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

Some are deprived of the instruments whereby they would work. There hath been for many days, sin and mischief enough conceived, to root out the generation of the righteous from the face of the earth, had men strength and ability to their will, did not God cut off and shorten their power, and the days of their prevalency. Psa. 64. 6. They search out iniquities, they accomplish a diligent search, both the inward thought of every one of them and the heart is deep. All things are in a readiness, the design is well laid, their counsels are deep and secret. What now shall hinder them from doing what ever they have imagined to do? v. 7, 8. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow, suddenly shall they be wounded: so they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves. God meets with them, brings them down, that they shall not be able to accomplish their design. And this way of Gods preventing sin, seems to b•at e•st ordinarily, peculiar to the men of the ⟨p. 195⟩world; God deals thus with them every day, and leaves them to pine away in their sins. They go all their days big with the iniquity they have conceived, and are greatly burdened that they •anno• be delivered of it. The Prophet tells us, that they practise iniquity that they had conceived, because it is in the power of their hand, Micah 2. 1. If they have power for it, they will accomplish it; Ezek. 22. 6. To their power they shed blood. This is the measure of their sinning, even their power. They do many of them, no more evil, they commit no more sin than they can. Their whole restraint lies in being cut short in power in one kind or another. Their bodies will not serve them for their contrived uncleannesses; nor their hands for their revenge and rapine, nor their Instruments for persecution; but they go burdened with conceived sin, and are disquieted and tortured by it all their days. And hence they become in themselves, as well as unto others, a troubled Sea that cannot rest,