the same sin again, and again, ten times: that is very often. And you know how it was with Abraham, the father of the faithful. You read in Gen. xii., that when he was driven by reason of famine into Egypt, he desired his wife, Sarah, to say that she was his sister; which indeed was no lie, but his sin of unbelief, and very evil, for thereby he put his wife upon a great temptation. He was reproved for it, as you read in the chapter; yet if you look into chap. xx., you shall find that he was at the same work again. "And Abraham journied towards the south country; and Abraham said (ver. 2) of Sarah his wife, She is my sister." And so also if you look into 2 Chron. xix., you shall find it was thus with that good king Jehoshaphat, complying too much with the king of Israel, for which he is reproved, at ver. 2: " And Jehu went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord." Yet if you look into chap. xx. you shall find that he falls into the same sin again: "And Eliezer prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, (at the last verse) Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works and the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish." Jehoshaphat a good man, yet he falls into the same sin again. So that I shall not need to spend longer time in this, it is too apparent possibly a good man, a true disciple of Christ, may fall into the same sin again and again. That is the first. Secondly. Though a man do fall into the same sin again and again, yet it may be but an infirmity.

For the opening and clearing of this, we must consider what a sin of infirmity is, and what is the true notion of it: which being cleared, the truth proposed will naturally fall into your bosom. Properly, therefore, a sin of infirmity is that sin which doth rather arise from want of strength to resist, than from will to commit, else it should be wickedness and not weakness.

But, in Scripture phrase, it is called a weakness, as here in this chapter, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak;" and Rom. vi. 19, "I speak after the manner of men, because of the infirmity (or weakness) of your flesh." And, therefore, it must be in one that hath spiritual life. You do not say

that a stone is infirm or weak; why? because a stone hath no life in it: infirmity is a defect in one that hath life.

And, I say, it doth arise, not from wilfulness, but want of strength to resist. Now this want of strength to resist, doth either arise from some natural cause, which one cannot avoid, of which Paul speaks in Rom. vii. 19, "The good that I would, I do not; but the evil that I would not, that I do :" and why so? he gives the reason at verse 21, "I find, then, a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me;" and verse 23, "I find a law in my members fighting against the law of my mind, and leading me captive," &c.: or else it doth arise from some present distemper, and that either in the mind and judgment, and then it is called an error, "Who knoweth the errors of his life?" Psalm xix., Heb. iii. 2: or else this distemper doth arise from some present passion, fear or the like, whereby a man is hurried into evil, and then he is said to be overtaken, Gal. vi. 1. So that when a man is alive unto God, and doth commit a sin for want of strength to resist, then he is said to sin out of infirmity.

Therefore if you ask whether every sin that a godly man doth commit be a sin of infirmity? I answer, No; because there are some sins that a godly man doth commit which he hath strength to avoid. Sometimes the word infirmity is taken largely, for all sin, which Jesus Christ our High Priest doth sympathize with us in. So Heb. iv.: "We have not such an high priest who cannot be touched with our infirmities." And thus all the sins of the godly may be and are sins of infirmity. But, properly and strictly, an infirmity is that sin which a man is taken captive by against his will, Rom. vii., that is, against the general bent and frame of his heart which he hath not present strength to resist. So Rom. xv. 1," Ye which are strong ought to bear the infirmities of those that are weak." And thus every sin that a godly man commits is not a sin of infirmity.*

If you

ask whether

any

sin that a wicked man doth com

*The sins whereinto the godly falleth, are not presumptuous, but are ordinarily of weakness and infirmity.-Perkins' Cases, book i. chap. 2.

Peccatum ex infirmitate est, cujas est determinatur causa instigans, ita ut sine tali causa non fieret.-Corduba, lib. ii. quest. 8.

Ut peccatum sit ex infirmitate, ita debere fiere ex passione ut ipsa sit sufficiens causa qua ablata, tale peccatum non sequeretur.-Vasquez in 12. Co. 1, q. 77.

art. 3.

mit be a sin of infirmity? I answer, No; because he hath no spiritual life, and infirmity is in one that hath life; and therefore a wicked man being dead, his sin that he commits cannot be called a sin of infirmity.*

If you ask whether any great, gross, foul, scandalous sin be or can be a sin of infirmity? I answer, No; because it is a sickness, as Austin well observes, and not a weakness; for, saith he, there is a great deal of difference between ægrotus and infirmus. If a man have some distemper and ailment in his body, and yet he bears up to his meat and to his work, he is not sick, but he hath an infirmity; this is weakness: but if a man have a distemper and illness in his body, whereby he is driven both from meat and work, and doth lie by it, then it is not an infirmity but a sickness. So spiritually, if a man have a failing, and yet through the grace of God he bears up to meat and work, it is an infirmity; but if he sin, and thereby be driven both from meat and work, through the commission of some gross sin, this is a sickness, this is no weakness or infirmity. So then, properly, the sin of infirmity is that sin which is committed by one that is spiritually alive unto God, and which doth arise from want of strength to resist, and not from will to commit. And thus you see, briefly, what the nature of this sin of infirmity is.t

But yet this doth not come near enough. When may a man be said to sin a sin of infirmity, and how shall I know whether my sin be of that rate of sins or no; for if the Lord will not cast a man off for a sin of infirmity, it concerns me to consider what kind of sins my sins are: there are some sins that God doth reject men for, as in the case of Saul, God rejected him for his sin; when may a man, therefore, be said to sin out of infirmity ?

For answer unto this, First, I shall speak unto some mistakes. Secondly, I will speak something unto it negatively, and something affirmatively.

Some

For mistakes. There are mistakes on both hands. think that the sins which they commit are not sins of in

* Infirmity cannot properly be said to be in them, in whom sin hath firmity and strength, and where there is no power of grace at all.-Perkins' Cases, book i. chap. 2

↑ Sicut corpori noxium est escam corporalem non posse percipere, ita animæ periculosum est spiritales delitias fastidire.-Augustin.

firmity, when indeed they are; and some think that their sins are sins of infirmity when indeed they are not. Both on the right hand and on the left hand, men are mistaken about this

matter.

On the left hand, men think that their sins are infirmities, when indeed they are not, and that upon a four-fold account because their sin is but small in bulk; or because that they are tempted and drawn into their sin by others; and because they do strive against their sin; and because they are troubled after it.

I think, will some say, that my sin is a sin of infirmity because it is but small. But if you look into 1 Sam. xv. you may read that Saul's sin, for which the Lord rejected him, was of no great outward bulk; for he spared the fatlings that he might sacrifice thereby; and though he spared the king Agag, it was neither murder that he committed, nor adultery, nor drunkenness; yet saith the Lord unto him, "Thy sin is as the sin of witchcraft." A great many small sins may make as great a bulk as one gross sin; yea, possibly there may be much sinfulness and evil in committing of a small sin; for as amongst men, it is the greatest incivility to break with another for a small matter; so with God, to break with God for a small thing, is a great unworthiness and ingratitude. Thus did Adam in eating the forbidden fruit; the smallness of the thing to be done aggravated his sin; and the smaller the thing is, the more unworthiness it is to break with God in so little; a small leak neglected may sink the ship, as well as the most boisterous. and greatest wave: and much skill may be seen in a small work; a little watch, &c. So your skill in sinning may be seen in a small sin; his sin is never small that thinks it small. And if this be true, that there is no sin that a wicked man commits which is a sin of infirmity, because he is dead; then a man may commit a sin that is but small in the bulk, and yet no sin of infirmity.*

* Minuta peccata si negligantur, occidunt minutiæ sunt guttæ quæ flumina implent, minuta sunt grana arenæ, sed si multa arena imponatur, premit atque opprimit; hoc facit sentina neglecta, quod facit fluctus irruens, Paulatim per sentinam intrat sed diu intrando et non ex hauriendo mergit uavim. August. Tom. vi. 9. Tract. 13. in Joan. 2.

Ne putemus parvum esse has culpas quæ sunt plures, arenula parvæ sunt sed

But I think my sin is a sin of infirmity becouse I am tempted to it, and because I am drawn on by others. But I pray, was not Adam tempted unto the eating of the forbidden fruit by Eve? And was not Eve tempted by Satan? And will you call that a sin of infirmity that condemned all the world as Adam's sin did? And I pray you, was not Aaron put upon making the golden calf by the people; and will you call that sin of idolatry a sin of infirmity? Possibly a man may be tempted, drawn unto sin by others, and put upon it by others, and yet the sin may be no sin of infirmity.

But I think my sin is a sin of infirmity because I do strive against it. And, I pray, did not Pilate strive against the crucifying of Christ? He would have delivered him from the Jews, calls for a bason of water, and washed his hands, saying, I am free from the blood of this man, used means, and did strive against it, and yet the sin of Pilate no sin of infirmity: Possibly therefore a man may strive against his sin, and yet the sin be no sin of infirmity.

But my sin is a sin of infirmity because I am troubled after it. And was not Esau troubled after he had sold his birth-right for a mess of pottage; did he not seek it with tears? And when Judas had betrayed his master, and our Saviour, it is said that he repented of what he had done, and was troubled. Surely then, though the sin that I commit, may be lesser in bulk, than another's sin, and small comparatively, and though I be drawn into it by others, and though I do strive against it, and though I am troubled after it, yet it may be no sin of infirmity. Yet, good Lord, how many poor souls are there that deceive themselves, and think that their sins are but sins of infirmity; and thus are mistaken on the left hand.

But as some are mistaken on the left hand, thinking that their sins are sins of infirmity, when indeed they are not :

tot possunt esse ut obruant citius quam saxum ingens, infirma res est una locusta sed quæ plaga maior agris quam multitudo illarum. Euseb. Nieremberg, de adoratione, Lib. ii. Cap. 13.

Cum Deus tantus sit nihil est parvum quod ei displicet aut quod ei placet quicquid est bonum statim est magnum quicquid malum statim hic non est

parvum.

Non est parvum quod censetur minimum cum in minimis stet perfectio.

Erubesse te vinci a parvis nam ad hoste exili et pumilione sterni turpissimum et ignavi signum. Id. Cap. 14.