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.
Quest. How shall we know the beloved sin?
Answ. 1 That sin which a man doth not love to have reproved, is the darling Sin. Herod could not endure to have his incest spoken against; if the Prophet medles with that sin, it shall cost him his head: men can be content to have other sins declaimed against, but if the Minister put his finger upon the sore, and toucheth this sin, their hearts begin to burn in malice against him; a shrewd sign, that is the Herodias.
2 That sin the thoughts run most upon, is the darling sin; which way the thoughts go, the heart goes; he that is in love with a person, cannot keep his thoughts off the object; examine what sin runs most in your minde, what sin is first in your thoughts, and salutes you in the morning, that is the praedominant […].
3 That sin which hath most power over us, and doth most easily lead us captive, that is the beloved of the soul; there are some sins a man can make better resistance against; if they come for entertainment, he can more easily put them off; but there is one sin, if that comes to be a suitor, hee cannot deny it, but is overcome by it, this is the bosome sin. The young man in the Gospel, had given a repulse to many sins, but there was one sin foiled him, that was covetousness: Christians, mark what sins you are soonest led captive by, that is the Harlot in your bosome. ‘Tis a sad thing that a man should bee so bewitched by lust, that if it ask to part with, not only half the Kingdome, (Esth. 7. 2) but the whole Kingdome of heaven, hee must part with it, to gratifie that lust.
4 That sin which men use arguments to defend, is the beloved sin; he that hath a jewel in his bosome, will defend it as his life; so when there is any sin in the bosome, men will defend it; the sin we are advocates and disputants for, is the complexion-sin; if the sin be passion, and we plead for it, Io[…]. 4. 9. I do well to be angry: if the sin be covetousness, and we vindicate it, and perhaps wrest Scripture to justifie it, that is the sin which lies neerest the heart.
-
That sin which doth most trouble us, and flies most in our face in an hour of sickness and distress, that is the Dalilah-sin: When Iosephs Brethren were distressed, their sin came to remembrance, in selling their Brother, Gen. 42. 21. We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of our brother when he be sought us, and we would not hear, therefore is this distress come upon us. So, when a man is upon his Sick-bed, and Conscience shall say, thou hast been guilty of such a sin, thou didst go on in it, and roul it as honey under thy tongue, Conscience reads a sad Lecture, sure that was the beloved sin.
-
That sin which a man doth most hardly let go his hold of, is the endeared sin: Iacob could of all his sons most hardly part with Benjamin, Gen. 42. 36. Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: So saith the sinner, this and that sin I have parted with, but must Benjamin go, must I part with this delightful sin, that goes to the heart· As it is with a Castle that hath several Forts about it, the first and second Fort are taken, but when it comes to the Castle· the Governour will rather fight and die than yield that: So a man may suffer some of his sins to be demolished, but when it comes to one sin, that is the taking of the Castle, he will never yield to part with that; surely, that is the Master-sin.
The complexion-sin is a God-provoking sin. The wise men of Troy counselled Priame to send back Helena to the Grecians, not suffering himself to be any longer abused by the Charms of her beauty, because the keeping her within the City, would lay the foundation of a fatal war: So should we put away our Dalilah-sin, least it incense the God of heaven, and make him commence a war against us.
The complexion-sin is of all other most dangerous: As Sampsons strength lay in his hair, so the strength of sin lies in this beloved sin: This is like an humour striking to the heart, which brings death. A godly man will lay the Axe of Repentance to this sin, and hew it down; he sets this sin, as Uriah, in the fore-front of the battel, that it may be slain: He will sacrifice this Isaack, he will pluck out this right eye, that he may see the better to go to heaven.
- A godly man will not allow himself in those which the world counts lesser sins: There is no such thing as little sin, yet some may be deemed less comparatively; but a good man will not indulge himself in these.
As […] Sins of Omission. Some think it no great matter to omit Family, or Closet-prayer; they can go several moneths and God never hear of them: A godly man will as soon live without food, as without prayer: He knows every creature of God is sanctified by prayer, 1 Tim. 4. 5. The Bird may shame many Christians, it never takes a drop, but the eye is lift up towards heaven.
-
A godly man da[…]es not allow himself in vain frothy discourse, much less in that which looks like an oath: If God will reckon for idle words, will he not much more for idle oaths?
-
A godly man dares not allow himself in rash censuring: Some think this a small matter,4 they will not swear, but they will slander: this is very evil; thou woundest a man in that which is dearest to him: He who is godly turns all his censures upon himself, he judgeth himself for his own sins, but is very chary, and tender of the good name of another.
Use. As you would be numbred among the Genealogies of the Saints, do not indulge your selves in any5 sin; consider the mischief that one sin lived in will do.
-
One sin gives Satan as much advantage against thee as more: The Fowler can hold the Bird by one wing: Satan held Iudas fast by one sin.
-
One sin lived in argues the heart is not sound; he who hides one Rebel in his house is a Traytor to the Crown; that person who indulgeth one sin, is a trayterous hypocrite.
-
One sin will make way for more; as a little Thief can open the door to more: Sin is linked and chained6 together; one sin will draw on more: Davids adultery made way for murder: One sin never goes alone; if there be but one Nest-egg, the Devil can brood upon it.
-
One sin is as well a breach of Gods Law as more, Iam. 2. 10. He that shall offend in one point, is guilty of all. If the King make a Law against Felony, Treason, Murder, if a man be guilty but of one of these, he is as well a Transgressor of the Law, as if he were guilty of all.
-
One sin lived in keeps out Christ from entring; one stone in the Pipe keeps out the water; one sin indulg’d obstructs the soul, and keeps the streams of Christs Bloud from running into it.
-
One sin lived in will spoil all thy good duties: A drop of poyson will spoil a glass of Wine: Abimeleck, a Bastard, destroyed threescore and ten of his Brethren, Iudg. 9. 5. One Bastard-sin will destroy threescore and ten prayers: One dead fly will corrupt the box of oyntment.
-
One sin lived in will be a Canker-worm to eat out the peace of Conscience, it takes away the Manna out of the Ark, and leaves only a Rod. —Eheu quis intus scorpio?7 —
One sin is a Pyrate to rob a Christian of his comfort; one jarring string brings all the Musick out of tune; one sin countenanced, will spoil the Musick of Conscience.
-
One sin allowed will damn as well as more; one disease is enough to kill: If a Fence be made never so strong, leave open but one gap, the wilde Beast may enter, and tread down the corn: If there be but one sin allowed in the soul, you set open a gap for the Devil to enter. ‘Tis a simile of Chrysostom, a Souldier that hath his Head-piece on and Breast-plate, if in but one place he wants Armour, the bullet may enter there, and he may as well be shot, as if he had no Armour on: So if thou favourest but one sin, thou leavest a part of thy soul unarmed, and the Bullet of Gods Wrath may enter there and shoot thee. One sin may shut thee out of heaven; and as Hierom8 faith, What difference is there in being shut out for more sins, or for one? Therefore take heed of cherishing one sin: One Milstone will sink a man into the Sea as well as an hundred.
-
One sin harboured in the soul will unfit for suffering: How soon may an hour of Tryal come; he who hath an hurt in his shoulder, cannot carry an heavy burden, and he who hath any guilt in his Conscience, cannot carry the Cross of Christ: Will he deny his life for Christ, that cannot deny his lust for Christ? One sin in the soul unmortified, will bring forth the bitter fruit of Apostasie.
Would you then show your selves godly, give a Bill of Divorce to every sin, kill the Goliah-sin, Rom. 6. 12. Let not sin reign: In the Original it is […], let not sin King it over you: Grace and Sin may be together, but Grace and the love of Sin cannot. Therefore parley with sin no longer, but with the Spear of Mortification, let out the heart-bloud of every sin.