128 S E R.1V10 N S upon 8erm:XVIII. way of it flopped up, it breaketh out in another ; one fin hath feveral waysof maniftfl= kng its felt. . Worldlinefs, take it off from greedy getting, it fheweth its. felf in fearing, or withholding more than is meet ; the folly of that fin is teen in its delight and carnal complacency : Soul take thine eafe, thou hafi goods laid up for many years : He had enough, now takes his fill of pleafure ; fo pri e, if kept from vain conceit of our felves, be- wrays its felf by det&ing from others ; fo envy, or vain oftentation, as tome venomous humour in the body , heal up one foar,'and it breaketh out in another place, there is all malice, all guile, &c. All forts of it. 3. The peftilent and mifchievous influence of fn, if it be let alone: Sins prove mortal, if they be not mortifyed. Either fin mull die, or the firmer. There is an evil in fin, and the evil after fin : the evil in fin is the meets or the violation of Gods righteous law; the evil after fin is the juil puni(hment of it, eternal death, and damnation. Now thofe that are not fenfible of the evil in fin, (hall feel the evil that cometh after fin; all Gods difpenfations towards his people are to Cave the perfon, and defiroy the fin, t Cor. i i. 32. But when We are judged, we are ebafined of the Lord, that we fhould not be condemned with the world. God took vengeance on the fin, to fpare the tanner ; but the unmortified fpareth the fin , and his life goeth for it; the fin liveth, and he dyeth, as the Apoftle Paul fpeaketh of himfelf,when the power of the word carne firft upon him, Rom. 7. 9. Sin revived, and 1 dyed. Sin exafperated, and he felt nothing but fin and Condemnation. Oh ! Confider with your felves,'tis better fin (hould be condemned, than that you (hould be condemned; fin (hould die, than that you (hould die; his life (hall go for its life; in the Prophets Parable, t Kings 20. 39. Ay, But what is this to the juftifyed perfon? there is no condemnation to them that are in Chrift? I Anfwer, You mull take in all; becaufe they are fuppofed to live not after the fle(h but after the fpirit ;but if it can be fuppos'd that ye can live after the flefh,then ye die,as in theText; that is,ye juftified perfons.Pirna poteft dnpliciter timeri ut eft in conftitntione.Dei, eel ut malum nofirum, as Bernard. Eternal death may be confidered as an evil which God path appointed to be the fruit of fin, or as an evil that will certainly befal us ; a jufti- fied perfon, one that is not fo putatively only, but really fo ;not in his own conceit only, but in deed and in truth, may fear it ; in the firfi fenfe there is fuch a Conne &ion be- tween continuance in fin, and eternal defkruûion, that he ought to refle& upon it, fo as to reptefent to his Soul the danger of yeilding tamely to his fins; and to fear it, fo as to efchew it. For this is nothing but to make an Holy ufe of threatnings, and to fee the merit of our doings ; but as to the event, fo not to allow perplexing doubts, but to quicken us to break off our fins, and to look up to God in Chrift for pardon. Now to dire& you, t. Strike at the root of all fin : they that are Chrifts, have crucifsed the flefh, with the affection, and Tufts thereof, Gal. 5. 24. The Prophet to cure the bracki(hnefs of the waters, did cal fait into the Spring, 2 Kings 2. 21. We mutt begin with the heart, and then go on unto the life; if the root of bitternefs be not deadned, it will ealily fprout forth, and trouble us ; as inbred corruption is weakned, fo a&ual fins flowing thence are weakned alto. The root of corruption is carnal felf- love, for it is at the bottom of other fins; becaufe men love themfelves, and their flefh as themfelves, more than God. Now this is weakned by the prevalency of the oppofite principle, the love of God 5 and the more we flrengthen the love of God, the more is original fin weakned, and we get again into a good conftitution and late of foul. Carnal men are felf- lovers, and felf pleafers; but fpiritual men love God, and pleafe God, and Peek to honour God : love is the great principle that draweth us off from felf to God ;fuch as mans love,natute, and inclination is, fuch will the drift of his life bè : now men will not be frightned from felf -love, it mull be another more powerful love which draweth them from it, as one nail driveth out another. Now what can be more powerful than the love of God, which is as ftrong as death, and will never be quenched nor bribed ? Cant. 8. 7. This overcometh our felf love, and then time,flrength, care, and all is devoted to God : yea life its felf, Rev. 12. 11. They loved not their lives to the death. Selflove is deeply rooted in us, efpecially love of life, fo that it mull be fomething very thong and power- ful, which mull overcome it; for what is nearer 'and dearer to us than our felves? now the great means to overcome it, is Chrifts love : when the foul is poffeffed with this, that nothing deferveth its love fo much as Chrift, the natural inclination is altered. This
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