are our own lusts: as terrible and as dreadful as they seem to us, yet indeed they are the most contemptible, slight, impotent adversaries in the world, were we but true to our own souls. But it is this, that gives corruption all its power: you will sin: you will yield to temptations: you will betray your souls: and then you cry out of the power of lusts; "Oh! their irresistible violence! I cannot stand against them: they will break in upon me: they will prevail: they will be obeyed, and I cannot help it." They will, and thou canst not help it! for shame, Christian if thou wilt, thou canst help it. Didst thou ever sin, but that thou wert willing to it? Though there may be some renitency and reluctancy from grace; in respect of which the Apostle tells us, that he did what he would not do; yea, what he hated: Rom. vii. 19. yet there is also a voluntariness in every sin: thou yieldest thyself to it; and givest it leave to wound thy conscience, to ruin thy soul, and thou wilt have it so. This is the strength of corruption: men will be conquered and captivated by it. Never tell me your corruptions are such as you cannot subdue: there is no such corruption: the most prevailing, the most tumultuating may be mortified by you, if you yourselves will. In a temptation, therefore, always think of this: "Why should I. yield? what reason is there? what excuse can I have? I am not yet necessitated: I am not compelled to sin: my provision is not yet all spent: my heart is impregnable, unless I desert or dismantle it. I may, if I will, still stand it out, and be certain of the conquest. Shall I wilfully give up my soul, my darling, to the devourer? Shall I myself open these everlasting gates, at which Satan now knocks indeed, but which he cannot force? I can choose whether this temptation shall ever prevail: an absolute denial, a peremptory No, would now silence it." Certainly, did you but actually dwell upon this thought in a temptation, it would shame you from gratifying many a corruption that now you do. And, then,

(2) Consider the prevailing nature of grace.

It is from this, that your endeavours after mortification are accompanied with certainty of success. Grace is an immortal seed, that will certainly sprout up and flower into glory: it is a living fountain, that will certainly flow and bubble up into everlasting life: it is a ray of heavenly light, that will scatter and triumph over darkness, and wax brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. It is immortal, in a seed; victorious, in a spark; triumphant, in its dawning. It hath a kind of omni

potency in it. Phil. iv. 13. I can do all things, through Christ strengthening me; strengthening me, by his prevailing grace. And no wonder, since it is a particle of the divine nature itself: 2 Pet. i. 4. that ye might be partakers of the divine nature. It is an indelible flourish of the divine essence, which sets the gloss of the divine attributes upon the soul, and makes it of kin to God himself. Yea, take grace when it is at the weakest; when this dawn is clouded, when this spark is twinkling, when this seed seems unspirited; yet, then, it is victorious and triumphant: The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but always mighty through God: 2 Cor. x. 4. What an over-match is this for corruption, to set grace against sin! it is to set God against Satan, heaven against hell, spirit against flesh. Will you desire greater advantage than this? Can you wish for greater encouragement? Oh! how faint-hearted must they needs be, whom certainty of prevailing cannot animate to contend. Who would not fight, that hath such odds? “Am I certain to prevail? Have I that principle in me, which will go forth conquering unto conquer? Will it assuredly crown my soul with victory, and shall I not bring it to the trial? Here is a corruption, which molests me: shall I suffer it to captivate me, while yet I have that divine auxiliary within, which, if brought forth, would certainly overcome it? Nay, I must detain this grace in unrighteousness, I must depress it, I must keep it under by violence, if I do not prevail by it. Nay, if I strive not against my lusts, I must strive against my graces: and, what! shall I take as much pains to commit a sin, as would serve to subdue it?" O Christians! it is the greatest shame in the world, for you to be overcome and worsted: you, who have such an active, victorious principle; a principle, which you yourselves must much wrong and injure, if it doth not always conquer; a principle, which riseth with a natural and spontaneous force and impetus against corruption, and if but owned, if but cherished, nay if not resisted and opposed, will certainly subdue it. What shall we think, when we see such as you foiled, but that there is treachery within? you conspire against your own grace: you keep it under you check and curb that, which would, with a sprightly and ethereal impulse, rush upon and beat down the strongest lusts that oppose it.

(3) Consider: the greatest strength and power of corruption is already destroyed, before you are put upon the mortification of it.

It hath already lost its reigning power in you, and now it retains only its molesting power: it hath already lost the power of a king, and now it only retains the power of a rebel: your Old Man is already crucified; it now wants nothing but piercing: it is, with Absalom, hung up; and wants nothing but to be thrust through. So tender is our God of us, that he will not venture us against corruption, while it is in its full strength: alas! while corruption is entire and unbroken, we are unable to grapple with it: he himself, therefore, crushes the head of this serpent, and breaks the teeth of this lion; and, when it is thus weakened, he calls upon us to destroy it. God might, if he had so pleased, at once have made a full end of corruption; and, in our regeneration, as perfectly have freed us from it, as we shall be hereafter in heaven: no, but he would not so take the whole work out of our hands: we must exercise our courage, and our resolution against it; and, therefore, he so far weakened it, that it might not destroy us, though still it be left so strong and powerful as to molest and trouble us.

So that you see, in these Three things, success is assured to your endeavours: you cannot say corruption is unmatchable in its strength, irresistible in its violence, that we cannot stand before it; no, you shall certainly prevail and overcome it, if you will but encounter it: and what an encouragement is this!

3. Another encouraging consideration is this: The longer thou continuest mortifying, the weaker will corruption grow, and the easier thou wilt find this great work to be.

Would you be freed from the continual vexing importunity of corruption? It now haunts and dogs you; and clamours to be gratified in this and in that sin; and you can find no rest from it: beware how you go about to satisfy it; for, believe it, that doth but the more enrage it. Solomon's insatiables are moderate, in respect of this: it still cries Give, give; and, the more you give it, the louder still and the more eagerly it cries. Have you not found, that, after yielding to this importunity, corruption hath been more fierce than ever before? it is an impudent craver, that knows neither bounds nor modesty. You may as well quench fire with oil, as satisfy corruption with sinning: no; if you would, in any measure, be free from this perpetual trouble, use it frowardly; deny, reject it: spurn this body of sin and death : this, at last, will discountenance and discourage it from tempting: it will, at last, leave following thee, as one inexorable. Trust the experience of the children of God, in this particular: they

will tell thee, that such and such a prevailing lust, which did use perpetually to perplex and disquiet them, which they feared they should never master, yet, by often vexing, crossing, and contradicting it, they have at length tamed; it being brought under command, and made subject to grace: and that though, indeed, there would remain still some grudgings of the distemper; yet it hath been less frequent and less violent in its working. Conclude upon it, that this thou also mayest attain unto. Doth any imperious lust perplex and trouble thee? believe it, through the daily exercise of mortification thou wilt so tire it out and spend it, that, though it may murmur and repine sometimes, and grudge that it is not satisfied; yet it shall seldom prevail to disturb thy communion with God, and never so far prevail as to destroy thy peace and comfort. Then,

4. Consider, that there is, in the exercise of mortification, though it be so sharp and severe a duty, an inward secret satisfaction of soul, that doth more than recompense all the pains and difficulty.

There is a hidden complacency, even in cutting off righthands, and plucking out right-eyes. There is a double nature in every child of God; the divine nature, and the corrupt nature: and that, which is a torment to the one, is a pleasure to the other. The divine nature takes as much pleasure in mortifying a corruption, as the corrupt nature doth in gratifying it. I wonder, therefore, how rational Christians are to be deterred from the work of mortification, by the harshness and painfulness of the work. If you have no nature in you but corrupt, how are you Christians? If you have, think you it is not as painful and as harsh to your new nature, that you yield to a lust; as it is to your corrupt nature, that you oppose and mortify it? Yes, the new nature groans, and sighs, and mourns in secret, when you sin against it: but it leaps for joy, it springs and exults in the heart, when you disappoint a temptation, and prevail against corruptions: it smiles upon you, when you return red from the slaughter. I appeal to experience: tell me, have you not found more ravishing joy and pleasure in that still insinuating soft delight, that spills itself silently through the soul, while you have been vigorously struggling against your corruptions, than ever you found in yielding to them? Though the contest be troublesome, yet what a calm follows when grace obtains the victory; not a ruffle, not a wrinkle upon the face of the soul! Oh! how sweetly doth it then enjoy both itself and its God! it twines about him, closely embraceth him, claspeth hands with

him; and then follow those unexpressible mutual congratulations for the success: "Oh! my soul, enter thou into this joy." If Just prevail, the pleasure may blaze high; but it is impure, dreggy, mixed, and hath in it more of the sting than the honey, besides those many thousand stings it leaves behind in the conscience. Now baffle a corruption, by that very argument, that it doth chiefly make use of. What is that, which lust useth to plead, when it tempts? is it not pleasure? this is its most taking bait when, therefore, it tells thee thou shalt have so much pleasure in it, it will bring thee in such an overflowing measure of satisfaction and delight; then answer it; " I can have better satisfaction and more sincere delight, in mortifying it: that will bring me in pure, spiritual, clarified joy and shall I forego this, for the muddy, impure, short blaze of sinful pleasure?" Thus encourage thyself unto this great duty.

5. Consider, for thy encouragement, that this work of mortification is but for a short time; for a few stormy winter days, that will soon be blown over.

"Your

Though it must be a constant work, while it lasts; yet it is not to last long. Death, at last, will come in for our relief. Look how the scorched traveller longs for a shade to rest in, so doth a truly mortified Christian long to repose himself in the shadow of death: there he shall lie free from the scorchings of temptations, and the heat and swelter of corruption. It will not, it cannot be long, ere it shall be sung over us, warfare is accomplished." Though now we are kicking against the prickles, yet we shall shortly be crowned with roses. Our comfort is, that not a corruption shall enter into heaven with us, there to tempt or molest us. And, therefore, we should not faint nor be weary: though our work be sharp, yet it is but short, and our rest is everlasting.

Now be continually arming and strengthening yourselves with such encouraging considerations as these. You will find them to be of very great moment and influence, in the carrying on of the work of mortification.

That is the Fourth Direction.

v. Another direction shall be this: IF YOU WOULD MORTIFY YOUR CORRUPTIONS, THEN LABOUR TO IMPROVE THE DEATH OF CHRIST UNTO THE DEATH OF SIN.

There is virtue in the blood of Christ, to staunch the bloody