of .SIN in BELIEVERS. (q..) \-vien a men fil hteth again$ his fin only with arguments from the iffye,' or the punifhme;,t due unto it ; ibis is a fign, that fin hath taken great pofref i- on of the will, aid that in the heart there is a fuperfiuiry of eaughrin f. Such a man as oppolès -nothing to the fedu£?ion of fin and left in his heart, but fear of fissure among men, or hell from God, is fufficiently refolved to do the fin, if there were no punifLreat attending it, which, what it differs from living is the pra£tice of fin, 1 know not. Thofè who are Chrift's, and are ailed in their obe- dience upon Gofpel-principles, have the death of Chrift, the love of God, the detefrable nature of fin, the preciouf eft of communionwith God, a deepground- ed abhorrency of fin, as fir, to oppofe to any ffdu$ion of fin ; to all the work- ings, ftrivings, fightings of tuft in their hearts. So did y / ph, How fia/l I do this g eat evil, faith he, and fin againft the Lord, my good and gracious God (a). And Paul, The Got ofChrift toll-rains us (b), and havrrg received theft porn f r, let us cleanfe our fe/ves from all pollution of ftrfh andSpirit, 2 Cor. vii. r. But now if a man be fo under the power of his luft, that l.r, bath nothing but law to oppofe it withal, if he cannot fight againft it with Goipel weapons, but deals with it altogether with hell and judgment, which are the proper arms of the law, it is moil evi- dent, that fin bath potfefed,itfelf of Lis will and affe&io,, to a very great pre- valency and conqueft. Try thy felt l:y this alto, when thou art by fin driven tó make a hand, fò that thou ;nuft either leave it, and rani at the command of it into folly, like the horfe into the battle, or make head againft it to fupprefs it; what deft thou fay to thy foul ? what daft thou expofsaate with thy Pelf ?' Is this all, hell ,viti be the end of this cosrfe,evengeance will meet with me, and find me out ? It is time for thee to look about thee, evil lies at thedoor. Paul's main argument to evince that fur lime net have dominion over believers, is, that they are not smoky the law, but undergrace, Rom. vi. sq. It thy contendings againft fin be all on legal accounts, from legal principles and motives, what affurance canft thou attain unto, that fin (hall not have dominion over thee, which will be thy ruin ? (s.) When it is probable that there is, or may be fomewl:at of judiciary hard- nef, or at leaf? of chaftening pts inane:it in thy 12111 as difgoieting.. This is another dangerous fymÿtom, that God Both fometimes leave even thofe of his own, under the perp'ex'ng power, at leaf of fame loft or fin, to correa them for former firs, s eglige:,ce and folly, I no way doubt. Hence was that complaint of the Church, Why hall thou hardened ns from the fear of thy name, Ifa. lxxxiii. 17. That this is his way of dealing with unregenerate men, nomass queftiors. But how !hell a man know whether there be any thing of God's chaftening hand, in his being left to the d'fiuietment oí' his diftemper ? Examine thy heart and ways, what was the Rate and condition of thy foul before thou felleft into the en- tanglements of that fin, which now thou fo complaiaeft.of? Hadfi thou been neg- ligent in duties? Had?t thou lived jnord?nately to thy fell? Is there the guilt of any great fin lying upon thee unrepented of? A new fin may be permitted, as well <as- a new affli£?ion lent to -bring an old fin to remembrance. If thou findeft tisis to have been thy fiate, awake, call upon God, thou art fats afleep in a form of anger round about thee. (6.) When thy left bath already withftood particular dealings from God again!? it. This condition is defcribed, Ifa. Ivii. I-. For the iniquity of his covenRefs I was wroth, and (more him, I hid me and was wroth, and he wane on .frowardly in the may of his heart. God had dealt with them about their prevailing luft, and that loveral ways, by afilifion and defertion, but they held out againft all. This is a lad condition, which nothing but mere fovereign grace (as God expreffes it in the next verfe) can releve a man in, and which no man ought to promife him- felt; or bear himfelf. upon. God oftentimes inhis providential difpenfationsmeets with a man, and fpeaks particularly to the evil of his heart, as he did to )ofeph's brethren in their felling of .him into Egypt. This makes the man repea on his fin, and judge himfelf in particular for it. God makes it to he the voice of the danger, afililbion, trouble, ficknefs that he is in, or under. Sometimes in reading of the word, God makes a man Ray on fomething that cuts him to the heart, and Ihakes him as to his prefent condition. More frequently in the hearing of the word preached, his great ordinancefor coovifion, converfion, and edification, (a) Geo. xxxix, 9. (b) z CO, H doth
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