vapours of sin begin to arise, let but the lio-ht of scripture shine into the soul, and it dispels those fogs ; " let the word of Christ dwell in you richly," Col. iii. 16. Alphon- sus king of Arragon, read over the bible fourteen times. The word shews the dam- cable evil of sin ; it furnisheth us with pre- cepts, which are so many recepes and anti- dotes against sin. When Christ had a temptation to sin, he beat back the tempter, and wounded him three times with this sword of the Spirit, " It is written." Why do men live in sin, but because they either do not read the word or do not believe it ? A. 8. If you would be preserved from gross, presumptuous sin, get your hearts fired with love to God. Love hath great force in it, it is " strong as death," it breaks the league between the heart and sin. Two things in God cause love.
1. His glorious beauty : Moses desired to see some glimpse of it. " Lord, shew me thy glory."
2. His amazing love. What a prodigy of love was it, to give his Son out of his bosom, and lay such a jewel to pawn for our redemption ! Those two, — the glories of God's beauty, and the magnitude of his love, — may, like two loadstones, draw our love to God ; and if we love him, we will not sin against him ; he that loves his friend, will not by any means disj)lease him. I have read of four men meeting to- gether, who asked one another, what it was that kept them from sinning? One said, the fear of hell ; another said, the joys of heaven ; the third said, the odiousness of sin ; the fourth said, that which keeps me from sin, is, love to God ; shall I sin against so good a God ? shall I abuse love ? Love to God is the best curbing-bit to keep from sin.
A. 9. If you would be kept from the evil of sin, be diligent in a calling. DH labori- bus omnia vendant. Adam in j)aradise must till the ground. Such as live idly, expose themselves to sin ; if we have no work to do, Satan will find us work ; he sows most of his seed in fallow-ground. A woman being much tempted to sin, came to the reverend Mr. Greenham for advice, what she should do to resist the temptation ? He gave her this answer • Be always well-em- I
ployed, that so when Satan comes, he may find thee busied in thy calling, and thou mayest not be at leisure to listen to his temptation."
A. 10. If you would be kept from sin, fix the eye of your mind upon ' the beauty of holiness.' Holiness consists in our confor- mity to God ; holiness is the sparkling of the divine nature, a beam of God shining in the soul. How lovely is Christ's bride, when decked and bespangled with the jew- els of holiness ! What makes the seraphims angels of light ; but their holiness ? Do but think with yourselves what a splendid, glo- rious thing holiness is, and it will cause a disgust and hatred of sin, which is so con- trary to it. The beholding of beauty, makes one out of love with deformity.
A. 11. If you would keep from the evil of sin, meditate frequently on death : First, the unavoidableness of it, Heb. ix. 27., " It is appointed unto all men once to die." We are not so sure to lie down this night in bed, as we are to lie down in the grave. Secondly. The uncertainty of the time. We are but tenants at will ; we hold our life at the will of our landlord, and how soon may God turn us out of this house of clay ? Death oft comes when we least look for it. The flood as some learned writers observe came in the month Ziph, or Ap- ril,— in the spring, — when the trees were blossoming, and the birds singing, then came the flood, when they least looked for it : so oft in the spring of youth, when the body is most healthy, and the spirits most sprightly and vigorous, and death is least thought on, then it comes. Could we think often and seriously of death, it would give a death's-wound to sin. No stronger anti- dote against sin than this : I am now sing- ing, and to-morrow may be dying ? What if death should take me doing the devil's work, would it not send me to him to re- ceive my wages ? AVould but the adulterer think, I am now in the act of sin, but how soon may death come, and then I who have burned in lust, must burn in hell : this sure would strike a damp into him ; and make him afraid of going after strange flesh.
A, 12. If ye would be kept from gross scaruhilous sins, beware of a covetous heart. Covetousness is a dry drunkenness. He
OF THE SIXTH PETITION IN THE LORD'S PRAYER.
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