830 ]MORTIFICA not suffice that we are exercised in them in general, and with regard only unto this general end. We are to ap- ply them unto this particular case, designing in and by them the mortification and ruin of sin. Especially, when by its especial actings in us, it discovers itself in a peculiar manner unto us. No man, who wisely considereth himself, his state and condition, his occa- sions and temptations, can be wholly ignorant of his especial corruptions and inclinations, whereby he is rea- dy hr halting, as the Psalmist speaks. I-Je that is so, lives in the dark to himself; and walks at peradventures with God, not knowing how he walketh, nor whether he goer]. David probably had respect hereunto, when he said, I have kept the ways of the. Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God; for all hisjudg- ', merits were before me, and I did not put away Isis as statutes from me. I was also upright before him, and a I kept myself from mine iniquity," Psal. xviii. 21, 22, H. He could have done nothing of all this, nor have preserved his integrity in walking with God, had he not known, and kept a continual watch upon his own ini- quity, or that working of sin in him which most pecu- liarly inclined and disposed him unto evil. Upon this discovery are we to apply these duties in a particular manner to the weakening and ruin of the power of sin. And as they are all useful and necessary, so the circum- stances of our condition will direct us, which of them, in particular, we ought to be most conversant in. Sometimes prayer and meditation claim this place, as when our danger ariseth solely from ourselves, and our own perverse inclinations, disorderly affections, or un- ruly passions; sometimes watchfulness and abstinence, when sin takes occasion from temptations, concerns, and businesses in the world; sometimes wisdom and circum- spection, when the avoidance of temptations and oppor- tunities for sin, is in an especial manner required of us. These duties, I say, are to be managed with a peculiar design to oppose, defeat, and destroy the power of sin, into which they have a powerful influence, as designed of God ihnto that end: For, Sect. 29. (2.) All these duties, rightly improved, work two ways towards the end designed: I. Morally, and by way of impetration, namely, of help and assis- tance. 2. Really, by an immediate opposition unto sin and its power, whence assimulation unto holiness doth arise. TION OF SIN, (First,) These duties work morally, and by way of impetration. I shall instance only in one of them, and that is prayer. There are two parts of prayer with re.. spect unto sin and its power: (1.) Complaints. (2.). Petitions. 1. Complaint. So is the title of Psalm cii. The prayer ofthe afflicted, when he isoverwhelmed, andpour. eth out his complaint before theLord. So David expres- seth himself; Psal. lv. 2. Attend unto me, and hear me; Imourn in my complaint, and make a noise. His prayer was a doleful lamentation. And, Psal. cxlii. ß, Ipoured out my complaint before him; I sheteed before hint my trouble. This is the first work of prayer with respect unto sin, its power, and, prevalency. The soul therein pours out its complaints unto God,, and sheweth before him the trouble it undergoes on the ac- count thereof. And this it doth in an humble acknow- ledgment of its guilt, crying out of its deceit and vio- lence. For all just and due. complaint respecteth that which is grievous, and which is beyond thepower of the complainer to relieve himself against. Of this sort there is nothing to be compared with the power of sin, as to believers. Sect. S0. This therefore is and ought to be the principal matter and subject of their complaints in pray- er. Yea, the very nature of the whole case is such, as that the apostle could not give an account of it without great complaints, Rom. vii. 21,. This part of prayer, indeed, is with profligate persons derided and scorned, but it is acceptable with God, and that wherein belie- vers find ease and restunto their souls. For, let the world scoff while it pleaseth, what is more acceptable unto God than for his children, out of pure love unto him and holiness, out of fervent desires to complywith his mind and will, and thereby to attain- conformity unto Jesus Christ, to come with their complaints unto him, of the distance they are kept from these things by the captivating power of sins, bewailing theirfrail condition, and humbly acknowledging all the evils that they are liable unto upon the account thereof? Would any man have thought it possible, had not experience convinced him, that so much Luciferian pride and atheism should possess the minds of any who would be esteemed Chris- tians, as to scoff at and deride these things? that any one should ever read the Bible, or once consider what he is, and with whom he bath to do, and to be ignorant
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