The Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalency of Indwelling Sin

Secondly, It will be tendering relief as to the event of sin, that it shall not turn to the ruin or destruction of the soul, because it is, it will, or may be pardoned by the Grace of the Gospel. And this is true, this is the great and only relief of the soul against sin, the guilt whereof it hath contracted already; the blessed and only remedy for a guilty soul. But when it is pleaded and remembered by the deceitfulness of sin in compliance with temptation unto sin, then it is poison; poison is mixed in every drop of this balsam, to the danger, if not death of the soul. And this is the first way whereby the deceitfulness of sin draws off the mind from a due attendance unto that sense of its vileness, which alone is able to keep it in that humble, self-abased frame that is acceptable with God. It makes the mind careless, as though its work were needless, because of the abounding of Grace; which is a Soldiers neglect of his station trusting to a reserve, provided indeed only in case of keeping his own proper place.

Secondly, It will be tendering relief as to the event of sin, that it shall not turn to the ruine or destruction of the soul, because it is, it will, or may be pardoned by the Grace of the Gospel. And this is true, this is the great and only relief of the soul against sin, the guilt whereof it hath contracted already; the blessed and only remedy for a guilty soul. But when it is pleaded and remembred by the deceitfulness of sin in complyance with temptation unto sin, then it is poyson; poyson is mixed in every drop of this balsom, to the danger, if not death of the soul. And this is the first way whereby the deceitfulness of sin draws off the mind from a due attendance unto that sense of its vileness, which alone is able to keep it in that humble, self-abased frame that is acceptable with God. It makes the mind careless, as though its work were needless, because of the abounding of Grace; which is a Souldiers neglect of his station trusting to a reserve, provided indeed only in case of keeping his own proper place.

Secondly, Sin takes advantage to work by its ⟨p. 117⟩deceit in this matter of drawing off the mind from a due sense of it, from the state and condition of men in the world. I shall give only one instance of its procedure in this kind. Men in their younger days have naturally their affections more quick, vigorous and active, more sensibly working in them, than afterwards. They do as to their sensible working and operation naturally decay, and many things befall men in their lives, that take off the edge and keenness of them. But as men lose in their Affections, if they are not besotted in sensuality, or by the corruptions that are in the world through lust, they grow and improve in their Understandings, Resolutions, and Judgements. Hence it is, that if what had place formerly in their Affections, do not take place in their minds and judgements, they utterly lose them, they have no more place in their souls. Thus men have no regard for, yea, they utterly despise those things which their Affections were set upon with delight and greediness in their Childhood. But if they are things that by any means come to be fixed in their Minds and Judgements, they continue a high esteem for them, and do cleave as close unto them, as they did when their Affections were more vigorous. Only as it were they have changed their seat in the soul. It is thus in things spiritual; the first and chiefest seat of the sensibleness of sin, is in the Affections; as these in natural youth, are great and large, so are they spiritually in spiritual youth,