi the Philistines shouted against him and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire and his hands loosed from off his hands Thus when the Spirit comes into any soul and works mightily in it all its lusts are as nothing of no strength Wherefore whoever yet hath not the Spirit let such a one be perswaded to look out for it with all earnestness and diligence to seek it should you not having the Spirit set your selves to mortifie your sins this as so would not be obedience to God nor pleasing to him because he requires you to do this work through the Spirit and consequently to get the Spirit that you may do it therefore they who have not and seek not the Spirit do not obey nor please God by the things they do against their sins yea they disobey God and highly offend him in that they take not his Counsel that holds true in this case Isa 30.1 Wo to the rebellious children saith the Lord that take counsel but not of me and that cover with a covering but not of my spirit that they may add sin to sin It is rebellion against God it is adding sin to sin when men think to help and save themselves outwardly much more when any think to save themselves spiritually from their sins without the spirit such do bring a heavy wo upon themselves Q. What then should one do that hath not the spirit that he may attain A. 1. It is a good step for one that hath not the spirit to 〈◊〉 convinc't that he is without it and that he stands in a most absolute necessity of it so that he is utterly and eternally undone if he have it not Many void empty of the spirit dream and strongly fansie that they have it yea many times when men are filled and acted by the evill lying spirit they are very big with a vain conceit that they have much an eminent measure of the holy spirit of truth 1 Kings 22.24 Zedekiah a man filled with the lying spirit went to the good Prophet and smote him on the cheek saying Which way went the spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee he verily supposed himself to have and to be moved by the good spirit of God and he seems to speak as if he only had it so that none could have it but from him or at least that he had it first Which way saith he went the spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee Which he spake scoffingly deriding the holy Prophet even thus are men oft most wofully deluded a strong perswasion have they that Gods spirit is in them whereas the truth is the evill spirit not the good rules and works in them Others they have no sense feeling or conviction of their need of the spirit so they have no desire after it hence they continue without and while it is so with any they are not like to become partakers of it labour then to know your want and to feell your need of the spirit in order to your seeking and attaining it Secondly The great thing of all to be done for the gaining of the spirit is believing Gal. 3.14 the promise of the spirit is received through faith there must be a heart receiving the Gospel and Jesus Christ held forth thereby there must be a soul setled perswasion of the undoubted certainty of the doctrin of Christ and a soul trust and rest on him to the receiving the promise of the spirit a right to that great promise and the fulfilling thereof That is a famous promise divers times repeated 1 Pet. 2.6 Behold I lay in Zion a chief corner-stone elect precious i. e. Jesus Christ and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded by what shall he not be confounded Not by any thing not by Satan not by sin in it's guilt or power not by any lust But how so For as he that believeth in Christ is cloathed with his righteousnesse so he is made partaker of his spirit Put then thy trust in Christ Jesus fasten upon him by faith and that for this end that thou mayest through and from him receive the spirit For these two things Christ is to be believed in for his righteousnesse to justifie us in the sight of God before the justice of God and for his spirit to mortifie our sins so to sanctifie our souls whoever beileved in Christ in good earnest and in truth for these things but they received them their persons are clothed with his most perfect righteousnesse their souls are endowed with his most holy blessed spirit Rev 4.1 2. I looked and behold a dore was opened in heaven and the first voice that I heard was as the voice of a trumpet talking with me which said come up hither and immediately I was in the spirit So when a soul doth hear the voice of God in the Gospel powerfully and effectually saying come up hither in thy heart come to Christ in Heaven by hearty faith then the soul obeying this voice immediately hath the spirit from Christ communicated to it There should be also a believing in particular the promises which God hath made of giving the spirit who ever embraceth by true faith any promise of the spirit as made in Christ he receiveth the accomplishment of that promise by Christ Christ graciously bestoweth the spirit upon him Thirdly None receive the spirit to dwell in them without turning from their evill wayes for there is no true faith without a heart turn from known sin and while any give up or yeild themselves to sin they do vex the spirit Isa 63.10 They rebelled and vexed his holy spirit But who is like to receive the spirit to dwell in him while he rebells and vexeth it Wherefore that word is to be remembred Prov. 1.23 Turn ye at my reproof Behold I will pour out my spirit unto you Then I 'le pour out my spirit unto you when you have a heart to turn till this be a man is a down right enemy to the spirit his heart is lock't and barr'd up against it who will go and dwell in the house of an enemy while he continues in open hostility against him A man must lay down arms and not maintain fight against him whom he needs and desires to come and dwell with him and if his desire be right he will do so A man cannot truly will to receive the spirit unlesse he will to leave his sin Fourthly That sweet word of Christ should be thought on Luke 11 13. How much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy spirit to them that ask him If asking follow or
Prophets and hewn them with the word of my mouth so the Spirit by Scripture words slayes hacks and hews our sins as Antichrist is consumed by the breath of the Lords mouth so is sin within us which is the worst Antichrist of all and but for which there had been no Antichrist at all Lastly The Spirit mortifieth our sins by producing and begetting fruits in us contrary thereto such as those Gal. 5.22 23. the Apostle in the foregoing verses declares what are the fruits of the Flesh thereupon makes mention of the fruits of the Spirit such as love peace long-suffering goodness faith meekness whereby he teacheth us that the Spirit by causing these good things in us doth expell and destroy the fruits of the Elesh which are contrary thereto and there is one fruit of the spirit not there mentioned but implyed in love which the spirit works whereby the power and life of Sin is greatly abated yea even taken away according to the measurc and strength of it and that 's hatred hatred of all Sin which makes us eager in seeking the utter extirpation of it out of our Souls I might have added The Spirit breaks the force of Satan's temptations who seeks to defend Sin and keeps it upon the throne in us and therefore tempts violently stirs up and doth all he can to kindle it and feed it by pouring in such and such thoughts as by other means but the Spirit opposeth and withstands him to which that may be applyed Isa 59.19 When the enemy shall come in like a floud the Spirit of the Lord shal lift up a Standard against him The Spirit well understands all Satans wiles and what correspondence he hath with Sin in us and the Spirit either driveth him away and makes him flee from us or counterworks him dictating answers to all his temptations and as casting water on the fire which Satan endeavours to blow up in us Sermon 6. I Am now in the second place to shew what we are to do that we may have the help of the Spirit in mortifying the deeds of the body For answer whereto briefly in a few particulars First We must receive the Spirit we can do nothing this way through the Spirit unless it be in us dwelling and abiding in our Souls which it will not be except it be received by us 1 Cor. 2.12 We have received the Spirit which is of God So have all we who truly believe and they who have not must receive it or never will they give any of their sins a deadly wound through it If any keep their hearts shur against the Spirit they cannot have the help of it in the work of mortification or any other work to their Salvation As till the Soul come into the Body and dwell in it the Body doth not cannot work act or do any thing by it so till the Spirit come into the Soul and be received to dwell there the Soul doth nothing by it to the subduing it's lusts Secondly They who have received the Spirit must call in or call for it's help and assistance when you find corruption stirring when you go about the killing your sins you must desire and ask the Spirit 's co-working with you O that the Spirit of the Lord may now work with me O that it may now assist me let it now please to help me in destroying this evill affection in mortifying this and that sinfull motion I feel stirring in me You must never attempt any thing without looking for and seeking the Spirit 's assistance Ps 143.10 Thy Spirit is good it 's a good guide lead me into the Land of uprightness by it O Lord be pleased to lead me in the good and upright way in the strait path the way everlasting till I shall come to that place appointed for upright ones and where nothing of hypocrisie is but all uprightness and sincerity only grows So you should pray Lord thy Spirit is holy and mighty it is every way able to help me O let it assist me in mortifying mine iniquities till they shall be all destroyed till I come to that Country where no such poysonous hurtful thing as sin doth grow or live or hath any being Thirdly You must wholly rely on and trust in the Spirit for its direction and powerfull co-operation with you in this work not having any thought as if you could put to death or do any thing for the destruction of any sin of your selves but knowing remembring and acknowledging also your own utter weakness and insufficiency your trust confidence relyance must be altogether on the Spirit As Jehosaphat said We know not what to do but our eyes are to thee which implyes trust and dependance on God so your eyes must be to the Spirit Psal 38.19 Mine enemies are lively and they are strong i. e. they are too strong for me what then V. 15. In thee O Lord do I hope So when our Spiritual enemies are lively and when they are as indeed they alwayes are too strong for us we must hope in the Spirit of God for strength from it Ps 47.3 He shall subdue the People under us and the Nations under our feet we will not think or attempt it in our own strength but as elsewhere it is In the name of the Lord I will destroy them yea in the Lords name will I destroy them I will not trust in my bow nor shall my sword save me c. So we must not think that any means we can use can lay dead any sin but we must still purpose resolve and endeavour the slaying of every sin in the power and strength of the Spirit Fourthly You must lye in the way of the Spirits working as Marriners do lay their Vessell in the way of the wind or the Miller turns his Mill that way the wind blows because the Ship will not sail nor the Mill grind without the wind So you must lay your selves in the way of the Spirits breathing and turn your Souls to that blessed wind that way it bloweth I mean you must attend under Ordinances you must give your selves to religious holy duties to hear to read to meditate on the Word of God to confer with others and joyn in prayer with them as you have opportunity c. John 3.8 The Spirit worketh As the wind bloweth where it listeth not where we list but where it self pleaseth and where is it that the Spirit listeth to work sure it is in the way of it 's own appointments Fifthly We must yeild up our selves to the Spirit to be acted moved and ruled according to it's pleasure as Souldiers follow your Leader observe his Commands yea every beck or wagging of his head or hand and accordingly order themselves so we must well mind all the dictates take notice of all the movings of the Spirit in us and comply therewith Gal. 5.16 This I say then walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the
flesh So say I yeild to the Spirit to along with it so shal ye mortifie any deed of the Flesh If the Spirit go one way you will go another if the Spirit call and you 'l not hearken if that speak and you 'l not hear if that move and you 'l not follow the motions thereof then will the Spirit leave you to your selves See the V. following my Text the Apostle having said if ye through the spirit mortifie the deeds of the Body he adds in the next words Rom. 8.14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God whereby he teacheth us that if we would mortifie the deeds of the Body through the spirit then we must be led by the spirit we must resign our selves to the conduct and guidance thereof Sixthly We must wait on the spirit if it doe not come in to our assistance if it do not help us as we desire we must continue waiting hold on looking for it begging it and using the means it hath ordained As they waited at the Pool of Bethesda for the moving of the waters by the Angel that they might be healed If the Angel came not and moved not the waters one day nor the next yea though he stayed one week and another still they waited there till he should come When Saul waited not for Samuel Samuel told him he did foolishly and he should lose his Kingdome So do they exceeding foolishly who wait not for the spirit of God and hence it is that many lose the Kingdom of Heaven and never get victory over their corruption because they will not continue waiting till the spirit come in to their assistance These six things we are to do that we may mortifie our sins through the spirit but it is to be remembred that neither can any of these be done without the spirit therefore we must ask it that we by it may be enabled to do these things Yet must we not sit still but we must put forth our selves stir up our selves and go as far as we can as well as we can It should be well noted The Apostle saith not If the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body in you but if ye through the spirit do mortifie them plainly declaring and testifying to us that though we can do nothing of our selves that shall be effectuall we must not be idle we must not sit still but we must rouze up our selves and as the little child that can't go alone yet strives to go when lead it moves it's leggs and doth what it can towards it's going so must we do to the utmost what lyes in us towards the mortification of our sins and so look for the spirit to carry us on in the work prosperously Application USe 1. Learn by the Truth to understand aright the councels exhortations and commands of Scripture this and that the Scripture saith you must do and you are oft call'd upon to do such things from the Word of God but how is it that you are to do them Remember alwayes though this be not every where or every time exprest this is meant this is alwayes understood you must do so and so through the spirit you must get the spirit and give up your selves to the spirit that you may do all and every of the things whereto you are counselled exhorted or commanded For this work of mortifying our sins is a generall work that hath an influence into even all other things that concern us to do or whereto we are obliged in our whole conversation nothing can be done as God requireth if this be not done every command of God implyes the subduing of some lust or other even lust being contrary to some command If then we are to mortifie our sins through the spirit through it therefore we are to yeild obedience to all the commands of the Lord. Use 2. Learn whence it is that the purposes resolutions and endeavours of men against their sin are so fruitlesse and ineffectuall how oft is it that men purpose resolve and take great pains to bring under this or that lust in them yet it retains it's strength yet it continueth your master notwithstanding Why whence is this It is because they have not learnt to put themselves into the hand of the spirit and to take that along with them in what they do They resolve but not through the spirit they strive they weep but they trust in themselves they call not for their eye is not to the spirit of God so all their resolutions vanish wither away all their attempts pains and industry prove abortive and in vain As it 's said concerning prayer Jam. 4.2.3 Ye lust and have not ye kill desire to have and cannot obtain ye fight and war yet ye have not because ye ask not ye ask and receive not because ye ask amisse so many do much they make a great deal of stir about the conquering their corruptions yet prevail not because they do all amisse as Christ saith Many shal strive to enter shal not be able so many strive to destroy their sin but are not able because they have not learnt to go forth against their evill motions under the conduct and in the power of the Holy Ghost Hath it not been thus sometimes with you Such a sin you have found working strongly in you you have made war upon it sought it's death resolved upon it's destruction but to no purpose It hath continued still living lively stirring as before learn then this day learn it well what hath been the cause even this know this to have been the reason you have not taken the right course you have not duly sought therefore have not truly had the spirit helping you which only hath power to strengthen and skill to direct you in that you have endeavoured As the Apostle saith the spirit helpeth our infirmities for we know not what to pray for as we ought So the spirit must help our infirmities or we know not in any case or matter relating to the good of our souls what to do as we ought When any labour against their sin without the spirit they do as one that takes a great deal of pains to open a dore without the right key or to cause a vessell to sail against the stream without any wind in a calm And perhaps you have observed that others they have got great victory over their sins in much lesse time you have striven long and yet are as trodden under foot by this and that base lust and another who began to look heavenward a great while after you is able to trample his sin under his feet How so because he is wise and being taught by the spirit hath taken the spirit along with him in all his endeavours and then no wonder As suppose two vessels set forth to one Port from severall harbours the one long after the other having divers leagues more to sail yet if
wish yea do desire that nothing of them or of any one of them might remain The holy spirit is an enemy to one sin as well as to another and to every degree of sin and all the outgoings or workings thereof therefore he that goeth forth against sin by the spirit he warreth against all sin one as well as another A sign Saul was not carried forth by the spirit against the Amalekits as to the frame of his spirit because he spared some he should have slain so a sign a man seeks not the death of his sin through the spirit if he spare any lust evil affection or motion And if the spirit act you then you lay out your selves will and labour to mortifie every sin in all it 's outbreaking which way soever it vents it self and moves For instance pride that works many wayes and shews it self by a mans habit gate looks thoughts c. Now if you only mind to destroy your pride as issuing forth or working one or two of these wayes and not all you have reason to doubt whether you are acted by the spirit in what you do against your pride So for covetousness that lust hath many streams and wayes of working as making hast to be rich not giving to good and charitable uses buying under and selling above the Market or due price not allowing a mans self or his Relations what is fitting thirsting after gain discontent because a man hath or gets no more of the world c. Now if you only seek to destroy your covetousness as moving and acting some and not all these wayes that speaks what you do against some is not of the spirit Or if you will and strive to mortifie any sin only in part in some degree that 's a bad token but this is a good sign when you are set against every sin in every motion in all the wayes of its working and less than its heart blood its utter ruine will not cannot content you Thirdly You use none but such means as the spirit hath prescribed for the slaying any lust you will not meddle with unlawful superstitious means nor any other but such as the Word of God directs to as praying reading hearing meditating good Company and such like for the spirit of God works not by unlawful means if any do war spiritually by the spirit they war lawfully whereby it appears that Papists and other superstitious persons who seem very strict are not led out against their sins by the spirit because they leave the right path and take strange courses which God hath not commanded Yea which he hath forbidden such a means is that when any mew themselves up in a Cell or lay aside their Calling avoid the Society of Relations and others with whom they ought to accompany c. I may add to this you chiefly use those means wherein the spirit principally delights as looking to the promises the sufferings the holy example of Christ c. It appears by the Apostles arguing Rom. 6.1 2 3 4 c. to what he especially lookt and we ought to look for the destroying our sin even the death the crucifixion of Christ which also may be gathered from Gal. 6.14 God forbid I should glory in any thing save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom or whereby by which Cross I am Crucified to the world and the world to me If you mortifie the deeds of the body by the spirit then this work is in a good degree facilitated and made easie to you though exceeding difficult in it self and grievous to the flesh It 's easie for one very weak to do a great work if he have a strong able helper it 's easie for a young beginner to make good Letters and write well if his hand be guided by a skilful Master So for a soul to beat down its lusts when it hath the powerful assistance of the Almighty most wise spirit And hence they who have the spirit helping them fight against their sins with delight it being a good work and they having good help what they do is not burthensom wearisom and irksom as it is to others therefore they are not apt to be discouraged and give over as others are Neh. 4.8 9. They conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God and set watch against them day and night Nehemiah was not disheartned because he was acted and assisted by the Spirit in the work whereto he was called Thus when a man is set on work against sin by the Spirit Only that none mistake let two things be here remembred First The Spirit of God seldom or never doth assist any in this life in their combating with sin as it can it puts not forth all its ability to the utmost in helping any here if it did farewel all sin presently but because it 's the will of God we should still be kept in exercise in this world and fight it through all the way to heaven therefore the Spirit of God helps those who have its help only in some degree so far as it pleaseth Secondly The Spirit strengthens some more others less and the same persons sometimes more sometimes less sometimes the Spirit almost quite leaves those who have it and are acted by it as to their sense they are even altogether left to themselves either because they have grieved the Spirit or for their tryal and to cause them to know more their own weakness and pray more earnestly for the Spirits help Hence it may be that they who have the Spirit and have gone far in the war against their sin by it may find the work so hard as to begin for a time to sink under it As Moses though in governing the people of Israel he was mightily enabled by the Spirit yet once we read Deut. 1.9 he complained of the burden of his work and said he was not able to bear it But it is not ordinarily or usually thus for the most part they who have the Spirit with them go forward couragiously and delightfully and thus is it still so far as the Spirit doth lead and carry them in what they do Fifthly If you mortifie your sins by the Spirit then as really as you endeavour the death of any sin you do labour to exercise that grace that 's contrary thereto every lust hath a grace opposite to it he that mortifies his lust by the Spirit doth also quicken his grace that stands in opposition to it for the Spirit is as great a friend to grace as it is an enemy to sin and by stirring up grace in us as was formerly said the Spirit doth help us in beating down our sin if then the Spirit help you to mortifie envie and malice it doth put you on to exercise charity kindness and mercy If it assist you against coverousness it doth enable you to exercise contentedness and thus as to other things