2dly. The deceived mind imposeth on the will to ob- tain its consent unto sin, by proposing unto it the advan- tages that may accrue and arise thereby, which is one me- dium whereby itself also is drawn away. It renders that which is absolutely evil, a present appearing good. So was it with Eve, Gen. iii. laying aside all considerations of the law, covenant, and threats of God, she all at once reflects upon the advantages, pleasures, and benefits, which she should obtain by her sin, and reckons them up to solicit the consent of her will. * It is,' saith she, ' good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise.' What should she do then but eat it? her will consented and she did so accordingly. Pleas for obedience are laid out of the way, and only the pleasures of sin are taken under con- sideration. So saith Ahab, 1 Kings xxi. ' jN'aboth's vine- yard is near my house, and I may make it a garden of herbs,' therefore I must have it. These considerations a deceived mind imposed on his will ; until it made him obstinate in the pursuit of his covetousness through perjury and murder, to the utter ruin of himself and his family. Thus is the guilt and tendency of sin hid under the covert of advantages and pleasures, and so is conceived or resolved on in the soul.
As the mmd being withdrawn, so the affections being enticed and entangled, do greatly further the conception of sin in the soul by the consent of the will ; and they do it two ways.
(1st.) By some hasty impulse and surprisal being them- selves stirred up, incited, and drawn forth by some violent provocation, or suitable temptation, they put the whole soul as it were into a combustion, and draw the will into a con-
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sent unto what they are provoked unto and entangled withal. So was the case of David in the matter of Nabal. A violent provocation from the extreme unworthy carriage of that foolish churl, stirs him up to wrath and revenge, 1 Sam. XXV. 13. He resolves upon it to destroy a whole family, the innocent with the guilty, ver. 33, 34. Self-revenge and murder were for the season conceived, resolved, consented unto, until God graciously took him off. His entangled, provoked affections, surprised his will to consent unto the conception of many bloody sins. The case was the same with Asa in his anger when he smote the prophet, and with Peter in his fear when he denied his Master. Let that soul which would take heed of conceiving sin, take heed of en- tangled affections. For sin may be suddenly conceived, the prevalent consent of the will may be suddenly obtained, which gives the soul a fixed guilt, though the sin itself be never actually brought forth.
(2dly.) Enticed affections procure the consent of the will by frequent solicitations, whereby they get ground in- sensibly upon it, and enthrone themselves. Take an in- stance in the sons of Jacob, Gen. xxxvii. 4. They hate their brother, because their father loved him. Their affections being enticed many new occasions fall out to entangle them farther, as his dreams and the like. This lay rankling in their hearts, and never ceased soliciting their wills, until they re- solved upon his death. The unlawfulness, the unnatural- ness of the action, the grief of their aged father, the guilt of their own souls, are all laid aside ; that hatred and envy that they had conceived against him ceased not until they had got the consent of their wills to his ruin. This gradual progress of the prevalency of corrupt affections to solicit the soul unto sin, the wise man excellently describes, Prov. xxiii. 31 — 35. And this is the common way of sin's procedure in the de- struction of souls which seem to have made some good en- gagements in the ways of God. When it hath entangled them with one temptation, and brought the will to some liking of it, that presently becomes another temptation, either to the neglect of some duty, or to the refusal of more light ; and commonly that whereby men f\ill off utterly from God, is not that wherewith they are first entangled. And this may briefly suffice for the third progressive act of the
128 THE NATURE AND POWER
deceit of sin. It obtains the will's consent unto its concep- tion, and by this means are multitudes of sins conceived in the heart which very little less defile the soul, or cause it to contract very little less guilt than if they were actually com- mitted.
Unto what hath been spoken concerning the deceitful- ness of indwelling sin in general, which greatly evidenceth its power and efficacy, I shall add as a close of this dis- course, one or two particular ways of its deceitful actings, consisting in advantages that it maketh use of, and means of relieving itself against that disquisition which is made after it by the word and Spirit for its ruin. One head only of each sort we shall here name.
[1.] It makes great advantage of the darkness of the mind, to work out its design and intendments. The shades of a mind totally dark, that is, devoid utterly of saving- grace, are the proper working-place of sin. Hence the effects of it are called, the ' works of darkness,' Ephes. v. 11. Rom. xiii. 12. as springing from thence. Sin works and brings forth by the help of it. The working of lust under the covert of a dark mind, is as it were the upper region of hell ; for it lies at the next door to it for filth, horror, and confusion. IS'ow there is a partial darkness abiding still in believers ; they * know but in part,' 1 Cor. xiii. 12. Though there be in them all a principle of saving light, the day-star is risen in their hearts; yet all the shades of darkness are not utterly expelled out of them in this life. And there are two parts, as it were, or principal eftects of the remaining darkness that is in believers.