Out of all you may learn— (1.) Not to cry up a confederacy with every one that crieth up a confederacy. Wars may easily be unrighteous, and it is dangerous to come under the guilt of it. Here we walk upon the brink ; it is the most solemn and .severe act of vindicative justice, and therefore must not be undertaken slightly. (2.) If we may so many ways sin in war, what cause have we to be humbled, if any of us have been guilty of an undue concurrence to so great an evil, either by irregulai- engagement, or perverse intentions ! The more universal the influence or sad consequences of a sin are, the more grievous should it be in the remembrance ; besides the hurt done to our own souls, there is a wrong to others.
Qncsl. 2. The next (picstion is, Whether lusts war in the heart of a godly man ? The occasion of doubting is, because he writeth to Chris- tians, and saith, ' Lusts that war in your members.' And I'eter writ- ing to the same saith, ' Abstain from fleshly lusts,' &c., 1 Peter ii. 11.
yins. 1 answer — Yes. The life of a Christian is a wrestling, con- flicting estate ; there is a double nature in the best, ' flesh and spirit,' Gal. v. 17. We carry an enemy in our bosoms; the Canaaiiile is not wholly cast out. It was a good prayer of him that said, ' Lord deliver me from one evil man, and it shall suffice,' meaning himself.^ Flesh and sj)irit, like the twins in Rebecca's womb, they war and struggle;
* ' Libera ine n, malo honune, a rneipso."
JaS. IV. 1.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 331
yea, lusts stir and raf!:e more in a godly heart, to sense and feeling, than in a wicked. ' When the strong man keepcth the house, the goods are in peace,' Luke xi. 21 . There is no stir ; wind and tide goeth together. Conviction may sometimes awaken drowsy lusts, otherwise all is still and quiet ; but usually there is more trouble with sin after conversion, especially presently upon conversion. A bullock is most unruly at first yoking, Jer. xxxi. 18; and green wood, as soon as it beginneth to be fired, casteth much smoke. The devil rageth when he hath but a short time, Rev. xii. 12. And the like you must expect, though in a less degree, in all the duties of holiness. When Joshua came before the Lord, ' Satan was at his right hand ready to resist him,' Zech. iii. 1. Since the fall it is some evidence of grace to find this contrariety; since the admission of sin, grace is more dis- cerned by the combat than by the absolute victory.
But you will say, How doth this war in a godly man differ from tliiit in a wicked man ? The ground of inquiry is, because condition and common illumination may make wicked men hate some sins : tliere is in them a war between the natural light of conscience and sensual courses, and their hearts will reproach them for gross sins or gross neglects.
I answer — (1.) There is a great deal of difference. Partly in regard of the grounds. A gracious man opposeth sin as it crosseth God's holiness, a wicked man as it crosseth God's justice ; the one saith, God hateth this, the other saith, God will punish this ; the one worketh out of a principle of love, the other of fear : the one hateth sin as defiling, the other as damning ; the one as disabling him for good, Eom. vii. 18 ; Gal. v. 17, the other because of incommodity and sensible inconvenience ; otherwise they can brook sin well enough ; he doth not oppose sin as it interrupteth his communion with God. A wicked man careth not to be with God, so he might be securely without him. In short, in a godly man the two seeds and natures are opposite, but in the wicked there is only some foreign awe impressed upon the con- science, and his dislike is rather from a present anger than a settled hatred. (2.) Partly in regard of the manner. In the one, sin is opposed voluntarily, willingly, readily, because he hateth sin and loveth the commandment ; in the other, God's restraint is more grievous than corruption : ' The carnal mind is enmity to the law of God,' Rom. viii. 7. They snarl at the restraint, they would be ' will- ingly ignorant,' 2 Peter iii. 5. A child of God doth the evil that he hateth, but resistance in wicked men is nothing but the rising of a carnal will against an enlightened understanding. (3.) Sometimes in regard of the help. In the one the Spirit warretli against the flesh ; in the other, most commonly flesh against flesh ; as our fathers drove out the Picts by the Saxons, so they extrude one lust by another. A godly man riseth against sin upon such considerations as the Spirit sug- gesteth : ' How can I do this wickedness, and sin against God ? ' Gen. xxxix. 9 ; but a wicked man is mostly moved by carnal consider- ations. (4.) Partly in regard of the extent. A godly man's resistance is universal ; he hateth sin as sin ; ^ and true hatred is tt/jo? to, 76^7?, against the whole kind : ^ Ps. cxix., ' I hate every false way.' A