VOL. II. 2 D
418 FAREWELL SERMON. [HeB. XII. 1,
man can as soon change his skin as lay aside his customs, that are so deeply engraven as the blackness of an Ethiopian or the spots of the leopard. And partly because it mingles itself with all our motions and actions, Rom. vii. 21, &c. It easily besets us, it is present with us, it impels us, and solicits us, and draws us to sin further and further, and doth make us negligent in what is God's ; we cannot do or speak anything but it will infest us in all our duties of piety, charity, justice ; on every side it is interposing, vexing, thwarting the motions of the Spirit, and so abates our strength, vigour, and agility, and retards our course towards heaven and glory. Therefore lay aside, as every weight, so every sin, &c.
Quest. Now, what is it to lay aside, or how can we lay aside, since sin sticks so close to us, and is engraven in our natures ?
Arts. Certainly something maybe done by us, for this is everywhere pressed as our duty : Eph. iv. 22, ' Put off the old man ;' and 1 Peter ii. 11. We may put it off more and more, though we cannot lay it aside. Then we are said to lay aside the sin that so easily besets us, when we prevent and break the dominion of it that it shall not reign over us : Rom. vi. 12, ' Let not sin reign,' &c. Though it dw^ells in us, lives in us, and works in us, yet it should not overcome us and bring us into bondage, and so it will not be imputed to our condemnation ; and at length, when the soul shall be separated from the body, we shall be wholly free from it.
Quest. Ay ! but what must w^e do that we may so repress it (tlie question returns), that we may break the dominion of it ?
Ans. I answer — This is the work of the Spirit of God ; but we must know the Spirit of God doth work the work of mortification two ways — by regeneration and after regeneration. By regeneration, and so he doth immediately, without any co-operation of ours, mortify the deed of sin, gives sin its death-wound : that which is left is as a thing mortified, it is broken. The scripture often speaks of this first work of regeneration : Rom. vi. 6 ; Col. ii. 11. First, when we are planted into Christ, then we put off the body of sin ; and though it doth not presently die, yet it is weakened, that it cannot reign, though it be not destroyed.
2. After regeneration the Spirit doth more and more destroy sin, the relics of sin, this crucified body of sin, till it dieth wholly away; this he doth in us, but not luithout us : Rom. viii. 13, ' Through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body.' Not the Spirit witliout us, nor we without the Spirit, but ' ye through the Spirit.' What is then required of us ?
[1.] Seriously purpose not to sin, and promise to God to yield him unfeigned obedience. Especially should w^e make this promise in the use of those solemn rites by which the covenant between God and us is confirmed. Take up a solemn purpose not to grieve the Spirit, nor to break his law : Ps. cxix. 106, ' I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.' This purpose of heart is the root of all good actions ; therefore, in the confidence of God's help, in the sense of thy own weakness, Ps. cxix. 32. We cannot lay wagers upon our own strength, yet it is our duty to engage our hearts to God. To sin against the light of our own conscience, and illuniina-
HeB. XII. ].] FAREWELL SERMON. 419
tion of the Spirit, and the chasteainj^ and instruction of our own reins, that aggravates our sin ; but to sin against and besides our fixed purpose of not sinning, that hghtens sin ; for then it is a sin of weak- ness and infirmity, not of wilfulness and malice. And then we can say, as Paul, Kora. vii. 19, when the heart is fixedly bent towards God, ' The evil which I would not, that do I.' Two ways may w^e be said to sin against purpose : either when we are overborne besides our purpose, our purpose still remains to please God ; as when the water breaks over the bank, the bank remaining ; in such a case the fault is not in the bank, but in the violence of the flootl ; or, secondly, when we break off our purpose, or consent to do evil ; as when we cut through the bank the water may easily make through. There is a great deal of difference between sin dwelling in us, and sin entertained by us, between sin remaining and sin reserved. When you have a firm purpose against all sin, there is sin remaining, but it is not reserved, it is not kept and allowed.
[2.] Watch over thyself with a holy self-suspicion, because thou liast sin within thee that doth easily beset thee ; therefore ' consider thy ways,' Ps. cxix. 59 ; guard thy senses, Job xxxi. 1 ; but, above all, keep thy heart, Prov. iv. 23. Conscience must stand porter at the door, and examine what comes in and what goes out. Watch over the stratagems of Satan, and seducing motions of thy own heart.