Evid. 2. Let the corrupt mind have but the advantage of one's being employed in, or prefent at fome piece of fervice to God; that fo the device, if not in itfelf finful, yet may become finful, by its unfeasonablenefs; it fhall quickly fall on fone device or expedient, by its ftarting afide; which deliberation, in feafon, could not produce. Thus Saul, who wift not what to do, before the priest began to confult God, is quickly determined when once the priest's hand was in: his own heart then gave him an anfwer, and would not allow him to wait an answer from the Lord, 1 Sam. xiv. 18, 19. Such a devilish dexterity hath the carnal mind, in deviling what may most effectually divert men from their duty to God. Evid. 3. Doth not the carnal mind naturally strive to grafp fpiritu things in imagination; as if the foul were quite immerfed in flesh and blood, and would turn every thing into its own fhape? Let men who are used to the forming of the most abstracted notion, look into their own fouls, and they fhall find this bias in their minds: whereof the idolatry, which did of old, and still doth, fo much prevail in the world, is an unconteftable evidence. For it plainly difcovers, that men naturally would have a vifible deity, and fee, what they worship: and therefore they changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image, Rom. i. 23. The reformation of thefe nations (bleffed be the Lord for it) hath banished idolatry, and images too, out of our churches: but heart-reformation only can break down mental idolatry, and banish the more fubtile and refined image-worship, and reprefentation of the Deity, out of the minds of men. The world, in the time of its darkness, was never more prone to the former, than the unfanctified mind is to the latter. And hence are horrible, monftrous, and mi fhapen thoughts of God, Chrift, the glory above, and all spiritual things. Evid. 4. What a difficult task is it to detain the carnal mind before the Lord! how averfe is it to the entertaining of good thoughts, and dwelling in the meditation of fpiritual things! if one be driven, at any time, to think of the great concerns of his foul, it is no harde work to hold in an unruly hungry beast, than to hedge in the carr mind, that it get not away to the vanities of the world again. Wh God is fpeaking to men by his word, or they are speaking to hi prayer, doth not the mind often leave them before the Lord, like many idols that have eyes, but fee not; and ears, but hear not? carcafe is laid down before God, but the, world gets away the h tho' the eyes be clofed, the man fees a thousand vanities: the in the mean time, is like a bird got loofe out of the cage, skippibufh to buih; fo that, in effect, the man never comes to hi he be gone from the prefence of the Lord. Say not, it is in get the mind fixed. It is hard indeed, but not impoffib from the Lord can do it, Pfal. cviii. 1 Agreeable obje A pleafant fpeculation will arreft the minds of 1 rworldly man's mind is in little hazard of wander carriving of bulinefs, cafting up his accounts, or te it. if he answer you not at firft, he tells you, he did nx her yes ne was bufy; his mind was fixed. Were we a test price of a king to petition for our lives, we would be in no balete o through the chamber of prefence: But here Les the cut, of c201 mind, employed about any ipiritual good, is out of mi elemen, má therefore cannot fix. Evid. 5 But however hard it is to keep the mind or good those it fticks as glue to what is evil and corrupt like Rizate L Having eyes full of adultery, and that clinna coals from eyes cannot ceafe from fin; (fo the words are contracted their hearts and minds venting by the eyes, what HD at h furious beast, which cannot be he.d in, when one r in ga en u head. Let the corrupt imagination once be it look en a prope object; it will be found hard work to cal Lac La reafon and will be for its retreat. For the i and to draw it off from its impurities, is ace CODE U of the water, or the renting of a limb from a new.. fet to a train of powder, that refteth not linge 1 Evid. 6. Confider how the carnal imaginate. Lis of real objects to the corrupt heart; tha i mas mat ́at least, in the imaginary enjoyment of their f heart feeds itself with imagination-fis: the wren e with fpeculative impurities, having eye to off t ous man fills his heart with the world, tüd full of it; the malicious perfon, with on gt at a his own breast) the envious man, without full a with fatisfaction, his neighbour laid low en the corrupt imagination a friend to it 'doth, not only when people are awat. D. they are asleep; whereby it comes to p in dreams, whi were awake. But c frame Seir hearts were LITE they vas i ives, with sfoon bring Men believe ¿w themselves ght the gofpel rd against their If ye believe unconcerned about is it that you are f State II. renewed men, touching the way to happiness, there are almost as many opinions as there are men; they being turned every one to his own way, Ifa. liii 6. They are like the blind Solomites about Let's houfe, all were feeking to find t'e door, fome grope one part of the wall for it, fome another; but none of them could certainly fay, hè had found it : and fo the natural man may fhumble on any good but the chief good. Look into thine own unregenerate heart, and there thou wilt fee all turned upfide down: heaven lying under, and earth a-top, look into thy life, there thou may!t fee, how thou art playing the madinan, hatching at thadows, and neglecting the fubftance, eagerly flying after that which is not, and fighting that which is, and will be for ever. Evid. 3. The natural man is always as a workman left without light; either trifling or doing inifchief. Try to catch thy heart at any time thou wilt, and thou shall find it either weaving the Spider's web, or hatching cockatrice-eggs, (Ifa. lix. 5.) roving thro' the world, or digging into the pit; filled with vanity, or elfe with vilenefs, bufy doing nothing, or what is worse than nothing. A fad fign of a dark mind. Evid. 4. The natural man is void of the faving knowledge of Spiritual things. He knows not what a God he has to deal with; he is unacquainted with Chrift; and knows not what fin is. The greatest graceless wits are blind as moles in these things. Ay, but fome fuch can speak of them to good purpofe: and fo might these Ifraelites of the temptations, figns and miracles, their eyes had feen, (Deut. xxix. 3.) to whom nevertheless the Lord had not given an heart to perceive, and eyes to fee, and ears to hear, unto that day, ver 4. Many a man that bears the name of a Christian, may make Pharaoh's confeffion of faith, Exod. v. 2. I know not the Lord, neither will they let go when he commands them to part with. God is with them as a prince in difguife among his fubjects, who meets with no better treatment from them, than if they were his fellows, Pfal. 1. 21. Do they know Christ, or fee his glory, and any beauty in him for which he is to be defired? if they did, they would not fight him as they do: a view of his glory would fo darken all created excellency, that they would take him for, and inftead of all, and gladly clofe with him, as he offereth himfelf in the gofpel, John iv. 10. Pfal. ix. 10. Matth. xiii. 44, 45, 59. Do they know what fin is, who hug the ferpent in their bofom, hold faft deceit, and refufe to let it go? I own indeed they may have a natural knowledge of those things, as the unbelieving Jews had of Chrift, whom they faw and converfed with but there was fpiritual glory in him, perceived by believers only, Joh i.-14. and in refpect of that glory, the (unbelieving) world knew him not, ver. 10. But the fpiritual knowledge of them they cannot have; it is above the reach of the carnal mind, 1 Cor. ii, 14. The natural man receiveth not t are foolishness unto him: neither ually difcerned, Ile ags of the Spirit of God, for they he know them, for they are Spiritdifcourfe of them; but no other way way than one can talk of honey or vinegar, who never tasted the fweetness of the one, nor the fourness of the other. He has fome notions of spiritual truths, but fees not the things themselves, that are wrapt up in the words of truth, 1 Tim. i. 7. Understanding neither what they fay, nor whereof they affirm. In a word, natural men fear, feek, confefs, they know not what. Thus may you fee man's underftanding naturally is overwhelmed with grofs darkness in fpiritual things. Thirdly, There is in the mind of man a natural bias to evil, whereby it comes to país, that whatever difficulties it finds, while occupied about things truly good, it acts with a great deal of eafe in evil; as being in that cafe, in its own element, Jer. iv. 22. The carnal mind arives heavily in the thoughts of good; but furiously in the thoughts of evil. While holiness is before it, fetters are upon it: but when once it has got over the hedge, it is as the bird got out of the cage, and becomes a free-thinker indeed. Let us reflect a little on the apprehenfion and imagination of the carnal mind; and we fhall find unconteftible evidence of this woful bias to evil. Evidence 1. As when a man, by a violent stroke on the head, lose th his fight, there arifeth to him a kind of falfe light, wherely he per ceiveth a thousand airy nothings; fo man being ftruck blind to that is truly good, and for his eternal intereft, has a light of another fort brought into his mind; his eyes are opened, knowing evil, and fo are the words of the tempter verified, Gen. iii. 5. The words of the Prophet are plain, They are wife to do evil, but to do good they ren knowledge, Jer. iv. 22. The mind of man has a natural dexter 16 devife mifchief: none are fo fimple, as to want fkill to contre to gratify their lufts, and rain their fouls; tho' the power of ever one's hand cannot reach to put their devices in execution. needs to be taught this black art; but as weeds grow un e own accord in the neglected ground, fo doth this won was earthly, fenfual, devilifh, James iii. 15) grow up in the mu by virtue of the corruption of their nature. Who tome furprifed with the product of corrupt wits: the gener affront heaven, to oppofe and run down truth a gratify their own and other men's lufts? They row w no wonder they make great progrefs: their towe increaseth by using of it: and the works of care. with the greater advantage, that the mind i v fpiritual light, which, if it were in them, n. an far mar the work, 1 John iii. 9. Whofuever it tur commit fin; he does it not as by art, for li 1826But on the other hand, It is a sport for a fusio wa mke of understanding hath wifdom, Prov. . 2 nicely, as the word imports, is as a sport, or a 1.. off with him eafily; and why, but belau 21wifdom; which would mar the contrivante natural a thing is, it is done the more c... Ga State II. upon that there was reared up another of man's own making namely, a rooted enmity betwixt the parties, Eph ii. 14, 15. If we look abroad without the inclosure, (and except thofe profelytes of the Gentiles, who, by means of fome rays of light breaking forth unto them from within the inclofure, having renounced idolatry, worshipped the true God, but did not conform to the Mofaical rites) we see nothing but dark places of the earth, full of the habitations of cru ltv, Pfal... Ixxiv. 20. Gi of darkness covered the face of the Gentile world; and the way of falvation was utterly unknown among them. They were drowned in fuperftition and idolatry; and had multiplied their idols to fuch a vaft number, that above thirty thousand are reckoned to have been worshipped by thofe of Europe alone. Whatever wisdom was among their Philofophers, the world by that wifdons knew not God, 1 Cor. i. 21. and all their refearches in religion were but groping in the dark, Acts xvii. 27. If we look within the inclofure, and, except a few that were groaning and waiting for the Confolation of Ifrael, we will fee a grofs darknefs on the face of that generation. Tho' to them were committed the oracles of God; yet they were most corrupt in their doctrine. Their traditions were multiplied; but the knowledge of these things wherein the life of religion lies, was loft: Maflers of Ifrael knew not the nature and neceffity of regeneration, John iii. 10. Their religion was to build on their birth-privilege, as children of Abraham, Matth iii. 9. to glory in their circumcifion, and other external ordinances, Philip. iii. 2, 3. And to rest in the law, (Rom. ii. 17.) after they had, by their falfe gloffes, cut it fo fhort, as they might go well near to the fulfilling of it, Matth. v. Thus was darknefs over the face of the world, when CHRIST the true Light came into it; and fo is darkness over every foul, till he, as the Day-ftar, arife in the heart. The former is an evidence of the latter. What, but the natural darkness of men's minds, could ftill thus wear out the light of external revelation in a matter upon which eternal happiness did depend? Men did not forget the way of preferving their lives: but how quickly did they lofe the knowledge of the way of falvation of their fouls; which are of infinite more weight and worth!' when patriarchs and prophets teaching was ineffectual, men behoved to be taught of God himself; who alone can open the eyes of the understanding. But, that it might appear, that the corruption of man's mind lay deeper than to be cured by mere external revelation; there were but very few converted by CHRIST's preaching, who spoke as never man Spoke, John xii. 37, 38. The great cure on the generation remained to be performed, by the Spirit accompanying the preaching of the apoftles: who, according to the promise, (John xiv. 12.) were to do great works. And if we look to the miracles wrought by our bleffed Lord, we will find, that by applying the remedy to the foul, for the cure of bodily diftempers, (as in the cafe of the |