thing a wicked man had or any action he did might be good or bring good to him in reason it was the Services and Sacrifices wherein he did approach unto God and perform Service to him and yet the Sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord Prov. 28. 9. and Tit. 1. 15. To the pure all things are pure but to the unbeleeving there is nothing pure but their very Consciences are 〈◊〉 It is a desperate Malignity in the temper of the Stomach that should turn our Meat and diet into Diseases the best Cordials and Preservatives into Poysons so that what in reason is 〈◊〉 to nourish a man should kill him Such is the venom and malignity of sin makes the use of the best things become evil nay the greatest evil to us many times Psal. 10. 9. 7. Let his prayer be turned into sin That which is appointed by God to be the choycest 〈◊〉 to prevent sin is turned into sin out of the corrupt distemper of these carnal hearts of ours Hence then it follows That sin is the greatest evil in the world or indeed that can be For That which separates the soul from God that which brings all evils of punishment and makes all evils truly evil and spoils all good things to us that must needs be the greatest evil but this is the nature of sin as hath already appeared But that which I will mainly press is Sin is only opposite to God and cross as much as can be to that infinite goodness and 〈◊〉 which is in his blessed Majesty it 's not the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 distresses that men undergo that the Lord distasts them for or estrangeth himself from them he is with Joseph in the Prison with the three Children in the 〈◊〉 with Lazarus when he lies among the Dogs and gathers the 〈◊〉 from the rich Mans Table yea with Joh upon the dung-hil but he is not able to bear the presence of sin yea of this temper are his dearest servants the more of God is in them the more opposite they are to sin where ever they find it It was that he commended in the Church of Ephesus That she could not bear those that were wicked Rev. 2. 3. As when the Stomach is of a pure temper and 〈◊〉 strength the least surfet or distemper that befals it presently distasts and disburdens it self with speed So David noted to be a man after Gods own heart He professeth 101. Psal. 3. 7. I hate the work of them that turn aside he that worketh deceit shall not dwell in my house he that telleth lyes shall not tarry in my sight But when the heart becomes like the Stomach 〈◊〉 weak it cannot help it self nor be helped by Physick desperate diseases and dissolution of the whol follows and in reason must be expected Hence see how God looks at the least connivance or a faint and seeble kind of opposition against sin as that in which he is most highly dishonored and he follows it with most hideous plagues as that indulgent carriage of Ely towards the vile behavior of his Sons for their grosser evils 1 Sam. 2. 23. Why do you such things It 's not well my Sons that I hear such things It is not well and is that all why had they either out of ignorance not known their duty or out of some sudden surprisal of a temptation neglected it it had not been well but for them so purposedly to proceed on in the practice of such gross evils and for him so faintly to reprove The Lord looks at it as a great sin thus feebly to oppose sin and therefore verse 29. he tells him That he honored his Sons above God and therefore he professeth Far be it from me to maintain thy house and comfort for he that honors me I wil honor and he that despiseth me shall be lightly esteemed verse 30. Hence it is the Lord himself is called the holy one of Israel 1. Hab. 12. Who is of 〈◊〉 eyes than to behold evil and cannot look upon iniquity no not in such as profess themselves Saints though most deer unto 〈◊〉 no nor in his Son the Lord Jesus not in his Saints Amos 8. 7. The Lord hath sworn by himself I abhor the excellency of Jacob what ever their excellencies their priviledges are if they do not abhor sin God will abhor them Jer. 22. 24. Though Coniah was as the Signet of my right hand thence would I pluck him Nay he could not endure the appearance of it in the Lord Christ for when but the reflection of sin as I may so say fell upon our Savior even the imputation of our transgressions to him though none iniquity was ever committed by him the Father withdrew his comforting presence from him and let loose his infinite displeasure against him forcing him to cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken 〈◊〉 Yea Sin is so evil that though it be in Nature which is the good Creature of God that there is no good in it nothing that God will own but in the evil of punishment it is otherwise for the torments of the Devils and punishments of the damned in Hell and all the plagues inflicted upon the wicked upon Earth issue from the righteous and revenging Justice of the Lord and he doth own such execution as his proper work Isa. 45. 7. Is there any evil in the City viz. of punishment and the Lord hath not 〈◊〉 it I make peace I create evil I the Lord do all these things It issues from the Justice of God that he cannot but reward every one according to his own waies and works those are a mans own the holy one of Israel hath no hand in them but he is the just Executioner of the plagues that are inflicted and suffered for these and hence our blessed Savior becoming our Surety and standing in our room he endured the pains of the Second death even the fiercenes of the fury of an offended God and yet it was impossible he could commit the least sin or be tainted with the least corrupt distemper And it 's certain it 's better to 〈◊〉 all 〈◊〉 without any one sin than to commit the least sin and to be freed from all plagues Suppose that all miseries and sorrows that ever befel all the wicked in Earth and Hell should meet together in one soul as all waters gathered together in one Sea Suppose thou heardest the Devils roaring and sawest Hell gaping and the flames of everlasting burnings 〈◊〉 before thine eyes it 's certain it were better for thee to be cast into those inconceivable 〈◊〉 than to commit the least sin against the Lord Thou dost not think so now but thou wilt find it so one day But if sin be thus vile in its own nature why do not men so discern it so judg it That I may give a full Answer to this Question I shall first shew the Causes of mistake and secondly the Cure For the first There
the Ministery to give the Knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4. 8. To darken Knowledg therefore is to cross Gods Honor our own Callings the Comforts of the People over whom we are set and to be concealers of Gods Mind not Interpreters and Revealers of his Will 〈◊〉 is only one Plea here Objected that carries any appearance of likelihood with it gathered out of Eccles. 12. 10. where it is said The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words and that that was written was upright even words of truth Was it Solomons Care directed by the Spirit to study pleasing words to affect his Hearers Should not his practice be a pattern to all to imitate him in like expressions Dare any affirm but that he did what he ought And shall any be so careless or presumptuous as not to endeavor to follow that course recorded with so much Commendation by the Holy Ghost I yeild willingly to all the Truths which the Text holds out unto us but it shall appear that nothing can from thence by just consequence be Collected that will cross but rather confirm and that undoubtedly what hath been affirmed before That the Writings of men should be sound their Speeches acceptable is granted but when are they how shall they be judged to be such That 's the Doubt which once Cleered the Objection will be Answered fully Words then must be judged acceptable not by the foolish fancies corrupt and carnal humors of men but from the warrant they have from the scripture and the work they have in the hearts of the Hearers for their good as the 11. vers of Eccles. 12. discovers it being added as it were by way of Explication to evidence where that pleasantness of Speech lay The words of the wise are as Goads and Nails fastened by the Masters of Assemblies which are given by one Shepheard As though the Preacher should have expressed himself more freely and fully thus If any shall ask what these acceptable words formerly mentioned are and how they may be 〈◊〉 it is easie for any thus to know them by their working upon the heart as we judge the goodness and virtue of Phyfick by its working upon the body or in the stomach Those words which are as Goads to awaken and spur on the 〈◊〉 and sleepy hearted to the performance of service with greater 〈◊〉 and speed those that are as 〈◊〉 so to fast on the 〈◊〉 truths of God upon the Consciences of men that they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the compass of Gods command as Sheep within the fold Lastly Those words which are endited 〈◊〉 not by 〈◊〉 wisdom but by the Spirit of Christ 1 Cor. 2. 4. who is the only chief Shepheard of his Church and whose voice should only be heard such words should be sought out by the speaker such words 〈◊〉 to be accounted acceptable by those who hear them Now how far all quaintness and 〈◊〉 of speech is from this warrant of the Lord or this powerfull work in the hearts of his people let the sluggish and secure courses the loose lives and 〈◊〉 of such persons parishes places and congregations who have and love such teachers and such kind of teaching proclaim and testifie to al the world Plainness of Preaching appears also in the matter that is spoken when sin and sinners are set out in their native and natural colours and carry their proper names whereby they may be owned suitable to the loathsomness that is in them and the danger of those evils which are their undoubted reward A Spade is a Spade and a Drunkard is a Drunkard c. and if he will have his Sins he must and shall have 〈◊〉 with them It s Satans Policy who painter or tyre-maker like cozens all the world with colors to 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 wayes of 〈◊〉 and the glorious Graces of the Spirit with the soot and dirt of reproaches and base nick-names Sincerity he terms Singularity 〈◊〉 Puritanism and Hypocrisie and so ignorant men who judge the person by the picture are brought out of love and liking with 〈◊〉 blessed wayes of 〈◊〉 and holiness Contrariwise when he would cast a vaile over the ugly and deformed face of Vice and 〈◊〉 courses he is 〈◊〉 to lay 〈◊〉 false colors of indifferency 〈◊〉 and pleasure Drunkenness is good fellowship and neighborhood Covetousness comes masked under the vizard of 〈◊〉 and moderation Cowardliness is trimmed and 〈◊〉 up in the 〈◊〉 of discretion and wariness If Ministers will not be the Divels Brokers and followers their manner of proceeding must be expresly contrary When they come to Preach they must make sin appear truly odious and 〈◊〉 to the open 〈◊〉 of all that all may 〈◊〉 afraid and endeavor to avoid it Those 〈◊〉 wipes and 〈◊〉 jerks and 〈◊〉 at sin at which the 〈◊〉 prophane 〈◊〉 pleased but not reformed are utterly 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 the Place the Person the Office of the Messenger of the Lord of Hosts What A Minister a Jester O searful to make the Pulpit a Stage to play with 〈◊〉 when he should terrifie the Conscience for it The Lord abominates the practice he that knows and fears the Lord should abhor it with detestation Thus plainly dealt Elias with Ahab 1 Kings 18. 18. It s thou and thy Fathers house that have troubled Israel because ye have forsaken the Commandements of the Lord and followed Baalim So also with 〈◊〉 1 King 18. 21. How long will you hault between two 〈◊〉 If the Lord be God follow him but if Baal then 〈◊〉 him As if he should have said Away with this patching in 〈◊〉 either a Saint or a Devil make somthing of it this is down right dealing And thus plainly John the Baptist who had the same Spirit dealt with Herod He doth not beat the Bush and go behind the door to tell him his faults and mince the matter with some intimations but he speaks out Matth. 14. 4. It is not lawful for thee to have thy Brother Philips Wife either thou mnst not have that incestuous Harlot or thou must not have Grace and Glory Thus again he dealt with the Sadduces and Pharisees when he saw them come to his Baptisms He saies to them Matth. 3. 7. Oh ye Generation of Vipers who hath fore-warned you to flee from the wrath to come As if he should have said Egs and Birds Parents and Posterity you are a race of venomous and poysonful wretches What A proud Pharisee to listen to the simplicity of the Doctrine of Grace is it possible If in sincerity and good earnest you purpose to embrace the Doctrine of truth bring forth then fruits worthy of amendment of life vers 8. We have done with the Plainness of the Ministery we are now to enquire wherein the Power of a Ministery Consists And that appears in Two Things There must be soundness of Argument and undeniable Evidence of Reason out of the Word which is able to command the
of God upon the soul it makes it melt like Wax before the fire makes it easie to give way to the impression of the pleasure of the Lord that his Spirit may take away any of those lusts that have been of 〈◊〉 league with the heart Hence lastly it is that in the Phrase of Scripture the sinner is said to be in 〈◊〉 or the soul to be imbittered by God when he is brought and held under the sence of the loathsomness of his in s and himself by reason thereof so that al the sweet that his liquorish heart takes in any pleasing lust is wholly taken away The Physitian observes and reason teacheth that sweet things only nourish but bitter things clense the Nature of the stomach abhors the presence of them expels them takes no pleasure therein receives no nourishment therefrom So with the sinner in his condition when the Lord 〈◊〉 out the bitterness of sin upon him he can find no food rellish no delight in his former distempers which he followed with that violence and fed so eagerly upon even unto surfetting in former times they wil not down with him now It 's a dreadful thing now to him to take the least tast of them by any serious consideration or remembrance when formerly he could have made a meal of them by dayly meditation When wickedness was sweet in his mouth and he hid it under his tongue but now it 's turned to the gall of Asps and he is not able to endure the poyson and bitterness of it but it makes him heart-sick in the sight and sence of it For the opening of the Point it wil be needful to enquire after Five Particulars 1. The Manner how this sound sorrow seizeth upon or is brought in upon the soul. 2. How God sets it on and makes the soul truly affected with it 3. How far the sinner is or may be said to be active in it 4. What is the behavior of the heart under this stroke being truly affected 5. The Reason and then the Use. To the Former of these The Manner how this Sorrow is brought in upon the soul. It is Three-fold in Gods ordinary Dispensation reserving exceptions as he sees fit in his own infinite Wisdom It is either Successively and by degrees Suddenly and at once Unsensibly to the heart of the sinner who receives it Successively when the Lord would leave the track and footsteps of his Faithfulness and Truth upon record to the observation of the wise hearted he then leaves plain impressions of the Power of his Grace and Spirit 〈◊〉 his proceedings with such as he 〈◊〉 to bring effectually home unto himself that the goings of our God and King may be seen in the Sanctuary and in the souls of his Servants and it may be attended in these several Degrees First The Lord lets in some unexpected flashes of spiritual Truth discovering the evil of sin in the general and the dangerous conditions of such as stand guilty thereof and continue therein which were never considered nor before that time conceived of by him that hath been an ignorant and careless hearer of the Word who came to the means either by constraint or custom or complement in a way of course for company sake never set price upon the means nor attended to the Truth and goodness thereof and therefore the Ordinances were as the Waters that pass by left neither power nor profit upon the soul. But now there is some evidence of Truth which God so directs and darts in that it flashes like lightning into his face leaves a kind of amazement upon his mind and like a sudden blow gasters the 〈◊〉 of the sinner so that he begins to stagger and is driven to give some attendance to that of which he never took notice before not knowing wel 〈◊〉 to make of himself nor yet of that which he heard only he is forced to observe somthing he never formerly regarded Hence therefore 〈◊〉 a confused kind of tumult and lumber of thoughts within himself he begins to be in a muse what such things mean whither they tend is at a loss with himself and knows not which way to take I never heard so much as now if all be true that I have heard and the Minister hath preached there is more in sin than ever I imagined and my condition more miserable than ever I did conceive This maskering of spirit drives him to make enquiry the things seem strange he begins to search 〈◊〉 they be true or no. So they to Paul disputing concerning false Worship and their Idolatrous practices Acts 17. 19 20. Thou bringest strange things to our ears we would know therefore what these things mean So it was with Paul at his first bringing home to God Acts 22. 6. There shone a great light from Heaven about him and he heard a voyce Saul Saul why persecutest thou me The thing was strange but what it was he could not tel and therefore he makes yet further enquiry Who art thou Lord As the poor woman having heard the Minister preach out of that Text Isai. 27. 11. They are a People of no understanding therefore he that made them will not 〈◊〉 them he that created them wil not shew mercy to them It came so directly cross to her own conceivings that she repaired to one of her neighbors to know whether those words were in the Scripture yea or no and what those Scriptures were for saith she If he that made us wil not save us Lord be merciful to us who wil who can So these sudden dazlings and dartings in of the Truth forceth men to fall on questioning enquire they do come they wil resolve to hear more of those strange Novelties and the greater search they make the greater certain Truth they perceive the Law peremptory the Word plain threatnings certain and the Lord just his sin most hainous and his condemnation certain and approaching so that he cannot tel how to avoid it or how to bear it Hence fear surprizeth him forthwith pursues him 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 expectation and 〈◊〉 of what 〈◊〉 befal him I know what I have deserved and I hear what the Word hath threatned against such and I know God is true and cannot deny his Word nor himself and he is just and cannot but execute in his time what hath gone out of his mouth hath not all Ages manifested this the Experience of al men proved it undeniable Did ever any provoke the Lord and prosper Job 9. 4. and can I in reason expect it should be other and better with me than it was with any that was ever before me Can I be so sottish to think that God should send another Christ devise other Scriptures make a new Causey way or a back door to bring such a wretched rebel as I am to Heaven contrary to his own Word and Will God hath said Wo to the wicked it shall go ill with him who can say the
it vexed al the veyns of their hearts that 's the way to weary them and there they solace themselves ah it's roast meat to them and thus it is a pastime to a fool to do wickedly but know thou art a hard-hearted fool a graceless wretch in the wise mans account do not our plantations groan under such sons of Belial such senceless 〈◊〉 do they not swarm in our streets are not our families pestered with such Esau-like when he sold his 〈◊〉 eat and drank and rose up and went his way not affected with what he had lost not ashamed of what he had done but 〈◊〉 of al or like the man in the Gospel possessed with the Devil sometime he cast him into the fire and sometime into the water so these rush headily into sin and impudently continue in such 〈◊〉 courses they commit sin and continue in sin hasten Gods wrath and their own ruin and go away senceless of al so that it 's now seasonable to take Jeremiahs complaint I 〈◊〉 and heard and no man sayd what have I done 〈◊〉 Jer. 8. 6. He might and did hear of hideous vile evils without any diligent hearkning see and meet loathsom distempers without any searching but when he followed men home wondring in what quiet do these men live what comfort do these men find how do they bear up their hearts under such hellish carriages I wil go see how they lye down in their beds and whether they dare sleep or no under such trangression and such guilt and when he came he hearkned surely I shal now hear them mourn bitterly afflict their hearts with unfained grief there is no such thing no man said what have I done not a word of that it was the least part of their care the furthest off their thoughts And this is the temper the condition and disposition of scores hundreds of you that hear this word at this instant Is not the day yet to dawn the hour yet to come that ever you shed a tear sent up a sigh to heaven in the sence of thy evils or set thy self in secret to bewail thy distempers before the Lord God knows and your hearts know the Chambers where you lodge the Beds where you lie can bring in witness against you you are strangers to this blessed brokenness of heart yea enemies to it you were pricked no not so much as in your eyes nor in your tongues God and his word and al means that have been tried could never wrest a tear from thine eye not a confession out of thy mouth thou wilt commit thy follies and die in the defence or excuse of them but to have thy heart affected in serious manner with the filth of thy sinful distempers it is to thee a riddle to this day Nay there be thousands in the bottomless pit of hell that never had the like means as thou never committed the like sins and yet never had such a senceless sottish heart under such rebellions as thy self Wo be to you that laugh now you shal mourn those flinty spirits of yours wil not break now they shal certainly burn you draw a light harrow now you find no burden of your pride and stubbornness rebellions idleness and noysom lusts they are no burdens ye can go boult upright with them and Sampson like carry the very gates of hell upon your backs and never buckle under them wel the time wil com you wil cal to the mountains to fal upon you and the hills to cover you from the infinite weight of Gods everlasting displeasure Tast a little the sting of this sin and see the compass of this accursed condition of thine and go no further than the point in hand Thou art far without the walk of the Almighty there is no dealing and entercourse between thee and the holy one of Israel the Almighty passeth by and wil not so much as change a word with thee or cast a look 〈◊〉 thee to leave any remembrance of himself upon thy soul thou livest as though thou hadst nothing to do with him nor he with thee nothing to do with grace or heaven the holy spirit a wes some humbles others some it quickens that were sluggish establisheth others who were weak onely thou art senceless of any operation of the Lord thou hast a heart that puts away the presence of the Lord out of thy mind if it were possible thy fleece is dry when there is dew upon al the earth this is that which the Apostle discovers to be the cause of that heavy curse of the heathen Eph. 4. 18. strangers from the life of God by reason of the hardness of their hearts Oh thou hast a 〈◊〉 heart and leadest a strang life even as opposite to God as darkness to light hell to heaven differs onely but in degree from that 〈◊〉 which appears most eminently amongst the Devills and damned even to be an adversary to God and his grace to stand it out in defiance with the divine goodness of God his power and faithfulness Pharaoh he 〈◊〉 it but thou dost it 〈◊〉 it out with the Almighty and impudently darest the great God who is Jehovah I know not Jehovah neither wil I let my heart go to yield subjection and service to him I know no authority of a command that shal rule me nor admonition that shal awe or reforme me Thus thou art a stranger to the wisdom of God the folly of thine own self-deceiveing mind and heart leads thee and deludes thee thou art a stranger to the grace and holiness of the Lord the perversness and rebellion of thine own wretched heart takes place onely with thee yea a stranger to mercy and to the compassions and consolations of the Lord Jesus and his blessed spirit who choosest thine own ruin lovest thine own death following lying vanities and forsakest the mercies purchased and tendred to thee Upon these tearms in which thou now standest God hath appoynted no good for thee while thou continuest in this temper as he said write this man childless so write upon it write thy soul graceless that shal never prosper Isa. 61. 1. 2. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord hath annointed me to preach good 〈◊〉 to the meek to bind up the broken hearted liberty to the captives opening of the prison to those that are bound to appoint to them that mourn in Zion beauty for ashes the garment of gladness for the spirit of heaviness thou hearest the glad tidings of mercy pardon and peace grace of life that passeth understanding joy unspeakable rich and plentiful redemption from al sins and miseryes which God hath layd up in his everlasting decree and laid out in the great work of redemption by the Lord Jesus but thou mayest set thy heart at rest as long as thou seest that hard heart of thine thou shalt never see good day joy and comfort and liberty they are not thy allowance they are childrens bread it
poysoned with sin blessed 〈◊〉 ye when men persecute you and hate you and speak al manner of evil of you falsly Math. 5. 12. could men speak al evil and do al evil against us and let 〈◊〉 do that 〈◊〉 is sinful to deserve it these cannot hinder our blessedness but encrease it Matter of bitter COMPLAINT to see how few there be in the world who ever knew what this hatred of sin meant And therefore yet were never 〈◊〉 with any sound broken heartedness for it such as Job 〈◊〉 of who hide their corruptions under their tongues as 〈◊〉 pleasant morsel spare it and wil not forsake it Instead of hating their sin they hate the word that would discover it the Minister that preacheth against it the man the Magistrate the Law that would reform it Instead of loathing their sins they loath the 〈◊〉 of the lives the exactness of the wayes of such who indeed set themselves most against sinful carriages once cross them in their courses you have stirred a 〈◊〉 nest they ruin al on heaps This is a 〈◊〉 stone of the truth of 〈◊〉 work of contrition whether 〈◊〉 Lord have left the mighty impression of this preparative 〈◊〉 upon the soul of a sinner That the league betwixt the heart and 〈◊〉 lusts is 〈◊〉 not alone 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of evil nor yet to avoyd and go aside from the occasion that may lead to it under some present pang but thou hast put off the love of sining why blessed be God the combination is come to naught sorrow hath 〈◊〉 the knot and union betwixt thy soul and thy darling 〈◊〉 This hatred breaks the knot and union fully thou art now divorced from thy former lovers thou fearest the approach of them rather choosest to see the blood of them than to enjoy the presence of them Stay but Gods time and be perswaded in his best season he wil take thee into the bosom of his love which wil be better than life it self to thee Thou art in the hand of Jesus and under his charge he that hath rescued thee from the rage of the Devils and from the right that sin ever claymed in thee he wil never loose his labor nor shalt thou loose thy 〈◊〉 and happiness in the issue He hath bound the strong man the strongest of thy corruptions that heretofore have too much and too easily prevayled with thee had got thy affection and the strong holds of thy heart those strong temptations and 〈◊〉 by which Satan as by so many garrison souldiers maintayned possession in thy soul yet now this strong man is bound his holds battered and his garrison abandoned So that there is a spoyl made of al his goods the temptations that formerly found entertainment they are now abhorred his suggestions delusions that found easy entertance acceptance are now loathed and thy heart set against them the Lord Christ is now about to own thee as his proper possession and then he wil never part with thee more thy heart trembles at the least inkling of the return of thy distempers seeks the destruction and would see the not being art a weary of life meerly because they live and art resolved never to entertayn terms of peace with them though thou never seest quiet day in the world 〈◊〉 the work is the Lord Christs he wil own it it 's true and thorough he wil never leave it until he have brought it to perfection and thy soul to eternal happines but alas this truth as a touchstone shewes the contrition of most in the world to be counterfeit that many have been in the fire heated but never melted as with mettal the parts of it battered but never severed fully the dross from the oar and therefore there can never vessel be be made for any honorable use and service thereof In a word the doctrine passeth sentence of sad condemnation upon four sorts of persons as such who never 〈◊〉 in the work we shal point very briefly at the particulars that each man may take his portion First the CARELES and fearless Christian is cast out of the number of these contrite sinners whom God doth prepare for his Christ and mercy such as walk heedlesly up and down the world not awed with any watchful fear of the temptations and occasions and snares which are layd in their way to entrap them or with the treachery and deceivable lusts which suddenly draw them aside to common neglect of duties which they reform not or transport and carry them with pangs of passions and distempers and they amend not certainly either these know not these to be sins or else do not know them and hate them as direful and dreadful enemies to their souls It could not be but their hearts should shake at the sight of them and the dangerous assaults which they cannot but know if they know them to be 〈◊〉 but they wil hazard their everlasting happiness People who live without watch or fear they have no enemies or no war 〈◊〉 hand and if thou livest in this Laish-like fearless fashion thou never knewest the war of a Christian nor the enemies they have nor art in the condition of a Christian 〈◊〉 hast the heart of a Christian to this hour within thee And therefore Jude so 〈◊〉 those Atheists and sensual wretches who were 〈◊〉 of Gods spirit which are spots in your feasts feeding themselves without fear Jude 22 these are blaynes in the body of the Church spots in the Assemblies of Christians speak without fear in the companies where they converse walk without fear in families where they live walk without fear in the occasions with which they have to deal and the Apostle adds they are withered twice dead and plucked up by the roots far enough from having any spiritual life or any preparation therunto look as in nature reason 〈◊〉 and experience evidenceth if there were a malicious enemy with a puissant and mighty armie now making his approaches to the City and attempting the siege if the allarum should be given by the watch to the City a messenger dispatched to each mans dore if any were so careless that he would not attend or attending the 〈◊〉 stirred not or happily for fashion stirring if yet he labored not by a watchful fear to provide for the assault and attend the 〈◊〉 of command repayr to the place for defence of the City there is no man but would conclude certainly he is a party he is not an enemy to the army that doth besiedg every loyal and faithful subject shakes at the apprehension of the power and rage of the adversary who is now likely to make havock of al and that without mercy so it is here the violence of temptation from without and the strength of corruptions from within fight against the soul thou that are a disobedient child a rebellious self-willy servant a perverse and 〈◊〉 wife an ignorant 〈◊〉 hearer the allarum is given in publick
a poysoning and spreading and infectious Nature it 's not consined within a mans own compas and conscience it 's not a sin in a mans self but there be many sins in this one it becomes the Cause of sin to many others Many are provoked and encouraged to the practice of the like Evils by thy practice Examples are of a constrayning Nature Peter dissembles and many are snatched 〈◊〉 by his example to do as he did Gal. 2 Many are strengthened and confirmed in their wickedness because they have thy example to warrant them they will certainly perish But their Blood will be required at thy hand thou wast the man that did lead them to an ungodly Course and didst harden them therein And the Name of God and his truth will be blasphemed amongst the Heathen for thy sake Rom. 2. 24. How can they but conclude that Religion allows such an ungodly Course which men dare So Commonly to commit and to Continue in without remorse or reformation The Second shift whereby our carnal hearts would keep off the Evidence of Conviction is this As the commonness seems to 〈◊〉 our corruption so the naturalness is made pretence to excuse it Here the plea is ready whereby men would challenge pity 〈◊〉 connivance as their debt It is my disposition or constitution I cannot mend it it is my Nature I cannot alter it Al flesh is frail God knows whereof we be made how feeble we be and he doth not expect perfection at our hands no man counts his coat the worse because there 〈◊〉 some moats in it or casts away his Gold because there is a flaw or mark in it It 's my natural infirmity and hath not each man his failings would you have us be Saints Saints Yea either Saints or Devils The Lord would have thee to be so This is the will of God even your sanctification 1 Thes. 4. 3. the Law would have thee to be so 1 Peter 1. 15. Be ye holy in all manner of Conversation thy Profession would have thee to be 〈◊〉 Let every one that cals upon the Name of the Lord depart from iniquity 2 Tim. 2. 19. And he that hath this hope purgeth himself as he is pure 1 John 3. 5. That generally but to come a little neerer and to shew the vanity of this Shift I Answer First This excuse that would cover one sin discovers another and thy Plea doth give in undeniable evidence that all the means of Grace that ever thou hast enjoyed and God hath vouchsafed hath never wrought upon thee nor prevailed with thee for good to this very day nor hast thou received benefit or profit therefrom but al the pains that hath been taken with thee is like water spilt upon the ground For that 's the manner of the Lords proceeding with the soul of a sinner when he intends savingly and effectually to work upon him he changeth his Nature gives him another heart and as it was said of Saul in a like case 1 Sam. he makes him another man It 's the Prophesie of the power of the Gospel The Leopard becomes as a Lamb and the Lyon as a Kid Isai. 11. 6. the savage harsh and 〈◊〉 distempers which like a fretting Leprosie possessed the nature of sinners are taken away when the Lord comes to take possession of them or to prevail with them in the power of any Ordinance It 's the first step in the profession of the Gospel He that wil be Christs Disciple must deny himself he must be able to say as the blind man whom our Savior cured I was blind but now I see I was dead but now I am alive I was of a proud peevish wayward waspish contentious froward quarrelsom disposition could agree with no body nor with my self neither but since the Lord hath met with me and wrought upon me by his Word and Spirit I am not I I have another mind and another heart and another carriage and Conversation than formerly He that is in Christ and Christ in him he is a new Creature and hath a new Nature he strives most against that unto which he is most addicted by his own disposition he watcheth how to prevent that he fears al the day long lest he should be surprized with it fortifies most in the improvement of al means against that confesseth that with most sorrow and bitterness seeks with most care and diligence to obtain help from Heaven to subdue that and commonly gets the greatest ground against the same Hast thou then the same corrupt Nature Conclude thou mayest and write upon it thou never hast prayed aright heard aright thou hast never received a Sacrament aright unto this day thou hast never profited by any means thou hast enjoyed or duties thou hast performed to this day Thy Disease and distempers are desperate and likely never to be cured and thou recovered out of them when they come to be natural as it were and yield to no Remedy Jer. 13. 23. Can the Black-more change his skin and the Leopard his spots no more can they learn to do well who are accustomed to do evil There be some spots of filth which are cast upon our coats and flesh there is a sooty blackiness wherewith our garments and our skins are somtimes sullied withal by somthing from without which may be clensed and washed away with little labor in a short time but 〈◊〉 which grow out of Nature as Moles and Wens in the Body there is little hope that ever they should be altered as long as Nature it self continues It is so with distempers when some sudden occasions or temptations from without taints and pollutes the soul there is Hope in Israel that some Spiritual means like healing Medicines seasonably applied may help and recover But when men out of a corrupt inclination are customarily carried in the continuance of some distemper it 〈◊〉 like another Nature he may lose his life and soul but is like never to lose his lust that wil go to his Grave and so to Hell with him Job 20. 11 12. When wickedness is sweet in a mans mouth when he hides it under his tongue when he spares it and forsakes it not his bones are full of the sins of his youth they have been bred and brought up with him grown and continued and encreased dayly with them he would not leave them they wil not leave him they shal lie down in the dust with him rise with him to Judgment and go to Hell with him in the end Thy person comes most to be abhorred and loathed by the Almighty for which thou vainly conceivest thou mayest be pitied We pity a man that drinks poyson because it 's not his disposition to be so but the infection that befel him but the Spider and the Toad we abhor the sight and not endure to touch them because they are 〈◊〉 a poysonful Nature So it is with the Spiritual plague of thy Soul even the dearest of Gods
Servants may be surprized with a pang of pride overborn with a sudden hurry of passion and frowardness and the Lord pities and pardons and passeth it by and wil not lay it to their charge because it was their Disease not their disposition their temptation and surprizal not their purpose the Lord looks at it so You have heard of the Patience of Job James 6. But when such noysom lusts become Natural and that we live in them as in our Element when we have and keep and own an accursed poysonful Nature it 's that which the Lord detests The froward in spirit is an abomination to the Lord Prov. 3. 32. In the old Law it was observed that when the Leprosie tainted the Skin but did not spread the Leaper was pronounced clean but if it did fret into the flesh it was unclean to teach us that though we had leprous distempers that tainted and defiled our performances yet if they did not fret into the flesh our affections taken aside with them the Lord looks at us as clean in his Christ because it was not we that in our hearts purposed the evil but sin that prevailed against our purpose but if we hugged them in our bosom laid them nigh unto our hearts and took them as our Natures we were loathsom in the sight of God The third Shift whereby a carnal heart comes to lighten the hainousness of his evil and therefore looks not at it as so loathsom as he should and it deserves Because he can put off the blame from himself as he conceives upon his Companions who either by their 〈◊〉 and perswasions have deluded him and led him into sinful courses beyond his intendment and sometimes contrary to his desire and therefore he concludes he may justly free himself from blame and lay the blame upon them wholly It was the fault of such such I am free Had not they counselled it I had never committed the sin had not they perswaded me I had never purposed it it was not in my thoughts but they allured deluded and drew me to it Let them be charged with the guilt and bear the punishment I hope I may be excused This manner of sinful shifting of our faults unto another is that which all of us have 〈◊〉 from our first Parents It was their practice immediately after the fal We their Posterity have made it a president to our Posterity unto this day when the Lord challenged Adam for his offence and breach of covenant why hast thou done this he puts it 〈◊〉 to the woman the woman to the Serpent Gen. 3. 12. 13. 14. The woman which thou gavest me Saies Adam she gave unto me and I did eat the woman she takes the rebound and puts the ball behind her The Serpent beguiled me but al in vain this could not free any of them from the punishmeut or excuse them from the fault To shew the feeblness of this fond pretence I shal answer several things The Aggravation of the evil of this sin in yielding to the corrupt Counsel of loose and bad companions and the suffering of a mans self to be 〈◊〉 by their delusionsappears in this that they who are here in guilty they do in this their practice prefer the folly of man before the wisdom of God their falshood above his truth serve their turn and base ends maintain their honor that in an ungodly way rather than the honor of the eternal God from whom they have received al they do possess to whom they owe themselves and should improve al they have and are to his praise and yet they do not only set up base men but even the lusts of men before the honor of the Almighty and profess so much by their practice it s not the command of God but the corrupt 〈◊〉 of vile men shal carry us not his promises though great and precious but their perswasions shal prevayl with us 〈◊〉 suffer the name and honor of the Lord to lye in the dust nay trample it under their feet that they may promote their persons and 〈◊〉 credit of their proceedings though wretchedly wicked And what greater indignity can be offered to the great God of heaven and earth who wil require it at your hands when your companions wil not open their mouths to excuse you nor can defend you from his vengeance the 〈◊〉 of this conspiracie against the Lord he himself acknowledgeth in Eli's indulgence yielding out of the easiness of his spirit to his sons in their prophane carriage in that he did not proceed with that rigour and severity as the 〈◊〉 of their carriage did justly 〈◊〉 for The Lord doth plainly and peremptorily charge him with a double evil 1 Sam. 2. 29. 30. 31. that they kicked at his Sacrifice that is cast contempt upon his holy things and honored his Sons and that in their lewdness above him when out of a feeble childishness he would suffer his sons to abuse Gods ordinances and not administer a sharp reproof or execute a just and severe censure suitable to the nature of the fact upon them he gave so far allowance to the contempt of Gods ordinances and was more willing to please them than God therefore the Lord denounceth his direful displeasure against him he repented him of all the good he had intended and would pursue him and all his Posterety to the utter confusion of their faces because thou hast kicked against my 〈◊〉 and hast honored thy sons above me therefore the 〈◊〉 shal come I wil cut off thy arme c. For those that honor me shal be honored and those that despise me shal be despised Thus the Lord dealt with 〈◊〉 when he inconsiderately joyned sides with Ahab 2. Cron. 18. 2. 〈◊〉 thou love those that hate the Lord therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. Sodering with the society of the wicked is to 〈◊〉 it against the God of all the world the Lord cannot bear it but his anger breaks out immediately against such By your yielding to the counsel of the ungodly you do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in their wickedness and appear as a 〈◊〉 in the 〈◊〉 with them strengthen their hands and encourage their hearts steel their faces and make them resolutely bold and impenitently impudent in their ungodly 〈◊〉 they dare adventure to say and do what ever evil may serve their turnes and maintain what they do without either fear or care to hear or reform because they have others to maintain them in what they do As the scripture speaks of Absolons rebellion 2 Sam. 15. 12. The conspiracy grew strong for the people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with Absolon the company and encrease of his numbers added encouragment to his rebellious course Whereas had the people forsaken him his project and proceeding must needs have fallen to the ground and he been forced to have forsaken his rebellious course and hence it was 〈◊〉 policy that accursed counsel he gave to Absolon to enter