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the face of the whole earth, than this, that it comes " as a snare." " Men do not take notice of it; do you, therefore, take heed to your- selves, you that are my disciples : believers, ' take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and so that day come upon you at unawares/ " The doctrine I observe from thence is this, — that the best of men have need to be warned to take care of the worst of sins in the approach of the worst of times. Who would think, when such troubles, distresses, desolations, were coming upon a nation, in that place the disciples of Christ should be in danger of being overtaken with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and the cares of this life ? Yet he who is the wisdom of God, knew how it would be with us. Nay, what if a man should say, from observation, that professors are never more in danger of sensual, provoking sins, than when de- struction is lying nearest at the door ? " In that day/' saith he, " take care."
Secondly. Another thing I would premise is this, — that this root of sin abiding in us, as I have showed, will, upon its advantage, work unto all sorts of evils; — which should give us a godly jealousy over our souls, and over one another. Saith the apostle, Rom. vii. 8, " Sin wrought in me all manner of concupiscence."
Thirdly. If it be so, that sin doth thus always abide in us, and will upon occasions work to all its fruit, to all manner of concupiscence, then the mortification of sin is a continual duty, that we ought to be exercised in all our days. Col. iii. 3, " Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." A blessed state and condition ! I desire no better attainment in this world than this holds out. But what duty does the apostle infer from thence ? " Therefore/' saith he, " mortify your members which are upon the earth." What, I pray? " Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, Avhich is idolatry." The mortification of sin is a duty incumbent upon the best of saints.
Fourthly. The fourth thing I would premise is this, — that a par- ticular sin doth not obtain a signal prevalency without it hath some signal advantage; for our corrupt nature is universally and equally corrupt ; but a particular sin obtains prevalency by particular advan- tages.
It would be too long to speak of all those advantages. I shall name two, whereunto others may be reduced : —
1. The inclination of constitution gives particular advantages unto particular sins. Some may be very much inclined to envy; some to wrath and passion; and others to sensual sins, — gluttony, drunken- ness, uncleanness, — to name the things which our Saviour names, and warns us of. It is with respect hereunto that David said he
WHEN IS SIN HABITUALLY PREVALENT ? 383
" would keep himself from his iniquity," as some think. I have only this to say, — that it hath been much from the fallacy of the devil that men have been apt to plead constitution and the inclination of their constitution to the extenuation of their sin ; when, indeed, it is an aggravation. " I am apt to be passionate in my nature," saith one; "I am sanguine," saith another, "and love company." They make their natural inclinations to be a cover and excuse for their sin. But this I must say, as my judgment, — that if grace does not cure constitution- sins, it hath cured none ; and that we can have no trial of the efficacy of grace, if we have it not in curing constitution-sins. The great promise is, that it shall change the nature of the wolf and the lion, of the bear, the asp, the cockatrice, and that they shall become as lambs ; which it can never do, if it doth not change it by an habitual counterworking of inclinations arising from constitution. If grace, being habitual, doth not change the very inclination of constitution, I know not what it doth. That is the first advantage whereby par- ticular sins come to have signal advantage and prevalency.
2. Outward occasions; and I refer them unto two heads: —
(1.) To education. Particular sins get advantage by education. If we do even in education instruct our children to pride, by their fineries and deportment to themselves, — if we teach them to be proud, we heap dry fuel upon them, till such time as lust will flame. Let us take heed of this. It is an easy thing to bring forth a proud gene- ration by such means.
(2.) Society in the world, according to occasion of life, is that which inflames particular corruptions. According as men delight in their converse, so corruption will be provoked and heightened by it.
I have spoke all these things previously, to show you where lies the nature and principle of the danger we are going to inquire into, and how it comes to that condition.
Now, I shall inquire a little into the question itself, — how we may know whether a particular corruption be habitually predomi- nant or no ?