Use 1. Of reproof, to reprove -
1. The security and carelessness of many, that never look to the state of their hearts, nor regard whether Christ reigneth or sin reigneth, or at least do not take good heed which way things tend to the greatening or increasing of God's interest or Satan's in their souls. Many count a holy jealousy or heedful watchfulness to be but preciseness, and that we make more ado than needeth, and make the lives of Christians burdensome, when we press them to a constant watchfulness and holy jealousy of themselves. No; this is no burden, but a blessing: Prov. 28:14, 'Blessed is the man that feareth always.' Sin gaineth upon us for want of taking heed at first They that see no need of this caution are little acquainted with the practice of godliness, or the state of their own hearts, have not a due sense and apprehension of the danger of displeasing God, or of their own proclivity and proneness to sin; therefore live by chance and peradventure, and leave themselves to be transported by their own affections, to do anything which occasions and temptations invite them unto. Were we as sensible of the dangers of the inward as outward man, we should surely stand more upon our guard, and resist the first motions and tendencies towards a sin; certainly we would not give such harbour and indulgence to our corruptions as usually we do, lest we nourish and foster a viper in our own bosoms, which will at length sting us to death. Surely it is no wisdom to tarry till the death-blow cometh; an inclination to evil is best mortified at first, and the longer we dally and play with a temptation, the harder will our conflict be.
But when may we be said to omit our watchfulness?
[1.] When we grow bolder with sin, and the temptations and occasions of it, and think we have so good a command of ourselves, and can keep within compass well enough, though we cast ourselves upon tempting objects and occasions unnecessarily, and without a call. Surely these men forget themselves and the danger of sin, as if they had some special amulet against it, which the people of God had not in former times. They know exactly how far they may go in every thing, even to the cleaving of a hair, and will not lose one jot of their liberty, and seem to make a sport of it, to show how far they can go, and how near the pit, and not fall in. They can allow themselves in all kind of liberty for lascivious songs, wanton plays, and yet look to the main chance well enough; please themselves with all kinds of froth and folly, yea, sometimes execrable filth, yet never any kind of infection cometh near their hearts. Alas! poor deluded creatures! they that do all that they may will soon do more than they should; and those that come as near a sin as possibly they can without falling into it, cannot be long safe; yea, and they are infected already, that have so little sense of the strength of sin and their own weakness. I confess some are more liable to temptations than others, but yet all need watchfulness for their preservation; for sin is not extirpated and rooted out of any. And again, when I am in my calling, I am under God's protection, as a subject is under the protection of his prince, travelling in due hours on the highway; but none can presume their knowledge is so sound, their faith so strong, their hearts so good to God, as to think no hurt will come when they cast themselves voluntarily upon occasions of sin.
[2.] When you make a small matter of those corruptions which were once so grievous, even intolerable to you: Rom. 7:24, ‘O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?' You lose tenderness of conscience, remit of your care.
[3.] When you content yourselves with the customary use of holy duties, though you find no profit nor increase of grace by them, rather perform them as a task, than use them as a means to get and increase grace. Nunquam abs te absque te recedam. Lord, I will never go from thee without thee: Gen. 32:26, 'I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.'
[4.] When you neglect your hearts, grow strangers to them, find little work to do about them. Every Christian findeth work enough from day to day to get his heart quickened when it is dead, enlarged when it is straitened, prepared when it is indisposed, to be made serious when it is vain and frothy, cured when it is distempered, settled when it is troubled and discomposed; but sin becometh easy, and conscience becometh patient and quiet under it. Surely you are not watchful, and mind not your covenant vow.
2. It reproveth those that hope to have sin subdued and kept from reigning, though they never strive against it. It is the striving Christian which is here encouraged, those that have given up themselves to Christ's conduct, and to fight in his warfare. Many run of their own accord into sin, others make no opposition against it. Now Christ undertaketh not to keep these. The captain of our salvation only taketh charge of his own soldiers, to lead them safe to eternal glory and happiness; others are excepted. Grace received from him is of little use to us if we fight not. Therefore, besides watching, there must be resisting. This resistance must be –
[1.] Earnest and vehement, such as cometh from a hatred of sin as sin. The light of nature will rise up against many sins, especially at first, as sin is a disorder and inconvenience; but this is but partial and soon tireth; but the resistance required of Christians is such as ariseth from a constant hatred: Rom. 7:15, 'That which I do I allow not; for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate that do I.' When Eve speaketh faintly, the devil reneweth the assault: Gen. 3:3, 'Of the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.' She speaketh too warmly, and with an impatient resentment of the restraint, and too coldly of the commination. God had said, 'In dying ye shall die.' A faint denial is a kind of a grant. Our Lord rebuketh the devil with indignation: Mat. 4:10, 'Get thee behind me, Satan.'
[2.] It must be a thorough universal resistance. Take the little foxes, dash out the brains of Babylon's brats. The devil would frighten you by propounding great sins at first, but he approacheth by degrees; therefore, Eph. 4:27, we must not 'give place to the devil.' You set open the door to Satan by yielding a little. A temptation is better kept out than gotten out; when he hath but the narrowest passage or least opportunity, he seeketh to re-enter, and seat himself in the heart, and exercise his former tyranny, and doth excite the person to commit more sin. When the stone at the top of the hill beginneth to roll downward, it is a hard thing to stay it. I’ll yield but once, saith the deceived heart; but the devil chargeth us further and further, till he hath left no tenderness in our conscience; as some that thought to venture but a shilling or two, by the secret witchery of gaming have played away all their estates.
[3.] It is not for a time, but perpetual. It concerneth us not only to stand out against the first assault, but a long siege. What Satan cannot gain by argument, he seeketh to gain by importunity; but 'resist him, steadfast in the faith,' 1 Peter 5:9; as Joseph's mistress spake to him day by day, Gen. 39:10. Deformed objects, when we are accustomed to them, seem less odious. As you rate away an importunate beggar, that will not be answered. To yield at last is to lose the glory of the conflict.
Now many resist not. You may know it -
(1.) When you cannot bring your hearts to let sin go, though conscience worry you, and condemn you for it, as many men sin while their hearts condemn them: Rom. 1:18, katechontoon, 'they hold the truth in unrighteousness.'
(2.) When you slightly purpose hereafter to amend, but do not presently resolve: Acts 24:25, 'And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and said, Go thy way for this time, when I have a convenient season I will call for thee.' The contrary you may see in David: Ps. 119:60, 'I made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments.'
(3.) When you do not consent to the necessary effectual means of your recovery, which, if you were truly desirous to get rid of sin, you would do. They that will not use the means, do not desire the thing: Prov. 21:25, 'The desire of the slothful killeth him, for his hands refuse to labour.'
(4.) When in actual temptations you interpose not a strong dissent or negative, either by serious dislikes, or rebukes, deep groans, hearty defiance, or strong arguments, which are the several ways of resistance.
Use 2. Exhortation, when God affordeth to poor captivated sinners such help, if they will but take it, and make use of it in time; surely, then, we should watch and strive. And that I may deal the more effectually in this use, I shall distinctly unfold the duty of watching and striving, the means to curb and check sin.
First, Watching.
1. The spring and rise of it in the soul are these three fundamental graces of faith, fear, and love; otherwise it is but moral prudence and caution, which will be too feeble a restraint to sin, unless it be animated and inspired with these graces.
[1.] Faith puts upon watchfulness; that faith which looketh to things to come, and maketh them in a manner present to the soul; it is a realising sight: Heb. 11:1, 'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.' The more lively sense we have of the concernments of another world, and the more mindful we are of our eternal enjoyments, the more watchful. In every sin it is our eternal enjoyments are in danger, and heaven and hell are not things to be sported with, or ventured and put to hazard for a little carnal satisfaction. Many expound that, Eph. 6:12, 'We wrestle with spiritual wickedness in high places,' en epouraniois, 'about heavenly things,' for the word places is supplied; it is in the original only in or for the heavenlies. The main quarrel between us and Satan is about high and heavenly things, which tend to the honour of God and the eternal good of our souls; it is not our temporal and worldly, so much as our spiritual and heavenly concernments which are struck at. The devil would fain cheat us of our souls, our God, and our happiness, and by propounding some base and unworthy trifle deprive us of everlasting glory. Now, a man that hath a sense of eternity deeply impressed upon his heart, and hath 'made eternal things his scope,' 2 Cor. 4:18, he hath his eyes in his head, is careful not to lose his interest in and hope of these things, who knows that the whole world will not countervail the loss of his soul, and that one glimpse of heaven's glory and happiness doth so much outshine all the pomp and gaudy vanities of the present life, that he dareth not let his heart linger after these things, lest he should forget or neglect those better things. He is cautious of 'coming short of the heavenly rest,' which his eye and his heart is upon, Heb. 4:1. But they whose faith about these things is either weak or none at all are bold and venturous, as if there were no such danger in sins and temptations; they forget God and their souls, and the great account they must give of all their actions to their impartial judge, and the eternal recompenses of heaven and hell, into which all the world shall at last issue themselves.
[2.] Fear, or a reverent and aweful regard of God's eye and presence; they are afraid to do anything unseemly in his sight: Gen. 39:9, 'How can I do this wickedness, and sin against God?' How will God take it to be affronted to his face? As Esther 7:8, 'Will he force the queen before me in the house?' So, shall we give vent to our sin when God seeth and heareth? void our excrements in his presence? The Israelites were commanded to march with a paddle: Deut. 23:12-14, 'Thou shall have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad. And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon, and it shall be when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back, and cover that which cometh from thee. For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy, that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.' The master's eye makes the servant diligent; the presence of a reverend man will hold us in some order. If Gehazi had known that the spirit of Elisha went with him, would he have run after Naaman for a reward? 2 Kings 5:26; his prophetic spirit went with him. We can no more be removed from the presence of God than from our own being; he is the continual witness and judge of our conversations; he seeth us in secret as well as in public. Now, when the soul is habituated to this thought, how aweful and watchful shall we be? Ps. 119:168, 'I kept thy precepts and thy testimonies; for all my ways are before thee.' The sense of his presence is the great ground of watchfulness. God is not so shut up within the curtain of the heavens, but that he doth see and hear all that we do or say; yea, he knoweth our thoughts afar off.
[3.] Love to God maketh us tender of offending him, for it is a grace that studieth to please; the soul is jealous of anything which looks like an offence to those whom we love. Others are not troubled though they sin freely in thought, foully in word, frequently in their daily practice, because an offence to God seemeth as nothing; they have no love to God: Ps. 97:10, 'Ye that love the Lord, hate evil.' It is a loathsome thing to them; to a gracious heart it is argument enough against sin that it 'is the transgression of the law,' 1 John 3:4; and he inferreth it out of love to God, ver. 1, 'Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us,’ &c. They have such a deep apprehension of God's love to them in Christ, that it breedeth an awe upon them, or a fear to offend: Ezra 9:13,14, 'After all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this; shall we again break thy commandments?' Josh. 24:31, 'Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, which he had done for Israel,’ What! offend God, who is so blessed a being, who created us out of nothing, of whose mercy we have tasted every moment, who preserveth and delivereth us continually, from whose goodness we expect ail our blessedness! Is our deliverance by Christ of less value than all our temporal deliverances? Will not love draw the same inferences and conclusions from it? Caution doth not arise out of a fear of anger, but a loathness to offend.
2. The time when this duty is to be practised; always; it is never out of season. Conscience must still sit porter at the door, and examine what goes in and out. If men neglect their watch but for a little while, how soon doth sin get an advantage against them. Lot, that was chaste in Sodom, miscarried in the mountains, where there was none but his own family. David, whose heart was so tender that it smote him for cutting off the lap of Saul's garment, falleth into so deep a sleep afterwards that his conscience was silent when he had defiled it with blood and lust. The tears and sorrows of many years may perhaps not repair the mischief which one hour may bring unto you. You have need to watch after the sense of your duty hath been revived upon you. Satan loveth to snatch the prey from under Christ's own arm: 'He entered into Judas, after the sop,’ John 13:27. After solemn duties, how soon do people miscarry! As soon as the law was given with terrible thunderings, the people do presently miscarry by worshipping the golden calf, Exod. 32.; and the priests in the very day of their consecration, in the beginning and first day of their ministration, offered strange fire to the Lord, Lev. 10: After some escape from sin we need to watch that we be not entangled therein again: 2 Pet. 2:20, 'If after they have escaped the pollution of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.' As under the law, a sore rising as a boil, when it was healed, might afterward break out again, and turn to a leprosy, Lev. 13:18-20; so sins, after we seem to be healed of them, may return, and make us worse than before. As Christ saith to the man cured: John 5:14, 'Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.' In prosperity we need to watch; it is hard to carry a full cup without spilling, and to live at ease and yet to keep up a due and lively sense of our duty. And in our adversity, when the course of temptation is altered, we are strangely surprised; every condition bringeth its own snares with it: 'Ephraim is a cake not turned,' Hosea 7:8. Those who are most advanced in a state of grace, they need still to watch: Mark 13: 37, 'What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.' We are never past this care; this is the great difference between Christian and Christian; one is more watchful than another.
3. Against what we must watch.
[1.] generally against the three grand enemies of our salvation, the devil, the world, and the flesh.
(1.) Against Satan; for he hath laid his ambushes and enterprises against us continually, and by his spiritual nature hath advantages of being near us, when we are little aware of him: 1 Peter 5:8, 'Be sober, be vigilant; for your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.' Satan is ever watching, therefore you should watch. You give him the greatest advantage by your folly and negligence; now the apostle saith he would not give him any advantage: 2 Cor. 2:11, 'Lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.' He is unwearied in his motions, lays his designs deep, takes all advantages and occasions to destroy us. If the devil were either dead or asleep, or had lost his malice and power, then we need not stand so much upon our guard.
(2.) Against the world; for we are bidden to 'deny worldly lusts,' Titus 2:12. Not only ungodliness must be watched and prevented, but our inclination to worldly things. See how these two are matched; for when we fall off from God we take to the creature: Jer. 2:13, 'My people have committed two evils, they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that will hold no water;' and 'Christ died to deliver us from this present evil world,' Gal. 1:4. Here lie all the baits, and snares, and dangers; pass but safe through these flats and quicksands, and we shall soon arrive to the haven of eternal glory. The great virtue and proper effect of the cross of Christ is seen in crucifying us 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 unto me, and I unto the world.’ When the fashion of worldly glory is spoiled, and it seemeth less lovely in our eyes, then the cross of Christ hath produced its effect upon us, and the spiritual life advanceth apace. It is the world that is an enemy to God, and quencheth and abateth our love to him: 1 John 2:15, 'Love not the world, neither the things of the world: if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him;' James 4:4, 'Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is an enemy of God.' Some temporal good lieth nearest our hearts, and God is not our chiefest good and last end, wherein lieth the life of all religion. It is the world that diverts us from our duty, that hinders the vigour and perfection of the life of grace: Luke 8:14, 'They which fell among thorns are they which, when they have heard, go forth and are choked with cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.' It is the world that makes us grudge at the strictness of Christ's precepts: Mat 19:22, 'When the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.' It is the world that tempts us to live in a slight way, as other careless creatures do about us. It is the world that maketh us slightly mind heavenly things, and affect a life of pomp and ease here: Luke 16:25, 'Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things.' It is the world that enticeth us to stay by the way and neglect our home, that maketh the impressions which arise from the belief of another and better world to be weak and inefficacious: 2 Cor. 4:4, 'In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, which is the image of God, should shine on them. Well, then, we cannot be watchful enough against the sly insinuations of the world. When it seemeth too sweet and amiable to you, the devil is at your elbows, enticing your souls from God; when the things of this world begin to be represented as more sweet and delectable than God, and holiness, and heaven, and you are ready to value your happiness rather by worldly prosperity than by the favour and friendship of God, and you are more indifferent, and can contentedly live without a sense of his love, but your desires are more urgent and strong after an increase of temporal enjoyments, when you affect to grow rich in this world, and neglect to grow rich in grace, - oh! then Christians have need to stand upon their guard, mischief is near, and unless it be prevented, will prove the bane and everlasting ruin of your souls.
(3.) The flesh must be watched against. The flesh is importunate to be pleased, and will urge us to retrench and cut off a great part of that necessary duty which belongeth to our heavenly calling; yea, it will crave very unlawful and unreasonable things at our hands. It may be not at first; but if you continue to gratify sense and brutish appetite with an uncontrolled license, it is impossible that you should keep within the bounds of your duty. Therefore, unless you keep a constant government over your senses and appetites, how shamefully will you miscarry! Therefore, as you love your souls, you must 'abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,' 1 Peter 2:11. For whilst you keep gratifying and pleasing the flesh by the excess of lawful delights, you do but strengthen your enemy, increase corruption in heart and life, provide fuel for Satan's temptations, and jostle God out of the throne, and finally hasten your own eternal ruin. If you would keep sin under, you must cut off the provisions of the flesh, not cater for them: Rom. 13: 14, 'Make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof,’ If you would resist Satan, you must be 'sober and watchful,’ 1 Peter 5:8; that is, sparing in the use of worldly delights. If you would preserve God's interest, and reserve the throne of your hearts for him, you must take heed that the pleasures of the animal life be not too much indulged, for these will soon secure their interest in our affections: 2 Tim. 3:4, 'Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God,’ If you would not have your consciences benumbed, and grow forgetful of spiritual danger, you must set a guard upon these outward delights: Luke 21:34, 'Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares;' 1 Thes. 5:6, 'Let us watch and be sober,’ There is a strange infatuation and senselessness groweth upon you, and though we keep up a show of religion, yet we feel little of the life and power of it. They indispose us for our Christian warfare, quench all our sense of heavenly things: 1 Peter 1:13, 'Be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.' These delights that offer themselves in our pilgrimage make us forget our journey, as lewd servants sent to a market or fair spend all their time and money at the next inn. We are strangers and pilgrims, that is the apostle's argument: 1 Peter 2:11, 'Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,’ We may bait here, as in a house of entertainment, but so as to set onward still on our journey, that it may be a refreshment, not an hindrance. Certainly they that would make progress in their journey to their heavenly home should meddle sparingly with sensible delights, though lawful in themselves. Certainly they who make their corrupt inclinations their ordinary guide and rule, and the satisfying thereof their ordinary trade, miscarry shamefully, and shipwreck all their hopes of glory.
[2.] More particularly, the object of our watching are these things - (1.) Our thoughts, which are sin's spokesmen, and make the match between the soul and the object: Prov. 4:23, 'Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.' If we do not take care what thoughts we have, and whereunto they tend, the heart is entangled before we are aware; our lusts stir up thoughts, and these thoughts entice the heart; and whilst we muse and sit abrood upon them, these cockatrice eggs are hatched. It is musing maketh the fire to burn; and when the fire is kindled, then the sparks begin to fly abroad; men execute what the heart contriveth, and finish it without stopping: James 1:14, 15, 'Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.' There we read of the manner of the birth, or bringing forth of sin. Some pleasurable lure, represented by sense, awakeneth the lust; that draweth off the heart from God and heavenly things: then lust conceiveth by thoughts, as the eggs are hatched by incubation; then it is a full-grown sin, and so they go on to the very last, till they drop into hell. Oh! then, suppress the musings, the vain and sinful thoughts; for whilst you dandle sin in your minds with a secret consent, liking, or a pleasing musing, the mischief increaseth, the stranger becometh your master.
(2.) You must watch against occasions. It is ill sporting with occasions, or playing about the cockatrice's hole, or standing in harm's way. Many say their infirmities make them run into such or such sins; but if they were minded to leave their sin, they would leave off evil company, and all occasions that lead to it. We are often warned of this: Prov. 4:14,15, '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. 5:8, 'Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house.' The wisdom of God thought fit to give us these directions; they that think they have so good a command of themselves that they shall keep within compass well enough, though they venture upon the occasions of sin, converse with vain company, frequent the haunts of the wicked, go to plays, and entertain themselves with dalliances, refuse none of the blandishments of sense, surely they are not acquainted with the slipperiness and infirmity of human nature, know not what the new creature meaneth, nor what a tender thing it is to preserve it in strength and vigour. Is sin grown less dangerous? or have men gotten a greater command of themselves than they were wont to have when the Scriptures were first written? Surely man is as weak as ever, and sin as dangerous. Why then should we venture upon evil company, and the places where they resort, and go too near the pit's brink, and freely please ourselves with the allectives of sin, and apostasy from God, such as are wanton plays, idle sports? Is there no infection that secretly tainteth our hearts?
(3.) Against all appearance of evil: 1 Thes. 5:22, 'Abstain from all appearance of evil.’ Some things, though not apparently evil, yet they have an ill aspect, as being unsuitable to the gravity of our holy calling, or the strictness of our baptismal vow and covenant made with Christ, or as being things not practised by good men who most seriously mind heavenly things, or have been usually abused to sin, and so are not of good report, to be sure do rather blemish religion than adorn it. Christ's worshippers should be far from scurrility, lightness, vanity in apparel, words, deeds; and they should avoid all things that look towards a sin. It is notable under the law, that the Nazarite who was not to drink wine was not to eat grapes, moist nor dry, nor to taste anything that was made of the vine-tree, from the kernels even unto the husk: Numb. 6:3,4. A Christian that hath consecrated himself to God, and hath made such a full and whole renunciation of all sin, should exactly take care to avoid every occasion and provocation to evil, every, appearance of evil, not only the pollution of the flesh, but 'the garment spotted with the flesh,' Jude 23.
(4.) Watch to prevent the sin itself. The actual reign of sin maketh way for the habitual. The progress is this; temptations lead to sin, for there are few of us but discover more evil upon a trial than ever we thought we should before, as the piercing and broaching of a vessel showeth what liquor is in it; and small sins lead to greater, as the small sticks set the greater on fire; and greater sins lead to hell, except God be the more merciful, and we stop betimes. Well, then, watch against the sin itself, for every foil maketh you suffer loss. Sin cometh to reign by degrees, and a man settleth his neck to the yoke by little and little. It is not easy to fix bounds to sin, when it is once admitted, and given way to. Water, when once it breaketh out, will have its course; and the gap once made in the conscience will grow wider and wider every day. A little rent in the cloth maketh way for a greater; so, if we do not take heed of small sins, worse grow upon us. The fear of God and sense of sin is lessened by every sinful act, and conscience loseth its tenderness, and our feeling decayeth. The best stopping of the stone is at the top of the hill; when it beginneth to fall downward it is hard to stay it. The deceived heart thinketh, I will yield a little; and the devil carrieth them further and further, till there is no tenderness left in the conscience. As in gaming there is a secret witchery, a man will play a little, venture a small sum, but he is wound in more and more and entangled; so men think it is no great matter to sin a little. A little sin is a sin against God, an offence to him; and therefore why do not you make conscience of it? And it will bring other mischiefs along with it, as it disposeth the heart to sin again.
(5.) Watch against the mischief of heinous or presumptuous sins. When you venture to do any foul thing against apparent checks of conscience, any small sin may get the upper hand of the sinner, and bring him under in time, after it is habituated by long custom, so that he cannot easily shake off the yoke, and redeem himself from the tyranny thereof; but these steal into the soul insensibly, and enslave us, as they get strength by multiplied acts. But presumptuous or heinous sins, by one single act, bring a mighty advantage to the flesh, and weaken the spirit or better part, and advance themselves suddenly into the throne: Ps. 19:13, 'Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins, let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.’ The regenerate, if the Lord do not keep them from temptations, or do leave them in temptations, may fall into most scandalous sins against the light of their consciences, and for the present are under woful slavery and inconvenience. David representeth the utmost mischief of these kinds of sins, as afraid (with the fear of caution) it might tend thereto. Now if a man, nay, a child of God, may possibly fall into scandalous sins, being enticed by the pleasure or profit of them, and for the present be blinded, then, after any heinous fall there should be a special mortification or weakening of sin; because when we are gotten to that height, sin will break out again in the same or other kind, as a venomous humour in the body, heal one sore, and it breaketh out in another place. After some notable fall or actual rebellion against God, it is good to come in speedily, to prevent hardness of heart by all holy means, that we may not settle in an evil course; it is not enough to ask pardon, to forbear the act, but you must mortify the root of the distemper. There are three things in sin - culpa, reatus, macula. The fault is continued as long as the act is repeated; you are in danger of this till the breach be made up between God and you; as Lot doubled his incest, the orifice of the wound was not yet closed; and Peter doubled and trebled his denials, whilst the temptation was yet upon him, and he had not recovered himself by repentance; Samson's folly and inordinate love to women twice betrayed him, Judges 16:1-4. The guilt continueth till repentance, and suing out pardon in the name of Jesus Christ: 1 John 1:9, 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' Though a man should forbear the act, yet unless he humbleth himself before God, and in a brokenhearted way applieth himself to his mediator and advocate, the guilt is not done away. But besides, there is the blot, or the inclination to sin again; the evil influence of the sin continues till we mortify the root, and the core of the distemper be gotten out. Take for an instance Jonah, the prophet; the original reason of his tergiversation from his call was a fear of being ashamed, and found false in those threatenings which he was to denounce in the name of God; this maketh him run away from his duty, and it cost him dear; for a tempest pursued him, and he was thrown into the sea, and swallowed up of a whale or great fish. Well, he being disciplined, confesseth his fault, repenteth his forsaking his call, begs pardon, is delivered, addresseth himself to his work. God interposeth by the prerogative of his grace upon the humiliation of the Ninevites, and then Jonah is all in a fury, his old reasons return: Jonah 4:1, 2, 'Was not this my saying when I was yet in my country?' &c. Therefore, it is not enough to bewail or discontinue the sin, but we must lance the sore, mortify the root of the distemper, till all be well. This was the reason of Christ's speech to Peter: John 21:15, 'Simon Peter, lovest thou me more than these?' that is, more than the rest of the disciples present Peter had boasted, Mat 26:33, 'Though all men be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.' Now saith Christ, 'Lovest thou me more than these?' He reflecteth upon his former conceit of himself and singular undertaking. Peter had wept bitterly for the fact of denying his master; Christ would try if the cause were removed. The evil of the saints' apostasy and defection will never be cured thoroughly unless the fountain-cause and root of it be cured and continually watched over. His making comparisons and lofty conceit of himself was that which occasioned his former fall; therefore Christ, to see what he did think of it, and whether it did continue with him, puts him this question. Peter was grown more modest than to make any comparisons now; his sad fall taught him sobriety, not to boast of himself beyond others. (6.) You are to watch against evil customs, that you do not lose your tenderness of conscience. Conscience, as the eye, is soon offended. The least dust, if it get into the eye, will pain it; so will conscience smite for lesser failings and exorbitances; but afterwards when you make bold with it, it is like the stomach of the ostrich, which digesteth iron, or like a part or member of the body which is seared with a hot iron, it hath no feeling, 1 Tim. 4:2; or like freezing water, which at first will not bear a pin, but afterwards it freezeth and freezeth, till it bear a cart-load. So men lose their tender sense by frequency of sinning. Therefore it is some degree of mortification to prevent the custom, and the hardness of heart that comes thereby. When a member is sprained or out of joint, if you let it alone and delay to set it, it never groweth strong or straight; so the longer corruption is spared, the worse it groweth, and requireth (acquireth? Ed.) more strength. Therefore, at least let not your hearts settle in a course of vanity or disobedience unto God.
(7.) Take heed of your darling sin. We are more tender of one sin than another: 'It is sweet in our mouths, and we hide it under our tongues,' Job 20:12; there is most pleasure and profit in it. This is the sin which is most apt to prevail, and settle into a tyranny in the soul; and your uprightness is tried by your watching and striving against it: as Ps. 18:23, 'I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.' Unless we humble ourselves more for this, watch against this, strive against this, it will be our ruin, and prove the ground of our apostasy in a time of temptation. There is some secret vent which all men have for their corruptions, or some postern or back-door by which Satan usually enters. Now this sin should be always in your eye, for the strength of other sins dependeth upon love to this: 'Fight not against small or great, but against the king of Israel,' 1 Kings 22:21. You should be most jealous of your hearts, lest they miscarry by this sin, and labour to increase in the contrary grace. He that will not spare his darling, (sc. sin Ed.) he hateth no sin indeed.
Secondly, For striving, this is required of us also; for we are bidden ‘to stand against the wiles of the devil,' Eph. 6:11, 'To withstand, that after all we may stand,' ver. 13. A stout and peremptory resistance of Satan's temptations is required of us in order to victory. The more we yield to sin, the more it tyranniseth over us: Mat. 12:45, 'Then goeth he and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first.' The more Satan is resisted the more he loseth ground: James 4:7, 'Resist the devil and he will flee from you.' Christ promiseth the crowns to those that will fight manfully: Rev. 2:10, 'Be thou faithful unto the death, and I will give thee a crown of life.' Therefore do not basely yield, nor lazily sit down, as if the work were already done.
But what is this striving? It implieth two things - (1.) An avowed defiance; (2.) A courageous resistance.
1. An avowed defiance. The first preparation of it is the resolution of the mind, or the dedication of ourselves to God. When we are regenerate, we renounce the devil, the world, and the flesh, and bid defiance or proclaim an eternal feud and hostility against them, declare ourselves enemies to these three.
2. A courageous resistance; for after that time we are fearfully assaulted, and in continual warfare with Satan: 1 Peter 5:8, 'Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, like a roaring lion, continually walketh about, seeking whom he may devour;' with the world: James 4:4, 'Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend to the world is the enemy of God;' with the flesh: Rom. 7:15, 'For that which I do I allow not; for what I would, that I do not; but what I hate, that do I;' there is the strife described. Now we resist -
[1.] By strength of resolution: Dan. 3:18, 'We will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up;' Ps. 39:1, 'I said I will take heed unto my ways, that I offend not with my tongue.'
[2.] Partly by hazarding our temporal interests: Heb. 12:4, 'Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin;' Rev. 12:11, 'They overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death.'
[3.] By opposing gracious considerations: Gen. 39:9, 'How shall I do this wickedness, and sin against God?' 1 John 2:14, 'Ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one,' by opposing reasons out of scripture, or arguing strongly against sin.
[4.] By praying, or crying strongly for help, when we are sensible of the burden of sin: Rom. 7:24, 'O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death?'
[5.] But chiefly by being acquainted with all the Christian armour, and the use of it. We must not go one day unarmed, but be armed cap-a-pie with the helmet of salvation, which is hope, the breastplate of righteousness, the girdle of truth, the shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit. The apostle beginneth with -
(1.) 'The girdle of truth,' whereby is meant a sincere and honest intention to be what we seem to be. Satan useth wiles; but we must not imitate our adversary in deceit, but labour for truth of heart, which as a girdle is strength of the loins;
(2.) 'The breastplate of righteousness,' which is a principle of grace inclining us to obey God in all things, or a fixed purpose and endeavour to give God and man their due. This secureth the breast or vital parts.
(3.) 'The feet must be shod.' We meet with rough ways as we are advancing to heaven; and soldiers had their greaves or brazen shoes, to defend from sharp-pointed stakes, fixed by the enemy in the ground over which they were to march. This preparation is a readiness of mind to suffer anything for Christ; this is built on the gospel of peace: Acts 21:13, 'Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and break my heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus;' 1 Peter 3:15, 'Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.' We must be ready to confess Christ in persecutions and dangers. When we have a sense of our peace and friendship made up between God and us by Jesus Christ, and our great and eternal interests are once settled, what need a believer fear?
(4.) 'The shield of faith,' which covereth the whole body, a sound belief of the mysteries of the gospel, and the promises thereof, especially a clear sight of the world to come. They that have such a faith see a sure foundation to build upon. On the one side the righteousness of Christ, or the promises of the gospel to a penitent believer of pardon, of strength to maintain grace received, and finally of eternal life; on the other side, threats to impenitent and sensual persons.
(5.) 'The helmet of salvation,’ which is a well-grounded hope of eternal life: 1 Thes. 5:8, 'But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation.' This maketh a Christian hold up his head in the midst of all encounters and sore assaults. He that often looketh above the clouds, and expecteth within a little while to be with God in the midst of the glory of the world to come, why should he be daunted?
(6.) 'The sword of the Spirit.' This is a weapon both offensive and defensive; it wardeth off Satan's blows, and maketh him fly away wounded and ashamed. If Satan saith, Oh! it is too soon to mind religion! he hath the word ready, Eccles. 12:1, 'Remember thy creator in the days of thy youth.' If that it is too late, then, John 3:16, 'God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' If that his sins are too great, or too many to be pardoned, then, Isa. 4:7, 'Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.' If Satan tempt him to live sensually, Rom. 8:13, 'If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die.' If to defile himself with base lusts, 1 Thes. 4:3, 4, 'This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication; that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.' If to a negligent careless profession, then, Phil. 2:12, 'Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;' 1 Thes. 2:12, 'That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.' If to despondency and fainting, 2 Cor. 12: 9, 'My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.'
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