of Mortification. i ng~:, and rhofe inward Sins, which if Men did throughly mortifie, they wOuld be made perfeCt, and become even as the Angels of God ; but they are the great and the vihble Limbs of the old Man; they are fornication, unclearmeji, inordinate afp Jcftiom, evil concupifcmce, covetoufrufs; and in v. 8. he bids them again , put )'C off all tbefc, tmger, malice, b!afphemy, filthy •~mmunicarion, ttnd lying. Strange it is, that Believers of fa eminent a rank Ihould need calling upon t o mortifie fuch grofs and foul Sins as rhcfe, and yet it i: H? more than _neccffary. .1 he be~Chrifti.ins on Earth have a ftock of Corrupuon tn them, whtch doth habitUally d1fpofe chem unto thcfc Sins as great an~ haino~1s as they ~re; and ~he -pevil will fo fni£ his temptations, as will ccrtamly draw forth thts Corn1pn_on lllto Act, 1111lefs they keep a Jhict hand, and a ftrick watch over themfelves tn the confiant cxercife of Mortification, And therefore as we urge it upon wicked Men , that they not flight Sin becaufe it is fm a\1 and fay, is tt not a little one, and my foul /h11ll li-ve? So we mufr prc:fs it 11pon th~ bcfi and greateft of Saints, that they would not flight any Sin becaufc it is great ;md hainous; and fay with thcmfelves, Is it not a great one and my Soul fu:tll never commit it As we prefume 11pon the pardoning Mercy of God in the commiffion of fmall Sins, fo we are apt to prefume upon our own ftrength to prcferve us from the commiffion of great and crying ; and fo by their fecunty and carelefnefs the beft do fometimes find themfelves furprized by them. If we fl1ould be earnell: in exhorting you to beware that you murther not, that you blafpheme not, that you turn not Apoftates from the profeffion of your Religion; would you not reply with Ha::::..Ael, are we Dcg1, that we j1Jould do this great wicktd.. tuft? Yes certainly7 this grea_t Wickednefs you woul? do, yea, thcr~ is no Abomination fo Abominable which you would not doe, If yo11 do not bnng the Crofs of Chrill: into your Hearts by a daily Mort ificatiom 751 B11 t J fee [>eforc 1 can proceed farther I muft lay down this for a general Principle, Th~t al_l MortifiCation is the weakening of Sin in refpcct of fomc Strength and Power that it formerly had over the Soul. Now there is efpecially a threefold Power obfervable in Sin. i. Firft, Its damning a nd condemnatory Power, whereby it makes the Soul liable ~;;~:;t, to Wrath. inlin. Secondly, Its ruling and reigning Power, whereby it keeps the Soul under a .AR:t:·ng wretched ilavery and vaffalage. Pow" in Thirdly, Its in-dwelling <fhd captivating Power, whereby through its continual sin.; afilults it oftentimes breaks in upon a Chriftian, beats him from his Defence, bat- AcaPrrw.. tcrs his fpiritual Armour, routs his Graces, wafts his Confciencc, and at laft leads ~i"C!'fJ-wer him into a woful, and it may be a long Captivi t y. w sm. Now accord ing to this threefold Power, fo we muft likewife diftingu ifu of a threefold Mortification of Sin. Firft, There is a Mortification of Sin, as to its condemning Power. There is 1. thrrefore now tJo ~oTJdemndtion so thtm that are in Chrift ']efus:t Rom. 8. I . Sin, Sin .ma:titho~r.;h it may ftlll hale us before Go~, and m_ake 0~1r _Coi_lfctences confefs guilty, ~~~:tu yet Jt cannot now caft and fentence us If w~ ~el1eve; It IS ~hl1 ftrong_enough to drag nit~ Polls before God, to accufc us to G od , to affright and terr1fie Confctence ; but it is w,f not thong eno11gh to drag us into Hell, to adjudge us to ever1afting Wrath; it • )lath loft' its PowEr in that rcfpca, and is become a weak and mortified thing. Whence is ili that Sin hath its condemning Power but from the Law? Th' jfrength of s;n iJ the Law, I Cor. I 5· 56· Had not the Law threatned Condemnation to the TranfgrcfiOur, Sin could have had no frrength at aB to condemn him! But is t his Sentence of the Law fl:i\1 in_forceagainft Believers? No, fays the Apoftle, we are delivered from rh' Lmv, rh,tt bemg dMd roherein we were heLd, Rom. 7• 6. and if the Law's Power to condemn Be lievers be dead, Sin's Power to condemn them, which was hut only borrowed from the Law, muft certainly be dead alfo. But how came the Law thus mortified? The Apoftle tells us in Colof. 2. 1 +· that Chrifl: took it out of the way, r.~ilit~,g it _to his Crojs ; and. no wonder then i_f ic be dead ! That is, the Crofs and the Suffenngs of Jefus Chnft have fo fully fansfied for thofe who believe, that the Law is as i t were now dead, and hath no frrength nor power left tQ coudemn them. But this is not t hat Mortification I intend ~o fpeak of, nor which my Text c::t:horts us to : Therefore, StcondlJ,
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