G4 THE NATURE AND POWER
course doth the apostle ascribe unto covetousness, 1 Tim. vi. 9.
(3.) Tliis leading captive manifests this condition to be miserable and wretched. To be thus yoked and dealt withal against the judgment of the mind, the choice and consent of the will, its utmost strivings and contendings, how sad is it ! When the neck is sore and tender with for- mer pressures, to be compelled to bear the yoke again, this pierces, this grieves, this even breaks the heart. When the soul is principled by grace unto a loathing of sin, of every evil way, to a hatred of the least discrepancy between it- self and the holy will of God, then to be imposed on by this law of sin, with all that enmity and folly, that deadness and filth, wherewith it is attended ; what more dreadful condi- tion ? All captivity is dreadful in its own nature ; the greatest aggravation of it is from the condition of the tyrant unto whom any one is captivated. Now what can be worse than this law of sin ? Hence the apostle, having once men- tioned this captivity, cries out as one quite weary and ready to faint, ver. 24.
(4.) This condition is peculiar to believers. Unrege- nerate men are not said to be led captive to the law of sin. They may indeed be led captive unto this or that par- ticular sin or corruption, that is, they may be forced to serve it against the power of their convictions. They are convinced of the evil of it, an adulterer of his uncleanness, a drunkard of his abomination, and make some resolutions, it may be, against it. But their lust is too hard for them, they cannot cease to sin, and so are made captives or slaves to this or that particular sin. But they cannot be said to be * led captive to the law of sin,' and that because they are willingly subject thereunto. It hath, as it were, a rightful dominion over them, and they oppose it not, but only when it hath irruptions to the disturbance of their consciences. And then the opposition they make unto it is not from their wills, but is the mere acting of an affrighted conscience, and a convinced mind. They regard not the nature of sin, but its guilt and consequences. But to be brought into capti- vity is that which befalls a man against his will. Which is all 'that shall be spoken unto this degree of the actings of the power of sin, manifesting itself in its success.
OF I.VDWELLIXG SIX. 65
The fourth and last degree of the opposition made by the law of sin to God, and the law of his will and grace, is in its rage and madness. There is madness in its nature, Eccles. ix. 3. ' The heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart.' The evil that the heart of man is full of by nature, is that indwelling sin whereof we speak. And this is so in their heart, that it riseth up unto madness. The Holy Ghost expresseth this rage of sin by a fit similitude, which he useth in sundry places; as, Jer, ii. 24. Hos. viii. 9. * It maketh men as a wild ass ; she traverseth her ways, and snuffeth up the wind, and runneth whither her mind or lust leads her.' And he saith of idolaters, en- raged with their lusts, that they ' are mad upon their idols,' Jer. V. 38. We may a little consider what lies in this mad- ness and rage of sin, and how it riseth up thereunto.
1. For the nature of it, it seems to consist in a violent, heady, pertinacious pressing unto evil or sin. Violence, importunity, and pertinacy are in it. It is the tearing and torturing of the soul by any sin to force its consent, and to obtain satisfaction. It riseth up in the heart, is denied by the law of grace, and rebuked ; it returns and exerts its poison again; the soul is startled, casts it off; it returns again with new violence and importunity ; the soul cries out for help and deliverance, looks round about to all springs of gospel grace and relief, trembles at the furious assaults of sin, and casts itself into the arms of Christ for deliverance. And if it be not able to take that course, it is foiled and hurried up and down through the mire and filth of foolish imaginations, corrupt and noisome lusts, which rend and tear it, as if they would devour its whole spiritual life and power. See 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10. 2 Pet. ii. 14. It was not much otherwise with them whom we instanced in before, Isa. Ivii. 17. They had an inflamed enraged lust working in them, even covetousness, or the love of this world ; by which, as the apostle speaks, men ' pierce themselves through with many sorrows.' God is angry with them, and dis- covereth his wrath by all the w^ays and means that it was possible for them to be made sensible thereof. He was wroth and smote them ; but though it may be this staggered them a little, yet they went on. He is angry and hides himself from them, deserts them as to his gracious, assist-