of the goodness of God, and his wonderful patience and long-fuffering towards us in the midst of our infinite provocations; from his great mercy and pity declared to us in all thofe gracious means and methods which he ufeth for our recovery, and from his readiness and forwardness, after all our rebellions, to receive us upon our repentance, and to be perfectly reconciled to us, as if we had never offended him; and from the final iffue and event of a wicked life, the difmal and endless miferies of another world, into which we shall inevitably fall, except we repent in time, and return to a better mind; and, laftly, from the danger of being hardened in an evil course, paft all remedy, and hopes of repentance.

And yet I am very fenfible, that to difcourfe to men of the impoffibility, or at leaft the extreme difficulty of refcuing themselves out of this miferable state, feems to be an odd and crofs kind of argument, and more apt to drive people to defpair, than to gain them to repentance.

But fince the Spirit of God is pleafed to make ufe of it to this purpofe, we may fafely rely upon infinite wifdom for the fitness of it to awaken finners to a sense of their condition, in order to their recovery. For here in the text, after terrible threatenings of captivity and defolation to the people of the Jews, who were extremely wicked and degenerate, through an univerfal depravation of manners in all ranks of men, from the highest to the lowest, fo that they seemed to stand upon the brink of ruin, and to be fatally devoted to it; to add to the terror and force of thefe threatenings, God, by his Prophet, represents to them the infinite danger and extreme difficulty of their cafe, to fee if he could startle them, by telling them into what a defperate condition they had plunged themselves; being, by a long cuftom of finning, fo far engaged in an evil courfe, that they had almolt cut off themselves from a poffibility of retreat; fo that the difficulty of their change seemed next to a natural impoffibility: Can the Ethiopian change his fkin, or the leopard his fpots? then may ye alfo do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

The expreffion is very high, and it is to be hoped fomewhat hyperbolical, and above the juft meaning of the words. Which are, I think, only defigned to fignify

to

to us the extreme difficulty of making this change; which is therefore resembled to a natural impoffibility, as coming very near it, though not altogether up to it.

And that this expreffion is thus to be mitigated, will appear more than probable, by confidering fome other like paffages of fcripture: As where our Saviour compares the difficulty of a rich man's falvation to that which is naturally impoffible, viz. to a camel's paffing through the eye of a needle: nay, he pitcheth his expreffion higher, and doth not only make it a thing of equal, but of greater difficulty: I fay unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And yet when he comes to explain this to his difciples, he tells them, that he only meant that the thing was very difficult, How hard is it for thofe that have riches to be faved! and that it was not abfolutely impoffible, but speaking according to human probability: With men this is impoffible, but not with God.

And thus alfo it is reafonable to understand that fevere paffage of the Apostle, Heb. vi. 4. It is impossible for them that were once enlightened, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance. It is impoffible, that is, it is very difficult.

In like manner we are to understand this high expreffion in the text, Gan the Ethiopian change his fkin, or the leopard his fpots? then may ye alfo do good that are accustom ed to do evil: that is, this moral change of men settled and fixed in bad habits, is almost as difficult as the other. From the words thus explained, two things will properly fall under our confideration.

1. The great difficulty of reforming vitious habits, or of changing a bad courfe, to thofe who have been deeply engaged in it, and long accustomed to it.

2. Notwithstanding the great difficulty of the thing, what ground of hope and encouragement there is left, that it may be done. So that, notwithstanding the appearing harshness of the text, the refult of my difcourfe will be, not to difcourage any, how bad foever, from attempting this change, but to put them upon it, and to perfuade them to it; and to remove out of the way that which may seem to be one of the strongest objecti

ons

ons against all endeavours of men very bad, to become better.

I. The great difficulty of reforming vitious habits, or of changing a bad courfe, to those who have been deeply engaged in it, and long accustomed to it. And this difficulty arifeth, partly from the general nature of habits indifferently confidered, whether they be good, or bad, or indifferent; partly from the particular nature of evil and vitious habits; and partly from the natural and judicial confequences of a great progrefs and long continuance in an evil courfe. By the confideration of these three particulars, the extreme difficulty of this change, together with the true caufes and reasons of it, will fully appear.

1. If we confider the nature of all habits, whether good, or bad, or indifferent. The custom and frequent practice of any thing begets in us a facility and cafinefs in doing it. It bends the powers of our foul, and turns the stream and current of our animal fpirits such a way, and gives all our faculties a tendency and pliableness to fuch a fort of actions. And, when we have long flood bent one way, we grow fettled and confirmed in it; and cannot without great force and violence be restored to our former state and condition. For the perfection of any habit, whether good or bad, induceth a kind of neceffity of acting accordingly. A rooted habit becomes a governing principle, and bears almost an equal fway in us with that which is natural. It is a kind of a new nature fuperinduced, and even as hard to be expelled, as fome things which are primitively and originally natural. When we bend a thing at firft, it will endeavour to restore itself; but it may be held bent fo long till it will continue fo of itself, and grow crooked; and then it may require more force and violence to reduce it to its former ftraightnefs, than we used to make it crooked at firft. This is the nature of all habits; the farther we proceed, the more we are confirmed in them; and that which at first we did voluntarily, by degrees becomes fo natural and neceffary, that it is almoft impoffible for us to do otherwife. This is plainly feen in the experience of every day, in things good and bad, both in leffer and greater matters.

2. This

2. This difficulty arifeth more efpecially from the particular nature of evil and vitious habits. Thefe, because they are fuitable to our corrupt nature, and confpire with the inclinations of it, are likely to be of a much quicker growth and improvement, and in a shorter fpace, and with lefs care and endeavour, to arrive at maturity and strength, than the habits of grace and goodnefs. Confidering the propenfion of our depraved nature, the progrefs of virtue and goodness is up the hill; in which we not only move hardly and heavily, but are easily rolled back: but by wickedness and vice we move downwards; which, as it is much quicker and eafier, fo it is harder for us to stop in that course, and infinitely more difficult to return from it.

Not but that at first a sinner hath fome confiderable checks and restraints upon him, and meets with several rubs and difficulties in his way; the fhame and unreafonableness of his vices, and the trouble and difquiet which they create to him. But he breaks loofe from these restraints, and gets over thefe difficulties by degrees; and the faster and farther he advanceth in an evil courfe, the lefs trouble ftill they give him, till at laft they almost quite lose their force, and give him little or no disturbance.

Shame alfo is a great restraint upon finners at firft; but

that foon falls off: and when men have once loft their innocence, their modesty is not like to be long troublefome to them. For impudence comes on with vice, and grows up with it. Leffer vices do not banish all shame and modefty; but great and abominable crimes harden mens foreheads, and make them shamelcfs. Were they ashamed (faith the Prophet) when they committed abomination ? nay, they were not ashamed, neither could they blush. When men have the heart to do a very bad thing, they feldom want the face to bear it out.

And as for the unreasonableness of vice, though no. thing in the world be more evident to a free and impartial judgment, and the finner himself difcerns it clearly enough at his first setting out in a wicked courfe :

-Video meliora, proboque,
Deteriora fequor:

VOL. II.

P.

He

"""He offends against the light of his own mind, and "does wickedly, when he knows better :" yet, after he hath continued for fome time in this courfe, and is heartily engaged in it, his foolish heart is darkened, and the notions of good and evil are obfcured and confounded, and things appear to him in a falfe and imperfect light his lufts do at once blind and biafs his understanding; and his judgment by degrees goes over to his inclinations, and he cannot think that there should be fo much reafon against those things for which he hath fo ftrong an affection. He is now engaged in a party, and factiously concerned to maintain it, and to make the best of it; and, to that end, he bends all his wits to advance fuch principles as are fittest to justify his wicked practices; and, in all debates, plainly favours that fide of the question which will give the greatest countenance and encouragement to them. When men are corrupt, and do abominable works, they say in their hearts, There is no God; that is, they would fain think fo. And every thing ferves for an argument to a willing mind; and every little objection appears ftrong and confiderable, which makes against that which men are loth fhould be true.

Not that any man ever satisfied himself in the principles of infidelity, or was able to arrive to a steady and unfhaken perfuafion of the truth of them, so as not vehemently to doubt, and fear the contrary. However, by this means many men, though they cannot fully comfort, yet they make a fhift to cheat themfelves; to ftill their confciences, and lay them afleep for a time, fo as not to receive any great and frequent disturbance in their course, from the checks and rebukes of their own minds. And, when these restraints are removed, the work of iniquity goes on amain, being favoured both by wind and tide.

3. The difficulty of this change ariseth likewise from the natural and judicial confequences of a great progrefs and long continuance in an evil courfe. My meaning is, that inveterate evil habits do, partly from their own nature, and partly from the just judgment and permiffion of God, put men under feveral disadvantages of moving effectually towards their own recovery.

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