Bin, there is no otlier expected from tliem ; swine will wallow in the mire, but when sheep do so, — when the godly sin, — th.at redounds to the dishonour of the gospel, 2 Sam. xii. 14., " By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to bhaspheme." A stain in scarlet, every one's eye is upon it : for the godly to sin, it is like a spot in scarlet, it is more taken notice of, and it reflects a greater dis- honour upon the w^ays of God. 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 this eclipse. How doth the gospel suffer by the miscarriages of the godly? Their blood never can wash off the stain that they bring upon religion.
8. The sins of the godly are worse, be- cause they are a mean to encourage and harden wicked men in sin. If the wicked see the godly to be loose and uncircumspect in their lives, they think they may do so too : the wicked make the godly their pat- tern, not in imitating their virtues, but their vices, and is not this fearful to be a mean to damn others ? These are the aff- gravations of tlie sins of the godly; tliere- fore you, above all others, beware of pre- sumptuous sin; yt)ur sins wound conscience, weaken grace, and do more highly provoke God than the sins of others, and God will be sure to punish you. Whoever escapes, you shall not, Anios iii. 2., " You only liave I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your in- iquities." If God doth not damn you, yet he may send you to hell in this life ; he may cause such agonies and tremblings of heart, that you will be a terror to yourselves ; you may draw nigh to despair, and be ready to look upon yourselves as casta- ways. When David had stained himself with adultery and murder, he complained of his ' broken bones,* Ps. li. 8, — a metaphor to set forth the grief and agony of his soul ; he lay in sore desertion three quarters of a vear, and it is thought he never recovered his full joy to his dying day. Oh, there- fore, you who belong to God and are en- rolled in his family, take heed of blemish- ing your profession with scandalous sin ; vou will pay dear for it ! Think of the
])roken bones : tliough God doth not blot you out of his book, yet he may cast you out of his ])rescnce, Ps. li. 11. He may keep you in long desertion. You may feel such lashes in your conscience, that you may roar out, and think yourselves half in heli.
So much for tlie first, " deliver us from evil :" we pray to be delivered from evil, in general, that is sin.
Secondly, In special. " Deliver us from evil." We pray to be delivered from evil, under a threefold notion. 1. From the evil of our heart; it is called ' an evil heart,' Heb. iii. 12. 2. From the evil of Satan; he is called " the wicked one," ]Mat. xiii. 19. 3. From the evil of the world ; it is called ' an evil world,' Gal. i. 4.
1st, In this petition, " deliver us from evil," we pray to be delivered from the e\'il of our heart, that it may not decoy and tre- pan us into sin. The heart is the poisoned fountain from whence all actual sins flow, Mark. vii. 21., " Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, fornications, murders." The cause of all evil lies in a man's own breast, all sin begins at the heart. Lust is first conceived in the heart, and then it is mid- wifed into the world. Whence conies rash anger ? The heart sets the tongue on fire. The heart is a shop or work-house where all sin is contrived and hammered out ; how needful therefore is this prayer, " deliver us from evil," from the evil of our hearts ? The heart is the greatest seducer, therefore the apostle James saith, " every man is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed," James i. 14. The devil could not hurt na, if our own hearts did not give consent , all that he can do is, to lay the bait, but it is our fault to swallow the bait. Olet us pray to be delivered from the lusts and deceits of our own heart ! " Deliver us from evil." Luther feared his heart more than the pope or cardinal ; and it was Austin's prayer, li~ bera me, Domine, a meipso, — ' Lord deliver me from mysidf.' It was a good ad\ ice one gave to his friend, Caveas feipsum. Beware of the bosom traitor, the flesh. The heart of a man is the Trojan horse out of which comes a whole army of lusts.
2dly, In this petition, " deliver us from evil," we pray to be delivered from the evil
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OF THE SIXTH PETITION IN THE LORDS PRAYER.
of Satan. He is ' the evil one,' Mat. xiii.
Quest. In what respect is Satan the wick- ed one ?
Ahs. 1. He was the first inventor of evil, John viii. 44. He plotted the first treason.
A. 2. His inclination is only to evil, Eph. vi. 12.
A. 3. His constant practice is doing evil, 1 Pet. V. 8.
A. 4. All the evils and mischiefs that fall out in the world, he hath some hand in them.