of Mortification. Firft, That Sin cloth moft. of all employ and bufi e thy Thoughts, t hat 's'thy moft unmortifi ed _and_ pecul_1ar ·Sin.. Thoughts are Surveyors _for Luft, tha t IhJ./i: ,ur t·ange abroad and br1ng 1n Provtlion for 1t. Ob_ferve D?W upon wh~t ObjeCts t hey pitch, pu uliar mark how they work: Do thy Thoughts he contmually fuckmg at the Breafrs of sin sb.t.r Plcafurc? Arc they frill drencbt and bath'd in carnal Deli ghts? Voluptuoufnefs is rJk , Jup thy peculiar Sin. Do thy Thoughts continually delve and dig in the Earth and ~;Jl 0{ our return to t hee laden only with thick Clay? Covetoufnefs is thy peculiar Sin., Do 0118 u. they foar and tower up to Honours, Dignities, Preferments, and frill fill thee with Dcfigns and Forecafts how to raifc thy felf to them? Pride and Ambition arc thy Sin.s. And fa of rhc reft. Srcondly, The unmortified and peculiar Sin is always moft impatient of Contra2 • di[tion and Oppofition. p;.,p, lt cannot bear a Reproof from others. Let never fo much be thundred x. againft other Sins, this makes no Stir nor Tumult; but if the Reproof fall upon his Sin, you then touch the very Apple of his Eye, you then fcarch him to the very Qpick; and t=his will caufe fome Commotion and Dirturbaace wit::hin. Hence it is that many who come to the word of God, fit very quiet under many a Reproof, and many a Threatning, becaufe they think thefe all fall befides them : But if the I3ow drawn at a venture wound them under the fifth Rib, if it fhike their peculiar Sin; oh! what muftering up of carnal Reafonings, and carnal Evafions is there to lluft it off. All this Stir and Buftle doth but plainly lhew where the Sore is: That's a galled Confcicnce that will not endure to be wrung by a Reproof. A nd, Secondly, As it cannot bear a Reproof, fa it cannot brook a Denial when it 2 ; tempts a nd folicites. Of all Lufts th~s tempts ~?ftenef[ and moft eagerly; other Corruptions are n~odeft c_omp.ared to th1~, and will oft~n de_fift _upon a _pcrempto.. ry Deni al; hut th1s peculiar S1n grows wild and outrag10us, 1t will have Its Courfe or the Soul !blll have no quiet, fo that Confcience is never harder put to it, tha~ to fta nd it out againft the. Impor_tunity of ~his Sin. That~s the fecond thing. Thi,dty, That Corrupu~n which ~very little O~cafion fbrs up and fets on work 3 • with more than a propornonably VI~lence. th~t Is the moft unmorufied and peculiar Sin. By more than a proporuonable Vwlence, [ mean, when the ObjeCt Temptation or Occa fion is but flight and inconfiderable, and yet the Luft tha; that is thereby moved ads ftrongly and impetuoufiy. And therefore the Apofile H rb. 1 2· J, Calls it the Sin that doth fo eafity bejet ut, lt ftands always ready a nd pre pared upon the leaft hint of a Temptation to a!fault us, Now look wha't Co rr upuon it is that doth mo!t freq11:ently interpofe, that every little Occafipn fri rs up and inflames to a greater he1ghth and rage, than a ft1ong Temptation wou ld another, be it P.Jffion, be it Pride, or any other, this is the moft unmortified and peculiar Sin. Thcfe m.t y fuffice, though others may be added, to difcovcr what is our proper aad -peculiar Sin, the Luft that is moft natural and congenial to us . Now flnce thefe Sins have fuch a great Advantage againft us more than others have, they m~ ft t~erefore be more ~fpecially oppo~ed than others. This kind (to ufe Heltfi" our SaviOUrs \\lords) goes not forth. but by Faftm$ and P;a.yer, ~nd of the moft ear- rhe ~orti. ncfr Endeavours of that Sou l who Is deeply affha.ed wuh the1r Power and Prcva- {Jingo{ our l cncy in him . 1 fh Jll only here oJfer two or three Confiderations that may poffi4 pe~uliar bly pro\•e fubfcrvient to the Mortifyingof"thefe pecul iar Sins. Snu. Firft , Confider it is no excufe or extenuation of thy Sin, nor do thou look up- 1 • on it as fO, t hat it is natuq.l to thee, that it is the Sin of thy Temper, Compl exion, Profeffion ; but rather account this an hainioUs Aggravation, that makes t hy Sin out of meafure finful. Some are fa abfurdly Prophane as to make the n.a tura lnefs of a Sin an Argument to lelfen the Guilt of it; they are riaturally p anionatc and peevifh, naturally high·minded and ambi tious, natura lly voluptuous and H:nfual, and they cannot help it; 'tis fixed and rooted in their Temper and Conftit ntion of Body., a nd therefore it 's no wonder if it fomctimes bre.'\kS forth in their 1.\ves, unlcfs t hey could put off the outward Man as well as the old Man. Is this thinkeft thou an cxcufe? Tell me, is not a Toad therefore more loathfome and ugly, becaufe its very Nature and Terr.per is Venomous? And daft thou thi nk it a ~ood excufc for thy Sins that thou art naturally fubjell: to them ? Thou art therctore more loathfom in the fight of God, whofe infinite Holinefs fraudt
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