if he answer you not at firft, he tells you, he did not hear you, he was bufy; his mind was fixed. Were we admitted into the presence of a king to petition for our lives, we would be in no hazard of gazing through the chamber of prefence: But here lies the cafe, the carnal mind, employed about any ipiritual good, is out of its element, and therefore cannot fix.

Evid. 5 But however hard it is to keep the mind on good thoughts, it fticks as glue to what is evil and corrupt like itfelf! 2 Pet. ii. 14. Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot ceafe from fin. Their eyes cannot cease from fin; (fo the words are conftructed) that is, their hearts and minds venting by the eyes, what is within, are like a furious beast, which cannot be held in, when once it has got out its head. Let the corrupt imagination once be let loofe on its proper object; it will be found hard work to call it back again, tho' both reafon and will be for its retreat. For then it is in its own element; and to draw it off from its impurities, is as the drawing of a fish out of the water, or the renting of a limb from a man. It runs like fire fet to a train of powder, that refteth not till it can get no further.

Evid. 6. Confider how the carnal imagination fupplies the want of real objects to the corrupt heart; that it may make finners happy, at least, in the imaginary enjoyment of their lufts. Thus the corrupt heart feeds itself with imagination-fias: the unclean perfon is filled with speculative impurities, having eyes full of adultery; the covetous man fills his heart with the world, tho' he cannot get his hands full of it; the malicious perfon, with delight, acts his revenge within his own breast) the envious man, within his own narrow foul, beholds, with fatisfaction, his neighbour laid low enough; and every luft finds the corrupt imagination a friend to it in time of need. And this it 'doth, not only when people are awake, but fometimes even when they are afleep; whereby it comes to pafs, that these fins are acted in dreams, which their hearts were carried out after, while they were awake. I know fome do queftion the finfulness of these things: But can it be thought they are confiftent with that holy nature and frame of fpirit, which was in innocent Adam, and in Jesus Christ, and fhould be in every man? It is the corruption of nature then, that makes filthy dreamers condemned, Jude 8. Solomon had experience of the exercife of grace in fleep: in a dream he prayed, in a dream he made the best choice; both were accepted of God, 1 Kings iii. 5,-15. And if a man may, in his sleep, do what is good and acceptable to God, why may he not alfo, when afleep, do that which is evil and difpleafing to God? The fame Solomon would have men aware of this; and prefcribes the beft remedy against it, namely, The law upon the heart, Prov. vi. 20, 21. When thou fleepeft, (fays.he, ver. 22.) it hall keep thee, to wit, from the finning in thy fleep; that is, fron finful dreams: For one's being kept from fin, (not his being kept from affliction) is the immediate proper effect of the law of God inpreft upon the heart, Pfal. cxix. 11. And thus the whole verfe is

to

to be understood, as appears from verfe 23. For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, and reproofs of inftruction are the way of life. Now the law is a lamp of light, as it guides in the way of duty;" and inftructing reproofs from the law, are the way of life, as they keep from fin: neither do they guide into the way of peace, but as they lead into the way of duty; nor do they keep a man out of trouble, but as they keep him from fin. And remarkable is the particular, in which Solomon inftanceth, namely, the fin of uncleannefs, to keep thee from the evil woman and ver. 24. which is to be joined with verse 22. inclosing the 23d in a parenthesis, as fome verfions have it. These things may fuffice to convince us of the natural bias of the mind to evil.

Fourthly, There is in the carnal mind, an oppofition to fpiritual truths, and an averfion to the receiving of them. It is as little a friend to divine traths, as it is to holiness. The truths of natural religion, which do, as it were, force their entry into the minds of natural men, they hold prifoners in unrighteoufnefs, Rom. i. 18. And as for the truths of revealed religion, there is an evil heart of unbelief in them, which oppofeth their entry; and there is an armed force-neceffary to captivate the mind to the belief of them, 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. God has made a revelation of his mind and will to finners, touching the way of falvation: he has given us the doctrine of his holy word: but do natural men believe it indeed? No, they do not; for he that believeth not on the Son of God, believeth not God, as is plain from John v. 10. They believe not the promises of the word: they look on them, in effect, only as fair words; for these that receive them, are thereby made partakers of the divine nature, 2 Pet. i. 4.1 The promises are as filver cords let down from heaven to draw finners unto God, and to waft them over into the promifed land; but they caft them from them. They believe not the threatnings of the word. As men travelling in defarts carry fire about with them, to fright away wild beafts: fo God has made his law a firey law, Deut. xxxiii.2. hedging it about with threats of wrath: But men naturally are more brutish than beafts themselves; and will needs touch the firey finoaking mountain, tho' they fhould be thrust through with a dart. I doubt not, but most, if not all of you, who are yet in the black state of nature will here plead, Not guilty: But remember the carnal Jews in Chrift's time, were as confident as you are, and they believed Mofes, John ix. 28, 29. But he confutes their confidence, roundly telling them, John v. 46. Had ye believed Mofes, ye would have believed me. Did ye believe the truths of God, ye durit not reject, as ye do, Him who is truth itself. The very difficulty your find in affenting to this truth, bewrays that unbelief I am charging you with. Has it not proceeded fo far with fone at this day, that it has fteeled their fore-heads with the impudence and impiety, openly to reject all revealed religion? Surely it is out of the abundance of the art their mouth Speaketh. But tho' ye fet not your mouths against the heavens, as they do, the fame

bitter root of unbelief is in all men by nature, and reigns in you, and will reign, till overcoming grace captivate your minds to the belief of the truth. To convince you in this point, confider thefe three things. Evidence 1. How few are there who have been bleft with an inward illumination, by the fpecial operation of the Spirit of Chrift, letting them into a view of divine truths in their fpiritual and heavenly luftre! How have you learned the truths of religion, which ye pretended to believe! Ye have them merely by the benefit of external revelation, and of your education; fo that you are Chriítians, juit because you were not born and bred in a Pagan, but in a Chriftian comtry. Ye are strangers to the inward work of the holy Spirit, bearing witnefs by, and with the word in your hearts; and fo you cannot have the affurance of faith, with respect to that outward divine revelation made in the word, 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11, 12. And therefore ye are ftill unbelievers. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God-Every man therefore that hath heard, and bath. learned of the Father, cometh unto me, fays our Lord, Johm vi. 45. Now ye have not come to Chrift, therefore ye have not been taught of God; ye have not been fo taught, and therefore ye have not come; ve believé not. Behold the revelation from which the faith even of the fundamental principles in religion doth fpring, Matth. xvi. 17, 18. Thou art Chrift, the Son of the living God-Bleffed art thou Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. If ever the Spirit of the LORD take a dealing with thee, to work in thee that faith, which is of the operation of God; it may be, as much time will be fpent in razing the old foundation, as will make thee find a neceffity of the working of his mighty power, and to enable thee to believe the very foundation principles, which now thou thinkeft thou makeft no doubt of, Eph. i 19.

Evid. 2. How many profeffors have made fhipwreck of their faith (fach as it was) in time of temptation and trial! See how they fall, Ike ftars from heaven, when Antichrift prevails, 2 Theff. ii 11, 12. God fhall fend them ftrong delufions, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned, who believed not the truth. They fall into damning delufions: becaufe they never really believed the truth, tho they themselves and others too thought they did believe it. That houfe is built upon the fand, and that faith is but ill-founded, that cannot bear out, but is quite overthrown, when the ftorm comes.

Evid. 3. Confider the utter inconfiftency of moft men's lives, with the principles of religion which they profefs; ye may as foon bring eaft and weft together, as their principles and practice. Men believe that fire will burn them, and therefore they will not throw themselves into it but the truth is, moft men live as if they thought the gospel a mere fable, and the wrath of God revealed in his word against their unrighteoufnefs and ungodlinefs, a mere scare-crow. If ye believe the doctrines of the word, how is it that ye are so unconcerned about the ftate of your fouls before the LORD? How is it that you are fo

little

little concerned with that weighty point, whether ye be born again or not? Many live as they were born, and are like to die as they live, and yet live in peace: Do fuch believe the finfulness and mifery of a natural state? Do they believe they are children of wrath? Do they believe there is no falvation without regeneration? and no regeneration but what makes man a new creature? If you believe the promises of the word, why do you not embrace them, and labour to enter into the promised reft? What fluggard would not dig for a hid treasure, if he really believed he might fo obtain it? Men will work and fweat for a maintenance; because they believe that by fo doing they will get it: yet they will be at no tolerable pains for the eternal weight of glory: why, but because they do not believe the word of promise ? Heb. iv. 1, 2. If ye believe the threatnings, how is it that you live in your fins, live out of Chrift, and yet hope for mercy? Do fuch believe God to be the holy and juft One, who will by no means clear the guilty? No, no, none believe, None (or next to none) believe what a juft GOD the LORD is, and how feverely he panifbeth.

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Fifthly, There is in the mind of man a natural proneness to lies and falfhood, which make for the fafety of lufts. They go aftray as foon as they be born, fpeaking lies, Pfal. Ivii. 3. We have this with the reft of the corruption of our nature, from our firft parents. God revealed the truth to them; but through the folicitation of the tempter, they first doubted of it; they difbelieved it, and embraced a lie instead of it. And for an unconteftible evidence hereof, we may fee that first article of the devil's creed, ye shall not farely die, Gen. iii. 4. which was obtruded by him on our first parents, and by them received; naturally embraced by their pofterity, and held faft, till a light from heaven oblige them to quit it. It fpreads itself through the lives of natural men; who, till their confciences be awakened, walk after their own lufts: ftill retaining the principle, That they fball not furely die. And this is often improved to that perfection, that the man can fay, over the belly of the denounced curfe, 1 fhall have peace, tho' I walk in the imagination of mine beart, to add drunkennefs to thirst, Deut. xxix. 19. Whatever advantage the truths of God have over error, by means of education, or otherwife; error has always, with the natural man, this advantage against truth, namely, That there is fomething within him, which fays, O that it were true; fo that the mind lies fair for affenting to it. And here is the reafon of it. The true doctrine is, the doctrine that is according to godliness, 1 Tim. vi. 3. and the truth which is after godliness, Tit. i. 1. Error is the doctrine which is according to ungodlinefs; for there is never an error in the mind, nor an untruth vented in the world, (in matters of religion) but what has an affinity with one corruption of the heart or other according to that of the apoftle, 2 Theff. ii. 21. They believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. So that truth and error being otherwise attended with equal advantages for their reception, error, by this means, has most ready access into the minds

:

of

of men in their natural ftate. Wherefore, it is nothing strange that men reject the fimplicity of gospel truths and inftitutions, and greedily embrace error and external pomp in religion; feeing they are fo agreeable to the lufts of the heart, and the vanity of the mind of the natural man. And from hence alfo it is, that fo many embrace atheistical principles; for none do it but in compliance with their irregular paffions; none but thefe, whofe advantage it would be, that there was no God.

Laftly, Man is naturally high-minded; for when the gospel comes in power to him, it is employed in cafting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, 2 Cor. x. 5. Lowlinefs of mind is not a flower that grows in the field of nature:. but is planted by the finger of God in a renewed heart, and learned of the lowly Jefus. It is natural to man to think highly of himself, and what is his own; for the ftroke he has got by his fall in Adam, has produced a falfe light, whereby mole-hills about him appear like mountains; and a thousand airy beauties present themselves to his deluded fancy. Vain man would be wife, (fo he accounts himself, and fo he would be accounted of by others) though man be born like a wild afs's colt, Job xi. 12. His ways is right because it is his own: for every way of a man is right in his own eyes, Prov. xxi. 2. His state is good, because he knows no better: he is alive without the law, Rom. vii. 9. and therefore his hope is strong, and his confidence firm. It is another tower of Babel reared up againft heaven; and fhall not fall while the power of darknefs can hold it up. The word batters it, yet it ftands; one while breaches are made in it, but they are quickly repaired; at another time, it is all made to fhake; but ftill it keeps up; till either God himself, by his Spirit, raise an heart-quake within the man, which tumbles it down; and leaves not one stone upon another, (2 Cor. x. 41, 45.) or death batter it down and raze the foundations of it, Luke xvi. 23. And as the natural man thinks highly of himself, fo he thinks meanly of God, whatever he pretends, Pfal. 1. 21. Thou thoughteft that I was altogether fuch an one as thyfelf. The doctrine of the gofpel, and the mystery of Chrift are foolishness to him; and in his practice he treats them as fuch, 1 Cor. i. 18. and ii. 14. He brings the word and the works of God in the government of the world, before the bar of his carnal reafon; and there they are prefumptuously cenfured and condemned, Hof. xiv. 9. Sometimes the ordinary restraint of providence is taken off, and Satan is permitted to ftir up the carnal inind; and in that cafe it is like an ant's neft, uncovered and disturbed; doubts, denials, and hellish reasons crowd in it, and cannot be laid by all the arguments brought against them, till a power from on high captivate the mind, and ftill the mutiny of the corrupt principles.

Thus much of the corruption of the understanding: which, altho' the half be not told, may difcover to you the abfolute neceffity of regenerating grace. Call the understanding now Ichabod; for the

glory