corruption that reaches to thy heart that is so comes to thy heart as it finds thy heart to close with that distemper and corruption of thine Thirdly When the sickness is an increasing sickness Lev. 13. 8. When the spot spreads then the Priest must say it 's a spot of Leprosieâ— So when thou hast some distemper and corruption and it increases more and more As it may be thou wert but a little vain thou growest more vain c. Where the diseasâ— grows more and more upon thee take heed it 's a spot of Leprosie and may prove to bâ— thy ruine Fourthly A sicknes is then deadly when Nature is overcome with it so as the party is not sensible of his sickness a Man when he lies sick so long as Nature is striâ—ing with it there 's good hopes But one that comes to a man in a strong Feaver and asks him how he doth why well I thank God he is not sensible of it O! that makes his wife and all about him turn their heads and fall a weeping It were better he did feel pain So when men through the custom of sin grow sensless of sin that 's a sign that it is unto death perhaps when thou didst first commit sin O thy consience did trouble thee But thou hast used thy self so to it that thou art not sensible of it O it 's a sickness to death and thou art like to dye by it when by use of a sin thou comest to be sensless of it Fifthly When a man in a sickness cannot take any thing that will stay with him So I may say of the sin of wicked men though thy sin doth indanger thy soul yet there 's hope if so be that that that is given thee might stay with thee that is the Word that 's as the Physick for thy soul When some seasonable truth comes and is applyed to thy soul against thy â—â—in if thou canst receive in that ingrafted word that 's like to save thy soul But if as soon as ever thou hearest a truth that comes â—ear to thee presently thy heart casts it up and it will not abide with thee at all it is a dangerous sign that thy sickness is a sickness unto death Lastly That 's a sickness to death that when a man doth take that that might help him yet if it doth not work then I say it is dangerous too So it may be you do remember the Word and it doth abide with you a while but there 's no good at all comes of it it works mighty changes upon others but nothing at all upon thee If you come to a physicia in that case and say Sir you did prescribe such or such a thing I but it works not why I wonder saith he I have known it hath wrought upon such men and women that I thought was in as desperate a condition as one could be it wrought upon them I and did recover them So I may say to some that sit under the word their souls are sick and the word works not upon them I but it hath wrought upon others that have been as dangerously sick why it 's an Argument that their sickness was not unto death God did not intend they should die But if thou canst sit under the word and it works not upon thee it 's a sign that thy sickness is unto death Fourthly and Lastly The suitablenes that there is in the sin of one to the nature of those that have their sin in them One mans spot is like the spot of a Leprosie that is his spot is that that is suitable to the disposition of his soul But now the spot of another it 's that that is a spot indeed I but it doth not arise from his natural disposition but meerly an accidental distemper The spot of one rises from the very natural temper of the heart but the spot of theother rises from some accidental distemper that comes to him When a Man or Woman therefore sins and it is suitable to his nature take him when he is most himself I beseech you consider this note for it is as discerning as any If so be that thou be'st most thy self then thou be'st most free for thy sin know that thy sin is that that comes from thy natural distemper and not from any accidental distemper I shall shew you what I intend by this There is Poyson in a Toad and there 's Poyson got into a mans body Now the Poyson that is in the Toad is sutable to the nature of the Toad and therefore the Toad likes well enough of it But now let but a drop of Poyson be in a mans body O it presently makes a great deal of stir and makes him deadly sick why because there 's that got in that is contrary to his nature Here 's the difference between the sin of a wicked man and the sin of a Child of God The wicked man's sin is like Poyson in a Toad that 's suitable to his nature But the sin of a Child of God is like Poyson in a mans stomack that is contrary to his nature when a wicked man sins he sinneth of himself as it 's said of the Devil he is a lyar and when he lies he lyeth of himself it comes from his own nature so is the sin of a wicked man sin is in it's proper Element in him and that 's the reason that wicked men are so unsensible of sin because it is in its proper Element But now the sin of the Child of God is out of his place and that 's the reason that makes him feel it so much Now you will say How may a man make use of this Note to know the nature of his sin There are five or six particulars that I shall name about this First When a Man or Woman is alone in secret that no eye takes notice of them then to examine themselves how doth thy heart stand then when thou art in secret alone thou canst not discern what the temper of thy heart is when thou art in company thou arr most thy self when thou art in secret alone and O what hearts of wickedness are there when thou art alone whereas a godly Man though he may be overcome with sin in Company yet when he is alone his heart is more for God and set against his sin Secondly That may be said to be a mans self that is the First spring of his soul As now the thoughts and affections in the first rise of them how are they how is the guise as I may so say or the temper and disposition of thy thoughts and thine affections in the first rise of them As now you may know what is the proper nature of the Fountain by that that is next to the Spring Perhaps if the Fountain runs a Mile or two off then there may come that that may alter the stream that it may not be of the nature of the Fountain So thou mayest know what thy
and working and I was resolved tâ— have done such and such a thing if the Loâ—â— had not in mercy sent you to have stopt me iâ— such a way O what might I have done heâ—â— now is the spirit of David O consider 〈◊〉 this you that will plead sometimes for Daviâ— sin and did not David commit such a sin yâ—â— will say I but then take notice how quiâ—â—ly David was convinc't and how soon was stopt in his sin Fifthly There 's no godly man what ever though he hath many sins in him yet there is no sin that reigns over him This is a certain truth that there is no man or woman in the World that hath the least degree of grace that is under the power of any reigning sin Sin may dwell but not reign in them and the Scripture is so express in this that there can be no gainsaying of it Rom. 6. 14. For sin shall not have dominion over you why for ye are not under the Law but under Grace That soul that is under the dominion of any sin is under the Law that is it is under the curse of the Law it 's in the state of nature it hath no interest in Christ But now if the soul come once to be under grace either sin must not have domminion over you or God must not be faithful one of them for this is the promise of the Holy Ghost If you be under grace sin shall have no more dominion over you He doth not say that if you be under grace then you shall commit no more sin but sin shall have no dominion over you therefore that man or woman over whom any one sin hath dominion certainly is not under grace This is the word of God and O that God would carry it unto the consciences of whom it doth concern this day that whosoever is under the dominion and reign of any sin that soul for the present is not under grace he hath no interest in the grace of Jesus Christ Now you will say for the reign and dominion of sin What 's that First It 's apparent in a great many that they are under the reign of sin that is such men can go on constantly in a way of known-sins meerly for contentment unto the flesh why these are under the power and reign of sin Yea sometimes a sin that is a secret sin may be a reigning sin A man may be the subject of a King that he never saw in all his life Perhaps he knows not where the King is and yet he may be his Subject and he may reign over him So a secret sin may be a reigning sin That 's a reigning sin that a man gives himself up to though it be in never so secret a way There 's a difference between a Tyrant that co meth violently to force men to submit to him or one that comes with a sudden surprise or with any cunning wayes to perswade men to come in to submit to him and a Prince that is upon his Throne reigning and having his Subjects acknowledging themselves to be as Subjects to him Now the sins of the wicked they are reigning thaâ— is their sins command them and they yeelâ— up their very wills unto their sins the wiâ—â— and the affections it is in the sin There is nothing more in the will of a natural man then his sin And therefore the Scripture makes these to be all one the will of man and the will of the flesh Now when the will yeelds up to the wayes of sin then sin may be said to be in the Throne But now in a godly man there is a universal spiritual and irreconcilable opposition unto sin though there be sin abiding in him yet I say there is a universal spiritual irreconcilable opposition unto his sin sin doth not reign in a soul so long as there is an opposition in a kingdom to any man certainly he cannot be said to reign I say if there be a universal opposition Now in the soul of a Child of God there is an opposition to sin a universal one a spiritual one and I may put a fourth a powerful universal spiritual irreconcilable opposition I 'le open these First A powerful opposition That is he doth not onely wish that he could not sin and wish that he might be otherwise but he makes it to be the great work of his life above all things in the World to set himself against his sin so as if God would speak from Heaven and say unto him Poor creature what wouldest thou that I should do for thee this soul would answer to God Lord thou that knowest all things knowest this is the unfeigned desire of my soul above all things O giveme but power against my sin and especially against those special sins that my nature is most inclinable to O! this is that that my heart is most against Many people extreamly deceive themselves in this in thinking that they oppose their sins because they have some wishes and desires they would be glad that things were better with them then they are I but dost thou look upon it as a matter of life and death and thereupon thy soul doth more strongly work in its opposition against thy sin then against any thing in the World besides many men and women have strong spirits in following their sins but their spirits are not strong in the opposing of their sins But he that is gracious makes it to be his greatest and chiefest work And then the Second thing It is a universal opposition and that in these Two regards First All the faculties in the soul do rise up against sin There is some kind of opposition in a wicked man against sin that is his conscience sometimes doth oppose the lusts that there is in his affections It may be a wicked man hath a convinc't conscience and his conscience will not let him to be at quiet but in his affections there is a liking of sin onely his conscience will not let him be at quiet You will say how shall a man discern this You may discern it thus If the opposition be meerly in your conscience and not in your heart and affections then though indeed you dare not for the present commit such a sin yet you could wish with all your heart that you might have liberty to do it you could wish that there were not such a Law to forbid it you could be glad that that Law were more loose And you would fain have such a thing not to be a sin and if you could commit it quietly without any danger you would do it Now the opposition is not in your will it is onely in your conscience This is an opposition to sin that a carnal heart may have that is he may have his conscience so flye in his face as that he shall not dare for the present to commit his sin no not in secret a man may come so far You will say Indeed
THE DIFFERENCE Between the SPOTS of the GODLY AND Of the WICKED Preached by Mr. JEREMIAH BURROUGHS at Cripple Gate LONDON Printed in the Year 1668. Courteous Reader HEre thou hast before thine eyes a little Manuel taken by a Dextrous Baruch from the mouth of Jeremiah By it as Abel though dead he speaketh and albeit the Carkass of the dead Lyon lyeth rotting in the ground yet his Name and Doctrine yeelds Sweetness He needs no Herauld to proclaim his praises His own works do sufficiently praise him in the Gates Aaron and his Sons had discerning spirits to destinguish the spots of Leprosie shewing-which made unclean and which not and this Author treads in their-steps and as a judicious Critick discerns between the precious and the vile distinguishing the Faint-spots of Weakness from the Plague-spots of Wickedness that so we may cease from false plea's and be found spotless at the great Day He makes noâ— spots where were none but seeks to cleanse them where they are by the sweet Calls of Admonition and Reproof If he discover thy secret spots and sores like the good Samarit an he 'le give thee oyl and wine to cure them Some spots are inconsistent with grace and if not cleansed they 'le be thy death even Plague-sores that will eternally separate thee from God Come therefore and purchase this little Treatise which may be of great and eternal concernment helping thee to be found of the Lord Christ at the last day without spot and blameless The First SERMON July the 6th 1645. Deut. 32. 5. Their spot is not the spot of his Children THE words read is a part of Moses Song that he sung a little before he was to die like the Swan that sings sweetest when Death approaches The Scope and End of this Song of Moses it was to leave a Testimony behind him after he should be gone of the goodness and mercy and faithfulness of God towards this people and of their sinfulness and perversness toward him again to the end that if great evils should befal them after he was gone they should have no cause to speak ill of God or of his Servant Moses You have brought us to a fair Land you gave us many fair Promises that God would be our God and be gracious to us and that he would never leave us yet see what befalls us Moses now leaves this on purpose behind him for ever to stop their mouths as if Moses should say It 's true the Lord hath made me an Instrument of bringing you out of Egypt and by me hath made many Promises to you to encourage you and hath chosen you to be a peculiar people and led you along all this while But if evils do befal you if you be brought into a sad and distressed Condition after I am dead and gone Remember what I leave behind me and know that God is to be justified in All and his Words is to be justified but you have sinned and rebelled against God and have brought upon your selves all the evil that is come upon you This is the Scope of thiâ— Song of Moses He leaves this by way of a Song for 〈◊〉 was this 32d of Deut. in the Heb a Song like one of David's Psalms and he leaves 〈◊〉 by way of a Song that they might the betteâ— remember it and teach their Children the vâ—ry words of it And he begins in a very elegant way Give ear oh ye Heavens and will speak and hear O Earth the words of my mouth Why Moses there was a time thou saidst thou was 't not eloquent but that was because he would excuse himself from work But here it appears that he was very eloquent Give ear O Heavens and hearken O Earth as if Moses should say That that I am speaking of this people that are a wretched and stout-hearted people will not be regarded but Heaven and Earth shall be witness against them the Heavens and the Earth shall hear Though what 's spoken out of the Word by way of reprehension of a sinful people may be neglected and past by yet know that there is an Impression upon the Heavens and Earth and rather then the Lord will want witnesses Heaven and Earth shall come to witness against that people After his Preface which is in the two first verses He begins with lifting up of the Name of God Because I will publish the Name of the Lord Ascribe the Greatness unto our God He is the Rock his Work is perfect for all his waies are Judgment a God of Truth and without Iniquity Just and Right is he As if he should say Whatsoever becomes of you yet the Name of God is Great and Glorious And it 's a good way to convince and humble sinners by lifting up their hearts to see the Glory of the Great God with whom they have to do against whom they have sinned And it was an excellent Argument of Moses's Faith when he was to die yet he could bless himself as it were in God as if he should say Well the Lord hath carried me through many Changes and Troubles and many Afflictions varieties of Conditions and what yet God will do with his people I know not but this I am sure he is a Great God and Blessed and he is a Rock and his work is Perfect and all his waies are Judgment a God of Truth without Iniquity Just and Right is he I am sure whatsoever becomes of me whatsoever becâ—mes of the people yet God is to be acknowledged Holy Righteous Just Perfect Great and Good in all his Waies O! 't is good to have our heats so confirmed alwaies in God to keep good thoughts of God to have God high in our thoughts and hearts whatsoever changes oâ— state we meet withal in this world But then he comes upon them having lifted up God and justified God That they have corrupted themselves they have forsaken this Blessed and Glorious God that hath bee so true to them in all his waies Corrupted themselves you will say who is not corrupted who is not without sin O but were it but onely some human frailty were not so much but they have so corrupteâ— themselves that Their spot is not the spot of my Children It is beyond that could have been expected for those that had so near a Relation to God as this people had they are bespotted and defiled with their sin and so as this spot of theirs is not the spot of his Children Thus you have the scope of the words and how they came in Their spot The word translated here spot signifies a blemish a fault 't is the same word that you have in the 17th of this Book i. e. Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any Bullock or Sheep wherein is blemish or any ill-favouredness But we know what the English word is Their spot the spot of their sin that sin of theirs that blemish is not the spot of his Children What though the
Children of God have spots while they live in this world they have many sins that are defiling But the spots of these men is of another nature it is not the spot of his Children There are Three Doctrinal points in these words the first two implyed the third expressed The two that are implyed are these 1. Doct. First That 〈◊〉 is a spot 2. Doct. Secondly That even the Children of God while they live in this world have their spots 3. Doct. Thirdly Which is the main and scope of the words That there 's a great deal of difference between the sins and spots of wicked and ungodly men and the spots of Gods Children That 's that that I aim at in the choice of these words To shew the difference between the sins of wicked men and the sins of the Saints And I have châ—sen this Scripture to handle this point for these two end First To take away that great plea that most carnal hearts have whereby they put off the power of the Word from their hearts and are secure in their sinful waies Why say they can we be without sin are the best without sin upon them now because none are without sin therefore they think to put it off and grow secure and upon this very thought put off abundance of truths that they heard preached out of the word that doth them no good at all and meerly upon this Reason Now were it that this plea were but taken from them the word might prevail a great deal more upon them Now therefore I hope before we have done this Scripture I shall weaken if not wholly take away that plea that secure-sinners have for themselves because all have their sins I shall shew thee that there is a great deal of difference perhaps between thy sin and the sins of a Child of God And then the second End why I chose this Scripture is for the comfort of Gods Children On the one side one man is secure and â—ardened because though he hath sins why all men have sins On the other side those that are Gods Children because they feel so much sin in them as they do they are afraid that they are not Gods Children they are afraid that their sins that are in them doth argue them not to be Gods Children Now they will have help likewise in the opening of this point when they shall have laid before them that are the sins of Gods Children and the sins of the wicked and the differences of them I shall for the making way to this great â—oint first speak a little of the two former â—hat are implyed and no farther than to make â—ay unto the third which is the great point 〈◊〉 the Text. 1 Doct. First then That sin it is a spot A 〈◊〉 in Jam. 1. 27. Pure Religion and unde 〈…〉 d before God and the Father is this To visit 〈◊〉 Fatherless and Widows in their affliction â—nd to keep himself unspotted from the world â—â—at is to keep from the sins of the world the 〈◊〉 of the world are the world-spot Sin it is First A desiling spot a spot that doth defile a blemish that doth defile the soul of man in the presence of the Holy God It 's contrary to the pure Nature of God it is the mixture of the soul with that that 's worse than its self it 's a defiling thing The mingling of Gold with Silver doth not defile the Silver but mingling of Lead with Silver doth defile the Silver because the Lead is worse than Silver So the Communion that the soul hath with God and as it were the mingling of the heart in God and with Divine things doth not defile it but make it better but the mingling of the heart with the world it doth defile the soul because the soul is mingled with that that 's worse than it self It is a defiling-spot You know what it is to have the Body besmear'd with dirt and have Clothes bespotted with filth and dirt look how it is with your Bodies besmear'd with dirt or your Clothes so it is with the Face of your Soul in the Presence of God when sin is upon you It 's a defiling-spot Secondly Sin it 's a spreading-spot it 's like the spot of the Leprosie that spreads more and more and let a sinner live never so long this spot will bespread him more and more If you had a spot upon your Flesh that were but little at the first it may be you would neglect it but if you saw it spread more and more then you would think there were something in it It is so with thy sin when you are young the spot it but small in comparison but as you grow the spot spreads more and more until you are all over blains and spots So are old sinners sin is a spreading-spot it spreads in a soul in a family in any society where sinners live Thirdly It is an infecting-spot a spot that of itself infects a Plague spot that doth infect the soul and infects every thing you meddle with and doth infect the company you converse with that 's the nature of this spot And then Fourthly It 's a staining-spot It doth pain the soul so as all the created power in Heaven and Earth is not able to wash it away thou mayest think little of the sin that thou committest thou committest it and hast pleasure and delight in such a sinful way for a quarter of an hour it may be thy pleasure lasts no longer well but when this pleasure is done there 's a stain left upon thy soul that doth mark thee out to Eternal Death such a stain left that will abide to all Eternity upon the Soul if onely that one means be not applied the Blood of Jesus Christ Let all the Angels in Heaven and Men in the World put to their wisdom and strength to get out the stain that is in thy Soul and it is too little onely the Blood of the Son of God can cleanse and take out that stain that is in thy soul such a spot is sin a staining spot In Jer. 2. 22 Though thou wash thee with Nitre and take thee much Sope yet thine Iniquity is marked before me saith the Lord Ye may use many means to get away your sin perhaps you may cover it over or there may be some kind of slight sorrow But it 's not all the sorrow in the World if thou wert able to shed as many tears as there are Drops of Water in the Sea to wash away thy sin if their were nothing else to do it all thy tears will not do it It must be onely the blood of the Son of God Many people think to wash away their sin swith their sorrow But they must know there is something beyond sorrow it is onely the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse and take away this stain Use Now If sin be such a stain such a spot hence then let us learn to look into Gods