Obs. 2. That, above all things, a man should look to his desires. All sin is called eVt^u/i/a, lust or desire. God calleth for the heart : ' My son, give me thy heart,' which is the seat of desires. The children of God, when they plead their innocency, urge their desires, they fail in duty ; but their ' desires are to the remembrance of his name,' Neh. i. 11 ; Isa. xxvi. 8. The first thing by which sin discovoreth itself is by lust or desire. All actions have their rise from some inclina- tion and tendency of the desire towards the object. Before there is any thought or consultation in the soul, there is 6pe^i<;, a general tendency or bent in the soul. Well, then, look to your lusts or desires ; the whole man is swayed by them : men are worldly or heavenly as tlieir de- sires are ; appetite followeth life ; the spirit hath its lustings as well as the flesh. See how it is with you.
Obs. 3. The way that lust taketh to ensnare the soul is by force and flattery, either ' drawn away' or 'enticed.'
First, By violence, i^eXKofievo^, drawn away, haled with it. One way of knowing desires to be irregular is, if they are violent and over- j)leasing to the flesh. When affections are im[)etuous, you have just cau.se to susi)ect them, not to satisfy them. David would not touch the waters of Bethlehem when he longed for them, 2 Sam. xxiii. 17. Rage of desire can never be lawful. Greediness is a note of unclean- ness, Eph. iv. 19. When the heart boileth or panteth, it is not love, but lust. When you find any such foi-ce ujkmi your spirits towards carnal o])jects, if you would be innocent, complain and cry out as the ravished virgin under the law ; if she cried out she was guiltless. It
^ 'Diabolidecipientiscalliditas, et hominis consentientis voluntas.' — Aurf.de Peccat. Orifj. lib. ii. cji-p. 37.
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is a sign that sin hath not gained your consent, but commitleth a rape upon your souls. When you cry out to God, Rom. vii. 24, ' 0 wretched man that 1 am, who shall deliver me? ' you may discern this force u]ion your souls.
1. When your desires will not endure consultation, or the consider- ation of reason, but you are carried on by a brutish rage ; as Jer. v. 8, ' They were as fed horses ; eveiy one neighed after his neighbour's wife.' They had no more command of themselves than a fed horse. So Jer. viii. 6, ' Every one tui'neth into his course, as the horse into the battle.' The rage of the horse is stirred up by a warlike noise, and then they confront danger, and press on upon the pikes and the heat of the battle. So tliey go on with an unbridled license against all reason and restraints, without any counsel and recollection. Your lusts will not allow you the pause of reason and discourse.
2. When they grow more outrageous by opposition, and that little check that you give to them is like the sprinkling of water upon the coals, the fire burnetii the more fiercely. This is that which the a|)Ostle calleth Tra^o? evri^f/i/a?, 'the passionateness of lust.' We translate it a little too flatly, ' the lust of concupiscence,' 1 Thes. iv. 5. It noteth a raging earnestness. This violence is most discerned in the irregular motions of the sensual appetite, which are most sen- sible because they disturb reason, vex the soul, op})ress the body. But it is also in other sins. The apostle speaketh of it elsewhere : Rom. i. 27, ' They burned in their lust one towards another.' It is when reason is so disturbed and oppressed, that there can be no resist- ance ; yea, grace itself is overborne.
3. When they urge and vex the soul till fulfilled, which is often ex- pressed in scripture by a languor and sickness. Now this is such an height and excess of affection as is only due to objects that are most excellent and spiritual ; otherwise it is a note of the power of lust. To be sick for Christ is but a duty, Cant. ii. 5 ; so worthy an object will warrant the highest affection. But to be sick for any out- ward and carnal object noteth the impetuousness and violence of sin in the soul. Thus Amnon was sick for Tamar, 2 Sam. xiii. 2 ; that was a sickness to death, the sickness of lust and uncleanness. Ahab was sick of covetousness, 1 Kings xxi. 4 ; and Hainan for honour, Esth. V. All violent affections urge the soul, and make it impatient ; and because affections are the nails and pins that tie body and soul to- gether, leave a faintness and weakness in the body.
This violence of lust may inform us, —
1. Why wicked men are so mad upon sin, and give themselves over to it to their own disadvantage : ' They draw iniquity with cart ropes,' Isa. v. 18. As beasts that are under the yoke put out all their strength to draw the load that is behind them, so these draw on wickedness to their disadvantage, commit it though it be difficult and inconvenient. So it is said, Jer. ix. 5, that they ' weary them- selves to commit iniquity.' What is the reason of all this ? There is a violence in sin which they cannot withstand.