Idhj. It draws off the mind from the duties before mentioned by insinuating a secret contentment into it from the duty itself per- formed, as to the matter of it. This is a fair discharge of a natural , conscience. If the duty be performed, though as to the manner of its performance it come short almost in all things of the rule, con- science and conviction Avill be satisfied; as Saul, upon his expedi- tion against Amalek, cries to Samuel, " Come in, thou blessed of the Lord ; ' I have perfoi'med the commandment of the Lord." " He satis- fied himself, though he had not attended as he ought to the whole will of God in that matter. And thus was it with them, Isa. Iviii. 3, "Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou regardest it not?" They had pleased themselves in the performance of their duties, and expected that God also should be pleased with them. But he shows them at large wherein they had failed, and that so far as to render what they had done an abomination ; and the like charge he ex- presseth against them, chap, xlviii. 1, 2. This the deceitfulness of sin endeavours to draw the mind unto, namely, to take up in the performance of the duty itself. " Pray thou oughtst, and thou hast prayed; give alms thou oughtst, and thou hast given alms; quiet, then, thyself in what thou hast done, and go on to do the like." If it prevail herein the mind is discharged from farther attendance and watching unto duty, which leaves the soul on the borders of many evils; for, —
^dly. Hence customariness in all duties will quickly ensue, which
238 THE NATURE AND POWER OF INDWELLING SIN.
is the height of siu's drawing off the mind from duty: for men's minds may be drawn from all duties, in the midst of the most abun- dant performance of them ; for in and under tliem the mind may be subject unto an habitual diversion from its charge and watch unto the rule. What is done with such a frame is not done to God, Amos V. 25. None of their sacrifices were to God, although they professed that they were all so. But they attended not unto liis worship in faith, and unto his glory, and he despised all their duties. See also Hos. x. 1. And this is the great reason why professors thrive so little under the performance of a multitude of duties : — They attend not unto them in a due manner, their minds being drawn off from their circumspect watch; and so they have little or no communion with God in them, which is the end whereunto they are designed, and by which alone they become useful and profitable unto them- selves. And in this manner are many duties of worship and obedi- ence performed by a woful generation of hj^ocrites, formalists, and profane persons, without either life or liglit in themselves, or accep- tation with God, their minds being wholly estranged from a due attendance unto what they do by the power and deceitfulness of sin.
2. As it is in respect of duties, so also it is in respect of sins. There are sundry things in and about every sin that the mind of a believer, by virtue of its office and duty, is obliged to attend diligently unto, for the preservation of the soul from it. Things they are which God hath appointed and sanctified, to give effectual rebukes and checks to the whole working of the law of sin, and such as, in the law of grace, under which we are, are exceedingly suited and fitted unto that purpose. And these the deceit of sin endeavours by all means to draw off the mind from a due consideration of and attendance unto. Some few of them we shall a little reflect upon : — •
(1.) The first and most general is the sovereignty of God, the great lawgiver, by whom it is forbidden. This Joseph fixed on in his great temptation: Gen. xxxix. 9, "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" There was in it a great evil, a great ingratitude against man, which he pleads also and insists upon, verses 8, 9 ; but that which fixed his heart and resolution against it was the formality of it, that it was sin against God, by whom it was severely forbidden. So the apostle informs us that in our dealing in any thing that is against the law, our respect is still to be unto the Lawgiver and his sovereignty: James iv. 11, 12, " If thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one law- giver, who is able to save and to dostro}'." Consider this always: there is one lawgiver, holy, righteous, armed with sovereign power and authority; he is able to save and destroy. Hence sin is called
THE MIND DIVERTED FROai PARTICULAR DUTIES BY SIN. 239
a rebellion, a casting off his yoke, a despising of him, and that in his sovereignty as the great lawgiver; and this ought the mind always practically to attend unto, in all the lustings, actings, and suggestions of the law of sin, especially when advantaged by any suitable or vi- gorous temptation: " It is God that hath forbidden this thing ; the great lawgiver, under whose absolute sovereignty I am, in depend- ence on whom I live, and by whom 1 am to be disposed of, as to my present and eternal condition." This Eve fixed on at the beginning of her temptation, " God hath said. Ye shall not eat of this tree," Gen. iii. 3; but she kept not her gTound, she abode not by that consideration, but suffered her mind to be diverted from it by the subtlety of Satan, which was the entrance of her transgression : and so it is unto us all in our deviations from obedience.