Secondly, It may be alleged that, as to the issue of things, it will be all one whether we fall from gospel holiness or can never attain unto it;—“ And this,” say some, “is our condition; for whatever we have thought of ourselves, or whatever others have thought of us upon our profession, yet we now find by experience that we have not attained the holiness which the gospel requires.” For their corruptions (they say, this or that, it may be, in particular) are too strong for their con-
238 THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF APOSTASY.
victions; and after they thought themselves above them, they have again been prevailed on and overcome. ‘They find the power of one or other lust grown so habitual unto them that they fall again and again under the power of it, until, it may be, they have lost much of the sense of its guilt and more of their power to resist it, And it must be acknowledged, also, that this condition is spiritually dan- gerous, and such as, if deliverance be not obtained from [it], will pro- bably end in total apostasy. To state things aright in this case, we may observe :—
1. That there are three degrees in the power and prevalency of sin, and it must be inquired under which of them they are supposed to be concerning whom this complaint is made. The first is that mentioned Rom. vii. 28, “I see a law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin.” Where this is only, or the captivating power of sin, there are two things to be considered:—(1.) That the will, in its dispositions and inclinations, is constantly fixed against the power and interest of sin, so that in all its prevalency it suffers hardship, and is sensible of its captivity. (2.) That this captivity unto the law of sin doth not reach unto the outward perpetration of sin, but only the conflict that is in the mind and affections about it. And this is a condition which no man in this world is absolutely freed from, but is in some measure or other exercised with it, even as the apostle himself was, and thereon groaned for deliverance, verse 24, Another degree of the prevalence of sin is expressed chap. vi. 16, 19, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” There is a state and prevalence of sin wherein men, being wholly under its dominion, do give up themselves unto its service willingly, notwithstanding any checks from light or conscience they meet withal. And such as these, the willing servants of sin, that yield up themselves in their affections and members of their bodies unto the obedience and service of it, we do not at present consider. Between these there is a degree of the prevalence of sin, beyond the first, yet falling short of the latter, expressed 2 Pet. 1i.19. Men are therein in some sense “servants of cor- ruption,” in that they are “overcome” by it and “ brought into bond- age.” They are not such as willingly, without any contest or conflict, give up themselves unto the service of sin, but they are overcome by it, which manifests that they do in some measure strive against it. And, on the other hand, they go beyond them who complain they are led captives to the law of sin; for they are said to become “servants of corruption,” which the others are not in any sense. These, there- fore, seem to be such (and such I do intend) who, notwithstanding all
DANGERS FROM THE PREVAILING APOSTASY, _ 239
their light and convictions, with all the endeavours that they use,
_ are so far under the power of some prevalent habitual lust as to
serve it in a frequent reiteration of actual sins.
2. If this be the case complained of, it is acknowledged to bea condition of no small hazard and danger. And he who is not deeply sensible hereof is “as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast;” as this state is at large described with respect unto them who are given to wine, Prov. xxiii, 29-35. Wherefore, unless some remedy be found out in this case, it must be acknowledged that it will deprive men of or keep them from any assured interest in gospel holiness.
I must not here divert to consider in general the nature and means of the mortification of sin; I have done it already in other discourses, with the best directions for that end which I am able to propose. Unto them I do refer the persons concerned for guidance and counsel, where better is not at hand. Unto what hath been so treated already I shall only add, that those who would secure an in- terest in gospel holiness, by a deliverance from the power of invete- rate habitual corruptions, may take the ensuing directions:—
First, If they have in vain attempted their own deliverance, let them not delay to acquaint some able spiritual guide with their state and condition. This sometimes hath broken, defeated, and scattered at once the forces of sin in the soul, where in its own wis- dom and strength it was no way able to conflict with it. And it is the ordinance of God to this purpose: James v. 16, “ Confess your faults one to another,’ etc. It was no small effect of the craft of Satan so to abuse this ordinance of God by turning it into a neces- sary confession of all sin unto a priest, invested with power of absolu- tion, which was attended with innumerable evils, and proved an effectual engine for the ruin of the souls of men, to keep them off from that benefit which the due use of it was designed to administer unto sinners. If, therefore, any have found that sin hath been and yet is too strong for them, and that that is come upon them which the wise man mentions, “ Woe to him that is alone,” let them ad- dress themselves for advice unto such as have “the tongue of the learned,” to speak a word in season unto them that are weary and ready to faint, and they will find relief. God will discover that evil of this kind which men will hide to their own disadvantage. He will lay open those festered wounds which men would cover until rottenness enter into their bones.