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10," But, in the very nature of things, can a man have pride in him, and not be proud-anger, and yet not be angry?"

A man may have pride in him, may think of himself in some particulars above what he ought to think, (and so be proud in that particular) and yet not be a proud man, in his general character. He may haye anger in him, yea, and a strong propensity to furious anger, without giving way to it. "But can anger and pride be in that heart, where only meekness and humility are felt?" No: But some pride and anger may be in that heart, where there is much humility and meekness.

"It avails not to say, these tempers are there, but they do not reign. For sin cannot, in any kind or degree, exist where it does not reign. For guilt and power are essential properties of sin. Therefore, where one of them is, all must be."

"But

Strange indeed! "Sin cannot in any kind or degree, exist where it does not reign?" Absolutely contrary this to all experience, all scripture, all common sense. Resentment of an affront is sin. It is avoua, disconformity to the law of love. This has existed in me a thousand times. Yet it did not, and does not reign. guilt and power are essential properties of sin: therefore, where one is, all must be." No. In the instance before us, if the resentment I feel is not yielded to, even for a moment, there is no guilt at all, no condemnation from God upon that account. And in this case, it has no power: though it lusteth against the Spirit it cannot prevail. Here, therefore, as in ten thousand instances, there is sin, without either guilt or power.

11. "But the supposing sin in a believer is pregnant with every thing frightful and discouraging. It implies the contending with a power, that has the possession of our strength, maintains his usurpation of our hearts, and there prosecutes the war in defiance of our Redeemer.” Not so. The supposing sin is in us, does not imply, that it has the possession of our strength; no more than a man crucified has the possession of those that crucify him. As little does it imply, that sin" maintains its usurpation of our hearts." The usurper is dethroned He remains indeed where he once reigned; but remains in chains. So that he does in some sense "prosecute the No. III. war,"

X

war," yet he grows weaker and weaker: while the believer goes on from strength to strength, conquering and

to conquer.

12. I am not satisfied yet. He that has sin in him,is a slave to sin. Therefore you suppose a man to be justified, while he is a slave to sin. Now, if you allow, men may be justified, while they have pride, anger, or unbelief in them; nay, if you aver, These are, (at least for a time) in all that are justified: what wonder that we have so many proud, angry, unbelieving, believers?"

I do not suppose any man who is justified, is a slave to sin. Yet I do suppose, sin remains. (at least for a time) in all that are justified. "But if sin remains in a believer, he is a sinful man: if pride, for instance, then he is proud: if self-will, then he is self-willed; if unbelief, then he is an unbeliever; consequently, no believer at all. How then does he differ from unbelievers, from unregenerate men?"

This is still mere playing upon words. It means no more than, if there is sin, pride, self-will, in him, then there is sin, pride, self-will. And this nobody can deny. In that sense then he is proud or self-willed. But he is not proud or self-willed in the same sense, that unbelievers are, that is, governed by pride or self-will. Herein he differs from unregenerate men. They obey sin; he does not. Flesh is in them both. But they walk after the flesh: He walks after the Spirit.

"But how can unbelief be in a believer?" That word has two meanings. It means either no faith or little faith; either the absence of faith; or the weakness of it. In the former sense, unbelief is not in a believer in the latter, it is in all babes. Their faith is commonly mixt with doubt or fear, that is (in the latter sense) with unbelief. Why are ye fearful? says our Lord, O ye of little faith. Again; O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? You see here was unbelief in believers: little faith

and much unbelief.

13. "But this doctrine, that sin remains in a believer, that a man may be in the favour of God, while he has sin in his heart, certainly tends to encourage men in sin." Understand the proposition right, and no such consequence follows. A man may be in God's favour though he feels sin: but not if he yields to it. Having sin

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does not forfeit the favour of God; giving way to sin," does. Though the flesh in you lust against the Spirit, you may still be a child of God. But if you walk after the flesh, you are a child of the devil. Now, this doctrine does not encourage to obey sin, but to resist it with all our might.

V. 1. The sum of all is this. There are in every person, even after he is justified, two contrary principles, nature and grace, termed by St. Paul, the flesh and the Spirit. Hence although even babes in Christ are sanctified, yet it is only in part. In a degree, according to the measure of their faith, they are spiritual: yet in a degree they are carnal. Accordingly, believers are continually exhorted to watch against the flesh, as well as the world and the devil. And to this agrees the constant experience of the children of God. While they feel this witness in themselves, they feel a will not wholly resigned to the will of God. They know they are in him, and yet find an heart ready to depart from him, a proneness to evil in many instances, and a backwardness to that which is good. The contrary doctrine is wholly new; never heard of in the church of Christ, from the time of his coming into the world, till the time of Count Zinzendorf. And it is attended with the most fatal con-, sequences. It cuts off all watching against our evil nature, against the Delilah, which we are told is gone, though she is still lying in our bosom. It tears away the shield of weak believers, deprives them of their faith, and so leaves them exposed to all the assaults of the world, the flesh and the devil.

2. Let us therefore hold fast the sound doctrine, once delivered to the saints, and delivered down by them with the written word, to all succeeding generations: that although we are renewed, cleansed, purified, sanctified, the moment we truly believe in Christ, yet we are not then renewed, cleansed, purified altogether: but the flesh, the evil nature still remains (though subdued) and wars against the Spirit. So much the more, let us use all diligence, in fighting the good fight of faith. So much the more earnestly let us watch and pray, against the enemy within. The more carefully let us take to ourselves, and "put on the whole armour of God:" that although X 2

we

"we wrestle, (both) with flesh and blood, and with principalities and powers, and wicked spirits in high places, we may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.".

1.

SERMON XIV.

The Repentance of Believers.

IT

MARK i. 15.

REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL.

T is generally supposed, that repentance and faith are only the gate of religion; that they are necessary only at the beginning of our Christian course, when we are setting out in the way to the kingdom. And this may seem to be confirmed by the great apostle, where exhorting the Hebrew Christians, to go on to perfection, he teaches them to leave these first principles of the doctrine of Christ; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and faith toward God: which must at least mean, that they should comparatively leave these, that at first took up all their thoughts, in order to "press forward toward the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

2, And this is undoubtedly true, that there is a repentance and a faith, which are more especially necessary at the beginning: a repentance which is a conviction of our utter sinfulness, and guiltiness, and helplessness and which precedes our receiving that kingdom of God, which our Lord observes is within us: and a faith, whereby we receive that kingdom, even righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

3. But notwithstanding this, there is also a repentance and a faith, (taking the words in another sense, a sense not quite the same, hor yet entirely different,) which

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are requisite after we have believed the gospel: yea, and in every subsequent stage of our Christian course, or we cannot run the race which is set before us. And this repentance and faith, are full as necessary, in order to our continuance and growth in grace, as the former faith and repentance were, in order to our entering into the kingdom of God.

But in what sense are we to repent and believe, after we are justified? This is an important question, and worthy of being considered with the utmost attention. I. And first, In what sense are we to repent?

1. Repentance frequently means, an inward change, a change of mind from sin to holiness. But we now speak of it in a quite different sense, as it is one kind of selfknowledge, the knowing ourselves sinners, yea, guilty, helpless sinners, even though we know we are children of God.

2. Indeed when we first know this, when we first find redemption in the blood of Jesus, when the love of God is first shed abroad in our hearts, and his kingdom set up therein, it is natural to suppose, that we are no longer sinners, that all our sins, are not only covered but destroyed. As we do not then feel any evil in our hearts, we readily imagine, none is there. Nay some well-meaning men have imagined this, not only at that time, but ever after having persuaded themselves, that when they were justified, they were entirely sanctified. Yea, they have laid it down as a general rule, in spite of scripture, reason, and experience. These sincerely believe and earnestly maintain, that all sin is destroyed when we are justified, and that there is no sin in the heart of a believer, but that it is altogether clean from that moment. But though we readily acknowledge, he that believeth is born of God, and be that is born of God doth not commit sin: yet we cannot allow, that he does not feel it, within it does not reign, but it does remain. And a conviction of the sin which remains in our heart, is one great branch of the repentance we are now speaking of.

3. For it is seldom long, before he who imagined all sin was gone, feels there is still pride in his heart. He is convinced, both that in many respects he has thought of himself more highly than he ought to think, and that he

has