POWER OF SIN IN THE LIVES OF PROFESSORS. 289
holy, more zealous, useful, fruitful ; tliey desire it above life itself. They know it is their duty to watch against this enemy, to fight against it, to pray against it ; and so they do. They more desire his destruction than the enjoyment of all this world and all that it can afford. And yet, notwithstanding all this, such is the subtlety, and fra.ud, and violence, and fury, and urgency, and importunity of this adversary, that it frequently prevails to bring them into the woful condition mentioned. Hence it is with believers sometimes as it is with men in some places at sea. They have a good and fair gale of wind, it may be, all night long; they ply their tackling, attend dili- gently their business, and, it may be, take great contentment to con- sider how they proceed in their voyage. In the morning, or after a season, coming to measure what way they have made, and what pro- gress they have had, they find that they are much backward of what they were, instead of getting one step forward. Falling into a swift tide or current against them, it hath frustrated all their labours, and rendered the wind in their sails almost useless; somewhat thereby they have borne up against the stream, but have made no progress. So is it with believers. They have a good gale of supplies of the Spirit from above ; they attend duties diligently, pray constantly, hear attentively, and omit nothing that may carry them on their voyage to- wards eternity ; but after a while, coming seriously to consider, by the examination of their hearts and ways, what progig^ss they have made, they find that all their assistance and duties luive not been able to bear them up against some strong tide or current of indwelling sin. It hath kept them, indeed, that they have not been driven and split on rocks and shelves, — it hath preserved them from gross, scandalous sins : but yet they have lost in their spiritual frame, or gone back- wards, and are entangled under many woful decays; which is a not- able evidence of the life of sin, about which we are treating. Now, because the end of oiir discovering this poiuer of sin is, that we may be careful to obviate and prevent it in its operation; and, because of all the eftects that it produceth, there is none more dangerous or per- nicious than that we have last insisted on,- — namely, that it prevails upon many professors unto an habitual declension from their former ways and attainments, notwithstanding all the sweetness and excel- lency which their souls have found in them; — I shall, as was said, in the next place, consider by what ways and means, and through what assistance, it usually prevails in this kind, that we may the better be instructed to watch ao-ainst it.
VOL. VL 19
290 THE NATURE AND POWER OE INDWELLING SIN.
CHAPTER XV.
Decays in degrees of grace caused by indwelling sin — The ways of its prevalency
to this purpose.
2. The ways aud means whereby indwelling sin prevaileth on be^ lievers unto habitual declensions and decays as to degrees of grace and holiness is that now which comes under consideration; and they are many: —
(1.) Upon the first conversion and calling of sinners unto God and Christ, they have usually many fresh springs breaking forth in their souls and refreshing showers coming upon them, which bear them up to a high rate of faith, love, holiness, fraitfulness, and obedience; as upon a land-flood, when many lesser streams run into a river, it swells over its bounds, and rolls on with a more than ordinary ful- ness. • Now, if these springs be not kept open, if they prevail not for the continuance of these showers, they must needs decay and go backwards. We shall name one or two of them : —
[1.] They have a. fresh, vigorous sense of pardoning mercy. Ac- cording as this is in the soul, so will its love and delight in God, so will its obedience be; as, I say, is the sense of gospel pardon, so will be the life of go^'nel love. Luke vii. 47, " I say unto thee," saith our Saviour of the jioor woman, " Her sins, which were many, are ^ forgiven; for she loVed much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." Her great love was an evidence of great for- giveness, and her great sense of it: for our Saviour is not rendering a reason of her forgiveness, as though it were for her love ; but of her love, that it was because of her forgiveness. Having in the foregoing parable, from vers^ 40 and onwards, convinced the Pharisee with whom he had to do that he to whom most was forgiven would love most, as verse 43, he thence gives an account of the great love of the Avoman, springing from the sense she had of the great forgiveness which she had so freely received. Thus sinners at their first conver- sion are very sensible of great forgiveness; " Of A\hom I am chief," lies next their heart. This greatly subdues their hearts and spirits imto all in God, and quickens them unto all obedience, even that such poor cursed sinners as they were should so freely be delivered and pardoned. The love of God and of Christ in their forgiveness highly conquers and constrains them to make it their business to live unto God.