to the EPHESIANS. 21 .:;;lied wallowi11g in_the Mire; And the World lying in Tf/ick§dneft, the PhraCe there, ~ lying, is put for lymg down, as m Lul{, 2.12. For vane!J:' ofPoflures ts that whtch ~ caufcth dehght and eaCe m Man, he could not be always m one_ Poflure ; and here Walking is put for them all. And then agam, fixthly, In wh1cb yo" _walk§d, that is, you walked in them, as thoCe that would not be put out oftheir way, you went on obflinately and perverfely, for Co an unregenerate Man cloth. In that firfl Tfdm, as he is{;,id to wal/zin the COJmftl ofthe Vngodly, Co to Jland in the way ofSinHers; one would think that Walking and Standing are oppofite, but the meaning is, he perGf1ed m 1t,1t 1mphes onl~ a firmnefs and fleadmefs, he would not be put out of it. And then agam, Walkmg tmpltes a gomg from Strength to Strength. InTfal. 84-7. It IS find, thatthe Godly go from flrmgth to flrength, till they appe'" before God in Zion; Co the W1cked they go from Strength to Strength, and i11creafe in it. Theneighthly,Walkmg, they departed from God all the while. I remember once a Man that was turned to God, when he had confidered his miferablc Condition, this was the Cum ofall that was Cet upon his Spirit, I have run from God, f.,ith he, all my clays. A Man in Sin, flill goes from God all his Days, and there is flill a farther Elongation; it is therefore called a departing from the living God, a turning the Back upon him, and.not the Face. Laflly, it is called a Walking, becaufe at !all they fhould have arnved at a m1ferable Journeys end. The end, (.,ith the Apoflle, is Death ; it is therefore called the Way ofDeath, 'jer. 31. 8. Prov. 2. 18. Prov. 5· 5· Their fleps, faith he, tal<§ hold ofDeath. And therefore now they are fitly joynedhere, dead in Sin, and walb,jng in Si11, for the ilfue ofall Sin, the end ofthe Journey, is Death; they walk but as Men do through a green Meadow to Execution.. And fo much nowfor ~hat part ofthe Phrafe,_wa/k; i11g i11 Sin, as 1t exprelfeth their Smfulnefs, and the1r M1fery. Secondly, We are to confider it,as it is a Character ofan unregenerate Conditi– on. It is proper to Men, whiHtunregenerate,to walk in Sin; Afterwards they walk in good Works (as the Expreffion is in t~e. 1othVerfe ofthis Chapter) they walk, in the Spirit, as elfe where lt IS. That thts ts h1s Scope, ro let forth a Character of an Unregenerate Man in this Expreffion, it is clear too. You fee, he coupletQ it with being dead in Sins and TrefPajfes: Co that he that is dead in Sin, walk– cth in Sin ; and he that walketh in Sin , is dead in Sin. And it is evi– dent likewife by the Word of Diflinction , fometime ye walk§d, ( for this.Ob– Cervation now explaineth onely the word fometime;) but not now, that God hath turned you. The firfl 'Pfa!m was on purpoCe made to diflinguifh carnal Men from godly Men, in David's time: The World then magnified others, and thought thoCe that had R.iches and Eflates, &c. ble!fed. 'Biejfed is the M111t, (.,ith be, ttJat walk,_eth not in the Cmmfel of the Vngod!y, nor flandeth in the "''!1 of Sinners, whoft W'!J' foal! perijb, faith he, in the later end ofthat Pfalm; but the Way of the Godly is known to the Lord. Now a carnal Man, he walketh in Sin, not only becaufe all his AB:ions are nothing elfe, becaufe he performs all with De– light, fecurely, and the like, but becaufe there is uCually Come one Way, fame one Tract in his Life which may difcover him an unregenerate Man to himfelf, ifhe narrowly fearch his way : Search me (faith David,Pfal.139·2 3.) and /znow my Heart, •ndfee iftbere be any wayofWick§dneft inme,implyingthatthere is,in unregenerate Men, and 1f he had had 1t, he had been an unregenerate Man. And the reafon is this, look whatfoever Principle ofLife is within, the walking and way ofa Man will be fuch ;, for no Man can hve wtth?ut Deh~ht, and Delight is his Life; if his Life lte m Sm, he Will certamly walk m Come Sm or other: And though he may be feared out '?f!liS Way,and fall mto the Ways of God for a while, yet notwith– fl:andmg, as lt IS m.Pjal. 125·5· There are crook§d Ways maintained, for whicb God leads tbem forth at laji with tbe Work§rs ofIniquity. A. Godly Man may fall into the way ofSinners, yet he walketh not in them: And a wicked Man he may flrike into the ways ofGodly Men for a while,as'judas did,yet walketh in the ways ofSin. Like to the Planetr ( as 'jude compares them) though they go with the common Motion ofthe Heavens, yet they have a fecret Motion oftheir own : So it is with carnal Profe!fors. You may know it likewife by this,what a Man fets up for his chiefefl End (and it is a certain thin?;, that a carnal Man's end is carnal) that is his way : fo it is called in 2 Pet.2. 1 5· They follow the way ofBalaam: what was that ? He loved the Wages of Vnrighteoufoeft. And Co much now for the o- * pening
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