Precious Faith Considered, Chapter 9
CHAP. IX.
Of Sanctification the fourth fruit of Faith, and here of Mortification the firſt part thereof; the influence of Precious Faith therein.
THe next fruit of Faith is Sanctification, which makes the Soul meet for Heaven; Juſtification and Adoption give a title to that bleſſed Inheritance, but Sanctification makes ready for it. No ſooner doth a man believe, but the rivers of living water, the ſanctifying Spirit with its Graces ſlow in the heart; and the reaſon is evident, Faith is the Souls Union with Chriſt, who hath the Spirit above meaſure in truſt, to pour it out upon every part of his Myſtical Body; in this day of Eſpouſals the water is turned into wine, Nature elevated into Grace. There are, as I have before noted, two parts of Sanctification, Mortification and Vivification. I ſhall ſpeak to both as fruits of Faith.
Firſt, Mortification is a fruit of Faith, indeed none but a Believer is in a poſture to reach it. Could a man which yet never falls out, improve his Reaſon and Will to the utmoſt, he could not truly mortifie Sin: Reaſon and Will improved might in ſome meaſure triumph over the groſs inordinations in the lower faculties, but they would ever ſpare the corruptions in themſelves as their own fleſh; like politick Princes, who keep down mutinies among the common People, but lay the reins down to their own perſonal vices: It would fare with ſuch an one, as it doth with frozen waters, which though broken in one place, will freez in another; ſhould he break and diſſolve his ſenſual Sins, he would freez in ſpiritual; and if his eyes were open, he would ſee that it is deſperate pride and preſumption to attempt Mortification in any other way than that of Faith, which brings a general thaw upon the heart, melting it into a compliance with the Divine Pleaſure, and tracing the method of the Goſpel, derives a power and ſpirit from Chriſt for the work. Mortification muſt be done through the Spirit, Rom. 8.13. and none hath that but the Believer; it ſlows from an implantation into the death of Chriſt, and none is ſo but he; Faith purifies the heart, and without it there can be no ſuch thing as Mortification. God doth not command Mortification immediately, but in its own place, firſt Faith, and then Mortification; Mortifie therefore your members which are upon the earth, ſaith the Apoſtle, Col. 3.5. Therefore, wherefore? Becauſe you are riſen with Chriſt; becauſe your life is hid with Chriſt; therefore mortifie; None but Believers, who are in Union with Chriſt, are capable to do it. When in Popery all ſorts are driven to this work, as the poor Indians are to Baptiſm; they do but ſet up a Faithleſs, Chriſtleſs Image of Mortification in Penances and Satisfactions, void of the true ſpirit and principle requiſite thereunto.
In the purſuit of this Point I ſhall firſt ſpeak to the Mortification of Original Sin; this is to lay the axe to the root, and caſt ſalt into the fountain; without which to go about to mortiſie this or that particular luſt, is as great a vanity, as for a man by outward applications to heal up a fore or ulcer in the body, without correcting the inward ſomes of peccant and corrupt humours, which bore thoſe holes in the fleſh and fill them with putrefaction. This is one choice work of Faith. Others may ſpend all upon Phyſicians and Humane remedies; but the Believer gives ſuch a touch upon a Crucified Chriſt, as in a good meaſure to ſtanch the bloody iſſue running down his nature. In this excellent work Faith proceeds on this wiſe;
Firſt, Faith gives a man a juſt ſenſe of Original Sin; Which, if the World be ſearched with Candles, can be found no-where but among the Believers: To ſearch for it in the Pagan World, is to no purpoſe; indeed Plato ſaith, That the Soul hath broken her wings, and creeps baſely upon theſe lower things. The Pythagoreans taught, That Souls having offended God, were turned into Bodies as into ſo many Priſons, there to look out of the grates of Senſe. Triſmegiſtus aſſerts, That man fell from Heavenly Contemplations into the ſphear of Elements, and ſo became a bondſlave to his Body. Hierocles confeſſes, That man is carried downward, and fallen from the happy Region, of his own motion inclined to evil, and averſe from good. In ſuch paſſages as theſe there ſeem to be ſome glimmerings and dark reſemblances of Original Sin: But alas, poor Souls, they were ſar from a juſt ſenſe thereof; they did not underſtand the depth and venom of this wound, but thought there was Medicamentum in latere, enough in the foreign, the ſelf-power of the Soul, which Juſtin Martyr at his Converſion brought out of Plato's School into Chriſtianity, to heal it ſelf. Ariſtotle makes Mans Happineſs to be the Operation of the Rational Soul according to Virtue; and that Virtue he ranks among the foreign, the things in our own power. Seneca tells us, 'Tis a fooliſh thing to wiſh for a good Soul, which without lifting thy hands to Heaven, thou maiſt have of thy ſelf; whatſoever may make thee good, tecum eſt, intus eſt, it is with thee, and in thee. Hierocles ſaith, The Will is foreign, miſtreſs of it ſelf, and can make it ſelf better or worſe: Or, as he ſpeaks in another place, it can make the man a beaſt or a God. In a word, all the remedy they preſcribe is but that which Epictetus ſaith, made Socrates to be ſo virtuous as he was, Obedience to Reaſon. They never ſo much as dreamed of any ſuch thing as Regeneration, but thought they could do their own work themſelves; neither did they underſtand the bredth and length of this natural wound, they thought it was only in the lower ſaculties of the Soul, Reaſon and Will being free and pure; hence they generally cry out againſt the Body as a Priſon, and the Senſes as fetters and manacles to the Immortal Spirit. Theophraſt was wont to ſay, That the Soul paid a dear rent for her dwelling in the Body, conſidering how much it ſuffered at the Bodies hand. The Stoicks declaim againſt the Paſſions, as the ſickneſſes and languors of the Soul; all the load is laid upon foreign, the common people of the Soul, (as ſome call the Paſſions), as if the Princes, Reaſon and Will, were free, never conſidering the Spiritual wickedneſſes which are among them. Neither could it be expected, that they ſhould know the latitude of Sin, ſeeing they had not the pure Law, but only ſome fragments of it in their hearts, by which they could no more diſcern the proportions of Sin, than a man can underſtand features by the broken pieces of a Picture.
Leaving the Pagans, let us ſearch among the Jews, a People to whom the Divine Oracles were committed, there the Believers had a true ſenſe of Original Sin; David ſenſes it, in primo ardore, in the firſt warmth of Natural Conception, Pſal. 51.5. But ſuch among them as wanted Faith, wanted a ſenſe thereof. Indeed they had the Law, but the veil being on their hearts, they underſtood it only as prohibiting manum, non animum, the outward act, not the Will; and, Non concupiſces, Thou ſhalt not covet; was rather taken tor a Moral ſentence, than a Divine precept among them. This was the opinion of the Jewiſh Maſters about our Saviours time, when Rabbinical Learning was at the height in the Schools of Hillel and Shammai; St. Paul a man brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, whom the Jews accounted the honour of the Law, while he was in his Pharifaiſm knew not concupiſcence to be Sin, Rom. 7.7. And they that underſtood the Law no better, could underſtand but little of Original Sin. Their Circumciſion was a memento of it, and ſo they underſtood it, caſting the Praeputium thereby cut off into the duſt, as a morſel to feed the old Serpent withal. But alas, they were uncircumciſed in heart, and upon that account reckoned up among Egyptians. Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites, uncircumciſed in fleſh, Jer. 9.29. The Jewiſh Rabbins ſpeak of the foreign the evil figment in mans heart, as an implacable enemy. One man (ſay they) walks with another but one hour, and they become friends, but this evil figment is born with man, and grows up with him all his days, and yet if it find an opportunity, will after 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 years, precipitate and caſt him down headlong. But they make it a very ſmall matter at firſt. At firſt (ſay they) it is weak as a woman, afterwards ſtrong as a man; at firſt it is as a ſmall ahread, afterwards as the cable of a Ship; at firſt it is as a Viator, at laſt as a Lord. And withal they made it ſubject to the power of mans free will. Concupiſcence (ſay they) would fain ruin thee, but thou maiſt, if thou wilt, rule over it, Gen. 4. And whoſoever obeys the good figment, that is, his own reaſon, ſhall be delivered from the evil one. They cried up Reaſon and Will, and underſtood little of Original Sin; Hence Regeneration, the neceſſity whereof may be naturally deduced from a right knowledg of that Sin, was ſo unintelligible to them. Nicodemus, a Maſter in Iſrael, and one of the Judges in the great Sanhedrin, was ſtartled at our Saviours. Doctrine, Except a man be born of water and of the ſpirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God, Joh. 3.5. That of being born of water, poſſibly he might underſtand, becauſe the Jews did imitate their Proſelytes, by waſhing or Baptiſm, and then counted them as newborn and regenerate, as Learned men have obſerved. But that of being born of the Spirit, he was totally ignorant of, which he could not have been had he had a true ſenſe of Original Sin; which, where it is, makes the Doctrine of Regeneration obvious, but looking on that Sin as no great matter, and corrigible by mans own Reaſon and Will, he ſtood as it were at a maze at our Saviours words, as if there had been no promiſe at all of a new heart, and a new ſpirit made in the Old Teſtament.
Leaving the Jews, let us enquire among Chriſtians for a true ſenſe of Original Sin; here we muſt not expect it among Pelagians or Socinians, who deny the thing, as if the figment of the heart were but the figment of the brain: peccatum originis nullum prorſus eſt, ſaith the Racovian Catechiſm: Sine vitio naſcimur, ſaith Pelagius, placing Infants in the ſame ſtate as Adam was before his Fall; neither muſt we look for it among thoſe Popiſh Doctors, who mince and extenuate this Sin, Intenſivè majus eſt peccatum actuale quam originale, ſaith Aquinas: It is, Omnium peccatorum minimum, ſaith another. Hence many of them aſſert, That it is not properly Sin; neither may I find it among thoſe Proteſtant Doctors, who though they uſe the word Grace, yet attribute much to the Reaſon and Will of man. That famous place, Joh. 3, of being born of the Spirit, is taken by a learned man for an undertaking the Law of Chriſt, an entring on a new pure Spiritual life; as if Regeneration were Mans act. The fallen man (ſaith another) is not wholly deſtitute of power, but as the man in the Parable half-dead. Sin is not ſo unruly, but that Cain, if he will do well, may maſter it; the deſire of Sin ſhall be ſubject to him, ſaith God. When a Man came to Delphos with a live-Bird under his Cloak, and asked the Oracle, Whether he ſhould bring forth a dead thing or living? intending to put a trick upon it: Anſwer was made to him, In te eſt ſtulte: Fool, 'tis in thy power to do which thou wilt. So ſay ſuch Doctors. The Goſpel is propoſed to Men, and to embrace it is in their own power; 'tis Gods part to call, but Mans to be elect or not; that is, to be ſincere Believers or not. Theſe Men to me underſtand little of Original Sin. Pretermitting them, I come to thoſe who have a right notion of Sin and Grace, but are void of true Faith: Theſe with all the Balms and ſweet Odours of Truth which lie about their Heads, are yet Spiritually dead at Heart, and feel not their Wounds; they are as yet contented with their old Heart, and with caſe carry a ſink of Sin in their boſom: Oh how much unfelt, unbewailed blindneſs, hardneſs, enmity, unbelief, earthineſs is there in them! All which fetch never a groan from them. It is ſomewhat ſtrange that believing Abraham, when God made him ſo fair a promiſe of an Iſaac, ſhould yet let out his thoughts ſo much upon Iſhmael, Oh that Iſhmael might live before thee! But it is very natural for unregenerate men, even when the Promiſe of a new heart lies fair before them in the Scripture, to acquieſce in the old frame, as much of Hell and Death as they carry about with them. All's well and in peace; but when Faith comes, Original Sin is ſelt to the quick; God ſhines from Sinai, the Law is up in the heart in its pure Spirituality, and all the foul corners there, which before lay in the dark, diſcover themſelves in their ugly hue; the Spirit of Life enters into the Man, and the Wounds and Ulcers, which, whileſt he was Spiritually dead, broke not his reſt, breath out anguiſh in every part, and make him cry out, foreign, Oh wretched man that I am! Rom. 7.24. Oh, this blind, rebellious, unbelieving, earthly Heart of mine! who ſhall deliver me from it! That corruption ſhould be univerſal all over the Soul, like the Plagues of Egypt, all over the Land, That the dead ſhould be in every faculty, the luſts every-where croaking, even in the Kings Chamber, in the noble faculties of Reaſon and Will, and all the ſtreams of the Heart, the Thoughts, Wiſhes, Reſolves, Choices, Deſires, and Delights there, ſhould be ſmitten and turned into bloody Iniquity, is an amazing conſideration; That a Rational Creature, with an Immortal ſpark in his boſom, whoſe natural inſtinct is after Happineſs, ſhould yet without a new Creation, not be able ſo much as by a holy thought to aſpire after the great unſpeakable bleſſedneſs in the Goſpel, or to give a ſerious look towards the pure undefiled Religion leading thither; and after he is new made by Grace, that yet there ſhould be a black ſountain within ready to flow out at every ſenſe, taint every work, and derive a damp, a deadneſs, a wretched indiſpoſedneſs upon all his holy things, is an aſtoniſhing thought; That the holieſt Man on Earth, who mourns and ſighs over the horrible Wickedneſſes abroad, ſhould be forced to lament at home; and ſay, there is aliquid intus, ſomewhat in my own heart anſwering to all theſe, were I but dimiſſus libero arbitrio, left to my own ſelf, I might fall into Jonabs pet againſt the Great God; or roll in Davids Adultery and Blood; or, Peter-like, deny my Lord, and do it curſing and damning of my ſelf, as the Original imports; or turn a Julian, a total final Apoſtate, and art up my bloody blaſphemies againſt Hea…en at my dying hour; is wonderfully prodigious. ous. Such Sentiments as theſe hath the Believer of Original Sin, which make him go groaning under the gravedo thereof, as an intolerable burden; this Gemitus ſanctorum, as St. Auſtin calls it, is the firſt ſtep of this fundamental Mortification.
Secondly, Faith uſhers into the Soul a ſtock of gracious Principles, which conflict againſt the innate corruption, and labour to drive it out, as the Iſraelites did the Canaanites, by little and little; there is even in unregenerate Men, a conflict between Reaſon and the Senſitive Affections.Ariſt. Eth, lib. 1. c. 13. Reaſon (ſaith the Philoſopher) calls foreign, to the beſt things; but the Affections repugn and refiſt; the Soul is, as it were Paralytick, whileſt Reaſon would move one way to the right hand, Affection moves contrary to the left: Aliudque cupido, mens aliud ſuadet. Hence the Syllogiſm of an incontinent man hath (as the Schoolmen obſerve out of Ariſtotle) four Propoſitions,Aquin. pr. ſecund. Medina. viz. two univerſal ones; one whereof is from Reaſon, That Fornication is not to be committed; another from Paſſion, that Pleaſure is to be purſued; and Paſſion binds Reaſon, That it do not ſubſume and conclude under the firſt: And whileſt it remains ſo, the Man ſubſumes and concludes under the ſecond.Epiſt. 56. Seneca tells us Silentium regionis, is nothing, Si affectus fremunt; Reaſon muſt compoſe things, or elſe a… will be in tumult in the Soul. In this natura conflict, Reaſon, if improved, to maintain it own grandeur and royalty, may by its Edict huſh the tumults and mutinies in the Affections, and prevent many ſhames and turpitudes of Senſuality; but alas, there is nothing of true Mortification in all this, no, not in the Affections themſelves, which are not inwardly changed, but only, as the Horſe and Mule, held in with the rational bit or bridle; much leſs in the Reaſon, in which there is a great deal of vanity, dark ignorance, proud curioſity, fleſhly wiſdom, vain philoſophy, humane folly, and perverſe contradiction; in all which, Reaſon will rather indulge than crucifie it ſelf; but Faith uſhers in another manner of Conflict. In the Natural Conflict Reaſon is General, and manages the War; and as the Reaſon is, ſo is the ſtrength in Battel, but Humane only: In the Spiritual Conflict, there is a greater than Reaſon, even Supernatural Grace; which being of Divine extraction, hath in it ſelf a power more than Humane to oppoſe corruption; and which yet makes it ſtronger, it hath continual Auxiliaries from the Holy Spirit, which is always ſtanding at the right hand of Grace, as Satan is of Corruption, to back and ſtrengthen it. In the Natural Conflict the fight is in a Logical and Argumentative way only; and Reaſon being corrupt, like a cunning Sophiſter, turns about and ſtands ever and anon on the ſame ſide with Sin; but in the Spiritual Conflict, there can be no ſuch compliances, the War is laid in nature, Grace in its very nature carries an enmity againſt corruption, and irreconcilably, interminably oppoſes it, as long as Grace is Grace, and Sin Sin. In the Natural Conflict Reaſon fights but ex parte, only againſt the groſs, carnal, ſenſual luſts, which ſtain Humanity; in the mean time the pride, perverſneſs, and deſperate contradiction, which dwell in the upper faculties, are altogether untouched. The Moraliſt ſtands upon bis own bottom, full of ſelf-power and ſelf-righteouſneſs; and becauſe he hath by his Reaſon conceived and brought forth ſome Moral Virtues, Free-grace and its progeny, born after the Spirit, are deſpiſed in his eyes; than which temper, there is nothing more diametrically oppoſite to the Goſpel, which would have Men come in to Jeſus Chriſt weary, heavy laden, hungry, thirſty, poor in ſpirit; loſt in themſelves, and ſenſibly wanting all things: But in the Spiritual Conflict, the War is univerſal, Grace ſights againſt all Sin, not only againſt the groſs carnal luſts which have more of the beaſt in them, but againſt the fine Spiritual ones, which have more of the Devil; nor only againſt thoſe open Sins which face the World, but againſt thoſe ſecret ones which lie hid in the Heart. So oppoſite it is, that as in the War againſt the Canaanites, it would deſtroy every thing that breaths. Sin in the firſt motions and titillations thereof, in the Natural Conflict, the fight is between diſtinct faculties, Reaſon and Paſſion, and ſo is at a diſtance, and as it were by miſſile arms; but in the Spiritual Conflict, the fight is cloſe and immediate, there is ſomething of Grace in every faculty to encounter the corruption there. In the Underſtanding there is an Heavenly Wiſdom which counterplots the Earthly, as Huſhai did. Ahithophel, whileſt the one deſigns for Abſalom, the rebellious luſt in the Heart, the other ſtands up for the Kingdom of Chriſt, the true David. In the Will there is an holy Principle which ballinces the corrupt, and is as a counter-byaſs to the Heart, drawing it off from the falſe beatitudes to the true. In the Affections there is a Divine ſpark, which makes them aſpire and elevate towards Heavenly things, whileſt the earthly part clogs and preſſes them downwards. In a word, Grace is ſpread all over the Soul, as the Iſraelites were over Canaan, to drive out the old inhabitant, the corruption in every faculty. In the Natural Conflict, Man walks in his own Circle, the only deſigu is for the, Kingdom of Reaſon; and which is the common blaſt upon Morality, nothing is done in ordine ad Deum. In the Spiritual Conflict, the aim is all for God and Chriſt, that their Throne may be in the Heart, and all their enemies there, may be made their footſtool. Thus Grace, uſhered into the Soul by Faith, doth by little and little work out and extirpate Sin; as the day breaks upon the Heart, darkneſs goes off; as Holineſs flows in, Corruption departs; the more of Heaven is there, the leſs of Earth.
Thirdly, Faith diſcovers the great evil of Original Sin, and ſo raiſes up an hatred againſt it, and hatred is a murderer, and would, if it could, annihilate its oppoſite; Faith ſhews it to be an All-evil, a Mother of abominations. Some particular Sins are ſuch monſters in Morality, that when viewed only in the light of Nature, they appear very odious; ſuch was the cruelty of Nero, Effeminacy of Sardanapalus, and the like; much more odious, when inſpected by the light of Faith, muſt that appear which is All-ſin in one, a foreign, or univerſal Seminary of iniquity. Anthony holding Caeſars bloody Coat up to the People, moved them againſt the Conſpirators; Faith holding up the Murders, Adulteries, Blaſphemies, Villanies in the World, unto the Believers eyes, ſtirs his Heart againſt the venemous root of all theſe. Faith ſhews it to be an univerſal evil, all over the Soul, breaking forth like the boyls of Egypt, upon man and upon beaſt, upon the intellective and ſenſitive faculties, and all over the Believers duties; lying as the locuſts there upon every herb and green thing, upon the verdure and glory of every good work; it is a blemiſh in the Believers eye, a plague in his Heart, an ataxy in his Affections, a damp on his Prayers, a cooler to his Charity and Zeal, and a dead fly in all the precious Oyntment of his duties and good works. Faith ſhews it to be an utter enemy to God, Antichriſt-like, oppoſing every appearance of him in the Heart, quenching every good motion, trampling on every holy beam, ſlighting at the two great periods of Mankind, Heaven and Hell; and jeering at that holineſs and iniquity which lead thither: Faith ſhews it to be an evil always preſent; the Believer ſhakes himſelf, and it adhers; flys, and it encompaſſes; mortifies, and it lives; prays, weeps, ſweats, and fights, and yet the Canaanite is in the land; like a living man chained to a dead, he carries about his own loathſomneſs, a body of death all his days; this cleaves to him as the blackneſs to the Ethiopian, and as the fretting ſpreading Leprofie to the houſe; after all his waſhing and ſcraping of himſelf, it will yet be in him, till death diſſolve him into duſt: Such repreſentations as theſe made by Faith, fill the Believer with ſhame and ſelf-abhorrency, and raiſe up in him an irreconcileable hatred againſt it.
Fourthly, Faith, ſo far as it is acted, though it make not a total riddance of it, doth yet impriſon it, that it cannot go at large and riot in ſcandalous Sins. No, nor ſteal out in an evil thought, but it will be arreſted in its paſſage to the Will for a conſent; as it was Gods caution, beware that there be not a thought in thy Belial-heart againſt Charity, Deut. 15.9. So it is Faiths endeavour to ſtop corruption even in a thought; the fleſh is ſtill a luſting, and would have one piece of forbidden fruit or other in its mouth; but Faith oppoſes, and would, if it could, leave nothing of it to breath in the Believer: This is that the Scripture calls, The crucifying of the old man; Faith arraigns the old man as the Arch-malefactor in the World, condemns him as worthy to die; ſtrips him of his veils and falſe coverings, and by holy reſtraints nails him to the Croſs, that unleſs in a ſlumber of Faith, he cannot move or ſtir himſelf, but dies away by little and little. As the light of Nature, being impriſoned in unrighteouſneſs, as the Apoſtle ſpeaks, Rom. 1.18, is every day exhauſted and weakned; ſo the corruption of Nature being thus reſtrained by Faith, gradually loſes its life and vigor. Martinus Polonus tels of a terrible Dragon at Rome, who killed many daily with his poyſonous breath, but was at laſt ſhut up with Braſen gates through the Prayers of Sylveſter Biſhop there. Were this Fable true, Faith doth a nobler work in reſtraining the inward Serpent of corruption, whoſe deadly poyſon hath ſpread it ſelf over all Men, and is eternally fatal to all but Believers.
To conclude; In all this, Faith applies it ſelf to a Crucified Chriſt, from thence it fetches its pattern: As the pure fleſh of Chriſt, upon which, as an expiatory Sacrifice, the Sin of the World was laid, ſuffered on the Croſs; ſo the corrupt fleſh of Man, unto which, as the univerſal Seminary, the Sin of the World may be juſtly imputed, muſt ſuffer alſo: Hence Saint Peter, 1 Pet. 4.1. From the ſuffering of Chriſt in the fleſh, exhorts Believers to ſuffer in their corrupt fleſh, ceaſing from Sin, and from thence it derives a ſpirit for the work. Chriſt offered himſelf through the eternal Spirit on the Croſs; and the Believer through the Spirit of Chriſt, offers up his corrupt ſelf to be crucified. Hence St. Paul, Rom. 6.6. ſaith, Our old man is crucified with him; that is, by a ſecret virtue drawn from his Croſs.
Thus far of this Fundamental Mortification; I now come to particular Sins, which are but the foul iſſues of Original, breaking forth in this or that, as temper, education, place, cuſtom, or other accidents give vent thereunto; theſe alſo doth Faith mortifie, and that in ſome ſuch way as this.
Firſt, Faith doth reſtrain the outward acts of Sin; there may be many reſtraints in which yet there is nothing of Mortification; one Sin may reſtrain another, Vitia inter ſe contraria pugnant; in which caſe Satan caſts out Satan, a predominant luſt its oppoſite. The fiery Law with its threats may meet a man in his perverſe way, as the Angel with his drawn Sword did Balaam, and turn him back from committing the act; nevertheleſs the unchanged Heart hankers and inwardly mourns after it, as Phaltiel did after Michal, when ſhe was forced away from him; and which is a better reſtraint, becauſe meerly from an in ward principle, Moral Virtue may hold him back from it, as it did Abimelech from Sarah; yet this reſtraint is but partial, only from outward Sins of ſhame, and withal ſelfiſh, aiming at no higher thing than repute and ſelf-excellency: But Faith reſtrains upon higher and nobler Motives, ſpeaking to the temptation as Joſeph to his Miſtreſs, How can I do this great wickedneſs and ſin againſt God? May I break his Law, which is more than the Interdicts of all the Princes and Potentates of the World? or ſtain his glory, which is more precious than the light of the Sun, Moon and Stars? or trample on that precious Blood, which paid my ranſom from Hell and Death? or grieve away that Spirit which is the life of all my Graces and Comforts? or pollute this Heart, which may be a Temple or Tabernacle for the Holy One to dwell in? or run my ſelf again into the pangs of the New Birth, and forget the wormwood and gall of my old Sins, and eclypſe the light of Gods Countenance towards me, and lye down in the diſmal borders of Hell and Death? How can I do it? Such a reſtraint as this, is a degree of Mortification; Sin begins to die, when ſuch chains and manacles as theſe are caſt upon it.
Secondly, Faith doth not only reſtrain the outward acts of Sin, but ſtrikes at the life of it; that is, the love thereof; and to this end Faith clearly demonſtrates, that Sin is not eligible, or an object fit for an Humane Will; Sin ſhews it ſelf as eligible many ways, but Faith deſtroys all thoſe eligibilities. Take Sin as meer Sin in the abſtract, and ſo it is evil and only evil; and as the Schools generally determine, Sub ratione mali, it is not, it cannot be eligible at all; and yet even in the notion of meer Sin, it becomes eligible, Sub ratione convenientiae, as it is congruous to the corrupt Heart of Man. The Socinian and Pelagian Errors are welcome meerly as Paraſites to the pride of Reaſon and Will. In Sins of Omiſſion, the very neglect gratifies Mans averſneſs from good; in Sins of Commiſſion, the very violation of the Law complies with his enmity thereunto. Saint Auſtin in his Confeſſions,Lib. 2: cap. 4. ſays, That he ſtole Apples, that he might, Frui non re ipſa, ſed furto; that he was, Gratis malus, & amavit defectum ſuum; caſting away the Apples, he feaſted on the iniquity; or if he took any of them into his mouth, Condimentum facinus erat, Sin was the only fawce thereof. Man drinketh in iniquity like water; the very ſinfulneſs is connatural. This eligibility before Faith muſt needs be very ſtrong: for to Man in the pride and ſelf-flattery of Nature, nothing is ſweeter or dearer, than to walk in the way of his Heart, as abſolute unaccountable Lord of all his Actions; but when Faith comes, then it clearly appears, that the corrupt Heart, into which Sin inſinuates by congruity, is too vile a thing to be gratified; it ſteals away from holy Duties, plays falſe after fair promiſes, hatches treaſon and rebellion againſt God, and like a common Strumpet proſtitutes it ſelf to every temptation that paſſes by; to gratifie it, is to feed a diſeaſe, or vicious humour, ſatisfie a grave or gulf of inordinate deſires; put the darling Soul into the mouth of Satan, and deſperately leap into the bottomleſs pit: that corruption to which Sin is ſo grateful, is an accurſed thing, deſtinated by the Goſpel to be crucified and ſlain without mercy; and thoſe reliques of it, which after the greateſt mortifications remain, are to be mourned and groaned under as the heavieſt burden in the world. What the Jewiſh fringes did typifie, that the Chriſtians Faith operates, in keeping men from ſeeking after their own heart; but to go on, take ſin not as meer ſin, but in the dreſs of ſome apparent good; let it be foreign, a well-circumſtanced Sin, as a learned man takes that place, Heb. 12.1, flowing in riches, or rowling in ſenſual pleaſures, or holding forth Crowns and Scepters, and all Mundane glory; nay, if it were poſſible, let it inveſt it ſelf with a Creation, all the lower World cannot make it eligible to Faith. Set down a World, if Faith ſubſtract but a God or a Soul, what will remain but infinite damage? thoſe treaſures, which glitter ſo much to dark ſenſe, are to Faith but poor ruſty moth-eaten things; that which is ſubſtance to the World, is to Faith but a ſhadow, an apparition, a thing that is not, a mark too low for an Immortal Soul to fly at: Theſe things at preſent and in the Now-World ſeem ſomething; but if Faith look through the World unto the univerſal conflagration, and beyond it to the World to come, what will they ſignifie? Are they able to ſurvive thoſe laſt flames, or purchaſe any thing in the World to come? Surely juſt nothing; except only ſo much thereof as is exchanged thither in Charity and good Works: to Faith the whole inventory of them is but a great cheat; the Riches are not the true ones; the Gold is not that tried in the fire; the Land doth not lie in the Country which Faith ſeeks after; there is nothing in them to feed or cloth, or enrich the inward man; and to hazard a God or a Soul for them, muſt needs be an infinite loſs. And what are the pleaſures of this World to Faith? In carnal Sins, they are but the titillations of ſenſe, in which the Rational faculties, were they not Spiritually incarnate and become fleſh, would have no touch of delight: In Spiritual Sins, they are but the falſe guſts of a vitiated Reaſon and Will, which if made right by Faith, find no congruity but in what is true and good, neither of which can be in a Sin: In both, momentany as they are, they periſh in the uſing, and die in the embraces; like the dead Son of the Emperour Baſilius Macedo, who being Magically preſented to his Father as alive, after a few touches and doting glances, diſappeared; ſo they go off, only they leave a ſting and a worm behind them in Conſcience; and the poor Voluptary, without repentance, muſt lie down in eternal ſorrow, a thought whereof is enough to imbitter all their ſweetneſs: And are Mundane glories any better in Faiths account? Honour is but a blaſt, a little popular air; Monarchies have their periods; Hiſtory gives us a proſpect of their vanity; and much more Faith, which tranſlates the Soul into the everlaſting Kingdom, and from thence looks on the Empires of the World as the chaff of the Summer-floor, rolling away with the wind of time. To a man up among the Stars, the whole Earth would be but as a ſmall thing, and ſuch are Crowns and Scepters to one converſing in Heaven; in the midſt of them a man may want true greatneſs; the Worlds Epiphanes may be but a vile perſon, a ſlave to his luſts, which is the greateſt ſervitude; at death he may, like Adrian, moan over his little Soul, and at Judgment cry out to the rocks and mountains to fall upon him, and cover him from the preſence of the Lord. But to proceed, and take Sin in another dreſs; let it come as a worldly Saviour, entertain it, and you ſhall be delivered from loſſes, reproaches, racks, perſecuting flames, and cruel deaths; it will not yet be eligible. Faith in the love of its eſpouſals, and upon the firſt contract received a whole Chriſt, Croſs and all, and ſo virtually and in purpoſe hath already ſwallowed down all perſecutions which go along with the Goſpel; and when the actual trial comes, Faith will not eſcape by iniquity, which is an evil tranſcendently greater than all the reſt, and whileſt it outwardly, temporally ſaves, inwardly, eternally deſtroys: To Faith there is no loſs like that of a Soul, no reproach like Sins turpitude; no racks like thoſe in Conſcience; no flames or deaths like thoſe in Hell: Which made thoſe tormented Worthies not accept deliverance, Heb. 11.35. Sin is meer Sin, totally, perfectly evil; but ſuffering for the Goſpel is not meer ſuffering: In temporal loſſes, there may be eternal gain; in reproaches, a ſpirit of glory; in outward racks, inward joys. In the Burning-buſh God may dwell; and death may open a door to life everlaſting. Hence come the famous Triumphs of Martyrs; the Apoſtle rejoyced that they were counted worthy to ſuffer ſhame for Chriſt, Act. 5.41: In the Original it is, foreign, That they were honoured to be diſhonoured for Chriſt. Others have ſtiled their Priſons a Paradiſe; and their Iron-Chains a goodly Neck-kercher; and at laſt have kiſſed the Stake, and thanked the Executioner, accounting Suffering the only eligible thing in the World. Thus Faith deſtroys all Sins eligibilities; and in ſo doing, as the Apoſtle ſpeaks, overcomes the World, which is the pureſt of Victories. The great ones, who captivated the World outwardly and martially, were themſelves captivated by it, in one luſt or other, Not unlike Amaziah, who ſubdued the Edomites, and was himſelf taken with their gods: But Faith, which overcomes inwardly and Spiritually, ſubdues the luſts themſelves.
Further, yet Faith doth not only ſtrike at the love of Sin, by deſtroying its eligibilities, but by ſurrendring the Heart to a better Object; whileſt the love and joy, and delight is in Sin, it lives as a body with a ſpirit in it; but when theſe are ſurrendred up to God and Chriſt, and Heavenly things, it becomes inanimate as a dead Carcaſe. This was notably deciphered in Chriſt crucified, the grand pattern of our Mortification; he was not only ſtript and nailed, but commending his Spirit to God be gave up the Ghoſt. Anſwerably in Mortification Sin is not only ſtript of its eligibilities, and nailed by reſtraints, but it dies away in the ſurrenders of Faith; by which the Soul Enoch-like is tranſlated into Heaven, and its affections are not here below to animate Sin. Were this ſurrender in perfection, Sin could not ſo much as be, as is evident in Chriſts Humane Nature, upon which no ſpot could fall, becauſe it ever was in perfect ſurrender to his Father. And proportionably, where it is but in truth only Sin is a-dying; becauſe the love and joy, whileſt in the raptures and triumphs of Faith, afford no quickning thereunto: hence the Apoſtle exhorts, Walk in the ſpirit, in the elevations of Faith and other Graces, and ye ſhall not fulfill the luſt of the fleſh, Gal. 5.16. Sin ſhall grow heartleſs, and be able to do little or nothing. Here we ſee how the dear intimate luſts come to die; they ceaſe to be dear as Faith turns the ſtream of the Heart; and give up the Ghoſt, as the love and the joy go out to God. It was Luthers method in Reformation, that firſt the Images were to be removed out of the minds of Men, and then all would ſuceed; and it is Faiths method in Mortification, by holy ſurrenders to ſever the Heart from its luſts, and ſo do the work. Moreover Faith caſts out the love of Sin by converſing in the holy Word; after which the Soul becomes pure and ſhining like Moſes face after he had been with God; converſing with the Law, it ſees a rectitude and pure ſplendor; and then to love Sin is to embrace crookedneſs and helliſh darkneſs; and withal it ſees wrath and vengeance threatned againſt tranſgreſſors: and then to love Sin is to take death and hell into our boſom. Converſing with the Goſpel, it hath ſuch a fair proſpect of Grace and Chriſt, as renders Sin the moſt ungrateful and unnatural thing in the World: Shall God give up his Son, his eternal joy to die upon a croſs; and a man, a worm, ſpare a luſt, a brat of his corrupt Heart? Shall Chriſt pour out his Blood and very Soul to expiate Sin, and a Believer, a redeemed one, fall in love with the Crucifier? Shall the holy Spirit come down and dwell in Man as his Temple; and he, who is ſo honoured, embrace that which is the only offence and grievance to ſuch a gueſt? Or ſhall the Kingdom of Heaven come down and offer it ſelf; and that, which is the only bar and obſtacle, be received? Surely a Believer with his eyes open will not do ſo; the more of converſe he hath with the Word, the leſs of the love of Sin. As Senſe, when it lies brooding on the Creature, inflames the love of Sin: So Faith, when it dwells on the Word, abates it; that Concupiſcence which at firſt crept in upon Eve in a ſlumber of Faith, while Senſe was doting on the fruit, muſt be driven out again by Faith, fixing on the Word, and ſoating above ſenſible things.
Thus far how Faith ſtrikes at the love of Sin.
Thirdly, Faith mortifies Sin by watching againſt all the occaſions and inducements thereof. The Jews were not to name the Idol-gods; the Nazarite was to abſtain from the very husk of the grape. Valentinian could not bear a little drop of Julians holy-water, accidentally ſprinkled on his garment without deteſtation. The Children of Samoſatane would not play with their Ball after the Aſs of the Heretical Biſhop Lucius had trod on it, but burnt it in the Market-place as unclean. Faith is nice and curious, it will not go in with ſuch a diſſembler, nor come nigh the door of ſuch an Harlot as Sin is; knowing that the Soul may ſoon be cheated and adulterated thereby. Apprehenſions of danger make men watch; and to Faith there is no danger like that of Sin: If the good man of the houſe had known when the thief would come, he would have watched, ſaith our Saviour, Mat. 24.43. Faith knows Sin to be a thief, and a murderer to the Soul; and therefore ſets guards within and without, that it may not creep in by the ports of Senſe, nor riſe up out of the deep of the Heart. Within there is a watch over the Thoughts, and without over the ſenſible Objects. And if a ſnare appear, Faith cries out, as the ſuffering Martyr did, when a Box with a Pardon in it was ſet before him, Away with it, as you love my Soul. During this watch Sin pines and famiſhes away as in a Spiritual ſiege; the common commerce between the Thoughts and the Objects fails, and with it thoſe proviſions which uſe to be made for the fleſh. Hence our Saviour would have his Diſciples, To watch and pray that they might not enter into temptation: Temptations will offer themſelves, but the watching Believer will not enter into them by a conſent.
Fourthly, Faith mortifies Sin by thoſe actings of Grace which it puts forth in the Believer. As Sin the more it is acted makes the fuller blot on the Soul; ſo Grace, the more it is acted leaves the purer tincture there: You have purified your Souls in obeying the truth, ſaith St. Peter, 1 Epiſt. 1.22. Every act of Grace or Obedience doth in its meaſure purifie from Sin. The righteous holds on his way, and ſo grows ſtronger and ſtronger, Job 17.9. The exerciſe of Grace renders the inner man more ſtrong and able to drive out Corruption; eſpecially when that Grace is acted, which beſides its purifying, ſtrengthening nature in common with other Graces, is contrary to the Sin which is to be mortified; and ſo proper and apt to expel it, as one contrary doth another. Hence Daniel counſels Nebuchadnezzar to break off his ſins by righteouſneſs and mercy, Dan. 4.27: his Sins being Oppreſſion and Cruelty, nothing was apter than Righteouſneſs & Mercy to break them off. And our Saviour when his Diſciples were fainting in the ſtorm, calls for their Faith: And when aſpiring after the Primacy, ſets a little child before them, as an emblem of Humility. Dying-Sardis he puts upon ſtrengthening the things which remain; and Nentral Laodicea upon Zeal, to give her a freſh warmth in Religion. Still the advice runs upon the contrary Grace; the more that is actuated, the more it roots and ſpreads in the Soul, and the leſs room and place is left there for the contrary Sin: Which I ſuppoſe was the reaſon why the Presbyter Sulpitius Severus, being guilty of too much Loquacity, ever after kept ſilence;Spondan. Annal. Ʋt peccatum, quod loquendo contraxerat, tacendo emendaret, as the Hiſtorian expreſſes it. 'Tis a Precept of the Philoſophers,Ariſt. Eth. lib. 2. c. 9. To obſerve what Vice we are moſt propenſe to, and then to bend our ſelves to the contrary extream, that we might come to the Virtue in the middle. Faith, though it dares not touch upon one contrary Sin to cure another, would caſt them both out by acting the contrary Grace.
Laſtly, Faith mortifies Sin in a way of dependence upon the Power and Spirit of God in and through Jeſus Chriſt. In the Covenant of Works, in which there was no Mediator, Man ſtood on his own bottom, and had all his ſtock in his own hands: But in the Covenant of Grace the Believer ſtands in the Power of God; and though he have a little Grace in himſelf, the main ſtock is above in a ſurer hand; his life is hid with Chriſt in God; there's the great treaſure out of which Faith fetches ſupplies of the Spirit for every good work; hence in Scripture he is ſaid, To love, live, pray, walk, mortifie in the ſpirit: If ye through the ſpirit do mortifie the deeds of the body, ye ſhall live, Rom. 8.13. He ſaith, through the Spirit, becauſe there is no other way of mortifying Sin; he that goes about this work in his own Power is but in a dream, he knows nothing of the life of Faith; as appears by that Antitheſis which the Prophet makes between the Soul lifted up, and the life of Faith, Hab. 2.4. Such an one holds not the head Jeſus Chriſt, no more than the worſhippers of Angels ſpoken of, Col. 2.18, 19. Whatever he may do theoretically, he doth it not practically; whileſt his fleſhly mind preſumes, that he can move about ſuch a work, though the Head in Heaven ſtir not, his Mortification muſt needs be weak and powerleſs; becauſe without Chriſt the wiſdom and power of God, he goes out againſt his luſts, as Samſon did againſt the Philiſtines, with his hair off; or, as the Iſraelites did againſt the Canaanites when the Lord was not among them, Numb. 14.32, inſtead of ſucceſs he meets with that curſe and blaſt, which lights upon all Chriſtlleſs perſons and actions: The moſt charitable Prayer that can be made for him is that of the Pſalmiſt, Fill their faces with ſhame, that they may ſeek thy name, O Lord, Pſal. 83.16. St. Auſtin long ſtruggled in his own ſtrength againſt his Corruptions, and all in vain; at laſt a voice told him, In te ſtas & non ſtas: Thou falleſt, O Auſtin, by ſtanding in thy ſelf. True Faith goes about this work in the Power and Spirit of Chriſt; as under the Old Teſtament, when Faith ſubdued outward Kingdoms, as the Apoſtle ſpeaks, Heb. 11.33, it was by the Spirit; the Spirit clothed upon Gideon, and he ſmote a mighty Hoſt of Midianites. The Spirit came upon Samſon, and he ſlew heaps upon heaps of the Philiſtines. So under the New, when Faith ſubdues the inward Kingdom of Sin, it is by the Spirit ſtrengthening the Believer to overcome it; the reign of Sin is broken, becauſe he is under Grace. Here we ſee how old ſtrong cuſtomary Sins, ſuch as are a ſecond nature in Men, come to be ſubdued; it would be an hard, nay almoſt impoſſible thing for a Moraliſt to unravel ſuch a Sin, meerly by contrary acts, and thoſe acts done by his own power, and that power emaſculated by a long tract of Sin: But Faith draws down an Almighty Power and Spirit to the work; that hyperbole of Power which raiſed up Chriſt from the dead, is towards the Believer, Epheſ. 1.19. That Spirit of life which is in Chriſt, makes him free from the law of ſin and death, Rom. 8.2, The bands of Sin can no more hold him than thoſe of Death could Chriſt, when the glory of the Father came to raiſe him up. In doing this great work Faith goes by theſe ſteps; firſt, Faith lays down this as a foundation, That there is Power enough in God to ſubdue Sin, or elſe he ſhould not be an Infinite God; and that Sin is capable of being ſubdued, or elſe it would be an Infinite Monſter. That Power which can dry up the Sea, or ſhake the Earth out of her place, or raiſe up the Dead out of the duſt, or annihilate the World in a moment, muſt be able to ſubdue Sin. In the Prophet it is but the turn of his hand, I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away they droſs, ſaith God, Iſa. 1.25. And which comes nearer to us, Faith is ſure, that this Power doth not ſtand off at a diſtance in the unapproachable Deity; but is made over to Chriſt, coming in the fleſh, He was anointed with the Holy Ghoſt and Power. The fulneſs of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily. And going up to Heaven, he ſate down at the right hand of Power, all things being put under his feet. And which yet is nearer, this Power is made over to Chriſt as truſtee and treaurer for his Church; his Unction is to run down upon all Believers: The fulneſs of the Godhead dwelt in him, that they might be filled with it. He ſits at the right hand of Power, that his enemies, among which Sin is a chief one, may be made his footſtool: All things are put under him, that he might be Head over all to the Church, letting down his vital influences and motions to it; his great deſign is, to make an end of Sin, and to diſſolve the works of the Devil. And now nothing remains to draw down this Power to the Believer, but the acting of Faith; as Faith goes up, Power comes down; all things are poſſible to the Believer, he can do all through Chriſt ſtrengthening him: It is but to look and be ſaved, believe and be eſtabliſhed, wait and renew ſtrength; hand upon Jeſus Chriſt, and he who was Immanuel, God with us in his Incarnation, will be Immanuel, God with us in ſuch ſufficient Grace as ſhall give us the victory over Sin; the ſucceſs is as ſure as the Spirit and Power of God can make it. When Chriſt was on Earth never any one came to him for bodily Cure, with a Faith that he was able to do it, but it was done for him. Now that he is in Heaven at the right hand of Power, ſuch as go in Faith for Spiritual Cures cannot miſcarry. What though the bloody iſſue of Sin have been long a-running? a touch upon Chriſt will heal. What if thou haſt lay'n rotting in thy Corruptions many years? believe and thou ſhalt ſee the glory of God raiſing thee up; a dependence on the Power and Spirit of Chriſt cannot fail of a victory over Sin. So vaſt is the difference between the ſtate of Adam in Innocency, and the ſtate of Believers in Chriſt; in him one Sin drove out a great ſtock of pure immaculate Grace in a moment, in them a little ſpark of Grace drives out a world of Sin; becauſe their Grace, which Adams did not, depends on the Power and Spirit of Chriſt for the victory. This is a moſt noble and purely Evangelical act of Faith, in which Man is abaſed in a continual dependence, and God exalted in a continual ſupply of Grace. However, ſome Divines, falſly ſo called, have laughed at the dependence of Faith as an idle lolling upon Chriſt; it is yet the only way in which the Spirit and Power of God communicates to our neceſſities, and does far more in the Chriſtians life than any thing elſe: Only we muſt remember, that this dependence is in the uſe of means; the Believer hears, reads, meditates, prays, works, and in all depends upon the Spirit to render them effectual.