1. Take heed of sins of omission. Mat. xxiii. 23. It is as really dangerous not to do things commanded, as to do things for- bidden. Some think it no great matter to omit reading scripture ; the Bible lies by like rusty armour, which they never use ; they think it no great matter to omit fami- ly or closet-prayer ; they can go several months, and God never hear of thera. These have nothing sanctified to them ; they feed upon a curse ; for every creature is sanctified by prayer, 1 Tim. iv. 5. The bird may shame many, it never takes a drop but its eye is lifted up towards heaven. O take heed of living in the neglect of any known duty ! It was the prayer of a re- verend holy man on his death-bed, " Lord, forgive my sins of omission."
2. Take heed of secret sins. Some are more modest than to sin openly in a balco- ny ; but they will carry their sins under a canopy, they will sin in secret. Rachel did not let her father's images be seen, but she put them under her, " and sat up-
(on them," Gen. xxxi. 34. Many will b*i
OF THE SIXTH PETITION IN THE LORD'S PRAYER.
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diunk and unclean, if they may do it when ] nobody may see them ; they are like one that shuts up his shop-windows, but fol- lows his trade within doors. But if sin be so great an evil, let me warn you this day not to sin in secret ; know, that you can ne- ver sin so privately, but that there are two witnesses always by, — God and conscience.
3. Take heed of your complexion-sin, that sin which your nature and constitu- tion doth most incline you to. As in the hive there is a master-bee, so in the heart there is a master-sin, Ps. xviii. 23., " I have kept myself from mine iniquity." There is some sin that is a special favourite, — the peccatum in deliciis, — the darling sin that lies in the bosom, and this doth bewitch and draw away the heart. O beware of this !
Quest. How may this darling sin be known ?
Ans. 1. That sin which a man doth most cherish, and to which all other sins are subservient ; this is the sin which is most tended and waited upon. The Pharisees' darling-sin was vain-glory ; all they did was to feed this sin of pride. Mat. vi. 2., " That they may have glory of men ;" when they gave alms, they sounded a trumpet. If a stranger had asked the question, " Why doth this trumpet sound?" The answer Was, " The Pharisees are going to give alms to the poor. Their lamp of charity was filled with the oil of vain-glory," Mat. xxiii. 5. All their works they did to be seen of men. Pride was their bosom-sin. Often- times covetousness is the darling-sin ; all other sins are committed to maintain this. Why do men equivocate, oppress, defraud, take bribes ? all is to uphold covetousness.
A. 2. That sin which a man doth not love to have reproved, is the darling-sin. Herod could not endure to have his incest spoken against : if John the Baptist med- dles with that sin it shall cost him his head.
A. 3. That sin which hath most power over one, and doth most easily lead him captive, that is the beloved of the soul. There are some sins a man can better put off, and give a repulse to ; but there is one sin, which, if it comes to be a suitor, he cannot deny, but is overcome by it : this is the bosom-sin. The young man in the
gospel had a complexion-sin which he could not resist, and that was the love of the world ; his silver was dearer to him than his Saviour. It is a sad thing a man should be so bewitched by a lust, that he will part with the kingdom of heaven to gratify it.
A. 4. That sin which men use arguments to defend is the darling sin. To plead for sin, is to be the devil's attorney ; if the sin be covetousness and we vindicate it ; if it be rash anger, and we justify it, Jonah iv. 9., " I do well to be angry ;" this is the complexion-sin.
A. 5. Tliat sin which doth most trouble one, and flee in his face in an hour of sick- ness and distress, that is the beloved sin. When Joseph's brethren were distressed, their sin came to remembrance in selling their brother. Gen. xlv. 2. : so, when a man is upon his sick-bed, and conscience shall say. Dost not thou remember how thou hast lived in such a sin, though thou hast been often warned, yet thou wouldst not leave it ? Conscience reads a curtain-lec- ture ; sure that was the darling-sin.
A. 6. That sin which a man is most un- willing to part with, that is the darling-sin. Jacob could of all his sons, most hardly part with Benjamin, Gen. xlii. 36., " Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away :" so saith the sinner, this and that sin have I parted with ; but must Benjamin go? must I part with this de- lightful sin ? that goes to the heart. This is the Delilah, the beloved sin. O if sin be such a deadly evil, dare not to indulge any bosom-sin ! This is of all the most dange- rous : like an humour striking to the heart, which is mortal, leave open but one gap, the wild beast may enter at it ; one darling sin lived in, is setting open a gap for Satan to enter.