A second volume of discourses or sermons on several scriptures

I now come to enquire into the grounds and reasons, why God should suffer this proneness to sin to continue in his dearest Saints and Children after their Conversion and Regeneration? possibly some may think it would have been far more conducible to God's glory, as well as their own peace and comfort, if God had at once at their first Conversion utterly destroyed all the seeds and remainders ⟨p. 227⟩of corruption in them, and at first made them as perfectly holy as they shall be at last; hereby, God would not have been so provoked as he is, nor his Spirit so grieved, nor the Devil so rejoiced at the daily miscarriages of the best Christians: Wherefore is it that God hath perfected the Saints now in glory, but that they might yield him perfect Obedience and Service? Why, truly our services would be as perfect and as well pleasing unto God as theirs are, were our imperfect natures as theirs are; and therefore God would have had a double Heaven, an upper and a lower Heaven had he but destroyed sin in us upon Earth; and since it might seem so much to redound to his glory;¹ why hath he not consummated our Sanctification? but still left thorns in our eyes, and goads in our sides, with which not only we but he himself also is grieved and vexed, what should be the reason of this?

I now come to enquire into the grounds and reasons, why God should suffer this proneness to sin to continue in his dearest Saints and Children after their Conversion and Regeneration? possibly some may think it would have been far more conducible to God's glory, as well as their own peace and comfort, if God had at once at their first Conversion utterly destroyed all the seeds and remainders ⟨p. 227⟩of corruption in them, and at first made them as perfectly holy as they shall be at last; hereby, God would not have been so provoked as he is, nor his Spirit so grieved, nor the Devil so rejoyced at the dayly miscarriages of the best Christians: Wherefore is it that God hath perfected the Saints now in glory, but that they might yield him perfect Obedience and Service? Why, truly our services would be as perfect and as well pleasing unto God as theirs are, were our imperfect natures as theirs are; and therefore God would have had a double Heaven, an upper and a lower Heaven had he but destroyed sin in us upon Earth; and since it might seem so much to redown to his glory;