19 A godly man doth not indulge himself in any sin.1 Though sin lives in him, yet he doth not live in sin. Every man that hath wine in him, is not in wine. A godly man may step into sin through infirmity, but hee […] not keep the road, Psal. 139. 24. See if there bee any way of wickedness in mee.
Quest. What is it to indulge sin?
Answ. 1 To give the breast to it, and feed it; as a fond Parent humours his childe, and lets him have what he will, so to indulge sin, is to humour sin.
2 To indulge sin, is to commit it with delight, 1 Thess. 2. 12. They have pleasure in unrighteousness.
In this sense a godly man doth not indulge sin; though sin be in him, hee is troubled at it, and would fain get rid of it; there is as much difference between sin in the wicked, and the godly, as between poyson being in a Serpent, and in a Man; Poyson in a Serpent, is in its natural place, and is delightful: But poyson in a mans body is offensive, and hee useth Antidotes to expel it. So sin in a wicked man is delightful, being in its natural place, but sin in a childe of God is burdensome, and he useth all means to expell it. This pares off from the sin; the will is against it. A godly man enters his protest against sin, Rom. 7. 15. What I do, I allow not. A childe of God while he commits sin, hates the sin he2 commits; Rom. 7. in particular, there are four sorts of sins which a godly man will not allow himself in.
1 Secret sins, Some are more modest than to commit gross sin, that would be a stain to their reputation, but they will sit brooding upon sin in a corner, 1 Sam. 23. 9. Saul secretly practised mischief. All will not sin in a Belcony, but perhaps they will sin behind the curtain. Rachel did not carry her fathers Images as a Sumpter-cloath, to be exposed to publick view, but she put them under her, and sate upon them, Gen. 31. 34. many carry their sins secretly, as a candle in a dark lanthorn.
But a godly man dares not sin secretly: 1 he knows that God sees in secret, Psal. 44. 21. as God cannot be deceived by our subtilty, so he cannot be excluded by our secresy.
2 A godly man knows that secret sins are in some sense worse than others: they discover more guile and Atheism; The Curtain-sinner makes himself beleeve God doth not see, Ezek. 8. 12. Son of man, hast thou seen what the Antients of the house of Israel have done in the dark; for they say, the Lord seeth us not. They that have bad eyes, think the Sun is dim; how doth this provoke God, that mens Atheisme should give the lye to his Omnisciency, Psal. 94. 9. He that formed the eye, shall he not (Cyril) see?
3 A godly man knows that secret sins shal not escape Gods Justice; a Judge on the Bench can punish no offence but what is proved by Witness; he cannot punish the Treason of the heart: but the sins of the heart are as visible to God, as if they were written upon the fore-head. As God will reward secret duties, so he will revenge secret sins.
2 A godly man will not allow himself in gainful sins. Gain is the golden bait, with which Satan fisheth for souls. —dulcis odor lucri—
This was the last temptation hee used to Christ, Mat. 4. 9. All this will I give thee. But Christ saw the hook under the bait. Many who have escaped gross sins, yet are caught in a golden Net: To gain the world, they will use indirect courses. A godly man dares not travel for riches thorow the Devils high-way. Those are sad gains, that make a man lose peace of conscience, and heaven at last. He who getteth an estate by injustice, stuffs his pillow with thorns, and his head will lye very uneasie when he comes to dye.
3 A godly man will not allow himself in a beloved sin; there is usually one sin that is the3 favorite, the sin which the heart is most fond of: A beloved Sin lies in a mans bosome, as the Disciple, whom Iesus loved, leaned on his bosome, Ioh. 13. 23. A godly man will not indulge a darling sin, Psa. 18. 23. I have kept my self from mine iniquity. The Sin of my constitution, to which the byas of my heart doth more naturally incline, 1 Kings 22. 31. Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the King: a godly man fights with this King-sin. The Oracle of Apollo answered the people of Cyrrha, that if they would live in peace among themselves, they must make continual war with those strangers, which were upon their confines. If wee would have peace in our souls, wee must maintain a war against our complexion-sin, and never leave till it be (Thucid) subdued.