them â—d the greatest Sins Every thought â—ou thinkest and every word thou â—eakest in an unregenerate State and conâ—tion there is Sin in it and though most â— them possibly are but little Sins yet â— multitude of them alone are able to â—nk you down into the lowest Hell â—our Consciences start back and are â—frighted as indeed they ought at a â—emptation to Murder Incest Blasâ—emy or any of those more horrid Sins â—at are the prodigies of corrupt Nature â—ese Sins you dare not so much as comâ—it once And yet thousands of thouâ—nds of lesser Sins such as sinful Thoughts â—le Words petty Oaths commodious Lyes â—ese proceed from you without either â—riving against them or mourning for â—em Why now Sirs do you more fear â—tolerable and everlasting Wrath for â—e single Commission of a great Sin than you do for the frequent and repeated Commission of less Sins Truly â— cannot precisely tell you whether you had not as good Blaspheme God once aâ— take his Name in vain often whetheâ— it be not as good to Murder once as to hate always The frequency of little Sins makes their guilt so great and theiâ— punishment so intolerable that the vilest Sins you can imagine shall have nothing to exceed them in unless it be the horror of the Name of that Sin Anâ— yet it fares with us as it did with thâ— Israelites we tremble more at one Goliah than we do at the whole Army of thâ— Philistines One gross scandalous Siâ— makes Conscience recoil and go back when yet we venture upon the number less guilt of smaller Sins that have leâ— terror in their Name though united iâ— their guilt they bring far sorer Condemnation on the Soul than the single Commission of a great Sin What great diâ—ference is there whether your Eternaâ— burning be kindled by many sparks oâ— by one fire brand Whether you Die bâ— many smaller Wounds or by one greaâ— one Many little Items may make Debt desperate and the payment impossible And truly when God shall â—eckon up against us at the great Day many thousand vain Thoughts and as many superfluous idle Words with as many petty Oaths and Lyes that we â—ave been guilty of the account will be â—s dreadful and the Wrath that will â—ollow as insupportable as if Murder Blasphemy or the greatest outrage that â—ver was committed in the World were â—ingly charged upon us Thirdly It 's difficult to convince men of the evil of little Sins Consider it is very difficult â—o convince Men of the great Evil and Danger that there is in little Sins and â—herefore it is very difficult to bring them â—o Repentance for them Indeed this is â—he great and desperate Evil that there â—s in small Sins that Men will not be perswaded that they are Evil. Flagitious wickednesses are usually self condemning they carry that brand upon them that makes them evident to every Mans Conscience that they come from Hell and will certainly lead to Hell Rom. 1.33 and therefore the Apostle Rom. 1.33 after he had reckoned up a black Catalogue of Sins tells them in the last verse that though they were Heathens yet they knew the Judgments of God that they that committed such things were worthy of Death But now the guilt of little Sins is not so apparent the eye of a meer natural Conscience looks usually outward to the Life and Conversation and if that be plain and smooth it sees not or dispenseth with the lesser Sins of the Heart Hence is it that we so seldom confess or mourn for those that we call lesser Sins When is it that we are deeply humbled for the Omission of duties or for the slight and perfunctory performance of them these we look not upon as deserving Damnation and therefore we think they need no Repentance Nay are we not so far from judging and condemning our selves for them that we seek out pretences to excuse and lessen them calling them Slips Failings and vnavoidable Infirmities Gen. 19.20 And as Lot said of Zoar is it not a little one and our Souls shall live What can I think there is so much danger in a foolish Thought in a vain and inconsiderate Word Can I think that the great God will torment his poor creatures for ever for a Thought for a Word for a Glance yes believe it unless these Sins be done away in the Blood of Christ there is not the least of them but hath an infinite Evil in it and an infinite Wrath following of it If you will not now be convinced of it you shall be then when with dread and astonishment you shall hear God calling your little Sins by other Names than you now do you call them Failings and Infirmities but God will call them Presumptions and Rebellions What you say is but a vain Thought shall be arraign'd as Treason against God as Atheism and Soul Murder Then every formal heartless Duty that here you performed shall be accused of mocking and scoffing of God they are so interpretatively and in God's esteem and unless the guilt of them be done away by the Blood of sprinkling you will find them no less at the great and terrible Day of the Lord. Indeed the generality of Men have gotten a dangerous Method of doing away the guilt of their Sins great Sins they make to be little and little Sins they make to be none at all and thus they do away their Sins and so they Live in them customarily and Die in them impenitently and perish under them irrecoverably The least sin allow'd is a sign of an hypocritical Heart Fourthly Consider that the allowance anâ— cordial approbation but of the least Sin is â— certain sign of a most rotten and hypocriticaâ— Heart Be thy Conversation never sâ— blameless be thy profession never so glorious be thy Duties and Services never sâ— pompous yet if there be the secret reservation and allowance but of the leasâ— Sin all this is no more than so much vain show and pageantry Jam. 1.26 What says the Apostle Jam. 1.26 If any Man among you seem tâ— be Religious and bridleth not his Tongue that Man deceiveth himself his Religion is vain Why is it not strange that after so many prayers daily put up to God after an eminent profession and a considerable progress made in the ways of God that yet both the sincerity and success oâ— all this should depend upon so small â— thing as the tip of a man's Tongue If thaâ— be allowed to run at random into impertinencies not to say into Debaucheries and Prophaneness all your Duties all youâ— Prayers all your Profession is blown away by the same Tongue that uttered them and all your Religion will be in vain and let me add This seeming Religion will enâ— only in shame and confusion at the last when the Soul and Conscience of a sinner shall be ript open at the great Day before Men and Angels and that little Sin that kept God and Christ
So is it with the Law of God let Scribes and Pharisees corrupt it by their erroneous Glosses and false Interpretations â—utting what Forms and Shapes they â—ease upon it yet as it is in the corâ—ption of earthly Bodies not the least â—iece of Matter can perish or be annihiâ—ted so neither in their corrupting of â—he Law shall one jot or tittle of it fail â—ot but that the Law did fail of its obâ—ervation never yet was it exactly and â—unctually fulfilled by any except by â—ur Lord Jesus Christ but yet the Obâ—gation and binding Power of it is everâ—sting and shall continue while there â— an Earth and Men upon it yea while there is a Heaven glorified Saints â—â— it for the Moral Law is of an eternal â—alidity on Earth it is a perfect Rule â—et down in the Word in Heaven it is â— perfect Nature implanted in the Blesâ—ed from which all their Actions shall low and by which they shall all be guided to eternity This Assertion being laid down our Saviour proceeds to draw an Inference â—rom it and that he doth in the Words â—f the Text If every jot and tittle of â—he Law be of such a permanent and everlasting Obligation then whosoever shall break one of these least Commandments and teach Men so he shall be called that is he shall be or he deserves to bâ— the least in the Kingdom of Heaven Opening of the Words And here before we can arrive at thâ— full and practical Sense of the Words we must enquire into Two Things First What is here meant by the least Commandment Secondly What is meant by being least in the Kingdom of Heaven What is meant by the least Commandment For the First of these When Christ speaks here of the least Commandment it must not be so understood as if one Commandment were less necessary to be observed than another God's Commands are all alike necessary and that with a twofold Necessity Necessitate Praecepti Necessitate Medii The one ariseth from the Authority of the Law-giver the other from the Requisiteness of Obedience to eternal Life One Command therefore is not less than another First No Command little in respect of God's Authority In respect of the Authority enâ—yning them The same holy and just â—od who hath commanded us to love â—nd fear him with all our Souls and with â—l our Might hath also commanded us â— abstain from every vain Thought â—nd from every idle and superfluous â—ord The least Command hath power â— bind the Conscience to Obedience as â—ell as the greatest because the least â— enacted by that Sovereign God to â—hom all Souls and Consciences are subâ—ct as well as the greatest It is not â—he greatness or smallness of the Coin â—ut the Image of the King stamp'd upon â— that authorizeth it and makes it â—arrant So truly the Holiness and Puâ—ty of God's Nature once imprinted upâ—n the least Command makes it fully as â—uthoritative and Obligatory as if it â—ere the highest and the chiefest Nor Secondly No Command less necessary to be obeyed is one Command less â—han another as if it were less necessary â—o be performed in order to Eternal Life The Breach of the least Commandment â—oth as certainly shut the Soul out of Heaven and shut it up under Wrath and Condemnation as the breach of the greatest In neither of these sences therefore must the Words be understood aâ— if our Obedience were required more râ—missly or left more arbitrary to the one than to the other or as if the observation of them all were not equally conducible unto Happiness or the transgression of them equally liable unto punishment When therefore Christ speaks oâ— the least Commandment the expression may admit of a twofold signification First That herein he alludes to thâ— common and corrupt Doctrine of the Scribes and Pharisees distinguishing God's Commands into great and small The great Commandments they held to be those only which concerned the external Acts of Religious Worship such as Fastings and Washings and Sacrifices and scrupulous Tithings with various Gifts and Offerings these were their great Commandments but for inward Concupiscence for unmortified Lusts for vain Thoughts and sinful Desires these they as a Generation corrupt in themselves and Corrupters of others taught as the Papists now do either to be no Sins at all or at most but venial so long as they did not break forth into Act and truly the greater part of this Chapter is spent in setting forth the evil of â—hose Sins that the Jews accounted to be â—â—ght and small Matth. 5.22 28 29. as to be angry with our â—rother to call him Racha or thou Fool â—erse 22. To harbour inward Motions â—f Concupiscence ver 28. To use Diâ—orce ver 29. Common Swearing ver 34. Private Revenge ver 39. Now says our â—aviour I am so far from destroying the Law and the Prophets either by my Doctrine or by my Practice as these Men falsly accuse and calumniate me â—hat contrariwise I teach that the violatiâ—n of those Commands which your Doâ—tors the Scribes and Pharisees account â—mall and little will bring with them â—n heavy guilt and sore condemnation or whosoever breaks those Commandments that are commonly vilify'd and called least shall be the least in the Kingdom of Heaven Secondly Those Commandments which â—re great in respect of the Lawgiver may yet be the least in comparison with other Commands of the same Law which â—re indeed thought greatest Now this comparative inequality in the Commandments is taken from the inequality of the Objects about which they are conversant some of them concern our Duty to God others concern our Duty to Man Now because Man is infinitely less than God therefore those Commands that relate to our Duty towards Man may be called less than those Commands that relate to our Duty towards God Hence when the Lawyer put a Case to our Saviour Matth. 22.36 Mat. 22.36 Master which is the great Commandment in the Law Our Lord answers him Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind This says he is the first and great Commandment Sometimes this inequality riseth from the Latitude that every Command hath in it Now this Latitude relateth to our Thoughts to our Words and to our Actions Now because a Thought may be said to be less than a Word and a Word may be said to be less than an Action therefore that part of the Commandment that requires Holiness in our Thoughts may be said to be less than that which requires Holiness in our Speech and that part of the Commandment which requires Holiness in our Speech than that which requires Holiness in our Lives and Actions Now says our Saviour he that sins against Man as well as he that sins against Gâ—d he that sins in a Thought in a Word as well as he that sins in his Actions and Conversation He that breaks
and Eternal Salvation out shall openly be shew'd â—o all the World and laughed at by all â—he World that such a Sin should keep â— Man from Heaven and Eternal Happiness And therefore says David Psal 119.6 Psal 119.6 Then shall I not be ashamed when I â—ave respect unto all thy Commandments To have respect to some of God's Commandments and not to all is now Hypocrisy and will at last be shame and â—onfusion It is a most certain Truth â—hat though the Commission of the greaâ—est Sin be consistent with the truth of Grace yet so is not the approbation of â—he least Sin Oh! what a severe and criâ—ical thing is true Holyness that will no more allow the least Transgression than â—he greatest nor more tolerate the deâ—ilement of Dust in our Hearts than a Dunghill We have all of us need thereâ—ore to pray with David Psal 139.23 Psal 139.23 Search me O Lord and try my Heart try me and know my Thoughts and see if â—here be any evil way in me because our Sins may be so little as to escape our own â—earch and because the least Sin if let alone in the Heart will like a small speck in fruit spread to a total rottenness Therefore O Lord do thou search and try us and if there be any way of wickedness in us cast thou out our Corruptions that so thou maist not cast us out as corrupt and rotten at the last Little Sins make way for greater Sins Fifthly Consider little Sins do usually make way and open a passage into the Heart for the greatest and vilest Sins Thus a little thief that creeps in at the Window may unlock the Door for others that stand without And thus in fared with David while sensual Delight crept in by the eye at the sight of Bathsheba it opened his Heart to the temptation and in rusht those two outrageous Sins of Adultery and Murder Believe it there is no Sin so small but tends to the utmost wickedness that can possibly be committed An irreverent Thought of God tends to no less than Blasphemy and Atheism A slight grudge at another tends to no less than Murder A lascivious Thought tends to no less than impudent and common Prostitution And though at first they seem to play only singly about the Heart yet within a while they will mortally wound it There are two things give little Sins their growth and increase First The Devil by his Temptations is continually nursing up youngling Sins till they arrive to a full strength and stature of wickedness He is continually suiting Occasions and Temptations to the propensions of our Lusts Hath he wrought any sinful desire or any evil purpose in you he will take care you shall not long want an occasion to fulfil it Were it not for his vigilancy many a Sin must needs Die in the Womb that conceived it but as it was conceived by his Temptations so is it brought forth by his industry and diligence Secondly Natural Corruption it self is of a thriving growing Nature If any Lust hath seized strongly on the thoughts and boils there it will vent it self in Discourse A bad Heart as well as a bad Liver will break out at the Lips and if the Discourse be poysonous the Venom will spread it self into the Life and Conversation for out of the abundance of the Heart the Mouth speaketh and evil Words corrupt good Manners Sinful Thoughts form themselves into Words and Words will consolidate themselves into Actions and then Sin is perfected and hath attained its full growth And if you would know what the next degree or step is that Sin takes the Apostle St. James tells you Jam. 1.15 When Lust hath conceived it bringeth forth Sin and Sin when it is perfected bringeth forth Death You can no more set bounds to your Corruptions than to the raging Sea nor say to it Hitherto shall thy proud Waves go and no further It were Folly when you have set fire to a Train of Powder to expect it should stop any where short of the utmost of it So truly when the Thoughts are set on fire of Hell this will inflame the Tongue and that will inflame the Life and unless God's infinite Mercy prevent this burning will stop no where short of everlasting burning Ask but your own Experiences this Have you not often found it so Hath not the Devil drill'd you on from little Sins to great Sins and from these to far greater Abominations Believe it there is a bottomless deceit in every Sin and this is the desperate issue of it that if once you come to account any Sin small you will soon reckon the greatest Sin to be no more We commonly reckon the greatness of Sin by the abruptness of our advance to it Possibly it would seem a horrid thing at the first rising of a Temptation in our hearts if we should presently perpetrate the utmost of it into Act therefore the Method of Sin is more smooth and deceitful it counts a sinful Thought a little Transgression and sinful Discourse to have but a little more guilt in it than a sinful Thought and sinful Actions to have but a little more guilt in them than sinful Words A great Sin but in a little degree exceeds a less and so comparing Sin with Sin and not with the Law we at length come by invisible Advances to look upon the greatest Impieties in the world to be but little Sins and so to commit them If Satan prevails with us to go with him one step out of our way we are in danger to stop no where till we come to the height of all Prophaneness he will make us take a second and a third and so to travel on to Destruction for each of these is but one step the last step of Sin is but one step as well as the first and if the Devil prevails with us to take one step why should he not prevail with us to take the last step as well as the first step seeing it is but one Your second Sin no more exceeds your first than your first doth your Duty and so of the rest We should not therefore account any Sin small but look upon them as the spawn of all the vilest Abominations And as you would abhor Death and Hell so abhor the least Sin because it hath a Plot upon us in subserviency to greater Sins that without infinite Mercy will certainly bring to and terminate in Death and Hell Little Sins so called are indeed the greatest Sixthly Consider that those Sins that we commonly call the least are indeed the greatest and vilest Provocations Some Sins are Sins of greater Infamy and Scandal other Sins are Sins of greater Guilt and Sinfulness rude and blustering Sins Those Sins that are of greater Infamy are such as make him that commits them a scandalous person and these are commonly reputed great and crying Sins by the World If a Man be a Swearer or a Drunkard a
we are he is ensnared and entrapped in those Sins to the Occasions of which we lead him by our Example Secondly It proves also a Scandal of Sorrow to the strong Christians They see such probable signs and presumptions of Sin by us that they justly conclude that certainly we are guilty of those Sins and thereby their Hearts also are sadned and grieved And that is the first Reason why we must forbear all appearance of evil that is built upon strong presumptions that we have indeed committed the Evil. Secondly Another Reason is because all such Occasions of Sin and such Appearances of Sin have guilt in them also as being against the same Commandment that that Sin violates and tends unto for the same Commandment that forbids the Sin it self forbids all occasions and all appearances of that Sin That Commandment that forbids Theft forbids also whatever may induce though but remotely thereunto And that Commandment that forbids Adultery forbids also all remote occasions thereof Hence it is that Solomon gives the young man that scrupulous Caution against a strange Woman in Prov. 5.8 Come not near the door of her House Why to pass by the door of her House is not in it self unlawful but yet when this may be justly feared to prove an occasion of Sin or when by going near a House it may be strongly presumed by others that we are guilty of any Sin then it must be carefully avoided and abstained from So again When the Wine looks red in the Cup Solomon bids us that we should not then look upon it Why to look upon the Wine in the Cup is not a thing that is unlawful but because this may be an occasion of Intemperance and Drunkenness or the like therefore we must abstain from this very appearance and occasion of Evil. So then in the appearance of Evil there is not only the evil of Scandal given to others but there is also the evil of guilt in it self And therefore let us all examine our selves what at any time hath proved a snare to us and what hath been an occasion of sinning Have you not often said it and resolved it that you will venture but so far and no farther and though you do approach near to Sin yet you will keep your selves within your Duty and have you not found it that when you have ventured thus upon the occasions of Sin you have stopt no where short of the commission of those Sins This is to put your selves out of God's way and to put your selves from under his protection for God doth not usually keep them from the commission of Sin who do not keep themselves from the Occasions and Appearances of Sin And so much for the First Position But if in case an Action appears evil to a Man's self though this apprehension of it be wholly groundless then I shall lay down this Second Position And that is Though an Action be in it self indifferent yet if it appear evil and sinful to us we ought not in any case while that mis-perswasion continues to venture upon the doing of it no though by doing of it we might avoid the greatest Evil Yea we are rather if Providence bring us to that sad choice to lose our very Lives than to do any thing against the perswasions of our own Consciences though in it self it be not evil or sinful The reason of this is clear because we are rather to chuse the greatest Affliction and Suffering than to commit the least Sin but now to go contrary to the Dictates and Perswasions of our own Consciences this is Sin Rom. 14.23 Whatever is not of Faith is Sin that is whatever a Man doth if he be not fully perswaded and convinced of the lawfulness thereof in his own Conscience that is a Sin to him that ventures upon it while he is unsatisfied though the Thing in it self may be lawful And he that doubteth says the Apostle in the same Verse is damned if he eateth that is though there be no real difference betwixt one kind of Meat and another but all are alike lawful yet if a scrupulous Conscience puts a difference betwixt them where there is none and if it account it unlawful to eat of some sorts of Meat if after this a Man ventures to eat them hereby he sins says the Apostle and incurs damnation by doing that against his Conscience that yet were his Conscience otherwise informed were lawful for him to do And so in Rom. 14.20 For Meat destroy not the Work of God all things are pure but it is evil for him who eateth with offence These and many other Places clearly prove that what is done against a Man's own Conscience that is sinful to that Man Conscience hath the priviledge of a Negative Vote in the Soul nothing can lawfully be done by us but what hath the full consent and approbation of our Consciences and though every thing we think is lawful doth not thereupon presently become lawful to us yet what we think is unlawful doth thereupon become unlawful for us to do and we ought whatever the case be wholly to abstain from the doing of it Thirdly If the Action that we judge evil and unlawful to us be our Duty and so becomes necessary to us then are we under a most sad entanglement we sin if we do it and we sin also unless we do it This is the unhappiness of many that through a mis-informed Conscience they verily believe they ought to abstain from that which is indeed their Duty and to do that wherein they sin indeed if they do it And so Christ speaks of some that thought verily they did God good Service when they persecuted and murdered his Saints in John 16.2 If they did not what they thought was good service to God they sinned on that hand and yet if they killed the Saints which they judged to be good service they sinned on that hand also so that they were entangled on both hands So is it in our days also we have seen and known many that thought it their duty to abstain from Ordinances yea who thought it their duty to perform no Duty at all to God Now if these Men abstain from them they sin in doing that which is contrary to what God commands if they use them they sin too because they do that which is contrary to what Conscience commands So that it is indeed the greatest Plague and Punishment in the World for God to give Men up to the power of an erroneous and mis-guided Conscience Now it appears that whatever a Man doth against his Conscience be the Action indifferent or be the Action his Duty and so is necessary yet he sins Which is evident in two Things First Because there is no man but thinks his Conscience is rightly informed no man thinks his Conscience erroneous every one judgeth himself to be in the right and to be rightly informed Now if he thus judgeth and acts contrarily he sins because
he intends to sin and therefore by crossing an erroneous Conscience though possibly he doth well in the Action yet he sins in Intention since he doth that that he himself thinks doth cross the Rule by which he should walk Secondly Another Reason is this because by acting contrary to Conscience though mis-informed and erroneous we do contemn the Authority and Will of God and therefore it is Sin We are all to guide our Consciences by the Word that is God's written Will and we are all to guide our Lives by our Consciences No man thinks his Conscience to be erroneous but thinks it to be according to the Will of God Now if we do not act accordingly we sin as much as if indeed it were informed according to the Will of God Conscience is God's Deputy and Vice-gerent in the Soul and what Conscience saith we think it is God that commands whether it be or not and to act contrary to it is vertually and implicitely to disobey God because we think what Conscience speaks God speaks and therefore it is very sad to fall under the entanglements of an erroneous Conscience for then we are under a sad necessity of sinning on both hands if we act according to it we sin and if we act not according to it we sin We should therefore above all things heartily beg and desire of God who is the Lord of Conscience that he would rightly inform our Consciences in those things that are our Duties that so by guiding our Lives by our Consciences we may guide them also according to his Will These Three Positions now respect those things that appear evil to our selves but then there are other Things that have a good Appearance unto us that yet may have an evil Appearance to others they may scruple and be offended at what we do though for our own parts we our selves are sufficiently satisfied in the Lawfulness of it And indeed our Times what through different Customs and Interests have brought Men's Consciences also to such different sizes that it is utterly impossible but some will condemn what others allow as lawful yea what others not only allow but stiffly maintain to be necessary and our Duty How then should we behave our selves in this Case What Rules must we walk by so as to keep Consciences void of offence not only to God but as far as is possible towards Men also In this if any thing that belongs to Christianity there lies a great deal of difficulty to state the Case aright or aright to practise it and the Difficulty is increased from these two Considerations which I shall lay down as general Premises to the following Discourse First If we give no power to the scrupulous Judgments of weak and tender Consciences to oblige us to Duty to abstain from what appears evil to them then we shall sin evidently against the Law of Charity and against many Apostolical Injunctions and Commands that we should have respect to their Opinions and Censures especially in Rom. 14. and in 1 Cor. chap. 8 10. almost throughout Indeed there is scarce any one thing belonging to Christianity that hath more Rules and Prescripts oftner prescribed by the Apostle to us than this of abstaining from offending the weak Consciences of others Secondly If we make other Mens Consciences the Rule of ours and if we lay down this for a Maxim That we ought to do nothing that appears evil to another This First would be utterly impossible since Men are of such contrary Perswasions that if the doing of an Action appear evil to one the omission thereof appears as evil to another so that unless we can at once both do it and not do it some will unavoidably take offence at it and be scandalized at us Secondly This would abridge yea utterly destroy all Christian Liberty in things indifferent because if nothing should be lawful that another scruples then almost every thing would become sinful since almost every thing is scrupled by some or other In vain therefore is it to reckon it as our Priviledge that we are freed from the Old Ceremonial Law and that heavy Yoke of Ordinances that none were able to bear if yet Christian Religion brings our Consciences under the most imperious Laws of mens Humours Censures and Opinions it were far easier to abserve all the Levitical Law from one end of it to the other than to be bound to those worldly Rudiments as the Apostle calls them in Col. 2. Touch not taste not handle not wear not speak not if such a Person be offended at it and count it unlawful Now from the consideration of these Two Particulars I shall lay down this Fourth Position concerning Abstinence from the Appearance of Evil in respect of others and that is if the Appearance of Evil is to others and not to our selves then in some Cases we are bound in Duty and Conscience to abstain from it and in others not Whatever hath the Shew or Appearance of Evil in it it must either be commanded and so it is necessary or else it is left indifferent and arbitrary and accordingly we may take these following Rules First If so be those things that appear evil only to others either are in themselves or at least they appear to us to be commanded and so necessary we are bound not to regard yea we are bound to despise and scorn the Scruples of all the World if they will be offended at us for doing of that which is our duty let them be offended we may in this case use the same Plea that the Apostles did Acts 4.19 Whether it be right before the Lord to obey Men rather than God judge ye To perform a Duty can be but a Scandal to men at the most and those also usually of the prophaner sort but to omit a Duty for fear of Scandalizing men is a Scandal and an Offence even unto God himself It is most preposterous Charity to run upon Sin in our selves only to prevent Scandal in others Though all the World censure Holiness and Strictness of Life to be only a soure and rigid humour and an affectation of Singularity yet must we not upon any pretence of gratifying their humour or winning upon them remit the least part of that severity that the Law of God and our Consciences require from us But what if suppose as too often it happens that this strictness and holy severity proves to be an occasion of Sin unto others accidentally what must we do in that case What is it that makes so many hate Religion and scoff at the Professors thereof but only their Lives are too morose and reserved Duties are too frequent and tedious so that some laugh and mock others storm and rage and all are frighted from the embracing of that Profession that requires so much Rigour and Severity Why be it so yet we must not abate any thing of our Duty nor sin our selves to keep others from sinning Is it your duty
to pray or are you call'd to any other Duty though you are assured that all that hear you will scoff at you yet you ought not therefore for fear of it to forbear that Duty or to lessen your Fervency and Affection in it Here indeed is required much Spiritual Prudence and Discretion to discern the Seasons of our Duty for several Circumstances and among those Offences that wicked Men may take it may make that cease from being a Duty that at other times is our Duty And therefore the Wise Man in Prov. 26.4 bids us not to answer a Fool according to his Folly and yet in the next Verse he bids us answer a Fool according to his Folly Two Commands quite contrary in two Verses following one another Now this is to note to us That according to several Circumstances and several Opportunities it may be our duty to abstain at one time from that that at another time it is our duty to do it is our duty sometimes not to reprove a Fool but to answer him according to his Folly and according to divers Circumstances at another time it is our duty to reprove him and not to answer him according to his Folly But yet notwithstanding that which is our duty in its particular season and which we are convinced to be so we ought to perform it though all the World be offended at it yea and if it were possible that it should prove an occasion of Sin unto all the World for as we must not do evil out of hope that it may prove an occasion of good so neither must we forbear the doing of good that evil may occasionally ensue thereupon Our Saviour Jesus Christ was as it was prophesied of him to be a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offence almost all were scandalized at him some at his Doctrine as a despiser of the Law of Moses others at his Conversation as being a Glutton a Wine-bibber and a Friend of Publicans and Sinners but yet for all these Out-cries he alters nothing either in his Teaching or his Living but whilst they are clamouring against him and speaking evil of him he still goes about doing good And truly those that will be the Disciples and Followers of Christ though the way in which they are to worship and serve God be generally decried and every where spoken against and carp'd at as needless Peevishness yet if it be a known Duty they must not they ought not to put themselves out of the way of their obedience to put others out of their groundless Offences Only let me add a necessary Caution to this Particular also for we cannot be too exact in stating this Case of giving offence to others and that is this If that appear a Duty to us that hath an Appearance of Evil in it to the generality of the most sober and serious Christians let us suppose that why now though this should not presently sway our Consciences yet it should engage us to make a strict Search and Enquiry whether it be our duty or not if it is that which is contrary to the Opinion and Practice of holy and pious Christians it ought to have this Authority with us to put us to a stand and to make us to examine whether that which we account a Duty be indeed a Duty or not As for instance some among us at this day are perswaded that they ought to worship God one way and some another and what appears a Duty to one hath the appearance of Evil in it to another why now follow neither of these because it is their Judgment and Practice but yet if thy perswasion be contrary to the perswasion of the most pious and most sober Christians this ought so far to prevail as to make men suspect lest they are mistaken and to put them upon a diligent Enquiry and an impartial Search into their Grounds and Arguments but after all still follow that which you are convinced in your own Conscience is your Duty how evil soever it may appear to others either one way or other And that 's the first Particular If those things appear evil to others that are our duty or necessary or that appear so to us we ought not to regard the Censures and Opinions of others concerning it Secondly If so be those things that are in themselves indifferent and appear to us so to be have yet an evil appearance unto others if they be offended and scandalized at them then the Rule of Christian Charity obligeth us to abstain from them I call those Things indifferent that are neither in themselves forbidden nor yet commanded but only permitted and left to the arbitrary government of every private Christian's Prudence and Discretion As for instance under the Levitical Law some kinds of Meat were unlawful as in Lev. 11. And some kinds of Garments were unlawful to be worn as in Lev. 19.19 But now under the Gospel since the abolishing of those Carnal Ordinances as the Apostle calls them Heb. 9.4 both all sorts of Meat become lawful whilst we use them within the Bounds of Temperance and Moderation and all sorts of Garments may be lawfully worn while we use them within the Bounds of Modesty and Decency These Things are left free for us to use them or not to use them without Sin according to our own conveniency and discretion These Things I call indifferent Things And yet such is the strictness of Christian Religion that these indifferent lawful Things are not to be used at random neither It is a certain Truth though it may seem a Paradox that we never sin in any thing more than in doing that which is in it self lawful in these things we usually offend either by using them immoderately or with a neglect yea with a contempt of those Consciences that are weak The Use of our Christian Liberty is not uncontroulable but God hath subjected it to the Consciences of others so that it is utterly unlawful for us to do that which is in it self lawful if it give offence unto others How this ought to be limited I shall shew you by and by in the mean time see it clearly proved out of 1 Cor. 10. from v. 25. to the end Where the Apostle decides this Question Whether it were lawful to eat Meat that was offered to Idols For the understanding of this you must know it was a custom among the Heathens to offer Cattel in Sacrifice to their Idol-Gods part whereof they did eat in their Religious Feasts in the Temple selling the Remainder in the common Market Now the Question was not Whether it was unlawful to join with the Heathens in eating of their Sacrifices in the Temple before their Idols for this were to join with them in their Idolatrous Worship But there were some more scrupulous Christians among them that judged it unlawful to eat of those Sacrifices when sold in the Shambles or common Market the Apostle now there determines this Matter to be
to the very Death and therefore though his Sins were foul Sins yet they cannot be called presumptuous Sins but rather Sins of weakness and infirmity And so there are divers Christians that are overtaken with Faults against their Resolutions and Prayers yea and contrary to their own Expectations now the Sins of such persons are not presumptuous Sins but then a Sin becomes presumptuous when it is committed after long deliberation premeditation and Fore-cast There is a twofold Deliberation that makes a Sin presumptuous First When a Man sins after he hath deliberated with himself whether he shall sin or not When upon debating the Case at length after much pondering and consideration he consents to Sin And thus though St. Peter denied his Master upon a Surprizal yet Judas betray'd him upon deliberation Now this is most desperate high Presumption to sin when a man ponders and considers with himself and weighs the Reasons on both sides whether he shall sin or not and yet truly of such presumptuous Sins as these are we may all of us be found guilty Why ask but your selves Did you never commit a Sin after you had weighed in your deliberate Thoughts all Circumstances putting in the beneficial Consequences the Pleasure Profit and Credit of Sin in the one Balance and the dangerous and destructive Consequences that Wrath and Hell that is due to Sin in the other Balance who of us all can acquit himself from being guilty of sinning after such Comparisons as these are have been made after the due weighing both of Sin and our Duty and yet have we not chosen the Sin before our Duty Truly to sin after such deliberate Comparisons as these are â—s a provoking and a presumptuous Sin Secondly When Men do deliberate and contrive how they may sin to the greatest advantage how they may make the most of their Iniquities when they plot and contrive with themselves how they may squeeze and draw out the very utmost of all that Pleasure and Sweet that they imagine Sin carries with it this makes that Sin a presumptuous Sin Thus those Drunkards contrived to prolong their Sin Isaiah 56. v. 12. Come say they we will fetch Wine and fill our selves with strong Drink and to morrow shall be as this day and much more abundant Here they forecasted to make as great advantage as they could of their Drunkenness and to get as much pleasure out of it as they could This now is most presumptuous Sinning Thus the Prophet Jeremy also speaks of those that were wise to do evil Jer. 4.22 That could improve Sin to the very utmost that could get more out of a Sin by their Husbanding of it than another could that had not that Skill and Mystery these are wise to do evil and such are presumptuous Sins when men stretch and strain their Wits brim-full of sinfâ—â— Devices either so as they may reap mosâ— from them or so as they may keep their Wickedness secret from the observation and notice of men then they sin presumptuously Do not therefore flatteâ— your selves that though indeed you are Sinners as who indeed is not yet you sin only through weakness and infirmity Why ask your own Consciences Did you never sin or do you not use to sin upon premeditation and fore-cast When you have conceived Sin in your own hearts do you not nurse it and nourish it there till you find some fit opportunity to commit it plotting to lay hold on some fit occasion to act some wicked imagination that you have hatched in your own Heart If so this is clear your sinning is not out of weakness but from stubbornness and wilfulness The more calm and quiet the Affections are the more presumptuous is that Sin Thirdly The more quiet calm your Affections are when you sin the more free you are from the hurryings perturbations of Passions when you sin the more presumptuous are your Sins Indeed it is no sufficient excuse that you sin in a Passion no more than it is for a Murtherer to say he was drunk when he did it but yet this takes off something from the presumption in sinning Then a man is a â—old and arrogant Sinner when he can sin calmly and bid defiance to God and Heaven in cold Blood Now St. Peter's Denial of Christ it was from the excessive Passion of Fear that then surprized him and scattered his Graces but when that Passion was over he recruited again but now Judas had no Passion but the wickedness of his own heart wrought quietly and calmly in him to the betraying of his Master When the winds rage violently no wonder if sometimes the tallest Cedars are overthrown by them but those Trees that fall of their own accord when the Air is still and calm it is a certain sign they were rotten So it is in this Case when the Tempest of Passion rageth be it Fear or any other Passion and Perturbation of the Mind no wonder if sometimes the tallest and the strongest Christians fall are cast down and overwhelmed by it but if men fall into Sin when their intellectuals are clear and when their Reason is calm and undisturbed truly this is a certain sign these Men are rotten and these presumptuous sins have gotten dominion over them for they fall like rotten Trees of their own accord without any Tempest of Passion to stiâ— them We may know whether we sin presumptuously by our Temptations and how Fourthly When at any time you commit a Sin consider what the Temptations are that assault you and how you behave your selves under those Temptations for from thence you may conjecture whether your Sins be presumptuous or not Temptations as they are strong Inducements unto Sin so sometimes they are great mitigations of Sin the more violently the Soul is bated and wearied with Temptations the less presumption is it guilty of if at length it yields this God doth judge to be weakness not wilfulness he knows our Frame that we are but Dust and Ashes that we are no match for Principalities and Powers and those mighty Enemies that we are to combat with we can no more stand before them than so much loose Dust before a fierce and rapid Whirlwind yea were there no Devil â—o tempt yet the Corruptions of our â—wn Hearts are much too hard for us â—ut when both our own Lusts and the Devil shall conspire together the one â—o betray us with all its Deceitfulness â—nd the other to force us with all its Power who then can stand if God at such a time as this is withdraw his Grace â—nd Spirit as sometimes he doth from the best of his Servants where is the Christian that ever coped with these Temptations and was not vanquished and captivated by them It is true when God assists him the weakest Christian proves victorious over the strongest Temptations A Dwarf may beat a Giant when he is manacled that he cannot stir or resist God sees that Satan â—is an over-match for