The 'old man' is like a treacherous friend, and a friendly traitor. Though it be a harder thing to fight with a man's lusts, than it is to fight with the cross, yet you must fight or die ; if you are not the death of your sins, they will prove the death of your souls.
The oracle told the Cyrrheans, noctesque diesque belliyerandum, they could not be happy, unless they waged war night and day ; no more can we, except we live and die fighting against our lusts.2
Ah ! young men, can you look upon sin under the notion of an enemy, and not break with it, and not arm against it?
Well! remember this, the pleasure and sweetness that follows victory over sin, is a thousand times beyond that seeming sweetness that is in sin ; and as victory over sin is the sweetest victory, so it is the greatest victory. There is no conquest to that which is gotten over a man's own corruptions. ' He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty : and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city/ Prov. xvi. 32.
It is noble to overcome an enemy without, but it is more noble to overcome an enemy within ; it is honourable to overcome fiery flames, but it is far more honourable to overcome fiery lusts.
When Valentinian the emperor was upon his dying-bed, among all his victories only one comforted him, and that was victory over his worst enemy, viz., his own naughty heart.3
Ah ! young men, young men, your worst enemies are within you, and all their plots, designs, and assaults are upon your souls, your most noble part. They know if that fort-royal be won, all is their own, and you are undone, and shall be their slaves for ever ; and therefore it stands upon you to arm yourselves against these inbred enemies ; and if you engage Christ in the quarrel, you will carry the day; and when you shall lie upon your dying-beds, you will then find that there is no comfort to that which ariseth from the conquests of your own hearts, your own lusts.
Notion (2). Secondly, If you would break covenant with sin, if you
1 The 'monster' emperor of Constantinople, a.d. G02-610.— G-
■ As one of the dukes of Venice died righting against tho Nauratiues, with his weapons in bis hand. » Rom. vii. 22, 23 ; 2 Cor. x. 3-6 ; Gal. v. 17.
1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 255
would arm and fence yourselves against sin betimes, then look upon sin as the soul's bonds, Gal. iii. 10, John viii. 34.
For as bonds tie things together, so doth sin tie the sinner and the curse together. It binds the sinner and wrath together, it links the sinner and hell together : ' I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitter- ness, and in the bond of iniquity,' Acts viii. 23. Iniquity is a chain, a bond. Now, bonds and chains gall the body, and so doth sin the soul ; and as poor captives are held fast in their chains, so are sinners in their sins ; they cannot redeem themselves by price, nor by power, 2 Tim ii. 26.
Ah ! young men, young men ! no bondage to soul bondage, no slavery to soul slavery. The Israelites' bondage under Pharaoh, and the Chris- tians' bondage under the Turks, is but the bondage of the body, of the baser and ignoble part of man ; but yours is soul bondage, and soul slavery, which is the saddest and greatest of all.1
Ah, friends ! you should never look upon your sins but you should look upon them as your bonds ; yea, as the worst bonds that ever were. All other chains are golden chains, chains of pearl, compared to those chains of iron and brass, those chains of lust, with which you are bound. Ah ! who can thus look upon his chains, his sins, and not loathe them, and not labour for freedom from them ? Justinus the emperor's motto was Libertas res inestimabilis, liberty is invaluable. If civil liberty be, surely spiritual liberty is much more. If you ask souls that were once in a state of bondage, but are now Christ's free men, they will tell you so.
It was a good observation of Chrysostom, that Joseph was the free man and his mistress was the servant, when she was at the beck of her own lusts, when she tempted and he refused.2 Such as live most above sin and temptation, are the greatest freemen ; others, that live under the power of their lusts, are but slaves, and in bonds, though they dream and talk of freedom, Titus iii. 3.
Notion (3). Thirdly, If you would break league with sin, and arm and fence yourselves against it, then look always upon sin under the notion of fire.
' And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire,' Jude 23.3 Oh, snatch them out of their sins, as you would snatch a child, a friend, out of the fire, or as the angel snatched Lot out of Sodom, hastily, and with a holy violence. Natural fire may burn the house, the goods, the treasure, the servant, the child, the wife, the body ; but this fire burns the soul, it destroys and consumes that noble part which is more worth than all the treasures of a thousand worlds. Every man hath a band and a heart to quench the fire which burns his neighbour's house, but few men have either hands or hearts to quench the fire that burns their neighbour's souls ; this is, and this shall be, for a lamentation.
I have read of one who, upon the violence of any temptation to sin, would lay his hand upon burning coals, and being not able to abide it, would say to himself, Oh, how unable shall I be to endure the pains of
1 Augustine saith of Rome, that she was the great mistress of the world, and the great drudge of sin. 2 Chrysost. Horn. xix. in prior. Epist. ad Corinth.
3 jjw^vns signifies a violent snatching, as the tender-hearted mother, to save the life of her child, pulls it hastily, and with violence, out of the fire.
2.">f> APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlXGS XIV. 13.
lit 11 ! and tins restrained him from evil.1 But what is the fire of hell to the fire of sin ? Now, to provoke you to look upon sin under the notion of fire, consider with me the sundry resemblances between material and immaterial fire, between corporeal common fire and between this spiri- tual fire, sin. As,
[1.] First, Fire is terrible and dreadful. A ship on fire, an house on fire, oh how dreadful is it ! So sin set home upon the conscience is exceeding terrible and dreadful. ' Mine iniquity/ so the Hebrew, ' is greater than I can bear/ Sin or iniquity is often put for the punish- ment of sin, by a metonymy of the efficient for the effect ; for sin is the natural parent of punishment. ' Mine iniquity,' saith Cain, ' is so great, and lies so heavy, so terrible and dreadful upon my conscience, that it cannot be forgiven,' Gen. iv. 13, and thus, by his diffidence, he stabs two at once, the mercy of God, and his own soul.2 So Judas, ' I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood ; and he went and hanged himself/ Mat. xxvii. 3-5.