1· Morriftc4• tionoppofetbSpiriudSins. The Great .Duty cation dries up this Foun tain, fo the Floods of Ungodlinefs mull: needs run low by Confequence. This therefore is very rat ionally the great and mai n care of a mortified Man, to keep his Heart clean from finful Though ts, finful DePr es and finful Motions and Aftetl: ions, and therefore God calls upon ']eru[Altm 1u ~. 14- ~ J eru f~lem , wa[h thine Heart from Wickedn6fs,, tht;t tl1ou may'ft be f~ved: That ts, morufi~ the .sms of ~hy Heart, t~at thou may ft l tve. Well, but what Sins are th.efc? It IS Intimated m the fol1owtng W?rd ~ , How long /hall vain Thoughts lodge tv1thin thee~ How long? Tru!y ~ hey are hkely to lodge for ever withi n; and they are never ltketo lodge only ~ l t~m, \~here all.Endeavoursof Mortification are only external and outward. T1s In vam to ftnve to keep finful Thou r)lts within unlefs we Endeavour alfo to deftroy them Within; they will elfe break forth not~ withftand ing all the Care that is ufed in Rcftraint, and over· run the Soul wit h the guilt of fame_ fcan~_alous C~!nfcience wounding Sin or other. In yQur frrngglings therefore aga~nft Sin, and In your endeavours for the mortifi ng of it, look w·hat it is that you chiefly refift. Do you not content your felvcs that you have beaten Corruption from the Ou t·wor ks into the very F~rt; that whereas before it fa \l ied for th at pleafure, wafted and havo_ckt your Confctences, gafut and wounded you r Souls even to the very Death, tnumphed over you as conquered Slaves and V.;Jfals. now it is pen'd up iR a narrower room and compafs? Do not you thi nk it enough. that you lay a clofe_ Siege unto it by <:onvictio~, Confcience, Lega l Terrours ; and by thcfe fo Jhut n up, that th~mgh It may fbr and_ tumu ltuate with in, yet it cannot eafi~y break f?rth to ~our d1fturbance? Is not this Reftraint fuflici ent, but rnuft you ft11l purfue It ~ven 1 11 t~ tl:e very. ~ca rt, ~nd when it hath hid it fdf in a fi nful Thollj\ht, there ft tfie and ktlltt? T hiS tndeed IS a fign for good , that this great Work of Mortification is not only begun by _you, but alf0 broueht to fome PerfeCtion. If I may be allowed fo to exprefs tt, the very Heart of Sin lies in the Sins of the Heart : And if we would indeed mortifie it, it is there that we muft both aim and fl:rike. That's the firft Part of this particular T rial. He that cxercifeth Mortification aright, doth principally fet himfelf againft inward and Heart Sins which an unmortified Man takes leaft notice of, and leaft refifts. · s:condly, ~.truly !nortified ~an, is very ca~e.ful an~ labor ious. in oppofing and fubduing fplntual Sms and W Kkedneifes. Sp1ntual Sms, you w1ll fay, why are there any fuch? Graces may well be termed fpiritual, being the immediate eireas of the holy Spirit of God; but are Sins become fpiritual too? By fpiritual Sins therefore 1 mean, fuch as principally refide in the more re fined and exalted Part of Man, in the very flower and top of his Being, called ther efore by the Apoftle Eph. 4 . 23. 'The Syirit of the Miud; the Mind it felf is a fpiritual Part, but her; the Apoftle makes this Mind double refin'd, and extraCts a Spirit out of a Spirit. So that thofe Sins that are chiefly converfant about the Mind, the Spirit of a Man, and have but little Commerce and Fellowfhip with t hat dull dreggy Part the Body, they are fpiritual Sins: Such are Pride, Envy, Hypocrifie, U nbeliet~ Hardnefs of Heart, a fiightine of t he Tenders of Salvation made by Chrift, a froward quench ing of the. good Motions of the Holy Spirit. Thefe arc fpiritual Sins, and thefe are the Stns that a Chtld of ·God bends hiS ftrongeft Endeavours againft in the work of Mo:t~ficatio~, and .that upon a threefold accou!lt. FirD, Becaufe thefe Splnt ual Sms, though they are not of t ha t grofs Scandal and infamy among Men, yet they are Sins of the deepcft and blackc!t Guilt and Defilement in t hemfelves and in the fight of God . And therefore when Chrift would rake up the very bottom of Hell; who lies there? Not the Swearer, not the Drunkard, not the unclean Perfon, not the Worldling, nor any fuch grofs and brutifu Sinners; but the Hypocrite, that fpiritual, that refinCd and exalted iinner. Matt. 24. 51. Could we fee Impetency, Unbelicf, Hardnefs of Hearr, with the fame Eyes that God fees them, they would appear more ugly and defor- : med, than thofe foul and notorious Wickedneilfs which caufe an indelible Shame and Reproach upon the places where fuch live who are guilty of t hem, and t hat becaufe they deface the choiceft part of the Image .of God, that wherein the Soul doth neareft rcfemble and tranfcribe ics Original. This a gracious He~rt in part difcovers, it fees fomewhat of the Ioathfome Nature of thefe fpintual ~ins, whkh before it did not, and therefore now fo earneftly oppofeth the:n. And, SmmdiJ, Becaufe tllef~ fpiritual Sins are the molt dangerous and deftru lliYe
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