Let this, then, be the first care of him that would mortify sin, — to fix a right judgment of its guilt in his mind. To Avhich end take these considerations to thy assistance: —
(1.) Though the power of sin be weakened by inherent grace in them that have it, that sin shall not have dominion over them as it hath over others, yet the guilt of sin that doth yet abide and remain is aggravated and heightened hy it : Rom. vi. 1, 2, " What shall we say then? shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" — " How shall we, that are dead?" The emphasis is on the word " we." How shall we do it, who, as he afterward describes it, have received grace from Christ to the contrary? We, doubtless, are more evil than any, if we do it. I shall not insist on the special aggravations of the sins of such persons, — how they sin against more love, mercy, grace, assistance, relief, means, and deliverances than others. But let this consideration abide in thy miad, — there is inconceivably more evil and guilt in the evil of thy heart that doth remain, than there would be in so much sin if thou hadst no grace at all. Ol3serve, —
(2.) That as God sees abundance of beauty and excellency in the desires of the heart of his servants, more than in any the most glo- rious works of other men, yea, more than in most of their own outvv^ard performances, which have a greater mixture of sin than the desires and pantings of grace in the heart have ; so God sees a great deal of evil in the ivorking of lust in their hearts, yea, and more than in the open, notorious acts of wielded men, or in many outAvard sins where-
52 MOIITIFICATION OF SIN IN BELIEVERS.
into the saints may fall, seeing against tliem there is more opposition made, and more humiliation generally follows them. Thus Christ, dealing with his decaying children, goes to the root with them, lays aside their profession : Rev. iii. 15, "I know thee ;" — " Thou art quite another thing than thou professest; and this makes thee abominable."
So, then, let these things, and the like considerations, lead thee to a clear sense of the guilt of thy indwelling lust, that there may be no room in thy heart for extenuating or excusing thoughts, whereby sin insensibly will get strength and prevail.
2. Consider the danger of it, which is manifold : —
(1.) Of being Juirdened hy the deceitfulness. This the apostle sorely charges on the Hebrews, chap. iii. 12, 13, " Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To-day ; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." " Take heed," saith he, " use all means, consider your temptations, watch dili- gently; there is a treachery, a deceit in sin, that tends to the harden- ing of your hearts from the fear of God." The hardening here men- tioned is to the utmost, — utter obduration ; sin tends to it, and every distemper and lust will make at least some progress towards it. Thou that wast tender, and didst use to melt under the w^ord, under afflic- tions, wilt grow as some have profanely spoken, " sermon-proof and sickness-proof" Thou that didst tremble at the presence of God, thoughts of death, and appearance before him, when thou hadst more assurance of his love than now thou hast, shalt have a stoutness upon thy spirit not to be moved by these things. Thy soul and thy sin shall be spoken of and spoken to, and thou shalt not be at all con- cerned, but shalt be able to pass over duties, praying, hearing, read- ing, and thy heart not in the least affected. Sin will gi'ow a light thing to thee; thou wilt pass it by as a thing of nought ; this it will grow to. And what will be the end of such a condition? Can a sadder thing befall thee? Is it not enough to make any heart to tremble, to think of being brought into that estate wherein he should have slight thoughts of sin ? Slight thouglits of grace, of mere}', of the blood of Christ, of the law, heaven, and hell, come all in at the same season. Take heed, this is that thy lust is working towards, — the hardening of the heart, searing of the conscience, blinding of the mind, stupif^j^- ing of the affections, and deceiving of the whole soul.
(2.) The danger of some great temporal correction,\\\i\c\\ the Scrip- ture calls "vengeance," "judgment," and "punishment." Ps. Ixxxix. 30-33, Though God should not utterly cast thee off for this abomi- nation that lifs in thy heart, yet he will visit thee with the rod ; though he pardon and forgive, he will take vengeance of thy inventions. O reinember David and all his troubles! look on him flying into the
A SENSE OF THE DANGER OF SIN REQUIRED. 53
■wilderness, and consider the hand of God upon him. Is it notliiug to thee that God should kill thy child in anger, ruin thy estate in anger, break thy bones in anger, suffer thee to be a scandal and re- proach in anger, kill thee, destroy thee, make thee lie down in dark- ness, in anger? Is it nothing that he should punish, ruin, and undo others for thy sake ? Let me not be mistaken. I do not mean that God doth send all these things always on his in anger; God forbid ! but this I say, that when he doth so deal with thee, and thy con- science bears witness with him what thy provocations have been, thou wilt find his dealings full of bitterness to thy soul. If thou fearest not these things, I fear thou art under hardness.