Ver. 2, 4. xxvth Chapter of St. MATTHEW. 17 finance againft it, I yahn 3. 9. cm'cpµx u6vov, The Seed of God abideth in him. The Grace of San&ification doth change the nature of a man, and his Heart is fet againft that lie loved before. Look, as the Lord will not refpe& mens external praftice of Good, when it may be Their Hearts abhor and loath it, and are bent on other courfes, he requireth chiefly that they be rooted in the Love of good, and delight in it ; fo he will not accept a fimple . not -doing or forbearing evil, while it may be their Hearts are going a Whoring after it, but will have them really hate and deteft it ; that there Ihould be an abiding Enmity in their Hearts againft it ; and where 'tis fo, that there is an habitual Love of good, and hatred of evil, Chrift will pats by many failings in pra&ice, as you may fee Rom. 7. 22, 23, 24, 25. that is the Cafe . there, The evil that I hate, that do I, and -I de- light in the Law of God in the inward man. Clear thefe two once, and the re- mainders of fin will not be your ruine. 2. Grace produceth an hatred of fin as fin, out of a principle of Love to God, and as it is contrary to his Law, and the new nature planted in us_ Te that love the Lord, hate evil ; and he that is born of God, fnneth soot ; that is the principle, becaufe the Seed of God abideth in you. The School-men diftinguifh of two forts and kinds of Hatred, Odium abominations, and Odium inimicitia ; the firft is defined by Aquinas to be " Dif onanria quadam appetites ad id quod apprebenditur ut repugnans cá' "ne'xiam; an averfation of the Appetite to what is apprehended repugnant and con- " trary to us. Such an hatred there is in the regenerate, for they apprehend fin as repugnant, and contrary to their renewed Will ; to' the unregenerate 'tis agreeable and fuítable, as Draffe to the appetite of a Swine, or Grals and Hay to a Bullock and Horfe. The other is an Hatred of Enmity, fo called both for the ground of it, and the eft-eft of it ; the ground as an evil, that which is an Enemy and hurtful to us, as fin is to our Peace and Happinefs Temporal, Spiritual and Eternal ; but chief, as to the effe& of it, Hatred is a willing of evil and mifèhief to the thing or perfon hated. Both thefe Hatreds are in the Children of God : They hate fin, not only as it may bring Lofs and Detriment, horrour of Confcience and Damna- tion ; but out of the pure Love of God, as 'tis contrary to his Image and Will, and they hate it with an hoflile Hatred, fo as to feek the deftruOion of it ; No, ceaat in lefione Peccati, fed in exterminio ; it doth not fcratch at the Face of fin, but is feeking to mortifie and fubdue it : and therefore are alwayes Mourning, Praying, Watching, Striving, Famifhing it by cutting off its Provifions, and denying its Sa- tisfaltions, and ftill following the work dole, 'till we get the Maftery of it. 3. I Obferve, That renemino Grace doth fo far obtain and produce this eflè& in the Hearts of thofe that are under it, that their Hatred to fin is greater than their Love to it ; and fin is thereby more and more weakened and fubdued in the Soul. We flatter our felves with notions of Lo'e and Hatred, unlefs there 'be fome an- fìverable Succefs and Prevalency. It cannot be Imagined that fin fhould Live in its full ftrength, where there is a fixed, fettled frame of Heart againft it ; that there fhould be in the Soul a working, warring principle that (hall roule up a man dayly to take heed of it, as the greareft evil ; and yet fin Ihould he as pow- erful, and as frequently and freely break out as it .doth in others ; no, where there is fuch an enmity, hoffility and irreconcileablenefs, or to fay in à word, fuch an habitual averfation, it cannot be, t yoh. ;. 9. He that is born of God cloth not commit fin, his feed remaineth in him ; and he cannot fin, becaufe he is born of God. He that bath fuch a bleffed change wrought in him, by the operation of Gods Spirit, as to be transformed in the Spirit of his mind, it cannot be fupp'o- fed but that Grace will have fuch Energy and efficacy upon him as to prevent the life and growth of fin, and reftrain the pra &ice of it ; that the habits of Grace being cherifhed, this muff. needs be famifhed and ftarved by degrees. A man that bath a fixed root of ungodlinefs in him, he is at fins beck, the Devils Slave ; but a permanent habit of Grace Both produce a confiant càrefulnefs, that God be not *dishonoured or difpleafed. The Apoftle telleth us, That Chrifl bore our fins in his Body upon the tree, that we being dead unto fin, may be alive unto righte- oufnefs, t Pet. 2. 24.. Now certainly this ee& is obtained in thole that have be- nefit by his Death, or have affured it by Faith ; before they were alive tò fin, be- ing a &ive, and delighting in,'the Commiffion of it, but dead to Righteoufnefs, im- potent and indifpoled for any fpiritual at ; but afterwards their love to fin is weakened, and their Hearts quicken'd to fpiritual Life. Once more, That there D is
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