Of Pre.fumptuous Sins. JbtDct you may conjeElure whether your Sins be pre{utnptuouJ or not. TemptationS tht r :~~~e ;r.j as they are ftrong Induce~ems unto Sin, ~o f~metimes the~ arc l?reat mid- ~:;t7;::; gacions of Sin· rhe more viOlently the Souhs baited and weaned With Temp-- Ttmpwi:o ~arions: rhe lef; prefumption is it guilty of if at length it yields; this God de eh on.1o 11nil judge eo be weaknefs, not wilfulnefs; h~ k~o.ws our Frame that we are_bur. Duft h~. and Afhes chat we are no match for Princ1palmes and Powers; and tho(e m1ghcy Enemies ;hat we are eo combace with, we can no more fiand before them than fo much loofeDuft before a fierce and rapid Whirlwind; yea,were there no Devil to cempc,yecche Corruptions of o~rown Hearts ~~e much coo hard for us; but when both our own Lufts and the Devil :!hall confpu·e together, the p'ne to betray us with all its Deceitfulnefs, and the other to force us with all irs Power; who then can ftand if God at fuch a time as this withdraw his Graee and Spirit, as fametimes he doth from the beft of his Servants? Where is the Chriftian that ever coped wich thefe Temptlltiom, and was nor vanquifhed and captivated by them~ It is true, when God affifts him,the weakeft Chriftian proves victorious over che ftrongeft Temptations: A: Dwarf may ~elt a Giant when he is manacled chat he cannot fiir or refift; God fees that Satan ts an over march for us,and therefore he ties his hands before he fees us out to theConftiCl: ; and what wonder is it if we rhert conquer· When God bath trodden Satan under us, no wonder if as weak as we are we ~an then trample upon him too; but that all our Succefs may appearto be nor from our own ftreng rh, but from God's Might, he leaves us fomerimes eo Satan and lets loofe S11tan upon us in all his rage, he leads us into Temptation and he leaves us under Temptation~ and when we are b~ffeted we then yield and fall, and the Devil fhamefully trmmphs over us: In thts Cafe, which is one of the faddeft that a Chriftian can be ·in, though the Sin be very foul and heinous, yet the fame Power of Temprations th~t makes us fin heinoufly, keeps us from finning prefumptuoufiy: Pre[umptuotu Sms are not to be meafured by the bulk and ughnefs of the Achon, but liy the forward and headlong Con lent of the 'Will unto it; and therefore a grofs Sin may fometimes be bur a Sin of Infirmity, when yec a Sin ofa lefs Nature isdefperately daring and prefumptuous~ In the La1v, if a Perfon that was ravijhed ftruggled and cried our aloud for help, the C~ime was not _imputed to her : . So if t~e Soul be forcibly raviJhed by Temprauons, though tt llruggle and flnve agamft them, though it call upo~ it~ Gf?d, crying_aloud, Hel~, Lord; though it ca~l up its Graces, Arifl, help, thtsSmiliall not be Imputed tott as a prefumptuousSm. How thenJhall we judge by our Temptations whether the Sins we commit are prefumptuous or nor? . I anfwer, you may judge of it by thefe following Parriculars. Hrft, If we commit Sin when we are not bejitged and dijlurbed hJ "Violent and in- if ,;1 fin vjncible Tmtf.tations, thiJ iJ too too ctrtain a Sig_n that then we fin prc{ttmptu , uflJ~ whm •e Thisplainly:lhews aWill ftrongly fixed and refOived to Sin: \Vhen Men will j/' '1't ~~~ furrender and yield up their Souls to the Devil, even before he fummons them ~~;~;~rli and when they will conf~nt to fin upon every fmall and trivial terl1ptarion, a; Temr•ri.. foon as they have but a hmt and ghmpfe of fame finful Ohjt:Cf paffing before rms, thm t>hem, though it offer them no Violence, though it prefenc nothing eo them of lll t ftn prt• fo. much Plea~ue! a?d Profit, arid Credit in_it, but t~at a generous ChriHian {:p]:""' mtght eafily dtfdam, tf yet they run out after tt, and wtll fin me·e rly becaufe they will, thefe are moft defperare finners that are irhpatienr to wait the leifure of a Jingring and lazy Temptation; they know_ the Den.Jil hath much work to do it1 the World, many Thoufands to tempt, decetve, and draw to Perdicion and therefore th~y w.il.l not rrouble hi~,and for his eafe they will fin wichout a T~mptation,: and rum thetr own Souls Without any help of any other Dtvil than whac their own Hearts prove to them. As rhofe are the beft and moft fiayed Chriftians that are canftanr in the performance of Holy Duties,even then when they have no ftrong impulfes and motion~ from the Hoi]Ghoft unroDury: So truly thofe are the wortl and moft ftubborn Smners that even then Commit fin with greedinefs when .they have no violent impulfes and temptations from the De'Uit to hurrY them mto fin. Now there are Two things whereby it plainly appears that then a fin is prt{umptuouJ when it is committed without flrong and ;iolcnt .Temptations to it. Hhh h z
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