Were there any other alternative allowed us, we should want a sufficient stimulus to exertion : we should be apt to side with the traitor, and, for the sake of present ease or gratification, to neglect our true interests. But, when there is no other choice given us, but either to mortify every sinful propensity, or to suffer eternal misery in hell, we are constrained to gird our- selves to the battle, and to " fight without intermission the good fight of faith."]
3. A necessary alternative —
[This alternative is no arbitrary imposition to which we are subjected without necessity : it arises out of the very nature of things. God himself could not alter it consistently with his own perfections : he could no more give license to his creatures to harbour sin, or decline punishing it if harboured, than he could cease to be holy, or to have a due respect for the honour of his law. But supposing he were to cancel this alternative, and to admit to the regions of bliss a person who retained one bosom lust, it would be of no avail ; for heaven to such a per- son would not be heaven. Place a man here at a royal ban- quet ; set before him every thing that can please the appetite ; let him hear the sweetest melody that ever charmed the ear ; let all around him be as full of happiness as their hearts can hold ; what enjoyment of it would he have, whilst " a thorn was in his eye ? " We do not hesitate to say, that darkness and solitude would to him be far preferable to all this gaiety and splendour. And precisely thus would it be to one who should be admitted into heaven, whilst one unmortified sin was yet rankling in his bosom.]
What to do under such circumstances we learn from,
II. The advice given —
The advice is simply this. To mortify sin without reserve —
[It is here allowed, that the mortification of sin is a difficult and painful work, like the destruction of an eye, or the excision of a hand. But still it must be done. Of course, the language of our text is not to be taken literally : the maiming of the body, though it might incapacitate that individual mem- ber for the commission of sin, would effect nothing towards the eradicating of sin from the heart. We must understand the text as referring to the dispositions of the mind, and to the things which call forth those dispositions into exercise. Do our connexions draw us aside from the path of duty ? Are we beguiled by their example, or intimidated by their authority ? We must learn to withstand their influence, and to submit either to their hatred or contempt, rather than be betrayed by
1304.1 NECESSITY OF MORTIFYING EVERY SIN. 1 3o
tliem into any thing that is displeasing to God. Doubtless, we should do every thing in our power to conciliate them ; but if nothing but a dereliction of duty will satisfy them, we must be prepared with meekness to reply, " Whether it be right to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye." Do our interests betray us into sin ? Are we engaged in a trade which we cannot carry on without doing things which our con- sciences condemn ? Or have we prospects in life which must be sacrificed, if we will follow the Lord fully ? There must be no hesitation on this point : we must pluck out the right eye, and cut off the right hand, and '■'cast them from us" with abhorrence, rather than suffer them to warp our judgment, and defile our conscience.
Are our passions the occasions of sin ? We must learn to subdue them by fasting and prayer, and to restrain the gratifi- cation of them to the limits which God himself has assigned. We must " mortify our members upon earth," and " crucify the whole body of sin '^."