4· Fa,JJI:ing ojSi11 is · n011rue Mutifi ;:J· rio11. I. The Great Daty with Confciencc, it many times coops up Men that they cannot ravin after their Lulls~ as were they free from fuch a Reftraint they would; but ftill their Natures continue unfan(tified, their Si ns unmorcified, their Affections, Defires, and Delights eager after them, though they d.1re n~t commit them; yea and pofiibly (which is the nfual effeCt of a forcible Reftraiot) by fo much the more violent, by how much the more debarred frol}l them. This is the third thing. Fourthly, The rclinquilhrilenf and forfaking of a Sin, is not at an evidence of a true Mortification. 1 do not here mean only fuch a temporary forfaking of Sin as theirs was i~ ~ Ptr. 2. 20. wh? h~vi'!t t/capcd the Pollution of the World through Luft, were agazn. mtangld: Certain It Is that thcfe Mens Corruptions were but fo~ a time diJfembled, a_nd never mortified; but take i_c for a perpetual relinqmlliment and ar. utter dtvorce, fo that the Soul never agau1 returns to the commifIJO_n of it,. or at l~aft not with .any proportiona~Je ~reque~cy and Delight; yet thts forfakmg of SUl, may be WJthout the Morttficauon of u. Take this in two cafes . . Firfl, When M~n _do cha~ge and b~rter their Sins, ~hen there is a forfaking of Stn, but no morufytng of lt. Multitudes of Lufts he crowded together in the Soul, and cad of thcfe rnuft have irs alternate Rei?,n; and therefore when one hath for a while f~ayed, a~d been the Mafter-Luft, it gives place to another, and that to another, till the Smner bath run through the bead-roll of them. And therefore the Apoftle, Tit. 3· 3· fpeaks of Serving divtrs Lufts and Plta{urts: Di... vers in their turns and fucceffions. Now this deceives many; they find an old tyrannical Luft that bath kept them under long and laborious Thraldom begin to grow weak and feeble, and hereupon they c<;md~d~ it is mor~ified in them'; but alas, they do not obferve fume other Luil: retgmng m Its ftead, It ~oth but give way to make room for another; fa that though the ftream of Corruption be diverted and turned out of one Channel, yet it runs with as full a tide in another. Let not•him Who. of a ~elifua l ~erfon, is gro\;Yn a Worldling; of a Prophane Perfon, an Hy.. pocnre, thtnk that he bath morufied any one of thefe Lufts. A changed Man indeed he is, changed from one extreme to another, from Sin to Sin; but this change is far from MortificatiOn. 2 , Secondly, When a Luft rather for fakes the Sinner, than he it; then there may be a perpetual Separation, where there is no Mortification. There are Sins that are proper and peculiar to fuch an Eftate and Seafon of a Man's Life, upon the alteration of which they vanifh and dtfappear. The Sins of Youth drop off from declining Age, a's incongruOus and misbecoming; the Man doth as it were out-grow them. Now if he refleCt back to take a view of the numberlefs Vanities and Follies he bath left, how deadncd his Heart and Affections are to thofe things which be.. fore he delighted in; this may poflibly make him think himfelf a very mortified Man; when alas ! he hath not fo much forfaken his Sins as they him; as long as his natural Vigour could relifh the Temptation, and as long as it compons with his State and Condition; fo long he ferved it and lived in it. Let not fuch a Man deceive himfelf, though now he bath.. forfaken it, yet he never mortified it; the Sin deferred him, and fell off of its own accord ; this Fruit of the Flefh was never beaten down by Mortification, but being full ripe, fell olfof it felf without violence. That's the fourth thing. 'i· Fifthly, and Laftly, Every VW:ory and Conqueft gained over Sin is not a true EverJ vi. Mortification of it. 1 doubt not but many unregenerate Perfons have yet had emiUarY over -nent SucceJfes in oppofing their Corruptions, fo as to hinder them even when• Si n u nor. they have been ragine and impetuous from breaking forth, either to the defiling or ftc~~/'!t,~u- wounding of their Confciences; nay·' fometimes fo far as fenfibly.to .abate the Power and Force of them ; but all this amounts not to a true Moruficanon : And that upon a double account. 1 • Firjt, Becaufe all fuch Conquefts are atchieved by Principles altogether foreign and extraneous unto Grace; that hath no hand in the work, but natural Confcience aCted by fiavifh Fear, or feme other carnal Confideration manageth all the Fights and Scuttles that wicked Men maintain againft their Lofts. And, 2 • SecondfJ, Becaufe though by thefe Victories, Luft feems to be weakned in its Branches, yet it is much ttrengthned in its Root; if one Sin be pulled down, it is that another may be advanced: All the Conquefts that wicked Men obtain do not deftroy the Government, but only change the Governours: Nay, indeed it is only
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