Works In two Volumes in Folio Viz. On the 25th Chapter of St. Matthew The 17th of St. John. On the 6th and 8th Chapters of the Epistle to the Romans On the 5th Chapter of the 2d to the Corinthians And on the 11th to the Hebrews With a Treatise of the Life of Faith and Self-Denial With several other Sermons His Treatise on the Lord's Prayer In 8o. Dr. Bates's Works Viz. The Harmony of the Divine Attributes in the Contrivance and Accomplishment of our Redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ. Or Discourses wherein is shewed how the Wisdom Mercy Justice Holiness Power and Truth of God are glorified in that Great and Blessed Work. His three Sermons at the Funerals of Dr. Jacomb Mr. Clarkson and Mr. Ashurst Mr. Pearse's Preparation for Death His Best Match Or the Soul's Espousal to Christ. Last Legacy Or Beam of Divine Glory c. 12o. Catechism made Practical The Christian Instructed I. In the Principles of the Christian Religion Positively in the Shorter Catechism II. In what he is to Refuse and what to Hold Fast in the Greatest Points of Controversy and how to Confute Errors and to Defend the Truth III. In the practice of several Duties Viz. 1. The Practical Improvement of the Holy Trinity 2. Baptism 3. Prayer And 4. Preparation for the Lord's Supper 12o. An Explanation of the Assembly's shorter Catechism Price 6d Mr. Case's Treatise of Afflictions The Epitome of the Bible in English Verse useful for Children price 6 d. Bound A Present for Children Being a Brief but faithful Account of many Remarkable and Excellent Things uttered by three young Children to the wonder of all that heard them To which is added A Seasonable Exhortation to Parents for the Education of their Children Published by William Bidbanck M. A. Price 6. d. Bound The Sacred Diary Or Select Meditations for every Part of the Day and the Employments thereof By William Gearing Rector of Christ-Church in Surry The Barren Fig-tree Or The Doom and Downfal of the Fruitless Professor By John Bunyan A new System of the Apocalyps or plain and methodical Illustrations of all the Visions in the Revelation of St. John. Written by a French Minister in the Year 1685 and finished but two days before the Dragoons plundred him of all except this Treatise Murmurers Reproved In a Sermon lately preached by Mr. Hopkins England's Call to Thankfulness for Her great Deliverance from Popery and Arbitrary Power by the glorious Conduct of the Prince of Orange now King of England in the Year 1688. In a Sermon preach'd in the Parish Church of Almer in Dorsetshire Feb. 14. 1689. By John Olliffe The Easiness and Difficulty of the Christian Religion In a Sermon preached before the Lord-Mayor and Court of Aldermen of the City of London at their Guild-hall Chappel on Sunday May 26. 1689. By Isaac Bringhurst D. D. Rector of Toddinton in Bedfordshire Plut. de adul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plâ—â— * Quaeris tu rationem ego expavesco altitudinem Tu ratiocinare ego miror Aug. Serm. 7. de verb. Apost * Stultus omnia vitia habet sed non in omnia natura pronus est omnia in omnibus sunt sed non omnia in singulis extant Omnia in omnibus insunt sed in quibusdam singula eminent Senec. de benef L. 4. * Sunt tam civitatum quam singulorum hominum mores gentes aliae iracundae aliae audaces quaedam timidae quaedam in vinum recuerem pro niores Liv. Hist. L. 45. 1. John 2. * Istae voluptates duae gustûs tactûs solae sunt hominibus communes cum bestiis ideo in pecudum numero habetur quisquis est his serinis voluptatibus praevinctus Aul. Gil. †â—aereus in vitium flecti monitoribus asper Eccles. 11. Conversis studiis aetas animusque virilis Quaerit opes amicitias inservit honori In frigidis semibus vehementius inardescit Ad ulteriora noscenda Gal. 5. Jam. 1. Habet enim multitudo vim quandam talem utquemadmodum tibicen sine tibiis canere orator sine multitudine audiente eloquens esse non possit Cicer. 1 Pet. 5. 2 3. 1 Cor. 9. 11. * Pravitas â—â—â—tuminum ad similitudinem sui vitem configurat Columel L. 4. Aves male existimare de tabula noÌ„ ad volaturas si puer similis esset Plin. lib. 35. 1 Cor. 7. 35. Gen. 13. Prov. 30. 8 9. Serpunt vitia in proximum quemque transiliunt contactu nocent Psalm 1. Definitio brevis vera virtutis ordo est amoris Rom. 13. 1. Ezek. 33. 31. Jer. 23. 11. * Pompeio candida fascia crus alligatum habenti dictum fuit non refert in qua parte corporis sit diadema Aul. Gell. * Vitia nobis sub virtutum nomine obrepunt Temeritas sub titulo fortitudinis latet Moderatio vocatur ignavia pro cauto timidus accipitur In his magno periculo erratur Senec. Fallit enim vitium specie virtutis umbra Juven 14 Sat. * Hoc equae omnium est vitia sua excusare malint quam effugere Senec. Epist. 50 Per omnem saevitiam libidinem Jus regium servili ingenio exercuit Tacit. Lib. 5. Hist. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 John 3. 20. 1 Sam. 26. 11. John 8. Jam. 4. 8. Latro est etiamantequam inquiret manus fecit enim quisquis quantum voluit Senec. Job 33. Amari licet potiri non licet Gen. 22. 12. Psal. 37. 37. Job 31. 4 5 6 7. Victorque Medusae victus in Andromeda Manil. Hosea 41. 1 Kings 8. 38. Putant se â—acere quod praeceptum est dicunt enim rapereres alienas Mamona est iniquitatis erogare inde aliquid maxime egentibus sanctis hoc est facere amicos de Mammona Iniquitatis Intellectus iste corrigendus est imo de tabulis cordisdelendus est Noli talem pingere Deum Aug. Ser. 25. de Verb. Dom. 2 Chron. 15. 17. Psal. 125. 4. Nec bonus quisque nec malus dici debeat nec esse valeat nisi volens John 7. 19. John 19. 39. Act. 19. 19 20. Terribilis contra sugaces haec bestia fugax contra sequentes Plin. In uno Mithridate infinitos hostes periisse rati Flor. 1 Sam. 17. 37. Isa. 51. 9 Prov. 15. 10. Psal. 84. Prov. 16. 32. Magis extra vitia quam cum virtutibus Tacit. Lib. 1. de Claudio 1 Pet. 4. Psal. 97. 11. Isa. 38. 3. Mat. 5. Mark 9. Et hoc ipsum argumentum est in melius translati animi quod vitia suaquam adhuc ignorabat videt Senec. Epist. 6. Ea maxime quisque petitur qua patet Senec. Numb 31. 16. Arma ego femineis animum motura virilem mercibus inservi Ovid. 1 Pet. 5. 8. * Multa sunt observanda pugnantibus si quidem nulla est negligentiae venia ubi de salute certatur Veget. Eripiuâ— omnes animo sine vulnere vires Haec sunt jucumdi causacibusque mali Ovid. Prov. 1. 17. Psal. 119. 106. Omnia vitia penitus insidunt nisi dum surgunt oppressa sint vehementius contra inveterata pugnandum est nam vulnerum sanitas facilior est dum à sanguine recentia sunt ubi corrupta in malum necus sâ— verterunt difficilius curan tur Senec. ad Marc. Pars sanitatis velle sanari fuit Ita est paucos servitus plures Servitutem teneant Senec. Epist. 21. 2 Chron. 20. Psal. 143. 3. Eph. 4. 8. Psal. 68. Acts 5.
the Father's Love to them was faint in comparison to the warm Beams reflected upon Joseph 2. The Darling Corruption ingrosses the Thoughts There is a natural levity and featheriness in the Mind a strange inconsistency and discurrency of the Thoughts but Love will fasten them intensely upon its Object From hence it is that habitual and delightful Thoughts are the best discovery of our Hearts and our spiritual State. Words and Actions may be over-rul'd and counterfeit for divers Reasons but Thoughts are the invisible productions of the Soul and without fear or mask without restraint or disguise undissemblingly discover the Disposition of the Heart Thoughts are the Immediate Off-spring of the Soul and as the Waters that immediately flow from the Spring are strongest of the Mineral so the Thoughts are most deeply tinctur'd with the Affections A Saint is therefore described by his meditating in the Law of God Day and Night which is the natural and necessary Effect of his Delight in it Uncounterfeit Religion and Holiness consists in the order of Love as St. Austin briefly and fully describes it The Will is carried to its Object and End by the Motion of Love and Love applies the Mind intirely to the Object to which it is strongly inclin'd When the Heart is corrupt the ordinary Current of the Thoughts is in the Channel of our Lusts. The contriving Thoughts the Devices of the Mind the contemplative Thoughts and inward Musings are conversant about the beloved Lust that engages the Mind to it Thus when Covetousness is the reigning Passion the Mind is in continual exercise to compass secular Ends 't is full of Projects how to order the Means most successfully to increase Riches and how to remove what-ever may obstruct the main Design The Spirit is captivated and like a drudg in a Mill is continually grinding for the satisfaction of the earthly Appetite When the more sensual voluptuous Passions are predominant the contriving Thoughts are to make Provisions for the Flesh to satisfy the Lusts thereof The Understanding is debased to be the Pander and Caterer for the intemperate and incontinent Appetites The ambitious Spirit lays the Scene how to obtain his desired Honour and forecasts how to ascend to some place of Eminence so Anger sowred into Revenge envies at the Excellencies and Advancements of others turns the Mind to plot Mischief The contemplative Thoughts and Musings of the Mind are also fix'd on the darling Lust. As a Holy Believer in whose Heart the desire of enjoying God in Heaven is the supreme Affection frequently ascends in his Mind thither and by solemn serious Thoughts substantiates his future Happiness and has an unspeakable glorious Joy in the lively hopes of it Thus the unrenewed Heart turns the Thoughts to the desired Object either in representing it in all its Charms or in reflections upon the enjoyment of what is past or in expectation of what is to come and pleases it self with the Supposition instead of Fruition A proud Person entertains vain-glorious thoughts of his own Worth and worships the vain Idol himself In his Mind he repeats the Ecchoes of Praise that his foolish Flatterers lavish upon him 'T is recorded of Nebuchadnezzar that as he walk'd in his Palace he said Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the House of the Kingdom by the might of my Power and for the Honour of my Majesty His high towring words were the Expression of his Thoughts and discover'd Pride to be the reigning passion of his Heart The sensual Wretch surveys his Carnal Paradise and personates the Pleasures of Sin by impure Imaginations his fancy runs riotously over tempting Beauties by an active Contemplation he contracts a new Stain and induces a new Guilt upon himself he commits the same Sin a thousand times by renewing the pleasant Thoughts of it and by carnal complacence in the remembrance In the silence of the Night when a Curtain of Darkness is drawn over the visible World and the Soul not diverted by sensible Objects is most free in its Operations then the Thoughts are conversant about the beloved Sin. 'T is said of the Malicious and Revengeful They plot mischief upon their Beds The rich Fool was contriving how to bestow his Fruits and Goods and entertaining himself with the thoughts of festival voluptuous living in the Night wherein his Soul was required And in the Morning the Virgin Thoughts are prostituted to the beloved Lust. In the time of Divine Worship when the pure Majesty and special Presence of God should unite the Thoughts and compose the Soul to a holy solemn Frame then the beloved Lust will be so impudent and outragious as to break into the Mind the Chamber of Presence and seat it self there As Lot's Wife led by an Angel out of Sodom turn'd a lingring Eye towards it so the Carnal Heart even in religious Service and Addresses to God reflects upon the sinful Object that has an attractive force upon it 'T is charg'd against those fine Hypocrites in Ezekiel They sit before thee as my People and hear thy words but they will not do them for with their Mouth they shew much love but their Heart goeth after their Covetousness 'T is reckon'd as an high Aggravation of their Guilt Yea in my House have I found their Wickedness saith the Lord. The familiar Lust will haunt Men in the Divine Presence This makes them cold and careless in Holy Duties this makes their Devotion so faint and dilute that God is infinitely provok'd by them In short the darling Lust does so intirely and intensely fix the Mind upon it that Mens Accounts are dreadfully increast by the swarms of wicked Thoughts that defile their Souls and in the Day of Judgment that is called the Day of Revelation there will be a discovery made to their everlasting Confusion 4. The Sin Men desire to conceal from others and from Conscience and are apt to defend or extenuate and are impatient of reproof for it has a special Interest in their Affections Every Sinner is a Master of this Art to counterfeit the Vertues he wants and dissemble the Vices that he allows 'T is the Observation of Solomon God made Man upright but he sought out many Inventions especially to palliate and hide or to excuse his Faults Sin in its native deformity is so foul that Men employ a great deal of Art and Study either to conceal it under a Vail of Darkness or a deceitful Mask of Vertue or by various Excuses to lessen its Guilt and Ignominy Adam patch'd up an Apron of Fig-Leaves to cover his Nakedness a resemblance of his care to hide his Sin. David could not expect to deceive God but to hide his Adultery with Bathsheba from Men he sends for Uriah from the Army that he might have gone home to his Wife 'T is observ'd of Caesar and Pompey whose ambitious Spirits aspir'd to Sovereign Power they made use of some Ensigns of Royalty to accustom
rectitude in the discharge of their Office Judges should so impartially and with that noble Resolution perform their Duty as to disourage all Attempts to pervert them Zeuxes having painted a Boy carrying some Grapes so coloured according to Nature that the Birds peck'd at them An Observer said The Birds discredited the Picture for if the Boy had been drawn with equal Life they had not been so bold to fly at the Grapes a sign they fancied the Grapes true and the Boy painted Thus whoever tempts those who sit in Judicature to unworthy Things disgraces their Dignity and constructively declares that he esteems them to have an appearance of Vertue without sincere Zeal for it And how many who are pleaders by fallacious Colours commend a bad Cause and discredit a Good and thereby expose themselves to that terrible denunciation Wo be them that call Good Evil and Evil Good. A degenerous Mind and mercenary Tongue will plead any Cause to obtain the Ends of Avarice and Ambition as if according to what an Italian Lawyer said of himself They were the Advocates of their Clients and not of Justice In short every Calling has its Temptations In the various ways of Commerce there are deceitful Arts which an upright Man observes and abhors Some Callings expose to more Temptations than others so that without Circumspection and Care Men are undone in the way of their Callings Some ingage Persons in such a throng of Business that from one rising of the Sun to another they never seriously remember God or their Souls 'T is therefore a Point of great Wisdom in the choice of a Calling with a free Judgment to consider what is least liable to Temptations and affords more freedom of serving God and regarding our Spiritual State for the Body is not the intire Man and the present Life is not his only Duration The Apostle directs Christians to chuse such a State of Life that they may have an advantage of attending upon the Lord without distraction I shall add That the several Relations wherein we stand as Husbands Parents Masters and Wives Children Servants have peculiar Temptations and many whose general Conversation seems fair and blameless are not observant of their Relative Duties A Husband may be harsh and unkind a Parent fond and viciously indulgent 't was Ely's Sin that brought Ruin upon his Family a Master may be severe and rigorous Superiors who are to instruct and govern Families by Holy Counsels and Examples often neglect their Duty and by their evil Carriage set a Copy which their Children and Servants transcribe and derive a woful Guilt upon themselves from their multiplied Sins And how often are those in lower Relations careless of their proper Duties Wives disrespectful and not observant of their Husbands Children disobedient Servants unfaithful If Conscience be inlightned and tender it will regard the whole compafs of our Duty it will see and feel our sinful neglects in any kind and make us careful according to the extent of its Obligation 2. The opposite States of Prosperity and Adversity have suitable Temptations adherent to them Prosperity is beset with the thickest and most dangerous Temptations In a Garden the Tempter lay in ambush and made use of the Fruit that was pleasant to the Taste and pleasant to the Eye and desireable for Knowledg and by those Allurements corrupted and ruin'd our first Parents to the loss of their Innocence and Felicity Although Prosperity be a Blessing in it self yet 't is often more destructive than Adversity by the inseparable and ingaging Snares that surround the Persons that enjoy it Pride Luxury Security Impiety grow and flourish in Prosperity Affliction calls home the wandring Spirit makes us reflect with solemnity upon our selves excites us to arm our Minds with Religious Resolutions against the World whereas Prosperity relaxes and dissolves the Spirit and foments the Lusts of the Flesh. Those who live in the Courts of Princes where the Height of Honour and the Centre of Pleasure are where Ambition Hypocrisy Avarice and Sensuality reign are encircled with dangerous Inchantments and usually are charm'd and corrupted by them The Court Life is splendid to the Eye but very perilous like a Ship that is finely carv'd painted but so leaky that without continual pumping it cannot be kept above Water so without the strictest guard over their Hearts and Senses the prosperous cannot escape the Shipwrack of a good Conscience and fall into many foolish Lusts that drown Men in Perdition Yet this state of Life many aspire to as the most happy When Lot separated from Abraham he chose the pleasant fruitful Country that was like the Garden of the Lord. Sad choice the Land was the best but the Inhabitants the worst Within a short time the cry of their Sins reach'd as high as the Throne of God and brought down showrs of Fire and Brimstone that turned that natural Paradise into an Hell. Riches has a Train of Temptations and Poverty is not exempt from them 'T was the wise Prayer of Agur Give me neither Poverty nor Riches lest I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord or lest I be poor and steal and take the Name of my God in vain A full Estate intirely possesses the Heart and excludes the eternal World from the Thoughts and Affections 't is therefore wise Advice If Riches increase set not your Heart upon them intimating they are a Snare to the most in the corrupt State. They often induce in Mens Minds an ungrateful Oblivion of their Divine Benefactor as 't is charg'd upon Israel Their Hearts were exalted therefore they have forgotten me They incline Men to presume upon Self-sufficiency and to rob God of the Homage that is due from his Creatures an humble thankful dependance upon his Providence every day The Psalmist saith They trust in their Wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their Riches They are engaging Snares to renounce Religion when-ever the Sincere and open profession of it exposes our Estates to hazard Briefly as the Israelites made an Egyptian Idol of their Egyptian Jewels so worldly Things are abus'd for worldly Lusts. The most who enjoy Prosperity perish by the abuse of it 'T is a rare effect of Divine Grace to preserve the Heart and Conversation pure in such a contagious Air when a thousand fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right Hand And the contrary state of Poverty and Affliction in any kind if sharp has its peculiar Temptations Discontent and the use of unlawful Means to obtain what they want and desire is the Sin of the Poor The Afflicted are ready to faint under the weight of Sorrow The loss of one Comfort blasts all the Content of their Lives There is a perpetual consumption of their Thoughts and Time in revolving the afflicting Circumstances of their Condition and they are apt to think as if God were regardless or very severe to them Fearful depth they
the Inquisition and Judicature of Conscience Wealth and Wickedness harden them against the most serious Counsels the most solemn Reproofs and ardent Exhortations they are blind to the Sun and deaf to Thunder but a sharp Affliction clears the Eyes unlocks the Ears opens the Heart and pricks the tender Vein The awaken'd Penitent will make an exact search to find out the Achan the troubler of the Soul and the special Sin is so in the interpretation of the vigilant and afflicted Conscience The bitter remembrance of that Sin is answerable to its Guilt the more it was indulg'd the more the Law of God was despis'd the more it wounds the Spirit when the Pleasure is past nothing remains but the Sting and Poison Joseph's Brethren who so long had been insensible of their treacherous selling him to Bondage and Misery yet in their Fears Conscience remembers it with aggravations of their unnatural Cruelty And they said one to another We are verily guilty concerning our Brother in that we saw the anguish of his Soul when he besought us and we would not hear therefore is this distress come upon us Lastly Consider the several kinds of Sins to find out your own some are of Omission some of Commission some are Spiritual and Inward some are Carnal and acted with Noise and Notice some distinctly flow from visible Causes some spring from an unsuspected Fountain There are many of a civil compos'd Conversation who are careless of spiritual Duties of holy Communion with God by raised solemn Thoughts and ardent desires of watchfulness over their Hearts to regulate their Aims and Affections by the pure Law and are insensible of their Neglect and Guilt The unrenewed Nature has a strong reluctance against spiritual Duties Many are righteous to Men and unrighteous towards God they do not pay those Duties that are indispensibly required from reasonable Creatures to the blessed Creator the highest Love for his Perfections and Benefits an obedient respect to his Commands in their Actions a resigned submission to his Will and Wisdom an entire trust in his fatherly Providence and zeal for his Glory Many rob him of that Time that is consecrated to his Service the Lord's Day though 't is our Priviledg as well as Duty to keep it Holy when the Publick Worship is at an end as if the remainder were unsanctified they wretchedly waste in complemental Visits in civil Matters in Discourses impertinent to the solemn Work of it Many who are diligent to provide for their Families yet are as bad as Infidels in neglecting to instruct their Children and Servants in the saving Doctrine of the Gospel to command them to be circumspect in their Ways to set before them a living Pattern of Holiness and carelesly suffer their precious Souls to perish for ever How many who are not guilty of open rebellious Sins against the Law yet neglect the great indispensible Duty of the Gospel an humble unfeigned entire closing with Christ as their Prince and Saviour They presume upon their moral Vertues of the safety and goodness of their Condition they never had a feeling sense of their want of the imputed Righteousness of Christ to reconcile them to God nor of the Holy Spirit to make them partakers of the Divine Nature as if only the Prophane Riotous notorious Sinners had need of his most precious Merits and Mediation to abolish their Guilt and save them from Hell and of the Holy Spirit to sanctify them From hence it is that many civil Persons remain in an unrenewed State and are the natural Subjects of Satan and die in their Sins Some are regular in a course of Religious Duties they pray hear the Word receive the Sacrament but without those Holy Affections that are the Life of Religious Duties yet content themselves with the external bodily Service which is neither pleasing to God nor profitable to their Souls Some cherish a secret Pride that they are not so bad as others some a vain presumption of the Divine Favour because they serve God in a purer way of Worship than others when they neglect substantial Religion that recommends us to his gracious Eye Some will severely reflect upon the visible Sins of others whilst there is an unperceiv'd consumption of the spiritual Life in themselves This may seem to proceed from the hatred of Sin when the real inward Motive is to quiet Conscience by an appearance of Zeal against Sin and make it inobservant of their inward voluntary Defects The most excellent Things may be counterfeit Satan may transform himself into an Angel of Light sinful Affections may be varnish'd and gilded so as to be mistaken for Divine Graces Briefly the Heart is an everlasting Deceiver and without a perpetual watchfulness we are in danger of close Corruptions that will blast our Sincerity To find out our Sin 't is requisite to search where we may think there is little reason to expect the finding it 2. I will now consider what the preserving himself from his peculiar Sin implies 1. An abstaining from the practice of that Sin. When David had an opportunity to destroy Saul his unrighteous and implacable Enemy and secure himself when excited to it by Abishai who would have dispatch'd him at a Blow yet he rejected the Temptation with abhorrence The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my Hand against the Lord 's Anointed thus he preserv'd his Innocence and Integrity Our Saviour tells us He that commits Sin is a Servant of Sin an indulgent course of Sin denominates a Person a Slave of Sin and a Rebel against God and is utterly inconsistent with Sincerity 'T is true an upright Man may fall by suddain surreption by an insinuating Infirmity into a foul Sin from which he has a setled aversation and keeps himself in the general Course of his Life and that single Act of Sin is a blemish of his Integrity but retracted by a speedy Repentance does not denominate him a Hypocrite One may be pale from an accidental surprize by fear or red through a suddain flush of Blood from Anger yet not be so by Complexion for the Complexions Pale and Sanguine are drawn by the Pencil of Nature the lively Characters of the predominant Humours and are usually visible in the Countenance But although an upright Person keeps himself from the gross Acts of Sins that are clearly against natural Conscience and supernatural Grace yet whilst we are cloth'd with Flesh the Body of Sin does not finally expire and Temptations are as importunate as Flys about us from whom the Tempter has his Title that 't is morally impossible to be absolutely undefiled therefore Uprightness requires that we should carefully consider our weak side what Passions we are most inclinable to by our Temper and so diligently fortify our selves against them that they may not have dominion over us and though we cannot arrive yet we may advance towards the compleat conquest of Sin. And in our endeavours against the Sins to
orders Things that Temptations approach us upon our earnest and constant Prayer we shall be furnish'd with the Armour of God the Shield of Faith the Sword of the Spirit the Helmet of Salvation But if we run into Temptations we provoke him to desert us and if we are not overcome by them yet for our transgressing his Holy Command we are liable to his Displeasure Confirming Grace is a continual emanation from the Holy Spirit without which we shall fall every Hour 'T is therefore extreamly hazardous to venture into Temptations for the corrupt Nature that with weight and violence inclines us to sin is within and supernatural Strength to controul the combin'd Efficacy of the Inclination and the Occasion is from Above which is justly withdrawn when we grieve the Holy Spirit by conversing with the Temptations of Sin. The Fear of the Lord is clean effectively as it induces an Holy Caution and Circumspection to preserve our selves from the defiling captivating Snares of Sin. 'T is a Petition more necessary than that for our daily Bread Lead us not into Temptation Considering our inseparable Frailty and the Arts of our Spiritual Enemies to take every advantage over us we should with all possible ardency of Affection pray that we be not expos'd to Temptations or not vanquish'd by them but if we rashly expose our selves our Prayers will be an Indictment against us and we shall fall under Condemnation 3. Serious Resolutions and solemn Ingagements are of excellent efficacy to bind our deceitful Hearts from yielding to Sin. In the Christian Life a general Resolution is absolutely necessary of being faithful to God never to have correspondence with his Enemies but always to cleave to our Duty notwithstanding all the Allurements or Terrors of the World to supplant our Integrity and surprise our Constancy David tells us I have sworn and will perform it that I will keep thy righteous Judgments The Divine Law binds us antecedently to our consent but having taken the Oath of Fidelity to God there is superinduced a new Obligation to fasten us to his Service After this to revolt from our Duty is Rebellion heightned with the Guilt of Perfidiousness Besides solemn Engagements against particular Sins are necessary Ephraim shall say What have I to do any more with Idols He had been inchanted with the love of Idols which he renounces with Indignation A practical Decree a stedfast resolution to forsake our Sin will produce a diligent use of Means in order to that End. In resolving against Sin we must depend upon the present and perpetual Assistance of the Divine Grace without which our Resolutions will neither be sincere nor effectual Carnal Men under Judgments do often relent and resolve against their Sins from the convinced Mind transient Wishes and floating Purposes of Reformation arise but till the Heart be renewed by Divine Grace the will is incompleat There are secret and sometimes undiscern'd Affections to Sin that by new Temptations are drawn forth and betray them to Satan 'T is a charge against the Hypocrites in the Prophecy of Hosea They were like a deceitful Bow that being ill made or ill bent never sent the Arrow directly to the Mark sometimes after the Carnal Faculties have been sated with the gross fruition Men renounce their Sins and promise they will never return more to folly but those Resolutions are as insufficient to fortify them against the new incursion of tempting Objects as a Wall of Glass to resist the Battery of Cannon for there is no permanent over-ruling Principle in the Heart that makes the Resolution stedfast against Sin. But suppose the Resolutions be sincere and proceed from a full bent of the Heart against Sin yet if Divine Grace do not ratify them a strong Temptation will break them as a gust of Wind breaks the Strings of a Cobweb St. Peter consulting his Affection not his Strength presumptuously ingag'd to his Master Though all Men forsake thee I will not forsake thee but in the time of Trial surpriz'd with so strong a fear that precluded serious recollection and distracted his Mind from the deliberare comparing of the evil of Sin with the instant Danger he most unworthily deny'd his Master and is a sad Instance how weak and wavering the best Men are without the continual Influences of the Holy Spirit to determine their Wills and make them with unfainting Courage persevere in their Duty There is a vast difference between the sight of a Storm at Sea and a Ship in violent agitation by the Winds and Waves and the miserable Passengers with pale affrighted Countenances expecting present Death in a lively Picture and being in a real Ship in the midst of a real Tempest and in real danger of being swallowed up by the Ocean The sight of such a Spectacle without fear is but painted Courage as the Object is upon which 't is exercis'd if one should presume that his Heart were impenetrable to Fear because he sees the representation of extream Danger without Fear it were egregious Folly and would be soon confuted if he were actually in extream danger of perishing in the raging Sea. Thus there is a great difference between Temptations represented in our Thoughts and when immediately and really before us and between religious Resolutions when Temptations are at a distance and when actually incumbent on us There may be such Resolutions conceiv'd in the Mind in the absence of Temptations that we may think our selves guarded safely against our Sins and yet at the first encounter of a strong Temptation our Resolutions may cool and faint and our Vows of Obedience may vanish as the morning Dew before the heart of the Sun There is such a Ievity and featheriness in our Minds such a mutability and inconstancy in our Hearts Therefore the Scripture doth so frequently inculcate the Duty of continual Trust in God to assist us by his Strength to overcome our Spiritual Enemies Divine Grace raises our Thoughts into stedfast Resolutions against Sin turns our Resolutions into holy Actions our Actions into permanent Habits God works in us to will and to do of his good Pleasure 4. If upon intermitting our Watch we fall into the Sin that we are prone to speedy and deep Repentance is necessary to recover the Favour of God and to preserve us for the future against it Sins of Relapse more easily prevail then in the first Temptation because the tenderness and reluctancy of Conscience is lessened by the commission of Sin they are more pernicious to the Soul for besides the inhancing of Guilt the unclean Spirit returns with more imperiousness from indignation that he was expell'd If we have been effectually tempted to Sin let us presently retract it by Repentance There will be a suspension of God's Favour whilst we continue without a due sense of our Sin Let not the Sun go down upon God's Wrath but with Prayers and Tears sue out his pardoning Mercy The neglect of present Repentance is a