MORTIFICATION

OF SIN

CHAPTER 9

DANGEROUS
SYMPTOMS

Suppose a man is a true believer,

and yet finds in himself a powerful
indwelling sin. This sin makes him
captive to its power, and consumes
his heart with trouble...

It perplexes his thoughts,

weakens his soul in communion with
God, takes away his peace, defiles his
conscience, and exposes him to
hardening through the deceitfulness
of sin. What shall he do?

SYMPTOM 1:
If the lust has
remained long in
corrupting the heart

Have you permitted worldliness,

ambition, greediness of study, to eat
up other duties, the duties wherein
you should hold constant
communion with God, for some long
season?...

Or uncleanness to defile your

heart with vain, and foolish, and
wicked imaginations for many
days?

What is dangerous about sins

which have been left alone for
a long time?

Whatever lust it may be, it will by

this means insinuate itself more or
less into all the faculties of the soul,
and habituate the affections to its
company and society...

...it grows familiar to the mind

and conscience, that they do not
startle at it as a strange thing,
but are bold with it.

If we allow any lust to remain

in our hearts unmortified, our
affections [desires], mind, and
conscience will grow used to it and
not be startled by its presence.

Old neglected wounds are often

mortal.

Indwelling disorders and abnormalities

grow rusty and stubborn by
continuance in ease and quiet. Lust is
such an inmate as, if it can plead time
and some prescription, will not easily be
ejected.

As it never dies of itself, so if it be

not daily killed it will always
gather strength.

SYMPTOM 2:
A desire for peace
without dealing with
our sin in the way the
gospel directs

What are the ways we do this?

Such a person plainly shows, that

if he can but keep up hope of
escaping the wrath to come, he can
be well content to be unfruitful in
the world, at any distance from God
that is not final separation.

Such clearly show that as long as

they can know that they will
escape Gods wrath, they are
content with being spiritually
fruitless.

In all things I will walk with

God, but in this thing, God be
merciful to me.

A resolution to this purpose, to indulge

a mans self in any sin on the account
of mercy, seems to be, and doubtless in
any course is, altogether inconsistent
with Christian sincerity, and is a mark
of a hypocrite.

Sinning on account of Gods

mercy is an evidence that we are
hypocrites [not saved].

SYMPTOM 3:
Frequent success of sin
to gain the consent and
delight of our wills even
though it may not lead to
sinful deeds

What is the danger even if we

are not actually carrying
through with the deed?

SYMPTOM 4:
A tendency to deal with
our sin using only
consequences or
punishments to motivate
us

What is wrong with this, and

why will it not work?

Such a man as opposes nothing to

the seduction of sin and lust in his
heart but fear of shame among men
or hell from God, is sufficiently
resolved to do the sin if there were no
punishment attending it.

If our only motive for fighting

sin is fear of shame or
punishment, we would sin freely
if there were no punishment for
that sin.

Those who are Christs, and are

acted in their obedience upon
gospel principles, have the death
of Christ, the love of God, the
detestable nature of sin...

...the preciousness of communion

with God, a deep-grounded
abhorrency of sin as sin, to oppose to
any seduction of sin, to all the
workings, strivings, fightings of lust
in their hearts.

Proper motives for fighting sin:

- Consideration of the death of Christ
- The love of God
- The ugly nature of sin
- The preciousness of communion with God
- Hating sin as sin

SYMPTOM 5:
When we experience
judicial hardening

What should we do in these

circumstances?

SYMPTOM 6:
When God works in our
lives against a
particular sin, but turn
against His work

How does this happen?