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

This is the subject, the seat, the dwelling place of the Law of Sin. The heart as it is the entire principle of moral operations, of doing good or evil, as out of it proceed good or evil. Here dwells our Enemy: This is the Fort, the Citadel of this Tyrant, where it maintains a rebellion against God all our days. Sometimes it hath more strength, and consequently more success; sometimes less of the one, and of the other, but is always in rebellion whilst we live.

This is the subject, the seat, the dwelling place of the Law of Sin. The heart as it is the entire principle of moral operations, of doing good or evil, as out of it proceed good or evil. Here dwells our Enemie: This is the Fort, the Cittadel of this Tyrant, where it maintains a rebellion against God all our dayes. Sometimes it hath more strength, and consequently more success; sometimes less of the one, and of the other, but is alwayes in rebellion whilest we live.

That we may in our passage take a little view of the strength and power of sin from this seat and subject of it, we may consider one or two properties of the heart that exceedingly contribute thereunto. It is like an Enemy in war, whose strength and power, lye not only in his numbers, and force of Men or Arms, but also in the unconquerable Forts that he doth possess. And such is ⟨p. 27⟩the heart to this enemy of God and our souls, as will appear from the properties of it, whereof one or two shall be mentioned.

First, It is unsearchable. Jer. 17. 9, 10. Who can know the heart? I the Lord search it. The heart of man is pervious to God only; hence he takes the honour of searching the heart to be as peculiar to himself, and as fully declaring him to be God, as any other glorious Attribute of his Nature. We know not the hearts of one another, we know not our own hearts as we ought. Many there are that know not their hearts as to their general bent and disposition, whether it be good or bad, sincere and sound, or corrupt and naught; but no one knoweth all the secret intrigues, the windings and turnings, the actings and aversations of his own heart. Hath any one the perfect measure of his own light and darkness? Can any one know what actings of choosing or aversation his Will will bring forth, upon the proposal of that endless variety of objects that it is to be exercised with? Can any one traverse the various mutability of his affections? Do the secret springs of acting and refusing in the soul, lie before the eyes of any man? Doth any one know what will be the motions of the mind or will, in such and such conjunctions of things? Such a suiting of objects, such a pretension of reasonings, such an appearance of things desirable? All in heaven and earth but the Infinite All-seeing God, are utterly ignorant of these things. In this unsearchable heart dwells the Law of sin, and much of its security, and consequently of its strength, lies in this, that it is past our finding