Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	good_a	heart_n	merry_a	1,048	5	9.9107	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64834	Sin, the plague of plagues, or, Sinful sin the worst of evils a treatise of sins tryal and arraignment, wherein sin is accused for being, proved to be, and condemned for being exceeding sinful : and that 1. as against God, his nature, attributes, works, will, law, image, people, glory and existence, 2. as against man, his good and welfare of body and soul, in this life, and that to come : with the use and improvement to be made of this doctrine, that men may not be damned, but saved, &c. : being the substance of many sermons preached many years ago in Southwark / by Ralph Venning ...	Venning, Ralph, 1621?-1674.	1669 (1669)	Wing V226; ESTC R38391	212,020	400

Mans ground is over-grown with thorns that he hath many an aking head and heart many a sore hand and foot before the year come about to get a little livelihood out of this sin-cursedground Mans Paradisical life was easie and pleasant but now 't is labour and pain such as makes him sweat yea Eccl. 2.1 2. his recreations fall little short of his labour for pain and sweat The old world was very sensible of this as may be gather'd from Genes 5.29 He called his name Noah saying this same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed sin curse and toil keep company 2 Sin is against mans comfort and joy 2 His comfort and joy Genes 3.17 In sorrow shalt thou eat all the daies of thy life not one whole merry day 't were some comfort to a man if after he had toil'd and moil'd all day he could eat his bread with joy and drink his wine with a merry heart but sin will not suffer him if he laugh sin turns it to madness Eccl. 2.2 or else 't is no better Musick then the crackling of thorns Eccl. 7.6 In Paradise the blessing of God on Adams diligent hand made him rich and there was no sorrow with it to allude to Prov. 10.22 but now mans sweet meats have sowre sawces in sorrow shalt thou eat his bread is the bread of affliction Yea the Femaie the She-man or Manness the Woman hath a peculiar sort and share of sorrow for the time of conception breeding bearing and birth are tedious yet alas many that feel the pain which sin brought are not sensible of the sin which brought the pain though their sorrow and pain too be greatly multiplied as we find it exprest Genes 3.16 and the more for want of faith and sobriety 1 Tim. 2.15 3 3 His health Sin is against mans health Hence come all diseases and sicknesses till sin there were no such things For this cause in general many are weak and sick among you Let a man take the best air he can and eat the best food he can let him eat and drink by rule let him take never so many Antidotes Preservatives and Cordials yet man is but a crazy sickly thing for all this Verily every man in his best estate is a frail and brittle thing yea altogether vanity Psal 39. which is spoken with reference to diseases and sickness take him while his blood danceth in his veins and his marrow fills his bones yet then is he a brittle piece of mortality 4 Sin is against the quiet of a mans natural conscience for it wounds the spirit 4 The quiet of conscience and makes it intollerable a wounded spirit who can bear Prov. 18.14 while that is sound and whole all infirmities are more easily born but when that is broken the supports fail and this hath great influence upon the body for Prov. 17.22 a merry heart doth good like a medicine no cordial like it but a broken spirit drieth the bones it sucks away the marrow and radical moisture Prov. 12.25 heaviness in the heart of man makes it stoop a good conscience is a continual feast but sin mars all the mirth When Cain had killed his Brother and his conscience felt the stroak of the curse he was like a distracted man and mad when Judas had betray'd his Master he was weary of his life 5 Sin is against the beauty of man 5 His beauty it takes away the loveliness of mens very complexions it alters the very air of their conntenance Psa 9.11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity thou mak'st his beauty or that which is to be desir'd in him as 't is in the margine to consume or melt away like a Moth surely every man is vanity his beauty vain Now there was no such thing as vanity or deformity till sin entred every thing was lovely before and man above any thing of the inferiour world 6 6 The loving cohabitation of soul and body Sin is against the loving and conjugal cohabitation of soul and body they were happily matried and lived lovingly together for a while till sin sowed discord between them and made them jar many a falling out is there now between body and soul between sense and reason they draw several wayes there 's a self-civil war even in this sense the flesh lusteth against the spirit that poor man is hall'd and pulled this way and that tossed to and fro as with several winds nunc hic nunc flectitur illic man is full of contradictions Time was when the mind commanded the body but now this servant rides on horse-back when that Prince walks on foot Man is inverted his head is where his heels should be his soul is become a prisoner to the body rather then a Free-man too too often the beast is too hard for the man and the horse rides the rider sense Lords it and domineers over reason 7. 7 His relative good Sin is against mans relative good in this world mans comfort or sorrow lies much in relations the weal or woe of his life is as relation are that which was made for an help proves but too often an hindrance Sin hath spoil'd Society that homo homini lupus diabolus one man is a wolf yea a devil to another Sin will not let Husband and Wife Parents and Children to live quietly but sets them at variance and many times a mans Enemies are them of his own house and bosome they who eat bread at our Table lift up their heel against us and familiar friends become enemies Lust makes wars James 4.1 and from pride comes contention Proverbs 13.10 It breeds divisions factions in Church and State that there is little of union or order harmony society or friendship in the world Thus doth sin set it self to oppose mans well-being Yea 2 Sin is against the very being of man 2 'T is against the being of man sin doth aim not only that man should not be well but that man should not be at all How many doth it strangle in the Womb how many miscarriages and abortions doth it cause how many doth it send from the Cradle to the grave that they have run their race before they can go others die in their full strength beside the havocks it makes by war c. as some do alwayes eat their bread in darkness Job 21.23 Man no sooner begins to live but he begins to die and after a few daies which are but as a span and do passe away more swift then a Weavers Shuttle sin lays all in the dust Princes as well as Beggars Sin hath reduced mans age to a very little pittance from almost a thousand to a very uncertainty not only to seventy but to seven for among men no mans life is valued at more mans time is short and uncertain he that 's born to day is not sure to live

a day And what is our life but as a vapour which soon passeth away I might inlarge here but this may suffice to shew that sin is against all the good man in this life consider'd in a natural sense and now I proceed to shew that sin is against the good of man 2 In a Moral sense 2 In a moral sense for 1 Sin hath degraded man by defiling him and tantum non almost unmann'd him for as our Text speaks of sin as a man so the holy Scripture speaks of man as if he were sin and every man were a man of sin made up of sin whither we consider the outer or inner man Man was a very noble thing made little lower then the Angels Psal 8. But alas by sin he is made almost as low as Devils Man was once a companion for God himself but sin hath separated between God and him sin hath robbed man of his primitive excellency of a Lord he is become a servant yea a slave to creatures to Devils and lusts of all sorts Now this debasement came by defilement which defilement cleaves 1 1 His body defiled To his body for the flesh is silthy 2 Cor. 7.1 and the body needs sanctifying and cleansing 1 Thes 5.23 the body is a body of sin the members are servants to uncleanness and to iniquity Rom. 6.19 Take him from head to foot from the Crown of that to the sole of this there 's no whole because not holy part in him but all filthy and full of putrefactions and sores If we dissect and anatomize man we shall find this but too true for not to name every sin that cleaves to the whole or every part but in a more general way 't is thus said of sinful men their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness with their tongues they use deceit the poyson of Asps is under their lips their throat is an open Sepulchre Rom. ● 13 14. eyes full of adultery 2 Pet. 2.14 the eye-lids haughty Prov. 30.13 ears dull of hearing Hebr. 5.11 yea deaf as the Adder Psa 58.4 5. the forehead is impudent as a brow of brass Is 48.4 both hands are imploid to work iniquity Mic. 7.3 the belly an Idol-God Phil. 3.19 the feet are swift to shed blood Rom. 3.15 and if we look within their inward part is very wickedness Hebr. wickednesses Psa 5.9 the gall is a gall of bitterness in a moral as in a natural sense the spleen is affected yea infected with envy and malice what part is there which is not the seat of one or other evil Yea this defilement cleaves 2 To the Soul 2 His soul defiled which is the principal subject of it 't is not only flesh but spirit that is filthy 2 Cor. 7.1 Gods Image was more in and on the Soul then body of man and sins ambition and envy is to deprive the Soul of this Image righteousness and holiness were stamp'd on mans Soul but sin hath blotted this Image and Superscription which on●● told from whence it came and to whom it belong'd so that man is fallen short of the glory of God and the glory of being Gods it must be new created or renewed till God will own it for his because till then his Image is not legible if it in this sense be at all for there is none righteous no not one Rom. 3.10 'T is not any one faculty only that sin hath defiled but like a strong poyson it soaks and ears through all that whereas all was holy and holiness to the Lord 't is now evil and evil against the Lord Genes 6.5 Every imagination figment or creature of the heart is only evil continually yea the Flood which washt away so many sinners could not wash away sin the same heart remains after the Flood as before Genes 8.21 and as it was with the heart of man from his youth it hath continued to be to this old and decrepit age of the world for to this day there proceeds out of the heart the same evil thoughts words and deeds that then did Mat. 15.20 And from this unclean Fountain issues forth all that defiles the man Sin hath made the heart of man deceitful and desperately wicked Jerem. 17.9 and its hardned in impenitency through the deceitfulness of sin Hebr. 3.12 13. yea though thereby man do nothing but undo himself and treasure up wrath against the day of wrath Rom. 2.5 It makes man obstinate that he will not be saved but will be damned you will not come to me that you may have life Joh. 5.40 As for the Word of the Lord we will not hearken but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth Jerem. 44.16 17. and 't is out of the abundance of folly and madness that is in mens hearts and bound up there that they thus speak not only vain thoughts and words but villanous ones bubble and break forth from this corrupt fountain which sets the tongue on fire of hell that the devil could not broach and belch out more horrid blasphemies against God then the tongues and hearts of sinful men It hath defiled and spoiled mans memory and conscience also his memory how treacherous is it as to good but alas too tenacious as to evil The conscience is become an evil conscience and in many a seared conscience Thus all over without and within is man defiled and polluted of which I may speak yet more in another place only at present a little more largely to shew how sin hath almost put out mans eyes and even extinguished the Candle of the Lord how it hath dimned and benighted mans leading faculty the understanding which should shew a man the difference between good and evil and guide him in the way wherein he should walk but is now too often an ignis fatuus that leads men into bogs and ditches into errors and immoralities Sin hath 1 Blinded mans understanding and made him ignorant 2 Depraved his understanding and made him a fool 1 Sin hath darkned mans understanding I●h●h 〈◊〉 Darkned mans understanding and made him blind Poor man is wise to do evil but to do good hath no knowledge Jerem. 4.52 yea there is none that understandeth viz. as and what he ought Rom. 3.11 All the workers of iniquity have no knowledge Psal 14.4 Poor man is cover'd with Egyptian thick darkness yea said to be not only dark but darkness in the abstract Eph. 5.8 and which is sad is in love with darkness Joh. 8.19 and his light is darkness Mat. 6.23 That man is in darkness by sin is clear as the light of the Sun by the light of Scripture truth beside that of sad experience for in general when men are converted they are called out of ●nd turned from darkness to light Acts 26.18 1 Pet. 2.9 c. And our Lord Jesus came to be and give light to them that sate in darkness Luke 1.76.79 And indeed none but he can open the

and to save yours as well as to be free from your blood Oh consider consider If you are not guilty I have not condemned you but speak this that you may not be guilty and that you may pray to God to be kept from and praise him if you have been kept from such crying sins To proceed yet further 5. Of little sins Take heed of such sins as the world call Peccadillos little sins some men account great sins to be but little ones and little ones to be none or very venial say they what hurt is there in an innocent lye or a pious fraud Alas what a contradiction is this can a lye be innocent and fraud pious Wo be to them that call evil good and joyn good and evil as if they were one or agreed in one Oh saith another 't is but a trick of youth I but 't is such a trick as may cost thee a going to Hell Another deceives his neighbour and laughing while he strikes says am not I in sport Prov. 26.19 Ah but he that sins in jest or makes a jest of sin may be damned in earnest Consider That no sin against a great God can be properly though compared with a greater it may be a little sin but be it never so little to account it so makes it greater and the nature of the greatest sin is in the least a spark of fire a drop of poyson hath the nature of much more yea of all James 2.10 And God hath severely punished them that have been lookt upon as little sins yea some of them well-meant sins as that of Vzza's taking hold of the Ark when the Cart shook 2 Sam. 6.6 7. When they did but look into the Ark it cost them dear 1 Sam. 6.19 gathering of a few sticks on the Sabbath was severely punished Numb 15 32.-36 These seem small matters but in sin we must not consider so much what is as why 't is forbidden and who forbids it Beside a little sin makes way for a greater as a little boy-thief entring an house makes way for a man-thief to enter 't is hard to sin once and but once to commit one little sin and but one give the Devil and sin an inch and they will take an Ell vain babling increaseth to more ungodliness a little leak in a ship may by degrees fill it with water and sink it the Devil doth not much care by what sins we go to Hell whether small or great formality or prophaneness And to conclude he that makes no conscience of little sins makes conscience of no sin he that breaks the least of Gods Commandments hath none or very little love for God for herein is love that we keep his Commandments and they are not grievous no not the greatest of them much less the least 1 Joh. 5. To have respect to all the Commandments of God is an Argument of a sound heart and excludes shame as appears by comparing Psal 119.6 with 80. A good conscience is an universal conscience and if a man make no conscience of little sins to which the temptations can be but little how little conscience is that man like to make of great sins to which there are greater temptations If Judas betray his Lord for thirty pieces what would he not do for more Consider what our blessed Saviour saith Luke 16.10 he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much beware then of little sins And 6. Of secret sins Take heed of them that men call Secret Sins There are but too many who bless themselves in their wickedness because as they think none knows how wicked they are they are drunkards but 't is in the night they are unclean but 't is in the dark their Mystery of iniquity trades in the works of darkness and in the dark indeed if men could sin and no eye see them they might seem to sin securely but this is a falshood as well as a mistake I have met with two stories which may haply serve you in some stead the one is of a Maid that was tempted to be unchast and unclean the person that sollicited her promised her to do great matters for her if she would yield I will saith he do any thing for thee wilt thou so said she then burn thine hand in that fire Oh that 's unreasonable answers he but replied she 't is much more unreasonable that I should burn in Hell for thy sake Oh who would venture his soul to torment to gratifie his own or anothers pleasure and lust The other which comes to the case in hand is of a Maid sollicited to the same folly who would not give her consent unless he would bring her to a place where no eye could see them whereupon he brought her to a very dark place and prosecuted his sollicites saying here no body can see us Oh but said she here God sees us Oh that we would tell all the tempting Courtships of men and Devils that we can never sin but there will be two witnesses present to observe and register it our own selves and God himself we owe a great deal of reverence to our selves and though none were by we should revere our consciences and our selves what shall we be witnesses against our selves and be condemned by our own testimony and yet if our hearts condemn us God who is greater then our hearts and knoweth all things will much more condemn us It made St. Paul very modest when he knew nothing of which to condemn himself yet that the Lord was to judge him 1 Cor. 3.4 we cannot escape the sight no more then the judgment of God He sees us and what we do when under the fig-tree though as Adam and Eve did we cover our selves with fig-leaves and he will one day call to us as to them Adam sinner where art thou if thou go up to Heaven he is there 't is his Throne if down to Hell he is there 't is his Prison thou canst not go from his presence you may more easily hide from men and your selves then from God and therefore that you may not be so foolish and wicked as to sin in secret or to think any thing or place secret from God I intreat you often and seriously to read the 139. Psal and then I hope you will say I am sure you will see cause to say how shall I do this wickedness and sin against God! 7. Of occasions and appearances of evil Take heed of the occasions and very appearances of this evil Sin abstain not only from apparent evils but from the yea from all and every the appearances of evil 1 Thes 5.22 do not be so irreligious as to go into temptation when thou hast been so religious as to pray God not to lead thee into temptation this is mock-prayer keep out of harms way Prov. 4.14 15. enter not put not a foot

They evidence their hatred of sin as sin and not for by-respects thus that they abhor all their secret sins which none knows but themselves yea such as they know not by themselves but only God knows them they hate that which none can accuse them for or lay to their charge as guilty of Psa 19.12 Lord who knows the error of his way and as S. Paul though I know nothing by my self yet c. 1 Cor. 4.4 the heart of man is such a maze as man himself cannot find out all the windings of it such a deep as man himself cannot fathom it so deceitful that man himself doth not know it only God searcheth it Well this being so Lord cleanse me from my secret errors undiscern'd and unknown yea by me unknowable errors and extravagancies 't is meet to be said to God as Job 34.32 that which I know not viz. wherein I have done amiss that shew thou me A man doth many things amiss which scape his own observation as much as that of others and of these would a good man be cleans'd these create no trouble to his conscience but only they are against God though unknown to him and therefore would berid of them that they might not lodge in his heart though as strangers and unknown Yea 4 They are against all inclinations to sin against the very conception of sin they do all they can not only that sin may not bring forth or breed but that it might not conceive that I may refer to James 1.14 15. Oh the burden of the body of death and Law of the members that though S. Paul can say 't is not he that sins but sin that dwelleth in him yet he would berid of this in being of sin that it might not so much as incline him to evil Yet once more 5. And lastly they are carried out against sin as sin as appears by this that they cannot content themselves not to do evil unless also they do good they think it not enough that they do not displease God unless they please God to be negatively unless they be positively good they would not only not commit evil but they would not omit good many men as they will do no hurt so no good the charge against them Mat. 25. is not that they did defraud or oppress or were cruel to the members of Christ but they did not actually do them good not cloath not feed not visit c. but good men are for being and for doing good not only cleanse me from secret sins or only keep me from presumption but oh that the thought of my heart the words of my mouth and consequently the works of my life may be acceptable to thee O Lord Psa 19. The Apostle in the name of all the houshold of faith speaks thus 2 Cor. 5.9 wherefore we labour the word is we are ambitious or like heavenly Courtiers we affect this honor that whither present or absent that is living or dying we may be accepted of him or as the Greek will bear it well to be actively read that we may be acceptable to him even to all well pleasing This to the first Objection The second Ob. is to this purpose We see that godly men have sinned 't is matter of fact Now if sin were so odious to them as you say would they sin Before I give answer to this Objection let me premise 1 By way of concession and confession that they do sin yea who is he that liveth and sinneth not If any man say he hath not sinned he makes God a lyar who hath concluded all men under sin and if we say we have no sin we both deceive and yet confute our selves for we sin in saying so 1 Joh. 8.10 Yet 2. There is this to be said that the sins of good men are more usually sins of captivity then sins of activity as the Apostle speaks Rom. 7. they are rather led into sin by temptation then go into sin by choice and inclination 't is against the Law of their mind 'T is indeed possible that a good man may plot and contrive a sin as David did the death of Uriah and this is the only thing wherein God himself saith that David sinned 1 Kings 15.5 God covers all his other sins as being rather overtaken by temptation then acted by design in the rest So that for the most part good men are captivated rather then active as to sin And David himself could say that he had not wickedly after the manner of the wicked Jude 15. departed from God Psa 18.21 3 God may sometime have a good man to this saddest of tryals to know all that is in his heart as he left the good King Hezekiah 2 Chron. 32.31 we are not over-forward or willing to believe our selves so bad as we are in our hearts as to the seeds of evil sown there Is thy servant a dog said Hazael when his sin was foretold and S. Peter himself could not believe it possible that he should deny Christ his Master yet when left to himself he did it but then notwithstanding this there is enough to be said in the behalf of godly mens hatred of sin yea indeed they hate it the more for having sinn'd I answer then that the godly mans witness against sin is still true good and firm for 1 As he abhors to commit sin so he abhors sin committed and himself for committing it Job 40.4 40.6 Sin is the burthen of every good mans soul when the Author of Psa 73. had sinned he was so angry with himself that he could not do that which God did for him viz. forgive and pardon himself but calls himself fool and beast good men condemn not only their sin but themselves and sin in the more hateful to them for having been done by them 2 They are restless till sin be purged as well as pardon'd King David could not content himself to have sin blotted out by a pardon unless 't were washt and cleans'd away Psa 51.1 2. and the mending of his bea rt without new making it by Creation would not content him v. 10. Yea 3. If God chastise and afflict them for having sinned yet they justifie God and whoever justifies a punishing God condemns sin if the sentence be just the sin is unjust Thus they do continually Micah 7.9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him So Psa 51.3 4. This confession I make and this prayer I make that thou O Lord mayst be justified when thou judgest This also speaks against sin Yea 4. They take an holy revenge on themselves and become the more zealous for God as S Peter who did not only weep bitterly but was made willing to feed sheep and Lambs to do any and every service for Christ And Psa 51.12 13. restore to me saith he the joy of thy salvation and I will teach the transgressors thy ways So 2 Cor. 7. when the Apostle had made them

may distasie it and to Plays to see the folly of them but who would be a burnt child to dread the fir●● 't is bad making such costly experiments as may cost us the loss of our souls 't is dangerous medling with that which is an appearance and may be an occasion of evil much more to parley and tamper with sin it self But then 7 saith sin I promise thee thou shalt get by it so much profit so much pleasure so much honour shalt thou have by it but sins gain is loss he that gets the world by a sin pays too dear for it for 't is the loss at least the hazard of his soul the pleasures of sin are grievous its honours disgraces and shame Did not our first Parents sind it so and do not we the Apostle appeals Rom. 6.21 the precious substance promised ends in a pernicious shadow and the spoils we get by sin do but spoil us Sin promiseth like a God but pays like a Devil sin tells us we shall not dye but live like Gods but we find nothing but death and such a life as they have in Hell Sins performances are contrary to its promises it promiseth gold and 〈◊〉 dross If any man have a mind to true mise●●es let him take sins falle promiset Well but then 8 saith sin others do it and why mayest not thou 'T is not what others do but what they ought to do that we are to follow we must not follow any man nor a multitude of men to do evil if others will venture their damnation what 's that to us 't will be no solamen miseris socios habuisse no comfort to have had companions in sin and to meet them again in Hell I but saith sin 9 't is but repent and God will forgive thee to this we have to say that he who promised forgiveness to them that repent hath not promised repentance to them that sin beside if sin were to cost no more but repentance one in his wits would be loth to buy repentance at so dear a rate Repentance though it may free from greater yet it puts men to more grief and pain then ever sin could afford them pleasure I but saith sin 10 thou hast scapt well enough hitherto no evil hath yet befallen thee to this say it may be 't is so much the worse and not to be punished may be the worst punishment Isa 1.5 Hos 4.14 17. but what will it cost if God do awaken me if not that what will it cost when God shall damn me But then saith sin 11 't is but thine infirmity thou canst not help it this is a thing tell sin that none but fools and children can pretend to beside to plead for infirmities is more then an infirmity and that which is but an infirmity to day may become a disease to morrow if not prevented when once the will is ingaged 't is past an infirmity and is become a sin If these or other like do not prevail then it speaks more openly Sin saith Sin either there 's no such thing there 's no difference between good and evil as all things come alike to all so all things are alike or saith Sin evil is good in Gods sight else he would judge it Mal. 2.17 his silence bids thee think that he is such an one as thy self Psal 50. but here tell sin that this defeats and confutes it self and proves nothing more clear then that sin is exceeding sinful if there be no sin or no difference between good and evil to what purpose are these different words used by sin to prove that there is no difference to say 't is only in imagination and not real is to deny that there is any such thing as sense and conscience which every man ownes and cannot deny without denying himself and God to be Between good and evil there is more difference then between light and darkness life and death ease and pain food and poyson and yet these are real and not the differences of our fancy only That all things come alike to all is not always true there are contrary Instances and to say That all things are alike is never true but is a manifest contradiction To say that evil is good in Gods sight and that he is such an one as a sinner is to deny God to be for if he be not good and just he is not God but this speaks men willfully ignorant for the flood that drowned the old World and the fire that fell from Heaven on Sodom the Judgments which God executes in the Earth continually of which before do all witness that God is displeased with and the avenger of sin as his giving us rain from Heaven and fruitful seasons are witnesses that he is good and doth good and that his Sun shines and his rain falls on the unjust as well as just is a greater argument of his goodness which calls for repentance and that also doth witness that sin is evil And indeed over and above If sin were not exceeding sinful what need it use all these tricks and subterfuges if it were not and its deeds were not evil why doth it avoid the light Why like a false Coyner doth it put the King of Heavens stamp on its base metal Why doth Jacob call himself Esau and counterfeit his Brother if sin were not abominable Why do the Gibeonites pretend to come from far if they had not a mind to be unknown if it were not false and a Robber why doth it creep in privily climb up another way and avoid the door Why doth it flatter and deceive Why doth it never keep promise but breaks all that it ever made 't is because it is sinful sin Having shewn what sin is wherein its sinfulness consuts and proved it by many witnesses even it self being one before I come to the fourth thing viz. the application and improvement of this Doctrine I shall in brief sum up the charge against sin That which sin is accuse●d for and proved to be guilty of is High treason against God and that it attempts no less then the dethroning and ungoding of God himself that it hath unman'd man made him a fool a beast a Devil and subjected him to the wrath of God and made him lyable to eternal damnation It hath made men deny God to be or affirm him to be like themselves It hath put the Lord of Life to death and shamefully crucified the Lord of G●ory It is always resisting the Holy Ghost it 's continually practising the defilement the dishonour the deceiving and the destruction of all men Ob what a prodigious monstrous devill●sh thing is sin 't is impossible to speak worse of it then or so bad of it as it is for 't is hyberbolically sinful there 's want in the words that are and need of more and worse words then there are any to speak its vileness to say 't is worse then death and devil the very Hell of Hell

one scarce sees how men may seek for light at noon-day Men have learnt to draw up or let down so much by the Ell or by the Yard that people can scarce see what they look upon with their eyes That which seemed very fine and fair by a false light is found far otherwise by a true one Now by the same reason that weights are lights are an abomination to the Lord viz. because they are false and deceitful If you tell me 't is the custom of the City and all the world I ask you whether that will answer God and make it no sin 5. Take heed of breaking Bargains and Covenants when you perceive you can buy cheaper of or sell dearer to another I am almost afraid that this practical kind of Religion is with many like an old Almanack out of date as if Religion were confined to the first Table some Duties to God and the second Table Duties to Man were of little concern or consequence when as most frequently in holy Writ the characters of godly men are drawn from their obedience to the second Table-commands and among the rest this that I am upon is one Psal 15.4 he that sweareth and changeth not though it be to his loss and detriment and it ought to hold good in promises as well as oaths in bargaining as well as swearing for a man ought to be just though he have not sworn to be so but wo to them that promise and swear too yet are not just but false and perjured both 6. Take heed of carnal and sinful compliance with your Customers and Chapmen in their swearing drinking to excess c. have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness though you profit by them that work them but reprove them rather Eph. 5.11 and so you shall not suffer sin upon your brother nor upon your selves Levit. 19.17 otherwise 't is to hate him in your heart which is a great sin for he that hates his brother is a murtherer 1 Joh. 3.15 Perhaps you will say this is the ready way to lose our Customers and then we may shut up shop and run away if that fall out 't is better to part with any then God and to lose any thing rather then his favour and loving-kindness which is better then life and therefore much better then livelihood 〈◊〉 but it may not so fall out 't is better to tru●● God then to be beholding to the Devil and sin d● as you ought to do and if bad men do not good men may become your Customers and when your ways please the Lord he can and will make your enemies to be friends at peace with you Prov. 16.7 Whatever you do keep a good conscience towards God and men and though the children of this world should call you fools yet they will call themselves fools another day for calling you so now 't is undoubtedly better and more profitable to please God then men and what will it profit thee to gain the world and lose thy soul we are too prone to comply with and to be drawn away by them we get by and have therefore a kindness for them but consider what God saith Exod. 34 12-15 Take heed lest thou make a Covenant with the Inhabitants of the Land lest it prove a snare to thee that when they do sacrifice to their Gods and one call thee and thou eat of their Sacrifice intimacy and familiarity and trading together may be a snare Gen. 34.21 And when a good Customer calls thee covetousness is like to make thee to do like him rather then men will lose their gain they will cry up Diana though they cry down Godliness and God himself Acts 19 23-28 7. Take heed of abusing and grinding the face of the poor Isa 3.15 either 1. By taking advantage of their necessity you know they must have it because they need it and their necessity is urgent Oh do not be cruel to them you know they must sell at the weeks end to buy bread or at Quarters end to pay Rent Oh do not oppress them and add affliction to their affliction by making them under-sell the sweat of their brow and labour of their hands wo to thee if the spoil of the poor be in thy house Isa 3.15 Nor do thou take any advantage of their ignorance to over-reach and defraud them ignorance should be pitied and the unskilful should be well used it may be he refers himself to thee Oh do not put a bad for a good commodity into his hands Or 2. Grind them not by detaining the wages of the poor work-men Oh do not think of growing rich by the poor mans money do not put him off till to morrow when thou hast it by thee if thou shouldst not doit in point of charity much less in a case of justice This is a crying sin as you may read James 5.4 Poor souls they have wrought hard and when they have done they go home and cry for want of money to buy bread and truly this cry of theirs enters into the ears of the Lord of Hosts for so Sabaoth signifies and though thou be too mighty for the poor yet thou art no match for the Lord of Hosts who takes their part and will not always bear with thy covetousness and oppression Oh pay off the poor as soon as they have done their work 3. Grind them not by forcing upon them braided and trashy ware because they are in your debt You complain many times that your Chapmen break and 't is to be feared they may complain that you break them either by forcing too much or very bad commodities into their hand which they cannot vend or put off but to their great loss They are in your books and for fear of your displeasure lest you should arrest them they are willing to take it of you but Oh for the poors-sake for Gods-sake and for your own and your famililies-sake do not grow rich by the poor mans poverty If you know any more beside these for I have but little knowledge of your Mysteries I intreat you to take heed of them If you shall say in your heart that he is a silly fellow that cannot distinguish away the danger and dread of all this I list not to answer your objections But this I say That you can never evade your consciences where this is indelibly written that you ought to do as you would be done by in justice and if you would not another should wrong you do not you wrong them if your conscience should be bribed yet God will not and what will you do when he riseth up to Judgment how will you answer God to whom you must give an account be not deceived God will not be mocked 't is as cheap as easie to laugh at and put off such a poor thing as man is but believe it Conscience and God will not be so put off Thus I have in this also endeavoured to discharge my own soul

into the way of the wicked if thou have been so foolishly forward yet go not on in the way of evil men but avoid it pass not by it turn from it and pass away you cannot stand at too great a distance from sin if you will not sit in the seat of the scornful do not stand in the way of sinners nor walk in the counsel of the ungodly Psal 1.1 touch not pitch lest ye be defiled gaze not like one enamour'd on the wine when it looks well and danceth in the glass make a Covenant with thine eyes lest by looking too much on beauty thine eyes become sore and sinful Abhor not only the flesh or the spot but the very garment that is but spotted with the flesh Jude 23. yea abstain from what 's inexpedient as well as from what 's unlawful for in being inexpedient as such and then it is unlawful if it be not a sin yet if it be malè coloratum and look like a sin beware of it 'T is next to being a sinner to be like one to being proud and wanton to seem so or look so an appearance of good is too little but an appearance of evil is too much 't is the Hypocrites sin that he appears better then he is and it may be a good mans evil to appear worse then he is a rod is for the back of fools and 't will be laid on a wise mans if found in a fools coat Eighthly and lastly Of being guilty of other mens sins Take heed of being any way in any kind or degree guilty of other mens sins Alas have we not many too many sins of our own but will we have other mens sins to answer for they being our-other-mens sins as I may call them Take heed of being an occasion of a partaker of or but accessory to other mens sins God forbids it that it may not be Eph. 5 7-11 1 Tim. 5.22 and sharply reproves and punisheth it where he finds it to be Psal 50.18 2 Sam. 12 9. 1 Kings 21.19 in which two last places King David and King Ahab are found guilty of the murther which was acted by other hands but alas by their commission 'T is sad to sin against God our selves but sadder to make others sin against God too this way the world is made worse then it would be men are too prone to be vile enough of themselves were there no Devil to tempt them but when they have companions and brethren in iniquity they are apt to sin more lustily St. Augustine confesseth that he used to boast of sins he was not guilty of that he might seem to be as bad as his companions who thought them the best that were worst Oh what sins many and great are committed in with and for company that would else haply never have been committed there would be no stealers were there no receivers and therefore the receiver is as bad as the thief there would be no adulteresses were there no adulterers Many in Hell would probably have been less wicked then they were and so have had less torment then they have had they not been furthered by others their companions Though all sins come from the heart and may there be acted when men are alone yet as to matter of fact some sins cannot be committed by persons alone but every such sin hath a double sinner if not a greater number Beside this way men are confirmed and hardned in their wickedness where all go naked none are ashamed examples and company steel men in their sins who were Iron enough of themselves and sometimes emboldens them who were modest and tender before as 1 Cor. 8.10 If any see thee who hast knowledge sit at meat in the Idols Temple shall not the conscience of him that is weak be emboldned the Greek is edified or built he takes it for a good example and makes a kind of conscience to do so too as if thou hadst instructed him to edification when alas 't is edification only to the wounding and endangering of his perishing as it follows vers 11.12 and ye sin against Christ Jesus as he also doth for thou makest him to offend vers 13. So that hereby we become guilty of other mens sins and we are like sooner or later to resent and regret this very grievously yea though we our selves may be saved at last 't will certainly pain us to think that any went to Hell in whose sins we had an head or hand and it may be an heart Beside 't is very usual that we partake of their plagues whose sins we partake of which no less then a voice from Heaven gives us warning Rev. 18.4 and because for these things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience be not ye therefore partakers with them Eph. 5.5 6 7. 't is sad to be found on the Devils ground as the Devil said he found the woman whom he possest when at a Play But yet more particularly we may be guilty of other mens sin 1. As Occasions if not causes of it before 2. As Partakers with them when 3. As Accessories after it is committed 1. As Occasioners before In being Occasioners of it before when it may more then probably be said such sins had not been committed but upon and for such occasions given and that 1. By neglecting what might and ought to be done for its prevention Qui non prohibet cum potest debet facit scelus He that when he can and ought hinders not a sin doth contribute to its production as when men neglect to instruct or teach them who are under their charge whether Ministers Parents or Masters of Families see Ezek. 3 17-20 'T was the Apostles rejoycing that in this case he was pure from the blood of all men Acts 20.26 27. Many a child and servant that hath come to prison and execution have made this sad complaint my Parents my Master never gave me warning never shewed me the danger of sin nor instructed me in the way of the Lord the way of Righteousness and Holiness beware of this And when sin begins to bud and blossom nip it by reproofs and discipline or else you may be charged with sin as old Eli was 1 Sam. 3.13 Oh crush the Cockatrice while in the Egg dash the Brats against the wall while young if you be silent or indulgent children and servants take it for consent and approbation as they mis-interpreted Gods holding his peace Psal 50. Inclinations will come into acts and they into customs and habits if not checked and restrained But if you thus meet with them betimes you may prevent a great deal of sin 't is the best proof of your love Prov. 13.24 And it may be they will say as David did to Abigail 1 Sam. 25.39 blessed be the Lord God of Israel who sent thee this day to meet me blessed be thy advice and blessed be thou who hast kept me this day from coming to