Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

State It @wn narrow foul, beholds, with fatisfaction, his neighbour laid low enough; and every luft finds the corrupt imagination a friend to it in time of need. And this it doth, not only when people are awake, but fometimes even when they are affeep; whereby it comes to pass, that these fins are acted in dreams, which their hearts were carried out after, while they were awake. I know fome do quetion the finfulness of these things: But can it be thought they are confiftent with that holy nature and frame of fpirit, which was in innocent Adam, and in Jesus Christ, and thould be in every man? It is the corruption of nature then, that makes filthy dreamers condemned, Jude 8. Solomon had experience of the exercife of grace in fleep: in a dream he prayed, in a dream he made the best choice; both were accepted of God, 1 Kings iii. 5,- -15. And if a man may, in his fleep do what is good and acceptable to God, why may he not alfo when afleep, do that which is evil and difpleafing to God? The fame Solomon would have men aware of this; and preferibes the best remedy against it, namely, The law upon the heart, Prov. vi. 20, 21. When thou sleepest (fays he ver. 22.) it fhall keep thee, to wit, from the finning in thy fleep; that is, from finful dreams: For one's being kept from fin (not his being kept from affliction) is the immediate proper effect of the law of God impreft upon the heart, Pfal. cxix. 11. And thus the whole verse is to be understood, as appears from verfe 23. For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, and reproofs of inftruction are the way of life. Now the law is a lamp of light, as it guides n the way of duty; and inftructing reproofs from the law, are the way of life, as they keep from fin: neither do they guide into the way of peace, but as they lead into the way of duty; nor do they keep a man out of trouble, but as they keep him from fin. And remarkable is the particular, in which Solomon inftanceth, namely the fin of uncleanness, to keep thee from the evil woman, and ver, 24. Which is to be joined with verfe 22. inclofing the 23, in a parenthefis, as fome verfions have it. These things may fuffice to convince us of the natural bias of the mind to evil.

Fourthly, There is in the carnal mind, an opposition to fpiritual truths, and an averfion to the receiving of them. It is as little a friend to divine truths, as it is to holiness, The

The truths of natural religion, which do, as it were, force their entry into the minds of natural men, they hold prifoners in unrighteousnets, Rom 1. 18, And as for the truths of revealed religion, there is an evil heart of unbelief in them, which oppofeth their entry; and there is an armed force-neceffary to captivate the mind to the belief of them, 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. God has made a revelation of his mind and will to finners, touching the way of falvation: he has given us the doctrine of his holy word: but do natural men believe it indeed? No, they do not; for he that believeth nat on the Son of God, believeth not God, as is plain from I John v. 10. They believe not the promises of the word : they look on them, in effect, only as fair words; for these that receive them, are thereby made partakers of the divine nature, 2 Pet. 1. 4. The promises are as filver cords let down from heaven to draw finners unto God, and to waft them over into the promised land; but they caft them from them. They believe not the threatnings of the word. As men travelling in deferts carry fire about with them, to fright away wild beasts: fo God has made his law a fiery law. Deut, xxxiii. 2. hedging it about with threats of wrath: But men naturally are more brutish than beafts themselves; and will needs touch the fiery smoking mountain. tho' they should be thrust through with a dart. I doubt not but moft, if not all of you, who are yet in the black flate of nature will here plead, Not guilty: But remember the carnal Jews in Chrift's time, were as confident as you are, and they believed Mofes, John ix, 28, 29. But he confutes their confidence, roundly telling them, John v. 46 Had ye believed Mofes, ye would have believed me. Did ye believe the truths of God, ye durft not reject, as ye do, him who is truth itself. The very difficulty you find in affenting to this truth, bewrays that belief I am charging you with. Has it not proceeded fo far with fome at this day, that it has teeled their fore-heads with the impudence and impiety, openly to reject all revealed religion? Surely it is cut of the abundance of the heart their mouth Speaketh. But tho' ye fet not your mouths againft the heavens, as they do, the fame bitter root of unbelief is in all men by nature, and reigns in you, and will reign, till overcoming grace capti

[blocks in formation]

vate your minds to the belief of the truth. you in this point, confider these three things:

To convince

Evidence 1. How few are there who have been bleft with an inward illumination, by the fpecial operation of the Spirit of Chrift, letting them into a view of divine truths in their fpiritual and heavenly luftre! How have you learned the truths of religion, which ye pretend to believe! Ye have them merely by the benefit of external revelation, and of your education; fo that you are Chriftians, juft because you were not born and bred in a Pagan, but in a Chriftian country. Ye are ftrangers to the inward work of the hoJy Spirit, bearing witnefs by, and with the word in your hearts; and so you cannot have the affurance of faith, with refpect to that outward divine revelation made in the word, I Cor. ii. 10, 11, 12. And therefore ye are still unbelievers. It is written in the prophets, and they fhall be all taught of God- Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me, fays our Lord, John vi. 45. Now ye have not come to Christ, therefore ye have not been taught of God; ye have not beeb fo taught, and therefore ye have not come; ye believe not. Behold the revelation from which the faith even of the fundamental principles in religion doth fpring, Matth. xvi. 17, 18. Thou art Chrift, the Son of the living God-Bleffed art thou Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. If ever the Spirit of the LORD take a dealing with thee, to work in thee that faith, which is of the operation of God; it may be as much time will be fpent in razing the old foundation, as will make thee find a neceffity of the working of his mighty power, and to enable thee to believe the very foundation principles, which now thou thinkelt thou makest no doubt of, Eph. i. 19.

Evid. 2. How many profeffo Save made shipwreck of their faith (such as it was) in time of temptation and trial! See how they fall, like ftars from heaven, when Antichrift prevails. 2 Theff. ii. 11, 12. God fhall fend them ftrong delufion that they fhould believe in a lie, that they all might be damned, who believed not the truth. They fall into damning delufions: because they never really believed the truth tho' they themselves and others too thought they did believe it. That house is built upon the fand, and that faith

is but ill-founded, that cannot bear out, but is quite overthrown, when the ftorm comes.

Evid. 3. Confider the utter inconsistency of most mens lives, with the principles of religion which they profess; ye may as foon bring eaft and weft together, as their principles and practice. Men believe that fire will burn them, and therefore they will not throw themselves into it: but the truth is, moft men live as if they thought the gospel a mere fable, and the wrath of God revealed in his word against their unrighteousness and ungodliness, a mere fcare

crow.

If ye believe the doctrines of the word, how is it that ye are so unconcerned about the flate of your fouls before the LORD? How is it that you are fo little concerned with that weighty point, whether ye be born again or not? Many live as they were born, and are like to die as they live, and yet live in peace. Do fuch believe the finfulness and mifery of a natural state? Do they believe they are children of wrath? Do they believe there is no falvation without regeneration? and no regeneration but what makes man a new creature! If you believe the promises of the word, why do you not embrace them, and labour to enter into the promised rest? What fluggard would not dig for a hid treasure, if he really believed he might so obtain it? Men will work and fweat for a maintenance; because they believe that by fo doing they will get it: yet they will be at no tolerable pains for the eternal weight of glory; why, but because they do not believe the word of promife? Heb. iv. 1, 2. If ye believe the threatnings, how is it that you live in your fins, live out of Chrift, and yet hope for mercy. Do fuch believe God to be the holy and just one, who will by no means clear the guilty? No, no, none believe, none, (or next to none) believe what a juft God the LORD is, and how feverely be punisheth.

Fifthly, There is in the mind of man a natural pronenefs to lies and falfhood, which make for the fafety of lufts. They go aftray as foon as they be born, fpeaking lies, Pfal. lvii. 3. We have this with the reft of the corruption oí our nature, from our first parents. God revealed the truth to them; but through the folicitation of the tempter, they firft doubted of it; they disbelieved it, and embraced a lie instead of it. And for an unconteftible evidence hereof. we may fee that firft article of the devil's creed, ye shall

not furely die, Gen. iii. 4. which was obtruded by our first parents, and by them received; naturally ced by their pofterity, and held fall, till a light fro ven oblige them to quit. It fpreads itself throu lives of natural men; who till their confciences be ed, walk after their own lufts: ftill retaining the ciple, That they shall not furely die. And this is oft proved to that perfection, that the man can fay, o belly of the denounced curse, Ishall have peace tho' in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to Deut. xxix, 19. Whatever advantage the truths o have over error by means of education, or otherwil ror has always with the natural man, this advant gainst truth, namely, That there is fomething withi which fays, O that it were true; fo that the mind i for affenting to it. And here is the reafon of it. true doctrine is, the doctrine that is according to gou 1 Tim. vi. 3. and the truth which is after godliness, 1. Error is the doctrine which is according to ungod for there is never an error in the mind, nor an u vented in the world (in matters of religion) but wh an affinity with one corruption of the heart or othe cording to that of the apofile, 2 Theff. ii. 21. They not the truth, but had pleafure in unrighteoufness. truth and error being otherwise attended with equal tages for their reception, ror, by this means, ha ready accefs into the minds of men in their natura Wherefore, it is nothing ftrange that men reject t plicity of gofpel truths and inftitutions, and greedily e error and external pomp in religion; feeing they ar greeable to the lufts of the heart, and the vanity mind of the natural man. And from hence also it fo many embrace atheistical principles; for none da in compliance with their irregular paffions; none bu whofe advantage it would be, that there was no Go

Laftly, Man is naturally high minded; for when pel comes in power to him, it is employed in caftin imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itfelf the knowledge of God, 2 Cor. x. 5. Lowlinefs of min a flower that grows in the field of nature: but is pla the finger of God in a renewed heart and

« AnteriorContinuar »