Vert, i 3. the fixtb Chapter, of the Rom A N s: 69 will hate the one , and love the other; or elfe he will bold to the one, and d f ife the other ye cannot ferve God and Mammon. They both require our full ftrength, and both com- mand contrary things; therefore as a man cannot go two contrary ways at once, fo he cannot obey thefe two Matters : if fin reign in our Souls, it draweth all things into obe- dience; the content of your minds is not enough to fatisfie it, but it will employ the bo- dy to fulfil its cravings, and efpecially chafe two Adjun&s of the bodily Life, Time and Strength. And Grace doth the like, the Faculties and Powers of the Soul and Body Mutt be employed one way or another, they cannot lie idle in fuch an alive reftlefs Creature as man is. 2. Both thefeServicesare ntred into by confent p.sd S ar e ina augcsúvile,b0j,jsiíoxle. (i.) . Some men pronely yield up themfelves to do what fin would have to be done ; there- fore they are laid to give themfelves to work wickednefi, and where fin is vehement and obetinate,they are laid to fell themfelves to workwickednefe, and in other Phrafes , Ecelef 8. z 1. The heart of the fans of men is fatly fit in them to do evil. Eph. ¢. t9. They have given themfelves over to lafcivioufnefi to work all uncleannefe with greedinef : when they have cal' off all remorfe of Confcience , and fear of Gods Judgments , with full confent they abandon themfelves to their brutifh lulls and filthy delires , there is no check nor reftraint can hold them. But this is when fin is grown to an height, i tiOnouv, side t r. They have ran greedily, &c. as water is poured out of a Bucket : But generally in all fin there is a voluntarinefs, if not a wilfulnefs in it, as a (tone runneth down hill , becaufe it is its own proper motion. (a.) To God we confecrate our felves with a thorow con- tent of will , Rom. t2.1. I befeech you by the mercies ofGod , that ye prefent your bodies á living fcrifrce , holy, acceptable to God, which is your reafonable fervice. And 2 Cor. 8. s. And this they did, not as we hoped, but frr(l gave their own felves to the Lord, and unto ur by the will of God. rlaesivioxTe, the word either alludeth to Servants, who l'and before or in the pretence of their Lord and Matter , to thew their readinefs to be commanded or employed by him; fo prefent your felves to Phew your readinefs to obey all the commands of God : or in allufion to the Sacrifice, which was prefented before the Altar, in token that the party did deign it , and with it himfelf to God : fo do we yield up our (elves to God, Bodies and Souls, all that we are and have we refign it to him. There is this difference in both thefe refignations, the Devils Servants do not what they do in love to him , but to their own fleth ; but Chril's Servants do what they do in love to him, as well as to themfelves , they know him , and love him, he is not a Matter to be athamed of. The giving up our felves to fin is a concealed aft , we would not be feet' in it ; for there is fomewhat in their own hearts to check it and condemn it, fome Con- fcience of good and evil, as alto a fear of blame from God and the World , and fo men do it covertly ; but do we give up our felves folemnly and profeffedly ? 3. The fervice of fin fhould not be allowed by us, (i.) Partly becaufe Sin is an Ufur- per,whereas God hath a full and clear right both to our Bodies and ourSouls,for he made them both. Sinners fo far as they owne aGod, and their obligations to him, cannot but look upon fin as a diforder, for it alienateth our fubje&ion from him, to whom it is due. All tanners are not Atheifts, and therefore can never get off this Convi&ion, that God is their Owner, for he is their Maker, and framed them for fuch an ufe and end, name- ly, to keep his Laws; therefore to lend or give their bodies to fin, is difloyalty and re- bellion againft the great and juil Soveraign of the World, 1 yob. 3. q, Whofoever com- mitteth fin , tranfgref th alfo the Law; for fn is the tranfgreffion of the Law. Men do not only fay, but notionally know, that God is their Owner; but if they did praftically improve it, the' reformation of the World would not be fo defperate a Cure as it is 5 but alas I profefing to know God, in their works they deny him, Tit. a. 16. their lives are quite contrary to their notional acknowledgement of God , what could they do more or worfe, if there were no God ? lìeafon will tell us, that it is impoffible for us to bè our own ; for we neither made our felves, nor can we fubfif of our felves for one mo- ment. All wicked men are God's, whether they will or no, yea the Devils themfelves not excepted, they are his again( their wills, and therefore do not live as his. (2.) Sin is Gods enemy and ours too; it del'royeth us while it feemeth to gratifie us, The end of ehefe things is death , Rom. 6. a r. Now he is a Traitor to his Country, that fupplieth the Enemy with Arms : you wrong God , and wrong your own Bodies and Sotils ÿ Therefore yield not your members as weapons of unrigbteoufnefs unto fin. It is a miferable thing to be Traitors to God and our felves : ?Jj dafiru&ion is of thy felf, Hof. 13.9. our mifery is of our own procuring; God is not to be blamed, but our own perverfe choice' we cherith a Serpent in our bofoms, that will fling its to death: 4. Sines
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