The Doctrine and Practice of Mortification, Chapter 17
CAP. XVII. Certaine ſignes of a dying man.
2 I Come now to ſhew unto you certaine ſignes of a dying man, whereby you may ſee whether that you be in ſuch a caſe, yea or no; it would be in vaine to ſhew you ſignes of a dead man, for as much as there is no perfection of death of ſinne in our ſoules; as there is no perfection of grace, ſo neither is there (as we have formerly ſhewed) perfection of mortification;1 Cor. 13. onelyonly as hath beene ſhewed we are daily a dying, but not fully dead.
1. A man is ſaid to be a dying man when his ſtomacke failes, when he hath no appetite to his foode; when wee have no ſtomacke to ſinne, no apetite after it, when wee feele no ſuch ſweetneſſe in it as we have done, when we eſteeme the profits and pleaſures of finne as an empty veſſell; in one word, when all of them are bitter unto us, and taſtleſſe in reſpect of what they have beene to us before time:2 Sam. 19.35. as old Barzillai ſaid to David, can thy ſervant taſte what Teate or what I drinke; can I heare any more the voyce of ſinging men or ſinging women, verſ. 37.&c. Let mee turne backe that I may dye, &c. Juſt thus it is when a man feele… his affection off from his ſinne, that he can neither reliſh their ſweernes, nor be allured with their pleaſant ſongs, to bee drawne backe unto them: againe, it is a good evidence that ſinne is a dying, and declining in him, I deny not but time may weare out our appetite unto ſome ſins as an old man, that hath beene given in his youth to luſt and voluptuouſneſſe, may leave them, but yet he liveth ſtill in ſome other ſinne which is equivalent, and as dangerous to his ſoule; yea, and when his naturall apetite is taken away, ye… his ſinfull appe…ite may remaine, ſo that when a man wants ſtrength to ſinne, yet may he have a minde to ſinne, and wiſh that he were young againe that he might ſinne. Whereas, were ſinne mortified, theſe ſinfull affections would …ye ſooner then our naturall.
2. A man is then a dying man when he is a burden to himſelfe, whereas hee is not able to beare his owne weight; when you ſee a man hardly able to goe on his legges, you ſay that unleſſe he doe recover againe he is not like to continue long; ſo ſay I, inregard of ſinne, then when you ſee a man that feeles and findes ſin to be ſuch a burden, as hee is not able to beare, but groanes under the burden of it; that aſſuredly then ſinne is a dying;Rom. 8.23. well may ſinne mak us groane and buckle under it, when it makes the whole creation groane; nay, that which is ſo heavie a burden, as the Lord that made heaven and earth, and beares them up by his owne power, and never complaines of the burden of them, Complaines of this, behold I am preſſed downe under you, Amos 2.13.as a cart is preſſed that is full of ſheaves: you therefore that feele your ſinnes to be no burden, but can carry your ſinnes away with you as eaſily as Sampſon carried the gates of Gaza upon his ſhoulders;Judg: 16.3. it is an argumēt that you are Sampſon-like in your ſin…, ſinne doth abide in you in its full ſtrength, if ſome man ſhall ſay, I hope I ſhall doe well then, for I finde ſinne a heavie burden; but I would aske him this queſtion then, whether doe you finde ſinne a burden in regard of it ſelfe, or in regard of ſome circumſtance that doth depend upon it; as namely, the wrath of God, or the ſhame and diſgrace that you may have among men by it: if that ſinne be the burden, then your caſe is good, if not, then may you ſuſpect your ſelves to be unſound; as ſuppoſe a man that hath a certaine quantity of ſpunge on his backe, which he carrieth lightly away, but now this man travelleth all a ſore rainy day which doth ſo fill the ſpunge with water, that his burden that was light before, now becomes intolerable; ſo it is in this caſe, it is not the weight of ſinne that troubles them, they carry it roundly away; but now that which troubles them, is thoſe ſhowers of wrath from Heaven, and that ſhame and contempt that they receive from men, that makes them to cry out as Kain did, my puniſhment i… greater then I can beare, wher as the penalty that is annexed unto ſinne, were the ſinne removed moved off to a mortified man it would ſeeme light and little,
3. A man may then be ſaid to be a dying man when as his diſeaſe prevailes upon him, ſo as he hath leſſe power to reſiſt it, every day then other: ſo likewiſe when that ſinne decayeth and doth languiſh away in us, and grace doth ſo prevaile and get the upper hand, as that corruption and ſinne is not able to ſtand againſt it, as it hath done; the underſtanding is ſo farre convinced by the cleare light that ſhines into it, that it is not able to ſtand nor ſhift any longer, but it is beaten off from all thoſe falſe reaſonings,Prox. 3.5. ſecret turnings, and cunning equivocations, ſo as a man dares not any longer reſt on it; the will is alſo fairely perſwaded, and will reſiſt the holy Ghoſt no longer, but yeelds up the hould unto Chriſt, and ſaith, Lord, not my will, but thy will be done.
Hence commeth a generall mortification of the affections and luſts;Gal. 5.24. by affections underſtand thoſe inordinate affections which beare ſway in the hearts of men; as immoderate anger, griefe, alſo pride, unnaturall affections; and by luſts, all inſatiable deſires after the things of this life, they are now all crucified, ſo as they will yeeld no more blind obedience, either to ſinne or Sathan, ſo as grace hath drawn the ſtrength of the ſoule unto it, and cutteth off that wherein the great ſtrength of corruption lay.
It is reported Cyrus finding the City of Babylon impregnable, and almoſt impoſſible to be taken by land, by reaſon of a great wall that did compaſſe it on the one ſide, and finding the river Ephrates to hemme it in on the other ſide, cauſed his ſouldiers to cut the river into many channels, and to divert it another way, and ſo ſurprized the City, and ſubdued it; juſt thus it is when we ſhall divert thoſe noble faculties of the ſoul another way; namely from taking part with ſin, to take part with God, it will not then be hard to mortifie and ſubdue our corruptions; if it ſhall be ſaid, then how commeth it to paſſe then that men after that they be grown Chriſtians that they fall into ſuch ſinnes: I anſwer, it is not becauſe ſinne is ſtronger but either by reaſon of their ſlothfulneſſe or ſpirituall pride, or elſe by violence of ſomething which may befall them while they reſting, careleſſe, and ſecure are ſupprized and overtaken, which howſoever there be neither want of ſtrength, nor weaknes of Grace; yet for want of watchfulneſſe this may befall a good man, as it did David and Peter; yet let me adde this one thing, that is, that this in the event turnes to a greater good, and for the time to come, to make us more carefull to gird our armour about us, and more watchfull that we ſinne no more; the burnt childe (as it is in the Proverbe) dreads the fire: ſo will a Chriſtian that hath been once ſcorched by ſuch a temptation.