heart as that which all who are disobedient will feel at last to be most true I might here desire you to think or ask you what you do think in your souls whether in your consciences you think not this word being true there be not a multitude of poor creatures high and low rich and poor who are woefully deceived Doth it not appear there are great swarms and droves of men and women many and many in all places who live evidently after the flesh yet who almost but thinks he shall escape death though he live as he doth How sad is this O sadness lamentation that so great a number of our father Adam's Children are so deceived not taking warning by his being deceived and Alas alas that such a number of people must dye eternally dye even all that multitude who live after the flesh Did you hear of a 1000 or a 100 to be executed on the Scaffold to be broken upon the wheel would not your bowels earn should you not be much troubled and shall not this move you and cause you to weep and pray much to hear from the word of truth that all those many and many who live after the flesh shall dye the second death be tormented in that lake which burns with fire and brimstone for ever and ever Ah how great our unbelief how little our love to those made of one blood with us how rocky our hearts O our want of bowels that this affects us no more But Use 3. Hear me O precious immortal soul every one who lives after the flesh give ear turn O turn repent O repent I beseech thee for thine own good for thy greatest good Live a new life that thou mayest not dye Be not angry with the Word of God be not angry with him that speaks it but be angry with thy sinful life God saith Ezek. 38.18 It shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the Land of Israel saith the Lord God that my fury shall come up in my face so when any lust stirs in thee and warreth against thy soul O let thy fury come up in thy face deal with it as with thy worst enemy be entreated so to love thy self as to turn over a new leaf to write after a new Copy Turn thy face from the flesh turn thy back upon it Should I tel you that if you live after such a custom such an old new fashion or the like ye shall dye by the hand of man would you not be perswaded to leave that custom that fashion and thank me for my pains in perswading you can you think dying by the hand of man worse than dying by the hand of God is not the hand of the Almighty heavier than the hand of man have you not heard have you not read what the Apostle saith It 's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God even of him in whom ye live and move and do you not believe he saith true that it is so indeed Truely friend if thou art one who livest after the flesh it is a wonder thou art not actually dead under the second death already in the paws Jaws of everlasting death that that is not now at this day feeding upon thee but God hath spared thee hitherto why why thinkest thou is it Is' t not that thou mayest repent Yes the long suffering of God saith the Scripture is salvation and so thou thouldest account 2. Pet. 3.15 account that the long suffering of our God is salvation even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the Wisdom given unto him hath written unto you Rom. 2.4 or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance Is not this mercy O great mercy that yet that after so long a time God waits for thy turning and thou hast once again a fair warning How woefully guilty wi lt thou be of thine own death if being thus warned thou shalt turn a deaf ear How inexcusable wilt thou be whatever thou shalt plead for thy self It will be answered thou wert plainly told what would be the end of thy fleshly life thou thoughtest thou shouldst not dye but thy thought contradicted that word of truth which was Preached to thee Doth not this word sound terribly in thine ears thou shalt dye dye in thy soul dye in thy whole man dye a death of the greatest of unspeakable misery dye eternally why then let it awaken thee to repentance how canst thou sleep in thy sin how canst thou rest and be quiet with such a terrible word sounding in thine ears will not dying it self be far more dreadful than to hear of it is or can be I shall not now stand to use more words if any soul will not hear the blood of such a one will be upon his own head and let me mind thee my friend that the longer thou livest in thy sin before death comes to thee the more sore grievous and tormenting will it be when it comes I wonder what impenitent sinners think of that word Rom. 2.5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thy self wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God who will render to every man according to his deeds wilt thou believe it and turn from the wayes of the flesh If not thou must experience it and shalt find it to be as true as he is true whose word it is It may be some one may think Is there hope yet hope for me after all my sinning for so long a time A. There is a certain hope hast thou a mind a heart to turn in good earnest lift up thy head fear not doubt not Turn heartily God is ready to receive thee and he will receive thee graciously for so he hath promised 2 Cor. 6.17 Come out from among them come away in thy heart and life from all that live after the flesh touch not the unclean thing Let thy repentance be thorow and sound what then if I so turn who will receive me God answers I will receive thee I will that is receive thee graciously I will receive thee to my mercy into the bosome of my grace as the Prodâ—gals father received him therefore it follows and I will be a Father to you saith the Lord God Almighty yea and ye shall be my Sons and my Daughters I 'le receive you as a most tender father his Children when they are in great streights and and dangers consider the Lord's promise think how a Father doth catch his dear Child when falling into the water or fire or when his Child runs to him from one that would kill him so even so and with much more readiness and tenderness will the Lord God receive you if ye run to him in Christ from your sins he 'l speedily receive you into the arms of his mercy with all his
are the greatest enemies of all to thy sin and they are the best friends of all to thy soul therefore the more any one is a friend to thy sin the worse enemy he is to thy soul and the more any one is an enemy to thy sin the better friend he is to thy soul do thou so account be so perswaded this will help to the mortifying thy sin for it will keep thine ear open to reproof and make way for the sinking of wholsom words into thine heart whereas if thou thinkest he that hates thy sin hates thee which is too ordinary and he that flatters and humors thee in thy evil affections and so is a friend to them loves thee this will keep thy sin alive and nourish it greatly for it will cause thee to give ear to those things that will feed thy corruption Much more might have been said and more may be spoken afterward let thus much suffice at present Sermon 4. Q. 4. WHy is it a necessary duty to mortifie the deeds of the body A. It is most manifest that this is a necessary duty that there is an Absolute necessity lying upon us all and upon me and thee every one of you not only because it is commanded but it is necessary in it self and for our own good It is necessary that we may escape death for if we do not mortifie the deeds of the flesh we shall live after the flesh and so dye at last They say a Crocodile and a man seldom meet but one of them dyeth for it if the man kill not the Crocodile the Crocodile will kill the man This is true of every deed of the body of sin either a man must kill it or he will be killed by it kill or be killed is most true as to all sin The words I am upon teach this is necessary to life and that must be if it be necessary to the escaping death But to evince this by some particulars First Is it not necessary that a deadly disease be mortified you know it is it will mortifie if it be not mortified but sin is the disease of the soul and it 's deadly as the Apostle James saith when it 's finished it brings forth death and as the Apostle Paul saith it brings forth fruit unto death No disease whatever more deadly to the body than every unmortified deed of the flesh is to the soul a bodily disease hurts not the soul but an unmortified lust hurts soul and body with the greatest hurt is it not necessary then to be mortified or is it not necessary that a mettal enemy that 's near a man be slain if possible there being no other way to avoid death by his hands but to lay him dead at ones feet much more is it necessary to destroy our sins there being no other way to escape death by them or no way effectual without this and no enemy hurtful as our lusts unsubdued are It is indeed only sin unmortified that can do us any hurt real or abiding hurt the world could not mischief us Satan could not prejudice us were all our lusts laid dead as they should be therefore well said one of the Martyrs in a letter to his Wife be alwayes an enemy to the world and to the Devil but especially to your own flesh your own corruption But we lye open to the malice of all enemies if any sin be suffered to live in us a lust unmortified is as an open door to let Satan into our souls it gives him hold of us it is as dry tinder whereby we may presently be set on fire or as a Barrel of Gun-powder as I may say within us whereby he may come and blow us up If we mortifie our sins then do we mortifie the world and Satan in their power over us but if we do not then will the world be our Master and Satan will be Lord over us Secondly Is it not necessary that we love God and Christ and his Commandments and our own souls and one another but we love none of these unless we mortifie the deeds of the body we love not God because he hates those Deeds he is dishonored by them offended and provoked and his Spirit is grieved and quenched thereby Jam. 4.4 the friendship of the world is enmity to God whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God so as to every deed of the flesh the friendship thereof is enmity to God whosoever therefore is a friend thereof is an enemy of God Nor do we love Christ because the deeds of the body put him to death and are quite contrary to the deeds which he did If ye love me saith Christ keep my Commandments and if we keep his Commandments we must needs break the Commandments of sin and so mortifie the deeds of the body Nor do we love the Commandments of God and Christ because all sinful deeds are directly opposite thereto and this is one of the Lords Commandments that we mortifie our sins yea every Commandment implyes this in that we can keep no Command truely heartily unless our lusts are mortified Nor do we love our own souls because all the deeds of the body war against it and are destructive to it to let sin live quietly in us is too plainly to hate our souls for it is to give entertainment to the enemy the worst enemy of them Prov. 29.24 he that is partner with a Thief hateth his own soul he heareth cursing and bewrayeth it not so doth he hate his own soul who hath this and that lust stirring in him and destroyeth it not Nor do we love or can we love one another in truth for true love only groweth in a pure heart hence it 's said 1 Pet. 1.22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently but no heart purity except the corruptions of the heart be slain Jam. 4.1 from whence come wars and fightings among you he meaneth quarrels strifes and contentions which are caused by want of love come they not saith he even of your lusts that war in your members Yes thence it 's sure they come there would be no wars nor fightings of any kind but for the lusts that are in men and whence is it that mens lusts do cause any such things but because they are not mortified Thirdly Let me ask is it not necessary that we hate our corruptions either we must hate them or we shall love them but we do not hate them in good earnest with a right hatred except we seek the mortification of them no hatred of sin is true and right which is not deadly which doth not carry us forth in endeavours to trample it dead under our feet to crucifie it and let out it's heart blood As when Cain hated his brother he kill'd him all heart hatred inclines a man to
exhortation Rom. 11.20 be not high minded but fear he adds v. 21 22. if God spared not the natural broaches take heed lest he spare not thee behold therefore the goodness and severity of God on them that fell severity but towards thee goodness if thou continue in his goodness otherwise thou also shalt be cut off As a Mother leading her little Child it goes towards the fire or water and though she hold it fast sure that it shall not fall in yet to make it careful she saith take heed if you fall into the fire you 'l be burn't if into the water you 'l be drowned so that we may not be secure and careless and self confident we have divers such If 's in Scripture spoken to Gods Children Thirdly True Believers may have and too oft have through compliance with the Flesh great falls though they live not after the Flesh they act much according to it therefore to cause them to maintain a continual sight against the Flesh and to keep at the farthest distance from it and to quicken them to repentance when they have turned aside therefore are they to be put in mind what an enemy the Flesh is even such that if they do live after it they shall dye eternally and so far as they act according to it they do dye spiritually For such reasons as these the Apostle speaks that Heb. 10.26 If we sin wilfully he faith not you but we if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins but a certain fearful looking for of judgment c. that is even for us if we so sin It may be objected is this a sit and proper argument to work upon true Believers to keep them from the wayes of the flesh or to bring them to repentance when they are seduced thereby should not such rather have other things Preached to them A. Other things should be Preached and that chiefly as the death of Christ love and grace of God c. but this also ye shall dye if c. all considerations are needful in this world to keep us awake God thought it a proper and fit argument to lay before Adam when he had no Flesh no corruption in him in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye why then is it not a proper and fit argument to be propounded to those who have much sin remaining in them though they being in Christ are not under that Covenant under which Adam was and cannot fall as he did yet is this argument rather more suitable to them than to Adam even the argument of death in this respect because they have much Flesh in them which both in it self deserves death and enclines them or moves them to walk in the wayes thereof sweet arguments may more take with the renewed part but this may more curb remaining Corruption and work upon the heart when in a fearless careless frame and if the soul be in never so good a frame to hear that they who live after the Flesh shall dye may stir it up to thankfulness that through and in Christ it is secure and the more thankful the more obedient shall we be to God If any say that grace most works upon them I answer the more any are drawn by Grace the less do they need to be driven by this truth yet even this truth minds us of and sets forth to us the grace of God in that but for it we had all lived after the flesh and there is love in this very truth that the Lord is thus pleased to warn us It may again be said but is this right to avoid or turn from the wayes of the Flash because they bring to death A. We are bound to believe all the word of God and it 's the nature of true faith to Believe all believing all things saith the Apostle that are written in the Law and the Prophets Acts 24.14 therefore all Scripture truth is to be Preached and whatever we do in faith from true faith is as so well done and acceptable to God as Noah's building an Ark because through faith he was moved with fear c. besides death implyes separation from God and this is very good it is love to God to avoid sin that by it we may not be separated from him Application Use 1. Whether do you or any of you live after the Flesh It is as great a question as whether you shall dye Be the more inquisitive each one as to himself because multitudes are strangely mistaken some seem as if they did live after the flesh yet really before God they do not 2 Cor 10.2 I beseech you that I may not be bold with that confidence wherewith I think to be bold against some which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh the Apostles themselves seemed to some so to walk yet were they far from so walking On the other hand there are and that many more who make a shew as if they did not live after the flesh yet in truth after it do they live Thus men also mistake concerning themselves thinking that of themselves which is contrary to truth It 's like if the question were put in the general to any of you whether think you not there are some here present who live after the Flesh you would every one say if you should speak your thoughts yes some here do so live or I fear there are some whose life is such but let every one be ask'd as to his own particular probably he would say I do not or I hope I do not live after the Flesh I beseech you Brethren deceive not your selves for if you do thus live whether you think so or no of your selves you will find this true that ye shall dye I would be helpful to you in this enquiry for which purpose I shall briefly offer divers things to your serious thoughts to be made use of in self examination I say self examination for you know it 's not that God requires of you nor that which concerns you or not so much to try others as each one himself and her self 1. Whoever hath not had a great change in his heart a mighty turn he doth live after the Flesh however he may seem to live for all by nature are dead in their sins and the uncircumcision of their Flesh Col. 2.13 all naturally are born of Flesh and are Flesh having no good thing in them and if the tree be bad the fruit cannot but be bad also if any are dead in the Uncircumcision of their flesh it 's certain they live after it Secondly To live in the doing of any of the works of the Flesh though it be but in some one or two of them is to live after the Flesh Q. What are the works of the Flesh A. They are very many and they are all or most of them very manifest as the Apostle tells us Gal. 5.19 The
Prophets and hewn them with the word of my mouth so the Spirit by Scripture words slayes hacks and hews our sins as Antichrist is consumed by the breath of the Lords mouth so is sin within us which is the worst Antichrist of all and but for which there had been no Antichrist at all Lastly The Spirit mortifieth our sins by producing and begetting fruits in us contrary thereto such as those Gal. 5.22 23. the Apostle in the foregoing verses declares what are the fruits of the Flesh thereupon makes mention of the fruits of the Spirit such as love peace long-suffering goodness faith meekness whereby he teacheth us that the Spirit by causing these good things in us doth expell and destroy the fruits of the Elesh which are contrary thereto and there is one fruit of the spirit not there mentioned but implyed in love which the spirit works whereby the power and life of Sin is greatly abated yea even taken away according to the measurc and strength of it and that 's hatred hatred of all Sin which makes us eager in seeking the utter extirpation of it out of our Souls I might have added The Spirit breaks the force of Satan's temptations who seeks to defend Sin and keeps it upon the throne in us and therefore tempts violently stirs up and doth all he can to kindle it and feed it by pouring in such and such thoughts as by other means but the Spirit opposeth and withstands him to which that may be applyed Isa 59.19 When the enemy shall come in like a floud the Spirit of the Lord shal lift up a Standard against him The Spirit well understands all Satans wiles and what correspondence he hath with Sin in us and the Spirit either driveth him away and makes him flee from us or counterworks him dictating answers to all his temptations and as casting water on the fire which Satan endeavours to blow up in us Sermon 6. I Am now in the second place to shew what we are to do that we may have the help of the Spirit in mortifying the deeds of the body For answer whereto briefly in a few particulars First We must receive the Spirit we can do nothing this way through the Spirit unless it be in us dwelling and abiding in our Souls which it will not be except it be received by us 1 Cor. 2.12 We have received the Spirit which is of God So have all we who truly believe and they who have not must receive it or never will they give any of their sins a deadly wound through it If any keep their hearts shur against the Spirit they cannot have the help of it in the work of mortification or any other work to their Salvation As till the Soul come into the Body and dwell in it the Body doth not cannot work act or do any thing by it so till the Spirit come into the Soul and be received to dwell there the Soul doth nothing by it to the subduing it's lusts Secondly They who have received the Spirit must call in or call for it's help and assistance when you find corruption stirring when you go about the killing your sins you must desire and ask the Spirit 's co-working with you O that the Spirit of the Lord may now work with me O that it may now assist me let it now please to help me in destroying this evill affection in mortifying this and that sinfull motion I feel stirring in me You must never attempt any thing without looking for and seeking the Spirit 's assistance Ps 143.10 Thy Spirit is good it 's a good guide lead me into the Land of uprightness by it O Lord be pleased to lead me in the good and upright way in the strait path the way everlasting till I shall come to that place appointed for upright ones and where nothing of hypocrisie is but all uprightness and sincerity only grows So you should pray Lord thy Spirit is holy and mighty it is every way able to help me O let it assist me in mortifying mine iniquities till they shall be all destroyed till I come to that Country where no such poysonous hurtful thing as sin doth grow or live or hath any being Thirdly You must wholly rely on and trust in the Spirit for its direction and powerfull co-operation with you in this work not having any thought as if you could put to death or do any thing for the destruction of any sin of your selves but knowing remembring and acknowledging also your own utter weakness and insufficiency your trust confidence relyance must be altogether on the Spirit As Jehosaphat said We know not what to do but our eyes are to thee which implyes trust and dependance on God so your eyes must be to the Spirit Psal 38.19 Mine enemies are lively and they are strong i. e. they are too strong for me what then V. 15. In thee O Lord do I hope So when our Spiritual enemies are lively and when they are as indeed they alwayes are too strong for us we must hope in the Spirit of God for strength from it Ps 47.3 He shall subdue the People under us and the Nations under our feet we will not think or attempt it in our own strength but as elsewhere it is In the name of the Lord I will destroy them yea in the Lords name will I destroy them I will not trust in my bow nor shall my sword save me c. So we must not think that any means we can use can lay dead any sin but we must still purpose resolve and endeavour the slaying of every sin in the power and strength of the Spirit Fourthly You must lye in the way of the Spirits working as Marriners do lay their Vessell in the way of the wind or the Miller turns his Mill that way the wind blows because the Ship will not sail nor the Mill grind without the wind So you must lay your selves in the way of the Spirits breathing and turn your Souls to that blessed wind that way it bloweth I mean you must attend under Ordinances you must give your selves to religious holy duties to hear to read to meditate on the Word of God to confer with others and joyn in prayer with them as you have opportunity c. John 3.8 The Spirit worketh As the wind bloweth where it listeth not where we list but where it self pleaseth and where is it that the Spirit listeth to work sure it is in the way of it 's own appointments Fifthly We must yeild up our selves to the Spirit to be acted moved and ruled according to it's pleasure as Souldiers follow your Leader observe his Commands yea every beck or wagging of his head or hand and accordingly order themselves so we must well mind all the dictates take notice of all the movings of the Spirit in us and comply therewith Gal. 5.16 This I say then walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the
with you and makes a tender of its assistance But more especially doth the spirit offer its help when it begins to move and breath and work in any soul Give ear I pray have you no movings no workings no stirrings or convictions of the Spirit do you barely hear a sound of words do you feel â—â—thing within doth not the Spirit many times convince you doth it not frequently stir you up against your sins and against this or that sin in particular have you not now some stirrings of the Spirit Remember this whenever the Spirit moveth in you it offereth you its assistance therefore if you have any hatred of your sins any love of your souls any desire to be helpt by the Spirit against your corruption accept its offer now accept it and set upon this good and necessary work forthwith take up arms and use them against your sin giving up yourself to the Spirit that it may enable you to do that for which you are utterly impotent and insufficient in your selves Go along with the Spirit that way it moves you that way go what it putteth you on to that do It is a most dangerous thing to neglect the offer of the holy good Spirit of God to slight or let slip any of its counsels or motions as Christ said to Jerusalem so may the Spirit now say to many a one Mat. 23.37 38. how oft would I have helped you and you would not behold your soul is left unto you desolate Use 11. Take heed all you who have the Spirit that you do no way provoke it no way grieve it because the great war you are still while you live to carry on against corrupt nature and its lustings can only be effectually managed by the help thereof Why is it that the Spirit of grace doth assist us no more in this warfare whence is it that the enemies of our Spirits so oft prevail and get us under Is it because the Spirit in us is not able to help us that cannot be it hath given our souls life when quite dead therefore it can lay our sins quite dead at its pleasure and give our souls life more abundantly Is it because the spirit is not willing or ready to afford us its assistance neither can that be it being given to us to help us to think it unwilling is to think it unfaithful but the holy spirit cannot be unfaithful and to think it unwilling is to think it unloving unkind uncompassionate but that spirit that works all kindness love and compassion that is gracious in every soul must needs be exceeding loving kind and full of compassion it self What 's the reason then that this that and the other sin so oft gets the mastery in us who have the spirit in us Whence is it that spiritual slothfulness so much prevails in some worldliness in others lukewarmness pride envy c. in others whence are some so unstable in the truth so unconstant in that which is good whence such dead heartedness such carnality such vain-glory such discontent and uncircumspect walking among us Sure the Spirit is not kindly entertained by us as it ought to be we grieve it we offend and displease it As Israel was never beaten by their enemies but still prevailed against them unless God were some way greatly provoked by them and so left them in a great degree to themselves to their own strength and counsels which ever proved too weak short and foolish to hold them up when the Lord was withdrawn from them So it is when our foul enemies prevail the Spirit of God is displeased by us Therefore be more kind to be more tender towards it Let us ever be careful as for our lives that we never grieve our great and only helper There are many wayes that the Spirit is offended one is that even now mentioned neglecting its motions not working when it calls upon and puts us on to work not fighting when it moves us or not as it moveth us to fight against our lusts Besides which there are five or six wayes I shall now mention of grieving the Spirit First Running upon temptation when you do so you tempt the Spirit which tempting it is grieving it when you needlessely run upon an occasion of sin and venter upon any foreseen temptation having no call hoping the Spirit will help you against it Secondly Willing or careless neglect of any duty Believe O that you would believe me when I speak truth you never willingly or carelessely neglect a duty but you grieve the Spirit You may pretend one and another thing but the Spirit cannot be deceived it searcheth all things and as for you in whom it dwells know you it doth more especially observe your whole conversation and all the workings of your spirits Thirdly Yielding to any thing at any time against your conscience when you offend conscience you grieve the spirit if conscience be displeased the spirit is displeased though not alway in the same respect thy conscience saith doing such a thing thou dost not do well yet wilt thou do it now dost thou provoke the spirit Fourthly Not trying those motions that are in you by the word what they are or whence they come For hereupon you oftner then you are aware of give entertainment to Satan's motions and yield to them as if they were from the spirit of holiness especially then when Salan transforms himself notably into an Angel of light and what a grieving the spirit this is it 's easie to conceive for you through negligence rashness or inconsiderateness and not trying things as you ought to follow the wicked one instead of the Holy one Fifthly Despising the counsel of such who have the spirit which is too ordinary a case I suppose it will be confess'd this is a grieving the spirit and it must be granted it is too too common Either the counsel of such is despised by not seeking it when it is needful the law should be sought at their mouth who have the teaching of the spirit Mal. 2.7 Hagg. 2.11 or when good counsel is given and is not followed but is neglected be it through flightiness obstinacy conceit of your own understanding or a being bent to your own mind 1. Cor. 7. last it is so after my judgment and I think I have the spirit of God he means as to that his Advice and therefore as if he should have said beware that you despise not my counsel lest you grieve the spirit whose counsel it is by me Sixthly Giving way to unbelieving thoughts the suffering to lodg in you any evil thought grieves the spirit particularly and especially a thought of unbelief when you entertain it nourish it or strive not to turn it out Now let the consideration of your need of the spirit and the great work you have to do by it which can by no means be done without it make you heedful that the spirit be not grieved by you these or any
Rev. 4.4 I saw twenty four Elders sitting clothed in white raiment and they had on their heads crowns of gold That is durable glorious crowns given them with respect to their conquering And what then V. 10. They fall down before the throne and woâ—ship him that liveth for ever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne saying thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory honour and power as if they had said though we are crowned yet we in our selves are not worthy of our crowns but thou art worthy of glory honour and power for by the power of thy spirit it is that we have vanquished our enemies and have won these Crowns It 's another principal way of grieving the spirit when we mortifying any sin through it do take the glory to our selves which we do when we grow high minded and puf't up in our spirits thereby And it 's one of the best evidences that our sins are indeed mortified by the holy spirit when our pride is mortified so that we are still humble as well when we overcome this or that lust as when we are overcome by it There is no sin more hatefull to the spirit of God than pride is therefore it helping us against other sins it will surely smite that Lastly Be exhorted to get more of the spirit you who are endued with it who have it dwelling in you Ephes 5.18 Be filled with the spirit the spirit is given by degrees and in divers measures the more you are filled with it the more you 'l be emptied of your lusts through it the more effectually and easily will you prevail against every sin that hath been too hard for you But how shall we gain more of the spirit I answer The same way the spirit is received at first more thereof is to be attained and that 's by faith The more we act faith on Christ and on the promises and the more we earnestly pray in faith the more shall we receive and be filled with that mighty sin-killing lust destroying spirit of the Lord. Sermon 8. and Last I Am now come to the last thing to be considered in this Text which I shall briefly dispatch and put an issue thereto D. 3. That they who do mortifie the deeds of the body of sin through the spirit they shall live As they who live after the flesh shall dy so they who do mortifie the affections lusts and motions of the flesh shall live so be it that they do this through the spirit because else it s not done in truth and to purpose And there is this difference to be remembred they who live after the flesh deserve tody they earn the wages of death it 's not so here that they who mortifie the deeds of sin do deserve to live for though as the Apostle saith Ro. 6. last The wages of sin is death yet the gift of God is eternall life through Jesus Christ God freely gives life and Christ hath by his obedience to death obtain'd it 1 Joh. 3.9 In this was manifested the love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him Christ was sent to dye that we might live otherwise we could never by any means have had life yet is this the mortification of sin the way to though not the cause of life it necessarily preceeds life Two things I shall speak a little to before I come to the Application 1. Shew how they shall live who do this 2. Give some reasons for the confirmation of the truth How shall they live who do this answer look how they shall dye who live after the flesh in a contrary way shall they live who mortifie the deeds of the flesh First If we do this we shall live the life of grace of holiness which is called the life of God Eph. 4.18 Having the understanding darkned being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart How excellent how desirable is their life which is the life of God even that life shall we live let us but get our sin dead through the Spirit of God Christ the Son of God will live in us Gal. 2.20 I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me He did through Christ dwelling in him live a spiritual holy life so shall we live it 's true none can do any thing this way to purpose till they are quickned and have some spiritual life in them can those who lye dead in their graves kill the worms that feed upon them No more can any while they lye dead in their sins mortifie their sins they have not the spirit therefore cannot act through it But if we do destroy our corruptions through the spirit then we are quickned and we shall retain that spiritual life we have 2 Pet. 1.10 If ye do these things ye shall never fall never fall as Adam did so as to lose our spiritual life as they of whom the Apostle speaks that they are twice dead though he means not that ever they had a reall principle of spiritual life should it be that any of us who have the spirit should grow quite negligent in this work of subduing our sins should we altogether give it over then should we become like those twice dead sin as I may say would choak would strangle our souls or the new creature in us But we continuing to keep under and to slay our sins so the life of grace we have shall be retained and we shall not fall into a dead frame yea thus shall we have life more abundantly we shall be more lively God-ward in all duties and good works Rev. 3.2 3. Christ exhorteth the Church of Sardis to strengthen the things that did remain which were ready to dye and for that end biddeth them repent mortifie their sin through the neglect whereof some good things were even as dead already and others were in a dying case it will not be so with us if we herein do our duty but all good will live in us and it will grow more lively so we shall be farther and farther from dying Secondly We shall live a life of peace and comfort as it is Gal. 5.25 we shall live in the spirit in the peace comfort and joy thereof the Kingdom of God we read consists in righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Ghost but the more we mortifie our sin through the spirit the more of the Kingdom of God as it consists in righteousness whereupon also we shall have the more of the Kingdom of God as it consists in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost we shall have the more sense of our justification and of our peace with God a more clear discerning of the forgiveness of our iniquities a more quiet and acquitting conscience more of the rejoycing of the testimony of a good conscience and the very slaying of our corruptions because they are