is not true and sincere and that it was not taken up out of the sense of the intrinsical evil of Sin and the danger of it in respect of God and the Judgment of another World for this Reason holds against every Sin and remains always the same but that it was taken up upon some inferior Consideration either because of the Shame and Infamy of it among men or because of some other temporal inconvenience which if the Man could be secur'd against he would presently break his Resolution and return to the Commission of that Sin with as much freedom as any other 2. A sincere Resolution implies a Resolution of the Means as well as of the End He that is truly and honestly resolved against any Sin is likewise resolved to avoid as much as is possible the Occasions and Temptations which may lead or draw him to that Sin or if they happen to present themselves to him he is resolved to stand upon his Guard and to resist them In like manner he that sincerely resolves upon doing his Duty in any kind must resolve upon the Means that are requisite and necessary to the due Discharge and Performance of that Duty As he that resolves against that needless and useless Sin of Swearing in common Conversation must resolve also to set a guard before the door of his lips seeing it is certain that it requires great care and attention at least for some competent time to get rid of a habit When David resolved not to offend with his Tongue he resolved at the same time to be very watchful over himself Psal 39.1 I said I will take heed to my ways that I offend not with my Tongue I will keep my mouth as with a bridle while the wicked is before me For a Man to resolve against any Sin or Vice and yet to involve himself continually in the occasions and to run himself into the Company and Temptation which do naturally and will almost necessarily lead and betray him into those Sins is a plain evidence of insincerity This I take for a certain rule that whatever can reasonably move a Man to resolve upon any End will if his Resolution be sincere and honest determine him every whit as strongly to use all those Means which are necessary in order to that end But of this I have spoken elsewhere 3. A sincere Resolution of leaving our Sins and returning to God and our Duty does imply the present time and that we are to resolve speedily and without delay to put this Resolution in practice that we are peremptorily determined not to go one step farther in the ways of Sin not to neglect any Duty that God requires of us not for one moment but immediately and forthwith to set upon the practice of it so soon as occasion and oportunity is offer'd to us And the Reason of this is evident Because the very same Considerations that prevail upon any Man to take up this Resolution of amendment and changing the Course of his Life are every whit as prevalent to engage him to put this Resolution presently in practice and execution I deny not but a Man may resolve upon a thing for the future and when the time comes may execute his Resolution and this Resolution may for all that be very sincere and real tho' it was delayed to a certain time because he did not see Reason to resolve to do the thing sooner But it cannot be so in this Case of Repentance because there can no good Reason be imagined why a Man should resolve seven years hence to change his Course and break off his sinful Life but the very same Reason will hold as strongly why he should do it presently and without delay and over and besides this there are a great many and powerful Reasons and Considerations why he should rather put this good Resolution in present Execution than put it off and defer it to any farther time whatsoever What is it that puts thee upon this Resolution of leaving thy Sins and urgeth thee to do it at all Art thou resolved to leave Sin because it is so great an Evil Why it is so for the present the Evil of it is intrinsical to it and cleaves to the very Nature of it and is never to be separated from it so that this is a present Reason and as strong against it now as ever it will be hereafter nay it is stronger at present because if it be so great an Evil the sooner we leave it the better Or dost thou resolve to forsake Sin because thou art apprehensive of the danger and mischief of it that it will expose thee to the wrath of God and to the endless and intolerable Misery of another World Why this Reason likewise makes much more for the present leaving of it because the longer thou continuest in a sinful and impenitent state the greater is thy danger and the greater Penalty thou wilt most certainly incur by delaying to put this good Resolution in Practice thou dost increase and multiply the Causes of thy Fear For hereby thou provokest God more and every day dost incense his wrath more and more against thee thou preparest more and more fewel for everlasting burnings and treasurest up for thy self more wrath against the day of wrath and the Revelation of the righteous Judgment of God Nay thou dost not only increase and aggravate but thou dost hereby hasten thine own Misery and Ruine and takest the most effectual Course that is possible to bring thine own Fears and the Vengeance of Almighty God so much the sooner upon thee For nothing provokes God to take a speedier course with sinners and does more quicken the pace of his Judgments than wilful continuance in Sin And yet farther If thy Resolution be valuable and considerable to thee thou takest the most effectual course in the World to frustrate and defeat it Thou art fully resolved to leave thy Sins hereafter and thou thinkest thou hast Reason for it but by continuing in them for the present thou provokest the Justice of almighty God to cut thee off before thy Resolution hath taken effect Again Dost thou resolve to leave thy Sins one time or other because thereby thou hopest to put thy self into a Capacity of Pardon and Mercy and of Eternal Life and Happiness Why this Reason should move thee to do the thing as soon as is possible because the sooner thou forsakest thy Sins thou hast the greater hope of finding Mercy and Forgivness with God and the sooner thou beginnest a Holy Course and the longer thou continuest therein thou hast Reason to expect a greater and more ample Reward Thou canst not by holding off hope to bring down Pardon and Mercy to lower Rates and to obtain these hereafter upon easier Terms no the Terms and Conditions of God's Mercy are already fixt and establish'd so as never to be alter'd So that whatever Reason thou canst possibly allege for taking up this Resolution it is
repent without such a degree of God's Grace as cannot be resisted no Man's Repentance is commendable nor is one Man's Impenitence more blameable than anothers Chorazin and Bethsaida can be in no more fault for continuing Impenitent than Tyre and Sidon were For either this irresistible Grace is afforded to men or not if it be their Repentance is necessary and they cannot help it if it be not their Repentance is impossible and consequently their Impenitence is necessary and they cannot help it neither V. I observe from the main scope of our Saviour's Discourse That the Sins and Impenitence of men receive their Aggravation and consequently shall have their Punishment proportionable to the Opportunities and Means of Repentance which those Persons have enjoyed and neglected For what is here said of Miracles is by equality of Reason likewise true of all other Advantages and Means of Repentance and Salvation The Reason why Miracles will be such an Aggravation of the Condemdemnation of men is because they are so proper and powerful a Means to convince men of the Truth and Divinity of that Doctrine which calls them to Repentance So that all those Means which God affords to us of the Knowledge of our Duty of Conviction of the Evil and Danger of a sinful Course are so many helps and Motives to Repentance and consequently will prove so many Aggravations of our Sin and Punishment if we continue impenitent The VI. And last Observation and which naturally follows from the former is this That the Case of those who are impenitent under the Gospel is of all others the most dangerous and their Damnation shall be heaviest and most severe And this brings the Case of these Cities here in the Text home to our selves For in truth there is no material difference between the Case of Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum and of our selves in this City and Nation who enjoy the clear Light of the Gospel with all the freedom and all the Advantages that any People ever did The Mercies of God to this Nation have been very great especially in bringing us out of that darkness and superstition which covered this Western part of the World in rescuing us from that great Corruption and Degeneracy of the Christian Religion which prevailed among us by so early and so regular a Reformation and in continuing so long this great Blessing to us The Judgments of God have been likewise very great upon us for our Sins God hath manifested himself by terrible things in righteousness our Eyes have seen many and dismal Calamities in the space of a few years which call lowdly upon us to repent and turn to God God hath afforded us the most effectual Means of Repentance and hath taken the most effectual Course of bringing us to it And tho' our Blessed Saviour do not speak to us in Person nor do we at this day see Miracles wrought among us as the Jews did yet we have the Doctrine which our Blessed Saviour preach'd faithfully transmitted to us and a credible Relation of the Miracles wrought for the Confirmation of that Doctrine and many other Arguments to perswade us of the Truth of it which those to whom our Saviour spake had not nor could not then have taken from the accomplishing of our Saviour's Predictions after his Death the speedy Propagation and wonderful success of this Doctrine in the World by weak and inconsiderable Means against all the Power and Opposition of the World the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Dispersion of the Jewish Nation according to our Saviour's Prophesie besides many more that might be mentioned And which is a mighty Advantage to us we are free from those Prejudices against the Person of our Saviour and his Doctrine which the Jews by the reverence which they bore to their Rulers and Teachers were generally possest withal we are brought up in the belief of it and have drunk it in by Education and if we believe it as we all profess to do we have all the Obligation and all the Arguments to Repentance which the Jews could possibly have from the Miracles which they saw for they were Means of Repentance to them no otherwise than as they brought them to the belief of our Saviour's Doctrine which call'd them to Repentance So that if we continue impenitent the same woe is denounced against us that is against Chorazin and Bethsaida and we may be said with Capernaum to be lifted up to Heaven by the Enjoyment of the most excellent Means and Advantages of Salvation that any People ever did which if we neglect and still continue wicked and impenitent under them we may justly fear that with them we shall be thrown down to Hell and have our place in the lowest part of that dismal Dungeon and in the very Centre of that fiery Furnace Never was there greater cause to upbraid the impenitence of any People than of us considering the Means and Opportunities which we enjoy and never had any greater reason to fear a severer Doom than we have Impenitence in a Heathen is a great Sin else how should God judge the World But God takes no notice of that in comparison of the Impenitence of Christians who enjoy the Gospel and are convinced of the Truth and upon the greatest reason in the World profess to believe it We Christians have all the Obligations to Repentance that Reason and Revelation Nature and Grace can lay upon us Art thou convinced that thou hast sinned and done that which is contrary to thy Duty and thereby provoked the Wrath of God and incensed his Justice against thee As thou art a Man and upon the stock of Natural Principles thou art obliged to Repentance The same Light of Reason which discovers to thee the Errors of thy Life and challengeth thee for thy Impiety and Intemperance for thy Injustice and Oppression for thy Pride and Passion the same Natural Conscience which accuseth thee of any Miscarriages does oblige thee to be sorry for it to turn from thy evil ways and to break off thy Sins by Repentance For nothing can be more unreasonable than for a Man to know a fault and yet not think himself bound to be sorry for it to be convinced of the evil of his ways and not to think himself obliged by that very Conviction to turn from it and forsake it If there be any such thing as a natural Law written in Mens Hearts which the Apostle tells us the Heathens had it is impossible to imagine but that the Law which obligeth Men not to transgress should oblige them to Repentance in case of Transgression And this every Man in the World is bound to tho' he had never seen the Bible nor heard of the name of Christ And the Revelation of the Gospel doth not supersede this Obligation but adds new Strength and Force to it and by how much this Duty of Repentance is more clearly revealed by our Blessed Saviour in the Gospel by how much the
gone so far in Sin and have waded so deep in a vicious course as to be confirmed and harden'd in their Wickedness to that degree as to be past all Shame and almost all sense of their Faults especially in regard of the more common and ordinary Vices which are in vogue and fashion and in the commission whereof they are countenanc'd and encourag'd by Company and Example Such were those of whom the Prophet speaks Jer. 6.15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination nay they were not ashamed neither could they blush But yet even these Persons when they come to be sensible of their guilt so as to be brought to Repentance they cannot then but be ashamed of what they have done For what face soever Men may set upon their Vices Sin is shameful in it self and so apt to fill Men with confusion of face when they seriously reflect upon it that they cannot harden their Foreheads against all sense of Shame And whatever Men may declare to the contrary this is tacitly acknowledged by the generality of Men in that they are so solicitous and careful to conceal their Faults from the Eyes of others and to keep them as secret as they can and whenever they are discovered and laid open 't is matter of great Trouble and Confusion to them and if any one happen to upbraid and twit them with their Miscarriages of any kind they cannot bear with Patience to hear of them There are indeed some few such Prodigies and Monsters of Men as are able after great struglings with their Consciences to force themselves to boast impudently of their Wickedness and to glory in their shame not because they do really and inwardly believe their Vices to be an Honour and Glory to them but because conscious to themselves that they have done shameful things and believing that others know it they put on a Whore's Forehead and think to prevent the upbraiding of others by owning what they have done and seeming to glory in it but yet for all that these Persons if they would confess the Truth do feel some Confusion in themselves and they are inwardly sensible of the Infamy and Reproach of such Actions for all they would seem to the World to bear it out so well For when all is done there is a wide difference between the Impudence of a Criminal and the Confidence and Assurance of a clear Conscience that is fully satisfied of its own Innocence and Integrity The conscientious Man is not ashamed of any thing that he hath done but the impudent Sinner only seems not to be so but all the while feels a great deal of Confusion in his own Mind The one is sensible and satisfied that there is no cause for Shame the other is conscious to himself that there is cause but he offers Violence to himself and suppresses all he can the sense and shew of it and will needs face down the World that he hath no Guilt and Regret in his own Mind for any thing that he hath done Now that Sin is truly matter of Shame will be very evident if we consider these two things First If we consider the nature of this Passion of Shame Secondly If we consider what there is in Sin which gives real ground and occasion for it First For the nature of this Passion Shame is the Trouble or Confusion of Mind occasioned by something that tends to our Disgrace and Dishonour to our Infamy and Reproach Now there is nothing truly and really matter of Shame and Reproach to us but what we our selves have done or have been some way or other accessary to the doing of by our own fault or neglect and by consequence what it was in our Power and Choice not to have done For no Man is ashamed of what he is sure he could not help Necessity unless it be wilful and contracted and happens through some precedent occasion and fault of our own does take away all just cause of Shame And nothing likewise is matter of Shame but something which we ought not to do which misbecomes us and is below the Dignity and Perfection of our Nature and is against some Duty and Obligation that is upon us to the contrary and consequently is a Reproach to our Reason and Understanding a Reflection upon our Prudence and Discretion and at first sight hath an appearance of Ruggednss and Deformity And all Actions of this nature do receive several Aggravations with respect to the Persons against whom and in whose Presence and under whose Eye and Knowledge these shameful things are done Now I shall shew in the Second place That Sin contains in it whatsoever is justly accounted infamous together with all the Aggravations of Shame and Reproach that can be imagined And this will appear by considering Sin and Vice in these two respects I. In relation to our selves II. In respect to God against whom and in whose sight it is committed I. In relation to our selves there are these four things which make Sin and Vice to be very shameful 1. The natural Ruggedness and Deformity of it 2. That it is so great a Dishonour to our Nature and to the Dignity and Excellency of our Being 3. That it is so great a Reproach to our Reason and Understanding and so foul a Reflection upon our Prudence and Discretion 4. That it is our own voluntary Act and Choice Every one of these Considerations render it very shameful and all of them together ought to fill the Sinner with Confusion of face I shall speak to them severally 1. The natural Ruggedness and Deformity of Sin and Vice render it very shameful Men are apt to be ashamed of any thing in them or belonging to them that looks ugly and monstrous and therefore they endeavour with great Care and Art to conceal and dissemble their Deformity in any kind How strangely do we see Men concerned with all their Diligence and Skill to cover and palliate any Defect or Deformity in their Bodies an ill Face if they could however a foul and bad Complexion or blind or squinting Eye a crooked Body or Limb and whatever is ill-favour'd or monstrous Now in regard of our Souls and better part Sin hath all the monstrousness and deformity in it which we can imagine in the Body and much more and it is as hard to be covered from the Eye of discerning Men as the deformity of the Body is but impossible to be conceal'd from the Eye of God to whom Darkness and Light secret and open are all one But then the moral Defects and Deformities of the Mind have this advantage above the natural Defects and Deformities of the Body that the former are possible to be cured by the Grace of God in Conjunction with our own Care and Endeavour Whereas no Diligence or Skill can ever help or remove many of the natural Defects and Deformities of the Body Sin is the blindness of our Minds the perverseness and crookedness of our Wills
of it Such is the unspotted Purity and Perfection of the Divine Nature that it is not possible that God should give the least countenance to any thing that is Evil. Psal 5.4 5. Thou art not a God says David there to him that hast Pleasure in iniquity neither shall evil dwell with thee The wicked shall not stand in thy sight thou hatest all the workers of iniquity 5. We are ashamed likewise to do any thing that is Evil and unseemly before those who we are afraid will publish our faults to others and will make known and expose the folly of them Now whenever we Sin it is before him who will most certainly one day bring all our works of darkness into the open light and expose all our secret deeds of dishonesty upon the publick Stage of the World and make all the vilest of our actions known and lay them open with all the shameful Circumstances of them before men and Angels to our everlasting Shame and Confusion This is the meaning of that Proverbial Speech so often used by our Saviour There is nothing cover'd that shall not be revealed neither hid that shall not be made manifest All the Sins which we now commit with so much caution in secret and dark retirements shall in that great day of Revelation when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed be set in open view and in so full and strong a light that all the World shall see them and that which was plotted and contrived in so much secrecy and hardly whisper'd in this World shall then be proclaimed aloud and as it were upon the House-tops 6. and Lastly We are ashamed and afraid to commit a fault before those who we believe will call us to an account for it and Punish us severely A Man may suffer innocently and for a good Cause but all suffering in that case is by wise and good men esteemed honourable and glorious and tho' we are Condemned by men we are acquitted in our own Consciences But that which is properly called Punishment is always attended with Infamy and Reproach because it always supposeth some fault and crime as the ground and reason of it Hence it is that in this World men are not only afraid but ashamed to commit any fault before those who they think have Authority and Power to punish it He is an impudent Villain indeed that will venture to cut a Purse in the presence of the Judge Now when ever we commit any Wickedness we do it under the Eye of the great Judge of the World who stedfastly beholds us and whose Omnipotent Justice stands by us ready armed and charged for our Destruction and can in a moment cut us off Every sin that we are guilty of in thought word or deed is all in the presence of the Holy and Just and Powerful God whose Power enables him and whose Holiness and Justice will effectually engage him one time or other if a timely Repentance doth not prevent it to inflict a terrible Punishment upon all the Workers of iniquity You see then by all that hath been said upon this Argument how shameful a thing sin is and what Confusion of face the reflection upon our wicked Lives ought to cause in all of us What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed If ever we be brought to true Repentance for our sins it cannot but be matter of great Shame to us We find in Scripture that shame doth continually accompany Repentance and is inseparable from it This is one Mark and Character of a true Penitent that he is ashamed of what he hath done Thus Ezra when he makes Confession of the sins of the People he testifies and declares his Shame for what they had done I said O my God! I am ashamed and blush to lift up mine Eyes to thee my God for our iniquities are increased over our Heads and our trespasses are grown up to the Heavens Ezra 9.6 And may not we of this Nation at this day take these words unto our selves considering to what a strange height our sins are grown and how iniquity abounds among us So likewise the Prophet Jeremiah when he would express the Repentance of the People of Israel Jer. 3.25 We lye down says he in our shame and our Confusion covereth us because we have sinned against the Lord our God In like manner the Prophet Daniel after he had in the Name of the People made an humble acknowledgment of their manifold and great Sins he takes shame to himself and them for them Dan. 9.5 We have sinned says he and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled in departing from thy Precepts and from thy Judgments O Lord righteousness belongeth to thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and unto all Israel that are near and that are far off through all the Countries whither thou hast driven them because of their trespass which they have trespassed against thee O Lord To us belongeth confusion of face to our Kings to our Princes and to our Fathers because we have sinned against thee By which we may judge how considerable and essential a part of Repentance this Holy Man esteemed shame for the sins they had been guilty of to be And indeed upon all occasions of solemn Repentance and Humiliation for sin this taking shame for their sins is hardly ever omitted as if there could be no sincere Confession of sin and Repentance for it without testifying their shame and Confusion of face upon the remembrance of their sins Now to stir up this affection of shame in us let me offer to you these three Considerations I. Consider what great reason we have to be heartily ashamed of all the sins and offences which we have been guilty of against God It was a good old Precept of Philosophy that we should reverence our selves i. e. that we should never do any thing that should be matter of Shame and Reproach to us afterwards nothing that misbecomes us and is unworthy of us I have shewn at large that all Sin and Vice is a dishonour to our Nature and beneath the Dignity of it that it is a great reproach to our Reason and directly contrary to our true and best Interest that it hath all the aggravating circumstances of Infamy and Shame that every sin that was at any time committed by us was done in the presence of one whom of all Persons in the World we have most Reason to reverence and against him to whom of all others we stand most obliged for the greatest Favours for innumerable Benefits for infinite Mercy and Patience and Forbearance towards us in the presence of the Holy and Just God who is at the farthest distance from sin and the greatest and most implacable Enemy to it in the whole World and who will one day punish all our faults and expose us to open shame
himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works and herein the great Mercy and Compassion of God towards Mankind appeared in that he sent his Son to rescue us from that Servitude which we had so long groaned under that being made free from sin we might become the servants of God and the servants of righteousness And this he hath done not only by the price of his Blood but by the Power and Purity of his Doctrine and the Holy Example of his Life and by all those Considerations which represent to us the Misery of our sinful state and the infinite danger of continuing in it and on the other Hand by setting before us the Advantages of a Religious and Holy Life and what a blessed change we make when we quit the Service of Sin and become the Servants of God It will not only be a mighty present Benefit to us but will make us happy to all Eternity and these are the Two Considerations which at first I propounded to speak to at this time First The present Benefit of an Holy and Virtuous Life which the Apostle here calls Fruit But now being made free from sin and become the servants of God ye have your fruit unto holiness Secondly The future Reward and Recompence of it and the end everlasting life First Let us consider the present Benefit and Advantage of an Holy and Virtuous Life which the Apostle here calls Fruit. If all things be truly consider'd there is no Advantage comes to any Man by a wicked and vicious Course of Life A wicked Life is no present Advantage the reflection upon it afterwards is shameful and troublesom and the end of it miserable But on the contrary the Advantages of an holy and good life are many and great even in this World and upon temporal accounts abstracting from the Consideration of a future Reward in the World to come I shall instance in Five or Six eminent Advantages which it usually brings to men in this World I. It brings great Peace and Contentment of Mind II. It is a very fit and proper Means to promote our outward temporal Interest III. It tends to the lengthning our days and hath frequently the Blessing of long Life attending upon it IV. It gives a Man great Peace and Comfort when he comes to die V. After Death it transmits a good Name and Reputation to Posterity VI. It derives a Blessing upon our Posterity after us And these are certainly the greatest Blessings that a wise Man can aim at and design to himself in this World Every one of these taken severally is very considerable but all of them together compleat a Man's temporal Felicity and raise it to as high a pitch as is to be expected in this World I. A Religious and Virtuous course of Life is the best way to Peace and Contentment of Mind and does commonly bring it And to a wise Man that knows how to value the ease and satisfaction of his own Mind there cannot be a greater temptation to Religion and Virtue than to consider that it is the best and only way to give rest to his Mind And this is present Fruit and ready Payment because it immediately follows or rather accompanies the discharge of our Duty The fruit of righteousness is peace saith the Prophet and the Apostle to the Hebrews speaks of the peaceable fruits of righteousness meaning that inward Peace which a Righteous Man hath in his own Mind A Man needs not to take pains or to use many Arguments to satisfie and content his own Mind after he hath done a good Action and to convince himself that he hath no cause to be troubled for it for Peace and Pleasure do naturally spring from it Nay not only so but there is an unexpressible kind of pleasure and delight that flows from the testimony of a good Conscience Let but a Man take care to satisfie himself in the doing of his Duty and whatever troubles and storms may be raised from without all will be clear and calm within For nothing but guilt can trouble a Man's Mind and fright his Conscience and make him uneasie to himself that indeed will wound his Spirit and sting his very Soul and make him full of fearful and tormenting thoughts This Cain found after he had committed that crying sin of Murdering his Brother Gen. 4.6 The Lord said unto Cain why art thou wrath and why is thy Countenance fall'n His guilt made him full of wrath and discontent fill'd his Mind with vexation and his Countenance with shame and confusion When a Man's conscience is awakened to a sense of his guilt it is angry and froward and harder to be still'd than a peevish Child But the practice of Holiness and Virtue does produce just the contrary effects it fills a Man's Mind with Pleasure and makes his Countenance chearful And this certainly if it be well consider'd is no small and contemptible advantage The peace and tranquillity of our Minds is the great thing which all the Philosophy and Wisdom of the World did always design to bring men to as the very utmost happiness that a Wise Man is capable of in this Life and 't is that which no considerate Man would part with for all that this World can give him The greatest fortune in this World ought to be no temptation to any Man in his Wits to submit to perpetual Sickness and Pain for the gaining of it and yet there is no disease in the World that for the sharpness of it is comparable to the sting of a guilty Mind and no pleasure equal to that of Innocence and a good Conscience And this naturally springs up in the Mind of a good Man where it is not hindred either by a melancholy temper or by false Principles in Religion which fill a Man with groundless fears and jealousies of the love and favour of God towards him and excepting these two cases this is the ordinary fruit of an holy and good course which is not interrupted by frequent falling into sin and great omissions and violations of our duty For in this case the interruptions of our Peace and Comfort will naturally be answerable to the inequality of our Obedience II. Besides the present and inestimable Fruit of Holiness the quiet and satisfaction of our own Minds it is likewise a proper means to promote our Interest and Happiness in this World For as every Vice is naturally attended with some Temporal Inconvenience of Pain or Loss so there is no Grace or Virtue but does apparently conduce to a Man's temporal Felicity There are some Virtues which tend to the health of his Body and the prolonging of his Life as Temperance and Chastity others tend to Riches and Plenty as Diligence and Industry in our callings others to the secure and peaceable Enjoyment of what we have as Truth and Fidelity Justice and Honesty in all our dealings and
we would but enter into the serious Consideration of them we should soon be resolved in our Minds about them Do but consider a little what Sin is It is the shame and blemish of thy Nature the reproach and disgrace of thy Understanding and Reason the great deformity and disease of thy Soul and the eternal Enemy of thy Rest and Peace It is thy Shackles and thy Fetters the Tyrant that oppresses thee and restrains thee of thy Liberty and Condemns thee to the basest Slavery and the vilest Drudgery It is the unnatural and violent state of thy Soul the Worm that perpetually gnaws thy Conscience the cause of all thy Fears and Troubles and of all the Evils and Miseries all the Mischiefs and Disorders that are in the World it is the Foundation and Fewel of Hell it is that which puts thee out of the Possession and Enjoyment of thy self which doth alienate and separate thee from God the Fountain of Bliss and Happiness which provokes him to be thine Enemy and lays thee open every moment to the fierce revenge of his Justice and if thou dost persist and continue in it will finally sink and oppress thee under the insupportable weight of his wrath and make thee so weary of thy self that thou shalt wish a thousand times that thou hadst never been and will render thee so perfectly miserable that thou wouldest esteem it a great Happiness to exchange thy Condition with the most wretched and forlorn Person that ever lived upon Earth to be perpetually upon a Rack and to lie down for ever under the rage of all the most violent Diseases and Pains that ever afflicted Mankind Sin is all this which I have described and will certainly bring upon thee all those Evils and Mischiefs which I have mentioned and make thee far more miserable than I am able to express or thou to conceive And art thou not yet resolved to leave it Shall I need to use any other Arguments to set thee against it and to take thee off from the Love and Practice of it than this Representation which I have now made of the horrible Nature and Consequences of it And then consider on the other Hand what it is that I am perswading thee to turn to to thy God and Duty And would not this be a blessed change indeed To leave the greatest Evil and to turn to the chief Good For this Resolution of returning to God is nothing else but a Resolution to be wise and happy and to put thy self into the Possession of that which is a greater good if it is possible than Sin is an Evil and will render thee more happy than Sin can make thee miserable Didst thou but think what God is and what he will be to thee if thou wilt return to him how kindly he will receive thee after all thy wandrings from him days without number thou wouldst soon take up the Resolution of the Prodigal and say I will arise and go to my Father And consider likewise what it is to return to thy Duty It is nothing else but to do what becomes thee and what is suitable to the Original Frame of thy Nature and to the truest dictates of thy Reason and Conscience and what is not more thy Duty than it is thy Interest and thy Happiness For that which God requires of us is to be righteous and holy and good that is to be like God himself who is the Pattern of all Perfection and Happiness It is to have our Lives conformed to his Will which is always perfect holiness and goodness a state of Peace and Tranquillity and the very temper and disposition of Happiness It is that which is a principal and most essential Ingredient into the Felicity of the Divine Nature and without which God would not be what he is but a deformed and imperfect and miserable Being And if this be a true Representation which I have made to you of Sin and Vice on the one Hand and of God and Goodness on the other what can be more powerful than the serious Consideration of it to engage us to a speedy Resolution of leaving our Sins and of turning and cleaving to the Lord with full purpose of heart After this we cannot but conclude with the Penitent in the Text Surely it is meet to be said unto God I will not offend any more That which I see not teach thou me and if I have done iniquity I will do no more 3. Consider how unreasonable it is to be unresolved in a Case of so great moment and concernment There is no greater Argument of a Man's weakness than Irresolution in matters of mighty consequence when both the Importance of the thing and Exigency of present circumstances require a speedy Resolution We should account it a strange folly for a Man to be unresolved in the clearest and plainest matters that concern his temporal welfare and safety If a Man could not determine himself whether he should eat or starve if he were dangerously sick and could not determine whether he should take Physick or Die or if one that were in Prison could not resolve himself whether he should accept of Liberty and be contented to be released or if a fair Estate were offer'd to him he should desire seven years time to consider whether he should take it or not this would be so absurd in the common affairs of Life that a Man would be thought infatuated that should be doubtful and unresolved in cases so plain and of such pressing concernment If a Man were under the Sentence and Condemnation of the Law and liable to be executed upon the least intimation of the Prince's Pleasure and a Pardon were graciously offer'd to him with this intimation that this would probably be the last offer of Mercy that ever would be made to him one would think that in this Case a Man should soon be determined what to do or rather that he should not need to deliberate at all about it because there is no danger of rashness in making haste to save his Life And yet the Case of a sinner is of far greater importance and much more depends upon it infinitely more than any temporal Concernment whatsoever can amount to even our Happiness or Misery to all Eternity And can there be any difficulty for a Man to be resolved what is to be done in such a Case No Case surely in the World can be plainer than this Whether a Man should leave his Sins and return to God and his Duty or not that is whether a Man should chuse to be happy or miserable unspeakably and everlastingly happy or extremely and eternally miserable And the circumstances and exigences of our Case do call for a speedy and peremptory Resolution in this matter The Sentence of the Law is already past and God may execute it upon thee every moment and it is great Mercy and Forbearance not to do it Thy Life is uncertain and thou art liable every
apt to yield to them There are many who have had faint wishes and cold desires and half purposes of leading a new and better Life but having not taken up a firm Resolution in the Case having not determined themselves by a severe purpose a little thing sways them and brings them back to their former Course 't is no hard matter to divert them and engage them another way they are shaken with every wind of Temptation every little blast of Opposition and Persecution turns them back and carries them to the ways of Sin whereas Resolution fixeth a Man's Spirit and makes it most stedfast and unmovable and sets him upon a Rock which when the winds blow and the rain falls and the floods come abides firm against all impressions If I would give the most probable and useful advice to engage and continue a Man in a good Course I would commend to him a deliberate and firm Resolution David proved this way with very happy success Psal 119.106 I have sworn says he and will perform it that I will keep thy righteous Judgments This was a security to him against all assaults and nothing could turn him from his Course afterwards not the dangers he was exposed to v. 109. My soul is continually in my hand yet do I not forget thy Law not the snares of wicked men that were laid for him v. 110. The wicked have laid a snare for me yet I erred not from thy precepts By virtue of this Resolution he could rise up in defiance of all those that would have tempted him to any sinful action v. 115. Depart from me ye evil doers for I will keep the Commandments of my God When a Man is thus resolved upon a holy Course he is not easily diverted from it and is able to resist the importunity and flattery of Temptations and to say to them as men are wont to do when they are fully and firmly resolved upon any thing Let me alone I am not to be moved it is in vain to urge me I am resolved to the contrary Thus stiff and resolute men can be in other Cases where there is not near that Cause and Reason for it and if we would but take up a generous Resolution to break off our Sins and to live better Lives this would be the way to conquer that listlesness and unwillingness which hinders us from engaging in a good Course and is the cause of so many lame excuses and unreasonable delays It is the want of Resolution and the weakness of our Resolutions which is the true Reason why we are not more equal and constant and uniform in the ways of Religion but are religious only by fits and starts in a heat and during some present Trouble and Conviction of Mind The double minded Man is unstable says St. James in all his ways When a Man is of several Minds he is easily moved one way or other 6. And lastly Consider the infinite danger of remaining unresolved The evil day may overtake you while you are deliberating whether you should avoid it or not A state of Sin is liable to so many hazards hath so many dangers continually threatning it and hanging over it that it is the most imprudent thing in the World to linger in it It is like Lot's staying in Sodom when the Lord was going to destroy it when Fire and Brimstone were just ready to be rained down from Heaven upon it Whilst men are lingring in a sinful state if the Lord be not merciful to them they will be consumed Therefore it concerns thee Sinner to determine thy self speedily and to make haste out of this dangerous Condition to escape for thy Life lest some evil overtake thee and lest Death finding thee unresolved determine thy case for thee and put it out of all doubt and past all remedy How many have been cut off in their Irresolution And because they would not determine what to do God hath concluded their case for them and sworn in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest It may be thou promisest thy self the space of many years to resolve in Thou fool this night thy soul may be required of thee and whilst thou art unresolved what to do God is resolving what to do with thee and putting a Period to his Patience and long expectation of thy Repentance and thou knowest not how soon God may do this and make an immutable Determination concerning thee And wo unto thee when God hath resolved thus Suppose thou shouldst be snatched out of the World and hurried before the dreadful Tribunal of God in this doubtful and unresolved state And this is possible enough because thou hast no certain tenure of thy Life thou art at no time secured from the stroke of Death Nay it is probable enough because thou art every moment liable to ten thousand accidents any one of which may snap in sunder the thread of thy Life And suppose this should happen to thee what dost thou imagine would become of thee Wouldst not thou then wish a thousand times that thou hadst resolved in time How glad wouldst thou then be that it were possible for thee to retrieve and call back but one of those days without number which thou hast so vainly trifled away that thou mightest resolve upon the things of thy peace but thou wouldst not do it in that thy day which God afforded thee to this purpose thou hast let the opportunity slip out of thy hands and it will never be in thy Power again but the things of thy peace will be for ever hid from thine eyes Why wilt thou then be so foolish as to run thy self upon the evident hazard of losing Heaven and being miserable for ever Why wilt thou make work for a sadder and longer Repentance than that which thou dost now so carefully decline This was the case of the foolish Virgins in the Parable Matth. 25. who made account to be ready to meet the Bridegroom at his coming but took no care in time to get Oyl into their Lamps They thought the Bridegroom would tarry yet a while longer and therefore they slumbered and slept in great security but at mid-night when the cry was made Behold the Bridegroom cometh then they arose and in a great hurry and confusion went about trimming their Lamps they were resolved then they would have begged or bought Oyl and would have been at any pains and cost for it but then it was too late for the door was suddenly shut against them and no importunity could prevail to have it opened to them Canst thou be contented to have the Door shut against thee and when thou shalt cry Lord open unto me to have him return this answer Depart from me I know thee not If thou canst not resolve to prevent this in time Didst thou but see and know and feel what the miserable do in Hell thou couldst not linger thus thou couldst not continue so long unresolved Why the time