3. Thirdly^ Though an upright soul may fall into sin, yet he is restless and unquiet in that condition, like a bone out of joint; and that speaks him to be none of sin's servants ; as on the contrary, if a man be engaged in the external duties of religion, and be restless, and unquiet there, his heart is not in it, he is not at rest till he be again in his earthly business; this man cannot be reckoned Chrisfs servant: a gracious heart is much after that rate employed in the work of sin, that a carnal heart is employed in the work of religion. That is a good rule, Ea tantum dicunter inesse., quae in- sunt per modvm quietis : That is a man's true temper, wherein he is at rest. Poor David fell into sin, but he had no rest in his bones be- cause of it, Psal. li. 10, 11, 12. If his heart be off from God and duty for a little while, yet he recollects himself, and saith, as Psal. cxvi. 7. " Return to thy rest, O my soul."
4. Fourtlily^ Though a sincere Christian fall into sin and commit evil : yet he proceeds not from evil to evil as the ungodly do, Jer. ix. 3. but makes his fall into one sin a caution to prevent another sin. Peter by his fall got establishment for the time to come. If God will speak peace to them, they are careful to return no more to folly ; Psal. Ixxxv. 8. " In that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what " carefulness it wrought ? Yea, what fear ?" 2 Cor. vii. 11. It is not so with the servants of sin, one sin leaves them much more dis- posed to another sin.
5. Fiftldy, A sincere Christian may be drawn to sin, but yet he would be glad with all his heart to be rid of sin : it would be more to him than thousands of gold and silver, that he might grieve and of- fend God no more ; and that shews sin is not in dominion over him : he that is under the dominion of sin, is loth to leave his lusts. Sin's servants are not willing to part with it, they hold it fast, and refuse to let it go, as that text expresseth it, Jer. viii. 5. But the great complaint of the upright is expressed by the apostle according to the true sense of their hearts, in Rom. vii. 24. " Who shall deliver me " from the body of this death ?
6. Sixthly, It appears they yield not themselves willingly to obey sin, inasmuch as it is the matter of their joy when God orders any providence to prevent sin in them: " Blessed be the Lord, (said David *^ to Abigail) and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou that hast " kept me this day from shedding blood," 1 Sam. xv. 32, 33.
Here is blessing upon blessing for a sin-preventing providence. The author is blessed, the instrument blessed, the means blessed. O it is
EVIDENCES OP THE >fOM-DOMINIO:i? OF SIN. 5G-3
a blessed thing in the eyes of a sincere man to be kept from sin ! lie reckons it a great deUverance, a very happy escape, if he be kept from sin.
7. Seventhly^ This shews that some who may be drawn to commit «in, yet are none of the servants of sin, that they do heartily beg the assistance of grace to keep them from sin : " Keep back thy servant " from presumptuous sins, (saith the Psalmist, Psalm xix. 13. let *' them not have dominion over me ;" q. d. Lord, I find propensions to sin in my nature, yea, and strong ones too; if thou leave me to myself, I am carried into sin as easily as a feather down the torrent. " O Lord, keep back thy servant.'' And there is no petition that upright ones pour out their hearts to God in, either more frequently or more ardently than in this, to be kept back from sin.
8. Eighthly^ and Lastly^ This shews the soul not to be under the dominion of sin, that it doth not only cry to God to be kept back from sin, but uses the means of prevention himself; he resists it, as well as prays against it ; Psal. xviii. 23. " I was also upright before *' him, and kept myself from mine iniquity :" So Job xxxi. 1. " I '' have made a covenant with mine eyes ;'' and yet more fully in Isa. xxxiii. 15. " He shaketh his hands from holding bribes, and " stoppeth his hears from hearing blood, and shutteth his eyes from " seeing evil." See with what care the portals are shut at which sin useth to enter. All these things are very relieving considerations to poor souls questioning their integrity under the frequent surprisals of sin. And the next trial no less.
(5.) Jl IFTHLY, Our opposition to, and conflicts with sin discover what we are, gold or dross.
There are conflicts with sin in both the regenerate, and in tlie un- regenerate ; but there is a vast difference betwixt them, as will ap- pear in the following account.
1. First, There is an universal, and there is a particular opposition to sin : the former is found in regenerate, the latter in unregenerate souls : a gracious heart hates every false way, Psal. cxix. 104. and must needs do so, because he hates and opposes sin as sin; so that he can have no peccatum in dellciis, no excepted or reserved lust, but fights against the v/hole body, and every limb and member of the body of sin.
But it is not so with the hypocrite or carnal professor; he hath overcome some reserved sin, that he cannot part with.
2. Secondly, There is an opposition betwixt the new nature and sin, and there is an opposition betwixt a natural conscience and sin ; the former is the case of an upright soul, the latter may be a self- deceiver.
A regenerate person opposcth sin because there is an irrecorcileable Vol. V. N n
564 OPPOSITION TO SIN A TfilAL TO SINCERITY.
antipathy betwixt it and the new nature in him, as is clear from Gal. V. 17. " The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against " the flesh ; and these are contrary the one to the other.'" By flesh, understand corrupt nature ; by spirit, not only the spirit of man but the Spirit of God, or principle of regeneration in man. By the lusting of these two against each other, understand the desire and endeavours of each other's destruction and ruin ; and the ground of all this is the contrariety of all these two natures.
These are contrary one to the other ; there is a twofold opposition betwixt them, one formal, their very natures are opposite ; the other effective, their workings and designs are opposite, as it is betwixt Are and water.
But the opposition found in unrenewed souls against sin, is not from their natures, for sin is suitable enough to that ; but from the light that is in their minds and consciences, which scares and terri- fies them. Such was that in Darius, Dan. vi. 14. " He was sore " displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver " him ; and laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him.'^ Here the contest was betwixt sense of honour upon one side, and conviction of conscience on the other side.
Sometimes a generous and noble disposition opposes sordid and base actions: Major su7n, ct ad majora naius ; quam ut corporis meisim mancipium. I am greater, and born to greater things, than that I should be a slave to my body, said a brave heathen.