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to perform that which is good, I find not ; ' and ver. 24, ' 0 wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? ' The increase of light showeth sin to be more than we thought it to be, and the increase of love maketh it to be more a burden to us. Look, as in the body, the better the constitution, the more sensible of pain ; -ao in the soul, the more thoroughly the heart is set to please God, the more grievous is sin to them.
[3.] The longer they live, the more experience they have, and that maketh them wise and provident, that they are not so confident and venturous as others ; they have more experience of the craft and subtlety of Satan, who easily surpriseth unwary souls : 2 Cor. ii. 11, ' Lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.' They know the rocks upon which they are apt to split themselves ; what advantage he maketh of their passions and affec- tions, and not only of their natural and carnal affections, but some- times of their religious affections. If they will be sorry for sin, he will tempt them to an over-grief, that they may be swallowed up of sorrow. He would turn their zeal to a furious zeal, that it shall exceed the measure of the cause, or offend in its object. How is a child of God or a disciple of Christ sometimes made Satan's instru- ment ? Mat. xvi. 23, ' Get thee behind me, Satan.' Therefore these things make them more wary and watchful than younger christians, who fall as a ready prey into the mouth of the tempter.
2. Because of the world. This flattering tempting world, whose delights often tempt them from God, holiness, and heaven, they have proved it, and tried it to be ' vanity and vexation of spirit' at the last. When the apostle had differenced christians by their several ages and degrees of growth, he adviseth all, 1 John ii. 15, 16, ' Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.' All christians must take heed of the world, but none are so likely to do so as those that have smarted for their carnal complacency. They find that the world is more an enemy when it smileth than when it frowneth ; that the profits of it are a greater snare than the losses, the pleasure than the pains, and the honours than the disgraces ; that the pomp and vanities of the world do easily tempt them to forget God and their souls, death and judgment, heaven and hell. The seasoned christian will be more humble and watchful than the inexperienced.
3. Because of themselves ; the longer they live, the more they are acquainted with themselves. You would think it strange that two men should intimately converse together for twenty, or thirty, or forty years, and all this while should not know one another. But it is much more strange that a man should live so long and not know him- self, not know his own heart. Too frequently is this so, because most men fly themselves, shun themselves, run away from themselves, never eommune with their own hearts. But you cannot imagine a man to be godly and serious, but he will use frequent observation, and ' ponder the path of his feet,' Prov. iv. 26 ; and as one that hath eyes in his head will considerVwhat he doth, and that upon every weighty matter
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he will use self-communings, and self-reflections : Ps. iv. 4, ' Stand in awe, and sin not ; commune with your own hearts upon your beds, and be still.' His duties will often call upon him to examine himself, if he goeth about them conscientiously : 1 Cor. xi. 28, ' Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of this bread, and drink of this cup.' If be omitteth it, God will remember him by many a sharp providence, and put him necessarily upon an inquiry into his state and ways : Lam. iii. 4, ' Let us search and try our ways, and turn to the Lord.' Surely this is a duty necessary, and upon solemn occasions indispensable. Now can a man be observant of his course, and seriously examine and consider what he has been before conversion, what he is after grace received, how much he cometh short of his obligations to God, of his advantages by Christ ; how much he liveth beneath the provisions appointed for his growth and increase, and beneath the worth and weight of endless glory which he hopeth for ; but he must be base in his own eyes, and have a higher sense of his sinfulness than others have, and so bemoan and bewail himself for his defects, and see that he hath not attained to the height of perfection which christians should aim at ?