1. In the first rank of infirmities are the imperfection of rfood actions, which are either distractions and deadness in prayer and hearing ; or invincible infinnities, of which as an ancient father saith well, ' Lord, deliver me from my miserable necessities' (b). A man may be in such a state sometimes in regard of the temper of the body, it being out of tune, that he cannot pray as he would do. ' The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,' saith our Saviour, Mat. xxvi. 41. It was almost an invincible necessity in the apostles then. Again, we might resist, and we might be more cheerful than we are ofttimes. But sometimes there may be such distemper in the body, that may almost of necessity unfit us for the duty. This we call the infir- mity of a Christian, because he is ashamed of it, and grieved for it.
2. Again, Infirmities are those indeliberate 23assioiis that carry us sometimes to actions that xee should not do, being carried with a tempest of passion, ■when we understand not ourselves well.
3. And lastly, It is an in&xmitj when ive are hindered fro7n doing that which we shoidd do, upon passion, upon surprisal of some great fear and terror, that we are not so bold as we should be to stand out in a cause on the sudden, as Peter was surprised with a spirit of fear that he should lose his life, Mat. xxvi. 70. It was no presumption in him, it was an infirmity in the blessed apostle for that time. These then be the signs of infirmities : to have invincible imperfections, or distraction and deadness, accompanying our good actions ; to be carried in the heat and tempest of passion to that which afterwards we are ashamed of and repent for ; or to be hindered from that we should do by some prevailing passion.
But otherwise infirmities are not, when we live in them, when we make a custom of them. Customary sins are not sins of infirmity, but the sins that we fall into, that we are overtaken with, on the sudden. Only in some cases a man may live in a sin of infirmity, when the ground of the infirmity is rooted within him, and he hath not yet purged out the root. As for instance,
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a man by temper prone to anger may live long in tliat infirmity, being many times inordinately pettish and peevish, because he carries about him the root, temper of the body, and incHnation that way. Now he that Hves in such an infirmity repents daily, and gets ground of it ; he is still hewing at the root, and at length, at the last stroke it falls, and he gets the victory over it.
Again, A sin of infirmity is not a sin that ice plead for. A man is ashamed of his infirmities ; he is grieved for them. Now when a man pleads for them, and makes them a shelter and cover-shade to go on in sinful courses, they are not infirmities. Therefore whosoever pleads for sins discovers a false heart ; his sins are enormities, not infirmities. A Christian gets the better of infiii-mities. After he falls, he riseth stronger and stronger still. But when a man grows worse and worse, and is habituated in an evil course, it is not an infirmity, because he grows not out of it. Let us not deceive ourselves with this plea, to say. It is my weakness. A Christian should be ashamed to plead this ; he should be able to do all things. AVell, you see then this point is clear, that a Christian is an able man, he hath a strength above nature in him, notwithstanding all his infirmities. This will appear more in the second branch, in the generality, he is able to do * all things.'
To come to that, therefore, there are many things required of a Christian. Christianity is a busy trade. If we look up to God, what a world of things are required in a Christian to carry himself as he should do ! A spirit of faith, a spirit of love, a spirit of joy, and delight in him above all. And if we look to men, there are duties for a Christian to his superiors, a spirit of subjection. And duties to equals, to carry a spirit of love ; and to inferiors a spirit of pity and bount3\ If we look to Satan, we have many duties, to resist him and to watch against the tempter. If we look to the world, it is full of snares. There must be a great deal of spiritual watch- fulness, that we be not surprised. If we look to ourselves, there are required many duties, to carry our vessels in honour, and to walk within the compass of the Holy Ghost, to preserve the peace of our consciences, to walk answerable to our worth, as being the sons of God and co-heirs with Christ. The state of a Christian is no idle condition. Sometimes a Christian is in this state, sometimes in that ; and then he must have these graces, and anon use other graces ; he must have a suit of all graces, fit for all conditions. Now answerable to the variety of all the duties that are required of him, he must have ability ; and therefore the apostle saith, ' I can do all things through Christ.'