444 ThéNATURE ldilllPOWER yet neither doth God require this at our hands in an ordinary manner or courfe. How little thenwill he bear with that which evidently is fo much worfe upon all accounts whatever. But yet through the- deceitful. nefs of fin, thus are the fouls of men beguiled. By feveral degrees they are at length driven from their duty. 3.) It deals with the mind to draw it off from its attendance unto this duty by a tender of a compenfation to be made in and by other du- ties. As Saul thought to compenfate his difobedience by facrifice. May not the fame duty performed inpublick, or in the family fuffice ? And if the foul be fo foolilh as not to anfwer, Tbofe things ought to be done, and this not to be left undone, it may be enfnared and deceived. For befdés a command unto it, namely that we íhould perfonally watch unto prayer, there is, as hath been declared, fundry advantages in this duty fo performed againft-the deceit and efficacy of fin, which in the more publick attendance unto it, it bath not. Thefe fin Itrives to deprive the foul of by this commutation, which by its corrupt reafonings it tenders unto it. 4.) I may add here that which bath place in all the workings of fin by deceit, namely, its feeding the foul with promifes and purpofesof a more diligent attendance 'unto this duty when occafions will permit. By this means it brings the foul to fay unto its convi&ions of duty, as Felix did to Paul, Go thy way for this time, when I have a convenient feafon, I will cadfor thee, And by this means oftentimes the prefent feafon and time, which alone is ours, is loft irrecoverably. Thefe are fome of the ways and means whereby the deceit of fin en- deavours to draw off the mind from its due attendance unto this duty, which is fo peculiarly fuited to pteverit its progrefs and prevalency, and which aims fo direftly and immediately at its ruin. I might infance al- to in other duties of the like tendency. But this may fuffice to difcover the nature of this part of the deceit of fin. And this is the frf way whereby it makes way for the farther entangling of the affeéfions and the conception of fin. When fin bath wrought this effeft on any one, he is faid to be drawn away, to be diverted from what in his mind he ought conf:antly to attend unto, in his walking before the Lord. And this will inftruft us to fee and difcern where lies the beginning of our decienfons and failings in the ways of God, and that either as to our general courfe, or as to our attendanceunto efpecial duties. And this is of great importance and concernment unto us. When the begin- nings and occafions of a ficknefs or difemper of body are known, it is a great advantage to direft in and unto the cureof it. God to recai Sion to himfelf Thews her where was the beginning of her fin, Micah i. 13. Now this is that which for the molt part is the beginning of fin unto us, even the drawing off the mind from a due attendance in all things unto the difcharge of its duty. The principal care and charge of the foul lies on the mind i and if that fail of its duty, the whole is be- trayed, either as unto its general frame, or as unto particular mifcar- riages. The failing of the mind, is like the failing of the watch man in Ezekiel, the whole is loft by his negleft. This therefore in that £elf fcrutiny and fearch which we are called unto, we are mof diligently to enquire after. God doth not look at what duties we perform, as to their number and tale, or as to their nature meerly, but whetherwe do them with that intentiónof mind and fpirit which he requireth. Many men perform duties in a road or courfe, and do not as it were, fo much as think of them. Their mindsare filled with other things, only duty takes
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