Practical Discourses Volume 1, Discourse 9
1 JOHN III. 9.
Whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God.
FOR the right understanding of these Words, it will be necessary to enquire, first, what is here meant by committing Sin; secondly, what is meant by being born of God; thirdly, in what sense he that is born of God cannot commit sin.
First, what is here meant by committing sin? I answer, that this Phrase in the Writings of this our Apostle hath a special Energy, and doth not denote the simple doing of any sinful Action, tho' it be out of Ignorance, Incogitance, or Frailty; nor doth it only denote an habitual Course and Custom of sinning wilfully, but primarily the doing of any sinful Action whatsoever deliberately, wilfully, and presumptuously. For as for the first, it is not true that he that is born of God doth commit no sin at all; seeing the best of God's Children are liable to be surpriz'd into evil Actions through their Weakness, Ignorance, or Inadvertency, of all which, there are some Remains even in the most purified Natures. And as for the second, viz. the habit of sinning wilfully, tho' that in the Apostles Sense is not only to commit sin, but to commit it in the most eminent Degree; yet it is plain, that it is the deliberate Acts of Sin that he here primarily intends: for so Verse the 4th he that committeth sin transgresseth the Law, for Sin is a Transgression of the Law; which is plainly meant of every single Act of wilful Sin. So ver. 8. he that committeth sin is of the Devil, that is, he is therein an Imitator of the Devil, which is true of every deliberate Act; as well as of the Habit of Sin. So here in the Text, he that is born of God doth not commit sin; that is, understanding him still in the same Sense, he doth not commit any wilful and deliberate Act of Sin.
2. Our next Enquiry is, what is here meant by being born of God? To which I answer, that to be born of another, denotes in general our receiving the Beginning and Principle of our Life and Motion from him, and consequently to be born of God, is to receive from him through the Operation of his Grace and Spirit, the Beginning and Principle of our spiritual Life and Motion, viz. a considerate, universal, prevailing Resolution to obey God, proceeding from our Belief of the Christian Religion. When therefore God by the Influence of his Grace and Spirit hath wrought our Minds into such a Resolution, then are we truly born of him, as having herein received from him the Principle of a new Life and Motion. And this the Apostle expresses by being transformed by the renewing of our mind. Rom. 12. 2. i. e. having a new practical Judgment and Resolution of Soul begotten in us; and this he elsewhere calls the renewing of the holy Ghost Tit 3. 5. Upon which account we may very well be said to be born of God; because it is from his blessed Spirit that we derive this Renewing, which is the Principle of our spiritual Life and Motion.
Our last Enquiry is in what Sense this Assertion of the Apostle holds, viz. That he who is thus born of God cannot sin? To which I answer, That this Expression, he cannot, relates to the state he is now in; he cannot, as he is one that is born of God, and while he doth continue so; for so the Phrase is frequently used in Scripture. So Rom. 8. 7. The carnal mind cannot be subject to God; not but the Mind which is now carnal, may hereafter be subject unto God, viz. when it is renewed and changed: but it cannot be so while it continues carnal. And in the same Sense he tells us in the next Verse, that it cannot please God. So Matth. 7. 18. a good Tree cannot bring forth evil Fruit, neither can a corrupt Tree bring forth good Fruit; which can import no more than this, that whilst the good Tree continues good, it cannot bring forth evil Fruits, nor the corrupt Tree bring forth good Fruits whilst it continues corrupt; not but that one may hereafter become evil, and bring forth evil Fruits, as well as the other may become a good Tree, and bring forth good Fruits. So that the meaning of he cannot sin, is no more than this, it is so utterly inconsistent with the State of one that is born of God, to sin wilfully and deliberately, that when ever he doth so, he actually falls from that blessed State, and for the time ceases to be born of God. And hence the Reason assigned why a Man cannot sin wilfully, and be born of God at the same Time, is, for his Seed remaineth in him; that is, because that Principle of new Life and Motion, which the divine Spirit hath produced in him, and which is nothing else but an universal, prevailing Resolution of obeying God, remains within his Breast, and for a Man to be universally and prevalently resolved to obey God, and at the same Time to sin wilfully is a Contradiction in Terms; because whenever he sins wilfully, he is prevalently resolved to disobey him. And therefore seeing in every wilful Sin we are prevalently resolved to disobey God, while we are so, our Resolution to obey him, which is the Seed and Principle of our divine Life, must necessarily be extinguished; and consequently, till such time as by our Repentance we have revived and recovered it, we must cease to be born of God. He therefore who is born of God, cannot sin wilfully, because while he continues in this State his Seed remains in him; which is no more reconcilable to our sinning wilfully, than contraries are in the same Degree. And therefore he adds, he cannot sin, because he is born of God; that is, his State is such as will no more admit him wilfully to disobey God, than to be dead and alive in the same Moment. But in pursuance of this Argument, it will be necessary yet further to enquire what those wilful Sins are which the Apostle here declares to be inconsistent with a good State, or which is the same thing, with our being born of God; the Resolution of which is of absolute necessity to enable Men to make a true Judgment of their own State, whether it be good or bad. And in order hereunto it will be necessary to premise the following Particulars.
1. That by wilful Sin, I mean the Acts as well as the Habits of Sin.
2. That by wilful Habits of Sin, I mean such as are contracted by wilful Acts, and are wilfully retained and indulged.
3. That by wilful Acts of Sin, I do not mean all evil Actions which have any Degree of Will in them, but only such as are deliberately chosen.
4. That the same Actions may be Sins of Weakness, and Sins of Wilfulness in the same, or different Persons under different Circumstances.
1. That by wilful Sins, I mean the wilful Acts as well as Habits of Sin. To be sure there is no Sin can be consistent with our being born of God, for which the Gospel binds us over to eternal Condemnation; for while we thus stand bound, we are Children of Wrath, and so cannot be Children of God at the same time. Now the Law of Christ condemns us for all wilful Sins whatsoever, whether they be single Acts or Habits; and every single wilful Act is as much a Transgression of the Law, which threatens Condemnation, as any wilful Habit whatsoever. The Law, which forbids wilful Lying under the Penalty of eternal Death, doth as well forbid the single Act, as the Habit of wilful Lying, and therefore must forbid them both under the same Penalty; and indeed if it did not, there are some of the most heinous sins would escape. For there are some Sins which when Men have once committed, they never have Opportunity to repeat, being prevented either for want of a new Occasion. or by just Sentence of Law; such as Rape, and Theft, and Murther; and others, which can never pass beyond a single Act, such as Parricide and Self-murther; and so can never grow into an Habit: and yet I think there is no Man can doubt but that even the single Acts of these Sins (supposing them wilful) do put a Man into a state of Condemnation. I know it is usually said, that such horrible Sins as these indeed do so, because the Mischief of them is so great, and the Malice so heinous that it renders them equivalent to an Habit of any other Sin. To which I answer, the Law of Christ condemns these Sins, not as they are greater than others, but as they are Transgressions for which it threatens Condemnation. Indeed the greatness of the Sin doth increase the Condemnation; but yet the Law which condemns us for a lesser Sin, doth as certainly condemn us, as that which condemns us for a greater. As for Instance, the Law of Christ as well condemns us for Drunkenness, Adultery, Lying, and Malice, as for Murther. And as every wilful Act of unjust Killing, is Murther; so every wilful Act of Adultery and Malice, is Adultery and Malice; and therefore the Law of Christ condemns to far greater Pains for the one than for the others; yet still it condemns us for both: for that Law, which forbids any wilful Sin indifferently under the Penalty of Condemnation, forbids every Act of it under the same Penalty; because every Act of it is the Sin so forbidden; and therefore we may as well say, that the Law of Christ doth not condemn us for Parricide and Self-murther, because these are only single Acts of Murther, as that it doth not condemn us for any other single Act of any other wilful Sin. For every single Act of wilful Intemperance and Incontinency, are as truly Sins against the Law, which forbids them under the Penalty of eternal Condemnation, as those single Acts of Murther are against the Law which forbids Murther under the same Penalty; and consequently do as well put us into a State of Condemnation; and to be sure, while we are in this state, we cannot pretend to be born of God.
2. I premise that by wilful Habits of sin, are meant such as are contracted by wilful Acts, and are wilfully retained, and indulged. For if you take Habits of Sin in the largest Sense, as they signifie a forward Propensity, Promptness, and Readiness to do Evil, there is no doubt but there may be sinful Habits in Men, which never were contracted by wilful Acts, as on the contrary, there may be sinful Habits contracted by wilful Acts, which tho' not utterly extirpated, may yet cease to be wilful. As for instance, a Man may be prompted to unreasonable Anger, or excessive Lust, even from the natural Temper and Constitution of his Body, without the Concurrence of any wilful Acts of his own; and tho' he may be much more disposed to be angry or lustful than another of a cooler Constitution, yet he may be much farther removed from any wilful Habit of Anger and Lust, because the latter perhaps contracted them by his own wilful Acts, and by his repeated Practice of them, doth still cherish and indulge them; whereas the former had no more hand in contracting them, than he had in the moulding of of his own Constitution, and is so far from cherishing them by any wilful Acts of his own, that it is the main endeavour of his Life to oppose and vanquish them. And so on the other hand, a Man that by frequent wilful Acts of Sin, hath contracted wilful Habits, may afterwards heartily repent, and take up a prevailing Resolution of Amendment, and yet still the evil Habit, the Promptness, or Propensity to his Sin, may be more or less remaining in him; but this is now so far from being wilful, that the prevailing Bent and Current of his Will is against it; and tho' still his evil Inclinations are ready to take fire upon every Spark of Temptation that falls upon them, and to blaze out into evil Actions; yet by the Strength of his Resolution he so keeps it under, that it cannot break forth but upon a surprize, and even that Surprize will render him more watchful and vigilant to suppress it for the future. But now when evil Habits do not only exist in us, but are also cherished and indulged by us, and do ordinarily influence and govern our Practice; they are then not only wilful Sins, but a fixt and settled State of wilful Sin; and are pregnant with a distinct Guilt and Venom from those Acts of wilful Sin, that begot them. And hence in Scripture you find them markt with the blackest Characters; they are called, the Root of bitterness, the evil Heart, the Concupiscence wrought by Sin, the Law in the Members, which those who are carnal and sold under Sin do obey, the carnal Mind, the Flesh in which dwells no good, and enmity to God: by all which they are sufficiently pronounced inconsistent with our being born of God.
3. I must premise that by wilful Acts of Sin I do not mean all wilful Actions which have any Degree of Will in them, but only such as are deliberately chosen and consented to. Every sin is so far voluntary, as that when we choose it we are free to refuse it; otherwise it is necessary; and what is necessary, is no Fault, nor can be justly liable to Reward, or Punishment. Those evil Actions therefore, which, for Distinction sake, are called sins of Infirmity, are no farther Sins than as they are chosen, and have some Intermixture of Will in them; for if they have none, they have only the Matter of Sin in them, but not the Form. But we are seldom so surprized with any Temptation to Evil, but that it is possible for us to deliberate upon it, and thereupon to resolve against it; and many Times by our Care and Watchfulness we do prevent those Evils, which, when we are more remiss, do steal upon us unawares: and we that can prevent them this Moment, can prevent them the next too, and so the next, and so for ever. But then considering the Weakness and Imperfection of our Natures, how our Wills are byassed with bad Habits and Inclinations, and our Thoughts dispersed and squander'd among the infinite Diversions that surround us; it is morally impossible, that is, it is not reasonably to be expected that in these Circumstances we should be always upon our Guard against every evil Object without, and every evil Motion within us, so as never to be surprized, or to act unadvisedly. Whenever therefore we are so surprized into an evil Action, as that we could not consider if we would, either for Want of Time, or for Want of Order and Distinction in our Thoughts occasioned by some suddain Tumult of Passion; this is not our Fault, but our Infelicity; because our Will is no way concerned in it. But when we are so surprized, as that notwithstanding we might have considered, had we taken all due Care to recollect our selves and exert our utmost Attention; this is partly our Fault; because there is something of Will in it; but more our Infelicity, because there is more of Weakness and Infirmity than Will in it; and therefore is called a sin of Infirmity, which by the merciful Indulgence of the Gospel is discharged of Course from all eternal Penalties. But if when we are tempted, we either designedly omit to consider, or consent upon Consideration; this is pure Malice of Will, which, while we are born of God, can have no Place in us.
4. And lastly, I must premise, that the same Actions may be Sins of Weakness and Sins of Wilfulness in the same, or in different Persons under different Circumstances. For seeing it is the willing of an evil Action that makes it be a sin, it necessarily follows, that it is the willing of it in a greater or a lesser Degree that makes it a greater or a lesser Sin; and it is certain that the same sin may have more or less of Will in it in the same, or different Persons under different Circumstances. As for Instance; one Man may be excusably ignorant of the Evil of such an Action, which another doth either know to be a Sin, or would have known it had he not been wilfully ignorant; and that Sin, which this Man commits upon Deliberation, another may be hurried into on a suddain surprize, in which Case, tho' both do the same Act, and in some Sense both do it willingly too; yet because the one wills it more intensely than the other, it is a Sin of Wilfulness in the one, and a Sin of Infirmity in the other. And this holds true also in the same Person, who may do the same Action ignorantly and inconsiderately at one Time, and knowingly and advisedly at another; and if, when he hath fallen into any Sin unawares, he is wilfully careless and neglective to prevent the Return of it; that which now is a pitiable Weakness, and as such falls under the general Indulgence of the Gospel, will anon be inexcusable Obstinacy. From all which it is apparent, that is not the Kind of the Sin but the Will of the Sinner that makes the Difference between Sins of Weakness and Wilfulness; seeing the same Sins according to the different Degrees of Will that are in them may be Sins of Infirmity at one time, and Sins of Obstinacy at another. For so by the Law of England the same Act of Killing is distinguished into Chance-medly, Manslaughter, and Murther; the first of which is innocent, because it hath no Will in it; the second pitiable, because but imperfectly willed; the third capital, because freely chosen, and fully consented to. And so also by the Christian Law the very same Act under different Circumstances may be an innocent Error, a sin of Infirmity, and a sin of Wilfulness; for if it be perfectly involuntary, it is an innocent Error; if imperfectly willed, it is a sin of Infirmity; but if fully consented to, a sin of Wilfulness. So long therefore as the Temptations of Men are so infinitely various, and their Capacities of resisting so unequal, in different Persons, there will be more or less of Will in the same Actions; and the same Act will be far more excusable where there is a greater Temptation to it, and a less Power of resisting, then it can be, when the Temptation is less, and the Power of resisting it greater. All that can be done therefore in the Case before us is this, to lay down such general Rules of Distinction between Sins of Infir-mity, and Sins of Wilfulness, as that thereby every Man, that hath the free Use of his own Faculties may, upon a due Consideration of his Particular Circumstances, distinguish whether his Sin be wilful or no. For when all is done every Man must thus far be his own Casuist; it being impossible for another to determine what Degrees of Will there are in his Sin, unless he knew under what Circumstances he committed it; because different Circumstances do vary the Case, and make the Sin to be more or less voluntary.
These Things premised, I come now particularly to state what those Sins are, upon the Commission of which we cease to be born of God: and these I shall rank under 3 Heads: 1. Sins of wilful Ignorance. 2. Sins of wilful Inconsideration. 3. Sins against Knowledge and Consideration.
1. Sins of wilful Ignorance; I say wilful, to exclude all invincible and unaffected Ignorance: By invincible Ignorance I mean such, as we neither do nor can surmount by the utmost Improvement we can make of our Reason. For sure not to understand, what we cannot understand, is not all criminal; and if our Ignorance be innocent, whatever is the necessary Effect of it must be so too; all necessary Effects being of a common Nature with their Causes. And certainly no Man breathing can be innocent, if he be not so who acts to the best of his Knowledge, and knows to the best of his Capacity For so our Saviour himself pronounces concerning the Pharisees; If ye were blind ye should have no sin, but now you say that you see, therefore your sin remains, John 9. 4.
By unffected Ignorance I mean such as is vincible, but by Reason of some innocent Hindrances, such as the Obscurity of the Object, or the Weakness of the Capacity, or the innocent Prejudice and Prepossession of the Understanding, is not to be removed without extreme Difficulty; which tho' it be so far sinful, as it is within the Reach of our Power to be better informed; yet is by no Means to be accounted a wilful Sin. For if it be wilful Sin not to know and do the Will of God to the utmost of our Power, there is no Sin in the World but what is wilful; because it is no Sin at all not to do more than our utmost. But then there is a wilful and affected Ignorance, which proceeds either from our prophane Contempt and Regardlessness of God, by which we have so far extinguished our natural Sense of Religion, as not to think it worth the while to concern our selves about it, and so rudely stop our Ears against all the Means of Instruction; or else this wilful Ignorance arises from some sinful Prejudice against the Knowledge of the Truth begotten in us by some darling Lust, which, that we may quietly enjoy without any Remorse of Conscience, we industriously shun all the Means of Conviction; and either exclude all Thoughts of Religion from our Minds lest they should discover to us the Evil and Danger of our Sin, (which is the way of those who are openly prophane, and irreligious;) or indeavour to wheadle our own Understandings to such false Opinions as are soft and easy and indulgent to our Lusts, (which is the way of Hypocrites and false Pretenders to Religion.) Now as for this Sort of Ignorance, it springs from a wicked Will. and is not so much to be imputed to the Weakness of our Understandings, as to the Depravedness of our Affections; they are the impure Vapours from below that cloud the Sky above, and overcast the intellectual Region with Darkness and Confusion. And if we are ignorant of our Duty, because we will not be informed; our Ignorance is so far from excusing our Neglect of it, that it self is inexcusable. If I commit a Sin, because I am wilfully ignorant, the Wilfulness of my Ignorance makes my Sin to be wilful. Here the Effect always partakes of the Nature of the Cause, and derives into its self all its Venom and Malignity; and therefore if my Ignorance be a wilful Sin, whatever Sins it betrays me into, they must be all wilful as well as that. And hence our Saviour tells us, that this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, John 3. 19.
2. Another Sort of wilful Sins are Sins of wilful Inconsideration. I say wilful, because there are sundry Evils whereinto we are perfectly surprized; as when Temptations start out so suddainly upon us, as that either for Want of Time, or the great Hurry and Tumult it puts our Thoughts into, it is not in our Power to consider and deliberate; in which Case we are not capable Subjects of Law and Morality. For that which makes us capable Subjects is first, that we are rational Agents, and so can deliberate what is best to choose. 2. That we are free Agents, and so can choose what is best upon Deliberation; without which Madmen and natural Fools are as capable Subjects of Law as we. Whenever therefore our Circumstances are such that we cannot deliberate, and choose upon Deliberation, tho' the Actions we do are materially Evils, yet are they not formally Sins; because while we do them we are not capable Subjects of the Law that forbids them, nor consequently accountable to it. As for Instance; it is doubtless a great Sin and deserves a great Punishment, for a Man to wound his Friend, or abuse his Benefactor; but yet in a Madman it is no Sin at all, because when he doth it, he is incapable of being governed by the Law that forbids it. And this I judge is the Case of Men under perfect surprizes, when they are violently hurried into evil Actions in a suddain Distraction and Confusion of Thoughts; which doubtless may sometimes be the Case of very good Men, especially under great Pains, or the suddain Appearance of frightful Dangers, which for the present at least may distract and scare them out of all Capacity and Deliberation; and at other Times, while their Thoughts are innocently wandring among the vast Variety of outward Objects, a Temptation may suddainly break in, and prevail upon them before they have Time to recollect themselves. For we find by Experience, that the Mind hath not that absolute Dominion over the Will as to make it choose or refuse at its beck upon the bare Proposal of good or evil Objects; but many Times before it can prevail is fain to dispute it out with our Passions and Appetites, and to oppose their Importunities with more prevalent Motives to the contrary; and therefore if it should so fall out that in that Moment when the Temptation comes, the Mind should be very much diverted by other Imployments, it is in many Cases morally impossible, but Passion and Appetite should prevail, and obtain our. Consent before the Mind is aware of it; because that being at present otherwise imployed; and always unable to attend many Things at once, it cannot be ready in the present Exigence immediately to urge the Arguments on its own side, and to detect the Fallacies on the other. Tho' this I confess, will hardly hold in any gross Acts of Sin, because in these there is generally some Pause and Interval between the Temptation and the Action, wherein the Mind may easily be advised with, which if it be a good Mind cannot fail to suggest sufficient Arguments against it: But if the Temptation doth so hurry the Man, as that he cannot deliberate, he is so far innocent; and if as soon as he considers he retracts the evil Consent into which his Will was surprized, before it passes into Action; or if having acted it, before he was aware, he becomes more wary and watchful for the future, it is not so much his Fault as his Misery. 'Tis true, there are surprizes of Temptation which are not innocent; but then the Reason is, because they are not pure surprizes, but such as do not incapacitate us to deliberate; and if when it is in our Power we either do not deliberate at all, or not enough, but make a rash and foolish Choice, when, if we had used our utmost Care, we might have chosen more advisedly; our Choice is culpable, and so is the Action thence proceeding. But seeing ours is the Religion of Men and not of Angels, and it cannot reasonably be expected, considering our Circumstances, that we should always do as well as possibly we can, it is to be supposed that this Religion of ours, which is purposely accommodated to our imperfect State, admits us to be good in the Main, tho' we are not so to Perfection, or which is the same Thing, to the utmost of our Possibility. For while our Soul is fain to minister to a Body, and hath so quick a sense of its Necessities, and while we are incompassed with so vast a Variety of tempting Objects, and our Thoughts are so dispersed and squandred among them; it is morally impossible, but that many of our Actions should be unadvised, and pass our Watch without a severe Examination: nor can it reasonably be expected, that we should in all Cases, where it is in our Power, so precisely weigh every minute Circumstance of our Actions, as to determine exactly on which side our duty lies: and therefore should our Religion exact this of us without any Mitigation or Abatement, I doubt that even the best of Men would never be able to abide the Test of it. But then besides this Kind of Inconsideration, which is either purely involuntary, and by consequence innocent, or but partly voluntary, and so excusable; there is another Sort of it, which is absolutely and inexcusably wilful. And This is twofold, viz. actual and habitual. Actual is either when, notwithstanding we have been sufficiently forewarned by precedent Surprizes, we are wilfully neglective of our selves, and take no Care to fortify our Minds by Consideration against them in Case they should return again upon us; or when upon the Appearance of a prevailing Temptation we either quench the good Motions of our own Consciences, and refuse to consider the Evil and Danger of the Sin we are tempted to, lest we should be deterred from committing it; or purposely contrive to baffle our own Consideration, and to render it ineffectual by opposing against it either some ungrounded Hope of Impunity, or some fallacious Promise of future Amendment. In all which Cases our Inconsideration is apparently wilful, and so consequently must the Sins be, which follow upon it; and he who pleads his own wilful Inconsideration as an Excuse for his Sin, doth only Apologize for one Fault by another, which instead of extenuating inflames and aggravates it. And then as for habitual Inconsideration it is the Effect of our frequent stifling the Convictions of our own Consciences, whereby we fear them into a deep Insensibility of Good and Evil, so as that at last we Sin on without Remorse, and return to our Lusts with a perfect Indifferency without ever considering what we do, or reflecting upon what we have done. Now as it is no Excuse for our Sin if it proceeds from a sinful Habit contracted by frequent Acts of wilful Sin, so neither will it excuse our Sin that it proceeds from an habitual Inconsideration contracted by often refusing to consider. And as vicious Habits have a proper Evil and Guiltiness in them distinct from those vicious Acts that produced them, so habitual Inconsideration hath in it a peculiar Venom of its own beyond what was in those wilful Acts of Inconsideration whereby it was contracted. And accordingly in Scripture it is described as the most desperate State of Sinners: it is to be past feeling, which was the Condition of the leudest and most irreclaimable Gentiles, Eph. 4. 19. it is to have a seared conscience, the Character of Sinners under the last Apostacy, 1 Tim. 4. 2. it is to have a reprobate mind, which was the Cause and Effect of the foulest Gentile Impieties, 1 Rom. 28, 29. In a word it is to have a hard, and unrelenting Heart, by which Men are said to treasure up wrath against the day of wrath, Rom. 2. 5.
3. And lastly, another Sort of wilful Sins are such as are wilfully committed against Knowledge and Consideration. I say again wilfully, to exclude those known Evils, which either we do not all consent to, or very imperfectly. For it is a known Evil for a Man to rove in his Devotions, or to think blasphemous Thoughts of God, or to be drowsy and liftless in our Addresses to him; and yet many times these are the necessary Effects even of innecent Causes, such as Melancholy, or Weariness, or antecedent Thoughtfulness; and therefore tho' they are evil in the Matter, yet because they necessarily proceed from such Causes as are not evil, we are no more accountable for them than for the Returns of our Appetite, or the Palpitation of our Heart: and if we do not indulge our Drowsiness, nor harbour and entertain our evil Thoughts, but throw them out of our Minds as soon as we observe them, and keep a more careful Watch to prevent their Return, our Will is innocent, and so long we may be sure God will not condemn us for our Weakness. Again, it is a known Evil for a Man to be angry without a Cause, or to have an unchast Desire, or to love, or hate, or hope, or fear, or rejoyce, or grieve unreasonably; yet these Evils are such as no Care can wholly prevent, and against which no Warchfulness is a sufficient Guard. And tho' in many of these Instances there be many times so much of our Will intermingled as to render us culpable, yet this is not sufficient to extinguish the Principle of our Regeneration, or to degrade us into a State of Wickedness. But when a Man knows that such an Action is evil, and either actually considers that it is so, or neglects to consider it through habitual Inconsideration, and thereupon actually consents to it; he doth hereby openly defy God, and maliciously trample upon his Authority, being desperately resolved to pursue his sinful Desire let God and his Conscience say what they can to the contrary; which is such an Height of wilful Malice as no Apology can extenuate. Hence our Saviour pronounces that the servant that knows his Masters will, and doth it not shall be beaten with many stripes, Luke 12. 47. And accordingly St. Iames tells us, that he that knows to do good, and doth it not, to him it is sin; that is, 'tis a very great and inexcusable Sin, Iames 4. 17. and St. Paul assures us that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; that is, who know the Truth, and yet wilfully sin against their Knowledge, Rom. 1. 18. and to name no more Heb. 10. 26. we are told, that if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sin; which Words are to be understood according to the general Analogy of the Gospel [if we sin wilfully] i. e. if we are deliberately guilty of any known Sin [after we have received the knowledge of the truth] i. e. have been chatechized and baptized in the Christian Faith [there remains no mere sacrifice for sin] i. e. unless we recover our selves by Repentance, and Amendment of the Fact. And seeing that where we sin wilfully the Vertue of the great Sacrifice for Sin hath no Place without a special and particular Repentance, and consequently there is no other Remedy left for us in the Gospel, all that remains is what follows in the next verse, viz. a certain fearful looking for of Iudgment, and fiery indignation to devour the adversary. From whence it follows that upon our sinning knowingly and wilfully in any particular Instance, we fall into a State of Wrath and Condemnation, and consequently fall from the happy State of our Regeneration, or being born of God.
And now to conclude this Argument, from the whole I infer the horrible Evil of consenting to any known Sin, after we have entered into good Resolutions to the contrary; which will plainly appear upon the following Considerations.
1. Consider the shameful Weakness and Impotency of it. For such Resolutions, if they are well formed, are grounded on the strongest and most momentous Reasons in the world; and for a Man to Cancel a Resolution inforced with such powerful Motives for a meer Vanity, or to gratify some foolish and importunate Lust, the Pleasure of which dyes away in the Enjoyment, argues him to have a base and prostitute Mind, that hath no Strength of Thought, or stedfastness of Will in it, but is whiffled up and down like a Feather in the Air by every little Counterblast of Wind.
2. Consider the prodigious Hazard to which we expose our selves by it. For by every wilful Sin after such a Resolution we throw our selves headlong from the best into the worst Estate in the world, from a State of Love into a State of Wrath, from being born of God to being a Son of perdition; and if we thence be snatched away, before we have recovered our Relapse, (as who knows but we may,) we shall dye for ever, and by one desperate Act of Folly fall from Heaven into Hell. But suppose we should survive our Sin, and be allowed a space of Repentance; yet is it a mighty Hazard whether ever we make a good Use of it. For when by one wilful Sin we have made a Breach into our good Resolution, in all probability that will open a Gap for another to follow, and that for another, till hereby our evil Habits at last recover their full Power, and then our Will and Practice will be laid open again into a common Thoroughfare of Iniquity. For when we consented to the first Sin it was with a Promise of repenting immediately, and upon the same Promise in all probability upon the next Temptation we shall consent to a second, and so to a third; and by this Train the Devil will tole us on through a long Course of Sin, till at length our Will is depraved again, and our Conscience seared, and then we shall lay aside all Thoughts of Repentance.
3. Consider the great Sorrow and Remorse that must follow upon our Sin, in Case we should repent of it. For to be sure before we can heartily repent of it, our Mind must be stung with many severe Reflections upon our own wretched Weakness and Impotence, and our Falseness and Perfidiousness to our own Ingagements and Resolutions, upon the Affront we have given to our good God, and the vile Contempt we have offer'd to his most righteous Authority, and our ungrateful grieving his holy Spirit, whereby, before we committed this Wickedness, we were sealed unto the day of Redemption: all which if we have any thing of good Nature and Ingenuity, and much more if we have any the least Foot-step or Remains of that divine Seed, by which we were born of God, must necessarily create in us a most pungent Sorrow and Remorse, whenever we reflect upon it; a Sorrow that will be much more than equivalent to the highest Pleasure we can hope for from any wilful Sin: and for a Man to commit such a Sin upon a Presumption that he shall repent of it, when he cannot but foresee, if he be in his Wits, that his Repentance will cost him far more sorrow than his sin will yield him Pleasure, is all Folly and Madness.
4. Consider how much of that Ground we lose back by every wilful Sin which by hitherto keeping true to our good Resolution we had gotten against our evil Inclinations. Our Religion can never be easy to us till in some good Measure we have mortified and extinguished our depraved Inclinations; for till then in the whole Course of our Religious Practice we shall row against the Stream, and be continually warring against and doing Violence to our selves. But if when a Man hath once entered into a good Resolution he takes care to pursue it, he will find by degrees his bad Inclinations decay and wear off; and proportionably, as they decay, Piety and Vertue will grow more and more natural and easy to him. But when a Man hath for some time faithfully pursued his good Resolution, and hath thereby got a great deal of Ground of his bad Inclinations, if then he unravels it by any one wilful Act of Sin, his bad Inclinations will thereby recover all those Degrees of Strength and Vigour which they lost in the past Course of his Piety and Vertue; so that now he must be forced to begin the whole Work of his Religion again, and to struggle through all those Difficulties, which he had before surmounted. Now he must fight over again all the Victories he had gotten, before he can regain that Command and Empire of himself, to which he was arrived before he revolted from his good Resolution; and thus for a Moments Satisfaction he foolishly creates himself a long and tedious Labour.
5. And lastly consider how by every wilful Sin you will weaken and impair those comfortable Hopes you had arrived to by persevering in your good Resolution. While you persevere in Well-doing, your Minds will be all a long entertained and refreshed with the growing Hopes of your Reconciliation with God at present, and of a glorious Immortality to succeed; and those blessed Hopes will every Day improve upon your Hands, till at length they are ripened into a full Assurance; the Comfort of which will mightily spirit and inliven all your Religious Endeavours, and carry you on with indefatigable Vigour through all the weary Stages of your Duty. But now by committing of any wilful Sin, thereby you throw your selves out of the Arms of God's Favour, and give up all your Pretensions to eternal Happiness; and tho' by your serious Repentance you should afterwards recover to the blessed Condition from whence you are fallen, yet in all Probability it will be a great while before you will be able to recover those blessed Hopes from whence you are fallen. For the Sense of your past Lapse, if you have any Modesty in you, will make you very anxious and doubtful of your selves and render you extremely fearful and suspicious, lest you should fall again; and so only sin and repent, and repent and sin on, 'till at length you have sinned your selves beyond all Repentance; and these very just Fears and Jealousies will very much hinder the Growth of your Hopes, and cause them to spring by slow and insensible Degrees.