[6.] That there is no avoiding either of these snares and temptations as long as any carnal affection remaineth uumortified. For until a man be dead to worldly comforts, and hardened a2:ainst worldly sorrows, he doth but lie naked and open to Satan : 1 Tim. vi. 9, ' He that will be rich, falls into temptation and a suai'e.' And what is said of riches, the same is true of pleasure : he that is vehemently addicted that way will soon come to put God out of the throne, and make his belly and his pleasure his God : 2 Tim. iii. 4, ' Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.' Any lust that is cherished and indulged will betray us. As for honour : John v. 44, ' How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that Cometh from God only ?' True faith cannot be planted in that heart that is not purified, until there be a prevailing interest established for Christ over all carnal affections. Grace bears no sway in us, and hath no power over us. The ambition and love of respect from men will necessarily make us unsound in the profession of godliness. Well, then, it stands us upon to allow and cherish no secret sin, but to observe what are the tender parts of our hearts, or which way our corruptions lie, where subjection to God is most apt to stick with us : Ps. cxix. 133, ' Order my steps in thy word ; and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.' Though we seem to have a zeal in other things, yet if one lust be indulged, we shall soon swerve from our duty. True obedience to God is inconsistent with the dominion of any one lust or corrupt affection. I say, though a man, out of some slender and insufficient touch of religion upon his heart, may go right for a while, and do many things gladly, yet that corruption which is indulged, and under the power of which a man lieth, will at length draw him off from God ; and therefore no one sin should have dominion over us. When doth sin reign or have dominion over us ? When we do not endeavour to mortify it, and to cut off the provisions that may feed that lust. Chrysostom's observa- tion is: The apostle doth not say. Let it not iyrannise over you, but. Let it not reign over you ; that is, when you suffer it to have a quiet reism in vour hearts.
212 AN EXPOSITION OF [MaT. VI. 13.
[7.] The more we sin upon the mere impulsion of the flesh, and without an external temptation, the more heinous is our offence, for then the heart is carried of its own accord to sin : Ezek. xvi. 33, 34, ' They give gifts to all whores ; but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee for thy whoredoms. And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms : and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, there- fore thou art contrary.' These are expressions to set forth their idolatry. But that which is intended there is this : that they were not desired or solicited, but merely carried to sin by their own proper motion, which exceedingly aggravateth sin. Why? For then it is a sign the heart is carried of its own accord by its own weight, as a heavy body is moved downward, not by the impression of outward force, but by its own natural propension.
Now, when do men thus merely sin upon the impulsions of the flesh ? I will instance in three cases : —
(1.) When the temptation is so small and inconsiderable that it should not sway with any reasonable man. It is said in Amos ii. G, ' They sold the poor for a pair of shoes.' And ' for a piece of bread will that man trangress,' Prov. xxviii. 21. When pleasure and profit is so inconsiderable as that it could not rationally make up a temptation, then men sin merely upon the corruptions of their own Hesh. When the devil hath to do with great souls, such as Christ was, he propounds the glory of all the world : Mat. iv. Oh ! but a lesser price will serve the turn with those that are deeply engaged already, that are biased with their own propension. For instance, a little ease and carnal satisfaction, a slothful humour, is enough to take them off from the sweetness of communion with God, and the pleasure and contentment that they might enjoy with him in holy exercises. Look, as in general, it is a great aggravation of all sin that for such paltry trifles we turn the back upon God and his grace. All sinners do so ; they part with all their hopes by Christ for a mess of pottage, for a little present pleasure ; that is profaneness indeed: Heb. xii. 16. So in particular things, when the smallest temptation seems to be strong enough to draw off our hearts from our duty, to bring us to a sin of omission, when it is needful to go and converse with God in secret ; a little ease and sloth hangs upon us, and we cannot shake it oft' : or when we are drawn to a sin of commission by an inconsider- able matter, by the smallest worldly interest as can be mentioned, for a piece of bread, and a pair of shoes.