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A48847 A sermon preached before the King at White-Hall, March 6, 1673/4 by William Lloyd ... Lloyd, William, 1627-1717. 1674 (1674) Wing L2708; ESTC R20362 14,668 37

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A SERMON Preached before the KING AT WHITE-HALL March 6. 1673 4 BY William Lloyd D. D. Dean of Bangor and one of his Majesties Chaplains in Ordinary Published by His Majesties Command LONDON Printed by Andrew Clark for Henry Brome at the Gun at the West-end of St. Paul's MDCLXXIV A Lent-Sermon ROM VIII Ver. 13. If you walk after the flesh ye shall die but if you through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body you shall live IT was the Apostles design in most part of this Epistle both for his Converts at Rome to whom it was immediately written and for all other Christians that should come to read it in after times to draw them off from a carnal and sensual course of life to that which is most agreeable to our Christian profession In order to this he lays the foundation of his Discourse in a discovery of a two-fold principle in man that strongly enclines him the one way or the other he shews the certain tendency of both these ways the one exposing us to the just wrath and indignation of God which must end first or last in our ruine and destruction the other pleasing to God and beneficial to our selves full of inward peace and comfort in this life sure of endless joy and happiness in the future These two opposite principles in my Text so much spoken of in the beginning of this Chapter are the same which our Saviour formerly mentioned in that discourse St. John ● 6. where he shews what they are and whence they proceed There is a principle of Flesh as he calls it in every man that is born into this world it descends to us from the parents of our flesh in that taint of our nature which we call Original Sin and this addicts us to all Carnal and Sensual things but more strongly to those which are evil and forbidden There is also another principle in every Christian the Grace which we receive at our New Birth in Holy Baptism This our Saviour calls Spirit for 't is infus'd into us by the operation of the Spirit of God This inclines and inables those that will be led by it to those things which are spiritual and eternal The opposition between these two principles in us and the consequence of each to them that are led by it is thus described by the Apostle in my Text If ye c. That is in other words If you lead your life according to the Carnal Principle and be not chang'd and renew'd by the Spirit i. e. until you repent and be converted you are spiritually dead in this life and are to look for nothing but eternal death in the future But if the Spiritual Principle have power in you so as to subdue the irregular inclinations of the flesh you shall live i. e. being quicken'd and renew'd by the Spirit you shall have that spiritual life here which shall be consummated hereafter in life everlasting In the last words which are my subject at this time I shall consider these four particulars 1. What are here call'd the deeds of the flesh 2. How these are to be mortifi'd 3. How we are to do it by the Spirit 4. How thus doing we shall live All these parts I shall consider with a twofold respect To them that have spiritual life and to them that are destitute of it for those of both sorts have an interest in my Text and a capacity to receive benefit by it You that have Spiritual Life in you if you mortifie the deeds of the flesh you shall continue the life of Grace here and shall attain to the life of Glory hereafter And even you that are spiritually dead you are not so dead but that you also may live if you by the spirit mortifie the deeds of the flesh you shall thereby come to the life of Grace here and so you also shall attain the life of Glory hereafter To proceed in the method which I have propounded I am first to consider what are the Deeds of the flesh And if the flesh be as is said our original Concupiscence then the deeds or actings of it must be actual sins So that look how many sorts of such sins are in the world so many sorts we may reckon of the Deeds of the flesh Our Apostle gives us a black Catalogue of them Gal. 5. 19. where he says The works of the flesh are manifest and they are these Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wraths Strifes Seditions Heresies Envying Murders Drunkenness Revellings and such like which whoso does shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And lest our Apostle's calling them Works in that Text and Deeds in this should make any one think he means only outward actions and no other I must desire you to remember that God sees not as man sees nor judges as man judges Man can see no more but the outward action God looks chiefly if not only at the heart man can judge of no sin till he sees it acted with God it is acted as soon as it is conceiv'd When lust hath conceiv'd it brings forth sin and sin when it is finish'd brings forth death James 1. 15. 'T is conceiv'd as soon as ever it is thought of with consent as we proceed to delight in the speculation it ripens when we resolve to commit it then 't is finish'd for then the heart has done as much as it can do Though we never proceed to action 't is perfect sin I cannot say it is more sin if we do bring it to action Only then 't is the more dangerous and approaches more to habit for the purpose continues all the while we commit it and is confirmed by the pleasure we have in committing it Therefore 't is the great mercy of God when he restrains us when he hinders us when he takes away the power and opportunity from us that we cannot put an ill purpose in execution though we are nevertheless guilty of the sin having gone as far as we can go in it when it is fully resolv'd and purpos'd in the heart Mat 15. 19. says our Saviour Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts Murders Adulteries Fornications Thefts false Witness Blasphemy They could not proceed out of the heart but that first they were in the heart And many sins may be in the heart that are never brought forth into action All the sins that I have mentioned may lie within in the heart and only those come abroad that see their occasion but whether outward or inward they are the works of the flesh they are the same sins whether purposed and committed or whether never committed but only purpos'd and determin'd in the heart These we are to mortifie says my Text To mortifie that is to kill them to put them to death or which is equivalent yea much better to keep them from ever coming to life This mortifying of sin is the proper work and business of Repentance now Repentance