490 CIIARACTER OF A SOUND, Luke i. 6. He is "blameless and, harmless, as the on of God, without rebuke in thednldst of a crooked and perverse generation; among whom he shineth as a light in the world;" Phil. ii. 15. The fear, and love, and obedience of God, is the work and tenor of his life. . 2. But the weak Christian, though he bath no sin, but what he is a hater of, and fain would be delivered from, yet, alas ! how im- perfect is his deliverance ! And how weak is the hatred of his sin, and mixedwith so much proneness to it, that his life is muchblem- ished with the spots of his offenses! Though his unbelief, and pride, and worldliness are not predominant in him, yet are they (or some of them) still so strong, and fight so much against his faith,' humility, and heavenliness, that he can scarcely tell which bath the upper hand; nor can others, that see the failings of his life, discern whether the good or the evil bemost prevalent. Though it be heaven which he most seeketh, yet earth is so much regard- edby him, that his heavenly-mindedness is greatly damped and suppressed by it. And though it be the way of godliness and obedience which he walketh in, yet is it with so many stumblings and"falls, if not deviations also, that maketh him oft a burden to himself, a shame to his profession, and a snare or trouble to those about him. His heart is like an ill-swept house, that hath many a sluttish comer in it. And his life is like a Moth-eaten'garment, which bath many a hole, which you may see, if you bring it into the light ; 1 Cor. iii. 1-3.. vi. 6-r8. xi. 18. 21, 22, &c. 3. And for the seeming Christian, his repentance doth but crop thebranches ; it goeth not to theroot andheart of his sin ; it leaveth his fleshly mind and interest in the dominion ; it polisheth his life, but maketh him not a new creature; it casteth away those sins which the flesh can spare, and which bring more shame, or loss or trouble with them, than worldlyhonor, gain, or pleasure but still he is a very worldling at the heart; and the sips which his fleshly pleasures and felicity consist in, he will hide by confessions, and seeming oppositions, but never mortify and forsake. As. Judas, that while he followed Christ was yet a thief, ánd a covetous hyp- ocrite ; Johnxii. 6. 1 Tim. vi. 10, 11. XI. 1. Hence it followeth that a Christian indeed doth heart- ily love the searching light, thst it may fully acquaint him with his sins: he is truly desirous to know the worst of himself; and there- fort useth the word of God as a candle, to show him what is in his heart; and bringeth himself willingly into the light: he loveth the most searching books and preachers; not only because they disclose the faults of other men, but his own: he is not one that so loveth his pleasant and profitable sins, as to fly the light, lest he should be forced to know them, and so to forsake them; but
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