§ 2. (1.) Living in any known sin, is a grand impediment to a heavenly conversation. What havoc will this make in thy soul! O the joys that this hath destroyed! The ruin it hath made amongst men's graces! The soul-strengthening duties it hath hindered! Christian reader, art thou one that hast used violence with thy conscience? Art thou a wilful neglecter of known duties, either public, private, or secret? Art thou a slave to thine appetite, or to any other commanding sense? Art thou a proud seeker of thine own esteem? Art thou a peevish and passionate person, ready to take fire at every word, or look, or supposed slight? Art thou a deceiver of others in thy dealings, or one that _will be rich_, right or wrong? If this be thy case, I dare say, heaven and thy soul are very great strangers. These _beams in thine eyes_ will not suffer thee to look to heaven; they will be _a cloud between thee and thy God_. When thou dost but attempt to study eternity, and gather comforts from the life to come, thy sin will presently look thee in the face, and say, "These things belong not to thee. How shouldst thou take comfort from heaven, who takest so much pleasure in the lusts of the flesh?" How will this damp thy joys, and make the thoughts of that day, and state, become thy trouble, and not thy delight! Every wilful sin will be to thy comforts, as water to the fire; when thou thinkest to quicken them, this will quench them. It will utterly indispose and disable thee, that thou canst no more ascend in Divine meditation, than a bird can fly when its wings are clipped. Sin cuts the very sinews of this heavenly life. O man! what a life dost thou lose? What daily delights dost thou sell for a vile lust? If heaven and hell can meet together, and God become a lover of sin, then mayest thou live in thy sin, and in the tastes of glory; and have a conversation in heaven, though thou cherish thy corruption. And take heed, lest it banish thee from heaven, as it does thy heart. And though thou be not guilty, and knowest no reigning sin in thy soul, think what a sad thing it would be, if ever this should prove thy case. Watch therefore; especially resolve to keep from the occasions of sin, and out of the way of temptations. What need have we daily to pray, _Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil_?