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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

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

of grace quis nisi mentis inops c. 'tad wont to be said who but fool● refuse gold when 't is offer'd them But ala● there are such fools as refuse Christ and heaven and happiness offer'd them and will no be entreated to be reconciled that they ma● be saved but are set against the glory 〈◊〉 God and their own salvation now again●● these do the stones of the street and the d●● of the Apostles feet bear witness Luke 1● 40. Luke 9.5 and 10.10 11. Indeed the● is not a sin but the Creation in whole and 〈◊〉 the several parts doth bear witness agains● the very dullest and worst-natured creatu● have exceeded man the Oxe and Ass a● Dives his dogs had more humanity then Dives himself and were witnesses against his cruelty In short whatever duties they teach by that they convince of and bear witness against the sins which are contrary to them duties and whatever sins they convince of they teach the duties contrary to them sins There remains yet another thing to prove the sinfulness of sin by the creatures which I shall but touch and that is as they are instruments in the hands of God to punish sinners which they do with much readiness as if they were revenging themselves as well as vindicating God witness the plagues of Aegypt The four Elements have born their testimony often Fire burnt Sodom Water drown'd the old World the Earth swallowed up Corah c. the Air hath conveyed infection in times of plague the Sun Moon and Stays have been warriours and fought in their courses against sin the beasts of the field and sowls of the air have done the like but I only hint these things Two ways they shew their displeasure and his whose creatures they are against sin in punishing sinners 1 By withdrawing their influences Deut 28.23 the heaven shall be brass and the earth iron that shall not rain nor drop dew this shall not bring forth fruit See Hos 2.18.22 2 By acting contrary to their ordinary course and nature for waters to stand on an heap Exod. 15.8 fire not to burn Dan. 3. are unwonted and contranatural things and they do this to witness against the contranaturalness of sin and both these were witnesses against the sin of persecuting Gods Israel This do the creatures continue to do upon occasions to this day they are always bearing witness though men observe it not which also infers their further sinfulness and this shall suffice as to the witness of the whole Creation Next If any should say notwithstanding all these witnesses we cannot put sin to death without a Law if there be no Law to condemn sin we cannot condemn it I shall therefore proceed to shew that there is a Law against sin which condemns sin as worthy of death for being guilty of the death of many and attempting the death of all so that we may legally and ought by Law to condemn and put sin to death For 5 The Law witnesseth against and condemns Sin The Law of God is without sin in it self 5 The Law doth witness against sin and 't is against sin in others The Law being holy just and good that which breaks the Law must be unholy unjust and evil The Law discovers the authority wisdome will and goodness of God in its primary intention and promulgation for 't was to life sin must therefore be exceeding sinful it being against all this The Law discover'd mans d●ty and mans happiness 't was the whole of man in both these senses how evil is sin then that is a contradiction of and contrariety to both the duty and happiness of man so that sin being a transgression of Gods good Law the sinfulness of sin appears by the Commandment More particularly 1 The Law is against sin before 't is committed 2 After 't is committed 1 The Law is against sin before 't is committed 't is against its being to be committed its holy and wholly against sin for it forbids sin all sin whither of Omission or Commission whither in thought word or deed whither against God or against man the voice and cry of the Law is thou shalt not sin so that in this sense by the Law is the knowledge of sin viz. what is sin as well as what sin is Rom. 7.7 Is the Law sin God forbid nay I had not known sin but by the Law for I had not known lust or concupiscence to be a sin except or unless the Law had said thou shalt not covet thou shalt not lust The Law shews that lust is sin by forbidding it yea the Law doth not only forbid sin but forbids it upon great and severe penalty upon no less then pain of death on the peril of a curse for this it saith cursed be every one that doth not and continueth not to do all things which are written in the Law Gal. 3.11 So that the Law is utterly against the commission of sin 2 The Law is against sin after 't is committed and here even by the commandment sin appears to be exceeding sinful after commission For 1 The Law discovers as before what is sin so now what sin is how displeasing to God how destructive to man and that as 't is a transgression of the Law of God made for the good of man no sooner is sin committed but the Law is so far from indulging or justifying it or the sinner or from concealing it that it discovers it and the displeasure of God against it Rom. 3.20 yea not only discovers sin but 2 It condemns the sinner the Law is not against the righteous against such there is no Law nor condemnation but this Law which like a good Magistrate is an incouragement to them that do well is a terrour to evil doers saith the Apostle Rom. 7.9 when the commandment came and shew'd me sin as in a Perspective-glass sin revived it got the victory over me was too strong for me for the Law strengthened it against me 1 Cor. 15.56 and I died I was dead in Law I had sentence of death within me as he speaks in another case The transgressed Law worketh wrath Rom. 4.15 it sends abroad terrours thundrings and flashes of wrath it discovers wrath to them that by sin have made work for wrath Thus the Law is against sin before and after the commission of it Yet further to shew how the sinfulness the malignity of sin appears by the Commandment as 1 Thus That it takes occasion from its being prohibited and forbidden by the Law to sin against and transgress it the more It hath such a malignity such an enmity in it that it will not be subject to the Law of God Rom. 8.7 it strives to break this bond in sunder and to cast this cord far from it the Law stands in its way and therefore it rusheth upon the breaking of it with the more violence sin grows angry and swells like a river pent up and stopt in its course Thus

childrens death then that they had sinned And they of whom the world was not worthy being too good to live long chose rather to dye then sin Heb. 11. and many a good man like S. Paul desires to dye because this dying will prove the death of sin Sin is worse then death yea and 3. Sin is worse then the Devil Sin is worse then the Devil the Devil is inde●d a terrible Enemy the evil and envious one the hater of mankind but he knows he can nor damn nor hurt men without sin Sin can do that without the Devil which the Devil cannot do without sin and that is undo men God and the Devil are not so contrary as God and Sin for the Devil hath something ●eft viz. a Being which was of God but sin never was nor can be of God he is neither Author of nor Tempter to it James 1.13 Sin made the Devil what he is as a Devil the Devil was not made so of God as to man the Devil 't is true doth now seek to devour him but he cannot do it without sin nor can he compel any man to sin But 1. Though the Devil tempt 't is man that sins Temptations from Satan to si● are not sins nor the way to Hell but the very temptations of sin are sins the way to more sins and so to Hell A man 's own lusts are more and worse tempters then the Devil and the Scripture speaks as if a man were not tempted nor indeed is effectually till his lust do it James 1.14 If a man were tempted by the Devil forty days and yet without sin as Christ was yea tempted all his days yet if a man yield not but the grace of God be sufficient for him he may as St. Paul glory in his infirmities and triumph over the messenger of Satan 2 Cor 12. The Devil gives over for a season which sinful lusts scarce ever do they haunt men more then the Devil doth There is a scum of filthiness beiling or ●ubling up when the Devil doth not meddle with us Libera me à male homine meipso was St Austins Prayer and should be ours for indeed no man nor Devil is so bad to us as evil-self is to us The Serpent beguiled me and I did eat was no excuse the Devil owed me a spight and paid it will not apologize 't is man that sins and sin that damns either of which the Devil cannot force upon man 2. As sin is worse then the Devil as a Tempter and a worse Tempter so sin is worse then the Devil as a Tormentor and a worse Tormentor The Devil is cruel enough a roaring Lion and many times takes possession of men and handles them most unmercifully and will much more torment men in Hell as I have shewn above but all this while the Devil is without the spirit of a man but sin is there takes possession of and torments that ●is a grief to be tempted to sin but 't is a torment to be a sinner and God doth more form when he pardons us and more to our ease and refreshment then if he did cast as many Devils out of us as he did out of Mary Ma●●●●lene or a● whole Legion as he did Mark 5.9 Yea in Hell the gnawing worm of a guilty and upbraiding conscience doth more torment men then Devils do 'T would be a relief to a man in Hell if he could but have peace in his conscience or if he could say that he were there without his demerit and that his perdition were not of himself But to eeke out this a little further I say 4. That Sin is worse then Hell Sin is worse then Hell Hell is but a punishment Sin is a crime which hath more evil then the punishment and is that which made Hell the punishment thereof yea the greatness of this punishment argues the greatness of the crime and the sinfulness of sin Gods being glorified upon men in such a way is a clear and full proof what an evil thing it is to sin against and dishonour a God and consequently that Hell it self doth not so much hurt no not to man as sin doth Hell indeed is a disinal place of horrour and torment the extremity of suffering but never had an existence till sin had nor never could admit of such names as it doth and such torments if sin were not there 'T is storied as a Saying of Anselmes that if Sin and Hell were set before him and he must go through one of them he would rather chuse to go through Hell then Sin 't is sin 't is sin that 's the worst of Hell and worse then Hell 't is that which makes sinners cry out of the unhabitableness of devouring sire and everlasting burnings which are no terrour to righteous and upright souls as 't is Isa 33.14.15 'T is sin that makes Hell to be Hell God was never angry till sin made him so his wrath was never kindled but by sin now as sin made Hell so the more sin the more Hell as Tyre and Sidon feel beyond Sodom and Gomorrah If there were no Hell but such as Cain and Judas felt within them 't were yet a great one and they would tell you 't were damnation enough to be a sinner and to feel the horrors of a guilty and accusing conscience Yet a little more to shew that Sin is the worst of Evils 1. Other proofs 〈◊〉 sin is the worst 〈…〉 There is more evil in it then good in all the Creation that is it doth us more hurt then all the Creation can do us good when we are sick or wounded there are many medicinal Creatures that can help to recover and cure us but of this evil of sin there is no cure by any or all the Creatures 't was too hard for that good wherein we were created and all created good ever since hath not been able to recover us from it no 't is not but by God that we can be either pardoned or purged of it all the Angels in Heaven could neither pay our debt for us nor cleanse our hearts for us and God himself doth new-make us for mending would not serve our turn and therefore mans recovery is called a new Creation and the man a new Man created c. Eph. 4. and 't was Davids prayer create in●●●e a clean heart Psal 51. Sin is an evil past the skill and power of all the Creation to cure and cleanse 2. There 's no evil but this to be repented of God allows us to sigh and groan to mourn and lament at other evils but for this he calls for and requires repentance which is a severe thing full of rebuke and disgrace to man though it be a grace How great is that evil for which a man must cry Peccavi and to bring him to the confession whereof and repentance for and from it other evils are inflicted 3. They are the greatest punishments which are made up of

to Exhortation and Counsel Exhortation for it may be some poor Soul or other may be prickt at heart an● cry out as they Acts 2.37 What shall we do 〈◊〉 or as the Jaylor in Acts 17.30 Sirs what mu●● I do to be saved Is there any hope for poo● sinners is there any balm in Gilead or Physitian there Jer. 8 22. yes surely there is God would never as a Learned person expresseth it have suffered so potent and malicious an enemy to have set foot in his Dominions but that he knew how to conquer it and that not only by punishing it in Hell but by destroying it He will not only pardon but subdue thy sin If thou wilt hear him hear then that thy soul may live hear the Call of Christ Jesus behold he calleth thee come to me ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest Mat. 11. All that were in debt and distress came to David thou art such an one come to this David for so Christ is called take his counsel and thou shalt do well thou shalt live and sin shall dye What 's that counsel Repent and believe the Gospel Mark 1.13 1. Repent To repent Jesus Christ came to call sinners to repentance Mat 9.12 13. 't was one of the errands he came into the world about repent then not only for but from dead works Heb. 6 1. abhor both thy sin and thy self repenting as in dust and ashes Joh 42.6 be full of indignation against and take a full revenge upon thy sin and self as true repentance useth to do 2 Cor. 7.11 to be merciful to sin is to be cruel to thy soul to save that alive is to put this to death therefore spare it not but repent unfeignedly from the very bottom of thy heart Let it grieve thee that God is displeased with thee for thy sin but much more that he hath been displeased by thee and by thy sin bring forth fruit worthy of repentance amendment of life that thy repentance may appear to be a change of heart and life of thy mind and manners yea not only a reformation but a renovation and that thou art a new man The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance he might have driven thee into it by terrors but he gently leads thee 't is indeed his goodness that he will admit us to repent but that he will call and lead to repentance is goodness much more and Oh what goodness is it that he puts us to no greater penance then repentance Jer. 3.13 God might have said thou shalt lye in Hell so many thousand years to feel the smart of thy sin and if he had bid thee do some great thing wouldst thou not have done it how much more when he saith wash and be clean that I may allude to that of Naamans servant unto him 2 Kings 5.13 yea which is yet more God waits to be gracious and is patient even to long-suffering he might have called and knockt at thy door once and no more but he hath stood and knockt and beg'd given thee space and means Rev. 2.21 Luke 16.31 and why all this but that thou mightest come to repentance 2 Pet. 3.9 which if thou do not 't is a greater affront to God then thy former sin was Humanum est errare 't is humane frailty to sin but to continue in it without repentance is Devilish 't is to despise his goodness Rom. 2.4 't is to justifie thy sin and to upbraid God with a scoff as they did 2 Pet. 3. where is the promise of his coming But that his goodness may yet prevail I intreat thee to consider this much more 1. If thou repent thou shalt be forgiven Acts 3.19 repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out they shall be as if they had not been where God gives repentance for he also gives remission of sin Acts 5.31 He that hardneth his heart in impenitency shall not prosper but he that confesseth and forsaketh shall find mercy Prov. 28.13 14. For God looketh upon men and if any say I have sinned and perverted that which was right i. e. if any do repent he will deliver his soul from going into the pit and his life shall see the light Job 33.27 28. yea he is not only merciful but if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness 1 Joh. 1.9 Oh how doth this oblige us to repent 2. Repentance is by Gods interpretation the undoing of all the evil thou hast committed and the doing the good thou hast omitted indeed he that repents of his sin tells all the world that if 't were to do again he would not do it and he that repents for not having done the will of God doth do it in repenting Mat. 21.30 Oh what goodness is this to put such a construction on repentance and shall we not repent 3. Thou wilt by repenting rejoyce all whom thou hast grieved by sin thou hast grieved thine own soul repentance will cheer it for though it spring from sorrow it ends in joy and will never be repented of 2 Cor. 7.10 thou wilt rejoyce the generation of the righteous yea there will be joy in Heaven God and Angels will be glad and rejoyce at thy return Luke 15. 'T is their sin and greatly aggravated Rev. 16.9 that they repented not to give him glory sin dishonours but repentance gives glory to God and therefore Josuah said to Achan Jos 7.19 confess thy sin and give glory to God Oh may we rejoyce the heart and glorifie the Name of God both at once by repentance and shall we not repent Oh repent repent if not know 4. That God hath appointed a day in which he will judge thee and that calls on thee at thy peril to repent Acts 17.30 31. which if thou do not do thou dost but inrich thy self for Hell and by thy hardness and impenitent heart dost treasure up wrath against the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God The God that is long-suffering will not be all-suffering he that is a God of patience now will if that be abused be a God of vengeance hereafter to the abusers of his patience Gods Patience will be at end one day he will wait on thee no more no longer he waited forty years but then swore in his wrath Heb. 3.11 he waited three years on the Jewish Fig-tree but at last cut it down God hath set thee a day and that 's this day to day while 't is called to day hear his voice and harden not your hearts When this day of patience is over if thou be found unprovided then wo unto thee thou art undone for ever I pray thee think of it hast not grieved God enough yet nor wronged thy soul enough yet art afraid of being happy too soon or of going to Hell too easily and cheaply that thou wilt not repent

if wicked men speak well yet 't is still from an evil heart of Hypocrisie and out of that abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh 4. Evil words corrupt men and their manners our great care should be not to be corrupt and the next to that not to corrupt others but evil words corrupt both they corrupt and defile our selves Mat. 15.17 18. What goeth into the mouth viz. meat defileth not the man but what cometh out of the mouth viz. evil words proceeds from the heart and they defile the man The tongue is but a little member yet it boasteth great matters 't is but as a spark of fire but it kindles a great deal of wood a world of iniquity the whole course of nature and defiles the whole body James 3.5 6. It defiles not only a mans own body and course but the body and community of them with whom we converse too a little leaven leavens the whole lump be not deceived evil communication corrupts good manners 1 Cor. 15.33 What 's the ill language or evil discourse the Apostle means That which he had mentioned vers 32. let us say and do like Epicures as they say and do let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall dye Such loose Epicurean and Atheistical discourses do debauch men and their manners Many an ingenuous and hopeful person hath been corrupted by such ill discourse they have no good conversation who use evil communication persons of evil words are seldom persons of good manners or if so for a while for nemo repentè fit pessimus none being suddenly wicked or worst at first yet they degenerate and grow immoral and ill-manner'd more and more Lying frequently makes men at last so unacquainted with truth that they scarce think any difference to be between them and they jest so long that they forget to be in earnest till awaked by the quarrels that these things beget in and among themselves 5. The tongue is either mans glory of shame worth much or nothing as 't is good or evil God made mans tongue his glory but sin makes it his shame Saith holy David to his tongue awake my glory Psal 57.8 and Psal 16.9 my glory rejoyceth which the Apostle according to the Septuagint renders my tongue was glad Acts 2.26 And when is our tongue our glory but when it speaks to the glory of God when its words are savory and gracious but if our tongue be a lying tongue a slandring tongue or any other way evil 't is then our shame Oh the vast difference that there is between a good and a bad tongue Prov. 10.20 The tongue of the just is as choice silver a precious commodity but the heart of the wicked and therefore his tongue is little worth 't is but dross he pays too dear by a farthing that pays but a farthing for that which is nothing worth and this is so little worth that he cannot tell how little worth nothing or if you will 't is worse then nought in being naught Again Prov. 12.18 there is that speaketh Daggers as we say like the piercing of a Sword dangerous and killing words but the tongue of the wise is not only a medicine or wholesom but in the abstract health There is as much difference between a good and bad tongue as between soundness and wounds health and sickness Yet once more Prov. 15.4 an wholesom tongue is a tree of life which is for healing but perversness therein is a breach in the spirit and a wounded spirit who can bear or who can bear up under a broken spirit But Sixthly and lastly consider this God will judge us for and by our words as well as by our works and actions There is a place may make us tremble and should ingage us to take heed of our words while we have a day to live 't is in Mat. 12 36. I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak they shall give an account thereof in the day of Judgment and vers 37. for by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned If we must give an account of idle what account shall we give of filthy and ill-working words of words that are corrupt and do corrupt others Solomon upon this account tells us Prov. 18.21 death and life are in the power of the tongue a man shall be judged and sentenced according to it There is such a connexion between heart tongue and deed that he who is judged by one is judged by all of them for they agree in one 'T is observable that though all the charge or most of it in Psal 50. is for words the sin of the tongue 1. In abusing Gods good Word 2. Using their own ill words they gave their mouth to evil c. yet that the heart was consenting and the deed executing there was a concurrence and co-working of all three after his words are spoken of saith God these things hast thou done and it follows thou thoughtest c. vers 21. but I will judge thee viz. for all this yet especially for thy words according to what is said Jude 15. Behold the Lord cometh to execute judgment upon all to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodlily committed and of all their mark it their hard speeches which they have spoken against him yea against him in his members 'T is said vers 16. their mouth speaks great swelling words viz. as Murmurers and Complainers use to do they will jeer the people of God and twit them with the name of Holy and Spiritual and utter hard speeches against them but when Christ comes to Judgment he will call to account for all the hard speeches and all the great swelling words which by way of complaint they have spoken against his members or by way of flattery and admiration for lucres sake they have spoken in commendation and praise of wicked and cruel men Oh take heed of tongue-sins when Dives was in Hell the part that it seems was most tormented was his tongue for he begs water to cool his tongue which gives some occasion to think that even in relation to Lazarus he had sinned much with his tongue and used hard speeches against poor Lazarus for 't was by him he would have the water brought In quo peccamus in hoc plectimur as and in what we sin we smart and are pained and plagued as Dives with and in his tongue If the tongue be set on fire of Hell while on earth Ah how will it be set on fire when in Hell The sins of the mouth cry for vengeance with an open mouth and make others cry for it too Psal 59.11 12 13. the holy man not yet King but Prophet prays scatter them bring them down O Lord why David why so severe what have they done Oh 't is for the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips for their cursing and

is not to rail at it but to tell it its own for 't is the Quinitessence of evil which hath made all the evils that are and is worse then all the evils it hath made 't is so evil that 't is impossible to make it good or lovely by all the Arts that can be used poyson may be corrected and made medicinal if not nutritive but sin is sin and can be no other its nature cannot be changed no not by a pardon To speak as the thing is 't is not only ugly but ugliness not only filthy but filthiness not only abominable but abomination there is not a worse thing in Hell it self it hath not its fellow there All this and much more may be said of and against sin and having laid this ground-work I shall now build upon it the fourth thing viz. The Application The Application and Improvement of the Doctrine of Sins sinfulness 1. Then Sin is the worst of Evils By way of Inference for our Information in several things as first in general That Sin is the worst of Evils the evil of evils and indeed the only evil nothing is so evil as nay nothing is evil properly but sin nor in comparison of it As the sufferings of this present time of our life which are upon us are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us so neither the sufferings of this life or that to come are worthy to be compared for evil with the evil of sin No evil is displeasing to God or destructi●e to man but the evil of sin 'T is worse then affliction then death then Devil then Hell affliction is not so afflictive death is not so deadly the Devil not so devilish Hell not so hellish as sin is and this will help to fill up the charge against its sinfulness especially as it is contrary to and against the good of man These four Evils that I have named are terrible indeed and from all which every one is ready to say Good Lord deliver us yet none of these are all of these are not so bad as sin and therefore our prayers should be more to be delivered from sin and if God hear no prayer else yet as to this we should say We beseech thee to hear us good Lord 1. Worse then affliction and suffering 'T is worse then any evil of affliction there are afflictions of several sorts and they are all called Evils is there any evil of what sort or kind or quality soever in the City and I have not done it Amos 3.6 God you see will owne himself the Author of it but not of sin that 's a bastard of someothers be getting and breeding the evil of plagues and afflictions are of Gods bringing though of sins deserving now indeed no affliction seemeth to be or is joyour for the present Heb. 12 11. but though they are not to be desired yet they may be endured but sin is neither to be desired nor endured any sin is worse then any suffering one sin then 〈◊〉 suffering the least sin then the greatest suffering What you will say is it worse then to be whipt to be burnt to be sawn asunder c yes by a great deal as appears by what our Saviour saith Mat. 10.28 fear not them that can kill but fear him that can damn q. d. 't is better to be killed then to be damned We ma● more easily suffer from men then sin against God One may suffer and not sin but 't is impossible to sin and not suffer They that avoid suffering by sinning sin themselves into worse suffering Th●● seems to be clear enough yet because truth are seldom well improved till they be believed and are seldom believed till they are well proved I shall therefore make this out more fully That sin is worse then suffering first by this Argument in general because Sin is all evil only evil and always evil which no affliction is nor can be in my flesh saith the Apostle there dwelleth no good no not the least and this is ever present with me this cannot be said of afflictions that there is no good in them that they dwell in and are always present with us there are some lucida intervalla Sun-shines in Winter One may say 't was good that I was afflicted Psal 119.71 't is good to bear the yoke in ones youth Lam. 3.23 but one can never say 't was good that I sinned no though 't were but in my youth Eccl. 11.9 12.1 All things may be corrected and made to work for our good and we can say not only God that afflicted me was good but the affliction wrought for good 2 Cor. 4.17 but we can never justly say that sin did us good Many can say periissem nisi periissem I had been undone had I not suffered but none can say periissem nisi peccassem I had perished if I had not sinned no no 't is by sin we perish and are undone many have thankt God for affliction but never any for sin Some indeed mistake that place Rom. 6.17 as if the Apostle thanked God that they were sinners no by no means but he thanks God that they who once were sinners were become obedient to the Gospel and the proper sense and reading is Thanks be to God though ye were the servants of sin in time past yet now ye have obeyed the form of Doctrine which was delivered to you or as the Margine and Greek whereunto ye were delivered Sin of it self is neither good before nor after its commission 't is not good to be committed nor good after 't is committed nor doth it do us any good but hurt all our days but other evils though we cannot call them good before and so desire them yet we can call them good after and so thank God for them More particularly 1. Suffering may be the object of our choice which sin cannot be for that which is evil and can be no other and so is sin cannot be the object of our volition and choice 't is contra-natural If men did not call evil good and good evil they could never love the evil nor hate the good nor can fin be chosen as a means to a good for as 't is evil and nothing else so it doth evil and nothing else But now affliction though not chosen for it self yet for an end a good end and effect of it may be chosen yea and rather then sin it may be chosen though no other good thing should follow then this that one did no evil Instances we have of this as the three young Worthies Dan. 3.17 whose gallantry of spirit was such that though they should not be delivered by their God yet they would not they were holily wilful they would not sin against their God nor so much as demur deliberate or take time to consider whether they should suffer or sin t was past dispute with them brave and noble