and Christianity is not so much a divine institution, as a divine frame and temper of spirit; which if we pray heartily for, and endeavor to obtain, we shall find it as hard and uneasy to sin against God, as now we think it to abstain from our most pleasing sins. Conclusion.

SERMON II.

THE CHRISTIAN'S CONQUEST OVER THE BODY OF SIN.

ROMANS, CHAP. VII.-VERSE 19.

For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do.

WHAT the eunuch said to Philip, when he read the book of the prophet Isaiah, Of whom speaketh the prophet this, of himself, or some other man?' the same question I am to ask concerning the words of my text: Does St. Paul mean this of himself, or of some other? It is hoped that he speaks it of himself; and means, that though his understanding is convinced that he ought to serve God, and that he hath some imperfect desires to do so, yet the law of God without is opposed by a law of sin within. We have a corrupted nature, and a body of infirmity, and our reason dwells in the dark, and we must go out of the world before we leave our sin. For besides that some sins are esteemed brave and honorable, and he is a baffled person that dares not kill his brother like a gentleman; our very tables are made a snare, and our civilities are direct treasons to the soul. You cannot entertain your friend, but excess is the measure; and that you may be very kind to your guest, you step aside, and lay away the Christian; your love cannot be expressed, unless you do him an ill turn, and civilly invite him to a fever. Justice is too often taught to bow to great interests, and men cannot live without flattery; and there are some trades that minister to sin, so that without a sin we cannot

maintain our families; and if you mean to live, you must do as others do. Now so long as men see they are like to be undone by innocence, and that they can no way live but by compliance with the evil customs of the world, men conclude practically, because they must live, they must sin; they must live handsomely, and, therefore, must do some things unhandsomely; and so on the whole matter sin is unavoidable. Fain they would, but cannot tell how to help it. But since it is no better, it is well it is no worse. For it is St. Paul's case, no worse man: he would and he would not, he did and he did not; he was willing, but he was not able; and, therefore, the case is clear, that if a man strives against sin, and falls unwillingly, it shall not be imputed to him; he may be a regenerate man for all that. A man must, indeed, wrangle against sin when it comes, and, like a peevish lover, resist and consent at the same time, and then all is well; for this not only consists with, but is a sign of the state of regeneration.

If this be true, God will be very ill served. If it be not true, most men will have but small hopes of being saved, because this is the condition of most men. What then is to be done? Truth can do us no hurt; and, therefore, be willing to let this matter pass under examination; for if it trouble us now, it will bring comfort hereafter. And, therefore, before I enter into the main inquiry, I shall, by describing the state of the man of whom St. Paul speaks here, tell you plainly, who it is that is in this state of sad things; and then do ye make your resolutions, according as you shall find it necessary for the saving of your souls, which, I am sure, ought to be the end of all preaching.

The man St. Paul speaks of, is one that is 'dead,” one that was 6 deceived' and 'slain,'t one in whom sin was exeeeding sinful,' that is, highly imputed, greatly malicious, infinitely destructive; he is one who is carnal, and sold under sin ;'§ he is one that sins against his 'conscience and his reason;'|| he is one in whom sin dwells,' but the Spirit of God does not dwell; for no good thing dwells in him;'¶ he is one who is

* Ver. 9. || Ver. 16.

+ Ver. 11.

↑ Ver. 13.

§ Ver. 14.

¶ Ver. 18.

brought into captivity to the law of sin;' he is a servant of uncleanness, with his flesh and members serving the law of sin." Now if this be a state of regeneration, I wonder what is, or can be, a state of reprobation! for though this be the state of nature, yet it cannot be the state of one redeemed by the Spirit of Christ; and, therefore, flatter not yourselves any more, that it is enough for you to have good desires and bad performances: never think that any sin can reign in you, and yet you be servants of God; that sin can dwell in you, and at the same time the Spirit of God can dwell in you too; or that life and death can abide together. The sum of affairs is this: If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye, through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live;'† but not else on any terms whatsoever.

My text is one of the hard places of St. Paul, which, as St. Peter says, ❝ the ignorant and the unstable wrest to their own damnation.' But because in this case the danger is so imminent, and the deception would be so intolerable, St. Paul, immediately after this chapter, (in which, under his own person, as was usual with him to do, he describes the state of a natural man advanced no farther than Moses's law, and not redeemed by the blood of Christ, or enlightened by the Spirit of God, and taught by the wiser lessons and sermons of the Gospel) immediately spends the next chapter in opposing the evangelical state to the legal, the spiritual to the carnal, the Christian to the natural; and tells us plainly, he that is redeemed by the blood of Christ, is redeemed from the power of sin: he that is Christ's freed-man, is not a slave of sin, not captive to the devil at his will: he that is in the flesh, cannot please God,' but every servant of Christ is freed from sin, and is a servant of righteousness, and redeemed from all his vain conversation : for this is the end of Christ's coming, and cannot be in vain, unless we make it so. He came to bless us by turning every one of us from our iniquities. Now concerning this, besides the evidence of the thing itself, that St. Paul does not speak these words of himself, but by a μeraoxnμarioμòs, under his own borrowed person he describes the state of a carnal, unre

deemed, unregenerate person, is expressly affirmed by St. Irenæus and Origen, by Tertullian and St. Basil, by Theodoret and St. Chrysostom, by St. Jerome, and sometimes by St. Austin, by St. Ambrose and St. Cyril, by Macarius and Theophylact; and is indeed that true sense and meaning of these words of St. Paul, which words none can abuse or misunder+ stand, but to the great prejudice of a holy life, and the patronage of all iniquity.

But for the stating of this great case of conscience, I shall first in short describe to you what are the proper causes, which place men and keep them in this state of a necessity of sinning; and, 2. I shall prove the absolute necessity of coming out of this condition, and quitting all our sin. 3. In what degree this is to be effected. 4. By what instruments this is to be done; and all these being practical, will, of themselves, be sufficient use to the doctrines, and need no other applicatory but a plain exhortation.

I. What are the causes of this evil, by which we are first placed, and so long kept, in a necessity of sinning, so that we cannot do what good we would, nor avoid the evil that we hate?

The first is the evil state of our nature. And, indeed, he that considers the daily experiment of his own weak nature, the ignorance and inconstancy of his soul, being like a sick man's legs, or the knees of infants, reeling and unstable by disease or by infirmity, and the perpetual leaven and germinations, the thrustings forth and swelling of his senses, running out like new wine into vapors and intoxicating activities, will readily con fess, that though even in nature there may be many good inclinations to many instances of the Divine commandments; yet it can go no farther than this velleity, this desiring to do good, but is not able. And it is on this account that Lactantius brings in the Pagan or natural man complaining, Volo equidem non peccare, sed vincor ; indutus enim sum carne fragili et imbecilla. This is very true; and I add only this caution: there is not in the corruption of our nature so much as will save us harmless, or make us excusable, if we sin against God. Natural corruption can make us criminal, but not innocent; for though by him that willingly abides in the state of mere