qf P1'ifumptuhttJ Sins. 433 Secondly, Therefore doth. God {uj~-.Jin(ul lnclinat!ons tO remain in t~e bt.t1 Chrijliam, ~;":;;~~ that he mixht have wherewztbal contmually to exercife the ~races of hu People. Some ~;f t~ir Graces are Graces of 1Par, ifl may fo call them, whtch would never be exer- Gra:n cifed, if we had not Enemies to encount~r wirh ; and th~refore, as ir. is .fit id in Judgu ;. 2. That God would not utterly drtve out alt :be Natt~nsbeforethe C~tldrw of Jfrael, bur left fome of them among them~ tha_r by connnual comb:ntng a!'td fighting with them, they might learn War; fo_neuher hath G?d utterly expelle_d the fpiritual Ctznaanitcs our of the Hearts of Ius People; to th1sEnd, that by' dally confliCting with r.hem, they might tear~ rhe Wars ?f th~ I:orJ, and mi~h~ grd_w' expert in the hand.Img and ufing every j:Hece of ~hetr Spmtual and Ch1·ijl-tan .:1rmour· How fhou ld we keep up a holy Watch and Ward, if we had no Enemies to be~t up our Quarters ? And how fhould we exercife Fait1 h, which St. John tells is our Vielwy, if we had no Enemies to conquer? And how fhould we exercife Repentance and god ly Sorrow, whereby the Soul is recruited, anti · whereby its Graces are reinforced again, if fo b~ we were never foiled nor overcome by our Spiritual Enemies? Pare ofour Spir-'tual Armour would foon ruft, but chat our Corruptions and finful Inclinations put us daily upon a Neceffity of ufing of them; fhorcly, when we come to Heaven, we !hall have no need nor ufe of thefe Graces; there we fhall be out of the reach ofall Enemies; and therefore God is refolved ro exercife thefe Graces here; and therefore he fuffers Corruption eo abide in this Life, that fo Grace making way through this Corruption, may enter into Heaven, where ic !hall for C\'er reit and triumph: Thefe warringGraces of theSainrs, have no dme nor place to be exercifed in, bur only in this Life; and bccaufe God will have all the Parts ofHolinefs have their due Exercife, therefore hath he left thefe Corruptions in the'" Soul, that their warring Graces might have Enemies to encounter with. . And Thirdly, He1·eby alfo the Almighty Po1v~r o(God is exceedingly glorified in pre- For th~ ferving u.~ through Faith unto Salvation ; norwithftanding our own violent IncH- g't" of nation and Pronencfs to Sin,umo our own DefiruCiion; though St. Peter, when po~e:. lie walked upon dry Land, was upheld by the Power ofChrift, as God; yet that Power was not fo remarkab~y gl orio~s in. his Prefervacion, and walking upon the dry Land, as when Chnfi lent lum hts Hand) and upheld him from finking, when he walked and fiood upon the Surface of the Water; becaufe then he had a Pronenefs and Propenfion in him to fink more than when he fiood upon thetlr1 Land: So truly I may fay, that the Standing of the glorified Saints in Heaven in a State of HolinefS, although it may be, and is a Work of God's Almighty Power; yec it feems nor altogether fo much to magnifie the Power of God, in preferving them in that State of Holinefs and Glory, no, not to Eternity, as icdoch ro preferve a poor weak Chrifiian one Day in a State of Grace; becaufe there is no Pronenefs in a glorified Saint ro fall from his Happinefs into Sin, bur there is in a Saint on Earth to fall from Grace, and from the Work of God upon hisSoul. Fourthly and Lafily, This glorifiu alfothe Prevalcncy ofChrijl-'s lttterceJ/ion, and the 1 'JDe_Pre vaTrir~mph ofGod's pardoningGraceandMerq. 0 how exceedingly glorious is free Grace! ~';;!p.?;n. in char God can, and doth for Chrifi's f.1ke, pardon many and great Sins rho' terccffion u he certainly knows rhere is fuch a finful Propenfion left behind in Manfs Na- h~rchy glo : ture, chat will again be breaking our into rhe fame or grearer Provocations. rifled. The Application of this Point /hall be in thefe Particulars: Firft Is there fo Ufe I. !trong a Pronenefs in the beft Chriftians to the worfi Sins? Hence then fct·JJJicked Men learn not to infult over them 1vhen they fall, nor to reproach Flolinrj! 'J~itb their foul Mifc,z_rriages: Truly Grace bath always found irill Neighbourhood eo dwell in the fame Soul with Sin ; for wicked Men being chemfelves all of one piece they know nor how to diftinguifh betwixt the Propenfions of the one and of rh~ other; the): know nor how to dift_ing~ith when a Saint ~n a Cbriftia~ acts, and when the Smner; and fo chey veryurattonally charge Holmrjfwich rhofe Crimes that, we"l"e they not in pare unholy, they fhould never commit: When aMa~ thac.m2kes a tOrwanl Profeffion of Religion, and in the general Courfe of his Life makes Conf~ience of hi_s Ways, when he do~h through Temptation or Inadverrency fall 1mo fome Sm char becomes noconous_, What is more corn~ mon in the_ i\~ouchs of prophane ~coffers than this? This is one of your Godly ones; Tlus 1Sone of che fanct16ed Gang ; Thus they laugh and fnear at . K 3 him.
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