3. Let not worldly lusts be put in execution. If thou hast neglected mortification and deadening thy affections, if sin hath got the start of thee, and gained the consent of thy soul, yet at least restrain the practice. If the conception be not disturbed the birth will follow : James i. 15, * Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin.' There are the works of the flesh that follow the lusts of the flesh : Gal. V 19, ' Now the works of the flesh are manifest,' &c. Therefore it is good to put a stop, at least not to suffer lusts to break out : Rom. viii. 13, ' If ye through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.' We should mortify the lusts of the soul, but if that cannot be, then prevent the deeds of the body. Though lust grieves the Spirit of God, yet the work besides the grief brings dishonour to God, gives an ill example, brings scandal to religion, makes way for an habit and proneness to sin ; therefore to act it is the worst of all. See what the prophet saith : Micah ii. 1, 'Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds ; when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.' Mark, it is naught to harbour the motion, to plot, to devise evil, to muse upon sin ; but it is worse to practise, because every act strengtheneth the inclination, as a brand that hath been once in the fire is more ready to burn again ; and we know not how far lust may carry us when we give it scope and leave to work. Therefore it is good to interpose by a strong resolution, and to cry out for strength, and to continue fighting, that we may not be utterly foiled.
Thirdly, To show the difficulty of this denial of deadening, suppres- sing, and hindering the execution of worldly lusts. There are many things which will solicit for lusts, and plead hard, so that we have need of a great deal of grace to give them the denial ; there is nature, custom, example, and Satan.
1. Nature, that is strongly inclined to close with worldly lusts. A carnal and worldly disposition is very natural to us, as for a stone to move downward, or fire to move upward. Now the course of nature is not easily broken and diverted ; if it be hindered a while, it will return again. That these worldly lusts are rooted in our nature is clear from many scriptures. Ever since Adam turned from the creator to the creature, he hath left this disposition in all his children that come of his loins, that their hearts hang off from God towards the creature. The nature we have from Adam is a carnal nature, which favours and affects things that are here below ; and therefore it is the great work of grace to cure this disposition, to take us from the world ; first our hearts, then our bodies. It is made an effect of the new birth : 1 John V. 4, ' Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world ; ' and 2 Peter i. 4, ' By which we are made partakers of the divine nature, having
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escaped the corruptioa that is in the world through lust.' Heavenli- ness follows grace ; there is something divine, a higher birth than that we receive from Adam, else we should live as other men do. There is the spirit of the world, and the Spirit of God. Now natural men are endowed with the spirit of the world ; thej use their souls only as a purveyor for the body, to turn and wind in the world, to feed high, to shine in worldly pomp, to affect honours and great places ; these things we learn without a master ; we bring these dispositions into the world with us. Therefore to deny worldly lusts is to row against the stream, to roll the stone upward, to go quite contrary to the course and current of nature. When the apostle speaks of the new nature, he calls it ' a putting off, concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,' Eph. iv. 22.
2. Custom, which is another nature. Carnal affections are not only born with us, but bred up with us ; we are acquainted with them from our infancy, and so they plead prescription. Eeligion comes afterward, and therefore very hard it must needs be to renounce our lusts, because they have the start of grace. The first years of human life are merely governed by the senses, which judge of what is sweet, and not of what is good ; whence it cometh to pass that when a man is come to that age wherein he beginneth to have the use of reason, he can hardly change his custom and alter his course of life, and therefore continueth to live as he hath begun ; still the senses act in the first place. Earthly contentments are present to our sense, the other only to our faith ; these are before our eyes, and we still see the need and use of them. We know how hard it is to break a custom, especially if it yield any pleasure or profit : Jer. xiii. 23, ' How can ye do. good that are accus- tomed to do evil ? '