A39660:253
Englands duty under the present gospel liberty from Revel. III, vers. 20
Englands duty under the present gospel liberty from Revel. III, vers. 20 : wherein is opened the admirable condescension and patience of Christ in waiting upon trifling and obstinate sinners, the wretched state of the unconverted, the nature of evangelical faith ..., the riches of free grace in the offers of Christ ..., the invaluable privileges of union and communion granted to all who receive him ... / by John Flavell ...Englands duty under the present gospel liberty from Revel. III, vers. 20 : wherein is opened the admirable condescension and patience of Christ in waiting upon trifling and obstinate sinners, the wretched state of the unconverted, the nature of evangelical faith ..., the riches of free grace in the offers of Christ ..., the invaluable priviledges of union and communion granted to all who receive him ... / by John Flavell ...
London: printed for Matthew Wotton, 1689
Sermon 3 › DOCTRINE. › Bar 4: Fourth Bar.Sermon 3 › DOCTRIN. › Bar 4: Fourth Bar.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Fourth Bar.
The fourth Bar forbidding Christs entrance into the Soul is custom in sin. Sin hath so fixed it self, by long continuance in the Soul, the Soul is so settled and confirmed in its course, that all arguments and persuasions to change our way are swept away by the power of custom, as straws and feathers are by the rapid course of a mighty torrent, Jer. 13. 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the Leopard his spots? then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil. Soap and Nitre may as soon make a Blackmoor white, or fetch the spots out of the Leopards skin (which are not accidental, but connate) as the reasonings of Men can prevail to remove the mighty power of customary sin. Physicians find it a hard thing to Cure a Cachexia or ill habit of Body; 'Tis a grave and serious note of Seneca, A teneris assuescere, multum est. 'Tis a great matter to be accustomed this way or that from our childhood; every repeated act of sin confirms and strengthens the habit; and hence it is that we see so few Conversions in old Age. It was a wonder in the Primitive times that Marcus Caius Victorius embraced Christianity in the sixtieth year of his age; take an habituated Drunkard, a self-righteous Moralist, lay before them the necessity of a change, and you shall find it as easy to stop the course of a River with the breath of your Mouth, as to stop them in an accustomed course of sinning. That's the fourth Bar to Christ.
The fourth Bar forbiding Christs entrance into the Soul is custom in sin. Sin hath so fixed it self, by long continuance in the Soul, the Soul is so setled and confirmed in its course, that all arguments and perswasions to change our way are swept away by the power of custom, as straws and feathers are by the rapid course of a mighty torrent, Ier. 13. 23