VerL 14. the fixth Chapter of the ROMANS. 8 3 and little enflaved, and brought under the power of every carnal Vanity. Well now, put all together,are there things fpoken of our felves or of another ? Is it fo indeed, that there is fuch a warring ? and are we not obliged to be watchful and careful ? 2. From the mifchievous Influence and hainous Nature of reigning Sin. t. When fin reigneth , it plucketh the Scepter out of Gods hands, and giveth it tò Tome 'vile and bate thing which is let up in Gods Read ; as the fetting up of an Ufurper is the reje &ion of the lawful King. The Throne belonging to God mutt be kept for him alone; therefore every degree of fervice done to Sin includeth a like degree of Treafon, and Infidelity to Chrift. Our Lord telleth us, Mat. 6.24.. No man can firer two mailers; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or efe he will hold to the one, and defp;Je the other : ye cannot firer God and Mammon. As no man can ferve two Matters, God and Mammon, fo every one ferveth one of thefe, God or Mammon , for the Throne is never empty ; but between both of them you cannot divide your heart. Neither Dominion nor Wedlock can endure Partners ; fo that by cleaving to the one, you refufe and renounce the other. To ferve God is to give up a mans mind, and heart, and whole man to know, and do what God requi reth, whatever be the confequences : now this doth needfully imply a renunciation of all thofe things which crois and con- traditt theWill of God , be it Devil, World, or Flefh. So to ferve Mammon is to give up a mans mind, heart, endeavour to find out , and follow after the Riches, Honours, and Pleafures of the World, whatever may come of it. He that would ferve God,muft do nothing but what God alloweth him in the matter of Pleafure Profit , or Prefer- ment, or any other thing ; for God is not well ferved, unlefs he be ferved as a Matter commanding and governing all our actions. On the other fide , he that ferveth the World, giveth God only what the World and Fleth can fpare, fo much Religion, ttritI- nefs , and good Confcience as will (land with his carnal ends and affections ; for then the World is ferved as a Matter , when men difpofe of themfelves and all their concern - ments, and rule themfelves; and pleafe themfelves, according to that flefhly and world- ly appetite and fancy that governeth them; and God is no further loved, obeyed, plea - fed , than that love of Honour, Profit , or Pleafure will give leave. Well then, by this you may plainly fee, that the fetting up of any Lull to reign, is a laying afide and a depofing of God; for if a man be bound abfolutely to refign up himfelf to the will and difpofal of God , and to obey him , and love and ferve him with all his powers ; and this man on the contrary giveth up himfelf into the hands of fame carnal affection of his, be it Pride, Senfuality , or Love of worldly things, and this ruleth him , and this governeth him, and this he ffudieth to pleafe and gratifie ; certainly thefe Pleafures, or Profits, or Honours are let up in Gods ftead , it is a plain refuting one , and a cleaving tattle other, a defpifing God and Chriff, and a preferring the World. and Satan : And it will not help the matter , though we profeti Chrift to be the Lord , all formal Titles are a Mockage, Mat. 7. 2 I. Not every one that faith unto me, Lord,' Lord, hall eìrter in- to the kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will of my Father which it in heaven. Luke 6.46. And why call ye me , Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I fay ? Many who profefs Chrift to be their Lord , are as true bond -men to Satan , as the Heathen who of- fered Sacrifice to him; and a drunken and unclean Chri(tian is as true a fervant to the Devil , as the Votaries and Worfhippers of Priapus, or Bacchus, or Venus ; for he doth as abfolutely command your affeetions as he did theirs; and though you are Chrifts by Profeflion, yet you are Satans by Poffeffion and Occupation, and the bond of your fer- vitude is altogether as firm and as firong , though it be more inward and fecret, than their Rites of Worthip. Neither will it help the matter, that as you do not profefs, fo you do not intend fo : though we do not formally intend this, yet virtually we do, and fo God will account it; it is finis operis, though not operands, If a Wife be faltè to her Husbands bed, will it be excufe enough to fay, the did not intend to wrong him ? or will fuch a Paying excufe a Subject that is difloyal to his Prince, and lets up an Ufurper? Well then, what horrour fhould this beget in our minds? and what care thould we take, that fin may not reign ? 2. The Reign of Sin. is mifchievous to us. Sin when it once gets the Throne, it groweth outragions, and involveth us in fo many inconveniences , that we cannot cafi- ly difintangle our (elves, and get out again. r. This is one, that it turneth the man upfide down , and degradeth and depretfeth Om to the rank of Bealts. A brutifh Worldling that once gratifieth his carnal aflefi- ono, is but a nobler kind of Bealt, he imployeth his Reafon to gratifie his Appetite, and puts Confcience under the Dominion of Senfe , and fo inverteth the whole Nature of a L 1111 2 man,
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