12 SERMONS UPON 1 JOHN III. [SeR. iX.
[4.] Christ's example, and unsinning obedience to God, is a notable check to sin, and all the temptations, occasions, and inducements which lead to it. Notliing should be of such value with a christian as to hire him to commit wilful sin. Christ obeyed at the dearest rates and terms, and repented not of his engagement: John xiii. 1, ' Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.' A christian should have the same mind, and then it will be armour of proof against all temptations : 1 Peter iv. 1, ' Arm yourselves with the same mind, for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin.' In one place it is said, ' Let the same mind be in you ; ' in another, ' Arm yourselves with the same mind.' Temptations will have little force upon you when you resolve to obey God whatever it cost you. The frowns of the world, yea, life itself, will be as nothing. Secondly, Is it the pomp and pleasure and honour of the world wherewith the flesh is gratified ? Christ hath put a disgrace upon these things by his own choice. He was mean, poor, a man of sorrows ; and shall we look to be maintained in pomp and pleasure ? We cannot be poorer than Christ, and taste less of the world than he did. Thirdly, A love to our private interests hinders us from seeking the glory of God : Rom. XV. 3, Tor even Christ pleased not himself;' John xii. 27, 28, 'For this cause came I to this hour : Father, glorify thy name.' Every christian should be thus affected ; let Christ dispose of him and his interests as it seemeth good to him.
SEEMON IX.
And ye Icnoio that he tuas manifested to take away sin, and in him loas no sin. — 1 John iii, 5.
From these words I have observed this doctrine, that those who are i:)artakers of Christ should by no means allow themselves in a life or course of sin.
The uses now follow.
First, It bindeth our duty upon us.
Secondly, It assureth and sealeth our comfort when we are afflicted either with the guilt of sin or the power of sin.
First, It bindeth our duty upon us. They that do not break off a life of sin make Christ's coming in vain. But because men's interest will quicken them, therefore consider, Christ must take away sin, or else you must at last bear your own sin. But alas ! that is a burden too heavy for us to bear ; and miserable are they that have it lying upon their backs. It will not be light when we reckon with God. Sin to a waking conscience is one of the heaviest burdens that ever was felt : Ps. xxxviii. 4, ' Mine iniquities are gone over my head, they are a burden too heavy for me.' You will find the little finger of sin heavier than the loins of any other sorrow. What a weight and pres- sure will it be to tlie soul ! If you do but taste of this cup, it fiUeth
VeR. 5.] SERMONS UPON 1 JOHN III. 13
you with trembling. If a spark of God's wrath light on the conscience, how terribly doth it scorch ? You may know it in part by what Christ suffered. His soul was heavy unto death. If his soul were heavy to death, if he felt such strange agonies, sweat drops of blood, lost the actual sensible comforts of his Godhead, when he bore the burden of sin, oh, what shall every one of us do if we were to bear our own burden ? You may also know it by the complaints of the saints, when the finger of God hath but touched them : Ps. xl. 12, ' Mine iniquities take hold on me, therefore mine heart fainteth.' So Jobcomplaineth.chap. vi. 4, ' For the arrows of the Almighty are within me ; the poison thereof drinketh up my spirit ; ' the arrows of the Almighty, though shot out of Satan's bow ; he permitted those venomous arrows to be shot at him. Yea, if ye will know what it is to bear sin, ask not only a tender con- science, but a troubled conscience. What disquiets of soul do wicked men feel when God sets sin home upon the conscience, and they are aw^akened ! How uneasy have their hearts sat within them ! Cain crieth out, ' My sin is greater than can be borne,' Gen. iv. 13 ; ' And a wounded spirit who can bear ? ' Prov. xxviii, 13. What large offers do men make to get rid of their burden ! * Thousands of rams, rivers of oil, their first-born for the sin of their souls,' Micah vi. 7, 8. Lastly, what it is to live and die in sin, the other world will show us. Christ usetli no other expression to set forth the misery of the unbelieving Jews but this, that ' ye shall die in your sins,' John viii. 21, 24. The threatenings of the word show their case is miserable enough. They fall into the hands of the living God, Heb. x. 31 ; and the worm that feedeth on them shall never die, and the fire wherein they are scorched is never quenched, Mark ix. 44. Miserable, questionless, is the state of them who bear their own burden and transgression. Now is it not better w^e should yield up ourselves to Christ, that he should take it away, and do the work of a Redeemer ; and that we should not by our carelessness, negligence, and other sins, provoke the Lord to withhold his healing grace? Oh, let us be sensible of our burden. Will Christ ease a man of his burden which he feeleth not? A senseless sleepy soul hath no w^ork for him to do. He inviteth the weary and heavy-laden. Mat. xi. 28. Being sensible of our burden, let us im^jlore his favour ; he is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him than a father is to give a hungry child bread, Luke xi. 13. Let us wait for his approaches in the diligent use of the means. Our duty is to lie at the pool for cure till the waters be stirred, John v. His Spirit bloweth when and where he listeth, John iii. 8 ; let us attend and obey his sanctifying motions, for we make ourselves incapable of this help by grieving the Spirit, Eph. iv. 30. When we become so easy to the requests of sin and so deaf to his motions, he ceaseth to give us warning.