Religion & morality > Human nature in its four-fold state ... in several practical discourses

70 The Corruption of State II.
wit, from finning in thy Sleep ; that is from finful
Dreams: For one’s being kept froiyi Sin (not his
being kept from Aiflifticn) is the immediate proper
Effect of the Law of God impreft upon the Heart,
Pfal. cxix. 11. And thus the whole Verfe is to be
underftood, a - appears from Verfe 23. For the Com¬
mandment is a Lamp , and the Law is Light, and
Reproofs of Infirudion are the Way of Life. Now
the Law is a Lamp and Light, as it guides in the
Way of Duty, and infir lifting Reproois from the
Law, are the Way of Life, as they keep from Sin :
Neither do they guide into the Way of Peace, but
as they lead into the Way of Duty; nor do they
keep a Man out of Trouble, but as they keep him
from Sin. And remarkable is the particular, in
winch So/ewotf inftanceth, namely the 3in of Un-
cleannefs, to keep thee from the evil Woman, &c.
ver. 24, which is to be joined with ver. 22. inclo-
fing the 23d in a Parenthefis, as fome Verfions have
it. Thefe Things may fuffice to convince us of the
natural Biafs of the Mind to Evil.
Fourthly, There is in the carnal Mind, an Op-
pofition to fpiritual Truths, and an Averfion to the
receiving of them. It is as little a Friend to Di¬
vine Truths, as it is to Holinefs. The Truths of
natural Religion, which do, as it were, force their
Entry into the Minds of natural Men, they hold
Prifoners in Unrighteoufnefs, Rom. i. 18. And as
for the Truths of revealed Religion, there’s an evil
Heart of Unbelief in them, which oppofeth their En¬
try ; and there’s an armed Force— neceffary to cap¬
tivate the Mind to the Belief of them, 2 Cor. x. 4,
5. God has made a Revelation of his Mind and
Will to Sinners, touching the Way of Salvation j
he has given us the Doftrine of his holy Word: