serious and pensive to think this is but the Pattern of what must befall themselves and that all this must shortly be acted upon them that they now see done unto others But since this Day presents us with no such Solemnity some perhaps may wonder that I have chosen this Text and Subject of Mortality to treat upon Indeed Custom hath made it almost improper to preach of Death without a Funeral and to speak to Men of their last End and Dissolution without setting before their Eyes an Example of it Look well therefore one upon another what are we all as it were but so many Corpses so many Spectacles of Mortality rather to be numbred among the Dead than among the Living every Day and Hour wears away part of our Lives and so much of them as is already spent so far are we already dead and buried This present moment is the longest measure of our Lives what is past is dead to us and what is to come is not yet born how soon God may put a final Period to our present state how few times more our Pulses may beat and this busie Breath in our Nostrils return to us again we know not so frail and so uncertain are our Lives that this may be truly a Funeral Sermon to some one of us before the close of it Since then we are all of us thus subject to the stroke of Death it can never be unseasonable to warn you that you be not surprized and taken by it unprovided In the Words now read you have the great Statute-Law of Heaven that Law that God hath passed upon all the Chil-of Men and that is That it is appointed to them once to die Now that I may make way to press upon you the serious consideration of your own Mortality let me briefly mark out some things that tend to the Explication of the Words And First In that the Proposition is laid down in the Text indefinitely It is appointed unto men it is that which is equivalent to an Universal and reacheth to all men It is appointed to all men once to die We read of two only in the whole Book of God that were exempted by an extraordinary Grace and peculiar Priviledge from this great Law of Dying and they were Enoch and Elias Of Enoch it is said Gen. 5.24 That he walked with God and he was not for God took him And of Elias it is said 2 Kin 2.11 That he went up by a Whirlwind into Heaven The great God after a strange and unusual manner tackt their temporal and eternal Life together making their Time run it self into Eternity without any period or interruption The Apostle also tells us 1 Cor. 15.51 52. That all shall not die to wit at the last Day at the last appearing of Jesus Christ there shall be a World full of Persons that shall not taste of Death All shall not die but all shall be changed in a moment in the twinckling of an Eye These are exempted and being excepted it is certain all the Generations of Men from the first Creation to the last Consummation of all things are all appointed by God unto Death Secondly All must die once All must die once but Believers do not die the second Death There is frequent mention made in Scripture of the first and second Death The first Death is the separation of the Soul from the Body The second Death is the separation of the Soul from God As the Union of the Soul and Body is the Life of Man so the Union of God with the Soul is the Life of the Soul Now Believers do not die this second Death Rev. 20.8 for on such as the Apostle speaks the second Death hath no power They are still united unto God after an unconceivable and ineffable manner As when Christ lay in the Grave though his Soul was truly separated from his Body yet both Soul and Body were hypostatically united to the Godhead so also though the natural Union between a Believer's Soul and Body be dissolved by Death yet both Soul and Body continue mystically united unto Christ even in their separation one from another It is not therefore this second but the first Death that all are appointed unto The Hand of Death must untie those secret and sweet Bands those vital Knots that fasten Soul and Body together must fall asunder one day in every Man All Men must die because Death is the punishment of Sin Thirdly It is appointed unto every Man to undergo this first Death It is decreed and ordained by God and that not upon the Account of any natural Necessity but for the Punishment of Sin The Apostle tells us plainly That by Sin Death entred into the World Death therefore is not so much a Debt due to Nature as a Debt due to the avenging Justice of God for though Man at first was created in pure Nature yet was he also created in a deathless State and Death siezeth upon us not as we are Men but as we are Sinners liable to the Curse of the Covenant of Works containing in it that Threatning In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die It is true Adam even before he sinned had in him the contemperation of the same contrary Qualities that we now have and so at least had also the remote Principles of Death but yet it is probable that he was created with such a Priviledge that he might by his own Will sway and over-rule the Jars and Discords of his elementary constitution and continue himself in Life as long as he should continue himself in Obedience however whether it was so or otherwise yet certain it is that Death came into the World as the punishment of Sin So then it is not primarily Man's Nature but Man's Sin and the Curse of the Law taking hold of him that brought in this necessity of dying Sin is not only the Sting but the Cause of Death and it gives it not only its Terrour but it s very Being also And therefore it is somewhat remarkable that among all the Creatures in the World Man only is termed Mortal most certain it is that other Creatures decay and perish as well as he yet among all perishing things Man only hath that wretched denomination of being Mortal and there is good reason for it since he alone of all perishing things being created immortal voluntarily subjected himself unto Death and by his own Fault brought upon himself that Name of Mortal as a Brand of perpetual Infamy And thus now I come to the Subject that I intend to insist upon and that is The Unavoidableness and Certainty of Death To go about to prove this were to lose so much time every one grants he must die All other Questions about Man are answered by Peradventures If it be demanded Whether such an Embryo shall see the Light What 's the Answer but perhaps it shall perhaps it shall not If it be
Adultery Atheism or any of the vilest Abominations but it is thy free Grace only that hath restrain'd us Fifthly and Lastly If there be so Vse 5 great Evil and Danger in little Sins this then should teach us We should take heed of making light of any Sin not to make light of any Sin Load every Sin with its due Weight give every Sin its proper Aggravations and then certainly you will see no Reason to account any of them to be small or little To help you in this take briefly these Directions First Pray earnestly for a wise and an understanding Heart and for a soft and tender Conscience Some Sins so Counterfeit an harmless appearance and look so innocently that a Man had need of much spiritual Wisdom to know how to distinguish between Good and Evil and to put a difference between those things that differ as much as Heaven and Hell do Now this ariseth from that great blindness and ignorance that is in Mens minds whereby they cannot discern that great evil and mischief that lurks under small Sins but are apt to account every thing that is not scandalous and grosly wicked to be but an indifferent matter And as their Minds are thus blinded so their Hearts are hardned that what they see and know to be sinful yet they will dare to venture upon it Whence is it else that the generality of the World live in the Commission of those that they call little Sins but because their Hearts are hardned and their Consciences seared that those Sins that are great enough to Damn them yet are not great enough to trouble them A tender Conscience is like the Apple of a mans Eye the least dust that gets into it afflicts it No surer and better way to know whether our Consciences begin to grow dead and stupid then to observe what impressions small Sins make upon them If we are not very careful to avoid all appearance of Evil and to shun whatsoever looks like Sin if we are not as much troubled at the vanity of our Thoughts and Words at the rising up of sinful motions and desires in us as we have been formerly we may then conclude our Hearts are hardned and our Consciences are stupifying for a tender Conscience will no more allow of small than of great Sins Secondly Labour always to keep alive upon your Hearts awful and reverent Thoughts of God his Omnipresence and Omniscience That there is no Sin so small but he knows it though but a Sin in our Thoughts yet every Thought of our Hearts is altogether known unto him Call to remembrance his infinite Purity and Holiness whereby he hates every little Sin even with an infinite hatred as well as the greatest Think of his Power whereby he can and of his Truth Justice and Severity whereby he will punish every little Sin with no less than Eternal Destruction And whilest you thus think of God indulge your selves in little Sins if you can The Psalmist gives this very Direction Ps 4.4 Stand in awe and Sin not that is of the infinite glorious Majesty of God Have awful thoughts and reverential apprehensions of God abiding upon your Hearts and that will keep you from sinning Stand in awe and Sin not To look upon Sin thorough the Attributes of God is to look upon it through a Magnifying Glass and thus you may best see its ugly deformed Nature this is the best way to represent the infinite guilt that is in it and that contrariety that it bears to the Holy Nature of God And while you thus see Sin comparing it with God even the least Sin must appear hainous And when you are Tempted to any Sin while you thus think you may repell a Temptation as Joseph did his Mistress Gen. 39.9 How shall I do this great wickedness and Sin against God The World indeed counts it but a little Sin but looking upon it and comparing it with the Holiness and Purity of God we must cry out How shall we commit this Sin though accounted little by others and so provoke a great and holy God Thirdly Get a more thorough acquaintance with the Spiritual sence and meaning of the Law This was the cause why the Pharisee did so slight the commission of small Sins because he kept himself to the Literal Sence of the Law and so because there he was commanded not to kill not to commit Adultery and the like thought if he did abstain from the outward Act of those Sins he observed the Law yea and observed it sufficiently But now the spiritual meaning of the Law that forbids not only the outwarâ— Act but it forbids whatever tends â— the outward Act inward Though â— Motions Desires Complacencies in â— that are presented to the Fancy â— whatever tends to or belongs unto Sâ— the spiritual Sence of the Law forbids all these Why now grow more in acquaintance with the spiritual sence and meaning of the Law and then you will thinâ— small Sins such as the Sins of the Thoughts of the Desires and of the Fancy and the like to be no less forbidden by the Law than Murder or Adultery and other heinous Sins the Law having as strictly forbid the one as the other Fourthly and Lastly Beware you compare not Sins among themselves The Apostle speaks of some 2 Cor. 10.12 Who measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves were not wise Truly it is as great a Folly for us to measure Sin by Sin or to compare one Sin with another For as when we measure our selves with others our Pride is apt to suggest to us That such and such are inconsiderable Persons in comparison of us So when we measure one Sin by another Corruption is apt to suggest to us such a Sin is a small and inconsiderable Sin in comparison of another Sin and therefore I may venture upon it Certainly if we observe it there are two sad Events usually follow upon our comparing Sins among themselves Either First We make little Sins less than they are or if we are beaten off from such false Opinions by being shewn how great an Evil there is in them then Secondly We make it as good to commit the greatest Sin as the least These two sad Events always happen if we compare one Sin with another Compare not therefore Sin with it self but compare Sin with thy Duty compare the least Sin with the Holiness of that God against whom thou committest it and this is the way whereby you may be brought to account no Sin to be small or little OF ABSTAINING FROM THE Appearance of EVIL IN TWO SERMONS ON 1 THESSAL V. 22. Abstain from all Appearance of Evil. By EZEKIEL HOPKINS late Lord Bishop of London-Derry LONDON Printed by E. H. for NATHANAEL RANEW at the King's Arms in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1693. Of Abstaining from the Appearance of Evil. FROM 1 THESS V. 22. Abstain from all Appearance of Evil. MY last Subject as you may remember
works upon Wicked Men and Reprobates as well as others Buâ— Sanctifying Grace that is special and belongs only to those who belong themselves to the Election of Grace Esaâ— whom the Scripture Notes as the greaâ— instance of Reprobation comes out against Jacob with a Troop of Four Thousand Ruffins intending doubtless to Revenge himself upon him for the loss oâ— his Birth-Right and Blessing but at their first meeting God by a secret work so mollifies his Heart that instead of falling upon him and killing him he falls upon his Neck and kisses him here God restrains him from that Presumptuous Sin of Murder not in a way of meer External Providence but with his own Hand immediately turns about his Heart and by seeing such a company of Cattel bleating and bellowing so many timorous Men and helpless Children all bowing and supplicating unto him he turns his Revenge into Compassion and with much urging receives a Present from him whom before he intended to make a Prey The same power of restraint God laid upon the Heart of Abimelech that Heathen King you have it in Geneses 20.6 when he had taken Sarah Abraham 's Wife intending to make her his Wife or Concubine God tells him in a Dream I with-held thee from â—inning against me therefore suffered I â—hee not to touch her Here was nothing visible to hinder Abimelech from so great â— Wickedness but God invisibly wrought upon his heart and unhinged his wicked Desires now from the instances of Esau and Abimelech we may clearly collect how Restraining Grace differs both from Restraining Providence and also from Sanctifying Grace From Providence it differs because usually when God Providentially restrains from Sin he doth it by some visible apparent means that doth not work by bringing any change or alteration on the Heart but only by â—aying an External Check upon Men's Actions but now by Restraining Grace God deals in a secret way with the very Heart of a Sinner though he doth not change the nature of his Heart yet he alters the present frame and disposition of it and takes away the desire of committing those Sins that yet it doth not Mortifie and from Sanctifying Grace it differs also in that God vouchsafes Restraining Grace to Wicked Men as you have heard but none partake of Sanctifying Grace besides the Children of God and the Remnant according to Election those whom he predestinates them he also calls that is them he Sanctifies as yoâ— have it in Rom. 8.30 Election Sanctification are of the self same bredth Electionâ— the cause of Sanctification Sanctificatioâ— is a sign of Election Those whom Goâ— will bring to himself in Glory he causeth a double separation to pass upoâ— them the one from Eternity when hâ— calls them out from the mass of thoâ— that he leaves to perish in their Sins anâ— the other in Time when those whom he hath set apart for himself by Election he brings home to himself by Conversion And therefore whatever measure of Restraining Grace God may aâ—ford to Wicked Men and Reprobates yeâ— Sanctifying Grace is the fruit only of Election and the portion only of thoâ— who are Elected And that is the firâ— difference In their Nature Essence Secondly They differ also in theiâ— Nature and Essence Sanctifying Gracâ— is a Habit wrought in the Soul by thâ— Spirit of God called therefore a writinâ— of the Law on the Heart and a putting God's fear into our inward parts Jer. 31. 33. And St. John terms it a Seed that remains John 1.9 These Expressions clearly denote it to be an internal Principle or Habit deeply rooted and fixed in the Soul and whatever Holy Actions a Saint performs as they are caused by a Divine influence without him so they flow also from a Holy Principle within him Hence our Saviour tells us in Mark 12.35 That a good Man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things that is out of that inward Habit and Principle of Grace that the Holy Ghost hath wrought in him in the work of Regeneration But Restraining Grace hath no such Habit and Principle implanted in the Soul but is only a Merciful Actual influence from God hindering the commission of those Sins to which Men's Natural Corruptions make them enclined in brief Sanctifying Grace is a Quality wrought in us but Restraining Grace is only an Action flowing from God Thirdly In the manner of their Operation Sanctifying and Restraining Grace differ in their manner of Working and Operation and here we may observe a Four fold difference Sanctifying Grace destroys Sin Restraining Grace only Imprisons it First Sanctifying Grace keeps the Soul from Sin by destroying of it but Restraining Grace keeps the Soul from Sin only by imprisoning of it God many times shuts up the sins of those in Prison whom notwithstanding he will at last shut up in Hell It is sanctifying Grace alone that can do execution upon them restraining grace may debar them of their liberty but it is only Sanctifying Grace can deprive them of their Life There may appear but little difference betwixt the Conversation of a Child of God whom Special Grace doth Sanctifie and one in a state of Nature whom common Grace doth only Restrain doth the one walk blamelessly without offence doth he avoid the grosser Pollutions of the World so doth the other a Star is not more like a Star than these Meteors may be like them But now here lies the difference Restraining Grace only ties the Hands but Sanctifying Grace stabs the old Man to the Heart It is one thing to bind a Thief to a Tree and another thing to Nail him fast to the Cross Restraining Grace only binds Corruption fast that it cannot stir not outwardly but still it hath as much strength as ever But now Sanctifying Grace that Crucifies it and Nails it to the Cross of Christ where it weakens and languisheth and hangs a dying Body of Death The Earth is as dry and hard in a frosty Winter as it is in a parching Summer yet there 's a great deal of difference in the cause of it in Summer the Sun dries up the moisture and in Winter the Frost binds it in Truly Restraining and Sanctifying Grace are for all the World like Frost and Sun the ways of those who have only a Restraint laid upon them may be altogether as fair and clean as the ways of those that are Sanctified are but there 's a great difference in the cause Sanctifying Grace dries up the Filth and Corruption in the Heart of the one but Restraining Grace only frezeth in and binds up the Filth and Corruption of the other Secondly Sanctifying Grace strikes at the Sins of the heart Restraining Grace only hinders the Sins of the Life Sanctifying Grace strikes especially at the Sins of the Heart but Restraining Grace usually only hinders the Sins of the Life An Unregenerate Man though never so Moral hunts his Sins only in
born and it be asked Whether it shall live and grow up to Age Why perhaps so perhaps otherwise If it grow up to Age and Enquiry be made Shall it be rich or shall it be poor honourable or despised learned or ignorant What 's the Answer Only perhaps it shall perhaps not But if it be asked Whether it shall die The Answer now is Yes it is certain without any Peradventure there is no doubt at all of this It is appointed by God for Men once to die And therefore though Physicians have written Books of preserving of Health yet never any wrote Books of avoiding of Death We need no other proof of Man's Mortality but only to search into the Records of the Grave there lie Rich and Poor Strong and Weak Wise and Foolish Holy and Prophane the Rubbish of ten thousand Generations heaped one upon another and this Truth that all must die written indelibly in their Dust That therefore that I shall do shall be in an Applicatory Way to make some Reflections upon the brutish Stupidity of Men who though they know themselves Mortal yet thrust from themselves the Thoughts of Death and neglect due Preparations for it Men live in the World as if they were arbitrary of their own Time as if they should never die and come to Judgment Oh the beastly Sottishness of Men who though they see Multitudes cut down daily by the hand of Death round about them yet they live carelesly and presumptuously as if they were priviledged Persons and Death durst not touch them Should we make Enquiry into the Causes of this gross Stupidity and Sottishness perhaps we should find it to proceed from some of these following Reasons why men put off the thoughts of Death Because they are drown'd in the affairs of the World First The generality of men are so immers'd and drowned in the Affairs and pleasures of Life that all serious thoughts of Death and preparations for it are swallowed up and devoured by them Their minds are taken up about other things and their time spent upon other matters like an heap of Ants that busily toil to gather in their Provision not regarding the foot that is ready to tread upon them so is it with most men they are taken up with impertinencies and vain things One contrives how he may melt away his days in Luxury and Pleasure and with variety of invented Delights imp the wings of time that in their apprehensions makes but slow hast that so their days and hours may roll away the faster these are such Prodigals of their time and lavish it away at that rate as if their stock would last as long as Eternity it self Some are busily climbing up the sleep ascent of Honour and Dignity and are so taken up in seeking after promotions and new Titles that they forget their old stile of mortal creatures Others are plotting with the Fool in the Gospel how they may grow rich and lay up goods for themselves for many years as they fansie when yet they know not but God may take away their Souls from them this very night and what then remains to them of all that they have thus greedily scraped together O vain and foolish men are these the things you set your hearts upon must the World drink up all your thoughts and Death that shortly will snatch you from all your enjoyments here below be forgotten by you Secondly Men put off their preparation for Death because they look upon it as a far off Men put off the thoughts of Death and their preparations for it because they generally look upon it as a far off This is the greatest sottishness in the World and yet most men are too guilty of it Those that are young and in the prime of their Days if it be askt them what they think of Death they will readily Answer that they think they ought of right and course to live till they are aged And they that are aged will tell you their weaknesses and decays are not so many or so great but they may well weather away a few more years Those that are healthful and strong think surely they need not prepare for dying till God by some sickness sends them a summons and those whom God is pleased to vouchsafe a summons by Sickness and Distempers alas they think that it is yet possible for them to escape from them again And thus all are ready to thrust Death from them and to put the Evil Day a far off And though God hath told out to them but a few days or hours yet they liberally and bountifully reckon upon Years and Ages as if their time were not in God's hands but their own It is a true saying that usually the hopes of a long Life is the Cause of an Evil Life Suppose now that every one of us knew for a certainty that our lives must run out with the Glass that is before us that at the end of the hour God would strike us all dead upon the place should we not all of us have more lively apprehensions of Death and Eternity than ever yet we have had should we not pour out our Souls before God requires them from us in holy Affections and fervent Prayers should we give scope to the gaddings of our Thoughts and the vanity of our Hearts should we think of such a vain Pleasure or such a worldly Employment if God now from Heaven should speak audibly to us and bid us give an account of our Stewardship for we must be no longer Stewards no certainly it is impossible that men should thus behave themselves And why Sirs is it not so with you always for ought you know that Film and Bubble that holds your Lives may be now a breaking your Graves may be ready to be digging and the last Sand in your Glass may be now a running however certain it is it cannot be long before it will be so with all of us Did we but seriously consider by what small pins this frame of Man is tacked together it would appear to us to be no less than a Miracle that we live one day yea one hour to an end Thirdly The thoughts of Death being terible makes men put off their preparation for it Men generally put off the thoughts of Death and their preparation for it because of those frightful terrors and that insupportable dread that such apprehensions bring with them Death is that which above all things Humane Nature most abhors Oh! to think of the separation of those near and dear companions the Soul and Body of the debasement dishonour and horrour of the Grave that there we must lie in a Bed of stench and rottenness under a coverlet of Worms crawling upon us consuming and mouldring away to dust in oblivion and forgetfulness Oh! these are too sad and Melancholy Thoughts for the Jovial World to entertain and dwell upon But though the consideration of these things are very unwelcome yea
Whoremonger or an Adulterer or a Murtherer These Sins make a Man a Scorn and a Reproach to all that pretend to Civility But now there are other Sins that are inward and spiritual Sins that are indeed more sinful though less scandalous such as Vnbelief Hypocrisie Hardness of Heart Slighting and Rejecting of Christ Resisting the Holy Ghost and the like Now herein lies the great mistake of the World in estimating of Sin At the naming of the former we are ready to tremble and so indeed we ought and not only so but we ought to shun and avoid those that are guilty of them as Monsters of Men. But now we have no such abhorrency against the latter if the Life be free from gross Enormities we look upon Vnbelief and Impenitency but as small and trivial sins Now those Sins that we thus slight are incomparably the greatest and the vilest Sins Murther Adultery Blasphemy and the rest of those crying Impieties could not damn the Soul were it not for Vnbelief and Impenitency It is not the Swearer or the Drunkard that perish but it is the Vnbeliever He that believes not is condemned already John 3.18 And so hating of God and a secret scorning and despising of Holiness and the Ways of God these are Sins that do not defile and pollute the outward Man and many doubtless are guilty of them that are of a fair and civil Life and Conversation and yet these are Sins that may out-vie with the most horrid Sins for the hottest and lowest place in Hell We see then what small heed is to be given to the Judgment of the World concerning small Sins Those that the World counts little Sins may be great and heinous in the sight of God for God judgeth not as Man judgeth he is a Spirit and therefore spiritual Sins and Provocations such as Inordinacy in the Thoughts Desires and Affections these are Sins possibly that are more heinous in God's Sight than more carnal and grosser Sins are Damnation for little Sins will be most into lerable damnation Seventhly and lastly Consider this Damnation for little Sins will be most aggravated and most intolerable Damnation Oh will it not be a most cutting Consideration to the Soul in Hell when it shall think here I lie and fry for ever in unquenchable Flames for the gratifying of my self in that which I call'd little Sins Fool that ever I was that I should account any Sin little that would bring to this place of Torment There 's another of my fellow-wretched Sinners between whom and me there was as much difference as there was between me and a true Saint He prophane and daringly wicked I honest and civil and yet for allowing my self in those Sins to which the World encouraged me and called little Sins the same Hell that holds him shall hold me for ever Oh the dreadful Severity of God! Oh wretched Folly and Madness of mine Oh insufferable Torments and Anguish Believe â—t thus will those that are damned for small and little Sins reflect upon their former Lives such will be their dismal Reflections and such will be yours also expect no other if being warned of the great Evil that there is in little Sins you will yet persist in them without Repenâ—ance And thus I have done with the Doctrinal Part of the Text I now come to make some Application of it Vse 1 And the First Use shall be by way of Corollary If so be that little Sins have in them so much danger and guilt as hath been demonstrated to you what shall we then think of great and notorious Impieties If Sands will sink a Man so deep into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone how deep then will their Hell be that are plunged into it with Talents of Lead bound upon their Souls Whilst I have been setting forth the Aggravations of the great Evil that there is in little Sins possibly some prophane Spirit or other may thus argue if little Sins be so dangerous and damning then since it is utterly impossible to keep our selves free from all Sins whatever what need I scruple the greatest Sin more than the least I am stated down under a necessity of sinning and I am told that the rate that every Sin will stand me in is eternal Death the least is not less and the greatest is no more It is but ridiculous Folly for a Malefactor nicely to shun the Dirt and pick out the cleaner â—ath when he is going to Execution â—nd so it is but a Folly for me to go the â—raiter and severer way to Hell and â—herefore since there is no difference beâ—ween Sins in the end but all alike lead â—own to the same Destruction I will put â—o difference between them in my praâ—tice But let such presumptuous Sinâ—ers know First That All Mens sins are not equal as all Mens Sins are not â—ual here so neither shall all Mens Torâ—ents he equal hereafter Some shall be â—aten with fewer others with more â—ripes some shall be chastised with â—hips others with Scorpions The Eâ—rnal Furnace shall be heated seven â—mes hotter for some than for others â—nd for whom is the greater wrath preâ—red but for the greatest Sinners In â—e blackest and hottest place in Hell â—ere is chained the great Devil that â—rch Rebel against God and after him â— ranked whole Clusters of damned â—irits each according to their several â—grees both of Sin and Torment He â—at suffers the least suffers no less than Hell but yet he is in a condition to be envied at by those whose daring and desperate Wickednesses have brought upon them far heavier and sorer vengeance these shall have cause to envy the state of little Sinners even as they do envy the state of glorified Saints in Heaven Do not therefore conclude that because the wages of the least sin is Death therefore the wages of the greatest Sin is no more nor no worse For though in a natural Death there is no being dead a little yet in the spiritual and eternal Death there are degrees As the Civiâ— Man was a Saint here on Earth in comparison of the Lewd and Debauched Sinner so shall he be happy hereafter in comparison of his Torments Let such therefore seriously consider how sad and infinitely wretched their Condition musâ— needs be since that no less than Damnation it self shall be judged a Happiness compared with what they shall suffer and what Wrath they shall lie under to Eternity In committing great sins we avoid not less sins Secondly Consider In the commissioâ— of great Sins you do not avoid the commission of less Sins but only add to thâ— guilt of them and to that Damnation that will follow upon them It is true if a meer Civil Man whose highest Attainments are but some commendable external Vertues if he could change the guilt of all the little Sins that he hath committed in his whole Life for the single guilt of some great and heinous Sin though I pretend
of thy vain Thoughts and of thy idle Words or thou must for ever perish under them Fourthly If there be so great evil and Vse 4 danger in little Sins hence see then what cause we have to bemoan and humble our selves before God with Tears in our Eyes and Sorrow in our Hearts even for our little Sins We should never approach before the Throne of Grace in Prayer but before the close thereof we should in Confession mourn over and beg strength against those that the World calls and we account small Sins Indeed it is impossible to confess them all particularly who can reckon up the vain Thoughts and idle Words of one Day without a whole Day 's time to recount them for indeed we do little else in the Day And who then can reckon up the vain Thoughts and idle Words that he is guilty of in his whole Life without living over his whole Life to recount them When we have therefore confessed the more observable Failings of every Day we ought to wrap up the rest in a general but yet in a serious and sorrowful Acknowledgment Thus you find David did Psalm 51. where you have him confessing his two foul Sins of Adultery and Murder It is true one would think he should have been so intent upon the begging of Pardon for those Sins as that he could not spare a Petition to ask Pardon for any other Sins But yet though these were his great Sins yet he knew himself guilty of other Transgressions besides though of a less Nature and therefore he sums up all together and heartily begs pardon for them in the heap vers 9. Hide thy face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities And so truly we ought in our daily Prayers to God after particular Confession of those Sins that do more nearly touch and grate upon our Consciences to bind up the â—est in one general Petition and so preâ—ent them to God for Pardon in some such like manner as this Lord my own Conscience condemns me and thou art greater than my Conscience and knowest all things I have observed much Sin and guilt by my self this Day and thou who searchest the Heart and triest the Reins knowest far more by me than I do by my self but whatever I know by my self or whatever thou knowest by me Lord do thou freely pardon and forgive it all unto me Only here take heed that when you thus make your Confessions of your small Sins in general you do not also make them overtly slightly and superficially which is the common Fault of those that confess Sin by the heap As many little Sins of an ordinary Infirmity do equal the Guilt of one great Sin So truly when we thus every Day confess many of them together we ought to be deeply affected with true godly Sorrow and as earnestly pray for the pardon of them and as importunately beg power and strength against them with the same Tears Groans and holy Shame as if that Day we had committed some more gross and heinous Sin When therefore in your Prayers you come to this Request Lord pardon me the Sins and Failings of this Day think with your self now I ought to be as fervent as affectionate and penitent as if I were confessing Drunkenness or Murder for possibly the little Sins and Failings that I have committed this Day if they were all of them put together the Guilt of them may amount to be as great as one of those gross Sins Now upon such a general Confession and Humiliation as this is God issues out a Pardon in course for our common and ordinary Infirmities and by one Act of Oblivion blots out many Acts of Provocation There are two Considerations that may be very useful to us in order to the humbling of our selves before God for little Sins By little Sins we continually offend God First Consider these little Sins are those Sins whereby we continually without intermission offend against God and provoke him against our own Souls Still either the Matter of our Actions are contrary to the Holy Will and Law of God or the manner in which we perâ—orm them If the Substance of our Actions are not evil yet the Circumâ—tances are there 's not a Word in Prayâ—r not a Thought in Meditation but â—ath the Guilt of some Sin cleaving to 〈◊〉 and if it be so with us in our Holy Performances how do you think then it â—s with us in our common and ordinary Conversation And should it not deepâ—y humble us to consider that there is â—ot one hour no nor one moment of â—ur Lives free from Sin that our Pulses â—eat too slow to keep an Account of our â—ins by our Thoughts are continualâ— in Motion without intermission or cesâ—ation and yet Every one of the Imaginaâ—ions of the Thoughts of our Hearts are only â—vil and that continually Gen. 6.5 Gen. 6.5 Certainly did we seriously consider what â—t is we say when we confess to God â—hat our whole Lives are nothing but one continued course of Sin those moments every one of which brings fresh Guilt upon â—s would not slide away so pleasantly with us as they do but because our Sins seem small to us we regard them not and so our Time wasts and our Guilt encreaseth till Eternity puts a period anâ— full end to those Sins to which wâ— could never put any stop or intermission Little Sins proceed from a corrupt Nature Secondly Consider what a corrupt and depraved Nature these little Sins â— flow from When at any time we are sensible of a vain and sinful Though rising up in our Hearts we should trace â— along to the Fountain of it even Original Corruption from whence it bubbleâ— up If we would but do so we should seâ— great cause to be deeply humbled for that fruitful seed-plot of all manner of Sins that is in our Hearts Many thousands of Lusts lie crawling and knotting together there that never yet saw the light the Damned in Hell have not worse Natures in them than we have There is no Sin how horrid so ever that they committed on Earth or can be supposed to commit now in Hell but we also should run into it did not God's powerful restraints with-hold us Now do little Sins proceed from such a Corrupt and cursed Fountain and have we not then great cause to be humbled before the Lord for them and say Lord here is Sin a little Sin it is but yet it proceeds from a Heart that hath in it the Spawn of all the greatest and vilest Sins that ever were or can be committed and that it is but a vain Thought and not Blasphemy Murder or Adultery or any of the greatest and most crying Sins that ever were committed in the World is to be acknowledged and attributed only to the powerful restraint of thy free Grace For the same corrupt Fountain that sends forth this vain Thought and that idle Word would have sent forth Blasphemy
the future to shun such Snares and Intanglements as these are thy sins will be judged by God at the last Day to be wilful and presumptuous Sins for they are so if not in themselves considered yet at least in their Cause for you presumptuously run into those Occasions and Temptations whereby in all likelihood you will be overcome and this is to sin presumptuously If when we are tempted we yield without vigorous resistance we then sin presumptuously Thirdly Suppose that we are strongly tempted without the betraying of our selves to the Temptation Why then consider If you commit the Sin to which you are tempted without vigorous and resolute resistance if you do this is a certain sign you sin presumptuously Let the Temptation be never so strong and irresistible yet if you yield to it without opposition and resistance made against it to your utmost you then sin presumptuously A Child of God when he acts like himself falls fighting the Devil gets not a foot of ground upon him but by main force and strength though Principalities and Powers though the Rulers of the Darkness of this World and spiritual Wickednesses in high Places set themselves all in array against him why yet he encounters them all and wrestles with them all and though sometimes through weakness he is overcome yet he never basely yields he fights standing and he fights falling and he fights rising and therefore when he sins it is through Weakness and not through Presumption but now others though they are very bold and presumptuous against God yet they are very Cowards against their Lusts and against the Temptations of the Devil when a Temptation assaults them they dare not presume to oppose that but they dare presume to offend and provoke God himself that they dare do Believe it Sirs you must be bold and resolute either against the Devil or against the great God one of these you must grapple with chuse which you think you may best oppose and soonest conquer the Devil stands before you armed with his fiery darts God follows you armed with everlasting vengeance If you will not engage against Satan and resolutely oppose him and all his force what do you else but turn upon God and challenge him to the Combat and make him your Enemy that is able to destroy both Soul and Body in Hell-fire for ever Why what a most daring presumption is this that ever we should basely surrender up our selves to the Devil without striking one stroke in our own defence and yet at the same time we should dare to provoke that God that can with one look and frown sink us into the lowest Hell And thus in these Three Particulars we see when a Sin is presumptuous in respect of Temptations when it is committed without Temptations when we run into Temptations and Occasions of Sin and when we make no vigorous opposition against them To sin under eminent judgments and afflictions is to sin presumptuously In the Fifth Place another Trial is this When Men will dare to sin under eminent and remarkable Judgments and Afflictions that God brings upon them then they sin presumptuously What is this else but when God stands visibly in your way yet you will desperately run upon the thick Bosses of his Buckler he hedges up your way with thorns and yet you will break through though it be to the tearing of your Flesh he strikes at you by his Judgments and oh the Madness and Presumption of vile Dust and Ashes that they dare to strike at God again by their Sins what is this else but even to dare God to do his worst When God treads upon us should such vile Worms as we are turn the Tail and threaten to take revenge upon the Almighty This is Presumption and Boldness that God takes special notice of In 2 Chron. 28 and 22. Ahaz was brought very low says the Text and yet in the time of his distress he trespassed yet more against the Lord This is that Ahaz God sets a Mark and Brand upon him that he may be known to all posterity for a most daring Sinner that when God had brought him so low when so many Enemies waged War against him and distressed him yet even then he provoked a greater Enemy than them all and challengeth God against him This is that King Ahaz Truly may it not be said of many among us This and this is that person who when God afflicted them instead of humbling themselves under the mighty hand of God grew enraged at their Sufferings and sinned yet more and more against him Oh it is dreadful when those punishments that should break and melt us prove only to harden our hearts and to exasperate and embitter our Spirits against God What can reform us when we offend under the very smart of the Rod Hereby therefore judge of your Sins if so be God be gone out against you if he hath laid his hand heavy upon you and yet you regard it not but still persevere in your old Sins and still add new iniquities to them if instead of humility and brokenness of heart your hearts rise up against God and you are ready to say with that wicked King This Evil is of the Lord why should I wait upon the Lord any longer conclude upon it you are those desperate presumptuous Sinners that scorn to shrink for whatever God can lay upon them To encourage our selves with hopes of Mercy while we live impenitently in Sin is to sin presumptuously Sixthly and lastly When we can encourage our selves with hopes of Mercy though we live in Sin impenitently this is to sin presumptuously You that know your selves to be Sinners what is it that makes you to bear up with so much peace and confidence why do you not every moment fear lest Hell should open its mouth and swallow you up lest God should suddenly strike you dead by some remarkable Judgment lest the Devil should fetch you away alive to Torments Why do you not fear this since you know your selves to be Sinners Why truly you still hope for Mercy and it is only from this very presumption that men cry Peace Peace to themselves when yet God is at enmity with them they flatter themselves that it shall be well with them in the latter end though God swears he will not spare them but his Wrath and Jealousie shall smoke against them In Deut. 29.19 20. says God there If any Man shall encourage himself when he goes on presumptuously in the way of his own heart adding Drunkenness unto Thirst I will not spare him says God but my Wrath and my Jealousie shall smoke against him and all the Curses that are written in this Book shall fall upon him Were but Sinners truly apprehensive of their wretched Estate how they stand liable every moment to the stroke of Divine Justice how that there is nothing that interposeth betwixt them and Hell but only God's temporary forbearance of them
that the inclinations of the best were too strong even to those Sins that a perfect Moralist would think scorn that they should be suspected of and therefore he Exhorts them with all earnestness and frequent importunity to Mortifie such foul Sins as these are Thirdly From the irritating Power of the Law It appears also from the irritating power that the Law hath Even in the best of God's Children there is accidentally through our Corruption such a Malign influence if I may so call it in the Holy Just and Good Law of God that instead of quelling Sin it doth the more enrage and provoke it and this we call the irritating power of the Law Thus the Apostle tells us in Rom. 7.11 13. That Sin takes occasion by the Law to work in us all manner of Concupiscence Why now were it possible that Sin should grow strong by that Law that was given on purpose to destroy it but that there is in us violent propensions towards what is forbidden us and eager desires after that which God hath denied us So strangely depraved are our Corrupt Natures that we swell with our Yoke and labour to throw off whatever may lay a restraint upon us like Green Sticks which being bent one way by natural strength we start as far back the other way Can none of us call to mind some Sins that possibly we should never have committed had they not been forbidden to us the Command often-times gives Corruption a hint in what how it may offend God And is not this therefore a clear demonstration of that mighty proness that there is in all of us unto Sin when that Law that forbids Sin shall prove an incentive to it The more will a high mettled Horse foam and fling the harder you Rein him in And if you stop a River in its course it will rise and swell till it over-flows its Banks and whence is this but because there is a Natural Proneness in it to run towards the Sea And when God casts his Law before Men as a stop to them in their sinful course they swell the higher till they have born or over-flown all those Bounds and Dams that God hath set to bound them in And whence proceeds all this but only because there is a Natural tendency and propension in Men's Hearts to Sin and therefore the more they are opposed the higher still do our Corruptions swell and the more do they rage and although the force of this sinful propension may be in some of God's Children in a good measure broken yet in the very best of them is there some degree or other of this irritating power of the Law to stir them up to Sin even by forbidding of them to Sin And that 's the last demonstration The next thing propounded Whence it is that Christians have a proneness in them unto every Sin was to enquire into the Original Cause whence this sinful inclination proceeds how it comes to pass that there is in all Men and even in the best Christians such a strong propension unto Sin Now in the enquiry into this I shall lead you on gradually by these following steps First In Man's first Creation the Will had in it a Natural Power to determine the Specification of its own Acts that is freely to sway it self either unto Good or Evil which of them it pleased and if there was any Biass in it to draw it more one way than another as some there was it was an inclination to that which is Good for Man's Faculties were then entire and perfect his Knowledg clear to discern what was his chief Good and his highest Happiness his Will free to choose it and his Affections ready to embrace and clasp about it His Love his Fear his Joy his Delight were all of them Centred in God that which is now in us from Grace was in him from Nature Since the Fall we need a Twofold assistance one a Common influence and assistance such as is vouchsafed to all Men to enable them to the performance of the common and ordinary Actions of this Life it is from God's immediate influence that we are enabled to Move to Think to Speak for in him we Live Move and have our Beings And then we need also a Special influence vouchsafed only to the Children of God whereby we are enabled to perform Holy and Spiritual Actions as to Love Fear and Obey God sincerely and this Special influence we commonly call Grace whereby we are enabled to Act Divinely and Spiritually Now the difference betwixt Common and Special influence lies in this that what God works in us by a Common influence that is wrought without any grudg or reluctancy in Man's Nature to the contrary but what is wrought in us by a Special influence that is brought to pass Nature gain-saying and contradicting it thus when God enables a Sinner to Act Faith or Love or any Divine and Heavenly Grace this is contrary to the tendency of Corrupt Nature and therefore this is called Special Grace Now while Man stood in the state of Innocency there was nothing in his Nature that contradicted his Fear of God his Dependance on God or his Love to God and therefore to enable him to Act all these he needed no Special influence of Special Grace but only of a common and ordinary Providence Before the Fall Adam stood in no need at all of any such thing as Special Grace as we now stand in need of but the same assistance of God for the kind of it that enabled him to Move or to Speak or to Think was sufficient also to enable him to perform the most Spiritual Obedience because then the most Spiritual Obedience was no more to him than those Actions which we call Natural as Eating and Drinking Speaking Walking and Thinking are to us now and therefore he required no more assistance from God for the performance of Spiritual Obedience than we now require from God for our Natural Actions Now as he had this perfection of power to perform what was good so he had a proneness of will also to it but yet in that proneness there was not perseverance He might as afterwards he did turn aside from God unto Satan and notwithstanding his inclination to Obedience and proneness to that which was Good yet having not a perseverance in that proneness but being Lord over his own Will as he was over the rest of the visible Creation he voluntarily and wilfully consented to the Commission of Sin Why now Secondly This voluntary inclination of Adam to Sin hath ever since by a dreadful yet righteous Judgmen of God brought upon all his Posterity a natural and necessary inclination unto Sin so that now either whatever they do is Sin or there is Sin in whatever they do Now that we may clearly apprehend how Adam's first Sin and Provocation committed so many Thousand Years ago causes such strong propensions to Sin in all his Posterity you must
observe these following particulars First Consider this that we and all Mankind were in Adam not only as in our common Parent from whom we received our Being but as in our Common Head Surety and Representative from whom we were to receive either our well or our ill Being he was the Head of the Covenant both he and we were Parties in the Covenant he obeying we obeyed and he sinning we transgressed what he did as in this publick capacity was not alone his Personal Act but it was ours also Now what Right Adam had to Indent for his Posterity and to oblige them to the Terms of the Covenant I have long since opened to you on another occasion and I shall therefore pass it by now Secondly The Threatning annexed to the Covenant of Works was Death In the Day thou Eatest thereof says God thou shalt surely Die Gen. 2.17 Now there is a Threefold Death that by the violation of this Command Man was subject unto A Temporal Death onsisting in the Miseries of this Life and at last a separation of the Soul from the Body An Eternal Death consisting in the everlasting separation of the Soul from God and a Spiritual Death consisting in the loss and separation of God's Image from the Soul And upon Adam's Sin this Threefold Death was Threatned namely Temporal Spiritual and Eternal Of these Three the Spirituaâ— Death was presently inflicted upon Man's Fall consisting in the separation of the Image of God from the Soul Man waâ— immediately deprived of that Holiness and perfect Righteousness wherein the Image of God did consist Then Thirdly Observe No Action can be Holy that doth not flow from the Image of God in the Soul as from its principle Every Action is sinful that hath not the Glory of God for its end now no Action can have the Glory of God for its end that hath not the Image oâ— God for its principle and therefore Man being despoiled of this Image of God there is no Action of any Man in the state of Nature but what is sinful and corrupt And hence it is that in Regeneration God again stamps his Image upon the Soul not indeed so perfectly as at Man's first Creation but yet in such a degree as doth thorough Grace enable him to Act Holily and in some measure according to the will of God Fourthly Though Man be despoiled of the Image of God and cannot Act Holily yet he is a busie and active Creature and must and will be still acting he hath an active Nature and he hath active Faculties still left him though the Image of God that should make those Actions Holy is justly taken from him And here at last we have traced out the true cause of that strong propension that there is in all Men unto Sin While the Soul enjoyed the Image of God it sought especially to do all in reference unto God but now that it hath lost that Image it cannot any longer raise up its Actions to a suitableness to the Will of God and therefore now it sinks them and seeks only to please its own Carnal Desires and Appetite Take the whole resolution of it in Two or Three Words The Nature of the Soul makes it prone and inclined to Act for it is a busie active Creature and if it Acts it must Sin because it hath not the Image of God to raise its Actions to a Holy and Divine conformity to the Will of God and therefore now to be prone to act is to be prone to sin and this is the true ground of that strong Propension that is in all Men to that which is evil and sinful Quest But You will say if this proneness to sin be from the loss of God's Image how comes it to pass that those who are renewed again according to the Image of God do still complain of this strong proneness and propension to sin Answ To this I answer that those of fallen Mankind to whom God is pleased to restore his Image in regeneration accordingly as this Image is more or less perfect so is this proneness to sin more or less strong but because the best are but in part renewed therefore this sinful proneness is but in part destroyed in the best Grace weakens it but Grace doth not quite remove it and therefore the holiest Christian hath and shall have as long as he lives in this World ' cause to complain with the Apostle Romans 7. 23. I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind there is a carnal sensual inclination in him strongly swaying him to sin contrary to the bent and inclination of his renewed part and therefore he shall have cause still to cry out with the Apostle Oh wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death because the Image of God is but in part restored in him therefore there is partly also an inclination in him to sin Yea but you will say possibly this inclination in the best Christians may be to smaller and lesser sins Object but it cannot be thought that a Child of God who is renewed again according to the Image of God should have a strong proneness and inclination to those foul sins that the wicked of the World lie in To this I answer Answ the most that Grace doth in the best of God's Children in this life is to weaken and lessen that natural propension that is in a Child of God to every sin but not to destroy that Propension to any one sin at all no not to the foulest and vilest sins The Old Man in this life never loseth one limb though it be weakned and consuming away in his whole body Take a Child of God that before his Conversion had a strong Propension to any sin suppose what sin you will though never so foul and horrid the same Propension still remains It is not indeed so violent and raging as it was but there it is it is abated and overcome by Grace but still there is the same proneness to sin it may be a Christian is not so sensible of this Propension to sin not so frequently as formerly he hath but yet the experience of the best sometimes can inform them that even to the worst sins and most horrid temptations they find a faction and party in their hearts to promote them and it is as much work as Grace can do to subdue and quell these great sins I now come to enquire into the grounds and reasons why God should suffer this proneness to sin to continue in his dearest Saints and Children after their Conversion and Regeneration possibly some may think it would have been far more conducible to God's glory as well as their own peace and comfort if God had at once at their first Conversion utterly destroyed all the seeds and remainders of corruption in them and at first made them as perfectly holy as they shall be at last hereby God would not have been so
though St. Peter when he walked upon dry Land was â—pheld by the Power of Christ as God â—et that Power was not so remarkably glorious in his preservation and walking upon the dry Land as when Christ â—ent him his hand and upheld him from â—inking when he walked and stood upon the surface of the Water because â—hen he had a proneness and propension â—n him to sink more than when he stood upon the dry Land So truly I may say â—hat the standing of the glorified Saints â—n Heaven in a State of Holiness altho â—t may be and is a Work of God's Almighty Power yet it seems not altogether so much to magnifie the Power of God in preserving them in that State of Holiness and Glory no not to Eternity as it doth to preserve a poor weak Christian one day in a State of Grace because there is no proneness in a glorified Saint to fall from his happiness into Sin but there is in a Saint on Earth to â—all from Grace and from the Work of God upon his Soul The prevalency of Christs Intercession is hereby Glorified Fourthly and lastly This glorifies also the prevalency of Christ's Intercession and the triumph of God's pardoning Grace and Mercy O how exceedingly glorious is free Grace in that God can and doth for Christ's sake pardon many and great sins though he certainly knows there is such a sinful Propension left behind in Mans nature that will again be breaking out into the same or greater provocations Vse I The application of this point shall be in these particulars First is there so strong a proneness in the best Christians to the worst Sins hence then let wicked Men learn not to insult over them when they fall nor to reproach holiness with their foul miscarriages truly Grace hath always found it ill neighbourhood to dwell in the same Soul with Sin for wicked Men being themselves all of one piece they know not how to distinguish betwixt the Propensions of the one and of the other they know not how to distinguish when a Saint in a Christian acts and when the Sinner and so they very irrationally charge Holiness with those crimes that were they not in part unholy they should never commit when a Man that makes a forward profession of Religion and in the general course of his life makes Conscience of his ways when he doth through temptation or inadvertency fall into some sin that becomes notorious what is more common in the mouths of profane scoffers than this This is one of your Godly ones This is one of the sanctified gang thus they laugh and snear at him No but Sinner let me tell thee thou mistakest the Man Did you ever hear him pray so as to charm Heaven and which is more so as to melt even your hearts into affections Did you ever hear him discourse of spiritual things as if he had been intimate with Angels and one of Heavens Secretaries Have you formerly observed in him a blameless and exemplary Conversation then indeed you might say this is one of the Godly Holiness owns him Religion glories in him while he thus adorns his Profession but when he sins say not Behold one of the Godly this is Blasphemy against Religion No it is not the Godly Man that sins no it is the corrupt and unholy part in him it is that part in him that is most like to thee In Romans 7.17 says the Apostle there it is no more I but sin that dwells in me and if it bâ— indwelling sin that is the cause of actual sin in the best why then do you belyâ— their Graces Why do you accuse theâ— whom the Apostle vindicates and tell you plainly that it is not they but siâ— in them Learn therefore to put a difference betwixt a Saint and a Sinner in every Child of God and if it be the Sinner in them that exposeth them to you scorns and flouts what else do you iâ— upbraiding of them but more upbraid your selves that are nothing but Sinner throughout Judge therefore how sensless and unreasonable it is for you to reproach them who were they not so much like you you would have nothing to reproach them with therefore leâ— wicked Men never more flout and jeaâ— at the falls and sins of those that are holy imputing them to them as holy for it is the Sinner in them that sins and not the Saint and by upbraiding them for sin they do more upbraid and reproach themselves A Proneness to Sin in God's Children should make them humble Secondly Is there such a strong Propension in the best to the worst Sins See then what cause even the best have to be continually humble Oh this is that which breaks the very heart and rends the very Bowels of a true Christian that â—e should be so violently inclined to that which of all things in the world his God â—s most averse to and which of all things in the world as it is the only thing he never made so it is that which he always hates this is that which makes him smite his Breast with anguish and to cry out with the Apostle O wretched Man that I am And well truly may the best Saint call himself a wretched man since he carries that â—n his bosom that will be a perpetual torment and vexation to him as long as he lives there are Factions and Rebellions intestine Discords and civil Wars within the Flesh lusting against the Spirit and the Spirit lusting against the Flesh there 's a Sea of wickedness and yet in the midst of it true Grace like Fire striving to burn it up Nay no wonder this great Combustion makes such a Smoke and Smother as wrings Tears from his Eyes for when he meditates this choaks his Meditation he begins with God but through this sinful proneness he fall he knows not how into some impertinent thought oâ— other and in a moment he slides from Heaven to Earth his Thoughts are likâ— ravell'd Thread he knows not theiâ— method and order nor end of them When he prays this Corruption sits very heavy upon his Heart and as at the Evening the shadow of the Body move much faster so truly many times thâ— Lips move apace in Prayer when yeâ— the Heart is dull and drowsie where ever he is whatever he is about Lusâ— is intruding into his company Corruption will be thrusting it self into all hiâ— Actions This is that which makes him weary of his very Life so that he could very well be content nay he really and heartily wishes from his heart that thiâ— House of Clay were pulled down abouâ— him Truly when we look abroad in to the world and take notice in whaâ— filthy Sins it wallows what Oaths and Cursings what Blasphemies and Drunkenness what Murthers Uncleannesses and Riots have every where over-spread the face of the whole Earth What do we see but the Effects of that sinful Nature that is common to us as well as unto
them there we see our own heart unbowell'd and there we can discern what our selves are at the cost of other mens Sins What says the Wise man in Prov. 27 19 As in water face answereth unto face so doth the heart of a man to a man It was the proud Pharisee's boast Lord I thank thee that I am not as other men are Extortioners Vnjust Adulterers or a this Publican as it is in Luke 18. Yes believe it you and I and all yea the best of us all we are even as others are the vilest Sinners are the truest Glasses to represent to our view what our Hearts are their wickedness gives in a true Inventory of what lies locked up in our Breasts there we have the same Vipers knotting and sprawling within that crawl forth in others Lives there is Rancour and Malice and Hatred and Slaughters and Adulteries and the whole Spawn of all those black Sins that have made Men either infamous in Story or mighty in Torment and that we have not yet out-sinned all the Copies that ever were set us that we have not yet discovered some new unknown wickedness to the World is not because our inclination to Sin or our stock of Corruption fails us but because God's Grace either preventing or renewing fails not Where then is the Christian that hath not cause to go mourning to his Grave can you blame him to see him sad and disconsolate when he hath no less Reason for it than a Heart brim-full of Sin Certainly that Man neither loves God nor his own Soul that can hear that there is in him such a violent propension to injure the one and ruine the other without exclaiming with the Prophet Woe is me for I am undone because I am a Man of an unclean heart and of polluted Lips It is but just yea it is all the reason in the World that while our hearts continue to be fountains of Sin our heads should continue to be fountains of Tears That Proneness that is in God's Children to Sin should make them long for Heaven Thirdly Is there in the best a strong proneness to the worst Sins what cause have we then to long and breath after Heaven For not till then shall we be free from it In-dwelling Sin hath taken a Lease of our Souls and holds them by our own Lives it will be in us to the last gasp and as the Heart is the last that dies so also is that Corruption that lodgeth in it but yet die it must and die it shall And this is the comfort of a Child of God that though he brought Sin with him into the World yet he shall not carry it with him out of the World God hath so wisely ordered and appointed it that as Death came in by Sin so also shall Sin it self be destroyed by Death As Worms when they creep into their holes leave their Slime and their Dirt behind them Why truly so is it with a Christian when he dies he leaves all his Slime all his Filth and Corruption at the mouth of the Grave and his Soul gets free from that Clog and mounts up into the bosom of God and there alone is it that it shall no more strive and struggle against sinful Propensions and Inclinations there shall it be eternally fixed and confirmed not only in Glory but in Holiness also we shall there be out of the reach of Satan's Temptations We read indeed that sometimes the Devil appears before God as an Accuser but we never read that he comes there as a Tempter we shall no more feel the first risings and steamings up of Corruption there no more shall we cast kind glances upon our Sins nor have hovering Thoughts towards them O blessed Necessity when the Soul shall be tied up to one all-satisfying Good when it shall have as natural a proneness and ardour to delight in God as to love it self and to delight in its own happiness And who then would desire to linger any longer here below and to spin out his wretched Life wherein Sin and Sorrow shall have the greatest share here the best of us are in perpetual Combates and Quarrels betwixt Sin and Geace the one will not yield and the other cannot Corruption that compells one way and Grace commands another Haste therefore O Christian out of this Scuffle make haste to Heaven and there the controversie will be for ever decided there shalt thou no more live in fear of new sins nor yet in sorrow for old sins but all sorrow and sighing shall flee away all tears shall be wiped from our eyes and all Sin shall be rooted out of our hearts and we shall be perfectly holy even as the Angels themselves are A Proneness in us to Sin should make us â—â—â—ful to avoid occasions of Sin Lastly Is there such a strong proneness in the best to the worst Sins this then should teach us carefully to avoid all Temptations to Sin and whatever may be an occasion to draw forth that Corruption that lies latent within us Wherefore is it that one Petition of those few that Christ taught his Disciples was that God would not lead them into Temptation but because he knew there is in all of us sinful Natures that do too too well correspond with Temptations And he knew that if we were brought into Temptations it is very seldom that we are brought off from them without Sin Were we as free from inherent Sin as Adam was at first or were we confirmed in Grace as the Saints in Heaven now are we might then repell all Temptations with ease and therefore our Saviour whose Nature was spotless by an extraordinary conception and whose Holiness was secure to him by an unspeakable Union of the Godhead he tells us in John 4.13 The Prince of this World came and found nothing in him The Devil came to tempt him but because he found nothing in him therefore he could fasten nothing upon him no Temptation could enter because there was no Corruption to receive it and therefore when he tempted Christ he only cast fiery darts against an impenetrable Rock a Rock that will beat them back again into his own face but our Corruptions have made us combustible Matter that there is scarce a Dart thrown at us in vain when he tempts us it is but like the casting of Fire into Tinder that presently catcheth our Hearts kindle upon the least Spark that falls like a Vessel that is brim-full of Water upon the least jogg runs over Were we but true to our selves though the Devil might knock by his Temptations yet he could never burst open the everlasting Doors of our Hearts by force or violence but alas we our selves are not all of one heart and one mind Satan hath got a strong party within us that as soon as he knocks opens to him and entertains him and hence is it that many times small Temptations and very petty occasions draw forth great Corruptions as
Prince in many little Sun without grudging that which were exacted from them all at once in oâ— great Tax would make them repine if â—ot rebell so is it with us we stand â—ot with the Devil for small sins but â— he tempts us to greater abominations â—hen Conscience makes an alarm and upâ—oar in the Soul and will not nay cannot consent to damn it self by wholeâ—ale certainly that Man that can as our Saviour speaks of the Pharisees swalâ—ow Camels sins of a huge bulk and size without any check or straining at them must needs have a Conscience as wide mouth'd as Hell and he who hath so â—arge a Conscience hath no Conscience at all and that 's another advantage we have against presumptuous Sins Thirdly Fear of shame and infamy a remedy against presumptuous Sins The fear of Shame and of Infamy in the World many times puts a great restraint upon the Lusts of Men and keeps them from breaking out into those daring and presumptuous Wickednesses that otherwise they would do Therefore our Saviour describes the unjust Judge to be one of a strange temper that neither feared God nor regarded Man Luke 18.2 Why those that have worn off all fear of God from their Hearts yet usually have some awe of Man still lest them though the are so hardned that they fear not God Judging them yet they are withal â— Childish that they fear Man's Censurinâ— them loath they are that their Name should be tossed to and fro from Tonguâ— to Tongue that the World should say of them this Man is a Drunkard anâ— that Man is an Vnclean Person anâ— that Man is a Thief Tell me O Sinner why else dost thou seek Corners tâ— hide thy Wickedness in why dost thoâ— not do it in the face of the Sun and before the Eyes of the whole World why that very shame that makes Men scull in secret when they Sin had they nâ— secrecy to hide themselves in from the notice of Men it would keep them also from the Sin it self It doth not terrifie Men to Consider that God write down all their Sins in his Book of Remembrance but should he write alâ— their Sins upon their Foreheads in visible Letters that all the World might Read them where is the Wretch so impudent that would dare to be seen abroad our Streets would be desolate and your Pews would be empty and the World would grow a Wilderness and those that we took for Men would appear to be but very Monsters and Beasts such woful transformation hath Sin made in the World how many Swines are there â—wallowing in their own Vomit how many Goatish sensualists are become Brutish in Filthy Pleasures how many Earth Worms are there crawling up and down in the Muck of this World loading themselves with thick Clay certainly if every Sinner should be seen in his own shape we should meet with very few Men in the World Why now Wicked Men are ashamed to be seen abroad in such disguises as these are and therefore they study to Sin in secret or if that cannot be they force themselves to abstain from Sin unwilling they are to be pointed at in the Streets there goes a Drunkard or an Extortioner there a Cheater or an Adulterer and the like and for very fear hereof sometimes they are kept from the commission of those infamous Sins that would make them a Reproach to all their Neighbours And that is another advantage The Laws of Men keep Men from Sin Lastly The fear of Humane Laws and Penalties doth many times keep Men from the committing many great and horrid Impieties such as would fall undeâ— the notice of the Law It is a great Mercy that God hath Instituted Magistracy that may be a Terrour to Evil Works as the Apostle speaks Rom. 3.13 were it not more for fear of Humane Laws the inflicting of Corporal Punishment upon Men more than God's Threatning of Eternal Punishments the wholâ— World would become worse than a Savage Wilderness within would be Fear and Tumults without would be Ragâ— and Violence our Dwellings our Persons our Possessions would be all exposed to the furious lusts of ungodlâ— Men and by swearing and lying anâ— killing and stealing and committing aduâ—tery Men would break forth till blooâ— toucheth blood as the Prophet speaks Hoâ— 4.2 but the wise Providence of God who hath subdued the Beasts of the Eartâ— to Man hath also subdued Man whâ— else would become more wild and brâ—tish than they to Man God hath therâ—fore subdued Man to Man so that thoâ— that stand not in any awe of the Goâ— of Heaven yet are they awed by the Gods of the Earth and they whom the thoughts of Hell and Eternal Wrath cannot scare from sin yet many times the thoughts of a Prison and Gibbet doth Now this fear is of great advantage to keep Men from the commission of presumptuous Sins which they have not to keep them from the commission of lesser and smaller sins and what is not this security enough against them is there need of any more were it not strange if that warning given before-hand to prepare for resistance if the reluctancy of natural Conscience if the shame of the World and the fears of humane Laws and Penalties should not be sufficient to preserve us from them Were not this strange Yes it were so yet so it is notwithstanding all these advantages still we have great cause to pray with David Lord keep back thy servants from â—resumptuous Sins all other defence is â—ut weak and all other security is but â—nsafe Lord therefore do thou keep us â—nd this I shall endeavour to demonstrate â—nto you by two particulars the one â—rom Scripture and the other from Experience First from Scripture All our ability whether for the performance of duties or for the opposing of corruption is in Scripture entirely ascribed unto the power of God thus the Apostle exhorts the Ephesians in Chap. 6.10 My Brethren says he be strong but in whom what in your selves no says he but be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might for in his Almighty Power though mighty corruptions rush in upon you and threaten your ruin though the Devil and the Powers of Hell push sore at you to make you fall yet God calls upon you to stand and to withstand them all stand alas how can we Such poor weak feeble creatures as we are how can we stand Why says the Apostle be strong in the Lord there 's your security against all the force of your Spiritual Enemies lay hold on his Almighty Power and engage that for you and this will bring you off the Field with victory and conquest So again in 2 Cor. 5. and 3. We are not sufficient says the Apostle of our selves to do any thing as of our selves not sufficient to think a good thought and therefore not sufficient to resist an evil thought for our resisting of an evil thought must be by thinking a good
we are both ways discharged from our Guilt by Satisfaction unto the Penalty of the Law in Christ our Surety and by the free Grace and Mercy of God who hath made and sealed to us a gracious Act of Pardon in Christ's Blood and therefore we stand upright in Law and are as Just and Righteous in God's sight as if we had never sinned against him O how great Consolation is here unto the Children of God! They account themselves great Sinners yea the greatest and worst of Sinners but God accounts them Just and Righteous they keep their sins in remembrance as David speaks my sin is ever before me when God hath not only forgiven but fotgotten them they write and speak bitter things against themselves when God is writing out their Pardon and setting his Seal unto it God's Grace as easily pardons great as small sins Fourthly Pardoning Grace can as easily triumph in the remitting of great and many Sins as of few and small Sins What a great blot upon the Heavens is a thick Cloud and yet the Beams of the Sun can pierce thorow that and scatter it easily Why now God will blot out our Trangressions as a thick Cloud so himself tells us by the Prophet Isa 44.12 I will blot out thy transgressions as a cloud and thine iniquities as a thick cloud A great Debt may as easily be blotted out as a small one Ten thousand Talents is a great Summ yet it is as easily and freely forgiven by the great God as a few Pence God proclaims himself to be a God pardoning Iniquity Transgression and Sin that is Sins of all sorts and sizes The greatest Sins repented of are no more without the Extent of Divine Grace and Mercy than the least Sins unrepented of are without the Cognizance of Divine Justice Esay 1.18 Though your sins be as scarlet yet shall they become as white as snow though they be red as crimson yet they shall be as wooll And can there then be found a despairing Soul in the World when the great God hath thus magnified his Grace and Mercy above all his Works yea and above all ours also Say not then O Sinner my sins are greater than can be forgiven this is to stint and limit the Grace of God which he hath made boundless and infinite and thou mayest with as much Truth and Reason say thou art greater than God as that thy Sins are greater than his Mercy Of all things in the World take heed that you be not injurious to this rich Grace to this free Love and Mercy that pardons thee even for his own sake God pardons thee for himself for his own Sake and dost thou fear O Penitent believing Soul that ever he will condemn thee for thy Sins no but as much as God and his Mercy is greater than our Sins so much more Reason will he find in himself to Pardon the Repenting Believing Sinner than he can find Reason in his Sins to condemn him Thus we see what cause of Comfort there is in this Pardoning Grace of God And thus also we have consider'd Pardon of Sin in its own Nature Of the Concomitants of Pardon of sin Secondly We shall now consider Pardon of Sin in its Concomitants and Adjuncts and so we shall take a view of those things which do inseparably accompany it and thereby also we may see how great and unspeakable a Mercy it is It is a Mercy that is never bestowed upon the Soul singly and alone but evermore comes environ'd with whole Troops and Associate-Blessings As Pardon of Sin and Acceptation go together First Pardon of Sin is always conjoyn'd with the Acceptation of our Persons Indeed these two are the twin Parts of our Justification and therefore we have them coupled together Ephes 1.6 7. He hath made us accepted in the beloved In whom we have Redemption thorow his blood even the Forgiveness of Sin The whole Mystery of our Justification stands in these two things Remission and Acceptation Remission takes away our liableness unto Death and Acceptation gives us a Right and Title unto Life for to be accepted of God in Christ is no other than for God through the Righteousness and Obedience of Christ imputed to us to own and acknowledge us as having a Right and Title unto Heaven and therefore we have mention made of Pardon and an Inheritance together as the full summ of our Justification Acts 11.18 That they may receive forgiveness of sin and an inheritance among those that are sanctified It is not therefore O Soul a bare negative Mercy that God intends thee in the Pardon of thy Sins it is not merely the removing of the Curse and the Wrath that thy sins have deserv'd though that alone can never be sufficiently admired but the same hand that plucks thee out of Hell by pardoning Grace and Mercy lifts thee up to Heaven by what it gives thee together with thy Pardon even a Right and Title to the glorious Inheritance of the Saints above Secondly Another Concomitant is this Pardoning and sanctifying Grace go together Who-ever God pardons he doth also in some measure sanctifie He subdues our sins as well as blots them out he abates their Power as well as removes their Guilt And indeed it were no better than lost labour for God to pardon sin if he did not purifie the Sinner also for were but the least Sin and Corruption left to rule and reign in us we should presently run our selves as far into Debt and Arrears as ever we were Indeed the best Christian in whom Grace is most prevailing and Corruption weakest yet even he stands daily and hourly in need of pardoning Mercy but yet withal his Sins are not of so high a Nature nor so deep a Stain as usually the Sins of wicked Men are His Sins usually are such rather for the manner of them than for the matter of them God by his pardoning Grace forgives Infirmities Failings and Defects and by his sanctifying Grace ordinarily keeps him from the commission of more gross and scandalous Sins And how then can we enough admire the rich Grace of God that not only forgives us our Debts but withal bestows a new stock upon us to keep us from running into Debt again in any great and desperate Summs Pardon of Sin and Adoption are inseparable Thirdly Pardon of sin is always conjoyn'd with our Adoption into the Family of Heaven Herein is the Love of God greatly seen not only to pardon Rebels but to make them his Children not only to forgive Debtors but to make them Heirs of his own Estate The same precious Blood that blots out our Sins writes us down Heirs of Glory and Co-heirs with Jesus Christ himself O infinite and unspeakable Mercy of God thus richly and bountiful to give as well as freely to forgive that he should thus instate us at present in his Love and Favour and hereafter instate us in his Glory This is not the
manner of Men O Lord but as far as the Heavens are above the Earth so far are the Thoughts of God above our Thoughts and his Ways above our Ways And therefore as far as the East is from the West so far hath he removed our Sins from us And why so far but only that he might make room for these great and unspeakable Mercies of Justification Sanctification and Adoption to intervene And so much for the Second thing proposed namely the Concomitants and Adjuncts of Pardon of Sin Of the Effects and Consequences of Pardon of Sin Thirdly Let us now Consider Pardon of Sin in the Effects and Consequences of it and from hence also it will appear How transcendent a Mercy it is and how just a Title God hath to glory in it when he saith I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions Mercies temporal and spiritual the Blessings of this Life and the Glory of a future what-ever indeed can be called a Mercy or good thing doth acknowledge it self a retainer to this primitive and fountain-Mercy of Pardon of Sin Now in such a heap of them I shall only cull out some few that are most conspicuous Now Remission of Sin may be consider'd either as it lies in God's Eternal Intention or in the Spirit 's temporal Application of it The one is God's purpose before all time to forgive us the other is rhe execution of that purpose in time If we consider Pardon of Sin in God's Eternal purpose and intendment so there are two blessed Effects flowing from it and they are these First The sending of Jesus Christ into the World Secondly The great Gift of Faith First The sending Christ into the World the effect of God's purpose to pardon sin The sending of Jesus Christ into the World who is the cause of all happiness unto sinful Man was it self the effect of this purpose of God to pardon and forgive Sinners It is very difficult to trace out the Order of the Divine Decrees concerning the Salvation of Mankind and to pass from one of them to another as they lie ranked and methodized in God's Breast And divers that have attempted to search out these Arcana Dei this Art and Mystery of Justice and Mercy have trodden in paths different from one another and doubtless many of them differing from the Truth also I shall not stand to draw a Scheme of these Decrees of God let it now suffice us to know that God from all Eternity foreseeing the Sin and Misery which Man would by his permission and his own sin involve himself in did for the manifestation of the Riches both of his Mercy and Justice enter into Counsel how to pardon and save him This was the end of God's design even to restore again to Happiness some of Mankind even as many as he should select out of the Mass and common Rubbish of Sin and Misery and set apart for himself Well but how shall this end be accomplished and brought about Justice brandisheth its Sword in the Face of Sinners and demands as great a share of Glory in punishment as Mercy doth in pardoning and God is resolved to glorifie both of these Attributes of his in their several demands This now put him upon ransacking of the deepest Counsel that ever lodged in his Heart even of an Adored Mediatour in whom Justice receives full satisfaction and Mercy triumphs in a full Pardon and both are infinitely glorious For this end God sent down his Son from Heaven to Earth to become a Propitiation for us and so through the shedding of his Bloud to obtain remission and forgiveness of sins for us God's Mercy and his Beloved Son could not rest together in his Bosom and therefore his purpose of pardoning Sin was so efficacious that to make room for the displaying of his Mercy he sends his own Son out of Heaven never to enter again there till by his Merit and Sufferings he had procured Remission of Sins for all those that believe in him Hence the Apostle Rom. 3.26 tells us That God sent forth Christ to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Bloud to declare his Righteousness for the Remission of Sins that are past through God's forbearance that he might be Just and the Justifier of them that believe in Jesus As if the Apostle had said God could not be Just if he should justifie Sinners that deserve his Wrath unless he had sent forth Jesus Christ into the World to become a Propitiation and Sacrifice to his Justice for their Sins For having threatned in his unalterable word to inflict vengeance upon all that are guilty his Truth obliged him to this dreadful severity upon all since all are guilty But that Christ taking on him the guilt of sinners by his own undergoing the wrath of God and the Curse of the Law hath so fully appeased Divine Justice that now God though he doth not punish Sinners in themselves can yet be Just and the Justifier of Sinners therefore he sent forth Christ to be a Propitiation God's Eternal Purpose to glorifie his Justice in the punishing sin and yet to glorifie his Grace and Mercy in pardoning Sinners wrought this great effect of sending Christ into the World whereby two such different ends might with Infinite Wisdom be accomplished So that Christ who is the cause of all our Happiness and Mercy is yet himself the effect of God's Purpose and Intent to pardon sin And what can be said more to advance the greatness of this Mercy a Mercy so great that one of the Fathers St. Gregory by Name doubted whether it were more Misery or Happiness that Adam fell since his Sin and Fall occasioned such a wonderful Redeemer and such a Glorious Salvation Foelix culpa says he O Happy Fall that obtained such a Redeemer Faith the Effect of pardoning Mercy Secondly Another blessed Effect of God's purpose in pardoning sin is the great gift of Faith Indeed to give Jesus Christ were utterly in vain did not God withal give Faith to accept him To tender Christ to an Unbeliever is to offer a Gift where there is no Hand to receive it Hence that God's purpose of giving pardon might stand valid that the Death of Christ might not be fruitless and that his Bloud might not be like Water spilt on the ground that cannot be gathered up again God decreed to bestow Faith upon them that believe that may convey to them the Benefits of Christ's Merits in their Pardon and Remission These two blessed Effects now follow in God's Purpose and Intention of pardoning sin even the Gift of Christ to procure and the Gift of Faith to apply Pardon unto the Soul Secondly And more especially Let us consider Pardon of Sin in its temporal and real Application And so the happy Effects of it are manifold I shall only instance in some at present First Pardon of sin gives security against God's Justice Pardon of Sin gives an inviolable security
against the pursuits of avenging Justice This is its formal and most immediate Effect Justice follows guilty Sinners close at the Heels and shakes its flaming Sword over their Heads every Threatning contained in this Book of God stands ready charged against them and their Sins make them so fair a Mark that they cannot be missed Hence is that sad Complaint of Job Why hast thou set me up as a Mark Into which he emptied his Arrows as into his Reins Job 7.20 Now while Justice is driving the Sinner before him from Plague to Plague resolving never to stop till he hath driven him into Hell the great Assembly and Meeting of all Plagues Mercy interposeth and lays its Arrest upon it and this Gracious Act of Pardon rescues us though under the hands of the Executioner and we ready to be turned into Hell Here the Challenge that Justice makes to us ceaseth and we are left to walk safely under the protection of Mercy For when God issues out a Pardon he calls off Justice from its pursuit Thus you have the Psalmist thankfully acknowledging Psalm 85.2 Thou hast forgiven our Iniquities and what follows now Thou hast taken away all thy Wrath thou hast turned thy self from the fierceness of thine Anger Nor is it to be feared O Soul that thou shalt evermore be questioned for those sins that are once forgiven thee God's Acts of Oblivion can never be repealed No God sets an everlasting Sanction upon them and Justice shall never again molest thee Jeremiah 34. I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more And indeed well may Divine Justice cease its pursuit of the guilty sinner for always when God pardons a sinner he turns his pursuit after Christ and satisfies all his just demands upon him for though we are the Principals in the Debt yet our Surety who stands bound for us in the Covenant of Redemption is far the more able and absolving Person Now is not this an unspeakable mercy that Justice and Vengeance the heavy stroaks of which many thousand Wretches lie under and which thy sins have provoked and armed against thy own Soul that might every sin thou committest that is every moment of thy Life strike thee Dead in the place in the dread of which if thou hast any tenderness of Conscience left in thee thou must needs live in continual fearful expectations of this Wrath of God to destroy thee as his Enemy Is it not now Infinite Mercy that God should call in the Commission given to his Justice that Mercy might secure thee from it What is this but the effect of Pardoning Grace that gives this destroyer charge to pass over all those upon whose Consciences the Bloud of Christ is sprinkled for the removal of their guilt Peace and Reconciliation an Effect of pardon of sin Secondly Another Blessed Effect of Pardon of Sin is Peace and Reconciliation with God And what happiness can there be greater than when the Quarrel betwixt Heaven and Earth betwixt God and the Sinner is taken up and compounded Open Wars have been long proclaimed and long maintained on either part ever since the first great Rebellion Man hath stood in defiance with and exercised great Hostility against his Creatour and God on the other hand hath thundred out whole Peals of Curses against these Rebels and hath slain whole Generations of them eternally Dead upon the place God hath still maintain'd his Cause with Victory and Man his with Obstinacy and this War would never cease did not God proclaim Pardon and Forgiveness to all that will lay down their Arms and submit Now hereupon Peace is concluded fully for first God's pardoning Sinners manifests himself to be fully reconciled to them so the Apostle tells us Rom. 5.1 Being Justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. God is a sworn Enemy to all guilty sinners himself hath affixed this Title to the rest of his Name That he will by no means clear the guilty Guilt hath a malign influence not only on our Consciences to discompose them with Terrours and Affrightments but on God's Countenance also to ruffle it into Frowns and Displeasure Now when God pardons sin he wipes away this over-casting Cloud and the cause of Enmity being removed his Face and Favour clears up to us And then Secondly Pardon of Sin is a strong Inducement to us to lay down the Weapons of our Warfare and be at peace with God What Argument can be more prevailing where there is any Principle of Ingenuity When God thus proclaims Peace shall I continue War He Pardons and shall I Rebel He is Reconciled and shall I be Implacable Shall I persist in those sins which he forgives No far be it from me I submit to that God whose rich Grace conquers by condescending as well as his Power by crushing And thus the Soul lays down its Weapons at the Feet of God and humbly embraceth the terms of Agreement propounded by him in the Gospel Pardon of sin lays a good foundation for Acquaintance and Communion with God Thirdly Pardon of Sin lays a good Foundation for the Souls near Acquaintance and Communion with God Guilt is the only thing that breeds Alienation Your Iniquities says the Prophet have separated betwixt you and your God Isa 59.2 Nor indeed is it possible that a guilty Sinner should any more delight in Conversing with God than a guilty Malefactour delights in the presence of his Judge And therefore we see when Adam had contracted guilt upon himself by eating the Forbidden Fruit how childishly and foolishly doth he behave himself God calls him and he runs behind a Tree to hide himself what a suddain change was here Adam who but a little before was his Creator's Familiar now dreads and shuns him his guilt makes him apprehend God's Call to be no other than a Summons to the Bar. Nor indeed can it be otherwise but that guilt should produce Alienation betwixt God and the Soul for look how distance grows between two familiar Friends so doth it here If a Man be Conscious to himself that he hath done his Friend an Injury what Influence hath this upon him why presently it makes him more shy and reserved to him than before So is it here Consciousness of guilt fills us with a troublesome ill-natur'd shame we are ashamed to look God in the Face whom we have so much wronged by our sins And Secondly this shame is always joyned with a slavish and base fear of God lest he should Revenge himself upon us for the Injuries that we have done to him and both this Shame and Fear takes off from that holy freedom and boldness which reverently to use towards God is the gust and Spirit of our Communion and Fellowship with him and all these lessen that sweet Delight in God that formerly we relisht in the Intimacy of this Heavenly Fellowship And what can be the final product of all this but a most sad
Alienation and Estrangement between God and the Soul But now Pardon of Sin removes these Obstructions and causeth the intercourse betwixt God and the Soul to pass free because it gives the Soul a Holy and yet Awful Boldness in Conversing with the Great and Terrible Majesty of God So much sence of Pardon and Reconciliation as we have so much boldness shall we have ordinarily in our Addresses to God What 's the Reason the Consciences of Wicked Men drag them before God and they come with so much Diffidence Dejectedness and Jealousie Why it is because they are Conscious to themselves of guilt that lies upon them and this makes them look on God rather under the Notion of a Judge than of a Friend or Father and this makes them perform their Duties so distrustfully as if they would not have God take any notice that they were in his Presence But when a Pardon'd sinner makes his Addresses to God he may do it with a Holy freedom the Face of his Soul looks chearfully and he Treats with God with an open Heart What ground is there now for such a Confidence as this is For poor vile Dust and Ashes to appear thus before the great God of Heaven and Earth Yes there is for Guilt is removed his Peace is made in the Bloud of Christ all Enmity is abolished all Quarrels are decided and it becomes not him to serve God with such Suspiciousness as Guilty Sinners do Hence we have that Expression of the Apostle Heb. 10.22 Let us draw near to him in full Assurance of Faith having our Hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience That is from a Guilty and an Accusing Conscience Now when the Heart and Conscience is sprinkled with the Bloud of Christ whereby this Guilt is taken off then hath a Man good ground to draw near to God in full Assurance of Faith Fourthly Pardon of Sin lays a good ground for Peace in a Man 's own Conscience I do not say that Peace of Conscience is always an inseparable Attendant upon Pardon of Sin For doubtless there are many so unhappy as to have a Wrangling Conscience in their own Bosoms when God is at Peace with them But this is certain That Pardon of Sin lays a solid ground and Foundation for Peace in a Man 's own Conscience and were Christians but as industrious as they should be in clearing up their Evidences for Heaven they might obtain Peace whenever they are pardon'd What is there that disquiets Conscience but only Guilt nothing but the Guilt of Sin doth it this is that which rageth and stormeth in Wicked Men and is as a Tempest within their Breasts this is that unseen Scourge that draws Bloud and Groans at every Lash this is that Worm that lies perpetually gnawing at the Heart of a Sinner this is that Rack that breaks the Bones and disjoynts the Soul it self In a word Guilt is the Fuel of Hell and the Incendiary of Conscience were it not for Guilt there were not a more pleasant and peaceable thing in all the World than a Man 's own Conscience Now Pardon of Sin removes this Guilt and thereby makes Reconciliation between us and our Consciences and therefore says our Saviour Matth. 9.2 to the Paralytick Man Son be of good chear thy Sins are forgiven thee why might not some say this is an Impertinent Speech to say to one that was brought to be cured of a sad Infirmity of Body That his Sins were forgiven him whilst yet his Disease was not cured Not but our Lord Christ knew that there was infinitely more cause of Joy and Chearfulness to have Sin Pardon'd than to have Diseases cured To have all calm and serene within not to have a Frown or Wrinkle upon the Face of the Soul to have all smooth Thoughts and peaceful Affections this is some faint resemblance of Heaven it self and is never vouchsaft unto any but where Pardon and the sence of it is given to the Soul Pardon of sin takes away the Curse of every Affliction Fifthly He whose Sins are Pardon'd may rest assured that whatever Calamities or Afflictions he may lie under yet therâ— is nothing in them of a Curse or Punishment It is Guilt alone that diffusetâ— Poison through the Veins as of all ouâ— Enjoyments so of all Afflictions also and turns them all into Curses Buâ— Pardon of Sin takes away this Venome and makes them all to be Medicinaâ— Corrections good profitable and advantagious to the Soul See how God by the Prophet expresseth this Isa 33.24 The Inhabitants shall not say they are sick Why so For the People that dwell therein shall be forgiven their Iniquities When Sin is Pardon'd outward Afflictions are not worth complaining of The Inhabitants shall not say We are Sick A Disease then becomes a Medicine when Pardon hath taken away the Curse and Punishment of it God hath two ends with respect of himself for which he brings Punishments upon us the one is the Manifestation of his Holiness the other is for the satisfaction of his Justice And accordingly as any Affliction tends to either of these ends so is it properly a Punishment or barely a Fatherly Chastisement If God intends by the Afflictions he lays upon thee the satisfaction of his Justice then thy Afflictions are properly Punishments and they flow from the Curse of the Law but if the manifestation of his Holiness be all he intends by them then are they only Fatherly Corrections proceeding from Love and Mercy First Those whose sins God hath pardon'd he may afflict for the declaration of his Holiness that they may see and know what a Holy God they have to deal with who so perfectly hates sin that he will follow it with Chastisements even upon those whom his free Grace hath pardon'd Secondly God inflicts no Chastisements upon those whom he hath pardon'd for the satisfaction of his Justice and therefore they are not Curses nor properly Punishments but only Corrections and Fatherly Chastisements Christ hath satisfied the demands of Justice for their Sins and God is more just than to exact double satisfaction for the same Offence one in Christ's Punishment and another in theirs The Apostle tells us Gal. 3.13 Christ hath Redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us It is not the Evils that we suffer that makes them Curses or Punishments be they never so great but only the Ordination of these Evils to the satisfaction of Divine Justice upon us And therefore Christ in Scripture is said to be made a Curse not simply because he suffered but because he was adjudged to his Sufferings that thereby satisfaction might be made unto the Justice of God Hence therefore with what calmness and peace may a Pardoned Sinner look upon any Afflictions though they are sore and heavy tho they seem to carry much of God's Anger in them yet there is nothing of a Curse or of the nature of a Punishment the Sting was all