THIRDLY, The hopes of victory and success through the grace of Jesus Christ. Now many things there are which give us hopeful encouragement in our conflicts with sin.
1. The undertaking of our blessed Redeemer. Freedom from sin was a part of that salvation which he purchased for us: Mat 1:21, 'He shall save his people from their sins;' Titus 2:14, 'Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity.' It is not only an evidence, but a part, yea, a principal part, as those means which have a more immediate connection with the end are more noble than others which are more remote. The last end is the glory of God. Now our conformity to God, and the holiness and subjection of the creature, is a nearer means to it than our comfort and pardon. Christ's end was to fit us for God's use, and therefore his business was to sanctify and free us from sin: 1 John 3:8, 'For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil,' hina lusèi which signifies to dissolve, untie, unloose a knot. This was the end of his coming; and will he come in vain, and miss of his end? The work of the devil is to bring us into sin and misery, and the Lord knoweth we are miserably entangled in the corruptions of our own hearts; we know not how to loose these knots. Christ came for this purpose to untie them for us, and surely he cannot miss of his purpose if we consider the merit of his humiliation, what a price hath he paid for sanctifying grace! 1 Peter 1:18,19, 'Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.' So great a price was given, not only to heighten our esteem of the privilege, but also to increase our confidence while we are endeavouring and striving against sin. Christ wanted not any merit to make the purchase sufficient and effectual. Or if we consider the power of his exaltation; having paid our ransom, he is let out of the prison of the grave, gone into heaven, and is fully commissioned and empowered to instate us in this blessing of freedom from sin: Eph. 3:20, 'Unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.' Now what an encouragement is this to keep under that enemy which Christ hath done so much to slay and destroy! What is his business now in heaven, but to sit at the right hand of God, and see the fruits of his mediation accomplished? Those indeed that cherish that which Christ came to dissolve, as much as in them lies they seek to frustrate the undertaking of Christ. But now, whilst we are striving and warring upon sin, and seek the destruction of it, we are engaged in the same design Christ is, and therefore may have the more confidence of his help, and receiving the fruits of his purchase; his great intent was to bring us back unto God, and saving us from sin, not in sin; and your heart is upon the same thing.
2. The new nature put into us; you have an opposite principle to check it: 1 John 3:9, 'Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.' Since Christ hath intrusted us with such a talent as the new nature, and hath put grace into our hearts to resist sin, it is our duty not to suffer it to be idle and unfruitful. Though there be in the regenerate a seed of corruption, yet that is or should be mortified; there is also in them a seed of grace, and that is to be cherished. Now surely where this is, sin cannot carry a full sway, and break out without stop and interruption; for the new nature will appear by way of check and dislike; one that hath a new nature cannot make sin his trade, custom, and delight. Why? Because his seed abideth in him, which is the principle of grace wrought in him by the Spirit of God. There is a settled, fixed frame and bent of heart towards God, and so by consequence against sin, for it is irreconcilable with the motions and tendencies of the new nature to live in sin; and therefore it is as natural to the new nature to hate sin as to love God: Ps. 97:18, 'Ye that love the Lord, hate evil,’ There is an irreconcilable hatred and enmity against sin. There is a twofold hatred - odium abominationis and odium inimicitiae. The hatred of abomination or offence is a turning away of the soul from what is apprehended as repugnant and prejudicial to us: so to sin is repugnant and contrary to the renewed will; it is agreeable and suitable to the unregenerate, as draff to the appetite of a swine, or grass and hay to a bullock or horse. Now, there being in all those that are born of God this kind of hatred, it must needs weaken sin; for the mortification of sin standeth principally in the hatred of it. Sin dieth when it dieth in the affections, when it is an offence to us, and we have an antipathy against it, as some creatures have one against another. The new nature is a divine nature, 2 Peter 1:4; in some measure it hath the same aversations and affections which God hath; we hate what he hateth, love what he loveth: Prov. 8:13, 'The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.' There is another kind of hatred, odium inimicitiae. Now this hatred is nothing else but a willing evil or mischief to the thing or person hated, put of that dislike, offence, and distaste we take against them: Ps. 18:37, 'I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them; neither did I turn again till they were consumed.' This is different from the former, for there may be an aversation or an offence from some things, which yet I do not malign or pursue to the death. But by this hatred also do the regenerate hate their sins; they hate sin so as to mortify and subdue it, and get it destroyed in themselves: Rom. 6:6, 'Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin;' Gal. 5:24, 'They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts thereof.' Grace within will not let a man alone in his sins, but rouseth up the soul against it, non cessat in laesione peccati, sed exterminio; it is still taking away somewhat from sin, its damning power, its reigning power, its being: Rom. 7:24, 'O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?' They would be free from all sin, groan under the relics of it as a sore burden; therefore certainly the new nature, which hath such a lively hatred against Bin, must needs give us a great advantage against it. I would not flatter you with the show of an argument, nor put you off with a half truth; therefore I must needs tell you, that though the former things alleged be true, yet -
[1.] You must not forget the back-bias of corruption and the flesh, which still remaineth with us, and is importunate to be pleased; and though it be not superior in the soul, yet it hath a great deal of strength, that still we need even to the very last to keep watching and striving: the best of God's children must resolve to be deaf to its entreaties and solicitations, and not accommodate themselves to please the flesh; to be directed and governed by their lusts. 'In your ignorance,’ when you knew not the terror of the Lord, nor sweetness of the Lord, you could not be deterred from delighting in this slavery; your lusts influenced all your actions, and you wholly gave yourselves to the satisfaction of your sinful desires, shaping and moulding all your actions and undertakings by this scope and aim, The apostle's word is very emphatical, mè suschèmatizomenoi tais proteron epithumiais, though now you have more knowledge, more grace to incline your hearts to God, and so by consequence against sin, yet former lusts are but in part subdued, and therefore our old love to them is soon kindled, and the gates of the senses are always open to let in such objects as take part with the flesh; and there is a hazard in the best of complying with the sinful motions of corrupt nature, and therefore you must not so take it as if there were no need of diligence, and watching, and striving, and constant progress in mortification. Even holy Paul, mortified Paul, saw a continual need of beating down the body, lest after he had preached to others he himself should be a castaway, 1 Cor. 9:27. This great champion, after so many years' service in the cause of Christ, was not secure of the adversary which he carried about with him; and therefore, though we speak of the advantage of the new nature, it is only for our encouragement in the conflict; there is still need of caution, that we do not revert into our old slavery. And though it be troublesome to resist the pleasing motions of the flesh, yet there is great hopes of success; we do not fight as those that are uncertain; the grace given us is a fixed rooted principle, and the lusts we contend with are but the relics of an enemy routed and foiled, though not utterly and totally subdued. Though there be a contrary principle in us, that retaineth some life and vigour, yet surely in the regenerate it is much abated; there is not such a connaturality and agreement between the heart and sin as there was before; grace is a real, active, working thing, and where the new nature doth prevail, certainly 'old things are passed away,' 2 Cor. 5:17. Every creature acteth according to its kind, the lamb according to the nature of a lamb, and a toad according to the nature of a toad; as a thorn cannot send forth grapes, nor a thistle produce figs, so, on the contrary, vines do not yield haws, nor the fig-tree thistles. Men, now they have renewed principles, cannot be at the power Satan, nor at the command of every lust, as they were before. How are all things become new, how are old things passed away, if it should be so, if they had the old thoughts and designs still, the old affections still, the old passions they used to have, the old discourses, the old conversation? Surely grace will not let a man alone, nor give him any rest and quiet, if he should act and walk according to the old tenor and manner. Certainly the grace given serveth for some use, and giveth some strength.
[2] I must interpose one consideration more for the full understanding of this truth. That grace is operative indeed, a real, active, working thing; but yet it doth not work necessarily, as fire burneth, or light bodies move upward, but voluntarily; therefore it must be excited and stirred up, both by the Spirit of God, 'who worketh in us both to will and to do,’ Phil. 2:13, and by ourselves; we must anazoopurein, 'stir up the grace of God that is in us,' 2 Tim. 1:6; we must still be blowing up this holy fire, as the priests do the fire of the altar, still keep it burning; and its motions must be hearkened to and complied withal: Gal 6:16, 'Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh.' Cherish and obey the directions of the renewed part, and this will keep the carnal part under; so that though the motions of it be not totally suppressed, yet they shall not be completed and fulfilled, not so easily consented unto, nor so often break out into shameful acts; but as these are slighted, sin reigneth.
3. The Spirit of sanctification still dwelling and working in us. Herein the law was a dead letter; it only afforded us bare instruction, without the help and power of grace; but the gospel is 'the ministration of the Spirit,’ 2 Cor. 3:8. There is a life and power which goeth along with every gospel truth, to enable us to do what it requireth of us. The renewed certainly feel this benefit by it; and the truths of the gospel, which to others' taste are like ordinary running water, cold and spiritless, are to them like strong water, comfortable and full of virtue: strong water and running water are alike for colour and show, but not for virtue and taste. All that repent and believe in Christ have the gift of the Holy Ghost: 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.' He dwelleth and resideth in their hearts, and is the great cause of the mortifying of sin: Rom. 8:13, 'If ye through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.' The Spirit will not without us, and we cannot without the Spirit, subdue our sinful inclinations. At first indeed he worketh upon us as objects, as a Spirit only moving upon us, but afterwards he worketh by us as instruments, as a Spirit indwelling. At first he regenerateth us and converteth us, when we were dead and wholly senseless. Man at first was a passive subject, when the Holy Ghost infused life, and made him partaker of a divine nature. We were by nature all dead in trespasses and sins, did not only deserve death by original sin, but did also deserve to be denied the grace of Jesus Christ by some following actual sins; but when we were all equally involved in misery, the secret working of divine grace did begin the difference: Eph. it. 4, 5, 'God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when were dead in trespasses and sins, hath quickened us together with Christ: by grace ye are saved.' This saving grace is not given to all, though all have many both external and internal helps sufficient to make them better; that any have his special efficacy and converting grace is the mere favour and bounty of God; if any want it, it is long of themselves, because by their neglect and abuse of common grace they deserve that want. Well, then, at first God giveth the Spirit, and all his purifying and sanctifying works upon the soul are by his mere grace, which the gospel offereth to all, till they exclude themselves; but then, after we are converted, we shall have more sins to remove by further sanctification, now the Spirit dwelleth in us to give us his special assistance. But more closely consider - (1.) The necessity of the Spirit's concurrence; (2.) The encouragement we have thereby.
[1.] The necessity of the Spirit's concurrence; we cannot begin, carry on, and accomplish the work of mortification, without the operation, help, and power of the Spirit.
(1.) That we cannot begin it is evident, because before conversion we were 'dead in trespasses and sins,’ Eph. 2:1, had only a life of resistance and enmity against God and the work of his grace left in us: Rom. 8:7, 'The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be;' and we were under the power of the devil, who holdeth the fallen creature in bondage till he be dispossessed: Luke 11:21,22, 'When a strong man armed keepeth the house, his goods are in peace; but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.' There is no faculty in man that can work the cure. The understanding is dark, and blind, and weak; if it warn us of our duty, it cannot break the force of sin, Rom. 1:18. The will is enslaved to corruption. Now nothing will seek to destroy itself, but rather to preserve that life that it hath; therefore the heart of man, which is by nature corrupt, wedded to the interests and concernments of the flesh, will never seek to mortify and subdue the flesh; for a thing will never, be opposite to itself. The scripture saith, John 3:6, 'That which is born of the flesh is flesh.' A man wholly addicts himself to sin while under the power of corrupt nature, and a sensual carnal heart cannot make itself holy and heavenly. But -
(2.) After conversion, when grace and the principles of a new life are put into us to weaken sin, yet still we need the help of the Spirit, partly because habitual grace is a creature, and therefore in itself mutable; for all creatures depend, in esse, conservari, et operari, upon him that made them: Acts 17:26, 'In him we live, and move, and have our beings.' If God suspend the influence, the fire, which is a natural agent, burneth not, as in the instance of the three children who were cast into the fiery furnace; if necessary agents, much more voluntary agents; and if there be this dependence in natural things, much more in supernatural. Therefore grace still dependeth on God's influence, and there must be a concurrence of the Spirit to maintain what he hath wrought: Phil. 1:6, 'Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.' Partly because it doth not totally prevail in the heart, but there is opposition against it, there is flesh still: Gal 5:12, 'The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would.' Habitual grace non totaliter sanat, it worketh not a perfect but a partial cure upon the soul. Therefore there needeth new grace to act, and guide, and quicken us still, and to stir up the principles of grace in us. Partly because this grace, as it meeteth with opposition from within, so it is exposed to temptations from without, from Satan, who watcheth all advantages against us. How when temptation cometh with new strength, we must have new grace to oppose it: Heb. 4:16, 'Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need,' – charin eis eukairon boètheian. Adam had habitual grace, but he gave out at the first assault. When a city is besieged, the prince who would defend it doth not leave it to its ordinary strength, and the standing provisions which it had before, but sendeth in fresh supplies of soldiers, victuals, and ammunition, and such things as their present exigence calleth for. So doth God deal with his people; his Spirit cometh in with a new supply, that they may the better avoid sin, and stand out in an hour of trial. So from the world, which is continually obtruding itself upon our embraces, and it is hard to 'escape the corruption that is in the world through lust,’ 2 Peter 1:4. The new nature was given us for that end, and also the Spirit of God is necessary: 1 John 4:4, 'Ye are of God, and have overcome the world; for greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.' The Spirit is necessary, as against the terrors, so the delights of it: 1 Cor. 2:12, 'We have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things which are freely given to us of God,' that so the world may not corrupt us, nor entice us to affect its riches, honours, and pleasures above God and the conscience of our duty to him.
[2.] There is great encouragement to us to set upon the work of mortification, because it is carried on by the help and power of the Spirit. If we were to grapple with sin in our own strength, then we might sit down and despair and die; but the Spirit is appointed for this end, and purchased for us by Jesus Christ, for all that come to him with broken hearts, and do not by their carelessness, negligence, or other sin, provoke the Lord to withdraw his exciting grace. If you do humbly implore his assistance, wait for his approaches, attend and obey his motions, you shall find what the Spirit is able and willing to do for you. He is able surely, though you are ready to say, I shall never get rid of this naughty heart, renounce these bewitching lusts. There are none so carnal but he can change them, and bend and incline their hearts to God and heavenly things: 1 Cor. 6:11, ‘Such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.' He can turn swine into saints, a dunghill into a bed of spices. None should give way to sottish despair; God never made a creature too hard for himself. And when he hath begun an interest for God in our souls, he can maintain it, notwithstanding oppositions and temptations: Phil. 1:6, 'He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.' God is willing to give the Spirit to them that ask it, as a father is to give a child what is necessary for him: Luke 11: 13, 'If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?' Be careful you do not grieve the Spirit, and make yourselves incapable of his help: Eph. 4:30, 'Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemption.' The Spirit of God will not forsake us unless we forsake him first. The Spirit is grieved when lust is obeyed before him, when his counsels and holy inspirations are smothered, and we yield easily to the requests of sin, but are wholly deaf to his motions. If so indeed, he ceaseth to give us warning, and to renew and continue the excitations of his grace. Water once heated congealeth the sooner; so they are most hardened who have been notably touched with his sacred inspirations, but go a quite contrary way. But the renewed need not doubt of his help; for God hath promised the Spirit to them, to cause them to walk in his ways: John 14: 16,17, 'I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.' Well, then, do not complain, but up and be doing against sin. Laziness pretendeth want of power; but is anything too hard for the Spirit of the Lord? It is a lamentable thing to see what a cowardly spirit there is in most Christians, how soon they are captivated, and discouraged with every slender assault or petty temptation, and their resolutions are shaken with the appearance of every difficulty. This is affected weakness, not so much want of strength, as sluggishness and cowardice and want of care. Men spare their pains, and then cry they are impotent, like lazy beggars, who personate and act a disease, because they would not work. Surely 'where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,' 2 Cor. 3:17. Many are not able to stand before the slightest motion of sin, because they do not stir up themselves, and awaken that strength which they have, or improve that which God continually vouchsafeth to them by the motions of his Spirit. It would be more for your comfort to try what you can do in resistance of sin, than idly to complain for want of strength. The two extremes are pride and sloth. Pride is seen in self-confidence, or depending upon our endeavours and resolutions; and sloth in a neglect of the grace given, or help afforded to you. Christians should improve present strength against sin, and still labour to get more. Every conquest will increase your strength against the next assault, and one limb of the body of death mortified is a means to cause the rest to languish by consent.
4. The next encouragement is the promises of the gospel, which secure this benefit to us; and surely the watching and the striving person may take comfort in them. There are two sorts of promises, some that do assure of necessary assistance, some that speak of arbitrary assistance; as Ezek. 36:26,27, 'A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.' Now such promises must be improved, for the covenant of God is the ground of our stability. Adam had a seed of grace, but it was not secured by promise, and therefore he sinned it away. The victory is assured to us by promise: Rom. 16:20, 'The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.' In ordinary conflicts it is a good rule, Non aeque glorietur accinctus ac discinctus; but a Christian may triumph before the victory, for all those who are really and earnestly striving against sin are sure to conquer. These promises may be pleaded to God, as his own words by which he hath invited our hope; and to ourselves in case of fainting and discouragement, that we may not coldly set upon the practice of Christianity. Let us depend upon God's promise, as Paul: 2 Tim. 4:18, 'And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory for ever and ever, amen.'
5. There are certain ordinances whereby this grace is conveyed to us. The Spirit joineth his power and efficacy with the proper instituted means for the subduing of sin. The word is a powerful instrument, which the Holy Ghost useth for the cleansing of the soul from sin: John 15:3, 'Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you;' yea, for the killing of sin, therefore it is called 'The sword of the Spirit.' When we come to hear, some new consideration is still given out for the further sanctifying of the heart: John 17:17, 'Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.' In prayer we come to act faith and repentance, looking up to God for help; and with brokenness of heart mourning over our corruptions: Zech. 12:10, 'I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplications, and they shall look upon him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.' By every prayer offered in the brokenness of our hearts sin receiveth a new wound. So the sacraments; as in the Old Testament, circumcision signified a sanctifying of the heart: Dent 30:6, 'And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live;' and the paschal lamb was a type of Christ, 'Who taketh away the sins of the world,’ John 1:29. So baptism and the Lord's supper. Baptism signifieth the washing away of sin: Acts 22: 16, 'Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins;' and he that liveth in sin forgetteth, that is, neglecteth his baptism: 2 Peter 1:9, 'He hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins;' as forgetting the law is neglecting the duty of it: Ps. 119:153, 'I do not forget thy law;' he carrieth himself as if he were never baptized, for baptism is a vowed death to sin. So for the Lord's supper. Every serious remembrance or meditation of Christ's death should quicken us anew to crucify sin, and to make it hateful to our souls. (1.) As it representeth the great act of Christ's condescending love, which is a moving forcible argument to persuade us to deny our inordinate self-love: 2 Cor. 5:14,15, 'For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead, and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.' (2.) It is a viewing the heinousness and odiousness of sin there represented to us in the agonies and sufferings of Christ; the more we consider of them, the greater apprehensions should we have of the evil of sin, the exactness of God's justice, the terror of his wrath: Rom. 8:3, 'For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.' Christ was made sin for us, and then endured these things: 2 Cor. 5:21, 'He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.' When we look upon sin through Satan's spectacles, or the cloud of our own passions or carnal affections, we make nothing of it; but it is a terrible spectacle to see the fruit of sin in the agonies and sufferings of Jesus Christ, which are there represented to us, 'as if he were crucified before our eyes,’ Gal. 3:1. Oh! never have slight thoughts of sin more. (3.) As it implieth a solemn mutual surrendry between Christ and us: Cant 2:16, ‘I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine.' Christ giveth himself and his grace to us, as our redeemer and saviour. We accept Christ and his benefits upon his own terms, and surrender ourselves to him, as his redeemed ones, with thankfulness for so great a favour and benefit: Rom. 12:1, 'I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.' Now all this must needs be a great weakening of sin, both the remembrance of Christ's love, the representation of his great sufferings necessary for the expiation of it, and our solemn renewed dedication of ourselves to God and his service, and doing this in a holy duty instituted by God for this end and purpose; for the Spirit of God works by the appointed means, and the use of instituted duties is no fruitless labour, for God would not set us a-work in a duty that should yield no profit and benefit to us.
6. Providences are sanctified to this use, as helps and occasions of subduing sin; as afflictions, which do remove the occasions and subtract the fuel of sin, and awaken seriousness for the future: Isa. 27:9, 'By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit to take away his sin;' 2 Cor. 12:7, 'Lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.' The thorn in the flesh was given to mortify his pride. By these kind of dispensations the Spirit worketh serious humiliation, and brokenness of heart maketh sin odious to us. These are ordered with exact wisdom and faithfulness: Ps. 119:75, 'O Lord, I know that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me;' and they are accompanied by the Spirit; therefore God is said to teach us out of his law when he chastiseth us: Ps. 94:12, 'Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law;' Job 36:10, 'He openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity;' the rod is made effectual by the Spirit's motion.
Object. Some have frequently resolved to forsake their sins, but their resolutions have come to nothing; they have striven against it, but as a great stone that is rolled up hill, it hath returned upon them with the more violence, or as a man rowing against the stream, the tide hath been strong against them, and they have been forced the more back; yea, they have prayed against sin, yet found no success, and therefore think it is in vain to try any more.
Ans. 1. If all the premises are true, yet the inference and conclusion is wrong and false; for we are not to measure our duty by the success, but God's injunction. God may do what he pleaseth, but we must do what he commandeth. Abraham obeyed God, 'not knowing whither he went,' Heb. 11:8. Peter obeyed Christ's word: Luke 5:5, 'We have toiled all the night, and caught nothing; howbeit at thy command we will let down the net.'
2. Though the first attempt succeed not, yet afterwards sin may be subdued and broken. In natural things we do not sit down with one trial or one endeavour: ‘A man that will be rich pierceth himself through with many sorrows,' 1 Tim. 6:10; and after many miscarriages and disappointments, men pursue their designs till they complete them. And shall we give over our conflict with fleshly and worldly lusts, because we cannot presently subdue them? That showeth our will is not fixedly bent against them. Therefore let no man excuse himself, and sit down in despair, and say, 'I am not able to master these temptations or corruptions. This is like those, Jer. 18:12, 'They said, There is no hope, but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.' Do not throw up all; thy condition is not hopeless.
3. God's grace is free, and his holy leisure must be waited; for it was long ere God got us at this pass, to be sensible and anxiously solicitous about our soul-distempers. Grace is not at our beck: 'The Spirit bloweth when and where he listeth,' John 3:7. We must still lie at the pool for cure, nor pettishly fret against the Lord, or cast off our duty, because he blesseth not our first essay.
4. Grace is ready, as it is free. He that begun this work, to make us serious and sensible, will carry it on to a farther degree, if we be not impatient. Surely 'the bruised reed will he not break, and smoking flax will he not quench,' Mat. 12:20. Bemoan thyself to God; as Ephraim: Jer. 31:18, 'I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn thou me, and I shall be turned, for thou art the Lord my God.' He is not wont to forsake the soul that waiteth on him, and referreth all to the power and good pleasure of his grace: Isa. 40:30, 1, 'Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.'
5. Examine whether you seek the Lord with your whole heart, and you have done your endeavour. You say, you purpose, you strive, you pray, but yet sin increases; there is a defect usually in these purposes, in these strivings, in these prayers.
[1.] Let us examine these purposes.
(1.) These purposes are not hearty and real, and then no wonder they do not prevail. There is a slight wavering purpose, and there is ‘a full purpose of heart,' Acts 11:23. If thy purposes were more full and strong, and thoroughly bent against sin, they would sooner succeed. Is it the fixed decree and determination of thy will? When you are firmly resolved, your affections will be sincere and steadfast, you will pursue this work close, not be off and on, hot and cold, and unstable in all your ways. If the habitual bent of your hearts doth appear by the constant drift of your lives, then is it a full purpose.
(2.) This purpose may be extorted, not the effect of thy judgment and will, as inclined to God, but only of thy present fear, awakened in thee on some special occasion. Many are frightened into a little religiousness, but the humour lasts not long: Ps. 78:36, 'Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues; for their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant.' Ahab in his fears had some relentings, so had Pharaoh; the Israelites turned to the Lord in their distress, but they turned as fast from him afterwards; they were resolved not from love, but fear; so these resolutions are wrested from you by some present terrors, which when they cease, no wonder that you are where you were before. Violent things will never hold long; they will hold as long as the principle of their violence lasteth.
(3.) It may be thou restest in the strength of thine own resolutions. Now God will be owned as the author of all grace: 1 Peter 5:10,11, 'But the God of all grace, who hath called us into his eternal glory by Jesus Christ, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory for ever and ever, amen.' Still we must have a sense of our own insufficiency, and resolve more in the strength and power of God; the grace of Jesus Christ you must rely upon, both for confirming and performing your resolutions, as knowing that without him you can do nothing. Men fall again as often as they think to rise and stand by their own power: there is such guile and falsehood in our hearts, that we cannot trust them. The saints still resolve, God assisting: Ps. 119:8, 'I will keep thy statutes; O forsake me not utterly;' and ver. 32, 'I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.'
[2.] As to striving, let us examine that a little, if it be so serious, so diligent, so circumspect as it should be.
(1.) That is no effectual striving when you are disheartened with every difficulty, for difficulties do but inflame a resolved spirit, as stirring doth the fire. No question but it will be hard to enter in at the strait gate, or to walk in the narrow way. God hath made the way to heaven so narrow and strait that we may the more 'strive to enter in thereat,’ Luke 13:24. Now, shall we sit down and complain when we succeed not upon every faint attempt? Who then can be saved? This is to cry out with the sluggard, 'There is a lion in the way.' Should a mariner, as soon as the waves arise, and strong gusts of wind blow, give over all guiding of the ship? No; this is against all the experience and the wont of mankind.
(2.) This striving and opposing is but slight, if not accompanied with that watchfulness and resolution which is necessary. Many pretend to strive against sin, yet abstain not from all occasions of sin. If we play about the cockatrice's hole, no wonder we are bitten. Never think to turn from thy sins if thou dost not turn from the occasion of them. If thou hast not strength to avoid the occasion, which is less, how canst thou avoid the sin, which is greater? He that resolveth not to be burnt in the fire must not come near the flames. Job made a covenant with his eyes that he would not look upon a maid, Job 31:1. 'Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away,’ Prov. 4:14,15. Evil company is a snare. Our Saviour taught us to pray, 'Lead us not into temptation;' he doth not say, into sin; the temptation openeth the gate.
[3.] For praying, we oftener pray from our memories than from our consciences, or from our consciences as enlightened rather than hearts renewed by grace. Prayer, as it is the fruit of memory and invention, is but slight and formal, words said of course, a body without a soul; as dictated by conscience, it may be retracted by the will; timebam ne me exaudiret Deus. Or at best they are but half desires, faint wishes, like Balaam's wishing, which will never do good: 'The soul of the sluggard desireth, but hath nothing.' God never made promise that such wishes should be satisfied.
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