who tliirsts insatiably after tlie world will stick at no sin, he will betray Christ and a good cause for money. Cui nihil satis, ei- dem nihil turpe, Tacitus. 1 Tim. vi. 10., *' Tlie love of money is the root of all evil." From this root comes, First, theft : Achan's covetous humour made him steal the wedge of gold, Josh. vii. 21. Covetousness makes the gaols so full. Secondly, from this root comes murder. Why did Ahab stone Na- both to death, but to possess his vineyard ? 1 Kings xxi. 13. Covetousness hath made many swim to the crown in blood. Third- ly, from this bitter root of covetousness proceeds cozenage ; it is the covetous hand holds false weights. Fourthly, from tliis root of covetousness comes unclcauness. You read of the Iiire of a whore, Deut. xxiii. 1*^. For money she would let both her conscience and chastity be set to sale. O if you would be kept from the evil of sin, beware of coVetousness which is the inlet to so many sins !
A. 13. Let us be much in prayer to God, to keep us from ingulphing ourselves in sin, Ps. xix. 13., " Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins." We have no power inherent to keep ourselves from evil. Arnoldus saith, that man, in his corrupt estate, hath aliquas reliquias vifce spiritualis, — some reliques of spiritual life left. And Arminias saith, man hath a sufficiency of grace in himself whereby he may abstinere a malo, abstain from evil; free-will is a sufficient curb to check and pull him back from sin. But then what needed Christ to have taught us this prayer: Libera nos a tnalo, " Deliver us from evil?" If we have power of ourselves to keep from sin, what need we pray to Clod for power ? Alas ! if David and Peter, in an habit of grace, fell, for want of a fresh gale of the Spirit to hold them up, much more will they be in danger of falling, who have only the power of free- will to hold them. Let us therefore sue to God for strength to keep us from sinning ; pray that prayer of David, Ps. cxix. 117., * Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe." And that other prayer, Ps. xvii. 5., " Hold up my goings in thy paths that my footsteps slip not." Lord, keep me from dishonour- ing thee, — keep me from the defiling sins of the age, that I may not be worse for the
times, nor the times the worse for me, — " Keep back thy servant from presumptu- ous sins." Lord, whatever I suffer, keep me from sin. The chihl is safe in the nurse's arms ; and we are only safe from falling into sin, while we are held up in the arms of Clirist and free-grace. The
2d Branch of the exhortation hath an as- pect to (iod's children. You that aie j)ro- fessors, and carnj' Christ's colours, I beseech you, above all others, to take heed of sin ; beware of any action that is scandalous and unbecoming the gospel. You have heard what a prodigious liyperbolical evil sin is. Come not near the forbidden fruit, Hos. iv. 15., " Though thou Israel, ])lay the harlot, yet let not Judah oflfend." So, though wicked men run into sin, yet let not tlie spouse of Christ defile the breasts of her virginity. Sin doth ill become any but doth worse become professors. Dung is unhandsome in the street ; but to see it in the temy)le, how offensive is it? Leprosy in the foot doth ill, but to see a leprous sore in the face is much worse ; to see sin break forth in them who have a face of re- ligion, is most to be abominated. The sins of the wicked are not so much wondered at, Dan. xii. 10., " The wicked shall do wickedly." It is no wonder to see a tod sj)it poison; it was not so much wondered to see Cain or Ahab sin ; but to see Lot's incest, — to see David's hands stained with blood, — this was strange. When the sun is eclipsed, every one stands and looks upon it: so when a child of light is eclipsed by scandalous sin, all stand and gaze at tliis eclipse. The sins of God's people do, in some sense, more provoke God than the sins of the wicked. We read " of the pro- vokings of his sons and daughters," Deut. xxxii. 19. The sins of the wicked anger God, but the sins of his peoj)le grieve liim. The sins of God's people have a more ma- lignant aspect, and are of a blacker dye, than others ; there are those aggravations in the sins of God's people, as are not to be found in the sins of the unregenerate, in eight particulars.
For, 1. The godly have something which may ponere obicem, restrain them from sin. Wicked men, when they sin, have no prin- ciple to restrain them ; they have wind and
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OF THE SIXTH PETITION IN THE LORD'S PRAYER.