Reason and in Accord among themselves there was a perfect Peace but Sin has raised an intestine War in Man's Breast The Law of the Members rebels against the Law of the Mind for there is no Man so prodigiously wicked and spoil'd of his Primitive Endowments but still there remains some Principles of Morality in the Mind so that his Conscience discovers and condemns the Vices he allows and practises which makes the Sinner uneasy to himself and mixes Vinegar with his Wine Besides since the Passions are disbanded into what Confusion is Man fallen How various how violent are they and often repugnant to one another How often do we change their Habits and Scenes in a day Sometimes we are vainly merry and then as vainly sad sometimes desirous and then averse and with respect to ourselves sometimes pleased sometimes vex'd sometimes amiable and sometimes odious we are more mutable than the Planet that is the Emblem of Inconstancy How often do Clouds of Melancholy darken the bright Serenity of the Spirit and cast a dreadful Gloom over it How oft do Storms of Passion disturb its Tranquillity The Breast of Man that was the Temple of Peace is become a Den of Dragons every exorbitant Affection tears and torments him 'T is true this is also a penal Effect from Divine Justice There is no Peace saith my God to the Wickd With which that Saying of St. Austin is consonant Jussit Domine sic est omnis inordinatus affectus est sibi poena 3. Sin has broke our Agreement with one another When there was a regular Consent between the superiour and lower Faculties in all Men they were in Unity among themselves for they were perfectly alike But the tumultuous and tyrannical Passions have engaged them in mortal Enmity 'T is the account St. James gives From whence come Wars and Fightings among you Come they not hence even of your Lusts that war in your Members Sin kindles and blows the Fire of Discord in Families Cities Kingdoms Sin is the Fury that brings a smoaking Firebrand from Hell and sets the World into Combustion Ambition Avarice the greedy Desires of Rule and Revenge have made the World a Stage of not feigned but the most bloody Tragedies In this Men are not like but worse than the Beasts for the fiercest Beasts of Africa or Hyrcania have a respect for their own Likeness tho they devour others yet they spare those of their own kind but Men are so degenerate as to be most cruel against their Brethren These are some of the Evils that proceed from Sin as their natural Cause And from hence 't is evident that Sin makes Men miserable were there no Hell of Torment to receive them in the next State Secondly I will consider the Evils consequent to Sin as the Penal Effects of the Sentence against Sin of Divine Justice that decrees it and Divine Power that inflicts it and in these the Sinner is often an active Instrument of his own Misery 1. The Fall of the Angels is the first and most terrible Punishment of Sin God spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down to Hell reserved in Chains of Darkness to Judgment How are they fallen from what height of Glory and Felicity into bottomless Perdition How are they continually rack'd and tormented with the Remembrance of their lost Happiness If a thousand of the prime Nobility of a Nation were executed in a day by the Sentence of a righteous King we should conclude their Crimes to be atrocious innumerable Angels dignified with the Titles of Dominions and Principalities were expell'd from Heaven their native Seat and the Sanctuary of Life and are dead to all the joyful Operations of the intellectual Nature and only alive to Everlasting Pain One Sin of Pride or Envy brought this terrible Vengeance from whence we may infer how provoking Sin is to the holy God We read of King Uzziah that upon his Presumption to offer Incense he was struck with a Leprosy and the Priests thrust him out and himself hasted to go out of the Temple a Representation of the Punishment of the Angels by Presumption they were struck with a Leprosy and justly expelled from the Celestial Temple and not being able to sustain the Terrors of the Divine Majesty they fled from his Presence 'T is said God cast them down and they left their own Habitation 2. Consider the Penal Effects of Sin with respect to Man They are comprehended in the Sentence of Death the first and second Death threaten'd to deter Adam from transgressing the Law In the first Creation Man while innocent was immortal for altho his Body was compounded of jarring Elements that had a natural Tendency to Dissolution yet the Soul was endowed with such Vertue as to imbalm the Body alive and to preserve it from the least degree of Putrefaction But when Man by his voluntary Sin was separated from the Fountain of Life the Soul lost its derivative Life from God and the active Life infused by its Union into the Body It cannot preserve the natural Life beyond its limited Term. A righteous Retaliation Thus the Apostle tells us Sin came into the World and Death by Sin Even Infants who never committed Sin die having been conceived in Sin And Death brought in its Retinue Evils so numerous and various that their kinds are more than words to name and distinguish them Man that is born of a Woman is of few days and full of Trouble at his Birth he enters into a Labyrinth of Thorns this miserable World and his Life is a continual turning in it he cannot escape being sometimes prick'd and torn and at going out of it his Soul is rent from the Embraces of the Body 'T is as possible to tell the number of the Waves in a tempestuous Sea as to recount all the tormenting Passions of the Soul all the Diseases of the Body which far exceed in number all the unhappy Parts wherein they are seated What an afflicting Object would it be to hear all the mournful Lamentations all the piercing Complaints all the deep Groans from the miserable in this present State What a prospect of Terror to see Death in its various Shapes by Famine by Fire by Sword and by wasting or painful Diseases triumphant over all Mankind What a sight of Woe to have all the Graves and Charnel-houses open'd and so many loathsom Carcases or heaps of dry naked Bones the Trophies of Death expos'd to view Such are the afflicting and the destructive Effects of Sin For Wickedness burns as a Fire it devours the Briars and Thorns Besides other Miseries in this Life sometimes the Terrors of an accusing Conscience seize upon Men which of all Evils are most heavy and overwhelming Solomon who understood the Frame of Humane Nature tells us The Spirit of a Man can bear his Infirmity that is the Mind fortified by Principles of moral Counsel and Constancy can endure the Assault of external Evils but a
defers his Anger and loads them with his Benefits every day What is more astonishing than the Riches of his Goodness unless it be the perverse Abuse of it by Sinners to harden themselves in their Impieties But altho his Clemency delays the Punishment the Sacredness and Constancy of his Justice will not forget it when Patience has had its perfect work Justice shall have a solemn Triumph in the final Destruction of impenitent unreformed Sinners 3. The Consideration of the Evil of Sin so great in it self and pernicious to us heightens our Obligations to the Divine Mercy in saving us from our Sins and an everlasting Hell the just Punishment of them Our Loss was unvaluable our Misery extream and without infinite Mercy we had been under an unremediable necessity of sinning and suffering for ever God saw us in this wretched and desperate State and his Eye affected his Heart in his Pity he redeemed and restored us This is the clearest Testimony of pure Goodness for God did not want external Glory who is infinitely happy in his own Perfections he could when Man revolted from his Duty have created a new World of innocent Creatures for infinite Power is not spent nor lessened by finite Productions but his undeserved and undesired Mercy appeared in our Salvation The way of accomplishing it renders Mercy more illustrious for to glorify his Justice and preserve the Honour of his Holiness unblemish'd he laid upon his Son the Iniquity of us all This was Love that passeth all Understanding Our Saviour speaks of it with Admiration God so loved the World and hated Sin that he gave his only begotten Son to die for it that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting Life And how dear are our Engagements to Jesus Christ The Judg would not release the Guilty without a Ransom nor the Surety without Satisfaction and the Son of God most compassionately and willingly gave his precious Blood to obtain our Deliverance If his Perfections were not most amiable and ravishing yet that he died for us should infinitely endear him to us To those who believe he is precious to those who have felt their undone Condition and that by his Merits and Mediation are restored to the Favour of God he is eminently precious Who can break the Constraints of such Love If there be a spark of Reason or a grain of unfeigned Faith in us We must judg that if one died for all then all were dead and those that live should live to his Glory who died for their Salvation Add to this that in the Sufferings of Christ there is the clearest Demonstration of the Evil of Sin and how hateful it is to God if we consider the Dignity of his Person the Greatness of his Sufferings and the innocent Recoilings of his Human Nature from such fearful Sufferings He was the Eternal Son of God the Heir of his Father's Love and Glory the Lord of Angels he suffered in his Body the most ignominious and painful Death being nail'd to the Cross in the sight of the World The Sufferings of his Soul were incomparably more afflicting For tho heavenly meek he endured the Derision and cruel Violence of his Enemies with a silent Patience yet in the dark Eclipse of his Father's Countenance in the desolate state of his Soul the Lamb of God opened his Mouth in that mournful Complaint My God my God why hast thou forsaken me His innocent Nature did so recoil from those fearful Sufferings that with repeated Ardency of Affection he deprecated that bitter Cup Abba Father all things are possible to Thee let this Cup pass me He address'd to the Divine Power and Love the Attributes that relieve the Miserable yet he drank off the Dregs of the Cup of God's Wrath. Now we may from hence conclude how great an Evil Sin is that could not be expiated by a meaner Sacrifice than the offering up the Soul of Christ to atone incensed Justice and no lower a Price than the Blood of the Son of God the most unvaluable Treasure could ransom Men who were devoted to Destruction 4. The Consideration of the Evil of Sin in it self and to us should excite us with a holy Circumspection to keep our selves from being defiled with it 'T is our indispensable Duty our transcendent Interest to obey the Divine Law entirely and constantly The Tempter cannot present any Motives that to a rectified Mind are sufficient to induce a Consent to Sin and offend God Let the Scales be even and put into one all the Delights of the Senses all the Pleasures and Honours of the World which are the Elements of Carnal Felicity how light are they against the Enjoyment of the blessed God in Glory Will the Gain of this perishing World compensate the loss of the Soul and Salvation for ever If there were any possible Comparison between empty deluding Vanities and Celestial Happiness the Choice would be more difficult and the Mistake less culpable but they vanish into nothing in the Comparison so that to commit the least Sin that makes us liable to the forfeiture of Heaven for the Pleasures of Sin that are but for a season is Madness in that degree that no words can express Suppose the Tempter inspires his Rage into his Slaves and tries to constrain us to Sin by Persecution how unreasonable is it to be dismayed at the Threatnings of Men who must die and who can only touch the Body and to despise the Terrors of the Lord who lives for ever and can punish for ever Methinks we should look upon the perverted raging World as a Swarm of angry Flies that may disquiet but cannot hurt us Socrates when unrighteously prosecuted to Death said of his Enemies with a Courage becoming the Breast of a Christian They may kill me but cannot hurt me How should these Considerations raise in us an invincible Resolution and Reluctancy against the Tempter in all his Approaches and Addresses to us And that we may so resist him as to cause his flight from us let us imitate the excellent Saint whose Example is set before us 1. By possessing the Soul with a lively and solemn Sense of God's Presence who is the Inspector and Judg of all our Actions Joseph repell'd the Temptation with this powerful Thought How shall I sin against God The Fear of the Lord is clean 't is a watchful Sentinel that resists Temptations without and suppresses Corruptions within 'T is like the Cherubim plac'd with a flaming Sword in Paradise to prevent the Re-entry of Adam when guilty and polluted For this end we must by frequent and serious Considerations represent the Divine Being and Glory in our Minds that there may be a gracious Constitution of Soul this will be our Preservative from Sin for altho the habitual Thoughts of God are not always in act yet upon a Temptation they are presently excited and appear in the view of Conscience and are effectual to make us reject the
his Voice harden not your Hearts Yet against all the Evidence of the Word without and of Conscience within Satan so strongly deceives Men that they rebelliously neglect their Duty till their Time and Life are expiring But how unbecoming how difficult how hazardous is a late Repentance How unbecoming is it to put off God till hereafter Such is his glorious Majesty we should with the most reverent Respect and humble Thankfulness obey his first Call If a Prince should invite a Subject to come to him for some great Favour would he so break all the Rules of Decorum as to delay his coming by saying Hereafter will be time enough And what is the greatest Majesty on Earth to the God of Glory no more than a More to the Sun and proportionably the Indignity arises to neglect the Offers of his Grace Besides how incongruous is it to give the Flower of our Time and Strength to our Lusts and to reserve the Bran for God To spend the Age of our vital and vigorous Actions in the Vanities and Business of the World and to allow only our languishing Age for the obtaining of Heaven That Men should content themselves with dead Affections in his Service who is their Life that were so lively in the Service of Sin that is their Death How difficult is a late Repentance Can you repent and believe at your pleasure Men think that in their Age after the ebbing and retirement of the carnal Affections they shall more easily forsake their Sins but 't is a pernicious Deceit The native Corruption of Mens Hearts alienates them from a dutiful return to God and contracted Corruption by habitual Practice fastens them in Sin as their Centre In Youth when the Blood and Spirits are high and fierce the Body has a corrupting Influence upon the Mind but by Custom in Sin the Mind is so depraved that it heats the frozen Blood and corrupts the Body Suppose the exciting Grace of the Spirit be not totally withdrawn which has often been ineffectual Can it be expected that after Men have been hardened in the commission and continuance of Sin they should be more receptive of Heavenly Impressions A Disease neglected at first that stealingly slips into the Habit of the Body and gradually weakens Nature becomes at last uncontroulable and incurable How hazardous is it to neglect present Obedience to the Call of Divine Mercy Our Days in the Language of the Psalmist are but as an hand-breadth and can Men extend their Lives beyond their Span A vast Eternity follows without Dimensions an undivided Duration It is no more in their Power to continue Time to come than to recal Time past How many are surpriz'd by hasty Death in their Security and die in their unrepented Sins and perish for ever The wise Man alarms the Sluggard with approaching Poverty and his Expressions are very applicable to the Delayers of Repentance Death comes like a Traveller gradually by silent Steps and as an armed Man will irresistably arrest them and Damnation follows which they can neither repel nor discover till they are seiz'd by it O that deluded Sinners would consider that nothing so ripens them for Death and accelerates Judgment as the Presumption that the Season of Grace will continue notwithstanding their lavish and careless wasting it But suppose that Life be extended to the utmost Date can you expect that the holy Spirit should visit you that have been so long putrifying in the Grave and breath a new Life into you 'T is the most severe threatning My Spirit shall not always strive with Man and then their Case is desperate There is a fearful Example recorded in Scripture the old World was first drowned in Sensuality and resisted the holy Spirit till he was withdrawn and then the Deluge wash'd away those Swine in their Mire Can you expect that at last when the World and your Sins leave you God will accept and receive you You are commanded to seek him in your early Spring in the first Dawnings of his Light and Favour and is a poor Remnant of your Life sufficient for obtaining his Meroy The Harlots respected not the dead but contended for the living Child Satan and the World strive to have the prime and best part of your Lives and will God be contented with the dying Remains Or do you expect an easy Composition for all the Abuse of his Benefits because of his Patience Do you presume because he forbears so long he will readily forgive at last The Servant not call'd to an account till he was run into an irrecoverable Arrearage of ten thousand Talents was delivered to the Tormentors till he should pay all his Debt How are Men degenerated and fallen lower than the Brute Creatures The Stork in the Heaven knows her appointed times and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow observe the time of their coming but Men know not the Judgment of the Lord. This Consideration made our compassionate Saviour dip his Words in Tears He beheld the City and wept over it saying If thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy day the things that belong to thy Peace but now they are hid from thine Eyes O wretched deceived Souls how long will you neglect a Saviour and Salvation How long shall he wait to be gracious and expect your lingering Repentance in vain Remember the time of Grace is limited if you refuse Obedience to the present Call do you know he will renew the Offers of his Grace Now is the accepted Time now is the Day of Salvation Will this New last for ever There is no Now of Favour and Hope in Hell 'T is true God is merciful and 't is one of his Royal Titles The God of Patience though Threatnings are denounced against Sinners and Judgments are ready to seize upon them he repents and stops his Wrath but there is no State more fearful in this World than when Men by neglecting Repentance make God weary of repenting When Patience has had its perfect Work towards the Unrelenting and Unreformed Justice succeeds before God cuts off a Sinner he cuts off all his Excuses Read with Fear the first of the Proverbs Because I have called and you refused I will laugh at your Calamity and mock when your Fear cometh God's Frown much more his Scorn is infinitely terrible and insupportable Those who delay Repentance till the Body is diseased all over and Death is printed in the Countenance and the languishing Lights are almost quench'd and the vital Frame is near a Dissolution yet presume a few Sighs will transport their Souls to Heaven How just and dreadful will their Disappointment be However they are deceived God is not mocked as a Man sows he shall reap SERMON IX LUKE xiv 23. The Lord said to the Servant Compel them to come in that my House may be full II. I Am now to consider the Means by which Men are wrought on to accept of the Invitations of
to add Drunkenness to Thirst. This casts such a foul Blemish upon the Justice of God that he threatens the severest Vengeance for it The Lord will not spare him but the Anger of the Lord and his Jealousy shall smoke against that Man and all the Curses written in this Book shall be upon him and the Lord shall blot out his Name from under Heaven Consider this ye that forget God lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver 6. The Sinner implicitly denies God's Omniscience There is such a Turpitude adhering to Sin that it cannot endure the Light of the Sun or the Light of Conscience but seeks to be conceal'd under a Mask of Vertue or a Vail of Darkness There are very few on this side Hell so transform'd into the likeness of the Devil as to be impenetrable by Shame What is said of the Adulterer and Thief Sinners of greater Guilt and deeper Dye is true in proportion of every Sinner If a Mans sees them they are in the Terrors of the shadow of Death Now from whence is it that many who if they were surpriz'd in the actings of their Sins by a Child or a Stranger would blush and tremble yet altho the holy God sees all their Sins in order to judg them and will judg in order to punish them are secure without any fearful or shameful Apprehensions of his Presence Did they stedfastly believe that their foul Villanies were open to his piercing pure and severe Eye they must be struck with Terrors and cover'd with Confusion Will he force the Queen before my Face was the Speech of the King inflam'd with Wrath and the Prologue of Death against the fallen Favourite Would Men dare to affront God's Authority and outragiously break his Laws before his Face if they duly consider'd his Omnipresence and Observance of them it were impossible And Infidelity is the radical Cause of their Inconsideration It was a false Imputation against Job but justly applied to the Wicked Thou sayest How does God know can he judg through the dark Cloud Thick Clouds are a Covering to him that he sees not And such are introduced by the Psalmist declaring their inward Sentiments The Lord shall not see neither shall the God of Jacob regard it Lastly The Sinner slights the Power of God This Attribute renders God a dreadful Judg. He has a Right to punish and Power to revenge every Transgression of his Law His Judicial Power is supreme his Executive is irresistible He can with one Stroke dispatch the Body to the Grave and the Soul to Hell and make Men as miserable as they are sinful Yet Sinners as boldly provoke him as if there were no danger We read of the infatuated Syrians that they thought that God the Protector of Israel had only Power on the Hills and not in the Vallies and renewed the War to their Destruction Thus Sinners enter into the Lists with God and range an Army of Lusts against the Armies of Heaven and blindly bold run upon their own Destruction They neither believe his All-seeing Eye nor All-mighty Hand They change the Glory of the living God into a dead Idol that has Eyes and sees not and Hands and handles not and accordingly his Threatnings make no Impression upon them Thus I have presented a true View of the Evil of Sin consider'd in it self but as Job saith of God How little a Portion of him is known may be said of the Evil of Sin How little of it is known For in proportion as our Apprehensions are defective and below the Greatness of God so are they of the Evil of Sin that contradicts his Soveraign Will and dishonours his excellent Perfections SERMON II. Genesis xxxix 9. How can I do this great Wickedness and sin against God 2. I shall proceed to consider the Evil of Sin relatively to us and prove it to be most pernicious and destructive If we compare it with Temporal Evils it preponderates all that Men are liable to in the present World Diseases in our Bodies Disasters in our Estates Disgrace in our Reputation are in just Esteem far less Evil than the Evil of Sin for that corrupts and destroys our more excellent and immortal Part. The vile Body is of no account in comparison of the precious Soul Therefore the Apostle enforces his Exhortation Dearly beloved Brethren abstain from fleshly Lusts that war against the Soul The Issue of this War is infinitely more woful than of the most cruel against our Bodies and Goods our Liberties and Lives for our Estates and Freedom if lost may be recover'd if the present Life be lost for the Cause of God it shall be restor'd in greater Lustre and Perfection but if the Soul be lost 't is lost for ever All Temporal Evils are consistent with the Love of God Job on the Dunghil roughcast with Ulcers was most precious in God's sight Lazarus in the lowest Poverty and wasted with loathsome Sores was dear to his Affections a Guard of Angels was sent to convoy his departing Soul to the Divine Presence But Sin separates between God and us who is the Fountain of Felicity and the Center of Rest to the Soul Other Evils God who is our wise and compassionate Father and Physician makes use of as Medicinal Preparations for the Cure of Sin and certainly the Disease which would be the Death of the Soul is worse than the Remedy tho never so bitter and afflicting to Sense Sin is an Evil of that Malignity that the least degree of it is fatal If it be conceiv'd in the Soul tho not actually finish'd 't is deadly One Sin corrupted in an instant Angelical Excellencies and turn'd the glorious Spirits of Heaven into Devils 'T is Poison so strong that the first Taste of it shed a deadly Taint and Malignity into the Veins of all Mankind Sin is such an exceeding Evil that 't is the severest Punishment Divine Justice inflicts on Sinners on this side Hell The giving Men over to the Power of their Lusts is the most fearful Judgment not only with respect to the Cause God's unrelenting and unquenchable Anger and the Issue everlasting Destruction but in the quality of the Judgment Nay did Sin appear as odious in our Eyes as it does in God's we should account it the worst part of Hell it self the Pollutions of the Damned to be an Evil exceeding the Torments superadded to them Sin is pregnant with all kinds of Evils the Seeds of it are big with Judgments The Evils that are obvious to Sense or that are Spiritual and Inward Temporal and Eternal Evils all proceed from Sin often as the Natural Cause and always as the Meritorious And many times the same Punishment is produc'd by the Efficiency of Sin as well as inflicted for its Guilt Thus Uncleanness without the miraculous Waters of Jealousy rots the Body and the Pleasure of Sin is revenged by a loathsom consuming Disease the natural Consequence of it
in a day repeated Christ's Sacrifice was with Blood and an unbloody Sacrifice is not propitiatory nor can obtain Remission Where can they find in Scripture the Religious Worship of the Saints They set up an infinite number of Intercessors and rob our Saviour of his Glory as if he were defective either in his Compassionate Love to us for whom he mediates or in his Power with God They prefer his Mother before him in dispensing Mercy of which Sinners have the most need they represent him as strict and severe but she is composed of Sweetness he is the Judg she the Advocate and Saviour we will leave them to the jealous God I shall only observe farther that many erring Sects preserve their Allegiance to the Divine Authority in the Scripture for they do not assume an Infallibility to themselves but mistake the Sense of Scripture but the Papists by asserting that the Authority of Scripture depends upon the Testimony of their Church that is the Sun borrows its Beams from her Eyes and by arrogating an Infallibility to it do in effect renounce Homage to the Authority of God in his Word And from hence it is that the Adherers to that Religion are so inconvincible tho Sense Reason and Scripture discover their Doctrines to be plainly impossible Their Doctrine of Transubstantiation involves such Contradictions as destroy the Essence and End of Miracles Their Doctrine of the Pope's Supremacy implies there are two Monarchs of one Kingdom two Heads of one Body two Husbands of one Spouse No Errors are more strong and fatal than such as are arm'd with Authority especially if that Authority be esteem'd sacred But to return from this Digression tho not impertinent Compel them to come in The word signifies the use of all constraining Motives and the most earnest Intreaties that are congruous to prevail upon those who are invited to a Feast The same word is used Mat. 14. 22. And Jesus constrained his Disciples to get into a Ship which certainly was not by violent driving or drawing them but by his commanding Authority So 't is related of the two that were with our Saviour in the Journey to Emmaus that they constrained him to abide with them The Constraint was by earnest Intreaties far from Force The same word is used of Peter's compelling the Gentiles to live after the Rites of the Jews that was by his Example Thus the Nations were compelled to receive the Gospel by the Apostles the Ambassadors for Christ who did ardently in season and out of season pray them in Christ's stead to be reconciled to God Their Doctrine was recommended by the Holiness of their Lives and confirmed by the Lustre of their Miracles In short the Expression signifies how pleasing it is to God that those who are invited by the Offers of Grace in the Gospel should come to Christ to obtain Life and that the Invitation shall be effectual in the Hearts of those who belong to the Election of Grace The Proposition that I shall insist on is this 'T is the great Duty of the Ministers of Christ to use their best Endeavours to instruct and perswade Men to embrace the saving Mercies of the Gospel The Commission was immediately given to the Apostles but extends to the end of the World till the Ministration of the Gospel shall cease I will explicate the Doctrine in this order I. Consider what is implied the Aversness in Men from consenting to the Terms of Salvation offered in the Gospel II. The Means by which they are wrought on and induced to come to the Celestial Feast III. Prove that 't is the great Duty of the Ministers of Christ to apply themselves with a holy Zeal to bring Men to partake of the saving Mercies revealed in the Gospel I. There is an Averseness implied in the Expression Compel them to come in This will be evident by considering that the World the Flesh and Satan are Enemies in Combination against the Souls of Men and raise an Army of Objections against their submitting to the Terms of the Gospel 1. The World is the general Temptation the natural World and the corrupt World the Things and Men of the World hinder our coming to Christ. 1st The natural World comprising all the Creatures in it was originally very good both in respect of the Things themselves and their designed Use for they were beneficial to Man in order to his serving and enjoying the blessed God But since his Fall from the State of unstain'd Nature they are accidentally evil to him The Creatures are made subject to Vanity not willingly they are perverted from their innocent use to foment and gratify Mens vicious Appetites Therefore the Apostle declares the whole Creation groans and travels in Pain is in a kind of Agony ready to faint not for the Labour but the Indignities they suffer The Charge that God fastens upon Idolaters is true against Worldly Men Ye have taken my Silver and my Gold and have carried into your Temples my goodly pleasant things The Riches the Pleasures the Greatness and Glory of the World are the Idols of their Heads and Hearts The Interposition of the Earth darkens their Minds eclipses their Esteem of the Fruition of God as their only Happiness the Love of it alienates and estranges their Affections from him their Trust in it slackens their due Dependance upon him From hence it is that the World which made by God was a fair and bright Theatre of his Perfections to raise the Thoughts and Affections of Men with Delight and Wonder to the blessed Creator as 't is manag'd by Satan and abus'd by the Lusts of Men is the Shadow of Death such as some Trees cast that not only intercept the refreshing Light of the Sun but shed a malignant contagious Influence Strange Alteration The World is present and sensible and makes an easy entrance into the Bosoms of Men. Their Souls are surpriz'd and deceived by the Suggestions of the Senses that represent earthly things as great Realities spiritual and future things are to them but matters of Fancy and Conceit The present and succeeding World are like Counterballances as the one rises the other sinks in Mens Opinions When the World has got Possession of them it commands and captivates all their Powers and Faculties All the Preaching in the World is in vain a Throng of Business or loose Diversions causes the neglect of the great Salvation Represent to them the attractive Mercies of God his melting Bowels open'd in the Gospel to all repenting Sinners they are unmoved frozen in their Dregs Remember them that their Bodies are dying every day and their Souls are already dead and that without sincere coming to Christ they cannot be recovered to the Life of Grace and Glory 't is in vain tell them they must shortly appear before the dread Lord of Spirits and be accountable for all things done in this World and the Consequence will be eternal all is in vain they
the Carnal Mind is Enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law neither can be As the Lusts of the Flesh are opposite to the Law of God so the Wisdom of the Flesh is to the Gospel This corrupt Nature makes the World such a dangerous Snare to Men for it blinds their Minds so as not to see the Dros of Earthly Things and the Glory of Heavenly St. John expresses the tempting Objects of the World by the vicious Affections that are drawn out and fastn'd upon them All that is in the World is the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life for the Lusts of Men put a Gloss upon them and make them pernicious The Poison is not in the Flowers but in the Spider that turns the Extraction from them into its own Nourishment Accordingly St. Peter speaks of the Corruption in the World through Lust. The vain Heart is more deceitful than the vain World for not only Reason that instructs the Wise but Experience that instructs Fools affords sufficient Conviction that all things here below are Vanity and Vexation there is none so low none so exalted in the World but finds it so By tasting a sprig of Wormwood the Bitterness is perceived as truly as by drinking a strong Infusion of it The World with all its Varieties is a multiplied and perpetuated Vanity it affords no solid Satisfaction the setting down a thousand Cyphers makes no Sum. But the carnal Heart is so enchanted with the false Lustre and seeming Pleasures of the World that by changing one Vanity for another it seeks and expects Satisfaction This verifies the Observation of the wise Preacher The Heart of the Sons of Men is full of Evil and Madness is in their Hearts while they live and after that they go down to the Dead What a prodigy of Madness is it for Men to catch at a shadow of Happiness to seek for that which they are uncertain to find and if they do find they are certain to lose and to neglect substantial Felicity which if they sincerely seek they shall obtain and if they obtain they shall enjoy for ever But that it may be more evident that the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts does powerfully interpose to hinder Men from embracing the Gospel I will particularly consider its Opposition to the supernatural Doctrines revealed in the Gospel the Objects of Faith to the holy Precepts of it the Rule of Obedience to the spiritual Rewards recommended to our Choice 1. The great Mystery of Godliness is the Incarnate Son of God who by an ignominious and accursed Death purchased a glorious blessed Life for his People this Doctrine is accounted Foolishness and rejected by the proud unrenewed Mind The Gospel is stiled the Word of Faith 't is conveyed to the Soul with Authority and Efficacy by Faith As Faith in Christ was required of the Sick and Blind and Lame that his healing Vertue might rest on them so the belief of the Divinity of his Person and Doctrine is the first vital Qualification that makes us capable of spiritual healing Infidelity stops the Fountain of Grace The Apostle saith the Word preach'd did not profit them that heard it not being mixt with Faith Now altho the Light of the Gospel be so clear and convincing that the sincere considering Mind cannot suspend its Assent to it yet the carnal Mind stain'd with Prejudices and vicious Affections will not admit it An evil Heart is the principal cause of Unbelief The Jews from Pride Vain-Glory and the Love of the World rejected the Son of God tho all the Characters of the Messias were conspicuous in him he did not come with visible Glory and Observation according to their Expectations and Desires they saw no Form nor Comeliness in him and did not believe the Report concerning him they were scandaliz'd at his Parentage and mean Condition he discovered their beloved Sins and sharply reproved the reigning Vices among them which made his Person and his Preaching so odious to them Our Saviour tells us that Light was come into the World and Men love Darkness rather than Light because their Deeds are evil The Prejudice of their Passions was so strong that they rejected the saving Truths of the Gospel and believed damnable Delusions Now the same Roots of Offence are in the Hearts of Men against the Gospel Such a Cloud arises from the Steam of carnal Lusts darkning the Understanding that it cannot discover Truths so high as the mysterious Doctrines of Christ. Love in the Heart is requisite as well as Light in the Mind to know spiritual things Obedience to the Will of God is the best Preparative to believe his Word Our Saviour justly tax'd the Pharisees they did not repent that they might believe Men are averse from receiving those Doctrines that condemn their Lusts and are Infidels that they may be freely wicked that the Shadow of Repentance may not disturb them 'T is said of Atheistical Scorners they are willingly ignorant The corrupt Will rules imperiously and turns the Thoughts from those Arguments which if duly considered Reason with a strong hand would constrain them to acknowledg there is a righteous God who has Authority to command and Power to punish those who rebel against his Laws 'T is true they pretend to offer something for a more colourable Denial of supernatural Revelation but the perversness of Infidelity appears through all their Pretences Some object against the Sublimity of the Doctrines of the Gospel It was the scornful Expression of one This is like the Peace of God that passes all Understanding As if the Reality of things depended upon the Conception and Capacity of the Human Mind and Divine Truths were impossible because incomprehensible Such foolish Pride obstructs the Reception of Divine Truths and from hence humble Christians are despised as led by a blind Belief Others are offended at the simplicity of the revealing them The Doctrines are so high they cannot reach unto the manner of conveying them is so low they will not stoop to But 't is evident these arguings are not from the Reason but the Lusts of Men. For the rare Accord of the Matter and Manner of the Gospel-Revelation is a sensible Character of its Descent from God The Doctrine is high and bright of an extraordinary Revelation the Delivery of it is easy and familiar since 't is for the Instruction and Salvation of Men and accordingly the Divine Wisdom has made an exact Temperament of these things Briefly the corrupt Affections pervert the Will to reject the Gospel and the perverted Will influences the Understanding to disapprove it Nay carnal Lusts force Men against their Light as the Jews did Pilate to condemn the Person of Christ to condemn his Doctrine There are many in this degenerate Age who altho they dare not publickly own the defil'd and abhorr'd Name of Infidels yet among their Companions employ their
our Assent tho we cannot resolve all the Difficulties that are raised against them 'T is unreasonable to deny what is evident because we cannot unfold what is obscure There is no Doctrine more frequently and emphatically asserted in the Divine Writings than that the Repentance of a Sinner and his acceptance of Pardon and Life is very pleasing to God He assures us in the most sacred and solemn manner of this As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the Death of the Wicked but that the Wicked turn from his way and live He is willing they should be saved and they are wilful to be damned With what render and melting Compassions does he argue with them Why will ye die O House of Israel as if they were upon the brink of Hell and ready to drop into irrecoverable Misery 2. We must distinguish between his directing Will and his approving Will whatever God decrees to effect shall be infallibly accomplish'd but many things that he approves are left undone His Commands are his Will the Rule of our Duty but not of his Purpose what he will do The Scripture mentions the Word of God's Power and the Word of his Holiness The Word of his Power effects all things according to his Will but the Word of his Holiness his Laws declar'd to regulate our Lives are often oppos'd and without Efficacy 3. The Wisdom of God directs all the Operations of his Attributes that orders the Dispensations of Mercy and the Inflictions of Justice When the Apostle had considered the astonishing Oeconomy of Providence with respect to the Jews and Gentiles he breaks forth O the Depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his Judgments and his Ways past finding out That so great a part of the World live in Darkness and die in Darkness and go to their Fathers where they shall never see Light and the Day-spring from on high visits other Nations is according to the Counsel of his Will 4. God does afford assisting Grace to Sinners which if they improved he would not desert them The Gospel is the Ministration of the Spirit to illuminate excite and perswade Sinners not to forsake their own Mercy He strives with them he woes and waits to be gracious till by their obstinate Resistance they quench his holy Motions 'T is true he dispenses Grace in different degrees for he is the Master of his own Favours but tho effectual converting Grace is not bestowed upon all yet there is common Grace that has a tendency to Conversion which if humbly and thankfully improved such is the most free and excellent Goodness of God Men would receive further Supplies But they are careless and opposite to his gracious Operations therefore the Spirit is most righteously withdrawn from them He that in Luxury has wasted his Estate 't is just he dies in Poverty Besides this 't is very considerable that Men shall be condemned at the last Day not for mere Impotence but obstinate Opposition they loved Darkness rather than Light because their Deeds are evil not for the want of that Grace they did not receive but for the neglect to improve that Grace they had received and rejecting what was offered The slothful Servant was condemn'd for hiding his single Talent in a Napkin not because he had not five Talents Secondly 'T is the great Design of God to glorify his Son When he brought his First-begotten into the World the Command was Let all the Angels of God worship him God has given him a Name above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every Knee should bow of things in Heaven and Earth and under the Earth and every Tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father Those who cross his Supreme Wisdom and Soveraign Will shall by a constrain'd Submission acknowledg the high Dignity of his Son The great Command of the Gospel is that Men should believe on the Name of his Son Jesus Christ Him hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give Repentance and Remission of Sins The Death of Christ may be considered as an Act of Obedience to God and of Love to Men. His Intention was to glorify God by bringing lost Souls to him Now 't is promised as a Reward of his Sufferings he shall see of the Travail of his Soul and be satisfied He is infinitely pleased with the Salvation of Souls as the Fruit of all his Anguish and bloody Agony The Election of a number of the lost World that shall believe in him and be adopted and saved by him has a special respect to his Honour that his Death might not be in vain that the Son of God may be magnified in his unspeakable Love to them and their sincere Obedience to him his relative Glory as Head of the Body will shine in them for ever 'T is also observable the Decree of Election is of infallible Accomplishment both as to the Conversion and Perseverance of the Elect not only because the Divine Will is unchangeable and insuperable with respect to the Events determined by it but with a peculiar regard to the Glory of Christ. No Principle of Opposition in the corrupt Heart of Man can frustrate the Operation of God's Spirit either in the powerful entrance or sure continuance of his Grace Our Saviour tells us All that the Father gives me shall come to me And speaking of his Sheep he saith My Father which gave them me is greater than all and none is able to pull them out of my Father's Hand The Purpose of God and Purchase of Christ secure their Salvation for these our Saviour intercedes Holy Father keep through thine own Name those whom thou hast given me that they may be one as we are His Mediation is never interrupted when Christ's Prayer and God's Power are ineffectual then may they fall away totally and for ever whom God keeps and Christ commends to his keeping From hence it appears that the Ministers of the Gospel are indispensably obliged zealously to endeavour the Salvation of Souls which the Father has design'd for the Honour of his Mercy and which the Son of God esteems his dearest Glory The APPLICATION 1. From hence there is just cause to admire the glorious Grace of God in converting Sinners and making them willing to comply with the Terms of the Gospel Indeed 't is strange to Amazement that Men involv'd under the Guilt of Sins so numerous and so heinous and liable every hour to the Sentence of the Law so sure and severe Eternal Death for their Sins should neglect a Pardon so dearly purchas'd and so graciously offer'd and not with the deepest Humility with ravishing Joy and the highest Thankfulness receive it Is there no Spirit no Understanding left in them Nay is sensible Nature and its inviolable Inclinations so extinguish'd that they are Enemies to themselves But