66 The Nature and Neceffìty Vol. II. its effe& upon our inwardMan, and reach our very hearts and thoughts; it mutt reftrain our inclinations, and mortifie our lutes and corrupt affe:lions, and renew us in the veryfpirit ofour minds, as the Apoftle expreffes it. And it mutt be univerfal, in refpe&of all our A&ions. For this is not the Re- folution of a fincere Penitent, to abftain only from grofs and notorious, from fcandalous and open Sins ; but likewife to refrain from the Commiffionof thofe Sins which are fmall in the efteem of men, and not branded with a Mark of pub- lick Infamy and Reproach; to forbear Sin in fecret, and when no Eye of Man fees us and takes notice of us. This is not a fincere Refolution, to refolve to pra&ife the Duties and Virtues of Religion inpublick, and to negle& them in private; to refolve to perform the Duties of the firft Table, and to pafs by thofe of the fecond ; to refolve to ferve God, and to take a liberty to defraud and cozen men ; to honour our Father which is in Heaven, and to injure andhate our Brethren upon Earth ; to love our Neighbour, and to hate our Enemy, as the Yews did of old time ; to refolve againft Swearing, and to allow our felves the liberty to fpeak falfely, and to breakour Word ; to flee from Supert}ition, and to run into Fa&ion; to abhor Idols, and to commit Sacrilege; to refolve to be de- vout atChurch, and deceitful in our Shops; to be very fcrupulous about leffer matters, and td be very zealous about indifferent things ; to tithe mint and anife and cummin, and to omit the weightier matters of the Law, Mercy and Fidelity and yu/lice; tobe very rigid in matters of Faith and Opinion, but loofe in Life and Pra&ice. No ; the Refolution of a fincere Penitent mull be univerfal and uniform: it mutt extend alike to the forbearingof all Sin, and the exercife of every Grace and Virtue, and to the due Pra&iceand Perfotdrtance of every part of our Duty. The true Penitent mutt refolve for the future to abfrain from all Sin, to be holy in all manner ofConverfation, and to abound in all the fruits of righteoufnefs, which by le- fitsChrfl are to the praife andgloryof God. For if a Man do truly repent of his wicked Life, there is the very fame Keafon why he thould refolve againft all Sin, as why he fhould refolve againft any; why he thould-obferve all the Command- ments ofGod, as why hefhould keep any one of them. For as St. James reafons concerning him that wilfully breaks any one Commandment of God, that he is guilty of all, and breaks the whole Law ; becaufe the Authority of God is equally flampt upon all his Laws, and is violated and contemned by the wilful tranfgref- fìon of anyone of them ; For he that bath faid, thou (halt not kill, bath l,kewife faid, thoufhalt not commit adultery, and thou ¡halt not ¡leal : fo he that refolves a- gainft any one Sin, or upon performanceof anyone part, of his Duty, ought for thevery fame reafon to make his Refolution univerfal; becaufe one fin is Evil and Provoking to God, as well as another ; and the Performance of one part of our Duty good and pleatingto him, as well asanother, and t',ere is nodifference. So that he that refolves againft any Sin, upon wife and reafonable grounds, be- caufeof the Evil of it, and the danger ofthe wrath ofGod to which if expofeth us, ought for the fame reafon to refolve againft all Sin ; becaufe it is damnable to commit adultery, and to fled, as well as to kill; and that Refolution againft Sin, which is not univerfal, it is a plain cafe that it is not true and fincere, and that it was not takenup out of the fenfeofthe intrinfecal evil ofSin, and the dan- ger of it in refpe&of God and the Judgment of another World; (for this Reafon holds againft every Sin, and remains always the fame) but that it was taken up upon fome inferior Confideration, either becaufe of the Shame and Infamy of it among men, or becaufe of force other temporal inconvenience, which if the Man could be fecur'd againft, he would prefently breakhis Refolution, and return to the Commiffionof that Sin with as much freedom as any other. 2. A fincereRefolution implies aRefolution of theMeans as well asof the End. He that is trulyand honeftly refolved againft any Sin, is likewife refolved toa- void as much as is poflible the Occafions and Temptations which may lead or drawhim to that Sin; or if they happen to prefent themfelves to him, he is re- folved to (land upon his Guard and to refift them. In likemanner be that fincere- ly refolvesupon doing his Duty in any kind, mull refolve upon the Means that are
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