4. FourtJdi/, A graceless heart may be restrained from sin by the force of education and principles of moraHty that were instilled into it. Thus Jehoash was restrained from sin, 2 Kings xii. 2. " And Je- " hoash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, all the " days wherein Jehoiadah the priest instructed him."" The fear of a parent or master will do a great deal more with some in this case than the fear of God. The influences of strict education nips off the excrescencies of budding vice. The way we are taught when young, we keep when old : This is the influence of man upon man, not the influence of the regenerating Spirit upon men.
5. Fifthli/, A graceless heart may be kept from some sins by the fear of the events, both in this world and that to come. Sin that is- followed with infamy and reproach among men, may on this ground be forborne ; not because God hath forbidden it, but because human Jaws will punish it, and the sober world will brand us for it: And some look farther, to the punishment of sin in hell ; they are not afraid to sin, but they are afraid to burn.
Here sin is hke a sweet rose in a brake of thorns; fain we would have it, but we are loth to tear, our flesh to come by it. It is good
HATRED OF SIN A TRIAL OF GRACE. 555
that sin is prevented any way ; but to be kept on this ground from sin, doth not argue the estate of the person to be good : And thus you see some of the grounds on wliich carnal men are restrained : . and in this " the children of the devil are manifest."
-*^UT there are grounds of abstinence from sin, by which " the "children of God are also manifested;"" and such are these that follow:
1. First, A sincere heart dares not sin because of the eye and fear of God, which is upon him : So you find it in Job xxxi. 1, and 4. he durst not allow his thoughts to sin, because he lived under the awe of God's eye. Nehemiah durst not do as former governors had done, though an opportunity presented to enrich himself, because of the fear of' his God, Neh. v. 15. The soul that lives under the awe of this eye, will be conscientious where no discovery can be made by creatures, as if all the world were looking on, Levit. xix. 14. *' Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block before " the blind ; but shalt fear thy God, I am the Lord."
What if a man do curse the deaf, the deaf cannot hear him, and what if he do put a stumbling-block before the blind, the blind can- not see him : True, but God sees him, God hears him ; that is enough to a man that hath the fear of the Lord upon his heart.
2. Secondly, As the fear of God, so the love of God, is a principle of restraint from sin to the soul that is upright. This kept back Joseph from sin. Gen. xxxix. 9. " How can I do this great wicked- " ncss, and sin against Godi^" Hoiv can I? He speaks as a man that feels himself bound up from sin by the goodness and love of God, that had been manifested to him, q. d. Hath he delivered me from the pit into which my envious brethren east me ? Hath he, in so miraculous a way, advanced me to all this honour and power in Egypt ? And now, after all his kindness and love to me, shall I sin against him ? O how can I do this against so good, so gracious a God ? So Psal. xcvii. 10. " Ye that love the Lord, hate evil." Love will cry out in the hour of temptation. Is this thy kindness to thy friend ? Dost thou thus requite the Lord for all his kindnesses ?
3. Thirdly, As the love of God, so the intrinsical evil and filthi- ness that is in sin keeps back the gracious soul from it, Rom. xii, 9. " Abhor that which is evil," a-o^y^avrss to rrovnoov, hate it as hell itself: Or, as the French translation hath it, be in horror. As the appre- hensions of hell, so the apprehensions of sin impress horror upon the mind that is sanctified : Nothing more loathsome to an holy soul ; its aversations from it are with the highest indignation and loathing.
4. Fourthly, The renewed nature of a saint restrains him from sin; Gal. V. 17. " The spirit lusteth against the flesh, so that ye cannot " do the thing ye would." Ye cannot, why cannot ye ? because it is against your new nature.
554 HATRED OF SI:^^ A TRIAL OF GRACE.
Beloved, This is a very remarkable thing in the experience of all renewed men, That, upon the renovation of men's principles, their delights, and their aversations and loathings are laid quite cross and opposite to what they were before. In their carnal state, vain com-, pany and sinful exercises were their delight. To be separated from these, and tied to prayer, meditation, heavenly discourse and com- pany ; O v/hat a bondage would tha't have been ! Now to be tied to such carnal society, and restrained from such duties of godlinessy and the society of the godly, become a much sorer bondage to the soul.
5. Fij'tldy^ Experience of the bitterness of sin is a restraint to a gra- cious heart. They that have had so many sick days and sorrowful nights ibr sin as they have had, are loth to taste that wormwood and gall again, which their soul hath still in remembrance ; 2 Cor. vii. 11. " In that ye sorrowed after a godl}^ sort, what carefulness it wrought !" He would not grapple with those inward troubles again, he would not have the cheerful light of God''s countenance eclipsed again for all, and much more than all, the pleasures that are in sin.
6. Sixthly^ The consideration of the sufferings of Christ for sin, powerfully with-holds a gracious soul from the commission of it; Rom. vi. 6. " Our old man is crucified with him, that the body of " sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." Were there a knife or sword in the house that had been thrust through the heart of your father, would you ever endure the sight of it ? Sin was the sword that pierced Christ, and so the death of Christ becomes the death of sin in his people. Thus the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest, in the principles and reasons of their abstinence from sin.
(2.) Secondly, They are also manifested by their hatred of sin. This puts a clear distinction betwixt them ; for no false or un- regenerate heart can hate sin as sin ; he may indeed,
1. Firsts Hate sin in another, but not in himself: Thus one proud man hates another; Caico superhiam Platonis, said Diogenes, when he trampled Plato's fine clothes under foot ; I spurn the pride of Plato. Sed mqjori superhia^ as Plato smartly replied. Thou tramplest upon my pride, but it is with greater pride. " Why (saith Christ to '' the hypocrite) beboldest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, " but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye ?" Mat. vii. B. Plow quick in espying, and rash in censuring the smallest fault in another, is the hypocrite ! it was but one fault, and that but a small one, but a mote that he could find in another; yet this he quickly discerns : It may be there were many excellent graces in him, these he overlooks, but the mote he plainly discerns.