self for the pride of his heart in numbering of the people, 2 Chron. xxxii. 25, 2 Sam. xxiv. 10. And how does the same prophet chide himself for sinful dejection of spirit : ' Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted in me?' Ps. xlii. 11. And how does he at another time befool himself, and be-beast himself, for his secret grudg- ing and fretting at the prosperity of the wicked : ' So foolish was I and ignorant, I was as a beast before thee,' Ps. Ixxiii. 22. And so Paul was most affected and afflicted with a law in his members rebellincr aofainst the law of his mind. Inward pollutions and defilements did sit closest and saddest upon his spirits. And the same apostle in that 2 Cor. vii. 1, is for keeping down the filthiness of the spirit, as well as the filthiness of the flesh ; he is for inward cleansing, as well as for outward cleansing : ' Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse our- selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God,' 2 Cor. vii. 1. So Mr Bradford was a man that had at- tained to so great and eminent a height of holiness, that Doctor Taylor, the martyr, calls him ' that saint of God, John Bradford ;' and yet, oh how sadly does he bewail his secret hypocrisy. True grace makes opposition as well against tlie being of sin in a man's nature, as against the breakings out of sin in a man's life. Col. iii. 5. True grace will make head against the corruptions of the heart, as well as against the excursions of the feet ; it is as willing and desirous to be rid of a pol- luted heart, as it is willing and desirous to be rid of a polluted hand. It would fain have, not only sinful acts, but also sinful dispositions, and not only irregular actions, but also inordinate affections, mortified and subdued. O friends ! heart sins are root sins ; they are the springs that set all the wheels a-goinof, the fountain that sets all the streams a-running, the fire that sets the furnace a-smoking, the bellows that sets the fire a-burning. Certainly a proud heart hath more of Satan in it than a proud look, and a wanton heart is more vile than a wanton eye, and a murderous or adulterous heart is worse than a murderous or adulterous act, &c. And therefore true grace makes head against heart sins, against spiritual sins, against the most inward secret sins, against those very sins that lie not within the reach of reason, or the sword of the magistrate, or the piercing eye of the most knowing or observing man in the world, but are only obvious to an omniscient eye. But now carnal men, as they make little of outward sins, so they make nothing of heart sins, of spiritual sins. If they are not drunkards, nor swearers, nor extortioners, nor whoremasters, nor cursors, nor cheaters, nor oppressors, nor liars, nor persecutors. Mat. xix. 16-27 ; if they are good negative Christians, then they think themselves very good saints, and in a very fair way for heaven, and that no man can say black is their eye, when their hearts are as full of evil thoughts and secret lusts, as ignorance, atheism, unbelief, pride, envy, discontent, anger, formality, hypocrisy, indifferency, lukewarmness, deadness, and hardness, &c., as the sun is full of light, or as hell is full of darkness. Restraining grace, common grace, only makes head against gross enormities, against pal- pable vanities, as you may see in the scribes and pharisees ; but saving grace makes head against heart sins, against spiritual sins. Common grace is all for washing the outside, but saving grace is for washing the inside as well as the outside. Common grace is only for washing the
Chap. II.] a cabinet of jewels. 315
feet and the head, but saving grace is for washing both feet, head, and heart, Mat. xxiii., John xiii. 9, 10. Look, as in a dark night we can only see those stars that are of the greatest magnitude ; so by the star- light of natural conscience, the natural man can only see those sins that are more great and gross. Natural convictions can reach no further than natural light, but spiritual convictions can reach to the most inward, secret, spiritual, and undiscernible sins. Certainly that is a sincere heart, a heart more worth than gold, that smites a man for inward sins as well as for outward sins ; for sins done in a corner, as well as for sins acted upon the house-top ; for spiritual sins, as well as for fleshly sins ; for sins against the soul, as well as for sins against the body; for sins committed in a closet, as well as for sins committed on the most public stage. Certainly that trouble and grief that springs from heart sins, from spiritual sins, from secret sins, bears a more immediate relation to the holiness of God, who only observes them, and is offended by them, and so is a most sure and infallible evidence of saving grace, and of the work of the Spirit in power upon the soul. When open commissions do humble and abase the heart, and secret inclinations to sin do even break and burst the heart asunder, then the heart is certainly sincere with God. A Christian will readily grant that his God is a good God, and that Jesus Christ is the chiefest of ten thousand, and that the gospel is a glorious gospel, and that the promises are precious promises, and that the ordinances are blessed ordinances, and that the lively com- munion of saints is the sweetest communion in all the world. But yet he will say, I have such a proud heart, such a hard heart, such a slight heart, such a carnal heart, &c., and I am so vexed and molested with sinful notions, and with sinful imaginations, and with sinful inclinations, and with atheistical risings, and with private murmurings, and with secret unbelievings, and that in despite of all my conflictings, and striv- ings, and prayings, and mournings, and sighings, and groanings, and complainings, that I am oftentimes even weary of my life. And if this does not speak out Christ within, and grace within, and the Spirit within such a soul, I know nothing. O friends ! remember this once for all, viz., that the main battle, the main warfare of a Christian lies not in the open field, it lies not in visible skirmishes ; but his main quarrels and conflicts are most within, and his worst and greatest enemies are them of his own house, they are them of his own heart. A little grace at first conversion may reform an ill life, but it must be a great deal of grace that must reform an ill heart. A little grace may make a man victorious over outward gross sins, but it must be a great deal of grace that must make a man victorious over inward sins, secret sins, spiritual sins, heart sins, yea, a thorough conquest of these sins will hold a man in play all his days. But,