THE words are a proof that we are baptized into Christ's death. The apostle proveth it by explaining the rites of baptism. The ancient manner of baptism was to dip the parties baptized, and as it were to bury them under water for a while; and if baptism hath the figure of a burial, but with a hope to rise again, then it signifieth two things - Christ's death and resurrection, the one directly and formally, the other by consequence; and our communion with him in both: 'Therefore we are buried with him in baptism,' &c. In the words the apostle speaketh -
1. Of something directly and primarily signified in baptism, 'We are buried with him,' &c.
2. Of something by just consequence and inference thence, 'That like as,' &c.
1. That which is primarily and directly signified in baptism, 'We are buried with him in baptism into his death.' The like expression you have, Col. 2:12, 'Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him,’ The putting the baptized person into the water denoteth and proclaimeth the burial of Christ, and we by submitting to it are baptized with him, or profess to be dead to sin; for none but the dead are buried. So that it signifieth Christ's death for sin, and our dying unto sin. You will say, If the rite hath this signification and use, why is it not retained? I answer - Christianity lieth not in ceremonies; the principal thing in baptism is the washing away of sin: Acts 22: 16, 'Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins;' that may be done by pouring on of water as well as dipping. Other things were used about baptism then, as the stripping themselves of their clothes, even to stark nakedness; whence came the notions of putting off and putting on so frequently used: Eph. 4:22, 24, 'That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man;' and Col. 3:9, 10, 'Seeing ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man,' &c.; Gal. 3:27, 'As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.' Now none rigorously urge the continuance of these ceremonies; as long as the substance is retained, we may not quarrel about the manner.
2. That which was signified with just consequence and inference is 'our conforming to Christ's resurrection.’ Baptism referreth to this also as a significant emblem, for the going out of the water is a kind of resurrection, so it signifieth Christ's resurrection and ours. Now, our resurrection is double - to the life of grace spoken of here, and called the first resurrection, or to the life of glory; baptism relateth to that also, 1 Cor. 15: 29, 'Else what shall they do who are baptized for the dead?' Baptism is a putting in and taking out of the water, or a being buried with a hope to rise. The former is intended here, our rising to the life of grace. All this abundantly proveth that those which are dead to sin cannot live any longer therein.
In the latter clause the pattern of Christ's resurrection is first propounded, then applied, the protasis, the apodosis.
1. The protasis, or the proposal of the pattern, 'Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father.'
2. The conformity, or similitude on our part, 'Even so we should walk in the newness of life.'
First, In the pattern propounded you may observe two things: -
1. Christ's state after his burial, 'He was raised up from the dead.'
2. The efficient cause, 'By the glory of the Father;' that is, by his glorious power, as it is explained, 2 Cor. 13: 4, 'He was crucified through weakness, but he liveth by the power of God;' and elsewhere by 'the glory of God,' is meant 'his power.' So John 11: 40, 'If thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God,' that is, his power in raising Lazarus to life. The agreement to this purpose is observable of Eph. 3:16, 'That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with all might;' with Col. 1:11, 'Strengthened with all might according to his glorious power.' And this power doth effect that great change in us which fits us for the new life; as Eph. 1:19, 20, 'And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places;' Col. 2:12, 'Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.' It is the mighty operation of God that beginneth this life in us; the same power raiseth us first to a new life, then to a glorious eternity.
Secondly, The apodosis, wherein it is applied, 'Even so we also should walk in newness of life.' The similitude holdeth good in these things: -
1. As the resurrection of Christ followed his death, so doth newness of life our death to sin.
2. As Christ was raised to a blessed immortal life by the glorious power of the Father, so are we renewed and quickened by the same power.
3. The effect of the new birth is mentioned; our walking in newness of life, rather than regeneration or the new birth itself, which yet is signified by baptism, and Christ's resurrection is the pattern and cause of. The similitude holdeth good in the power, and in the new state of life, which supposeth such a principle.
Doct. That baptism strongly obligeth us to walk in newness of life.
1. Let me speak of the nature of this new life.
2. How strongly we are obliged by baptism to carry it on through the power of God.
First, This newness of life, it may be considered -
1. In its foundation, which is the new birth or regeneration; for till we are made new creatures we cannot live a new life: John 3:5, 6, 'Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God: that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit;' 2 Cor. 5:17, 'If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.' A bowl must be made round before it can run round; all creatures are first made and fitted for their use before they can perform the operations belonging to that creature; so a new being and holy nature is put into us, and we are powerfully changed before we can live unto God. Man's nature is not in such a condition as to need some reparation only, but is wholly corrupt. Therefore we must be born again, there must be a change of the whole man from a state of corruption to a state of holiness, and a principle of new life must be infused into us, whence flow new actions and delights.
2. The first regeneration consists of two parts - mortification and vivification. Mortification doth conquer the fleshly inclination to things present, and vivification doth quicken us to live unto God. There is need of both. Of mortification, that we may die to the flesh and to the world, for there is a seducing principle within, and a tempting object without: within there is the flesh, without the world; we die to both. To the flesh: Gal. 5:24, 'They that are Christ's have . crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts.' To the world: Gal. 6:14, 'God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I unto the world.' While the mind and heart is captivated to the flesh, we can never cease to sin. There is need of vivification, that you may live to God; for the recess from the world is not enough, unless there be an access to God; and therefore the immediate principles that carry us to God are love kindled in us by faith in Christ. For the new creature, being interpreted as to vivification, is nothing else but faith working by love. Compare Gal. 5:6, 'In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth any thing; but faith worketh by love,’ with Gal. 6:15, 'In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth any thing, but a new creature.' These two, faith and love, are the principles and springs of all Christian practice and conversation. You are never changed till the heart be changed; and the heart is never changed till the will and love be changed. Well, then, it is not enough to die to sin, but we must walk in newness of life; both must be minded; but we begin first at mortification, and then proceed to the positive duties of a new life. Holiness consists not in a mere forbearance of a sensual life, but principally in living to God; the heart of it within is the love of God, its inclination towards him, delight in him, desire after him, care to please him, loathness to offend him; and the expression of it without is the exercise of grace according to the direction of God's word. Yea, these two branches are not only seen at first, but every step of the new life is a dying to sin, and a rising to newness of life, a retiring from the world to God.
3. As to the rule, which is the infallible revelation of God, delivered to the church by the prophets and apostles, comprised in the Holy Scriptures, and sealed by miracles and operations of the Holy Ghost, who was the author of them. The new creature is very inquisitive to know God's will: Rom. 12: 2, 'And be not conformed to this world; but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.' Grace is sometimes called light, and sometimes life, for there is direction in it as well as inclination. This light we have from the word and Spirit. In the word our duties are determined, and the new creature is naturally carried to the word; it is the seed of that life it hath: 1 Peter 1:23, 'Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever;' and it is the rule of acting and exercising this life: Gal. 6:16, 'As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them,' &c. There is a cognation between the word and the renewed heart: Heb. 8:10, 'I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their heart;' as the stamp and impress answereth to the seal, or the law within to the law without, the law written on the heart to the law written on tables or in the Bible.
4. As to the end, which is the pleasing, glorifying, and enjoying of God; it is a living to God: Gal. 2:19, 'I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God;' 1 Cor. 10: 31, 'Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God;' 2 Cor. 5:9, 'Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.' A new life inferreth new ends and pursuits, the new being obligeth us 'to be to the praise of his glorious grace,’ Eph. 1:12.
5. The properties of it.
[1.] It is a godly life, as beginning and ending in God, and carried on by those who are absolutely devoted and addicted to him: 2 Peter 3:11, 'What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?' It is called 'the life of God,’ Eph. 4:18. It is from God and for God; you live by him and to him; in others, self is the principle, measure, and end.
[2.] It is a holy life, measured by the pure word of God: Ps. 119:140, 'Thy word is very pure, therefore thy servant loveth it;' Rom. 7:12,' The law is holy, and the commandment is holy, and just, and good;' not by our own natural inclinations, or the fashions of the world, but God's direction: 1 Peter 1:15, 'As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;' Luke 1:75, ‘That we should serve him in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our lives.' The inclinations are planted in us by God's first work: Eph. 4:24, 'That ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.' They are directed by his word, all moral duties being comprised in those words, holiness or dedication to God, righteousness, performing our duties to men: Acts 24:26, 'Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men.'
[3.] It is an heavenly life: Phil. 3:20, 'Our conversation is in heaven.' Our great work is to prepare for everlasting life, seeking, rejoicing in that endless happiness we shall have with God; a living for or upon the unseen everlasting happiness, as purchased for us by Christ, and freely given us of God. We live for it, as we seek after it with our utmost diligence: Acts 26:7, 'Unto which promises the twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come.' We live upon it, as fetching thence all our supports, solaces, and encouragements: 2 Cor. 4:18, 'While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.'
Secondly, How strongly we are obliged by baptism to this kind of life. Baptism hath three offices, it representeth, sealeth, undertaketh; it representeth as a signifying sign, sealeth as a confirming sign, undertaketh as a bond, wherewith we bind ourselves when we submit to it
1. What it representeth, primarily and principally the death of Christ, and secondarily his resurrection, the one in order to the other.
[1.] The death of Christ, which is the meritorious cause of all the grace and good which is communicated to us in this or any other sacrament or mystery of the gospel. We are told, 1 Peter 2:14, ‘That he himself bore our own sins in his body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, might be alive to righteousness.' I told you before that Christ's death may be considered as an instance of his love, or as the price paid for the blessings of the new covenant; as an instance of his love it worketh morally, as the price of our blessings meritoriously; as it worketh morally and exciteth our gratitude, we should not go on in that course which brought these sufferings on Christ, but live holily, in gratitude to him, and kindness to ourselves, lest we bear our own sins, which are so hateful to God. This consideration we exclude not; but to make this all the sense of his place, no Christian heart can endure; therefore we go to the second consideration, as the price and ransom of our own souls, and of the blessings we stand in need of. He purchased grace to mortify sin, and quicken us to the duties of holiness, that the love of sin might be weakened in our hearts, and we might be quickened to live to God in the Spirit. Now, if this be represented in baptism, then surely it strongly obligeth us to improve this grace for those ends and purposes; and that this is represented is evident, for in the apostle's interpretation baptism is a sort of burial; and first it is a commemoration of the burial of Christ, who, when his soul was separated from his flesh, he was buried, his sacred body was laid up in the chambers of the grave. This was necessary not only in compliance with the types - Mat. 12:40, 'As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.' Christ was found to be the true Messias by his resurrection from the dead, as Jonas was authorised to be a true prophet of the Lord by his miraculous deliverance. Prophecies of this you may see: Ps. 16: 9, 'My flesh also shall rest in hope;' Isa. 53:9, 'He made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death,’ - but also this was necessary for the confirmation of the reality of his death past, and the verity of his resurrection suddenly to follow. Therefore in baptism the truth of his death is represented as the ground of all our hopes.
[2.] The next thing which is represented is the truth of his resurrection. Christ, that purchased this grace, is risen to apply it; he is a saviour merito et efficacia; his merit immediately depended on his death, and his power for effectual application (though mediately on that too) depended immediately on his resurrection; for Christ rose on purpose to turn men from their iniquities: Acts 3:26, 'God having raised up his Son Jesus, hath sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.' Christ's resurrection hath a twofold regard - (1.) It is a pattern; (2.) It is a pledge.
(1.) It is a pattern of our rising from the death of sin to newness of life. If Christ, that was dead and buried, rose again, and cast off the burden of our sins, which for our sakes he undertook, or cast off the form of a servant, we must not only be dead and buried, but we must rise also. Christ's resurrection is everywhere made a pattern of the new birth: 1 Peter 1:3, 'He hath begotten us to a lively hope by the resurrection of Christ from the dead;' that is the influential cause and pattern of it. So 1 Peter 3:21, 'The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God), by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.' Anima non lavatione, sed responsione sancitur. The soul is dedicated to God to live a new life, not by the water, but by the answer to the demands of the new covenant, and this is by the resurrection of Christ.
(2.) As it is a pledge of his power, by which that great change is wrought in us: Eph. 1:19, 20, 'And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead.' To convert souls to God there needeth a mighty working of efficacious power, which exceedeth all contrary power which might hinder and impede that work. Men by nature are averse from God; the devil seeketh to detain them from him, and his powerful engine is the world. But now, if they are to be raised as Christ was raised, what can oppose this work? So that we have not only the merit of his humiliation, but the power of his exaltation. And besides, that this power is likely to be exercised for us, we may consider that Christ is said to rise by his own power: John 2:19, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up;' John 10: 17, 'I lay down my life, that I may take it again;' and to be raised by the power of his Father, which noteth authority to rise again, and having fully done his work, upon which account he is said 'to be brought again from the dead,' Heb. 13: 20; and the apostle inferreth from thence, ver. 21, 'Being made perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ. Now, if both these be implied in baptism, it doth mightily oblige the parties baptized to look after the effect of these two acts of Christ's mediation; for Christians should not only believe the death and resurrection of Christ, but feel it: by the merit of his death and efficacy of his resurrection we obtain this new life, and both are the causes of our dying to sin and living to God.
2. What it sealeth or confirmeth. The new covenant, wherein God hath promised the gift of the Spirit, to renew, sanctify, and heal all those that enter into it. We have the grace to destroy sin by virtue of the death and burial of Christ, but the promises are in the new covenant. That the new covenant is sealed in baptism, see Mat. 28:19, 20, 'Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you;' Mark 16: 16, 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned.' Now the great promise of the new covenant is the Spirit to renew and cleanse the soul. Surely this is properly signified in baptism: John 3:5, 'Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' And Titus 3:5, 'According to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.' As the body is washed with water without, so is the soul cleansed by the Spirit within; as at the baptism of our Saviour, the descending of the Holy Ghost upon him was a visible pledge of what should be done afterward; for at his baptism the fruit of all baptisms was visibly represented; we are admitted children of his family, as Christ was declared to be 'the well-beloved Son of God,' Mat. 3:17; and we have the Spirit of his Son: Gal. 4:6, 'Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father.' As God promiseth 'to pour out water on him that is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground,' so to 'pour out his Spirit on the seed, and his blessing upon thy offspring,' Isa. 44:3. And the Spirit itself is figured by water: John 4:14, 'Whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life;' John 7:37, 'If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink;' Rev. 22:17, 'Let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.' Now, unless we will receive this grace in vain, we are bound to wait for and obey the Spirit's motions, either by way of restraint or excitation: Rom. 8:13, 14, 'If ye through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live; for as many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God;' we that pretend to come to God for this promise of the Spirit, as in baptism we do: Acts 2:38, 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.'
3. It obligeth, as there is a kind of undertaking to show forth the likeness of Christ's death and resurrection by our submission to it. Our receiving baptism implieth two things - (1.) A public and open profession; (2.) A solemn bond, wherewith we bind our souls.
[1.] A public and open profession, wherein we profess a communion with Christ's death and resurrection, or to die and rise with Christ. In the general, that baptism is an open profession; for it is required as a sign of the faith that is in our hearts: Rom. 10:10, 'With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation;' and Mark 16:16, 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned;' Acts 2:38, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.' As circumcision was the badge of the Jewish profession, so is baptism of the profession of Christianity. Therefore the Jews are called circumcision, and we are called the purified people: Titus 2:14, 'Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works;' and 'those that are purged from their sins,’ 2 Peter 1:9. And more distinctly what we profess is plain and evident in this ordinance; we profess to die and rise with Christ.
(1.) Death; yea, in the text not only and simply to be dead, but to be buried with Christ. If baptism expresseth an image of burial, and every burial supposeth death, not only of Christ, but us, surely we are bound not only to die unto sin at first, but to make our mortification more thorough and constant; for as burial noteth the continuance of Christ's death, so should we persevere and increase in the mortification of sin, for burial is a continued dying to sin. We should not only renounce and give over all the sins of our former lives, but persevere in this resolution, and increase in our endeavour against sin daily. A Christian living in sin, and serving his lusts, is like a spectre and ghost arisen out of the grave.
(2.) So for Christ's resurrection. In this ordinance we profess to rise again with Christ, and therefore should not only put off the old man, or body of sin, but have an earnest impulsion within ourselves to the duties of holiness, and be breathing after, and pressing on yet more and more to the purity and perfection of the heavenly estate: Phil. 3:14, 'I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.' Well, then, unless those that are baptized into Christ change their course of life, all their profession is but an empty formality, a mockery, a mere nullity as to reward, not as to punishment: 'Their circumcision is made uncircumcision,' Rom. 3:25. As when God came to reckon with his people: Jer. 9:25, 26, 'Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will punish the circumcised with the uncircumcised; Egypt, Judah, and Edom with the children of Ammon and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness; for all these nations are uncircumcised in flesh, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.' Circumcision was the sign and seal of the new covenant to them, as baptism is to us; they were distinguished from other nations that were without it, and this prerogative they stood not a little upon: Gen. 34: 14, 'We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised, for that were a reproach unto us.' They quarrelled with Peter: Acts 11:3, 'Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.' Now, to cut off this presumption, God telleth them this was a sorry stay for them to trust to; for he intended shortly to hold a visitation wherein he would proceed against wicked persons without difference, whether circumcised or uncircumcised, and would deal impartially with the one and the other, because the one were such in heart as the others were in flesh. The outward rite is of no force and worth in God's account.
[2.] It is a bond wherewith we bind our souls. It is enough to evidence that, because it is 'an answer to the covenant,’1 Peter 3:24. As there God undertaketh to renew and strengthen us, and give us grace by his almighty power, so we undertake to improve this grace, and to put off the old man, that we may walk in newness of life; and covenant-engaging is the most solemn engaging: Ezek. 20: 37, 'I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.' As also by analogy: Gal. 5:3, 'I testify to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to the whole law.' He obligeth himself to the whole economy of Moses. So by parity of reason, he that is baptized is a debtor to the law of faith. And so debtors is the word used by the apostle: Rom. 8:12, 'Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.' A covenant-bond is sacred as that of an oath or vow. A solemn promise made to God hath the nature of a vow: Num. 30:2, 'If a man vow a vow to the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.' Now, if it be not performed, we violate God's ordinance, and are infringers of the oath sworn to Christ, and so are to be reckoned among the perfidious rather than the faithful. Besides, take it in the notion of a dedication, or consecration, or yielding ourselves to the Lord. Every consecration implieth an execration, whether it be formally expressed or no. Sometimes it is expressed: Neh. 10:29, 'They entered into a curse, and into an oath to walk in God's law,’ Now see if this holds not good in the new covenant; consider the tenor of it: Mark 16:16, 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned.' Therefore the bond of the covenant is a strict bond.
Use 1. Is matter of lamentation that so many are baptized into Christ, and yet express so little of the fruit of his death or resurrection. Alas! the rabble of nominal Christians live in defiance of the religion which they profess, and are angry with those that would reduce them to the strictness of it. They are alive to sin and dead to righteousness; as if they had promised rather to continue in their sins than to renounce and disclaim them, and were in covenant with the devil, the world, and the flesh, rather than Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; as if they had vowed to be utterly unlike to Christ. Now, it will go ill with them in the judgment, worse than with heathen, because they knew better, were obliged to do better, had grace to do better, in offer at least. We laugh at the rudeness of one bred up at the plough, but are sorely displeased at the ill-manners of one bred in places of more refined conversation. The heathens were never buried with Christ in baptism, never professed to be dead to the world or alive to God; but Christians are under a solemn engagement, and if they had the courage to set about their duty, would God be wanting to them?
Use 2. To persuade you to make conscience of your baptismal vow, and to observe and perform it with all good fidelity, and that in both parts of it.
1. Dying to sin; you are not only dead, but buried. Oh! do not neglect the mortifying of your sins. You think it hard to renounce sensual delight and pleasure, but better lose the pleasure of the senses than incur the pains of hell. That is that which our Saviour teacheth us: Mat 5:29, 30, 'If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee,' &c. Literally that place cannot be taken; no man ever yet hated his own flesh, nor can he lawfully hate it; this is contrary to the sixth commandment. For a man to hurt his body to prevent his sin is to run from one fire into another, to be guilty of murder to prevent adultery; the fault is not in the eye, but in the heart: Mat 15: 19, 'For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, blasphemies.' If the right eye were plucked out, the left eye might easily transmit the temptation. Metaphorically you may take it for the principal members of the body of sin, beloved lusts. But the meaning is, it is better to be blind than damned, to lose their senses than lose their souls, much more to deny the pleasures of sense. You may say, If you allow yourselves a little liberty, the danger is not great; you should say rather, The pleasure is not great, therefore mortify your sins.
Motives.
[1.] Till sins be mortified they easily break out again: 2 Peter 2:20, 'For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome,' &c. Their heart is in secret league with their lust, which is never thoroughly dissolved.
[2.] Your consolations will be but small. Mortification breeds joy and peace, especially the mortification of a master-sin: Ps. 18:3, 'I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.' A man showeth his uprightness in mastering this sin. The dearer any victory over sin costs you, the sweeter will the issue be. Voluntarily and allowedly to commit a known sin, or omit a known duty, maketh our sincerity questionable: James 4:17, 'Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.'
[3.] Crosses will be many: Hosea 5:15, 'I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early,' Isa. 27:9, 'By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit to take away his sin.'
[4.] Doubts will be troublesome. To obey Christ a little and the flesh more is no true obedience, and such will have no rejoicing of heart: Job 20:12-14,' Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue, though he spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it still within his mouth, yet his meat in his bowels is turned into poison, and becomes the gall of asps within him.' Sin proveth bitter and vexing till we leave it, and sinners still have a secret sting within.
[5.] The heart is benumbed and stupefied: Heb. 3:13, 'Hardened through the deceitfulness of sin;' that is the sorest judgment, to become stupid.
2. To walk in newness of life.
[1.] It is the most noble life the nature of man is capable of; it is called 'the life of God,' Eph. 4:18. It floweth from the gracious presence of God dwelling in us by the Spirit, which engageth us in the highest designs.
[2.] It is the most delectable life: Prov. 3:17, 'Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.' We live upon God as represented to us in a mediator, and avoid the filthiness, delusions, vexations of the world and the flesh.
[3.] It is the most profitable life; it is a preparation for and introduction into eternal life: Rom. 6:22, 'But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.'
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