10. CHAPTER 10.

CHAPTER 10. The deceit of sin, in drawing the mind away from its attendance to particular duties, further revealed — Several things required in the mind of believers with respect to particular duties of obedience — The actings of sin, in a way of deceit, to divert the mind from them.

WE have not as yet brought to issue the first way of the working of the deceit of sin — namely, in drawing the mind away from the discharge of its duty. We insist on this longer on a double account: —

First, Because of its importance and concern. If the mind is drawn away, if it is tainted, weakened, and turned aside from a due and strict attendance to its charge and office, the whole soul, will, and affections are certainly entangled and drawn into sin — as declared in part, and as it will further appear afterward. Therefore we ought to give diligent heed to this, which is the design of this exhortation of the apostle:

Hebrews 2:1, “Therefore we ought to give more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”

He cautions us against a failure of our minds, by the deceitfulness of sin, in losing the life, the power, the sense, and the impress of the word of God. And there is no way to prevent it except by giving the most “earnest heed to the things which we have heard.” This expresses the whole duty of our minds in attending to obedience.

Secondly, Because the actings and workings of the mind are spiritual, the conscience is not affected by them unless it is clearly enlightened, duly excited, and so stirred up as to take due notice of them. Conscience is not apt to react to the mind’s failures, as if they principally respected the acts of the whole soul. When the affections are entangled with sin (more of this afterward), or when the will begins to conceive sin by its express consent, conscience is apt to make an uproar in the soul; it will give it no rest or quiet until the soul is reclaimed, or until one way or another, the conscience is bribed or debauched. But because these neglects of the mind are spiritual, they are seldom taken notice of, without very diligent attendance. In the Scriptures, our minds are often called our spirits, as in Romans 1:9, “Whom I serve with my spirit.” And they are distinguished from the soul, which principally means the affections as used in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 : May God sanctify you wholly... “your whole spirit and soul,” — that is, your mind and affections. It is true that where “spirit” is used to express spiritual gifts, those gifts are opposed to our “understanding,’’ as in 1 Corinthians 14:15 .117 There it is taken for the first act of the mind in a rational perception of things; but as that word “spirit” is applied to any faculty of our souls, it is the mind that it expresses. This then being our spirit, its actings are secret and hidden, and not to be discovered without spiritual wisdom and diligence. Let us not suppose then that we dwell too long on this consideration, which is of such great importance to us, and yet so hidden, and which we are apt to be very insensible of; and yet our carefulness in this matter is one of the best evidences that we have of our sincerity. Let us not then be like a man who is sensible, and complains of a cut finger, but is not sensible of a decay of his spirits tending to death. There remains, therefore, as to this topic of our discourse, the consideration of the charge of the mind in reference to particular duties and sins; in considering this, we will do these two things:

1. Show what is required in the mind of a believer in reference to particular duties.

2. Declare the way that the deceit of sin works to draw the mind away from attending to these duties. The same will also be done with respect to particular sins and their avoidance: —

1. For the right performance of any duty, it is not enough that the duty required is actually performed, but that it is universally squared and fitted to its rule. The great duty of the mind lies in this: namely, to attend to the rule of duties, and to take care that all the concerns of these duties are ordered by it. Our progress in obedience is our edification, or building. Now, it furthers the construction of a building very little, that a man brings wood and stones, and heaps them up without any order. They must be hewn and squared, and fitted by line and rule, if we intend to build. Nor is it to any advantage to our edification in faith and obedience if we multiply our duties, and heap them one upon another, if we do not also order and dispose them according to rule. And therefore God expressly rejects a multitude of duties, when they are not universally suited to the rule:

Isaiah 1:11; Isaiah 1:14 “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices? — They are a trouble to me; I am weary of bearing them.” And therefore all acceptable obedience is called “proceeding according to rule,” Galatians 6:16; 118 it is a canonical or regular obedience. Letters in the alphabet heaped together signify nothing, unless they are disposed into their proper order. Nor do our duties signify anything without this disposal. It is the great duty of the mind to dispose them so, and it is to attend to this with all diligence: Ephesians 5:15, “Walk circumspectly” — walk exactly, accurately; that is, walk diligently in all things; take heed to the rule of what you do. We walk in duties, but we walk circumspectly in this attention of the mind.

(1.) There are some special things which the rule directs us to, that the mind is to attend to in every duty. Such as —

[1.] As to the matter of it, that it be full and complete. Under the law no beast was allowed to be a sacrifice if it had any member missing, or any defect in its parts. Such were rejected, as well as those that were lame or blind. Duties must be complete as to the parts and the matter of them. If a part of the required price is kept back, it may make tendering all the remainder of the price unacceptable. Saul, in sparing Agag and the fattest of the cattle, rendered the destruction of all the rest useless. Thus when men will give alms, or perform other services, but not in the proportion that the rule requires, and which the mind might discover by diligent attention, the whole duty is vitiated.119

[2.] As to the principle of it — namely, that it be done in faith; and in this, done by an actual derivation of strength from Christ, without whom we “can do nothing,” John 15:5. It is not enough that the person is a believer, even though that is necessary “to every good work,” Ephesians 2:10; but it is also necessary that faith be particularly exercised in every duty that we do; for our whole obedience is the “obedience of faith,” Romans 1:5 — that is, obedience is what the doctrine of faith requires, and which the grace of faith bears or brings forth. So Christ is expressly said to be “our life,” Colossians 3:4, our spiritual life; that is, the spring, author, and cause of it. Now, as in natural life, no vital act can be performed except by the actual operation of the principle of life itself, so in spiritual life, no spiritually vital act — that is, no duty that is acceptable to God — can be performed except by the actual working of Christ, who is our life. And this is derived to us in no other way than by faith; the is why the apostle says,

Galatians 2:20, “Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God.” Not only was Christ his life, a living principle to him, but he led a life — that is, he discharged vital actions in all the duties of holiness and obedience — by the faith of the Son of God, or in him, deriving supplies of grace and strength from him by faith. Therefore, a believer ought to diligently attend to this — namely, that everything he does to God is done in the strength of Christ; what that consists in ought to be diligently inquired into by all those who intend to walk with God.

[3.] In this respect to rule, the manner of the performance of every duty is to be regarded. Now, there are two things in the manner of the performance of any duty which a believer, who is trusted with spiritual light, ought to attend to: —

1st. That it be done in the way and by the means that God has prescribed with respect to the outward manner of its performance. And this is especially to be regarded in duties of the worship of God, the matter and outward manner of which equally fall under his command. If this is not regarded, the whole duty is vitiated. I do not speak of those who allow themselves to be deluded by the deceitfulness of sin, who utterly disregard the rule of the word in such things, and worship God according to their own imaginations. Rather, I principally speak of those who, although in general they profess to do nothing except what God requires, as he requires it, yet they do not diligently attend to the rule— they do not make the authority of God the sole cause and reason of what they do, and the manner of performing it. And this is the reason why God so often calls on his people to consider diligently and wisely, so that they may do all according to his command.

2dly. The affections of the heart and mind in duties, belong to their performance in the inward manner. The prescriptions and commands of God for attendance to this are innumerable, and the lack of it renders every duty an abomination to him. A sacrifice made without a heart, without salt, without fire — of what value is it? No more are duties valuable without spiritual affections. And in this, the mind is to keep the charge of God — to see that the heart which he requires is tendered to him. And we find also that God requires especial affections, to accompany special duties: “He that gives, [do it] with cheerfulness;” Romans 12:8 if these are not attended to, the whole is lost.

[4.] The mind is to attend to the ends of duties, and principally the end is the glory of God in Christ. Sin and self will impose several other ends on our duties: it will especially press hard two upon us— first, Satisfaction of our convictions and consciences; secondly, The praise of men; for self-righteousness and ostentation are the main ends of men who have fallen off from God in all their moral duties. In their sins they endeavor to satisfy their lusts; in their duties, they endeavor to satisfy their conviction and pride. The mind of a believer is to diligently watch against these, and to keep a single eye to the glory of God in all things, because that is the great and general rule of all our obedience: “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31 The mind of a believer is obliged to attend diligently and constantly to these and similar things, I say, which are commonly spoken to, with respect to all the particular duties of our walking before God. Here then lies no small part of the deceit of sin — namely, to draw the mind away from this watch, to bring an inadvertency120 upon it, so that it will not keep the watch and charge of the Lord in these things. And if it can do so, and thereby strip our duties of all their excellences (which lie in these concerns about them that the mind is to attend to), then it will not trouble itself much, or us, about the duties themselves. It attempts this in several ways:

1st. By persuading the mind to content itself with generalities, and keep it from attending to things in particular instances. For example, it would persuade the soul to rest satisfied in a general aim of doing things to the glory of God, without considering how every particular duty may actually have that tendency. Thus Saul thought he had fulfilled his own duty, and had done the will of God, and sought God’s glory in his war against Amalek; when, for lack of attending to every particular duty in that service, he dishonored God, and ruined himself and his posterity. Men may persuade themselves that they have a general design for the glory of God, when they have no active principle in particular duties that tend that way at all. If instead of fixing the mind by faith, on particularly advancing the glory of God in a duty, the soul contents itself with a general notion of doing so, then the mind has already been diverted and drawn away from its charge, by the deceitfulness of sin.

If a man is travelling on a journey, it is not only required of him that he bend his course that way in general, and so go on: he must also attend to every turning, and to other occurrences in his way, or else he may wander and never come to his journey’s end. So too, if we suppose that in general we aim at the glory of God, as we all profess to do, yet we do not distinctly attend to his glory in every duty that occurs on our way, we will never attain the end aimed at. Someone who satisfies himself with this general purpose, without acting on it in every special duty, will not long retain that purpose either. It does the same work on the mind, in reference to the principle of our duties, as it does to the end of our duties. Their principle is that they must be done in faith, in the strength of Christ; but if men content themselves that they are believers, and that they have faith, but they do not labor in every particular duty to exercise their faith, to lead their spiritual lives, in all their acts, by the faith of the Son of God — then the mind is drawn away from its duty. It is particular actions in which we express and exercise our faith and obedience: what we are in them, is what we are, and no more.

2dly. It draws the mind away from the duties mentioned before, by insinuating a secret contentment into it from performing the duty itself, as to its matter. This is a fair discharge of a natural conscience. If the duty is performed, even though the manner of its performance comes short in almost all things of the rule, then conscience and conviction will be satisfied. Saul, upon his expedition against Amalek, cries to Samuel, “Come in, you blessed of the Lord; I have done the commandment of the Lord.” He satisfied himself, even though he had not attended as he should have to the whole will of God in that matter. And thus it was with those in Isaiah 58:3, “Why have we fasted,” they say, “and you do not regard it?” They had pleased themselves in the performance of their duties, and expected that God would also be pleased with them. But he shows them at large how they had failed, and that was so far as to render what they had done an abomination to him. God expresses the same charge against them —

Isaiah 48:1 “Hear this, O house of Jacob, Who are called by the name of Israel, And have come forth from the waters of Judah; Who swear by the name of the LORD, And make mention of the God of Israel, But not in truth or in righteousness;” The deceitfulness of sin endeavors to draw the mind to this — namely, to take up in the performance, only the duty itself: ‘You should pray, and you have prayed; you should give alms, and you have given alms; so then, quiet yourself in what you have done, and continue to do the same.’ If the deceit of sin prevails in this, the mind is discharged from further attending and watching to its duty; this leaves the soul on the edge of many evils; for —

3dly. From this, habit in all duties will quickly ensue, which is the height of sin’s drawing the mind away from duty: for men’s minds may be drawn from all duties, in the midst of the most abundant performance of them; in and under these duties, the mind may be subject to habitual diversion from its charge and watch to the rule. What is done with such a frame is not done to God, Amos 5:25 .121 None of their sacrifices were to God, even though they professed that they were. But they did not attend to his worship in faith, and to his glory; and so he despised all their duties. “Israel is an empty vine; he brings forth fruit for himself,” Hosea 10:1 .122 This is the great reason why professors thrive so little under the performance of a multitude of duties: — They do not attend to them in a due manner; their minds are drawn away from their circumspect watch; and so they have little or no communion with God in them, which is the end for which they are designed, and by which alone they become useful and profitable to themselves. And in this manner many duties of worship and obedience are performed by a woeful generation of hypocrites, formalists, and profane persons. Without either life or light in themselves, or acceptance with God, their minds are wholly estranged by the power and deceitfulness of sin, from a due attendance to what they do.

2. As it is in respect to duties, so it is also in respect to sins. There are various things in and about every sin, that the mind of a believer (by virtue of its office and duty) is obliged to diligently attend to, to preserve the soul from sin. They are things which God has appointed and sanctified to give effectual rebukes and checks to the whole working of the law of sin. And they are things which, in the law of grace which we are under, are exceedingly suited and fitted to that purpose. The deceit of sin endeavors by all means to draw the mind away from a due consideration of, and attendance to these things.

We will reflect a little upon a few of them: —

(1.) The first and most general is the sovereignty of God, the great lawgiver, by whom sin is forbidden. Joseph fixed on this in his great temptation:

Genesis 39:9, “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

There was a great evil in it, a great ingratitude against man, which he also pleads and insists upon in verses 8, 9.123 But what fixed his heart and resolution against it, was its formality: that it was sin against God, by whom it was severely forbidden. So the apostle informs us that in our dealing in anything that is against the law, our respect is still to be to the Lawgiver and his sovereignty:

James 4:11-12, “If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy.”

Consider this always: that there is one lawgiver, holy, righteous, armed with sovereign power and authority; he is able to save and destroy. Hence sin is called rebellion, casting off his yoke, despising him, and that despising is in his sovereignty as the great lawgiver; the mind should always attend to this practically, in all the lustings, actings, and suggestions of the law of sin. This is especially so when advantaged by any suitable or vigorous temptation: “It is God that has forbidden this thing; the great lawgiver, whose absolute sovereignty I am under. I live in dependence on him, and I am to be disposed of by him as to my present and eternal condition.” Eve fixed on this at the beginning of her temptation, Genesis 3:3 : “God has said, we must not eat of this tree.” But she did not keep her ground; she did not abide by that consideration; she allowed her mind to be diverted from it by the subtlety of Satan, which was the entrance of her transgression: and so it is for us all in our deviations from obedience.

(2.) The punishment appointed in the law to the deceit of sin, of every sin, is another thing that the mind should actually attend to, in reference to every particular evil. The diversions from this, which the minds of men have been doctrinally and practically attended with, have been an inlet into all manner of abominations. Job professes another frame in himself, Job 31:23, “Destruction from God was a terror to me, and because of his highness, I could not endure.”

He had mentioned many evils in the foregoing verses, and he pleads his innocence from them, even though they were such that, because of Job’s greatness and power, he could have committed easily without fear of danger from men. Here he gives the reason that prevailed with him to so carefully abstain from them, “Destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.” “I considered,” he says in effect, “that God had appointed ‘death and destruction’ for the punishment of sin, and that such was his greatness, highness, and power, that he could inflict it to the uttermost, in such a way that no creature is able to abide or avoid.” So the apostle directs believers to always consider what a “fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God,” Hebrews 10:31; and that because he has said, “Vengeance is mine, I will recompense,” verse 30. He is a sin-avenging God, who will by no means acquit the guilty. As in the declaration of his gracious name, infinitely full of encouragements to poor sinners in Christ, he adds in the close that “he will by no means clear the guilty,” Exodus 34:7 — that he may keep upon the minds of those whom he pardons a due sense of the punishment due for every sin, from his vindictive justice. And so the apostle would have us mind that even “our God is a consuming fire,” Hebrews 12:29; that is, that we should consider his holiness and vindictive justice, appointing to sin a fit recompense of reward. And men’s breaking through this consideration, he reckons as the height of the aggravation of their sins:

Romans 1:32, “They knew that it is the judgment of God, that those who commit such things were worthy of death; yet they continued to do them.”

What hope is there for such persons? There is, indeed, relief against this consideration for humbled believing souls in the blood of Christ; but this relief is not to take the mind away from it as it is appointed by God to be a restraint from sin. And both these considerations, even the sovereignty of God and the punishment of sin, are put together by our Saviour:

Matthew 10:28, “Do not fear those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

(3.) The consideration of all the love and kindness of God, against whom every sin is committed, is another thing that the mind ought to diligently attend to; and this is a prevailing consideration if it is rightly and graciously managed in the soul. Moses presses this on the people:

Deuteronomy 32:6 “Do you thus repay the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? Is he not your Father that bought you? Has he not made you, and established you?” Is this a repayment for eternal love, and all its fruits? For the love and care of a Father, of a Redeemer, that we have been made partakers of? And it is the same consideration which the apostle manages to this purpose:

2 Corinthians 7:1 “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

Receiving the promises ought to be effectual, so as to stir us up to all holiness, to work and effect abstinence from all sin. And what promises are these? Namely, that “God will be a Father to us, and receive us,” chap. 6:17, 18; this comprises the whole of the love of God towards us here and to eternity. If there is any spiritual ingenuity in the soul while the mind is attentive to this consideration, there can be no prevailing attempt made upon it by the power of sin. Now, there are two parts to this consideration: —

[1.] That which is general and common to all believers. This is managed to this purpose,

1 John 3:1-3, “Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know him. Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.”

“Consider,” he says, “the love of God, and the privileges that we enjoy by it: ‘Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.’ Adoption is an especial fruit of the love, and how great a privilege this is! It is such love, and such are its fruits, that the world knows nothing of the blessed condition which we obtain and enjoy by it: “The world does not know us.” No indeed, for it is such love, and its effects are so unspeakably blessed and glorious, that we ourselves are not able to comprehend them.” What use, then, should we to make of this contemplation of the excellent, unspeakable love of God? Why, says he, “Everyone who has this hope purifies himself.” Every man who has been made partaker of this love, and with that has a hope of the full enjoyment of its fruits, of being made like God in glory, “purifies himself,” — that is, in abstaining from all and every sin, as it is declared at large in the subsequent words.

[2.] It is to be considered as to such particular mercies and fruits of love as every one’s soul has been made partaker of. There is no believer who, besides the love and mercy which he has in common with all his brethren, does not also have in the lot of his inheritance, some inclusions — some especial mercies — in which he has a singular propriety;124 he has some joy which no stranger may share, Proverbs 14:10. 125 — he has particular applications of covenant love and mercy to his soul. Now, these are all provisions laid in by God, so that they may be borne in mind against an hour of temptation — so that the consideration of them may preserve the soul from the attempts of sin. Neglecting them is a high aggravation of our provocations. In 1Kng 11:9, it is charged as the great evil of Solomon, that he had sinned against special mercies, especial intimations of love — he sinned after God had “appeared to him twice.” God required that he should have borne in mind that especial favor, and made it an argument against sin; but he neglected it, and he is burdened with this sore rebuke. Indeed, all especial mercies, all especial tokens and pledges of love, are utterly lost and misspent on us, if they are not improved to this end. This then is another thing that it is the duty of the mind to greatly attend to, and to effectually set in opposition to every attempt made on the soul by the law of sin.

(4.) The considerations that arise from the blood and mediation of Christ have the same importance. So the apostle declares,

2 Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ constrains us; because we judge thus, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them, and rose again.”

There is a constraining efficacy in this consideration; it is great, forcible, and effectual, if it is duly attended to. But I must not in particular insist on these things here;—

(5.) Nor will I speak of the inhabitation of the Spirit — the greatest privilege that we are made partakers of in this world. The due consideration how he is grieved by sin; how his dwelling-place is defiled by it; how his comforts are forfeited, lost, and despised by it — these might also be insisted on: but the instances passed through are sufficient for our purpose.

Now, the duty of the mind in reference to particular sins and temptations lies in this: — It is to diligently and carefully attend to these things; it is to dwell constantly upon the consideration of them; it is to have them in continual readiness to set in opposition to all the lustings, actings, warrings, attempts, and rages of sin. In reference to this, sin presents and acts out its deceit in an especial manner. It labors by all means to draw the mind away from its due attendance to these things — to deprive the soul of this great preservative and antidote against its poison. It endeavors to cause the soul to satisfy itself with general undigested notions about sin, so that it may have nothing in particular to resort to in its own defense against sin’s attempts and temptations. And the ways by which it does this may also be briefly considered: —

[1.] It is from the deceit of sin that the mind is spiritually slothful, and whereby it becomes negligent in this duty. The principal discharge of its trust in this matter is expressed by watching; which is the great caution that the Lord Jesus gave to his disciples in reference to all their dangers from sin and Satan: Mark 13:37, “I say to all, Watch;” that is, “Use your utmost diligence and circumspection, so that you will not be surprised and entangled with temptations.” It is called also consideration: “Consider your ways,” — “Consider your latter end;”126 the lack of which God complains about in his people in Deuteronomy 32:29 .127 Now, what is contrary to these indispensable conditions of our preservation, is spiritual slothfulness, as the apostle declares,

Hebrews 6:11-12, “And we desire that every one of you shows the same diligence to the full assurance of hope, to the end: that you will not be slothful.”

If we do not show diligence, we are slothful, and in danger of coming short of inheriting the promises. See,

2 Peter 1:5-11, “And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; to virtue knowledge,” etc. “For if these things are in you, and abound, they make you such that you will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacks these things is blind, and cannot see afar off; he has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, rather give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if you do these things you will never fall: for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly,128 into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” The mind is turned from all this, once it is made slothful by the deceit of sin. Now, this sloth consists in four things: —

1st. Inadvertency.129 It does not set itself to consider and attend to its special concerns. The apostle persuades the Hebrews with all earnestness to attend diligently, to consider carefully, so that they may not be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. He gives this reason for their danger: that they were “dull of hearing,” chap. 5:11; that is, they were slothful, and did not attend to the things of their duty. A secret disregard is apt to creep in upon the soul; it does not set itself to diligently mark how things are going with it, and what is continually incumbent upon it.

2dly. An unwillingness to be stirred up to its duty.

Proverbs 19:24, “A slothful man hides his hand in his pocket,130 and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.”

There is an unwillingness in sloth to take any notice of warnings, calls, excitations, or stirrings by the word, Spirit, judgments, or anything that God makes use of to call the mind to duly consider the condition of the soul. And this is a perfect evidence that the mind has been made slothful by the deceit of sin: when especial calls and warnings, whether in a suitable word or a pressing judgment, cannot prevail with the mind to pull its hand out of its pocket; that is, to set about the special duties that it is called to.

3dly. Weak and ineffectual attempts to recover itself to its duty.

Proverbs 26:14, “As the door turns upon its hinges, so the slothful man turns upon his bed.”

There is some motion in a door turning upon its hinges, but no progress. It moves up and down, but is remains in the place and posture it was in before. So it is with the spiritually slothful man on his bed, or in his security. He makes some motions or faint endeavors to discharge his duty, but he does not go on. Where he was one day, there he is the next; indeed, where he was one year, there he is the next. His endeavors are faint, cold, and evanid;131 he gains no ground by them, but is always beginning and never finishing his work.

4thly. Heartlessness upon the apprehensions of difficulties and discouragements.

Proverbs 22:13, “The slothful man says, There is a lion outside, I will be slain in the streets.”

Every difficulty deters him from his duty. He thinks it is impossible for him to attain to that accuracy, exactness, and perfection which he is to press after in this matter; and therefore he contents himself in his old coldness, in his negligence, rather than run the risk of a universal circumspection. Now, once the deceit of sin has drawn the mind away into this frame, it lays it open to every temptation and incursion of sin. The spouse in the Canticles seems to have been overtaken with this distemper, Song of Solomon 5:2,3 132 and this prompts various excuses why she cannot attend to the call of Christ, and apply herself to her duty in walking with him.

[2.] The deceit of sin draws the mind away from its watch and duty in reference to sin by surprisals. It falls in conjunction with some urging temptation, and it surprises the mind into thoughts of quite another nature than those which it ought to insist upon in its own defense. So it seems to have been with Peter: his carnal fear, closing with the temptation in which Satan sought to winnow him,Luke 22:31 filled his mind with so many thoughts about his own imminent danger, that he could not take into consideration the love and warning of Christ, nor the evil to which his temptation led him, nor anything that he have insisted on for his preservation. And, therefore he “wept bitterly” upon reviewing his folly in neglecting those thoughts of God and the love of Christ which, through the assistance of the Holy Ghost, might have kept him from his scandalous fall. And this indeed is the common way that the deceit of sin works as to particular evils: — It lays hold on the mind suddenly with thoughts about the present sin, possesses it, and takes it up. So that either it does not return at all to the considerations mentioned; or else, if any thoughts of them are suggested, the mind is so prepossessed and filled, that they make no impression on the soul or they do not abide in it. Thus doubtless David was surprised in the entrance of his great sin. Sin and temptation so possessed and filled his mind with the present object of his lust, that he utterly forgot, as it were, those considerations which he had formerly made use of when he so diligently kept himself from his iniquity. Therefore the great wisdom of the soul in rejecting the very first motions of sin, lies in this: if it parleys with them, the mind may be drawn away from attending to what preserves it, and thus rush wholly into evil.

[3.] It draws away the mind by the frequency and long continuance of its solicitations, making at last a conquest of it, as it were. And this does not happen without an open neglect of the soul, in failing to stir itself up to give an effectual rebuke to sin, in the strength and by the grace of Christ — which would have prevented its prevalence. But more will be spoken of this afterwards. And this is the first way by which the law of sin acts its deceit against the soul: — It draws the mind away from attending to its charge and office, both in respect to its duty and to sin. And to the extent that this is done, the person is said to be “drawn away” or drawn off. He is “tempted;” every man is tempted when he is thus drawn away by his own lust, or by the deceit of sin dwelling in him. And the whole effect of this working of the deceitfulness of sin may be reduced to these three headings: —

1. The remission of a universally watchful frame of spirit to every duty, and against all actings of sin, even the most hidden and secret.

2. The omission, of particularly attending to those duties which have an especial respect to the weakening and ruin of the whole law of sin, and obviating its deceitfulness.

3. Spiritual sloth as to a diligent regard for all the especial concerns of duties and sins. To the extent that these three things, along with their branches mentioned, are brought about in or upon the soul, that is the extent to which a man is drawn away by his own lust or the deceit of sin.

There is no need to add here any directions for the prevention of this evil; they have been sufficiently laid down in our passage through the consideration of both the duty of the mind, and of the deceit of sin.