f SIN in BELIEVERS. power of fin, the threats of defiru£tion and everlafting feparation from God are to be held out to hiin, fo Heb. iii..1 z. to Which add Heb. x. 38. This is the rule of God's proceeding. If any man depart from him, draw back through onbe- lief, God's foul bath no ple f re in him, that is, his indignation fhall pursue him to deftruftion; fó evidently, Gal. vi. S. [z.] That he who is fo intangled as above defcribed under the power ofany corruption, can have at that prefent no clear prevailing evidence of his inte- reft in the covenant, by the efficacy whereof he may be delivered from fear of deftrultion. So. that deftru£tion from the Lord may jufily be a terror to him ; and he may, he ought to look upon it, as that which will be the end of his courfe and ways. there is no condemnation to thane that are in Chri t 7efus, Rom. viii. i. true ! but who Shall have the comfort of this affertion ? Who may af- fume it to himfelf ? they that walk after the Spirit, and not after the ft f: But you Will fay, Is not this to perfwade men to unbelief ? I anfwer, no ; there is a twofold judgmentthat a man may make of hfmfel ,of his perfon, and of his ways. Ìt is the judgment of his ways, not his perfon that I fpeak of; let a man get the bell evidence for his perfon that he can, yet to judge that an evil way will end in deftruftion, is his duty, not to do it is atheilin. I do not fay, that in fuck a condition a maa ought to throw away the evidences of his per- fonal intereft in Chrift ; but I fay, he cannot keep them. There is a twofold condemnation of a man's Self; Fir-ï, In refpe£t of defert, when the foul con- cludes, that it deferves to be raft out of the prefent of God ; and this is fo far from a bufrnefs of unbelief, that it is an elfett of faith. Secondly, With refpeft to the ifue and event ; when the foul concludes it Shall be damned. I do not fay this is the duty of any one, nor do I tall them to it, but this I fay, that the end of the way wherein a man is, ought by him to be con- cluded to be death, that he may be provoked to fly from it. And this is ano- ther coafiderätion, that ought to dwell upon filch a foul, if it delire to be freed from the intanglementof its lofts. 3. Confider the evils of it; I mean its prefent evils. Danger refpe&s what is to come ; evil what is prefent, force of the many evils that attend an,unmorti- fied loft may be mentioned. (r.) It grieves the holy and bleffed Spirit, which is given to believers to dwell in them, and abide with them. So the apoltle, Ephef. iv. 25, 26, 27, 28, 29. dehorting them from many lofts and fins, gives this as the great 'mo- tive of it, v. 36. Grieve not the holy Spirit, wherebyyou are foaled to the day of redemption. Grieve not that Spirit of God, faith he, whereby you receive fo Many and fogreat benefits, of which he infantes in one fignal and comprehen- five one; feeding to the day of redemption. He is grieved by it, as a tender and loving friend is grieved at the unkurdnefs of his friend, of whom he both well deferved ; fo is it with this tender and loving Spirit, who bath chofen our hearts for a habitation to dwell in, and there to do for us all that our fouls delire. He is grieved by our harbouring his enemies, and thofe whom he is tö defray in our hearts with him. He dotll not albuR willingly, nor grieve us, Lam. iii. 33. and Shall we daily grieve him? Thus is he Paid fometimes to be vexed, fometirnes grieved at his heart, to exprefs the greatef fenfe of our pro- vocation. Now if there be any thing of gracious ingenuity left in the foul, if it be not utterly hardened by the deceitfulnefs of fin, this confideration will cer tainly affeft it. Confider whoand whatthou art, who the Spirit is, that is grieved, what he bath done for thee, what he comes to thy foul about, what he bath al- ready done in thee d. , and be afhame (z.) The Lord Jefus is wounded afrefh by it ; his new creature in the heart is wounded. His love is foiled, his adverfary gratified. As a total relinquifh- ment of him, by the deceitfulnefs of fin, is the crucifying him afrefh, and the putting of him to open Shame, fo every harbouring of fin that he came to defiroy, wounds and grieves him. (3.) It will take away a man's ufefulnefs in his generation. His *mkt, his endeavours, his labours Seldom receive bleffing from God. If he be a preacher, God cömmonly blows upon his miniftry, that he Shall labour in the fire, and I nett
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