an Heaven for the good no other than the Habitation of his own Holiness and Glory in which there are many Mansions and Crowns and Thrones with unconceivable Felicity in his presence a fulness of Joy and at his Right Hand Pleasures for evermore and besides that an Hell for the wicked a bottomless Pit where there is a gnawing Worm that shall never die and a Fire burning that is unquenchable in which they shall for ever fry scorch and burn without being ever consumed and consequently they shall have weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth Secondly Instruct them concerning the miserable lost and undone condition of all Man-kind by reason of the Fall of the first Man That when God had formed Man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his Nostrils the Breath of Life so that he became a living Soul he was pleased not only to make him upright and in his own Image induing him with all Natural Excellencies and Perfections befitting one who was to have Communion with his Creator and Dominion over this Inferiour World and to put him into a state of Happiness appointing Paradise for the place of his Residence or Royal Seat but also to enter into a Covenant of Friendship with him thereby binding Man to a continuance in a course of Personal and Perfect Obedience to his great Lord and thereupon by promise insuring to him an endless duration of his Life and Happiness but withal threatning that in case of failure and disobedience He should die the death viz. Temporal Spiritual and Eternal That this Covenant was not made with Adam alone but with all Mankind who were to descend from him and were considered as being then in his Loins and He as the great Parent and common Person representing them and so Adam breaking the Covenant by transgressing the Law of his Creation and in particular that positive Law which commanded him not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil All Mankind sinned in him and fell with him in that first Transgression and so all the World is be-become guilty before God and obnoxious to his Justice and Wrath all the World is become filthy and abominable Primitive Righteousness is lost and the Primitive Order broken and we are all unclean all of us by principle and disposition Children of disobedience and all by Nature Children of Wrath. And bring this home to them and let them know that it is as much their Case as the case of any persons in the World that they have the guilt of sin upon them the sentence of Death denounced against them a vile Heart and Nature within them the Seed and Principle of all sin which renders them prone to all manner of evils even the vilest and most monstruous This will tend to the hiding Pride from them and preventing those high towering Conceits which they are ready to hugg and swell with through their self-unacquaintedness this may awaken them to the greater vigilance and care and bring them to keep a stricter Eye upon their hearts and this may keep them from being much taken with and doting upon those trifling childish vanities and youthful follies which the Souls of others are so much addicted and devoted to while they hear there are things of infinitely greater importance and nearer concernment unto which they must attend Thirdly Make it much your business to convince them of the evil of Sin In order to their loathing it and themselves for it before God do you as much as you can set it before them in its ugliness and deformity look upon it in the Glass of God's Law and of Christ's Blood and then draw its picture and shew it to them History tells us this of the Lacedemonians that when they saw a filthy drunken Sott stagger and reeling in the Street vomiting like a Dog falling and tumbling in the Mire like a Swine they would run into their houses and fetch their young Children to the door that they might behold how much he was unman'd how like a Beast he made himself and by the way know it is far better to be a Beast than to be like a Beast that so they might betimes learn to abhor and detest that brutish practice Do you do the like I mean make unto them a true representation of the odiousness of Sin in general yea and of some Sins in particular specially those which are most rampant raging and abounding in the times in which they live and those Sins too with which they are most in danger of being infected paint them out in the blackest Colours that you can as black as Hell for indeed so they are You cannot disparage Sin beyond its demerit you cannot speak too bad of it you cannot make it look worse than it is As we cannot exceed nor rise too high in the commendation of God our greatest words are too little our highest thoughts are too low Angelical conceptions of God are infinitely short of his Perfection He is exalted above all blessing and praise So on the other side we cannot speak too much in the dispraise of Sin our greatest anger against Sin is not hot enough and our sharpest words against Sin are not keen enough There is not to be found so great an evil in all the World as Sin is Afflictions are not so bad as Sin Poverty Plague Fire Sword Famine all the desolations that be made in Towns Cities Countreys not matter of so great Lamentation as Sin They are Physick to cure this the Disease to destroy they are Fire to purifie this is Filth to pollute Death it self doth only kill the Body Sin ruins the Soul Death sends the Body to a Bed of Dust but Sin if unpardoned unmortified sends both Soul and Body into a Bed of Flames The Devil himself is not so bad as Sin For he was an excellent Creature a glorious Angel There never was any thing of goodness in Sin nor ever will He was the Workmanship of God himself but God had no hand in the making of Sin It was Sin that turned him into a Devil Hell is not so bad as Sin For though it be a place of gross utter Darkness yet there is seen the Purity and Holiness of God in his hatred of Sin the Justice and Righteousness of God in the condemning and punishing of Sin there he declares his Wrath against all ungodliness and unrighteousness but there is no good not the least good in Sin it is a meer Anomia disobedience to and transgression of such a Law as is holy just and good it is evil throughout only evil and that continually Sin is evil in its Nature being contrary to the pure holy infinitely perfect and glorious Nature of God There is nothing in all the World contrary to God but Sin and what Sin hath made so It s Nature is so bad that nothing can rectifie it nothing can mend it nothing make it good It is so bad that God would not allow it a
place in Heaven and the day is coming after which it shall be found no more upon Earth but be for ever confin'd and shut up in Hell Sin is evil in its Consequents and Effects Indeed who did ever gather Grapes of Thorns How can any good Fruit grow upon this Root of bitterness Let me briefly name some of those Mischiefs which Sin hath done and still goeth on to do in the World 1. Sin hath defac'd the Beauty of Man sullied and stain'd his Glory thrown him down from his Excellency turn'd the Nazarite into an Ethiopian so that he who at first was but a little lower than the Angels is now become like unto the Beasts that perish yea worse than they 2. Sin hath spoiled Man's Communion with God which was inconceivably more and better than the Delights of Eden or his Dominion over the Creatures As his Holiness did consist in his conformity to God so did his Happiness in Communion with him but as soon as he had committed Sin that stood as a middle Wall of Partition between them 3. Sin hath broken Man's Peace that Peace which once he had with God and sown Enmity So that God is angry with him and he a Traitor a Rebel against God That Peace which was once in himself The faculties of his Soul were once harmonious Reason sitting in the Throne Judgment ruling and governing the Will and Affections knowing keeping their place and following the Dictates of the Understanding but now there is discord and jarring the Understanding mistakes the Will and Affections mutiny so that frequently there are disorders and confusion in the Soul And oh how dismal are the Contests oftentimes between a Man and his Conscience he crosseth his Conscience and that will not bear it he wounds his Conscience and then that rageth and storms and laies about it as a fury and wheresoever he goes it follows him with its clamours so that he becomes a terrour to himself 4. Sin hath brought in all the Troubles of Life How many are they and how great Who can understand his Errours who can sum up his Sorrows Most come into the World crying and go complaining thorough it In sorrow do Women bring forth Children some are grieved because they have none and some more because those they have are so bad How are the endeavours of many vain and unsuccessful their hopes blasted and their expectations disappointed how are some wasted and consumed with sickness others ground and tortur'd with pain Now a Fire comes and devours your pleasant things burying your Habitations in their own Ashes and then a War which knows no compassion but turns fruitful Lands first into Fields of Blood and then into Wildernesses 5. Sin hath introduced Death and Arm'd against us that King of Terrours Had not Man made Sin his Work he had never receiv'd Death for his Wages had not Sin been Man had either continued in a perfect and Paradisical State upon Earth or else been translated into the Region of Light and Life and Love above but now if ever he would come thither he must walk thorough the dark Shades and be dissolv'd in order to his being glorified We now mourn over a dead Friend a dead Relation let us remember that Sin kill'd them Rom. 5.12 By one Man Sin entred into the World and Death by Sin and so Death passed upon all Men for that all have sinned 6. Sin hath digg'd Hell This is that Tophet which is mentioned in Isa. 30.33 that is made deep and large the Pile whereof is Fire and much Wood the Breath of the Lord like a Stream of Brimstone doth kindle it The Hell in the Conscience which some Men do feel now and that Hell into which all wicked wretches shall be tumbled at the last are both of them the fruit of Sin Now my Friends will you be careful in this matter will you consider what Natures all brought into the World with them how Sin dwells in you and yours Oh! shew unto them the evil that is in it and the mischiefs that come by it for by doing so you take a course to damp the Tinder that it may not catch Fire when the Spark is struck and to arm them against Temptations when they come out in their greatest violence this will tend to the preserving them from the path of the Destroyer though it be such a beaten Road and so full of Travellers This was the Antidote that secur'd Ioseph from the Poison that was offer'd him in the Cup of Fornication He was shreudly assaulted and that more than once the on-set was renewed day by day and he was in his youthful Blood and on that account a great deal more in danger of being prevail'd upon and wrought to a compliance but it was labour in vain he looked upon the vile sinfulness of the thing and that was more powerful to affright him from it than the Charms of his Mistress were to allure him to it and therefore with a Pathos or Zeal of Soul he cryed out Gen. 39.9 How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God He saw such a filthiness in that Sin as that he loathed to touch either it or her that had tempted him to it but fled from them both Fourthly Be much in acquainting them with our Lord Iesus Christ and the way of ruin'd Man's recovery by him and by him alone He being the only Mediator between God and Man and the only Redeemer of God's Elect. Let them know that by Nature and by reason of Sin their case is extreamly deplorable When once our first Parents had transgrest it was dark round about them nothing offer'd it self to their Eye that had a promising aspect God that had been before their chiefest comfort was then their greatest terrour his Voice that had been so sweet and pleasant to them was then in their Ears like Thunder As soon as Adam heard it he was afraid and hid himself but as deplorable as sinful lapsed Man's case is now blessed be free and rich Grace it is not desperate unless he himself by obstinate impenitency and unbelief do make it so There is hope in Israel concerning this thing because all-sufficient help is laid upon One that is mighty 1. Though God was greatly affronted by the work of his own hands whom he had so obliged and by that affront had been so highly provoked yet being a God of bowels whose compassions do not fail in wrath he remembred mercy and though he had no yearnings over the sinning Angels but immediately banished them from his presence threw down from their first estate and with indignation tumbled them into Hell where he hath clapt upon them everlasting Chains in which he reserves them to the Judgment of the great day yet he had it in his hearty to pity and shew kindness to fallen Man it was the fixed resolve and purpose of his Grace to mend the marr'd Girdle and to repair the broken Potsherds of the Earth and of
way whether ever they sate up so long at prayer or reading the Scripture Unto such persons I would only say these few things First As touching the Game it self I will not take upon me peremptorily to determine that playing at Cards is utterly unlawful Yet I do very well remember that in former times when Professors liv'd more up to the Rules of Religion than most now do and did not allow to themselves that latitude which many in our days take Cards were counted so by many godly learned Ministers and gracious Christians and accordingly were then call'd The Devil's Books and the use of them for play was a thing of bad report and to have a pack of them in the house was then reckoned scandalous It is true one of no small esteem for Learning and Piety whose Name I forbear to mention hath written for it but I humbly conceive he had better have spar'd his pains So pitiful a Cause did not deserve so Learned a Pen so great a Patron and what he and others have said is not satisfactory but still sub judice lis est the matter is disputable and there are more against it than for it And I am sure in matters questionable such things as will admit of a debate it is the wisdom of those who love their own Souls and desire to approve themselves unto God by an holy exact walking before him to forbear there may be sin in using but for certain there is no danger in letting them alone Though you are not sure there is Poison in a Glass of Wine yet if you do suspect it you will not drink of it Perhaps the company will jeer and laugh at you for your over-niceness and let them till they be weary better so than to have your own Consciences raging and storming at you for your over-boldness It is not good to rouze a sleepy Lion a little matter will do it But then Secondly As to any other Game which is evidently lawful and concerning which no dispute hath been raised among good men Nature doth require and God doth allow Recreations The Bow that always stands bent will grow to be a Slug. And there are Recreations in themselves very innocent and harmless that tend much to the health of the Body and not to the detriment or prejudice of the Soul yet even in these you must manage your selves with wisdom for otherwise you may sin in them What the Apostle Paul saith of the Law 1 Tim. 1.8 We know that the Law is good if a man use it lawfully I may say in the present case we know that Recreation is good if a man use it lawfully but withal we know that the greatest danger of real sincere Christians lieth inter licita among things lawful and though the Recreations which you use are lawful in themselves yet you may sin in the using of them and that many ways particularly in the using them out of season and by being too long at them Time is too precious a Jewel to be thrown away Thirdly I desire you seriously to consider whether Gaming be a good preparative for any holy duty We have been wont to blame those that would upon the Lord's-day come reeking out of their Beds to Publick Ordinances and if I be not mistaken they are as worthy of blame who immediately go from their sports to the Service of God Is this my Friends is this the way for People to get themselves into a fitness for duty their hearts into a serious solemn spiritual and holy frame Is this the way to qualifie you for an appearance in so great and glorious a Presence as is that of God and for engaging to so important and momentous a work as is that of Prayer You that love Recreations do not love them too well and you that use them let it be without abusing them do not make Play your work but use it moderately as becometh those who were sent hither for higher and nobler purposes than to sport upon Earth as Leviathan doth in the Sea and as becomes them who knows the shortness uncertainty and preciousness of Time and that your everlasting welfare and happiness in the other World depends upon a due improvement of it and as becomes those who believe you must at last render an account thereof unto the God that gave it to you And I also advise you to take special care that there be a sufficient interval or space of time between your Recreation and your Duty that so you may call your thoughts in which you had given leave to ramble and raise your Affections up which had been too much deprest and sunk to Objects so mean and low and that by holy Meditation spiritual Divine Contemplations you may recover your former warmth and chafe your selves into a due heat and be fervent in spirit serving the Lord remembring it was in the flame of Manoahs Sacrifice that the Angel did wonderfully Fourthly You that are Parents I do earnestly desire you to think with your selves and that seriously whether you are kind to your Children in playing at Cards doth this speak your love to them and care of them Is this the way to keep them from the path of the Destroyer and to bring them up for God Doth this tend to the making of them gracious or serious Do you think in your Consciences that you would be willing Death should come and find you so employed that Death should come and take you at Cards Or do you think in your Consciences that you do herein set your Children a good Example Really this deserves your thoughts for as we Ministers are to be Examples to the Flock so you Parents and Governours ought to be to your Families What manner of persons then should you be in all holy conversation in all the actions of your Lives and are you so exemplary when you play at Cards as it becomes and concerns you to be Possibly some of you think you have enough to say for your selves viz. that you do not make a Trade of it nor a common practice you do it but at one time of the year when the Nights are long and you know not how otherwise to pass away the time but by the way do not say so for that proclaims your egregious weakness and folly what have so great work to do and so much of it yet know not how to pass away the time or you satisfie your selves with this that you do not play for Mony at least not for much so that upon that score you are much at a pass whether you win or not and this may be but you cannot tell what your Children may do after you you do shew them the way and lead them in it but they may shortly go a great deal farther than you your selves either do or dare to do because they see you play at Cards they conclude it lawful and that they may do so too and accordingly do for Children are imitating Creatures