Indwelling Sin Always Abides Whilst We Are

Mortification Is The Soul's Vigorous Opposition To Self, Wherein Sincerity Is Most Evident.

Whatever Vices And Corruptions Men See In The Lives Of Their Ministers Will Not Be Attributed To The Depravity Of Their Old Nature Which Still Abides In Them, But To The Gospel.

It Must Be Observed, That The Best Of Men, The Most Holy And Spiritually Minded, May Have, Nay, Ought To Have, Their Thoughts Of Spiritual Things Excited, Multiplied, And Confirmed, By The Preaching Of The Word.

Sin Aims Always At The Utmost; Every Time It Rises Up To Tempt Or Entice, If It Has Its Own Way It Will Go Out To The Utmost Sin In That Kind. Every Unclean Thought Or Glance Would Be Adultery If It Could, Every Thought Of Unbelief Would Be Atheism If Allowed To Develop. Every Rise Of Lust, If It Has Its Way Reaches The Height Of Villainy; It Is Like The Grave That Is Never Satisfied. The Deceitfulness Of Sin Is Seen In That It Is Modest In Its First Proposals But When It Prevails It Hardens Men’s Hearts, And Brings Them To Ruin.

Many There Are Who, Not Comprehending, Not Being Affected With, That Divine, Spiritual Description Of The Person Of Christ Which Is Given Us By The Holy Ghost In The Scripture, Do Feign Unto Themselves False Representations Of Him By Images And Pictures, So As To Excite Carnal And Corrupt Affections In Their Minds. By The Help Of Their Outward Senses, They Reflect On Their Imaginations The Shape Of A Human Body, Cast Into Postures And Circumstances Dolorous Or Triumphant; And So, By The Working Of Their Fancy, Raise A Commotion Of Mind In Themselves, Which They Suppose To Be Love Unto Christ.