The peril of the times displayed. Or The danger of mens taking up with…

3. There is a natural enmity in the hearts of Unregenerate men, that makes them not to receive the truth in the love of it. They can easily enough receive it in the form of it, upon sinister ends, and because by their so doing, they have advantage to nourish their carnal lusts, and ⟨p. 38⟩many times promote their fleshly designs; screw themselves into credit and applause; and because they count gain to be Godliness, when the show of it will gain them any thing in the world, it contents them. But all this while there is a direct contrariety between the lusts of the flesh which rule in Sinners, and the rules of strict Godliness, so that they cannot yield themselves to be subject unto them, for, Rom. 8.7. the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. True Godliness will not suffer lust to reign in the man, but will mortify it: the man that will be Godly, must mortify himself, renounce his darling sins, cut off his right hand, pluck out his right eye; he must be sober, righteous, godly, and that in this present world; and this he can in no way comport withal, whiles sin bears rule in him. This is the Offence of the Cross: and till he have a new principle put into him, it will remain, and keep him off from real piety.

3. There is a natural enmity in the hearts of Unregenerate men, that makes them not to receive the truth in the love of it. They can easily enough receive it in the form of it, upon sinister ends, and because by their so doing, they have advantage to nourish their carnal lusts, and ⟨p. 38⟩many times promote their fleshly designs; screw themselves into credit and applause; and because they count gain to be Godliness, when the shew of it will gain them any thing in the world, it contents them. But all this while there is a direct contrariety between the lusts of the flesh which rule in Sinners, and the rules of strict Godliness, so that they cannot yield themselves to be subject unto them, for, Rom. 8.7. the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. True Godliness will not suffer lust to reign in the man, but will mortifie it: the man that will be Godly, must mortifie himself, renounce his darling sins, cut off his right hand, pluck out his right eye; he must be sober, righteous, godly, and that in this present world; and this he can in no way comport withal, whiles sin bears rule in him. This is the Offence of the Cross: and till he have a new principle put into him, it will remain, and keep him off from real piety.