The Strength of Indwelling Sin Manifested from Its Power and Effects in Persons Unregenerate

Ir is of the power and efficacy of indwelling sin, as it remains in several degrees in believers, that we are treating. Now I have elsewhere shown, that the nature, and all the natural properties of it, do still remain in them: though, therefore, we cannot prove directly what is the strength of sin in them, from what its power is in those, in whom it is only checked, and not at all weakened; yet we may, from an observation thereof, caution believers of the real power of that mortal enemy, with whom they have to do.

If the plague do violently rage in one city, destroying multitudes, and there be in another an infection of the same kind, which yet arises not to that height and fury there, by reason of the correction that it meets with from a better air, and remedies used; yet a man may demonstrate to the inhabitants, the source and danger of that infection got in among them, by the effects that it hath and doth produce among others, who have not the benefit of the preventatives and preservatives which they enjoy; which will both teach them to value the means of their preservation, and be the more watchful against the power of the infection that is amongst them. It is so in this case. Believers may be taught what. is the power and efficacy of that plague of sin which is in and among them, by the effects the same plague produceth in and among others, who have not those corrections of its poison, and those preservatives from death, with which the Lord Jesus hath furnished them.

Having then fixed on the demonstration of the power of sin, from the effects it doth produce, and having given a double instance hereof in believers themselves, I shall now farther evidence the same truth, or pursue the same evidence of it, by showing somewhat of the power that it hath in those who are unregenerate, and so have not the remedies against it, with which believers are furnished.

I shall not handle the whole power of sin in unregenerate persons, which is a very large field, and not the business I have in hand; but only by some few instances of its effects in them, intimate, as I said, to believers, what they have to deal with.

First, then, It appears in the violence it offers to the nature of men, compelling them to sins, fully contrary to all the principles of the reasonable nature wherewith they are endued from God. Every creature of God hath, in its creation, a law of operation implanted in it, which is the rule of all that proceedeth from it, of all that it doth of its own accord. So the fire ascends upwards; bodies that are weighty and heavy descend; the water flows: each according to the principles of their nature, which give them the law of their operation. That which hinders them in their operation, is force and violence, as that which hinders a stone from descending, or the fire from going upwards. That which forceth them to move contrary to the law of their nature, as a stone to go upwards, or the fire to descend, is in its kind the greatest violence, of which the degrees are endless. Now that which should take a great millstone, and fling it upwards in the air, all would acknowledge to be a matter of wondrous force, power, and efficacy.

Man also hath his law of operation and working, concreated with him. And this may be considered two ways; either, first, As it is common to him with other creatures; or, As peculiar, with reference to that special end for which he was created. Some things are, I say, in this law of nature, common to man with other creatures; as to nourish their young, to live quietly with those of the same kind and race with them, to seek and follow after that which is good for them, in that state and condition wherein they are created. These are things which all brute living creatures have in the law of their nature, as man also hath.

But now, besides these things, man being created in an especial manner to give glory to God, by rational and moral obedience, and so to obtain a reward in the enjoyment of him, there are many things in the law of his creation that are peculiar to him; as, io love God above all, to seek the enjoyment of him as his chiefest good, and last end; to inquire after his mind and will, and to yield obedience, and the like. All which are part of the law of his nature.

Now these things are not distinguished so, as though a man might perform the actions of the law of his nature, which are common to him with other creatures, merely from the principles of his nature, as they do; but the law of his dependence upon God, and doing all things in obedience to him, passeth on them all also. He can never be considered as a mere creature, but asa creature made for the glory of God, by rational, moral obedience; rational, because by him chosen, and performed with reason; and moral, because regulated by a law to which reason doth attend.

‘For instance: It is common to man, with other creatures, to take care for the nourishing of his children, of the young helpless ones, that receive their being by him. ‘There is implanted in the principles of his nature, concreated with them, a love and care for them; soit is with other living creatures. Now let other creatures answer this instinct and inclination, and be not hardened against them like the foolish ostrich, unto whom God hath not imparted this natural wisdom, they fully answer the law of their creation. With man it is not so; it is not enough for him to answer the instinct and secret impulse and inclination of his nature and kind, as in the nourishing of his children, but he must do it also in subjection to God, and obey him therein, and do it to his glory; the law of moral obedience passing over all his whole being, and all his operations: but in these things lie, as it were, the whole of a man; namely, in the things which are implanted in his nature, as a creature, common to him with all other living creatures, seconded by the command or will of God, as he is a creature capable of yielding moral obedience, and doing all things for his glory.

That, then, which shall drive and compel a man to transgress this law ef his nature, which is not only as to throw millstones upward; to drive beasts from taking care of their young; to take from cattle of the same kind the herding of themselves in quietness, but moreover to cast off what lies in him, his fundamental dependence on God, as a creature made to yield him obedience, must needs be esteemed of great force and efficacy.

Now this is frequently done by indwelling sin in persons unregenerate. Let us .take some few instances.

First, There is nothing that is more deeply inlaid in the principles of the natures of all living creatures, and so of man himself, than a love to, and a care for, the preservation and nourishing of their young: many brute creatures will die for them, some feed them with their own flesh and blood; all deprive themselves of that food which nature directs them to as their best, to impart it to them; and acting in their behalf to the utmost of their power.

Now such is the efficacy, power, and force of indwelling sin in man, an infection that the nature of other creatures knows nothing of, that in many it prevails to stop this fountain, to beat back the stream of natural affections, to root up the principles of the law of nature, and to drive them to a neglect, a destruction of the fruit of their own loins. Paul tells us of the old Gentiles, that they were AsoRGoOI, ‘‘ without natural affection:” that which he aims at is that barbarous custom among the Romans, who ofttimes, to spare the trouble in the education of their children, and to be at liberty to satisfy their lusts, destroyed their own children from the womb. So far did the strength of sin prevail to obliterate the law of nature, and to repel the force and power of it.

Examples of this nature are common in all nations: amongst ourselves, of women murdering their own children through the deceitful reasoning of sin. And herein sin turns the strong current of nature, darkens all the light of God in the soul, controls all natural principles, influenced with the power of the command and will of God. But yet this evil hath, through the efficacy of sin, received a fearful aggravation. Men have not only slain, but cruelly sacrificed their children to satisfy their lusts. ‘The apostle reckons idolatry, and so consequently all superstition, among the works of the flesh; that is, the fruit and product of indwelling sin. Now from hence it is, that men have offered that horrid and unspeakable violence to the law of nature mentioned. So the Psalmist tells us: ‘* Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.” The same is again mentioned, in sundry other places of Scripture. The whole manner of that abomination I have elsewhere declared. or the present it may suffice to intimate, that they took their children and burned them to ashes in a soft fire: the wicked priests that assisted in the sacrifice affording them this relief, that they made a noise and clamour, that the vile wretches might vot hear the woful moans and cries of the poor dying tormented infants. I suppose in this case we need no farther evidence. Naturalists can give no rational account; they can only admire the secret force of that’little fish, which, they say, will stop a ship in full sail in the midst of

N 3 the sea. And we must acknowledge, that it is beyond our power to give an account of the secret force and unsearchable deceit that is in this inbred traitor sin, that can not only stop the course of nature, when all the sails of it that carry it forward are so filled, as they are in that of affections to children, but also drive it back with such a violence and force, as to cause men so to deal with their own children, as a good man would not be hired with any reward to deal with his dog. ~“And it may not be to the disadvantage of the best to know and consider, that they carry that about them and in them, which in others hath produced these effects.

The like may be said of all other sins against the prime dictates of the Jaw of nature, that mankind is or hath been stained and defamed with — murder of parents and children, of wives and husbands; sodomy, incest, and the like enormities; in all which sin prevails in men against the whole: law of their being and dependence upon God.

Why should I reckon up the murders of Cain and Abel, the treason of Judas, with their ageravations; or remind the filth and villainy of Nero, in whom sin seemed to design an instance of what it could bebase the nature of man to! In a word, all the studied premeditated perjuries; all the designed, bloody revenges; all the filth and uncleanness; all the enmity to God and his ways that is in the world, is fruit growing from this root alone.

Secondly, It evidences its efficacy in keeping men off from believing under the dispensation of the gospel. ‘This evidence must be a little further illustrated,

First, Under the dispensation of the gospel, there are but few that do believe. So the preachers of it complain, ‘* Who hath believed our report;” which the apostle interprets of the paucity of believers. Our Saviour Christ himself tells us that ‘‘ many are called,” the word is preached unto many, * but few are chosen.” And so the church complains of its number, “* Wo is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer-fruits, as the grape-gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat; my soul desired the first ripe fruit.’ Few there be who enter the narrow gate: daily experience confirms this woful observation. Into how many villages, parishes, yea, towns, may we go, where the gospel, it may be, hath been preached many years, and perhaps scarce meet a true believer in them, and one who shows forth the death of Christ in his conversation! In the best places, and most eminent for profession, are not such persons like the berries after the shaking of an olive-tree, two or three in the top of the uppermost boughs, and four or five in the highest branches?

Secondly, ‘There is proposed to men in the preaching of the gospel, as motives to believing, every thing in conjunction, that severally prevail with men to do whatever else they do in their lives. Whatever any one doth with consideration, he doth it either because it is reasonable and good for him so to do, or profitable and advantageous, or pleasant; or lastly, necessary for the avoidance of evil; whatever, I say, men do with consideration, whether it be good or evil, whether it be in the works of this life, or in things that lead to another, they do it from one or other of the reasons or motives mentioned. And,

God knows, ofttimes they are very poor and mean in their kind by which men are prevailed. How often will men, for a very little pleasure, a very little profit, be induced to do that which shall imbitter their lives, and damn their souls! And what industry will they use, to avoid that which they apprehend evil or grievous to them! And any one of these is enough to oil the wheels of men’s utmost endeavours, and set men at work to the purpose.

But now all these things centre in the proposal of the gospel, and the command of believing; and every one of them is of a kind, that the whole world can propose nothing like to it.

It is the most reasonable thing that can be proposed to the understanding of a man, that he who, through his own default, hath lost that way of bringing glory to God, and saving his own soul, (for which ends he was made,) that he was first placed in, should accept of and embrace, that other blessed, easy, safe, excellent way for the attaining of the ends mentioned, which God in infinite grace, love, mercy, wisdom, and righteousness hath found out, and doth purpose to him. And,

Secondly, It is the most profitable thing to which a man can possibly be invited; if there Ne any profit or benefit, any advantage in the forgiveness of sins, in the love and favour of God, in a blessed immortality, in eternal glory. And,

Thirdly, It is most pleasant also; surely it is a pleasant thing to be brought out of darkness into light, out of a dungeon to a throne, from captivity cand slavery to Satan and cursed lusts, to the glorious liberty of the children of God, with a thousand heavenly sweetnesses not now to be mentioned. And,

Fourthly, It is surely necessary, and that not only from the command of God, who hath the supreme authority over us, but also indispensably so for the avoidance of eternal ruin of body and soul. It is constantly proposed in these terms, believe, or you perish under the weight of the wrath of the great God, and that for evermore.

But, notwithstanding that all these considerations are preached to men, and pressed upon them in the name of the great God, from day to day, from one year to another, yet, as was before observed, very few there are who set their hearts upon them, so as to embrace that to which they lead. ‘Tell men ten thousand-times, that this is wisdom, yea, riches, that all their profit lies in it, that they will assuredly and eternally perish, and that, perhaps, in a few hours, if they receive not the gospel; assure them that it is their only interest and concern, let them know that God himself speaks all this to them; yet all is one, they regard it not, set not their hearts upon it; but, as it were, plainly say, we will have nothing to do with these things; they will rather perish in their lusts than accept of mercy.

Thirdly, It is indwelling sin that both disenables men to, and hinders them from, believing, and that alone. Blindness of mind, stubbornness of the will, sensuality of the affections, all concur to keep poor perishing souls at a distance from Christ. Men are made blind by sin, and cannot see his excellencies; obstinate, and will not lay hold of his righteousness; senseless, and take no notice of their own eternal concern.

Now certainly that which can prevail with men, wise and sober, and prudent in other things, to neglect and despise the love of God, the blood of Christ, the eternal welfare of their own souls, upon weak and worthless pretences, must be acknowledged to have an astonishable force and efficacy accompany Ing it.

Whose heart, who hath once heard of the ways of God, can but bleed to see poor souls eternally — perishing under a thousand gracious invitations, to accept of mercy and pardon in the blood of Christ? And can we but be astonished at the power of that principle from whence it is that they run headlong to their own destruction? And yet all this befalls them from fhe power and deceit of sin that dwelleth in them.

3. It is evident in their total apostacies. Many men, not really converted, are much wrought upon by the word. The apostle tell us, that they do ‘‘ clean escape them that live in error.’ ‘They separate themselves from idolatry and false worship, owning and professing the truth; and they also escape “the pollutions of the world,” that is, the *‘ corruption that is in the world through lust,” as he expresseth it; those filthy, corrupt, and unclean ways, which the men of the world, in the pursuit of their lusts, do walk and live in; from these they escape, in the amendment of their lives, and ordering of their conversation according to the convictions which they have from the word. For so he tells us, that all this is brought about through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; that is, by the preaching of the gospel; they are so far wrought upon as to forsake all ways of false worship, to profess the truth, to reform their lives, and to walk answerable to the convictions that are upon them.

By this means do they gain the reputation of professors; ‘* they have a name to live,” and are made partakers of some, or all of those privileges of the gospel, that are numbered by the apostle, Heb. vi. Tad iaaes ea

It is not my present business to show how far a man may be effectually wrought upon by the word, and yet not be really wrought over to close with Christ; or what may be the utmost bounds and limits of a common work of grace upon unregenerate men; it is on all hands confessed, that it may be carried on so far, that it is very difficult to discern between its effects and productions, and those of that grace which is special and saving.

But notwithstanding ail this, we see many of these daily fall off from God, utterly and wickedly; -some into debauchery and uncleanness, some to worldliness and covetousness, some to be persecutors of the saints, all to the perdition of their own souls. How this comes about, the apostle declares in the passage already illustrated. ‘hey are, saith he, entangled again. ‘l’o entice and entangle, as I have shown before, from James i. 14, 15. is the proper working of indwelling sin; it is that alone which en-’ tadeles the soul; as the apostle speaks, ver. 18. They are allured from their whole profession, into cursed apostacy, the lusts of the flesh.

It prevails upon the: through its deceit and power to an utter relinquishment of their profession, and their whole engagement to God: and their several ways evince the greatness of its strength and efficacy.

1. In that it giveth stop or control to that exceeding greatness of power, which is put forth in the word in their conviction and reformation. We see it, by experience, that men are not easily wrought upon by the word; the most of men can live under the dispensation of it, all the days of their lives, and continue as senseless and stupid as the seats they sit upon, or the flint in the rock of stone. Mighty difficulties and prejudices must be conquered, great strokes must be given to the conscience, before this can be brought about. It is as the stopping of a river in its course and turning its streams another way; the hindering of a stone in its falling downwards, or the turning away of a wild ass when furiously set to pursue his way, as the prophet speaks, Jer. ii, 24. to turn men from their corrupt ways, sins, and pleasures; to make them fast, pray, hear, and do many things contrary to the principle of flesh, which is secretly predominant in them, willingly and — gladly; to cause them to profess Christ and the gospel, it may be, under some trials and reproaches; to give them light, to see into sundry mysteries and gifts, for the discharge of sundry duties; to make dead, blind, senseless men to walk and talk, and do all the outward offices and duties of living and healthy men; with the like attendances of conviction and reformation, are the effects and products of mighty power and strength. Indeed the power that the Holy Ghost puts forth by the word, in the staggering and conviction of sinners, in the awakening of Ree consciences, the enlightening of their minds, the changing of their i eaons, che awing of their hearts, the reforming of their lives, and compelling them to duties, is inexpressible.

But now to all these is there check and control given by indwelling sin, It prevails against this whole work of the Spirit by the word, with all the advantages of providential dispensations in afflictions and mercies, wherewith it is attended. When sin is once enraged, all things become but like the withs and cords wherewith Sampson was bound, before his head was shaven; cry but to it, ‘The Philistines are upon thee, here is a subtle, a suitable temptation, now show thy strength and efficacy; all these become like tow that has smelt the fire. Conscience is stifled, reputation in the church of God despised, light supplanted, the impressions of the word cast off, convictions digested, heaven and hell are despised, sin makes its way through all, and utterly turns the soul from the good and right ways of God. Sometimes it doth this subtly, by imperceptible degrees, taking off all force of former impressions from the Spirit by the word, sullying conscience by degrees, hardening the heart, and making sensual the affections by various workings, that the poor backslider in heart scarce knows what he is doing, until he be come to the very bottom of all impiety, profaneness, and enmity against God. Sometimes falling in conjunction with some vigorous temptation, it suddenly, and at once, plunges the soul into a course of alienation from God, and the profession of his ways.

2. It takes them off from those hopes of heaven which, upon their convictions, obedience, and temporary faith, or believing, they had obtained. There is a general hope of heaven, or at least of the escaping of hell, of an untroublesome immortality, in the most sottish and stupid souls in the world, who, either by tradition or instruction from the word, are persuaded that there is another state of things to come after this life; but it is in unconvinced, unenlightened persons, a dull, senseless, unaffecting thing, that hath no other hold upon them, nor power in them, but only to keep them free from the trouble and perplexity of contrary thoughts and apprehensions. ‘The matter is otherwise with those who by the word are so wrought upon, as we have before declared; their hope of heaven and a blessed immortality, is ofttimes accompanied with great joys and exultations, and is a relief to them, under and against the worst of their fears and trials; it is such as they would not part with for all the world; and upon all occasions they retreat in their mind to it, for comfort and relief.

Now all this, by the power of sin are they prevailed with to forego. Let heaven go if it will, a blessed immortality with the enjoyment of God himself; sin must be served, and provision made to fulfil the lusts thereof.

If a man, in the things of this world, had such a hope of a large inheritance, of a kingdom, as wherein he is satisfied that it will not fail him, but that in the issue he shall surely enjoy it, and lead a happy and a glorious life in the possession of it many days; if one should go to him and tell him, It is true, the kingdom you look for is an ample and honourable dominion, full of all good things desirable, and you may attain it; but come, cast away all hopes and expectations of it, and come join with me in the service and slavery of such or such an oppressive tyrant. You easily grant, he must have some strange bewitching power with him, that should prevail with a man in his wits to follow his advice.

Yet thus it is, and much more so, in the case we have in hand. Sin itself cannot deny, but that the kingdom of heaven, of which the soul is in hope and expectation, is glorious and excellent; nor doth it go about to convince him that his thoughts of it are vain, and such as will deceive him; but plainly prevails with him to cast away his hopes, to despise his kingdom, that he was in expectation of, and that upon no other motive, but that he may serve some worldly, cruel, or filthy and sensual lust. Certainly here lies a secret efficacy, whose depths cannot be fathomed.

3. The apostle manifests the power of the entanglements of sin in and upon apostates, in that it turns them off from ‘‘ the way of righteousness after they have known it.” It will be found at the last day an evil thing and a bitter, that men live all their days in the service of sin, self, and the world, refusing to make any trial of the ways of God, whereunto they are invited; though they have no experience of their excellency, beauty, pleasantness, and safety, yet having evidence brought to them from God himself that they are so, the. ghia of them will, I say, ‘be bitterness in the latter end. But their condition is yet far worse, who, as the apostle speaks, having known the way of righteousness, are, by the power of indwelling sin, turned aside from the holy commandment. ‘To leave God for the devil, after a man hath made some trial of him and his service; heaven for hell, after a man hath had some cheering, refreshing thoughts of it; the fellowship of the saints for an ale-house or a brothel-house, after a man hath been admitted to their communion, and tasted of the pleasantness of it; to leave walking in pure, clear, strait paths, to wallow in mire and filth, this will be for a lamentation. Yet this doth sin prevail upon apostates to, and that against all their light, conviction, experiences, professions, engagements, or whatever may be strong upon them to keep them up to the known ways of righteousness.

4, It evinces its strength in them by prevailing with them to a total renunciation of God as revealed in Christ, and the power of all gospel truth, in the sin against the Holy Ghost. Ido not now precisely determine what is the sin against the Holy Ghost, nor wherein it doth consist. ‘There are different apprehensions of it: all agree in this; that by it an end is put to all dealings between God and man in a way of grace. It is asin unto death. And to this doth the hardness and blindness of men’s hearts bring them, they are by them at length set out of the reach of mercy. ‘They choose to have no more to do with God, and God swears that they shall never enter into his rest. So sin brings forth death. A man by it is brought to renounce the end for which he was made; wilfully to reject the means of his coming to the enjoyment of God, to provoke him to his face, and so to perish in his rebellion.

I have not mentioned these things, as though I hoped by them to set out to the full the power of indwelling sin in unregenerate men, only by a few instances I thought to give a glimpse of it. He that would have a fuller view of it, had need only to open his eyes, to take a little view of that wickedness which reigneth, yea, rageth all the world over. Let him consider the prevailing flood of the things mentioned by Paul to be “the fruits of the flesh;” that is, among the sons of men, in all places, nations, cities, towns, parishes; and then let him add thereto but this one consideration, that the world, which is full of the steam, filth, and blood of these abominations, as to their outward actings of them, is a pleasant garden, a paradise, compared to the heart of man, wherein they are all conceived; and hourly millions of more vile abominations, which being stifled in the womb by some of the ways before insisted on, they are never able to bring forth to light. Let a man, I say, using the law for his light and rule, take this course, and if he have any spiritual discerning, he may quickly attain satisfaction in this matter..;

And I showed, in the entrance of this discourse, how this consideration doth fully confirm the truth proposed.