(3.) It is indwelling sin that both disenableth men unto and hinders them from believinof, and that alone. Blindness of mind, stubbornness of; the will, sensuality of the affections, all concur to keep poor perisldng souls at a distance from Christ. Men are made blind by sin, and cannot see his exceUencies; obstinate, and will not lay hold of his righteousness ; senseless, and take no notice of their own eternal conoernments.
Now, certainly that\which can prevail with men wise, and sober, and prudent in other tljiings, to neglect and despise the love of God, the blood of Christ, tf.\e eternal welfare of their own souls, upon weak and worthless prfjstences, must be acknowledged to have an astonishable force and ei^cacy accompanying it.
Whose heart, who liatih once heard of the ways of God, can but bleed to see poor souls et«^rnally perishing under a thousand gracious invitations to accept of nliercy and pardon in the blood of Christ? And can we but be astonished at the power of that principle from whence it is that they run ^headlong to their own destruction? And yet all this befalls them \from the power and deceit of sin that dwelleth in them. \
POWER OF SIN IN UNREGENERATE PERSONS. 509
S. It is evident in their total apostasies. Many men not really converted are much wrought upon by the word. The apostle tells us that they do " clean escape from them that live in error/' 2 Pet. ii. 1 8. They separate themselves from idolatry and false worship, owning and professing the truth : and they also escape the " pollutions of the world," verse 20; that is, " the corruption that is in the world through lust," as he expresseth it, chap. i. 4, — those filth}^, corrupt, and unclean ways wdiich the men of the world, in the pursviit of theh lusts, do walk and live in. These they escape from, in the amendment of their lives and ordering of their conversation according to the convictions which they have from the word; for so be tells us, that all this is brought about " through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," — that is, by the preaching of the gospel. They are so far wrought upon as to forsake all ways of false worship, to pro- fess the truth, to reform their lives, and to walk answerable to the convictions that are upon them.
By this means do they gain the reputation of professors : " They have a name to live," Rev. iii. 1, and are made "partakers" of some or all of those privileges of the gospel that are numbered by the apostle, Heb. vi. 4, 5.
It is not my present business to show how far or wherein a man may be effectually wrought upon by the word, and yet not be really wrought over to close with Christ, or what may be the utmost bounds and limits of a common work of grace upon unregenerate men. It is on all hands confessed that it may be carried on so far that it is very difficult to discern between its effects and productions and those of that grace which is special and saving.
But now, notwithstanding all tliis, we see many of these daily fall off from God, utterly and wickedly; some into debauchery and un- cleanness, some to worldliness and covetousness, some to be perse- cutors of the saints, — all to the perdition of their own souls. How this comes about the apostle declares in that place mentioned. " They are," saith he, " entangled again." To entice and entangle, as I have showed before ffom James i. 14, 15, is the proper work of indwelling sin; it is that alone which entangles the soul, as the apostle speaks, 2 Pet. ii. 18, 20. They are allured from their whole profession into cursed apostasy through the lusts of the flesh.
It prevails upon them, through its deceit and power, to an utter re- linquishment of their profession and their whole engagement unto God. And this several ways evinces the greatness of its strength and efficacy: —
(1.) In that it giveth stop or control unto that exceeding greatness of power which is put forth in the word in their conviction and re- formation. We see it by experience that men are not easily wrought
SIO THE NATURE AND TOWEPv OF INDWELLING SIN.
upon l)y the word ; the most of men can live under the dispensation of it all the days of their lives, and continue as senseless and stupid as the seats they sit upon, or the flint in the rock of stone. Mighty difficulties and prejudices must be conquered, gi'eat strokes must be given to the conscience, before this can be brought about. It is as the stopping of a river in his course, and turning his streams another way; the hindering of a stone in his falliug downwards; or the turn- ing away of the wild ass, when furiously set to pursue her way, as the prophet speaks, Jer. ii. 24. To turn men from their conaipt ways, sins, and pleasures; to make them pray, fast, hear, and do many things contrary to the principle of flesh, which is secretly predomi- nant in them, Avillingly and gladly ; to cause them to profess Christ and the gospel, it may be under some trials and reproaches; to give them light to see into sundry mysteries, and gifts for the discharge of sundry duties; to make dead, blind, senseless men to walk, and talk, and do all the outward offices and duties of living and healthy men, with the like attendancies of conviction and reformation, are the effects and products of mighty power and strength. Indeed, the power that the Holy Ghost puts forth by the word, in the staggering and convic- tion of sinners, in the wakening of their consciences, the enlightening of their minds, the changing of their affections, the awing of their hearts, the reforming of their lives and compelling them to duties, is inexpressible.