~ 1 2 The Nature and Neceffityof Regeneration: "·. . S~cOlld!Y~ .As _this oppoftiion muft be 1!'Puerfol againfl: t1Jtry_ fin in general, fo Jr muft be .-: ~11'Dmg more_efpecza~ly a,gaz.nft the fins of.the J:!eart. H; that wtl~ de~roY,_ a Toad crawlmg on the ~:~;ft~:1:f2roun~\; will much mo~edeftroy It ~ou_1d tt _crawl In _ht~ Bofom. . 'Nhy now there a /ig, 1 ~r hns tfiey are the bubbltngs up of evil Thoughts and Motlon s of evt1 Affe8:ions and GTim. De~fes; th?fe lt~rking _an~ invitible Lufts t~at Hypocrites maY f~fter, ~nd yet have o.largc Tefbmon1al of their Saintjhip, tO whtch all the World almolt will be rcadv to fct their Hands. But this no.w doth one that is truly Born of God rnofl Of ail complain of and ftrive againft, i!l this inde~d l~cs the moft unerring Tcft and Trial of true Grace. What the Apoftle tells u.s 111 Rom. 2. 28. rrha~ is not circumcifton that is outward in the flefh , but that which is inward in the heart and {p int, the fame may I fay, it is not fhiving and fl:rugling againft fins, that are outward in the fle fh, hut aga inft fins in the Heart. There may be a numbnef~ fch.e OR. the outward Members of the Body when yet the H eart bears ftrong,and quick, and the Br ain work in fprightful and vi?,orous Motions; fo truly is it in this cafe, the old Man may fometimes he beJmm'd iu its outward Limbs, and deny'cl it its executivC part, when yet the Head may work bufily in building and IhaP.ing finful ObjeO:s, and the Heart eagerly b eat and pant after them. It is ufi.mlly the only care of a wicked Man to keep his Ltlfl:s from rag ing and breaking forth into outward ACl:, tho~1gh his Heart feeth and ftcw in malicious, unclean, worldly Thoughts, yet thefe he regar ds, laments not, nor fupprcfihh , , fo Ion~ as he can but keep them from boyling over, and froin raili ng Afhes and Smoke about him. · But here fies the chief task ofa Regenerate Perfon; for though it fecm poffibly an ea lie thing to deftroy fi.1ch little naked Infant things as Thoughts are, that flutter up and down in the Soul, and that light fl:rokes would lay them deJ.d ; yet certainly a true Ch.riJ;l:ian, who by Expe rience knows what it is to dea l with his own Heart, finds it infinitely more difficult to beJ.t down one finful Thou~ht from rifi:1g up in him, than to keep a Thoufand finful Th oughts from breaktng forth into open Act: Here lies his chief labour, to fight againfi: Phanrifms and airy Apparitions, "fttch as Thoughts are; he fets himfelf chiefly againft thefe Heart-fins, becaufe he knows thefe are fins thit are rnoft of all contrary to Grace, and do mofl: of all weaken and wafte Grace: Outward fins are but like fo many caterpillars that devour the verdure and ftourifuing of Grace, but Heartfins are like fo ·many ~VormJ that gnaw the ver"y Root of Grace. And therefore God call s upon 7e~ rufaltm in Jer. 4· 14. 0 Jerufalem, wajh thine heart from rvickednefi, how long jl~all vain thought! Lodge within thee? Now try your felvcs by this, in the oppofition that you make againft fin, what is it that yon ch iefly refifl:? Do you not content your felves th at you have beaten cor- n!ption from the outward Works in.to the very Fort; that whereas it fa \lied forth before at his pleafitre, and wounded your Confciences, now it is pent up in a nar- mwer room and compafs? Do you not content your felves with this, but frill you oppofe it, and follow it into the Heart, and when it hides it felfin a finful Thought, do yon ftitle and kill it there ? If fo, this is filch an oppofition that proceeds from true Grace, which works in you an .Antipathy againft all fin: But when a fwarm of Lufts is nr, which perhaps fame external Principles only may keep fro m flying a~ bro:1d; i they clnfl:cr in thy Heart, and thou hiveft them there; and if thou canft for the fatisfying of Confcience abihiin from the outward Ath of fins, and yet for the fatisfying ofthy Corruptions, canft alfo tolerate and allo w the inward motions of tin ; it is a fig11 thou never kneweft the power of Regenerating Grac e which firll: begins to cleanfe the Heart, . as being the moft compendious way and method to reform the Life. 3· Thirdly, Look how you oppofe thofe SinJ that are mort fpiritual Sim, {uch aJ reftde in the An~pp~{ing refined and exalted part of a Man, his Min4, but ha"..e little Traffick or <?mmerce with the ~J.fpiriwaldreggy part of hiJ Body: Such as arc Pride, Envy, Unbepef, Hypocnfie, Hardnefs of 5j 111 "(¥;n Heart, S~ighting of Jefhs Chrift, and the like, thefe arc fpiritual wickcdnelfes ; and '1 .Grate, if thou art tru]y Regenerate, thy chiefeft EndeavollTS will be bent againft thefe; for thcfe are fins of the dcepeft and black'eft gliilt i11 themfelves, though they are not branded fo in the account of the World ; and therefore when our Saviour rakes llp the bottom of Hell, who do you find lies there? Is it the Drunkard, tbc U~~lean Perfon, filch Sottifh and Swinilh Sinners? No, but it is the Hyp_ocrite, the fpmtuat aild t·e.finedSinner, Mat. 24. sr. Thefeare thofe fins that are fo inconfifl:ent with the lmagc of God upon the Soul, that of all other fins ·they make Men neareil: to rc- fcmble the Devil; to be guilty of thefe fins is to be a Sinner like him: Thofc b:jfi;
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