68 The Nature and 101eceffìty Vol. II. And yet farther ; Ifthy Refolutionbe valuable anSI confiderable to thee, thou takeft the moft effefkual courfe in the World to fruftrate and defeat it. Thou art fully refolved to leave thy Sins hereafter, and .thou thinkeft thou haft Reafon for it : but by continuing in them for the prefent, thou provokeft the Juftfce of Almighty God to cut thee off before thy Refolution hath taken effed. Again; Dolt thou refolve to leave thySins one time or other, becaufe thereby thou hopeft to put thy felt into a Capacity of Pardon and Mercy, and of Eter- nal Life and Happinefs ? Why this Reafon fhould move thee to do the thing as loon as is poffble; becaufe the fooner thou forfakek thy Sins, thouhaft the grea- ter hope of finding Mercy and Forgivenefs with God ; and the fooner thou be- ginneft a Holy Courfe, and the longer thou continueft therein, thou haft reafon to expe& a greaterand more ample Reward. Thou cant[ not by holding off, hope to bring down Pardon and Mercy to lower Rates, and to obtain there hereafter upon eater Terms : No ; the Terms andConditions of God's Mercy arealready fixt and ef[ablifa'd, fo asnever to be alter'd. So that whatever Reafon thou canft poffibly alledge for taking up this Refo- lution, it is every whit as forcible and powerful to perfwade thee to put it fpee- dily in Execution. And then there is this Reafon betides, and that a very confiderableone, why thou fhouldeft immediately put this Refolution in pra&ice, and not delay it for amoment. Thou may'ft at prefent do it much more certainly, and much more eafily. Much more certainly; becaufe thou art furer of the prefent time, than thou can(k beof the future., The prefent is in thy power, but not one moment more. And thou mayft at prefent do it more eafily; for the longer thou conti- nueft inSin, thy Refolution'againft it will ftill grow weaker, and the habit of Sin continually ftronger. Thou wilt every day be more enflaved by the Power ofthy Lulls, and thy heart will every daybe more hardened through the deceit- fulnef. of fin. All the change that time makes will bill be for the worfe, and more to thy difadvantage. Sin will be as pleafant to thee hereafter, and thou more loth to leave it, thanat prefent. Sinwas never mortified byAge. It will e- very day have more ftrength to bind theeand hold thee fall, and thou wilt every day have lets tobreak loofe from it. For by every Sin thou doll: commit, thou addeft a new degree to the flrength and force ofit ; and fo much ftrength as thou addeft to it, fo much thou takeft from thy felf, and fo much thou lofeft of thine own Power and Liberty. For a Man and his Lulls are likeNature and a Difeafe : fo much ftrength as the Difeafe gains, Nature lofeth, and the Man is hereby doubly weakned: for hedoes not only lofe fo much of his own ftrength, but the Enemy gets it. Nay thou doll hereby likewife forfeit that auxiliary ftrength and affifiance which the Graceof God is ready to afford to men, his retraining and his pre- venting Grace. For as a Man goeson in Sin, and advanceth in an evil Courfe, the GraceofGod draws off by degrees, and bis Holy Spirit doth infenfibly leave him : and whena finner is come to this, his bell Refolutionswill vanifh like the morning loud, and the early dew whichpaffeeh away. So that it cannot be a true and fincere Refolution of leaving our Sins, if it do not take place, and have not its effe& prefently. For there is no Man that takes up a Refolution, upon weighty and confiderable Reafons, of doing any thing, but if the Reafons upon which he takes it up urge him todo the thing at prefent, he will prefently fet about it ; and that Man is not refolved to do a thing, what- ever hemay pretend, who hathmob Reafon to do it at prefent, and may bell do it now, and yet delays it. And thus I have opened toyou the Nature of this holy Refolution of leaving our Sins, and returning to God and our Duty; and have (hewn what is neceffa- rily implyed in fuch a Refolution, ifk be fincereand ingood earnell ; That it be Llniverfal ; and that it be a Refolution of the Means, as well as of the End and that it prefently take place_andbe put in Execution. And thefeare three the bell Signs and Marks that I know of, whereby a Man may try and examine the truth and fincerityofthat Refolutionof Amendment, which we call Repentance. If it be
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